Yang Guozhong's thoughts coincided with Li Linfu's. Back then, Li Linfu had also wanted to replace the crown prince, whom he had thoroughly offended, with someone he liked. Unfortunately, he had failed to achieve his wish despite several attempts.
Li Linfu had initially supported King Shou, Li Mao. Back then, Consort Wu Hui was still alive. The reason why Li Linfu was able to do as he pleased in the royal court was not only because of the support of the Profound Sect, but also because of Consort Wu Hui's support. Since both the emperor and his favorite consort favored him, there was no need to mention his background.
The emperor favored Li Linfu because Li Linfu truly had some ability. His administrative abilities were unquestionable, and he was extremely obedient. Li Longji liked the way he handled matters.
The reason why Consort Wuhui thought highly of Li Linfu was because Li Linfu was obedient and not an upright and pedantic person. This was precisely the kind of person she needed. She needed Li Linfu to help her come up with plans to get rid of the Crown Prince at that time and push her son, Li Mao, to become the Crown Prince.
Li Linfu felt that with the support of his favorite consort and her son as crown prince, he would definitely have a bright future. This was also the main reason why he would resort to such means to frame Li Heng.
Unfortunately, Consort Wu Hui passed away not long after. Before her death, Li Linfu tearfully promised Consort Wu Hui that he would save up to help her son ascend to the position of crown prince. After all, he had no choice but to agree. Before this, in order to help Consort Wu Hui's son ascend to the position of crown prince, he had already developed a huge conflict with Li Heng, an irreconcilable conflict. As such, he could only walk this path to the end.
However, the situation was far worse than Li Linfu had imagined. Not long after Consort Wu Hui's death, Li Longji actually took a fancy to King Shou's consort, Yang Yuhuan. Through various means, he took this daughter-in-law for himself. As such, it was naturally inconvenient for Li Mao to become crown prince. Even if Li Linfu had heaven-defying abilities, it would still be difficult for him to do so.
At the time, King Shou was rather favored, and with Li Linfu's help, there was a great chance that he would replace Li Heng as crown prince. However, at this crucial moment, Yang Yuhuan's appearance completely extinguished Li Mao's hopes of becoming crown prince.
The history books recorded that someone recommended Yang Yuhuan to the emperor, but the identity of this person wasn't clear. Perhaps it was Li Heng. After all, as long as Yang Yuhuan was recommended to the emperor, Li Mao would be unable to become crown prince, Li Heng would be able to temporarily keep his position as crown prince. in this case, Li. as well.
As long as Li Mao, his greatest competitor, was eliminated, Li Heng's position would be more or less stabilized. Thus, Li Heng was very suspicious. Even if it wasn't Li Heng, there was a high chance that it was another prince. His goal was to eliminate Li Mao, the most favored and most supported prince, and thus lay the foundation for his future position as crown prince.
King Tan Li Zong's suspicions were second only to Crown Prince Li Heng. As the eldest son, he also hoped to become crown prince. As long as Li Mao was eliminated, his only competitor would be Li Heng. And Li Heng had a great conflict with the number one treacherous official of the court, Li Linfu. Thus, he believed that Li Linfu would definitely think of a way to eliminate Li Heng and remove all obstacles to his own ascension. Alas, after so many years, there had been no progress. Although Li Heng had experienced many trials and tribulations, he had never lost his position as crown prince. If this really was a scheme devised by Li Zong, then Li Heng would be the fisherman who would benefit from it.
Of course, whether it was Li Heng or Li Zong, they were at most plotting from behind the scenes. It was very unlikely that they would personally carry out this task, because if they were exposed, the consequences would be unthinkable.
And as long as their masters were willing, their subordinates would wholeheartedly carry out this task, thus completing the task without anyone noticing.
In fact, the emperor didn't even know who the officials and eunuchs were. For example, Li Fuguo had been sent by the emperor to monitor the crown prince, but this old fox had definitely changed his mind. He had never reported any useful information to the emperor, but instead reported some insignificant matters, thus protecting the crown prince to the greatest extent. Although this was done for his own personal benefit, for the sake of his own meteoric rise, he could still be considered one of the crown prince's men.
As for who it was that had recommended Consort Shou to the emperor, history had no record of it. It was only briefly mentioned. However, there was a high chance that it had been the crown prince and King Tan's men playing tricks, or perhaps it had been one of the other princes, all for the sake of completely cutting off King Shou's path to becoming crown prince.
After all, Li Mao had always been too favored. It was inevitable that the other princes would be dissatisfied, and this could be considered a form of jealousy! In addition, being a favored prince of the imperial household meant that he had a high chance of obtaining the right to inherit the empire, which made others even more jealous. In addition, Li Mao's birth mother, Consort Wu Hui, was a woman who often stirred up trouble. She had schemed to harm Empress Wang, causing Empress Wang to die of depression. At the same time, she had also schemed to kill the previous crown prince and two other princes.
In short, almost all the princes had always disliked King Shou, Li Mao. Their feelings were complicated, and there was even a hint of hatred. However, after Yang Yuhuan was taken away by the emperor, and Li Mao had to observe mourning for the emperor for three years, everyone's hatred had been greatly reduced. This was because Li Mao had become much more pitiful than before, and his life was somewhat miserable. As such, the other princes didn't have to continue hating him, and instead felt pity for him.
After Li Mao's road to becoming the crown prince was completely cut off, among the remaining princes, besides Crown Prince Li Heng, the most qualified one was Li Zong. After all, he was the eldest son of the emperor, and his prestige in the imperial court was equal to that of the crown prince. He was also the most popular candidate to replace the crown prince. However, the other princes were also very likely to succeed.
For example, among Li Shimin's sons, Crown Prince, Prince Qi, and Prince Wei all had a certain prestige, but the one who succeeded the throne in the end was the most inconspicuous Li Zhi, which was out of many people's expectations. Similarly, among Li Zhi's sons, Li Xian and Li Dan were the most incompetent, but they still became the emperor. The same situation could also happen to Li Longji's sons. Therefore, until the last moment, no one could be sure which prince would succeed the throne in the future. In other words, any prince could succeed the throne, and it had little to do with their ability and age. This was the rule of succession in the Tang Empire, which was very chaotic and unruly.
Even Crown Prince Li Heng's ascension to the throne was an impromptu decision by the emperor. After all, he had wanted to make Li Mao the crown prince, but after executing the former crown prince and his two sons, he suddenly realized that it was a conspiracy of Imperial Concubine Wu Hui, which made him quite dissatisfied. Therefore, in a fit of anger, he did not make Li Mao the crown prince, but chose his third son, Li Heng, as the crown prince, which surprised Li Linfu, Imperial Concubine Wu Hui, and the others.
Li Linfu had once very straightforwardly expressed to Li Longji that he wanted to replace Li Zong as the crown prince. Unfortunately, Li Longji did not agree, so he could only keep thinking of ways to frame the crown prince. He could even frame Li Zong to death, just like how he framed the former crown prince.
However, the current Crown Prince, Li Heng, was a difficult person to deal with, a coward. He was not as easy to frame as Li Ying. He spent his days holed up in his Crown Prince Residence, rarely going out. Since he didn't do anything, others naturally couldn't frame him. Even if Li Linfu had heaven-defying abilities, he still couldn't frame Li Heng.
When necessary, he did not hesitate to sever his relationship with his crown prince consort. He would not show any mercy to those he should abandon, thus protecting himself very well. As a result, Li Linfu's many attempts to frame him had all failed. In the end, he could only helplessly watch as Li Heng continued to sit on the crown prince's seat. Even when he was on the verge of death, he still had not been able to topple Li Heng. This made him endlessly worried that when the crown prince ascended the throne, he would dig up his grave and kill all his children and grandchildren. In this way, their family line would be gone.
And at this moment, the only person he could rely on was this ungrateful Yang Guozhong. This was because the relationship between Yang Guozhong and Crown Prince Li Heng was also very bad, an irreconcilable contradiction. When it came to dealing with Li Heng, they had a common interest. This was also why, in history, even though Li Linfu knew that Yang Guozhong had concealed the defeat at Nanzhao, he did not expose him in front of the emperor. This was so that Yang Guozhong could live well and complete his unfinished mission: to find a way to kill Li Heng and change the crown prince of the Tang dynasty.
However, in history, Yang Guozhong was very disappointing. Not only did he fail to kill Li Heng, he even provoked An Lushan in the distant Fanyang, causing the An Lushan Rebellion that caused the Tang dynasty to go from prosperity to decline. On the way to Central Sichuan with the emperor, he was killed by the crown prince. In other words, not only did he fail to kill Crown Prince Li Heng, he was even killed by the crown prince.
Since they had a common enemy, Yang Guozhong could naturally be friends with Li Linfu. If the crown prince was unable to recover from the setback, they naturally did not need to be friends. But now, the emperor was suddenly ill, and the crown prince's position was stable, which made Yang Guozhong nervous. Li Linfu was also nervous. Yang Guozhong was willing to come to learn from him, and Yang Guozhong was also willing to listen, wanting to see this old fox's crafty ideas.
However, Yang Guozhong would not sincerely be friends with Li Linfu. He came to learn from him. As long as Li Linfu lost his value, such as if Li Linfu was dead, he would mercilessly bite him and take everything that belonged to Li Linfu. He was very black-hearted.
Li Linfu was also a sly old fox. He naturally understood that he had to be useful to make Yang Guozhong cooperate with him. Otherwise, he would be abandoned at any time. Therefore, he had to think of a way to make Yang Guozhong fear him, or find a way to delay him, so as to protect his descendants.
"Imperial Censor Yang, have you seen a tortoise?"
Li Linfu asked.
"Right Prime Minister, not only have I seen it, but I have also eaten tortoises. I often eat tortoises."
Yang Guozhong said with a doubtful look.
Li Linfu said meaningfully, "This crown prince is like a tortoise, hiding in his shell all day long. It is really too difficult to deal with him. More than ten years ago, when Concubine Hui was dying, this old man swore to help Prince Shou ascend to the crown prince's position. Unfortunately, the Imperial Concubine's matter happened, this old man felt guilty towards Concubine Hui! After that, I fought with the crown prince for more than ten years. Although the crown prince could not raise his head, I could not defeat him. As long as the crown prince hid in his shell, this old man could only be helpless. There was really no way to deal with him at all! Now that this old man's time is up, I am afraid that I can no longer keep the crown prince in check. This responsibility will be handed over to you. However, you must remember that the crown prince is not easy to deal with. You must be careful. If you cannot defeat him in one move, you must not make a move. Otherwise, once he hides in his shell, it will be even more difficult to deal with him. "
"The crown prince is a tortoise. The Right Prime Minister's analogy is really too appropriate. After so many years, the two of us together have not been able to eliminate him. It seems that he is indeed a tortoise crown prince who is good at hiding his head! He is indeed not easy to deal with. If he really manages to delay until the end and successfully ascends to the throne, then won't our two families be finished? "
Yang Guozhong said worriedly.
Li Linfu nodded and said, "Censor Yang's worries are very reasonable. This is indeed the situation. Therefore, I am also very anxious. The crown prince has been hiding in his shell all this time. It is really too difficult to deal with him. If we want to deal with him, we need to nurture new people and be prepared to replace the crown prince at any time. My son will always assist Censor Yang."
"Who does the Right Prime Minister think is most worth nurturing?"
Yang Guozhong asked.
Li Linfu did not answer directly. Instead, he vaguely let Yang Guozhong find and discover for himself. He could even nurture a few more replacement candidates. In short, it was enough to nurture people who could replace the crown prince at any time. As for how to do it, he did not care so much.
Subsequently, Li Linfu imparted some political skills to Yang Guozhong. However, from time to time, he could guess Yang Guozhong's thoughts. This made Yang Guozhong rather afraid. It seemed that no matter what he was thinking, Li Linfu would always be able to know. This was really too scary. Think about it, any of your thoughts and thoughts could be known by others. How terrifying was that!
"As expected of an old fox. The older the ginger, the spicier it is! Hmph. "
When he saw Li Linfu earlier, Yang Guozhong still had a face of respect. After leaving the Right Prime Minister's residence, he immediately changed his expression.
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