Tang Dynasty: A Guide to Avoiding Pitfalls for Li Er at the Start

If it wasn't Gao Ming in Chapter 5, then who else could it be?
Li Shimin paused for a moment, then shook his head with a chuckle.

"I really don't know whether I should believe you or not. You say you come from the future and know about the Tang Dynasty, so why don't you even know about my heir?"

"Could it be that later historical records did not record the emperor's name?"

He was mocking himself, saying that ever since he met Wen He, he had been wavering between belief and doubt.

Wen He understood him; for people of ancient times, such a thing was indeed too unbelievable.

But that doesn't seem right.

Li Zhi wasn't even born yet, was he?
"This brilliant idea...you're not talking about Li Chengqian, are you?" Wen He suddenly realized and asked in surprise.

That's right, Li Chengqian's courtesy name was Gaoming.

When he was born, Li Yuan gave him a given name and a courtesy name.

"Of course, who else could it be but Gao Ming after my death?"

Seeing Wen He's surprised expression, Li Shimin found it absurd.

Gao Ming is my eldest son. If I ascend the throne, I will naturally make him the crown prince. Who else could it be?

As he finished speaking, his expression suddenly froze, and he saw a meaningful smile on Wen He's face.

It was as if they were saying to him, "You guessed right, someone else did indeed succeed you."

"If it's not Gao Ming, could it be Qing Que?"

"Didn't you ever consider that it might be Li Ke?"

"Ke'er?" Li Shimin stared wide-eyed in astonishment, then frowned and shook his head, saying, "Impossible. Although Sanlang is intelligent, even if I were willing, I'm afraid the court officials would not approve, let alone Fuji and Keming."

Li Ke's birth mother, Consort Yang, was a princess of the Sui Dynasty.

Those powerful families and nobles who overthrew the Sui Dynasty were absolutely unwilling to see an emperor with the bloodline of the previous dynasty appear.

"Could it be!" Li Shimin suddenly thought of a possibility.

He clenched his fists tightly, his whole body trembling.

Today, he can imagine staging a military coup to force his father to make him the crown prince.

Then, in the future, Sanlang might very well be able to do the same.

"That's not true, it wasn't Li Ke." Wen He saw that his expression was off and quickly interrupted his wild thoughts. She shrugged and laughed, "I was just researching a suspicion from later generations. According to later historians, after Li Chengqian was demoted to a commoner and Li Tai was driven out of Chang'an, you considered making Li Ke the crown prince, but you were persuaded by Changsun Wuji."

"Absurd! With Gao Ming and Qing Que here, how could I... What did you say!" Li Shimin suddenly stood up, his mouth agape as he roared, like a gaping maw ready to devour Wen He alive.

"Gao Ming has been demoted to a commoner!"

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

Although it was Li Shimin who was being questioned, the scene inexplicably reminded Wen He of Cao Cao.

"What did he do?"

Li Shimin urgently needed an answer.

Just as he said before, Wen He's appearance will help him avoid all the mistakes in the future.

This hasn't happened yet, so he still has a chance.

"rebellion."

The two words Wen He uttered were like a needle piercing Li Shimin's heart.

He deflated like a punctured balloon, his legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted.

"Treason? Could it be that I haven't named him as the crown prince?"

"He was established as crown prince, and he served as crown prince for sixteen years."

"Then why did he?"

Li Shimin couldn't understand why a mere crown prince would plot a rebellion. Was he really that impatient?
Thinking of this, a surge of anger ignited in his heart. If Li Chengqian hadn't been absent, he would have made his rebellious son know what it meant to be a sovereign and father!
"Well, you can't entirely blame him for this."

To say that Li Chengqian's tragedy was entirely of his own making would be a grave injustice.

Li Shimin bears at least half the responsibility.

"Are you going to blame me?" Li Shimin retorted indignantly.

"At least half of it is because you made Li Chengqian the crown prince, but you also doted on Li Tai, bestowing various rewards upon him and giving him military and real power to establish his authority, which put the brothers on the opposite side. In addition, he was constantly monitored and impeached by court officials. For building a house, Yu Zhining compared him to Qin Er Shi. When he hosted a banquet as the crown prince, Kong Yingda pointed his finger at him and scolded him. He had to respectfully endure it."

"Everyone goes crazy, so they do some absurd things, such as impersonating Turks and keeping male lovers. However, these are all recorded in later unofficial histories and may not be true."

Wen He was afraid of provoking Li Shimin too much, so she made up a little lie. Both of these events are recorded in the Old Book of Tang and the Zizhi Tongjian, the former being an official history.

Whether it's true or not, it's still a name that will be remembered in history.

Li Shimin remained silent.

These things all happened in the future, so he didn't know what he was thinking at that time.

Could it be that I, the King, have also become the Emperor, and I am worried that the Crown Prince is too powerful, so I support Qingque in order to maintain balance?

"No, that's not right!" Veins bulged on Li Shimin's forehead.

He stared at Wen He with wide eyes: "Whether it is Gao Ming or Qing Que, what they possess was bestowed upon them by me. How could I possibly allow them to turn against each other just because I am afraid of them?"

The emperor feared him because he held military power and had great prestige in the army.

That's why he used the Crown Prince and the King of Qi to counter him.

But Gao Ming and Qing Que have nothing, so why should he be afraid of them?

Li Shimin didn't believe he would do such a thing, but he knew Wen He couldn't possibly lie to him.

So what was the purpose?
"To put it bluntly, it's still about father-son relationship. You gave the world to the eldest son, so naturally you felt you were shortchanging the second son. That's why you wanted to make up for it in other ways. But in the eldest son's eyes, your so-called fairness turned into favoritism."

Of course, this is just Wen He's own opinion.

But in Li Shimin's eyes at that moment, this was the answer to the problem.

"Yes, that must be true."

How could I be like my father?

It seems fair, but it's actually biased. It promised me several times that it would make me the crown prince, but it broke its promise every time.

And every time, they would test me, suspecting that I had ulterior motives.

Therefore, I will definitely think about giving my child a fair chance in the future.

But unexpectedly, this fairness was seen as favoritism in Gao Ming's eyes.

"Ugh."

Li Shimin sighed sadly.

The emperor is a lonely figure, and he understood this principle long ago.

"Um, Your Highness, you won't lose faith, will you?" Wen He asked worriedly.

He didn't want to change Li Shimin's ambitions because of himself, otherwise he would truly become a historical sinner.

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin looked up at him, pondered for a moment, and then suddenly sneered, "These are just some things that haven't happened yet. Besides, I already know about them and will definitely avoid them in the future. How can you say I've lost confidence?"

"That's good, that's good." Wen He patted her chest and breathed a sigh of relief.

"However, there is something I suddenly want to ask you."

"Ah, uh, it's about who will be the emperor in the future, right? This person..." Wen He was about to say the name "Li Zhi" when Li Shimin interrupted her.

"It's not him. If I'm not mistaken, this person hasn't even been born yet, has he?"

Wen He kept her mouth shut and nodded.

That's right, Li Zhi wasn't born until the second year of the Zhenguan era.

But how did he guess that?
Seeing Wen He's confusion, Li Shimin said dismissively, "It's not hard to guess. If he were born, you wouldn't have mentioned Sanlang just now. Never mind, let's not talk about this for now."

The thought of what might happen in the future gave him a headache.

But there is one more thing he is eager to verify.

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(End of this chapter)