Datang: Just been appointed as the crown prince, the counterattack system is here

Chapter 146 Why don’t you look like me? I am the source! [Seeking monthly votes]

"Your Majesty, Minister of Rites Tang Jian requests an audience."

Just when Emperor Li Shimin and his ministers were in an awkward situation, a report suddenly came from outside the hall.

Li Shimin turned his back and wiped his tears, and at the same time he breathed a sigh of relief. He felt from the bottom of his heart that Tang Jian had arrived at the right time. Not only did it save him from the embarrassment of confrontation with Wei Zheng, but it also eased his shame and anger.

He sat back in his seat and waved to the imperial guards: "You leave first."

After saying this, he turned to Wushe and said, "Let the Minister of Rites come in!"

"promise!"

Wushe nodded and hurried out to invite Tang Jian in.

Wei Zheng and Fang Xuanling either stood there with their necks stiff or knelt on the ground obediently, neither saying a word.

When Tang Jian walked in and met their faces, he was immediately frightened.

Even the voice he spoke was a little lower than usual.

But he said cautiously, "Your Majesty, a letter has arrived from the Turkic side. It was sent by Jie Li Khan."

"What happened?" Li Shimin asked as if nothing had happened.

Tang Jian bowed and continued, "Your Majesty, Jie Li Khan has learned of our attack on Liang Shidu and what happened to him. However, he did not send troops to aid Liang Shidu. Instead, he put forward a condition to the Tang Dynasty."

Li Shimin frowned and asked in confusion, "What are the conditions?"

"He said he was willing to exchange Liang Shidu for the Khitans who had defected from the Tang Dynasty!"

"This"

When Li Shimin heard this, he was obviously stunned, and then his eyes fell on Fang Xuanling and others.

Fang Xuanling asked with a hint of doubt, "Didn't the Khitans submit to the Tang Dynasty a long time ago? Why is Jie Li only thinking of them now? And why is he even offering Liang Shidu in exchange? Doesn't he know how important Shuofang, which Liang Shidu controls, is?"

"It's said that Jie Li and Tu Li had a serious conflict, with many casualties on both sides. In the end, Tu Li was defeated and driven out of his original tribe!"

Li Shimin sat up straight, his eyes wide open, and asked, "When did the news come?"

"Last night at midnight, news came from Youzhou."

"Where is Tuli now?"

"It is said that they fled towards the Khitan tribe."

"I see!"

Li Shimin nodded in sudden realization, then stood up from his seat and said righteously, "The Khitans and the Turks are two different races. Now that the Khitans have submitted to the Tang Dynasty, what right does Jie Li have to demand their return?"

"Liang Shidu, a Han Chinese from the Central Plains, occupied our land, yet worked for a foreign race and humiliated us Central Plains people. How despicable!"

"The Tang Dynasty is raising an army to attack Liang Shidu. This is a righteous cause. If the Turks intervene, the Tang Dynasty will not be afraid. After all, he is just a fish in the pot and cannot escape from my grasp!"

Having said this, he looked around at everyone and continued with a firm expression, "Even if we cannot destroy him for the time being, I will not exchange those who have surrendered to the Tang Dynasty for Jie Li."

"Do you need me to send someone to contact the remaining Tuli troops?" Tang Jian asked.

Li Shimin thought for a moment and said, "They are not on the verge of despair yet. Let's ignore them for now. Once we defeat Jie Li's reinforcements and let them see who can protect them, they will naturally come to us!"

"When the time comes, we will unite with them and wipe out Jie Li!"

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Tang Jian complimented casually.

Li Shimin did not respond, but just stood there quietly for a long time, then waved his hand and said, "You all leave."

"promise!"

Tang Jian nodded in agreement, then looked at Fang Xuanling and others.

They all breathed a sigh of relief, then stood up and left the hall.

the other side.

The news that Crown Prince Li Chengqian was going on an imperial tour caused quite a stir in Jiangling Prefecture, but to the people of Jiangling, the crown prince was just going on a long journey.

Therefore, Jiangling is still operating normally.

After all, under the wise leadership of the prince, Jiangling has undergone earth-shaking changes. In addition, spring has arrived and all things are beginning to revive.

The Tang people had the habit of going out for spring outings, so it was normal for the prince to go out and play.

You know, even if a child who has grown up in the arms of his parents gets high scores in the final exam, he should put down his studies and go to his grandparents' house to play for a few days as a reward.

Besides, the prince has been away from his parents for almost a year, and he has achieved such results, which is much better than a naughty kid getting high scores. It is natural to let him go out and play for a few days at the beginning of the year.

What was truly surprising was the scale of the prince's trip.

It’s not that the prince mobilized a large army, but what’s going on with those cavalry guards who are wearing heavy armor and armed to the teeth?

Are you sure the prince is going there for sightseeing and not to expand territory?

It was not until Li Chengqian's touring motorcade left Jiangling in a mighty procession that some of the people of Jiangling realized that the prince's trip was not as simple as they had imagined.

As the focus of everyone's attention, Li Chengqian and Li Yuan sat in an ultra-luxurious and ultra-spacious carriage, eating hot pot and chatting about recent events.

"Grandpa, what do you think my father's reaction will be when he learns about this?"

Li Chengqian smiled, picked up a piece of mutton, put it into the boiling pot, and asked slowly.

Li Yuan gave him a strange look, picked up his wine glass and took a sip, saying, "I guess he'll be so angry that he'll jump up and down!"

"However, you're really ruthless in your trick of cutting off the firewood from under the cauldron! Fengtian patrol, not to mention Erlang wouldn't even dare to think about it, even your grandfather, I, have never thought of such a thing!"

"It's just a big name, but there's no way he'd actually tour the land! Grandpa knows how vast the Tang Dynasty is. If he really were to travel around the country in a carriage, I wonder how swollen his butt would be. Only Qin Shi Huang had an iron butt!"

"hehe."

Li Yuan smiled noncommittally, took another sip of wine, and then asked, "How confident are you that you can successfully pray for rain?"

"this."

Li Chengqian thought for a moment, then picked up his chopsticks and took out the mutton he had put in the pot earlier. He smiled and said, "To be honest, I'm not sure at all right now."

"what?"

Li Yuan was obviously startled, and almost couldn't hold the wine glass in his hand steadily. He said with wide eyes: "Don't joke with me!"

"I'm not kidding, it's true. I'm not confident at all about praying for rain right now!"

"Then why did you accept that imperial edict? Just to piss off Erlang?"

"Not at all."

Li Chengqian shook his head, then put the mutton into his mouth and chewed it, saying, "I just want to be completely liberated!"

"We've been in Jiangling for almost a year now. It's time to leave. Furthermore, in two months or so, there will be another major disaster. We must use this disaster to eliminate the internal troubles of the imperial court!"

"How do you know there will be a major disaster in more than two months?" Li Yuan asked curiously.

"Ah!"

Li Chengqian snorted, then put down his chopsticks and said, "Although Grandfather was the ruling emperor before, he only learned about any major state affairs through reports from his ministers. In fact, when the ministers reported, they would overlook many details."

"For example, the initial snowstorm, the subsequent flood, and the current drought all follow natural laws! As long as we find the natural laws, we can determine when the next major disaster is likely to occur!" "This"

Li Yuan hesitated for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "In other words, you have discovered the laws of nature?"

"more or less!"

Li Chengqian said casually, picked up the chopsticks and put meat into the hot pot: "Grandpa, don't just drink, eat more vegetables. This is the fresh beef I got with great difficulty, come and try it!"

"beef?!"

Li Yuan was shocked and couldn't help but say, "How dare you eat beef?!"

You know, cows were great treasures in ancient times.

Farmland is cultivated by sleds pulled by oxen. Without oxen, people's farming would be very slow and grain production would be affected.

Therefore, ancient governments had to protect working oxen and not allow them to be slaughtered at will.

If you want to slaughter an animal, you must also register it with the government.

Whether it was Li Yuan who was the ruling emperor or the current Li Shimin, they both issued orders prohibiting the private slaughter of oxen for farming.

If outsiders knew that the prince actually ate beef, the impact would be huge.

However, facing Li Yuan's surprised expression, Li Chengqian said with a bit of amusement: "What's the big deal? It's just a stupid cow that jumped into the river to commit suicide because of its frustration. It's not a lively and energetic working ox!"

"Uh,"

Li Yuan's mouth twitched, but he couldn't help but look at the delicious beef. He picked up the chopsticks, picked up a piece and put it into the pot.

After the beef was cooked, Li Chengqian said, "Grandpa, try this dipping sauce. I just tried it and it tastes the best!"

"Oh, let me try."

Li Yuan picked up the beef and tried the dipping sauce recommended by Li Chengqian. His eyes lit up and he couldn't help but say with emotion, "Not bad, you are the best at eating in the Tang Dynasty. I've been eating beef for so many years, and your beef is the best, huh?"

Having said that, the grandfather and grandson's eyes suddenly met.

Li Yuan's old face turned red in an instant, and Li Chengqian couldn't help laughing.

In fact, he had long known that the so-called ban was only useful to ordinary people, but useless to the emperor or even the nobles.

They can always find ways to meet all their needs outside the law.

This is actually the convenience brought by class.

As Li Chengqian became more and more integrated into this era, he also understood more and more why Emperor Li II launched the Xuanwu Gate Incident.

At his level, if he wants to achieve something, he can only go one step further.

Similarly, if you were in Li Chengqian's position, you would have to do something if you wanted to change your fate.

It’s actually not about right or wrong, it’s just that the paths chosen are different.

Seeing Li Chengqian's laughter gradually subside, Li Yuan also put away his previous embarrassment and asked solemnly: "What are you going to do next?"

"Ok?"

Li Chengqian was stunned for a moment, then looked intently at Li Yuan. Noticing his extremely serious expression, he knew he could no longer prevaricate with the old emperor, so he pondered and said, "What I lack most now is not reputation in the court, but influence among the people."

"With my father's current prestige, even if we build Jiangling into a capital city that surpasses Chang'an, we still won't be able to obtain the power we desire."

"so what?"

"So, I plan to conquer the Eastern Turks and return to Chang'an with unparalleled achievements, in the name of the Eastern Palace!"

"hiss!"

Li Yuan couldn't help but gasp when he heard this. He looked at Li Chengqian in astonishment and asked, "Do you know what you are talking about?"

"Hehe, I'm only nine years old, not ninety. Of course I know what I'm talking about!" Li Chengqian said with some amusement.

Li Yuan said angrily, "You still know that you are only nine years old!"

"That's a powerful clan that's been eyeing the Central Plains for hundreds of years. Do you think it's just an ordinary clan? Did you know that the Tang Dynasty has been paying tribute to the Turks since its founding until now?"

"I know, Grandpa. It's the Weishui Alliance. Didn't it just happen two years ago?"

"Since you know this, why do you still dare to speak so arrogantly?!" Li Yuan said with his eyes wide open.

Li Chengqian said helplessly, "I don't underestimate the Turks. I just want to take the credit for destroying the Eastern Turks!"

"How can I hold it in your hands?"

"Advertising! Propaganda! Public opinion! In short, the destruction of the Eastern Turks by the Tang Dynasty is a foregone conclusion. But before that, I want everyone to know that I am the first to achieve this!"

"Uh, this"

Hearing Li Chengqian's words, Li Yuan couldn't help but look strange, but he couldn't help but ask: "So, where are we going next?"

"Shuofang!"

Li Chengqian said without thinking: "My uncle is still waiting for me there!"

"Your uncle?"

Li Yuan was stunned again: "You asked Zhangsun Wuji to eliminate Liang Shidu, also to take credit for it?"

"Yes! Otherwise, why would I let him go to Shuofang?"

Li Chengqian said as a matter of course: "In the court now, he is the only one who can be completely bound to me. If I don't use him as a tool, my father will use him as a tool. He is a tool anyway, so whoever I help doesn't matter."

"What's more, I can give him far more than my father gave him!"

"How is this possible? Erlang is the emperor, and you are just the crown prince. How could you possibly give more than Erlang?!"

"Hey, you're too narrow-minded, Grandpa!"

Li Chengqian waved his hand to correct Li Yuan, saying, "On the surface, I'm only the Crown Prince, but I'm no ordinary Crown Prince. I can invisibly disrupt the lives of others, but can my father do the same? Sometimes, power isn't always the best thing to use!"

"What do you mean? Do you have something on the Changsun family?" Li Yuan was surprised and asked.

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "I've investigated all of the Changsun family's industrial chains, including my aunt Meng's. I've investigated them thoroughly. As the saying goes, strike the snake at its weakest point. If I want to, I can make their entire industrial chain collapse. Do you believe it?"

"This"

Li Yuan was stunned: "Didn't you say that was your favorite uncle?"

"Yeah, and then what?"

Li Chengqian shrugged his shoulders, then picked up a piece of beef as if nothing had happened and put it into the boiling pot.

Li Yuan looked at his young face, swallowed subconsciously, and his eyes flickered.

Somehow, he suddenly saw the shadows of certain people in Li Chengqian.

Sure enough, like father, like son.

They are all so cruel.

The key is that you are the source!

Why aren't they like me?!
　Please vote for the monthly ticket, please vote for the monthly ticket, please vote for the monthly ticket! I'm going all out! I'll update more if I get 1000 monthly tickets!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)