No one is born knowing this, especially in the officialdom, where all the intrigues and practical matters need to be tempered and accumulated bit by bit. Like Fang Jun, who can easily master official duties soon after entering the officialdom. There are already very few people like Li Zhi, who grew up within the palace walls since childhood and did not know the sufferings of the world. How could he be able to handle practical matters so easily?
This is not just a matter of talking words, you have to present real materials and convince the people under you to make things happen.
Therefore, although he believed that Li Zhi's character was more suitable for becoming the king of a country, he was also patient enough to allow him to make mistakes.
When Li Zhi heard his father's question, he frowned, sighed, and said helplessly: "In the past, my ministers also served in the Shangshu Province, and they thought that even though they were not outstanding, they could still handle official duties well. However, now that I have arrived at the Ministry of War, I just realized that the practical difficulties are no less than ten times or a hundred times that of Shangshu Province. It is just a practical difficulty, and I can manage it with some effort, but when it comes to the way of the human heart, I am really powerless."
His Majesty Li Er spoke warmly, raised his sword eyebrows, and asked in a deep voice: "Is someone deliberately making things difficult? You are so brave. You are my prince and the chief officer of the Ministry of War. How dare those people ignore their official duties?" , who are trying to make things difficult for you out of pure intention? Let’s talk about who they are, my father will take care of them for you.”
Li Zhi hurriedly said: "Father, I have misunderstood. No one is making things difficult with pure intentions. Although my son is dull, he is not stupid either. He can still resist with open swords and spears. I am afraid that some people are sneaky and dare not show up. But they do it behind the scenes, which makes it difficult for people to guard against it.”
Naturally, he couldn't let His Majesty Li Er come forward to settle the affairs of the Ministry of War for him. Who would Li Zhi become in that case? What's more, even if those people bowed to the emperor's majesty, they did not surrender wholeheartedly. They seemed to be in charge of the entire military department, but in fact it was meaningless.
His Majesty Li Er felt that this childish slave always had something to say when he came today, so he couldn't help but ask: "But what did you notice?"
Li Zhi pondered for a moment and said truthfully: "It's not that I noticed something, maybe I'm narrow-minded and villainous. I'm always afraid that someone will do something behind my back and hit me unexpectedly."
"Ah,"
His Majesty Li Er laughed, took a sip of tea, and said with a faint smile: "When it comes to pulling tricks behind the scenes, your uncle is a first-rate expert. I really don't believe that anyone can pull his tricks." Go behind your back?"
This was a bit embarrassing. Li Zhi smiled and said: "My uncle is certainly smart, but if you want to make a difference, you can't rely on your uncle for everything. You should face the difficulties yourself and gain experience."
This statement actually expresses my position: I use the power of Changsun Wuji to fight for reserves, but I have my own bottom line and know what I can do and what I cannot do, so you can rest assured Just fine.
His Majesty Li Er naturally understood, and felt a little relieved. He stroked his beard and smiled and said, "Then why don't you tell me, father, what difficulties did you encounter?"
Li Zhi sighed again and told his guess after Liu Shi mentioned something, but skipped Liu Shi's part.
It's okay if you can't solve the problem. If you need someone else to point out the problem before you can even find it, that's too useless.
His Highness Prince Jin is a man of face...
His Majesty Li Er frowned, looked at Li Zhi and asked, "Who told you this?"
Li Zhi's heart skipped a beat and refused to admit it: "What I said to my father was not mentioned by others to my son, but my own conjecture."
His Majesty Li Er snorted and did not continue to ask. He thought for a while and said: "Later, my father will inform Li Junxian and ask him to send some good men from the 'Baiqisi' to start with the loading of the ordnance until it arrives." Liaodong, supervise along the way to ensure there are no mistakes."
Li Zhi was overjoyed: "Thank you, Father! Hey, maybe this is just a villain's way of judging a gentleman's heart. The prince's brother will not hesitate to delay the Liaodong army's war preparations but also attack him, but be careful to sail the Wannian ship. It’s better to be cautious.”
His Majesty Li Er remained silent.
The father and son talked for a while, and then Li Zhi resigned.
His Majesty Li Er looked at the back of his legitimate son, sighed softly, and shook his head.
When Empress Wende died, there were three remaining children: Zhinu, Sizi, and Xiaoyao, who were babbling and learning to talk. Except for Xiaoyao, who was too young and needed nursing care from a wet nurse, Zhinu and Sizi were raised by his side and lived together day and night. , the feelings are naturally extraordinary.
There is no better son than a father.
His Majesty Li Er naturally understood the intelligence and intelligence of the son he had raised by himself, but he also knew that his lack of broad-mindedness was his shortcoming.
In comparison, although the prince is indecisive and kind-hearted as a woman, he is absolutely worthy of justice. Now with Fang Jun as his assistant, he has already had lofty ambitions and a broad mind, so how can he not hesitate to ruin the Liaodong army's winter preparations? , how to use this to attack the prestige of King Jin?
Zhinu keeps saying that he has a villain's heart, but he really does have a villain's heart.
However, he is now working hard to cultivate young slaves. Sometimes he needs teaching, sometimes he needs guidance, so that he can understand the core of government practice. He believes that with the wisdom of young slaves, he will be completely transformed in three to five years. If there is a ten-year-old slave, After eight years of cultivation, he will become a wise king.
It is a great achievement to single-handedly cultivate one of his most proud sons into a talented person.
It's just a pity, Prince...
But what can be done?
As a king in a family, a country, and a world, the first thing to consider is the inheritance of the country. How can you put the love between father and son first?
That may be fair to the prince, but it is unfair to the people of the world.
*****
Li Zhi returned to the palace and had dinner. He made a pot of tea and sat with Princess Jin in the flower hall for a while. After chatting, he felt a little sleepy. After taking a bath, he returned to the bedroom to rest.
Unexpectedly, when he was about to lie down, a servant knocked on the door and reported that someone from the eldest grandson's family came to see him.
Although I felt uncomfortable disturbing my sweet dream, now I and the eldest son's family were in such a tight relationship that it was difficult to tell them apart. And I knew that someone from the eldest grandson's family would have something important to do at this time, so I had to brace myself and put on a coat. The robe came to the main hall.
The visitor is Chang Sun Yan, the fifth son of Chang Sun Wuji.
Changsun Yan was sitting in the hall. When he saw Li Zhi coming out of the back hall, he quickly stood up and said, "I have seen His Royal Highness the King of Jin."
Li Zhi sat down, waved his hands, and said with a smile: "We are all brothers, why should we be so invisible? Sit down and talk."
"Here."
Changsun Yan sat down as he was told, and then heard Li Zhi ask: "What are your uncle's orders for coming so late?"
Changsun Yan said: "It was my father who ordered me to come and inform His Highness that the ships hired from the south of the Yangtze River have arrived outside Tongguan. They will be able to enter the pass at midnight and gather at Fangjiawan Pier. Your Highness will be able to take command early tomorrow morning." The officers of the Ministry of War are loading the weapons onto the ships. My family members are doing business in Liaodong. I received a letter yesterday saying that the weather in Liaodong has been very cold, there have been several strong winds, and it is expected to snow in a few days. Your Highness needs to hurry up. That’s all.”
It is bitterly cold in Liaodong, and the road conditions are even worse. They are usually fine, but once it snows heavily, it will be difficult to walk even if the mountains are closed for thousands of miles. If it snows heavily in Liaodong, even if these ordnance can be transported to Liucheng Pier, there is no way to transport it to the garrison of various armies.
That's why I'm so eager.
Li Zhi suddenly became energetic, and he was also a little strange in his joy: "That Fang Jun is now in the south of the Yangtze River. It is impossible for the major noble families to mobilize such a large fleet silently. Didn't he interfere and try to stop it? "
There are few ships in Guanzhong. Although shipping has gradually become the focus of domestic transportation in the Tang Dynasty, it started late after all, and it is impossible to gather the more than a hundred cargo ships needed to transport ordnance. If you want to gather so many ships at one time, only those Jiangnan nobles can do it.
But now that Fang Jun is in Jiangnan, it is impossible for such a large-scale ship movement to escape his eyes and ears. Once it is noticed, it will be blocked at all costs. This will inevitably delay the plan to transport ordnance.
So when Changsun Wuji first mentioned this idea, Li Zhi didn't have too many expectations.
But there was no other way, so Li Zhi was always on tenterhooks...
Changsun Yan is now the one in charge of foreign affairs among Changsun Wuji's disciples. He is deeply respected by Changsun Wuji, so he knows a lot of inside information. Hearing this, he shook his head and said: "As far as Wei Chen knows, the entire fleet assembly process is very complicated." It went smoothly and did not encounter any obstruction. However, according to the Jiangnan Express, Fang Jun suffered an assassination some time ago. Fortunately, he was only slightly injured and was not serious. Perhaps it was because of his full efforts to detect the murderer that he I don’t have the energy to stop us from doing anything.”
Li Zhi was shocked and lost his voice: "Fang Jun was assassinated?"
A few days ago, Tian Qiu Xinggong went to his father and confessed that Changsun Wuji wanted to send Qiu Yingqi south to assassinate Fang Jun. However, Qiu Yingqi went south and instead of going, he sneaked back to Chang'an and assassinated Gao Jifu.
But unexpectedly, Fang Jun was still assassinated...
Was Chang Sun Wuji instigating this?
