At the same time that the crown prince received the news, the third prince Li Heng also received the news.

Li Heng has reached the age of sixteen and has just left the palace to open a mansion. At this time, a large group of civil servants and military generals also gathered in Li Heng's mansion, all of whom were good friends with Li Heng on weekdays.

Li Heng is also full of grief and indignation now: "My father was suddenly assassinated and died, who do you say was the murderer?" ”

Zhang said: "According to the old man's opinion, it is likely that the crown prince or the eldest prince is so-called, because the emperor died, and the most direct beneficiaries are the two of them." But their motives are very insufficient, no one is absolutely sure that they can ascend the throne, and it is indeed not easy to assassinate the emperor with their ability. It's so weird. ”

Li Heng said: "My father has died, and the crown prince and the eldest prince are bound to compete for the throne, what does Lord Zhang need to do if I see me?" ”

Zhang said: "The three princes, as seen by the ministers, it is not that the eldest prince and the crown prince are competing for the throne, but even the three princes are involved. As the saying goes, even if the three princes do not have the heart to compete for the throne, but the three princes have the ability to compete for the throne, so they are destined to become the target of their attacks. At present, the crown prince has the support of Lord Li Linfu, half of the people in the court are their henchmen, and Wang Maozhong, the commander of the Praetorian Guard, is a close confidant of the prince, and Chang'an City will definitely be controlled by the prince. And the eldest prince was training in Luoyang at this time, and he was naturally eyeing the military power in his hands. At present, the strength of the two of them is above the three princes, and the three princes should not compete with them, it is better to avoid their edges, taoguang and obscurity, and wait until they compete with each other to make a profit. ”

Li Heng was overjoyed when he heard this, and said: "What Lord Zhang said is extremely true, but how can we split the dispute? ”

Zhang said: "At present, although the eldest prince and the crown prince have their own merits, the eldest prince obviously has an advantage in military strength, and he has a good alliance with Li Zhengfang in the court. Among the three of you, the strength of the eldest prince is the strongest, so at this time, it is natural to help the weak and resist the strong. The third prince might as well go to the prince now to make a stand with the prince and support the prince. The prince must need troops now, the three princes have been friends with Wang Zhonghei since childhood, and now Wang Zhonghei is the general of Jin Wuwei, just in Youzhou, he has 30,000 elite soldiers in his hands, and the three princes can go to Youzhou to transfer troops to help. As long as the eldest prince is repulsed, the third prince will have the opportunity to compete with the crown prince for the throne. ”

Li Heng clapped his hands and said: "Okay, this plan is very good, I will repair a book and let Wang Zhongji come to help me." ”

"Report, the three princes, the crown prince summoned hundreds of civil and military officials to gather in the Xuanzheng Hall to discuss the new monarch's accession to the throne, please go to the court quickly."

Zhang said: "The prince is trying to win the hearts of the people, and most of the ministers of the court and the central government will be attached to the prince, but these people are not the ones who can decide the situation of the war." If the crown prince wants to ascend the throne and succeed to the throne, the three princes must not block it, but must fully approve it. ”

Li Heng frowned and said, "Although I want to help the crown prince, there is no need to approve of his succession, right?" If he succeeds to the throne, won't he be the emperor directly? ”

Zhang said: "No, the big trouble now is the eldest prince, and the crown prince's accession to the throne will inevitably become a fire and water with the eldest prince, forcing the eldest prince to hand over his military power, so that the two will never look back." Not only that, but he can also repair another letter with the eldest prince to tell the eldest prince that the prince has the intention of killing him, so that as long as the eldest prince is wary, the two will never be of one heart and one mind. ”

Li Heng clapped his hand and said, "I know, I'll go to meet the prince, and the rest will be done according to what Master Zhang said." ”

In the Xuanzheng Palace, most of the civil and military officials have already arrived, and the ministers are arguing. There are those who support the eldest prince, those who support the crown prince, and those who support the three princes.

"Although the emperor appointed the crown prince, he did not issue an edict to pass on the throne. The emperor died, and it stands to reason that the eldest son should succeed to the throne, and it is natural for the eldest prince to succeed to the throne. ”

"Wrong, wrong, although the eldest prince is the eldest son, he was not born to the queen, he can only be regarded as the eldest son, not the eldest son. What's more, the eldest prince has a disabled face, which is detrimental to the national body, I think it is more appropriate for the crown prince to succeed to the throne. ”

"Since there is no eldest son, then the other princes have the possibility of succession. The eldest prince can only lead troops to fight and does not understand government affairs. The crown prince's usual style is too extravagant and coquettish, and in my opinion, the successor to the throne should be outstanding in the Chinese martial arts of all princes, and I think the third prince is more suitable. ”

"This is wrong, the three princes are still young, neither the eldest son nor the crown prince, where is the reason for the three princes to succeed to the throne. If every system is in order, wouldn't every prince be able to succeed to the throne? Isn't this a mess? ”

……

The court was in full swing, and Li Linfu and the crown prince Li Ying came to the Xuanzheng Hall together.

Li Linfu said: "Ministers, everyone must have known about the emperor's death. This incident happened suddenly, and a real disaster fell from the sky, and the sun and the moon were covered with ashes. However, as the saying goes, a family cannot be left without an owner for a day, and a country cannot be without a king for a day. ”

The prince sat in front of the dragon table at this time, and did not sit directly on the dragon chair, but set up another chair next to the dragon chair and sat on it. Although there is no transgression, the intention is already obvious.

Many ministers in the court echoed and said: "The minister thinks that the crown prince should succeed to the throne, stabilize the dynasty, and bless the Tang Dynasty." ”

There are also some ministers who insist that the matter of succeeding to the new monarch should not be a child's play and should be considered in the long run.

The third prince watched coldly, and waited for the ministers to finish speaking, before he stepped forward and said: "The younger brother thinks that this is an extraordinary period, and the imperial brother has always been the most optimistic prince of his father. I have always had high hopes for the imperial brother, and I think that my father's spirit in the sky also hopes that the imperial brother will inherit the throne, and the courtier implores the imperial brother to ascend the throne and preside over the government on the same day. ”

The crown prince Li Ying was very surprised, but he didn't expect Li Heng to insist that he succeed to the throne, you must know that the relationship between these two people was not good when he was a child.

Because of Li Heng's support, the prince's succession to the throne has become the general trend, so the opposition has been suppressed, and Li Linfu quietly wrote down the people who oppose the prince's succession.

In the prince's mansion, Li Heng came to visit.

Li Ying greeted with a smile: "Oh, the imperial brother really understands the righteousness, thanks to the support of the imperial brother, I can successfully inherit the throne." In the past, I had a lot of dislikes with you, but now the royal brother doesn't care about the previous suspicions, which really makes the royal brother ashamed! ”

Li Heng said: "Whatever the imperial brother said, it was the younger brother who was ignorant before. Now that it is a matter of the rise and fall of the country's fortunes, how can it be rash? The younger brother naturally advocated that the royal brother succeed to the throne, and at this time, our brothers should be in the same boat. It's just that the younger brother is afraid that the other brothers will not be convinced, especially the eldest brother, and the imperial brother also knows the temperament of the eldest imperial brother. ”

Li Ying said: "Yes, the eldest brother has long held a grudge against me for being made the crown prince by my father, and this time he will definitely make it difficult for me." And the eldest brother holds the military power, which is really tricky. ”

Li Heng said: "The imperial brother is not in a hurry, the younger brother can transfer 10,000 elite soldiers from the hands of the Qizhou Assassin, which can solve the urgent need of the imperial brother." Of course, the younger brother will not have the power to control the army, and all of them will be handed over to the imperial brother to drive away. ”

Li Ying was overjoyed and said, "Is this true? ”

Li Heng said: "Brother Chen, let's do it, Brother Huang can wait for the good news of Brother Chen." ”

After Li Heng left, Li Linfu came out of the inner room, and Li Ying asked, "Lord Li, can the third child really transfer troops to help?" ”

Li Linfu said: "If the eldest prince breaks through Chang'an, although the crown prince suffers, the third prince may not be spared. If there is no hair in the skin, it will be attached, and the three princes must understand this truth. Lao Chen believes that the three princes will not boast about Haikou for no reason. However, the three princes may not be sincere in helping His Highness. His Highness can use him, but he must be guarded against. ”

Li Ying nodded and said, "Have you found out the names of those old stubborn people in the court?" Get rid of it as soon as possible. In addition, Li Zhengfang did not come to the court meeting today, so he must have gone to Luoyang. It seems that a battle with the Great Prince is inevitable. (To be continued.) )