Tibet

Early in the morning, Li Dai took a carriage to the Daming Palace. Although there were some things that he couldn't say out loud, Li Dai would think about them in his heart.

Li Dai sat in the carriage with his eyes closed, his neck resting on the back cushion, his body swaying gently with the carriage, but a scene he had never dared to imagine appeared in his mind. He was sitting on a high chariot with a crown on his head. , hundreds of Qianniu guards in front and behind cleared the way, and hundreds of thousands of people on both sides cheered warmly, 'Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! ’ After entering the Daming Palace, thousands of courtiers knelt down in front of him in Danfengmen Square and shouted in unison, ‘Welcome the Supreme Emperor back to the palace! ’

There were countless beautiful maids in the harem waiting for him to arrive, and Li Dai showed an intoxicated smile.

At this time, the carriage swayed slightly and stopped. Li Dai also woke up from his drunkenness. He only heard Liu Wutong whisper: "Your Majesty, the Danfeng Gate has arrived!"

It turned out that we had arrived at the Daming Palace. The Xiangguo's carriage could enter the Daming Palace. Li Dai's carriage could before, but now it could not enter the Danfeng Gate. He had to get off the carriage and prepare to walk into the palace.

At this time, a carriage stopped beside him, the door opened, and Li Xian said with a smile: "Brother Jingwen, please get in the carriage!"

"Then I won't be polite!"

Li Dai got into the car with a smile, and the carriage drove into the Daming Palace.

"Are we discussing the prince's affairs today?" Li Dai asked.

Li Xian nodded, "The emperor's brother has been rushed to guard the mausoleum. The new prince should be put on the agenda. Although the final decision-making power lies in the hands of the emperor, the political affairs hall must also show its own attitude."

"Brother Yanjian, do you have a suitable candidate in mind?"

Li Xian did not hide his attitude and said with a smile: "Actually, I prefer King Chu!"

The King of Chu is the third prince Li Tan. His personality is somewhat like that of his deceased eldest son Li Yu. He has a clear distinction between love and hate. He hates the eunuch group and Queen Zhang. He is also skilled in bow and horse and has high martial arts.

But his character shortcomings are also obvious, that is, he is too upright and has no integrity. He publicly stated more than once that he wanted to tear the eunuchs into pieces. In the end, even his father Li Heng disliked him very much and would rather let the cowardly and incompetent people Zi Li Xi was appointed as the general marshal of the world's soldiers and horses, but he did not give Li Tan, who was extremely brave and powerful in martial arts, a chance.

But the civil servants of the imperial court liked him, especially the prime minister like Li Xian who also hated the eunuchs. They could not wait to support Li Tan to the throne tomorrow.

Li Dai and Li Xian came to the political hall. Not long after, other prime ministers also arrived one after another. Li Dai unexpectedly met Wei Jiansu, the former right minister, and Yan Zhenqing, the Minister of Industry.

Like Li Dai, the two of them also came to participate in the discussions on establishing the crown prince.

Wei Jiansu sat next to Li Dai and whispered: "It is estimated that the new prince will be born between Li Xi and Li Tan."

Li Dai nodded, "The eunuchs will choose King Zhao, who is mediocre, weak, and easy to control."

"That's right. When it comes to establishing a crown prince, there will be another brutal struggle between the civil servant group and the eunuch group. It all depends on who can influence the emperor in the end."

"Who does the sky favor that day?"

Wei Jiansu shook his head, "I don't know. The emperor has never expressed his position. He doesn't seem to be enthusiastic. He basically never mentioned the matter of the prince."

At this time, Yan Zhenqing stepped forward and said, "The emperor favors King Zhao!"

"How does Mr. Yan know?"

Yan Zhenqing said calmly: "I wrote a nave for the emperor, which is the sentence in Emperor Taizong's self-inspection record, 'The reason why the boat is better than the king, and the reason why the water is better than the common people. Water can carry the boat, but it can also overturn the boat.' The result is this The emperor gave the piece of Zhongtang to King Zhao for what happened at the beginning of the year."

Wei Jiansu and Li Dai looked at each other. I'm afraid it's true. The emperor doesn't like strong sons, such as the eldest son Li Yu. The emperor doesn't like him very much. Unfortunately, the eldest son died of illness, and the emperor doesn't feel too sad.

On the contrary, King Zhao Li Xi was cowardly and incompetent, but the emperor liked him.

Given the emperor's own preferences and the eunuchs' support, I'm afraid the civil servants will lose this battle.

At this time, there were also differences in the discussion among the prime ministers. Not all the prime ministers supported Chu King Li Tan. Wu Qi and Li Kui clearly opposed it, although everyone knew that one of them was from Yu Chaoen and the other was from Li Fuguo. , they represent the attitude of the eunuchs, but they speak in a smooth and grand manner.

Wu Qi strongly refuted Li Xian's proposal, "As a prince, first of all, he must be gentle, diligent and virtuous, and secondly, he must be open-minded, humble and self-restrained. The King of Chu did not possess these four points. On the contrary, he had a fiery personality and no sense of government. You It can be said that he hates evil as much as hatred. As a knight, that is fine, but as a king, if he hates evil as much as hatred, he will definitely kill people and cause chaos in the world."

Li Kui also helped: "I support the fifth prime minister's statement. Li Xiangguo praised the king of Chu for hating evil. So first of all, what is evil? Emperor Zetian killed the clan and indulged cruel officials. She was a tyrant to the clan and courtiers, but she was frivolous. She is a humble person who loves her people like a child, but she is a wise king to the people of the world. Therefore, the evil in King Chu's eyes is only what he thinks is evil, but it may not be true evil. Once he ascends the throne and becomes emperor, then all the evil he can't stand is evil. Kill them all. If one day, the ministers do not agree with his order, then he will regard them as evil. Do we still have a way to survive?"

Pei Zunqing sighed and said slowly: "His Royal Highness the King of Chu is not as unbearable as you said. He is still young, has an unrestrained personality, and lacks reserve. This is normal. When he matures, his personality will gradually stabilize, and he will He is as open-minded as he is diligent and virtuous. The key is that King Chu is upright and enterprising. This is the most important thing."

After arguing for a long time with no result, the final vote was taken. Pei Mian voted against and vetoed the king of Chu Li Tan. However, when voting for the king of Zhao and Li Xi, there was a deadlock of two to two. Then Pei Mian still voted against and also vetoed the king of Zhao Li. Tie.

Pei Mian smiled and said: "The establishment of a prince is a major matter for the country. How can it be decided in two votes? So the debate is a debate, but we can't make a decision easily now!"

Everyone secretly cursed the old fox. What he said made sense, but in reality he just didn't want to take responsibility.

Since the differences of opinion were too big, today's discussion had to be abandoned. Li Dai and three others were invited to participate in the discussion. As a result, the seminar ended before they had a chance to speak.

After coming out of the political hall, Li Dai got on Wei Jiansu's carriage and headed to the family ancestral hall in Pingkangfang.

"When does Wei Gong think the crown prince will be settled?"

Wei Jiansu shook his head, "It's difficult. The differences are too big and the contradictions cannot be reconciled. The emperor remains silent just because he doesn't want to take sides and allows the two groups to continue fighting."

"What if it's another prince? For example, Prince Ding Li Dong, he was born to Queen Zhang."

"It's even more impossible. King Ding is only four years old. If he ascends the throne, Empress Zhang will definitely come to the court. She and the eunuchs will vent their anger. There will be no way for the civil servants to survive. The civil servants will definitely object strongly, so the best way is to suspend Without a decision, no one will have anything to say until the emperor ascends the throne."

Li Dai thought about it and said no more.

At this time, the carriage arrived at the gate of Pingkangfang and stopped slowly.

Wei Jiansu asked with a smile: "Are Jingwen free recently? I would like to buy you a drink."

Li Dai said apologetically: "I have been busy with clan affairs these past two days. The two ancestral halls are to be merged into one. I have been busy with this matter for the past two days!"

"Then you are busy first. Let's get together when you have time!"

Li Dai thought for a moment and said, "How about noon the day after tomorrow! I'll treat Mr. Wei to a drink at the Baiyutang of Anranju Restaurant in Pingkangfang."

Wei Jiansu chuckled, "Then it's a deal!"