Although Li Zhi is smart, he is still young and has not been deeply involved in the world. He still lacks in the cultivation of his character. He cannot achieve the state of being as stable as a rock and not having external objects linger in his mind. He actually swallowed back half of what Fang Jun said, feeling confused in his heart. He was angry and unwilling, scratching his head and scratching his head was very awkward.
After a long while, he finally managed to say: "The Duke of Yue is very knowledgeable. If you have anything to say, it wouldn't hurt to tell him."
"Ah!"
Fang Jun chuckled lightly, looked at Li Zhi who was pretending to be mature, and said seriously: "A real man has something to do and something not to do. When everyone does something, the first thing is to assess the situation and decide the choice, and then formulates a strategy." , only by strictly following it can you achieve great things. However, there are thousands of ways in the world. Before you fail to achieve something, who knows which way is the right way? Therefore, you must set limits, follow the principles, and know your own goals. Pursuit means knowing more about what can be done and what cannot be done. Therefore, Confucius said: If you do not follow the right path, you must be crazy and stubborn. A crazy person will make progress, and a stubborn person will not do anything."
Crazy is similar to the left, and 狷 is similar to the right.
The madness is too similar, and the 狷similarity is not enough.
Both of these are not good, one is hesitant, the other is careless, both are inferior to the mediocre...
Li Zhi was stunned and nodded slightly.
He understood what Fang Jun meant. It was okay to fight for the throne, but he had to understand his own position, and even more clearly what could and could not be done. He should not be greedy for success and rush forward just for temporary gains and losses. He would lose his bottom line and principles, otherwise he would be in trouble. I will regret it.
As for the "bottom line" and "principle" in Fang Jun's words, Li Zhi naturally understands...
After thinking about it, I felt a little angry.
"The reason why I am fighting for the throne is not because I am greedy for imperial power, nor is I disrespectful to the prince's brother, but because I think that the prince's brother's character is not suitable for being a king. I am not a cold-blooded and ruthless person. I am fighting for the throne, not the prince. My brother's life, how can I, the prince, and his brother be born from the same mother and father, have the heart to let the prince's brother die a good death? Therefore, even if I win the throne and inherit the throne in the future, I will definitely be very kind to the prince's brother and will never let him I felt even the slightest bit aggrieved.”
Although countless people have said it in his ears, once he takes the throne, all the vows made today may not be able to be fulfilled, because by that time, more often than not, the emperor will not be able to control himself, and the emperor will not be able to keep it as he pleases. The deposed crown prince was not something he could achieve through his hard work.
But he still repeated it again and again, because he never thought about forcing the prince to death after successfully competing for the throne, so as to consolidate the throne he had obtained.
In his opinion, since I can win the battle for the throne, it means that I have completely won the support of the whole world. Why should I worry about the weak to negligible threat of the prince brother?
What's more, the prince's brother loves him very much. Even if there is a chance to overthrow him from the throne and put him to death, how can he bear it?
So he felt that it was unfair that everyone only used those stories in history books to measure him and the prince.
Fang Jun sneered and said sarcastically: "How naive! Your Majesty is rich and supreme in the world, but you can't always do whatever you want and have your dreams come true. The higher the position, the greater the power, but in fact, the more fetters and constraints there are. Unless Emperor Yang of Sui is as determined and arbitrary as he is, which emperor is not constrained by various constraints around him?"
These words are to the point, but the meaning inside is very cold.
After the victory of the "Xuanwumen Incident", how could His Majesty Li Er be willing to kill Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji, brothers of the same mother? Not only that, even the descendants of the two brothers were killed together...
It was not that His Majesty Li Er was murderous, but that he had to kill.
Not to mention whether he himself is assured that Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji are alive, even if he is willing to take this risk, who among the Guanlong nobles, Shandong aristocratic families and other forces around him would dare to take this risk with him?
Therefore, regardless of whether His Majesty Li Er wants to kill Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji, these two people must die.
Otherwise, His Majesty Li Er's own camp will be turbulent or even divided...
Li Zhi was a little absent-minded.
He felt that he was more suitable to be the emperor of the Tang Dynasty than the prince, but he could not bear to lose his fortune and life after the prince was deposed. He had always firmly believed that as long as he won the throne in the future, he would do his best to protect the prince's brother's family and follow his father's example. The policies continued to suppress and weaken the family members.
Now I finally feel that maybe all this is just my own whim.
I'm afraid that when that day comes, I really sit in that position. Although I still haven't forgotten my original intention, under the pressure of the situation, I have to do things that go against my heart...
If this is the case, then do you still want to fight for this prince?
Crown Prince or Prince, power or family affection, which one is more important to me?
Li Zhi was entangled and hesitant, falling into chaos and unable to extricate himself...
Lunch was prepared in the kitchen, and the officers of the Ministry of War all ate in the canteen. After a simple meal, they continued to engage in busy work. Because the Eastern Expedition was imminent, all military personnel recruitment, food and fodder transportation, and ordnance distribution in the whole country needed to be reviewed and approved by the Ministry of War, so the affairs were very busy.
Until the time of application, the desks of officials at all levels were still full of documents and had not decreased.
Fang Jun simply passed on the message that he would work overtime until Youshi today and had someone go to Songhe Tower to order some high-quality banquets for dinner.
The Eastern Expedition is imminent, and the entire empire is working together to prepare for it. The officials of the Ministry of War naturally understand the importance. Although there is no overtime pay these days, people still have a strong sense of family and country. No one complains about hardship or tiredness, and no one leaves work early and goes home early.
When the banquet arrived, Fang Jun ordered the officials to suspend their affairs and go to the canteen to have dinner together.
It is worth mentioning that Li Zhi spent the entire afternoon in a daze, sitting in his duty room without going out or working, just in a daze. When I arrived at the canteen, I was probably hungry, so I wolfed down my meal with the officials.
After he was full of wine and food, he followed Fang Jun to his check-in room.
After closing the door, Li Zhi said: "I have thought it over carefully. I still have to fight for this throne, because I always feel that the prince brother is not suitable to be the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. However, what the Duke of Yue said is very reasonable. I Wang will stick to the bottom line, do what should be done, and would rather die than do what shouldn’t be done.”
Fang Jun smiled and nodded: "A boy can be taught."
He knew that it was impossible to persuade Li Zhi to give up fighting for the reserve, and it would be a meritorious deed if he could make him understand the principle of "doing something and not doing something".
Li Zhi looked at him and said angrily: "Don't use such frivolous words. I am a prince. Doesn't the Duke of Yue even distinguish between superior and inferior?"
It wasn't that he had to show off his status as a noble person in front of Fang Jun, but it was Fang Jun's "I treat you like a little brother" demeanor that made him very dissatisfied.
When I was a child?
Seeing Li Zhi's angry look, Fang Jun couldn't help but laugh.
It’s great to be young. I hope that His Highness, Prince Jin, can remember the youth and innocence of today, so that he will not be lost in the desire for power in the future. He wears benevolence, justice, morality and brotherhood on his face, but is full of cruelty and cruelty on the inside... …
He raised his eyebrows and said teasingly: "Why, after being conferred the title of King of Jin by His Majesty, you start to show off and don't even recognize your elders?"
Li Zhi said angrily: "Whose elder are you?"
Fang Jun said leisurely: "I don't know who it was back then, wiping snot from my nose and chasing after me calling me brother-in-law..."
Li Zhi was a little embarrassed, but also became increasingly angry.
Do you still remember the feelings? Haha, we wanted to get close to you back then, but you only liked Sizi. Even if you brought the King of Qi and the King of Shu into trouble later, you would not play with me... Now I think of you as an elder?
I bother!
Li Zhi rolled his eyes, sneered at Fang Jun with his chin, turned around, and walked out of Fang Jun's check-in room with his hands behind his back.
The sky was dark, and all the duty rooms in the Ministry of War Yamen had lit up the lights early. The scribes and clerks shuttled back and forth between the different duty rooms, holding a thick stack of files and documents in their hands from time to time, and their footsteps were hurried. stop.
As the Ministry of War responsible for the deployment of all soldiers and logistics for this Eastern Expedition, not only did it have a huge responsibility, but its workload was also the highest among the six ministries and nine temples in the three provinces. At this time, who dares to be even the slightest bit careless? Of course, the greater the responsibility and the more affairs at the moment, the greater the credit will be after the victory of the Eastern Expedition.
Li Zhi walked around in front of the various duty rooms and was infected by this busy but rigorous atmosphere. His admiration for Fang Jun in his heart naturally rose to a new level.
As a yamen where the Shandong aristocratic family and the Guanlong nobles competed hard, Fang Jun single-handedly managed it to make it watertight and monolithic. Therefore, at this moment, there was no longer any wrangling and shirk, but instead, everyone worked together as one, trying to get everything done. To the best.
The growth of aristocratic families evolved into factional disputes, which in turn led to a great reduction in the efficiency of the court.
Only when power is vested in the center and under the control of the emperor can all the people of the empire move forward in unison... And with the help of the Guanlong nobles to participate in the fight for the throne, even if he succeeds in taking the throne in the future, the power of the family will once again be deeply rooted. Will he still be able to do so? Have the courage and ability to take all the imperial power into your hands?
