Long live Emperor Wu!

Chapter 70
The emperor turned his head, half of his face was in the light and half was in the dark. His deep phoenix eyes were shining with a heavy light of unknown meaning, and he said to King Jin:
"Xiaojiu, Aye knows that you don't want to be the emperor, but your uncle and all the court officials support you as the prince. From now on, you will be the prince of the Tang Dynasty."

You are the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty... These words made King Li Shan of Jin extremely panicked.

The former brother of the prince, all his impressions of the prince, his dazzling past, as well as his frustrated accusations and tears, all flashed before his eyes one by one.

These and the heavy responsibility of "Datang", which symbolized the world, overwhelmed him. He felt like a small and incompetent boat that was forcibly cast into the sea, forcing it to face a dangerous and unknown future.

The sorrow of fate and the heavy responsibility of maintaining the Tang Dynasty all mixed together and surged in his mind.

Finally, under the expectant eyes of all the courtiers, King Jin cried out, his eyes blurred by tears, and he could not see anything clearly.

……

He cried for a long time...

The courtiers all looked at each other and left. Perhaps in their hearts, he was embarrassed to hold such a big responsibility, he was inexplicable, and he even had no ambition.

But he didn't care about any of this, he just sat on the steps of Liangyi Hall and cried.

The emperor sent everyone away and sat beside him, accompanying him silently.

When he had cried enough, the emperor took out the handkerchief from his sleeve, folded it in reverse, wiped his tears, and asked warmly:
"Have you cried enough?"

Prince Jin sobbed without making a sound, his hands unconsciously placed on his knees, like a well-behaved but helpless child.

The emperor sighed, looked at him and said:
"Aye knows that you are being forced to do something difficult. You have never been ambitious. If you are given some tasks, you will do it step by step. If you are not given some tasks, you will not want to move forward at all. Now it is like forcing a monk to eat meat or forcing a rabbit to race an eagle.

But Aye believes that you understand in your heart that if you are not the prince, neither you nor your eldest brother will survive. "

His voice was lowered, full of urgency and hoarseness, he grabbed Prince Jin's hand and shook it vigorously, and then said:
"Aye doesn't want to see you killing each other. I want you all to be well. Otherwise, your mother and I will have no way to explain to each other!"

Prince Jin was shaken and his heart was touched. After a while, he turned his head and said:
"But...I'm afraid, Father. What if the Tang Dynasty's foundation is destroyed in my hands?...I can't change my temper."

The emperor reached out and touched his hair, his eyes drifted into the distance, and he said with emotion:
"Don't worry, these old brothers, especially your uncle, will always protect you for my sake.

Nothing big will happen to your generation. The key lies in the next generation. You can train a prince well, just like you and me, and like your elder brother. "

"...What if it can't be cultivated?" King Jin asked in panic.

The emperor's deep eyes darkened a little, like a dark and dangerous jungle. After a while, there was some lightness in his eyes, and he said freely:

"Then there's nothing we can do... I am in charge of heaven and earth, and I can't control whether my children or grandchildren will live up to expectations. If it doesn't happen, it means our old Li family is so determined that we won't force it."

He paused, then said:
"I only know that my choice of you is the best choice to stabilize the court. You have just seen that, led by your uncle, they do not consider the prince who is a concubine at all. The general trend is like this, and if you go against it, it will definitely be a disaster. The scene was turbulent and bloody.

You, Aye, I have worked hard all my life, and I don’t want to ruin this great situation by fighting for direct heirs. "

King Jin felt heavy in his heart, sobbed again, and clenched his fists nervously.

The emperor wanted to teach him, so he asked patiently:

"Do you still remember what Aye told you before he entered the palace? Can you tell how many of them support your fourth brother?"

King Jin put aside the uneasiness in his heart, forced himself to calm down, carefully recalled the scene at that time, and said:
"I saw that uncle Changsun Wuji seemed to have wanted to support the fourth brother at first, but later he changed his mind when he heard that the fourth brother wanted to kill his son. Li Ji, the Minister of War, probably had no idea and followed the wishes of his father. . The rest of the people...a few civil servants have some doubts, but they can’t figure out the details.”

The emperor nodded happily and said:

"Indeed, your fourth brother has a reputation for being talented, and he values ​​literati very much. He has attracted many talented people over the years, so literati must be more partial to him.

Military generals will not like his lack of diligence, especially Li Ji. He has been in Bingzhou for you to manage Bingzhou and make a long history. He is not in Chang'an and does not know or care about your fourth brother.In the future, you can rely on him in the military.

Your uncle, in fact, it makes no difference to him who of the two of you brothers becomes the prince..."

He paused and asked again:
"Why do you think your fourth brother is so unpopular?"

"He is so ruthless. The poison of a tiger is not enough to eat its seeds. His words are frightening." King Li Shan of Jin said.

But the emperor shook his head and said:

"It's not that simple. The point is not that he is ruthless... As I said before, your temperament is too kind, which has disadvantages for being an emperor. To be a qualified emperor, if you only have kindness and a good person, it is not enough. Yes. None of the important officials in the court understand this. But why would they rather choose you?"

King Jin lowered his eyes and thought without saying a word.

Just listen to the emperor's explanation:
"He was cruel for no good reason. He wanted to kill his innocent son for his own selfish interests and wanted to be the prince. He was so cruel and unjust. No one would want to be a minister under a cruel and unscrupulous person. It was too dangerous. .

Let me give you an example. We slaughter cattle and sheep to fill our stomachs and to offer sacrifices. No matter how many we kill, no one will think it is cruel.

But if you just want to see them bleed and cry for fun, even if you just kill one, it will make people think that this person is bloodthirsty and cruel.

This is what you need to know to be an emperor. Many times, cruel methods are necessary, but they must be based on morality.When the emperor is angry, he lays down millions of corpses. The use of troops must be based on morality. Killing relatives to seize the throne must also be based on morality. "

The emperor's eyes were like a deep and bottomless beach, with a cold-blooded python hidden at the bottom of the pool, and he said:
"Just like back then, I killed my brother Li Jiancheng and took away his crown prince position, but now no one dares to say that I shouldn't do it. Why?
In fact, at the beginning, I knew in my heart that there was no possibility of coexistence between him and me, and sooner or later we would have to decide the outcome.But I never said anything about harming him, nor did I ever make any plans to assassinate him.

On the contrary, I endured it again and again, being extremely respectful, and even persuaded the people who followed me to endure it. At that time, your uncle was bullied in front of Li Jiancheng's people, and the matter was so big that I didn't even complain.

It was not until Li Jiancheng had the intention to kill him that he had no choice but to retreat and could bear it no longer. After repeated persuasion from everyone, the Xuanwu Gate incident took place. "

The emperor pointed his finger at the ground and said in a serious tone:

"I did the thing of killing my brother, and I did the thing of seizing the throne, but no one thinks I'm cruel, and no one thinks I'm unkind. That's the difference."

"Also," the emperor looked at King Jin and continued:

"Between the king and his ministers, seven points are true and three points are false. When it comes to important matters, you should lower your profile, listen to advice with an open mind, and ask more for the opinions of your ministers. Do you know why?"

King Jin replied in a calm tone:

“Because only by listening more, asking more, and absorbing opinions from multiple parties can we make the right decision.”

"This is just one aspect. The most important thing is that you can find out the true thoughts of the ministers. This is very important to the emperor.

Otherwise, they can be submissive in front of you, but have second thoughts behind your back, or even conspire against you.You don’t have the eyes of the sky, so it’s impossible to monitor things in real time and know everything clearly.That’s why it’s even more important for them to be unguarded and tell you the truth.

An emperor who is arbitrary and does not listen to others' advice cannot hear the truth.

Therefore, even if you have already made a decision in your mind, you should still ask them tentatively and let them make a decision for you.

This is the case with the matter of establishing a prince today.

In this process, you can clearly see what they are thinking and whether they are of the same mind as you.

Moreover, you can better identify talents. People who follow you will also feel that they are needed and valued at all times, and they will be emotionally tied to you, increasing their loyalty.understand? "

King Jin looked at his father and was dumbfounded. Only a pair of shaking eyes remained, and there was no other movement.

Although his father often taught him in the past, they were all about specific matters and basic principles. This was the first time for him to learn the art of the emperor's mind like this now.

Only then did he understand that the emperor's seemingly random actions actually had deep meanings.

After a long time, he swallowed hard and asked with difficulty:

"Father...Father, you have to think so much every time before you act. Don't you feel tired?"

The emperor smiled softly and said easily:
"How could it be? These are life experiences accumulated over time. At the beginning, I realized how to do something good and wanted to change it. I was really more intentional about it, but as time went by, I got used to it."

As he spoke, his eyes drifted further away, seeming to recall some past events, and said:
"Actually, I'm not a very tolerant person by nature. I'm so confident that I'm even a little bit self-willed. I also have a bad temper and don't want to listen to others' teachings.

Thanks to your mother who often gave you advice, I realized what was wrong with me.Later, I deliberately placed some people around me who liked to give advice and dared to challenge my authority.

When it comes to big things, I also have a tight string in my heart. I often correct myself and it becomes a habit.But when it comes to small things that don't bother me, I just follow my nature and act more casually.

Therefore, Wei Zheng once said, this is the reason why I am tolerant in big things, but mean and careless in small things.

...No one is perfect, and your problem is not big. As long as you always remember your own character weaknesses, think more about whether you are too tolerant when making major decisions in the future, and consciously act more carefully, you won't make many mistakes. "

(End of this chapter)