Great Tang Southern Emperor

Cheng Yaojin changed his previous rogue appearance, and said with a serious face: "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness Yue Wang is really a good prince and a good son. He is a little weird in some aspects and behaviors, but it is often proved by the facts in the end. , What His Highness the King of Yue did was right.

Some people say that His Highness the King of Yue doesn't respect Confucianism, but prefers the learning of all kinds of crafts. However, the facts have proved that with the support of His Highness the King of Yue, our Tang Dynasty's combat power is more than a hundred times stronger than it was ten years ago?Among other things, let's talk about the weapons made by the new steelmaking method. My Tang Dynasty weapons are sharper and the armor is stronger.Not to mention artillery and grenades, but also the king of war.It is because of His Royal Highness Yue Baigong that our Tang Dynasty has steel, cement, woolen wool, firearms and various machinery.

May I ask if His Royal Highness the King of Yue did not like Baigong, would my Tang Dynasty have such a powerful combat power?

There are also people who say that His Royal Highness the King of Yue ignores the government and prefers the art of businessman. They were all brought by His Highness the King of Yue.

Some people even said that His Royal Highness Yue Wang did not cultivate benevolence, but liked to kill.To be honest, I don't think this is a shortcoming.The Qin Shihuang back then was much more brutal than the Yue King. Although the Yue King also liked to kill, his killings were all aimed at the outside, and all of his targets were enemies.Has the emperor ever seen the king of Yue slaughtering Tang's own people?

As for degrading criminals to slaves, this is not His Royal Highness Yue's idea, it was Wang Tingchu's own idea (Wang Tingchu: Who called me?).

To put it bluntly, although my Tang Dynasty is in full swing, it is more difficult to keep a family than to start a business. Once the emperor dies, if you want to keep such a foundation, you must have a more courageous monarch, and His Royal Highness Yue Wang is the best Candidates. "

"Wow!" Everyone didn't expect Cheng Yaojin to say such a thing, and they all exclaimed.

Even the old brothers looked at Cheng Yaojin in amazement—even the eldest grandson Wuji who closed his eyes and acted as a clay bodhisattva was no exception. He didn't expect Cheng Yaojin to say such words .

Cheng Yaojin has no other skills, but when it comes to being wise and safe, there is really no one in the world who can match him.

Although Cheng Yaojin looks reckless, he is actually bold and cautious, with great wisdom in his chest.

The best example is that few of the old brothers who were in the same period as him ended well. A few good ones.

For example, Fang and Du, although they both died well, but their descendants did not live up to expectations. Du He instigated Li Chengqian to rebel. After the failure, his whole family was killed, and his eldest brother Du Gou was exiled.

Fang Yiai went to battle in person, and rebelled directly. Unfortunately, he has no other skills other than force. The so-called rebellion is simply a farce. Both his wife and his wife, Princess Gaoyang, were killed, and Fang Yizhi was also implicated by him. , Exiled to Lingnan.

In addition, there is Li Ji, who also had a good death, but met a grandson who cheated his grandfather—although Li Jingye's original intention was good, but he didn't know himself, so his subordinates cut off his head and dedicated it to Wu Zetian. It is also a burden on the family, and it will not end well.

There is also Changsun Wuji, after Li Shimin's death, he used the identity of Li Zhi's uncle to run rampant for a period of time. Unfortunately, he met Wu Zetian...

Even if the rest of them died well, most of them lived cautiously and cautiously, for fear that there would be a slight mistake and someone would catch them.

For example, Li Jing and Qin Qiong, since the Tang Dynasty ruled the world, they have been living in the mansion, basically no longer go out, claiming that they are sick in bed, but is this really the case?

I believe that anyone with a bit of political insight can see the helplessness of the two of them—their contributions are too great, and only by living in seclusion can Li Shimin's wariness be dispelled.

Maybe Li Shimin didn't have any doubts about them, but they had to do it. This was to express their opinion.You can't live in peace and contentment just because the monarch doesn't doubt you, otherwise you'll die sooner or later.

The best example of this is Hou Junji. It is said that the world is unified, so you can live in seclusion?Even if you want to be an official, you should just be an official honestly?Why jump up and down in series?The results of it?Because of Li Chengqian's rebellion, Hou Junji was implicated and died.

It goes without saying that Wei Zheng even pushed the tombstone down by Li Shimin.

Among all the people, only Cheng Yaojin and Yuchi Jingde had a good ending, but Yuchi Jingde was too arrogant, which eventually annoyed Li Shimin and gradually lost his favor.

Only Cheng Yaojin lived freely and comfortably. Not only did he have a good death, but he even blessed his descendants.

The reason why he had such a good end was because he was smarter than anyone else, and he knew exactly where Li Shimin's bottom line was. As long as it didn't violate Li Shimin's bottom line, he could do whatever he wanted.

Chapter 458 The Battle for Inheritance

Chapter 231 The Battle for the Inheritance

During the establishment of Datang, Cheng Yaojin's contribution was not the greatest, and his prestige in the army was far inferior to that of Li Jing and Qin Qiong. Because of this, Li Shimin was also very relieved of him.

What's more, he has such a personality, and Li Shimin also knows that after so many years, he has already gotten used to it. If he suddenly changes one day, Li Shimin will doubt him.

Moreover, Cheng Yaojin is very self-aware, although he is also very nonsense, but he never goes too far.Unlike Yuchi Jingde, because of his high self-respect, he became more and more rampant in the later stage, and he would retaliate. He even fought with the National People's Congress because of the seat dispute, and even almost blinded Li Daozong who came to persuade the fight.Even if it was cured later, Li Daozong's eyesight continued to decline, and finally reached the point where he could hardly see anything. Just ask, even if you have made great contributions to such a subject, how could you be liked by the king?

Cheng Yaojin is different. Although he also makes trouble, he has set a bottom line for himself, and he never does anything beyond this bottom line.In fact, his behavior is a bit similar to the naval hero Garp in "One Piece"-the same great contribution, the same disrespect for the old, the same rapid retreat, and the same knowing what is good or bad.

Because there is a bottom line, the Cheng family finally became a famous family in the Tang Dynasty, and the emperors of all dynasties continued to favor them—the grandson Cheng Boxian inherited the Duke of Guangping, and finally the general of the town army, the general of Xingyouwei, and the great-great-grandson of Cheng Changyin, the official in the palace. , Laisun (the son of great-great-grandson, also called the fifth generation grandson) Cheng Chucunguan to Hubu Langzhong, Mianzhou Governor... From him, Cheng's family has been blessed for five generations, and it can be said to be extremely honorable.

In addition to having a bottom line, Cheng Yaojin’s other survival rule is—never participate in the battle for succession, never stand in line, and only be loyal to the emperor throughout his life, never to the second person.

But in the eyes of everyone, it is such a person who feels that it is almost impossible to participate in the battle for the throne, and now he speaks for Li Zhen, and more importantly, the last paragraph, this is already an aboveboard request to Li Shimin to make Li Zhen the crown prince up.

A person who has never been involved in the battle for the heir apparent, now begged the emperor to make Li Zhen his only son, no matter how he thought about it, it was unbelievable, unless he had already determined that Li Zhen was the next emperor.

In fact, Cheng Yaojin was also submitting the nomination certificate - the reason why he did not participate in the battle for the heirloom before was that he was only loyal to Li Shimin, and another reason was that the battle for the heir apparent was too chaotic. , King Li Zhen of Yue, and King Li Zhi of Jin are all qualified to compete for that position. The situation is complicated and difficult to understand. Except for some gamblers, they will basically not bet at this time.

First of all, Prince Li Chengqian was originally the crown prince, and his succession to the throne was justified.There is also the mother patriarch Sun's support behind him. After ascending the throne, at least it is no problem to stabilize the throne.

Moreover, Li Chengqian was very competitive in the early days. He respected his teachers and was good at listening to other people's opinions. He also did well in the assessment of Li Shimin. Li Chengqian's supervision of the country does not take credit, does not show off, and advances and retreats properly, which is deeply liked by Li Shimin.

It's a pity that in the later period, the style of painting changed, and he became another person. He didn't even like the culture of the Central Plains, but admired the Turkic culture. The horse's hoof broke his ankle, and he has been lame since then (there are many theories about the specific reasons for Li Chengqian's leg disability, and Ben San uses this explanation here), and his temperament has changed drastically. Getting together with Xinxin... It can be said that even without Li Zhen's incident, he wouldn't be a prince for long.

Then there is Li Tai, who is talented, intelligent, and a lover of literature. Hall, let him summon the bachelor himself.Later, he edited "Kuo Di Zhi", which can be regarded as having a certain status among scholars. If he succeeds to the throne, he will get the support of the entire scholar society and the aristocratic family.But Li Tai is also not without flaws, that is, narrow-minded, bold and reckless, only clever but not great wisdom, if he inherits the throne, then none of his brothers can live a good life—even if they don’t die, at least they have to live forever. The end of captivity.

The third is Li Ke. In the battle for the crown prince, Li Ke also has a chance.He is the one who resembles Li Shimin the most among all of Li Shimin's sons, and even Li Shimin praised him as "Yingguo is like me".He also bears the blood of the two royal families of Yang and Li, and is unparalleled in dignity.

If he is the successor, then he will have the full support of the survivors of the former Sui Dynasty and the survivors of the Sui Dynasty. Don't think that the Yang family of the former Sui Dynasty will fall when the Sui Dynasty is destroyed. This is impossible.After all, it was a dynasty, or a dynasty that once ruled the world. Although it was replaced by the Tang Dynasty, no one knew what cards they were still hiding.

In addition, there are many survivors of the former Sui Dynasty in the court. If they are combined, they will also be a huge force.It's a pity that being in the blood of two dynasties is his greatest advantage and also his greatest disadvantage, because although there are survivors of the previous dynasty in the Tang Dynasty, most of them rely on those who built the Sui Dynasty to rise to power. They will never allow themselves The descendant of the Sui Dynasty who worked so hard to overthrow, inherit the throne, even if he also has the blood of the Li family.

The last one is Li Zhi. Li Zhi is also Li Shimin's direct son, and the blood brother of Li Chengqian and Li Tai's mother. However, unlike the two elder brothers, Li Zhi's performance in the early stage was quite low-key. Smart, dignified and serene, generous and benevolent, harmonious with brothers...' are all praises of his character, but not much description of his ability, and he is too young (born in the second year of Zhenguan, he was established as the prince It was the 17th year of Zhenguan, and he was only 15 years old at that time), it is said that it is impossible for him to be the crown prince.

In fact, if Li Chengqian and Li Tai hadn't fought too hard, and they both died together, Li Ke's establishment as the prince would be strongly opposed by the court officials (especially Changsun Wuji), and it would never be Li Zhi's turn to be the crown prince sitting.

As for Li Zhen...

There is no great power behind Li Zhen. Although his mother clan, the Yan family, had once been brilliant, it had declined by Tang Dynasty. In the entire mother clan, there was only one Yan Jingsi who was regarded as a high-ranking official, and he was only the governor of Eyunzhou and Changping County. That's all, although it is considered prominent, it is not as good as those top families.

Chapter 459 Only One Missing Merit

Chapter 232 Only One Missing Merit

But among all the princes, Li Zhen is actually the one that everyone is most optimistic about.The mother's family is not strong, which means that there will be no disasters of foreign relatives meddling in politics after succeeding to the throne.They are also extremely capable, wise and decisive. Everyone, including the aristocratic family, actually believe in their hearts that if Li Zhen can successfully sit on the throne, the Tang Dynasty will definitely usher in a more prosperous and prosperous age than it is now.

To say that Li Zhen's only shortcoming is that he is not a legitimate son...

Don't think that the son of the emperor and the son of the concubine are the sons of the emperor, there is no difference. In fact, this is a big mistake-at the end of the Shang Dynasty, Weiziqi, Weizhongyan (Song Weizhong) and Shoude (King Zhou) were all from the same mother. Three Brothers.

Then why is it not Wei Ziqi and Wei Zhongyan who inherit the throne, but the youngest King Zhou?It is because Weiziqi's mother was still a concubine (equivalent to a concubine) when she gave birth to Ziqi and Zhongyan, and she gave birth to King Zhou after she was made a queen...so both Weiziqi and Weizhongyan were concubines. He is a concubine, and King Zhou is a son of a legitimate son. According to the rule of establishing a descendant but not a palm, King Zhou ascended to the throne, so in the 600th year of the Shang Dynasty, the country was taken away by the Zhou Dynasty.

Even among the people, the position of patriarch can only be inherited by the legitimate son. As for the concubine... it is considered generous to give you a few acres of land when the family is divided.

Li Zhen is in the same situation now, even worse than Wei Ziqi, because he is neither the eldest son nor the eldest son. With all the eldest sons present, the throne cannot be inherited by Li Zhen, who is ranked eighth. .

But Li Zhen's ability is so outstanding that even Li Shimin can ignore the distinction between the eldest son and the concubine—even thinking that if Li Zhen is not made the crown prince, it will be a loss for the Tang Dynasty.

It's just that there are a few older brothers above him... Whether the throne will fall into his hands is uncertain in the future.

There are so many princes who have the possibility of succeeding to the throne, fighting with each other, dazzling, Cheng Yaojin, who is known for his boldness and carefulness, how could he make a choice so quickly?Of course, the situation is clear before making a choice.

But now the situation has begun to become clear - Li Zhen has already left all the older brothers and younger brothers behind.

Although the possibility of Li Zhen succeeding to the throne is very high, Li Chengqian and others are still in front of him after all, and his own contribution is not obvious, so it is difficult for people who don’t know to accept it—although Li Zhen also participated in the war against the Turks , and even governed the Turks alone for more than a year, provoking the Huihe Xueyantuo to fight, and in the end the fisherman benefited, and wiped out the two biggest hidden dangers that threatened the stability of the grassland in one fell swoop.