Li Xian had no intention to use the deaths of Li Zhong and Helan Minyue to harm Li Hong in order to force him to commit suicide.
I thought that with Li Hong's character, after being granted the title of Minister of the Province, he would naturally become arrogant, complacent, and greedy for power. In this way, I could secretly add fuel to the fire and force him to go step by step with his father. Go to the opposite side of fighting for power and gain, and then provide yourself with opportunities to take advantage of.
But I didn't expect that the Luoyang group and the Liyangcang incident not only did not involve Li Hong or set him against Uncle Ji Wang, but actually made Uncle Ji look at Li Hong in a different light and treat him with more courtesy.
And the ensuing expedition of his father's imperial chariot gave Li Honglai an excellent opportunity to consolidate his position as prince, win over courtiers, and handle government affairs. In this way, if he was allowed to continue to supervise the country smoothly, it would only lead to more people. The courtiers moved closer to him.
Therefore, he had no choice but to prevent Li Hong from successfully supervising the country in Chang'an. Li Xian had to use the death of Li Zhong and Helan Minyue to make Li Hong unable to supervise the country with peace of mind. He hoped to use this to force Li Hong and force him to appear in a state of embarrassment. The situation leaked out bigger flaws, giving him the opportunity to take advantage of it, thus making his position as prince shaky.
But after all the series of actions were performed, Li Hong easily resolved them. Especially the incident between Li Zhong and Helan Minyue did not even hurt Li Hong at all! Not only was he not completely trapped in the position of crown prince, but by some strange combination of circumstances, he was urgently summoned to Liaodong by his father, and now there are even rumors that his father might abdicate the throne.
All this information from Ge Xiyuan made Li Xian feel the urgency and greater pressure of the situation. If he wanted to make a difference and get involved in the position of prince, then he could not sit still and wait for death, he must come up with something. A better strategy to force Li Hong to make mistakes.
But now that Li Hong has firmly controlled the initiative and has not left himself any chance, what else can he do? This forced him to take a desperate risk and planned to follow the example of his father's elder brother Li Chengqian and rebel!
"Father has never called himself me for many years. But this time in Liaodong, not only did he call himself me several times, but he also gave Li Hong full authority to handle the war in Liaodong. This is not a good sign." Li Xian said in a heavy tone, everything was right. He's very unfavorable now.
Fang Xianzhong still smiled confidently and said: "King Pei, I won't say whether your majesty's claim is true or not. Even if it is true, what does it mean? Although your majesty's body is not in good shape, he has not done anything in these years. There are signs that His Majesty will abdicate in favor of Xian Yi. What's more, in Liaodong, His Majesty himself is not good at fighting. Prince Li Hong has been fighting in Anxi for many years and has made great military exploits. From His Majesty's point of view, he is the third one after all. If you fail to win a complete victory in a personal expedition, wouldn't it make His Majesty look embarrassed? So you don't have to worry too much about this matter. It's just for war. As for the Zen position, I think it is. It’s completely out of nowhere.”
"Then you mean... Ge Xiyuan was in Liaodong, but he misinterpreted his father's meaning?" Li Xian still frowned. Fang Xianzhong's words could not relax his tangled heart.
Fang Xianzhong smiled confidently and calmly again, brushed his beard and said: "King Pei, if you are His Majesty, once the Liaodong war is won, it is of course an urgent matter to establish the Andong Protectorate. Your Majesty personally led the expedition with so many Many ministers, don’t they just hope that once the war is won, they can appoint officials at all levels in the Andong Protectorate? Who has the most credit for this battle? "
"Of course he is the prince, needless to say." Li Xian replied subconsciously.
"What King Pei said is correct, but after the establishment of the Andong Protectorate, His Majesty appointed Ge Xiyuan to hold such a sensitive and important position as the Protector of Anxi. Instead, he did not give the greatest credit to the position of Protector of Anxi. His Royal Highness, who has experienced it all, doesn’t mean that there are some worrying issues?”
Fang Xianzhong looked at Li Xian who was in deep thought, and continued: "Don't your Majesty know that Ge Xiyuan is yours, King Pei? I think your Majesty must know it, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince may also know it, right? After all, you invited many of them to write books. Just one thing has proved to others that you have brought them under your wing, and they have also been branded with you as King Pei, right?"
"That's right, if I were the father, and if I had the intention of taking the Zen position, then when it came to appointing the Grand Protector of the Andong Protectorate, I would naturally appoint the prince who made the most contributions in the Liaodong War, not Gexi. Yuan. The Anxi Protectorate is now in the hands of Li Hong. Although he is not in Anxi, he still manages Anxi in an orderly manner. If the father has no intention of taking precautions, he should appoint Li Hong as the Chief Protector of the Andong Protectorate. After all, Taking Anxi as a reference, Li Hongdu should be the most appropriate candidate.”
"Yes, King Pei is smart, but His Majesty appointed Ge Xiyuan as the Protector-General! Not only did he appoint Ge Xiyuan as the Protector-General, but the general retained Liu Rengui instead of Xue Rengui! What does this mean? It means that His Majesty does not want to ! Don’t want to! Be on guard against His Highness the Crown Prince’s involvement in Anton! Among all the princes, Prince Li Hongshiquan is also the Chief Protector of the Anxi Protectorate. Next, you are the only one to lead the Yunzhong Protectorate, and now you are the Protector of Anton. The government will also be held by Ge Xiyuan. Could it be said that with this arrangement, His Majesty intends to abdicate in favor of someone more worthy?" Fang Xianzhong smiled and brushed his beard, as if everything was under his control. His expression at this moment was like that of Zhuge Wolong. The temperament that determines the world between laughter.
Li Xian's expression finally relaxed a little. A matter that had been tangled in his heart for a long time finally disappeared under Fang Xianzhong's explanation, and his whole person felt an indescribable sense of relaxation and joy.
His original judgment of the situation was to raise troops to control the Daming Palace first, and then when his father and the prince returned to Chang'an, he took control of them by surprise, then seized military power, and forced his father to depose Li Hong's prince after returning to Chang'an. After a year or two, he let his father take over his position.
Although such a plan was desperate and extremely risky, it was the only solution I could think of at the time.
But today, Jingfang Xianzhong clarified his doubts and cleared the clouds to see the future. Suddenly, things became clear. In this way, he could continue to set up situations and plan some things to prevent Li Hongran from taking the throne.
Fang Xianzhong shook his head and smiled, and said: "King Pei, I am not trying to undermine your morale and raise the ambition of His Highness the Crown Prince. In terms of military strength, the troops you secretly control are no match for the troops in the Crown Prince's hands. It’s extremely difficult for you to control the Daming Palace.”
"Oh? The Daming Palace now lacks 20,000 Jinwu guards. Do you think I can't take it down?" Li Xian didn't believe that the generals he secretly controlled could mobilize at least 50,000 to 60,000 troops. Okay, can't we win the Daming Palace even with all our strength
Although the Daming Palace is said to be easy to defend and difficult to attack, after Li Hong's original design, it became even more difficult to attack, but it does not mean that it is impossible!
At this time, Fang Xianzhong's face lost a trace of smile and said with a trace of solemnity: "There is absolutely no possibility of success. Although I don't know what it means, since you left Daming Palace with King Ying and King Yin, the harem has However, the guards have a thousand more elite soldiers, and these elite soldiers are not the Jinwu Guards, but the thousands of soldiers from the Futu Camp left by Prince Li Hong when he went to Liaodong." At the end of the sentence, Fang Xianzhong's face became more solemn. He said every word carefully.
"Butu Camp!" Li Xian muttered to himself, with a solemn look on his face again.
If he had no idea about the Futu Camp before, this time during the Liaodong War, from every line of Ge Xiyuan's words, we can see Ge Xiyuan's unabashed praise of the Futu Camp and his strong combat effectiveness. of admiration.
First, they defeated the 30,000 coalition forces of Silla and Baekje with 3,000 men. Later, they attacked more than 3,000 Silla elite troops with less than 300 men, and achieved another hearty victory!
In the two battles, less defeated more. Less than one day apart, it was a battle of one against ten! There is no way to use the word luck to describe the Futu Camp. It can only show that the combat effectiveness of the Futu Camp is indeed strong.
"You mean that since we left the palace, these thousand pagoda camps have been stationed in the palace?"
"It's the harem." Fang Xianzhong corrected him with a solemn expression: "Although I don't know whether this move was the queen's intention or the prince Li Hong's intention, it illustrates two issues..."
"what is the problem?"
"One is that the Queen favors Prince Li Hong even more. The other thing is..." Fang Xianzhong looked at Li Xian's eyes staring at him, and said word by word again: "That means Prince Li Hong already knew that he was Who blamed him for the deaths of Li Zhong and Helan Minyue?"
"Impossible, how is it possible!" Li Xian looked into Fang Xianzhong's eyes, as if there was a ghost inside. He jumped up from his chair in fright, and hurriedly denied it in panic.
"It's impossible, it's impossible. I've been hiding it very well. How could he know that it was me who was behind it? This is absolutely impossible! This is impossible!" Li Xian rushed to Fang Xianzhong and repeated with a ferocious face and extremely frightened expression. .
"King Pei, please be patient." Fang Xianzhong grabbed Li Xian's painful hand that was grabbing his forearm, and comforted him in a calm tone: "King Pei, I'm just predicting the worst outcome. Come, let us make a complete plan, and ask King Pei to trust me. I will never lie. Now that Fang Muqing is Princess Zhun Pei, I and King Pei are a family, so what about me? Dare you talk nonsense in front of King Pei?"
"Then what should we do next? Yes, we must be more concealed. We must not let Li Hong find out that I, Li Xian, have any intention of getting involved in the crown prince's position." Li Xian's expression gradually faded under Fang Xianzhong's comfort. He calmed down, sat on the chair and murmured.
Fang Xianzhong looked at Li Xian and sighed helplessly, thinking: "King Pei is still a few years younger. It would be better if he were more mature. But fortunately, it's not too late now. The situation still allows King Pei to work secretly." A few years of growth. '
(End of chapter)