Chapter 7: Survival in the Struggle
When Li Yuan failed to threaten Li Shimin, Pei Ji singled him out and praised him for his courage and strategy. Wasn't this just a reminder to Li Yuan that he could use him to deal with Li Shimin?
Is Li Shimin so easy to deal with?
If Li Shimin was easy to deal with, he would not have become an emperor of all ages.
The Tian Ce Palace and Xiu Wen Guan under Li Shimin almost monopolized most of the talents in the early Tang Dynasty. Li Shimin also controlled nearly 60% of the military forces of the Tang Dynasty.
What can Li Yuanji use to compete with Li Shimin?
Courage?
"The tree wants to be still but the wind does not stop!"
"Pei Ji, you bastard, just wait for me. Sooner or later, I will kill you and dig up your grave!"
Li Yuanji gritted his teeth and muttered.
Li Yuanji was really pissed off by Pei Ji.
Pei Ji's trick was both sinister and cruel.
Even if he did nothing, Li Shimin would look at him with suspicion.
After Li Jiancheng knew about this, he would also be wary of him.
There is an allusion called "Suspecting the Neighbor of Stealing the Axe", which roughly means that when you think someone is a thief, he looks like a thief no matter how you look at him.
If Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng continued to look at him with suspicion, they would sooner or later regard him as a "thief".
At that time, in order to survive, he would have to compete with Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng.
Although Li Yuanji was angry, he also learned two lessons from Pei Ji's trick.
First, it is not easy to jump out of a cage once you are in it.
Second, if you don’t have enough strength and are plotted against by others, you will be at their mercy.
If Li Yuanji had the same ability as Li Shimin, would he still care about what Pei Ji said?
If Pei Ji dared to plot against him, he could lead his troops to wipe out Pei Ji and Li Yuan at the same time.
Li Yuanji has carefully analyzed that Li Shimin now has the ability to replace Li Yuan.
The reason why Li Shimin was hesitant to act was that Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng had not yet fought to the point of death, and Li Shimin had no intention of killing his brothers.
Li Shimin still has great expectations for Li Yuan, hoping that Li Yuan will pass the position of crown prince to him as promised.
"Since I can't easily jump out of the cage and I don't want to be manipulated by others, I can only survive in the struggle. And the first task of the struggle is to strengthen myself.
Damn Pei Ji, you have caused your father so much trouble."
Li Yuanji completely hated Pei Ji.
He could have closed the door, turned a deaf ear to what was happening outside, and lived a carefree life.
With Pei Ji doing this, he won't have peace even when he closes the door.
Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng would only think that he was hiding his abilities and concealing his incompetence.
While cursing Pei Ji, Li Yuanji was thinking about ways to strengthen himself.
He had no shortage of money, land, or manpower.
The only thing he lacks is people who will follow him loyally.
However, the talented people in the early Tang Dynasty either entered the Eastern Palace or went to the Prince of Qin's Palace. There were almost no people who could be recruited by him and ensured their loyalty.
“No…that’s not right!”
Li Yuanji suddenly thought of a group of people who might be able to be used by him.
They were a group of people who were not favored by Li Yuan. Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng were unwilling to use them because of Li Yuan's reasons. As a result, although they were full of knowledge and bravery, they could only serve as minor officials in the Tang Dynasty.
"If Li Yuan believed Pei Ji's slander and used me to deal with Li Shimin, he probably wouldn't mind me recruiting those people. If Li Yuan didn't believe Pei Ji's slander and didn't need me to deal with Li Shimin, then if I recruited those people, Li Yuan would at most scold me a few words, but he wouldn't really do anything to me."
When Li Yuanji thought of this, he immediately shouted outside the palace: "Xie Shufang?"
The guard outside the palace trembled and appeared in the palace. He knelt on one knee carefully in front of and reminded him in a low voice, "Your Highness...it's the second watch...Xie Zhizhang has gone back to sleep..."
Li Yuanji was a little embarrassed. He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he forgot the time.
"Then you can leave. When Uncle Xie wakes up tomorrow, ask him to come over."
“Yes!”
The guard agreed with a sigh of relief and left the main hall.
Li Yuanji thought for a while, and when he felt sleepy, he went to sleep on the treasure couch behind the screen in the main hall.
Not long after Li Yuanji fell asleep, a figure carrying a bowl of soup tiptoed into the hall.
Not seeing Li Yuanji behind the long table in the hall, he walked around the screen and appeared in front of Li Yuanji's couch.
Seeing that Li Yuanji had fallen asleep, she prepared to leave with the soup.
I just saw Li Yuanji kicking the quilt open, one leg sticking out of the quilt, and looking a little hesitant.
She gritted her teeth, put down the soup, walked tremblingly to Li Ji, and carefully put Li Yuanji's feet into the quilt.
During this period, she didn't dare to breathe.
After covering Li Yuanji with the quilt and making sure that he was still asleep, she tiptoed out of the main hall with the soup, feeling relieved.
Walk to the main hall door.
The guard at the gate couldn't help but say, "Madam Chen, His Highness has already fallen asleep and will probably not wake up until tomorrow morning. You should go back to sleep too."
The guards saw with their own eyes that Chen Shanyi stood guard in a corner not far from the main hall for most of the night. He waited until Li Yuanji was free, and then he brought soup to Li Yuanji.
Chen Shanyi hesitated for a moment, said nothing, and hurried away with the soup.
"Why……"
The guard let out a long sigh.
…
The next day.
Li Yuanji opened his eyes as the bells from the bell tower rang.
The maids had already arrived early, bringing toiletries and waiting in front of the bed.
Li Yuanji sat up, and the maids immediately came forward and served him.
While Li Yuanji denounced the corruption of feudal society in his heart, he enjoyed the service of his maids with peace of mind.
Li Yuanji could also choose not to let them serve him.
But the consequence was that the Shangyi official held them accountable.
Before Li Yuanji cleared out the ceremonial officials in his mansion, he could only enjoy their service with peace of mind.
After Li Yuanji washed and dressed neatly, he walked to the long table in the main hall and saw Xie Shufang kneeling on one knee on the ground, with Liu Jun, the eunuch beside Li Yuan, standing next to him.
When Liu Jun saw Li Yuanji, he bowed and said, "Your Highness, I, Liu Jun, greet you."
Without waiting for Li Yuanji to speak, Liu Jun stood up and said, "Everyone, please make an oral order. From now on, Your Highness will no longer be under house arrest."
At the entrance of the palace, Chen Shanyi had just walked up the stone steps with his meal, but when he heard Liu Jun's words, his body froze in place.
The guards standing on both sides of the palace entrance sighed in their hearts and closed their eyes, unable to bear to look at her.
People often say that the Heavenly Family is ruthless, but no one expected that the Heavenly Family would be so ruthless.
Li Yuanji was put under house arrest because of his disobedient behavior towards Chen Shanyi.
Just a few days later, it was lifted.
Who cares about Chen Shanyi’s thoughts?
Chen Shanyi may not want Li Yuanji to be punished because of her.
But how could Chen Shanyi tolerate Li Yuan's perfunctory way of dealing with things? !
"No, I think house arrest is good. Go back and tell my father that I like house arrest very much."
Li Yuanji sat down behind a long table and spoke casually.
Liu Jun did not respond to Li Yuanji's words, nor did he say much. He just bowed to Li Yuanji again and said, "I'm leaving now!"
He had already conveyed Li Yuan's oral instructions and completed his duty. Whether Li Yuanji listened or not was up to him.
When Liu Jun walked out of the hall, he saw Chen Shanyi holding a meal in his hand. He was slightly stunned, bowed slightly to Chen Shanyi, then walked around Chen Shanyi and left the Wude Hall.
“That’s not how it works.”
After Liu Jun left, Li Yuanji sighed in a low voice.
Li Yuan did not treat Chen Shanyi as a human being at all. When he gave the oral order, he did not care about Chen Shanyi's feelings at all.
Even though Chen Shanyi was born a servant in the Li family, he still raised his son.
Li Yuan's behavior was obviously a bit ungrateful, or perhaps he never acknowledged from the beginning to the end that Chen Shanyi had raised his son.
He may feel that Chen Shanyi is not worthy of raising his son.
But is this a question of suitability?
"Go, pass the order down and say that I have confined myself to my own house. During this period, you are not allowed to leave the Wude Hall without an imperial decree."
Li Yuanji gave instructions to Xie Shufang.
Xie Shufang agreed and immediately went out to pass the order.
Chen Shanyi, who was standing at the entrance of the hall, suddenly felt her eyes turn red after hearing what Li Yuanji said. She fled away from the main entrance of the Wude Hall with her food in her hand.
The guard at the door suddenly opened his eyes, a look of disbelief on his face.
When did His Majesty become so affectionate and righteous? !
This is not normal!
Li Yuanji would not care about other people's thoughts. Li Yuan did not regard Chen Shanyi as a human being, but he had to treat Chen Shanyi as a human being.
When Li Yuan handled the matter, he did not care about Chen Shanyi's feelings;
Not long after Xie Shufang left the main hall, he returned to the main hall and reported to Li Yuanji, "Your Highness, I have passed on your instructions."
Li Yuanji nodded with satisfaction.
Xie Shufang added: "I have also investigated the matter you asked me to investigate."
As he spoke, Xie Shufang took out a stack of papers from his arms and placed them respectfully in front of Li Yuanji.
Li Yuanji was not in a hurry to look at the paper Xie Shufang handed to him, but asked with a smile: "You are not young anymore, do you have a girl you like?"
"ah?!"
Xie Shufang was stunned.
"Is there one?"
“No…no.”
"You're so boring. When other people were your age, they had kids running around everywhere, but you don't even have a girl you like."
Li Yuanji waved his hands at Xie Shufang in disdain, leaving Xie Shufang confused.
Xie Shufang stepped aside and glanced at Li Yuanji from time to time. He always felt that Li Yuanji had been a little unserious in the past two days.
Li Yuanji picked up the paper on the long table and began to read it carefully.
It took two incense sticks of time for Li Yuanji to finish reading Xie Shufang's "investigation report".
Li Yuanji put down the paper and said with emotion: "The ladies and subordinates in my house are really rich. A small official below the eighth rank has thousands of acres of fertile land outside Chang'an City, four shops and two houses in Chang'an City."
When Xie Shufang heard this, he immediately stood up and said, "Your Highness should be talking about Chen Dianqian. After investigation, I found that among the thousands of acres of good farmland outside Chang'an City, only a hundred acres belong to Chen Dianqian himself. The rest are the land he seized from other maids and eunuchs in the mansion, as well as the land he occupied from the people.
The four shops in Chang'an were all seized by force, and one of the two houses was given by His Highness, and the other was seized by him in the name of His Highness."
Li Yuanji tapped the long table with his fingers and asked, "After they found out that I was investigating them, did anyone escape? Did anyone confess?"
Xie Shufang was a little panicked when he heard Li Yuanji's words. He hurriedly explained, "I investigated this matter in secret and nothing was leaked."
