Since ancient times, when it came to the succession of the throne, it had always been the son of the first wife. Among the sons of the first wife, the son of the first wife was older than the son of the first wife. Thus, as long as there was a son of the first wife, the son of the first wife would be chosen. Only when there was no son of the first wife would the son of the first wife be chosen.
However, ever since Li Longji's first wife had passed away, even though Li Longji had many concubines, none of them had been made Empress. Two of them had been conferred posthumously, and according to the rules, only the son of the Empress could be a son of the first wife. Thus, none of Li Longji's current sons were a son of the first wife. They were all sons of concubines, including Crown Prince Li Heng.
According to the normal order of succession, in a situation where there was no son of the first wife, the eldest son should be the Crown Prince. However, Li Longji did not make his eldest son the Crown Prince. Instead, he made his third son, Li Heng, the Crown Prince. The reason was quite laughable. Because the eldest son's face had been injured, his image was not very good. Thus, he chose the younger third son as the Crown Prince.
They were all sons of concubines, but the eldest son was not made the Crown Prince. Instead, the third son was made the Crown Prince. This clearly made the eldest son feel uncomfortable, even angry. However, he did not dare to voice his anger.
The previous Crown Prince was the second son. In the end, because he was dissatisfied with the Emperor, he was executed by the Emperor. It could be said to be extremely tragic, causing people to sigh endlessly.
Thus, even if the Crown Prince and the other princes were dissatisfied with the Emperor, they did not dare to do anything disobedient. In other words, they did not dare to speak carelessly. Li Mao's matter was an example. All the princes naturally knew about this matter, and they definitely knew that their father was in the wrong. However, not a single prince dared to stand out and say a word. Even in private, they would definitely not talk about this topic, lest someone with ulterior motives overheard it and spread it to the Emperor.
After the former Crown Prince was killed, the hearts of all the princes turned cold. They already understood that their Emperor was a person who dared to kill his son. If they didn't do well enough, they might also be killed. Therefore, their personalities became very careful, and even a little weak. They didn't dare to voice their opinions, and gradually turned themselves into mediocre people.
After all, they didn't want to die. They could tell from their father's actions what he was thinking. What was he trying to do by locking so many of his children and grandchildren together? Wasn't it to let his children and grandchildren supervise each other? If someone met with the ministers of the court or the generals at the border, the other princes would find out. This would prevent the princes from colluding with outsiders and creating a situation where the Emperor was a mere figurehead.
In the royal family, there were many examples of patricide, especially when the old emperor was old. The probability of this happening would increase, and Li Longji had to be on guard against it.
The princes also saw this point, so as long as they were obedient and mediocre, they would not be in any danger. If they were too smart and showed off too much, then they might be suspected by the Emperor.
Of course, sometimes they couldn't be too incompetent. For example, sometimes the emperor would find something for the princes to do. If the princes messed things up, they would be reprimanded.
However, if a certain prince really liked to eat and wait for death, it would be good if he messed things up. In the future, it would be good for him to be an honest Duke of Peace.
The key was that the Emperor's throne was too attractive to the princes. Although the Emperor had appointed the Crown Prince, outsiders felt that the Crown Prince's position was in danger. Although he might be replaced by other princes, the remaining princes naturally had to work a little harder and perform better. In this way, once the Emperor deposed the Crown Prince, he would have the possibility to take the throne.
Therefore, there was a lot of knowledge to grasp. People who were too smart or too stupid would die very miserably.
This might be the Thick Black Theory! People who were too smart were not easy to control, and people who were not easy to control were very dangerous. Therefore, they had to be eliminated. People who were too stupid were like pigs and would seriously implicate themselves. They also had to be eliminated. Only people who were stronger and easier to control were the talents that met the needs of the higher-ups.
To be honest, Li Longji's sons were really quite average. None of them were too smart or too stupid. This might be forced by the environment!
There were no geniuses in this world, and no one was born a prodigy. The so-called prodigy was just a little more hardworking than others. As long as they were willing to work hard, any mediocre person had the possibility to become a prodigy.
In other words, any smart prodigy needed experience. Only through experience could people's abilities be greatly improved. If they didn't undergo training, even if they were a genius when they were young, they would become a complete waste when they grew up.
Li Longji's princes couldn't get enough effective training at all. They didn't dare to talk too much with the capable ministers and generals of the imperial court. Therefore, they naturally couldn't communicate with the talents of the Tang dynasty, let alone learn the abilities of these ministers and generals, and learn how to govern. Naturally, their abilities couldn't be improved very well. It would be strange if they could become talents.
As the saying goes, there are gains and losses. If the princes had too many opportunities to train, they could become talents faster, but at the same time, they would threaten the absolute rule of the emperor. If the princes didn't have opportunities, they would never be able to train and would never know how to govern the country. Once the emperor suddenly had an accident, the country would fall into a state of turmoil.
Therefore, the problem of training successors was a difficult choice. If the successor was trained too early, the crown prince would be eager to take the throne, which would threaten the emperor's safety. If the successor was trained too late, the crown prince wouldn't have the ability to govern the country, and the emperor would have died first. Then, it would be very troublesome.
How to choose between two difficulties was a very troublesome thing. Many emperors didn't deal with this problem well, so there were big problems in the process of the replacement of the throne.
A smart emperor would choose to let the crown prince rule the country when he was old and he would be the retired emperor. In this way, the transition of the regime would be more stable. But how old was he? Was it fifty years old, sixty years old, or even seventy years old? It should be known that many emperors died in their twenties or thirties. There were also many emperors who were still very healthy in their sixties or seventies. There were even some emperors who were very young and healthy, but suddenly died of a serious illness, leaving a big hidden danger for the country.
For an emperor who was greedy for power, naturally, he didn't want his throne to be replaced by others, even if the person was his prince. But he also didn't want the successor to be too incompetent after his sudden death, leading to the decline of the country.
Although the choice was so difficult, the emperor still had to make a choice. He couldn't avoid this problem. For this reason, a little training became the best choice. In this way, the successor cultivated didn't have the ability to replace him. At the same time, because he already had a certain amount of ability, even if he had an accident, he had the ability to control the whole world. At least, it wouldn't be a big problem to be a ruler who kept what he had achieved.
In order to achieve this goal, Li Longji would let the crown prince handle some government affairs from time to time. At the same time, he would also test and supervise the crown prince to see how capable he was. At the same time, he would also see if the crown prince had any improper actions.
Because the emperor would die of old age sooner or later, the crown prince was the real hope of the empire. Therefore, if the emperor handed over all government affairs to the crown prince, it was equivalent to telling the officials that the crown prince would inherit the throne in the future. In this way, many officials would certainly come in advance to express their loyalty to the crown prince in order to gain benefits after the new emperor ascended the throne. In this way, when the old emperor died, the crown prince's people would become the most important backbone of the empire.
If a large number of officials in the imperial court all expressed their loyalty to the crown prince too early, there would inevitably be a tendency for the emperor to become a mere figurehead. It would be very disadvantageous to the emperor's position. If the crown prince couldn't wait, his most loyal followers might plot to kill the emperor and seize the throne, then the emperor would be miserable. The example of Zhao Wuling during the Warring States Period was there, the emperor had to pay attention to it.
Therefore, in order to prevent the officials of the imperial court from overwhelmingly supporting the crown prince, which would pose a threat to his rule, Li Longji was training the crown prince as well as other substitutes who could replace the crown prince at any time. This could divert the attention of the officials and make them confused about what the emperor was going to do. Was he going to depose the current crown prince and put a substitute in place? If so, if they joined the crown prince's party, they would end up miserable and probably die.
Because they couldn't figure out the emperor's intention and who the next emperor of the Tang Empire would be, many officials would choose to wait and see. In other words, they would continue to be loyal to the current emperor wholeheartedly. A small number of particularly confident officials would not so coincidentally choose the same person. They would choose different masters, stand around their masters, and give advice to their masters. In this way, different forces would be formed. These forces would balance each other. At the same time, there would be more forces supporting the emperor, which could ensure the safety of the current emperor.
What the emperor needed to do was to supervise these people and prevent their forces from growing to the point that he couldn't control them. At the same time, he also needed to monitor their words and deeds to prevent them from really taking risks.
Since ancient times, there had been too many examples of coups in the imperial palace. As an emperor who came to power through coups, he was naturally very familiar with the tricks of coups. He himself came to power through coups. In order to prevent others from doing the same to him, Li Longji would inevitably take a lot of precautions. Not only did he take precautions in military matters, but he also took precautions in intelligence matters. For example, he set up a residence of ten lords and let the crown prince live with him. With these measures, he could better control the princes and let them develop according to his needs.
This was simply a mass grooming of mediocre talents. Many princes would have a certain level of ability to govern, but they wouldn't be too outstanding. This was to show the wisdom and greatness of the current emperor.
The talents that the emperor focused on grooming were mainly Crown Prince Li Heng. As substitutes, there were the eldest imperial son Li Zong, the sixteenth imperial son Li Gui, and several other princes who had also been groomed by the emperor. The rest were obscure and unknown. Among them, the eighteenth imperial son Li Mao, who had originally been the most favored, had become the least favored after the Yang Yuhuan incident.
All of the favored princes were very popular. They were the subjects of the ministers' private loyalty. From time to time, they would express their goodwill. Of course, there were also some sly old men who would make the necessary investments in all the princes who could become the next emperor. In this way, no matter who ascended the throne in the end, he would be treated well.
Ordinary officials could choose the princes they supported without any apprehension, but important officials like Li Linfu and Yang Guozhong did not dare to casually choose the princes they supported. They had to wholeheartedly support the emperor. When appropriate, they would appear to be at odds with the princes. In this way, they could dispel the emperor's suspicions. Otherwise, if they incurred the emperor's suspicion, they would be consigned to eternal damnation.
Li Longji did not appear at this gathering of the princes. As a result, the princes were much more relaxed. They ate and drank as they pleased, and from time to time, they would gather together and chat. They appeared rather friendly, and there was no sign that they were competing for the throne.
Normally, at gatherings like this, Li Mao would not say a word and would not easily interact with anyone. When others took the initiative to greet him, he would at most give a token response. But this time, it was different. Li Mao actually took the initiative to greet other princes. This was very unusual. As a result, the three main characters of the banquet paled in comparison to Li Mao.
The princes turned their attention from the Crown Prince and the others to Li Mao. They were all very curious to see what had happened to this favored cuckold brother of theirs to make him so lively.
"What's wrong with Prince Shou today? He's changed so much."
The little eunuch hiding in the dark frowned and thought for a while. Then he ran to report to the emperor.
Ang Lee had long had the privilege of entering the palace at any time. This was the right given to him by the emperor. He could enter the palace without reporting. But this did not mean that the emperor would not know about it after he entered the palace. The moment Ang Lee entered the palace, someone had already sent the news of Ang Lee's entry. As long as Li Longji was not very busy and had no rest, he would report it.
"Oh, Ang Lee has entered the palace. What is he doing?"
"Your Majesty, Assistant Minister Li said that he would go to Penglai Lake to see the rainbow. He seemed to be worried that the fountain equipment was not good enough and there would be a safety hazard."
Li Longji nodded. Suddenly, he thought of something and asked, "Is the Imperial Concubine and her sisters still in Penglai Lake?"
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