"Have you heard? At the banquet at the Wei Residence last night, His Highness Ke suggested helping the injured soldiers.”
"This is a good thing."
"What's so good about it? It's just that His Highness's way of buying people's hearts.”
"Yes, he wanted to buy the hearts of the people and even wanted to treat the Crown Prince and the King of Wei as fools. Unfortunately, the two princes did not fall for it.”
"Wu Wang, are you preparing to fight for the throne?”
……
The next day.
What happened at the banquet last night began to spread on the streets of Chang 'an.
And it quickly developed in a direction that was not conducive to Li Ke.
Li Ke did not intervene and hid in the mansion after the banquet.
Several days passed, but this rumor did not cool down. Instead, it became more and more intense.
In the Eastern Palace.
"Uncle, why are the rumors targeting Li Ke so strong this time?”Li Chengqian asked.
Zhangsun Wuji stroked his beard and laughed.”
"The aristocratic families!" Li Chengqian instantly understood.
Zhangsun Wuji nodded." That's right. It's the aristocratic families. The words he said to the descendants of the aristocratic families in the Wei Manor that day have already spread among the aristocratic families."”
"Everyone is afraid of him. Everyone says that he is Yang Guang's nephew and has Yang Guang's shadow on him. We can't let such a person inherit the future of the Great Tang!”
"Chengqian." Zhangsun Wuji's expression became unprecedentedly solemn as he reminded,""You must not touch or suppress the gentry.”
"Yang Guang wanted to suppress the aristocrats, but he was overthrown by the aristocrats. Some of your policies were also suppressing the aristocrats, but now, the five surnames and seven Wangs are secretly resisting.”
"Chengqian understands. Li Ke said that the soldiers are the mainstays of our dynasty, but Chengqian knows that the mainstays are the Guanlong Group, the aristocrats of the world! The world that Imperial Grandfather was able to rule depended on the gentry clans.”
Zhangsun Wuji was very satisfied. As a member of the Shi clan, Zhangsun Wuji naturally did not wish for the day when the Shi clan was destroyed to happen in the Li Dynasty.
Even if he was a relative of the royal family, once an avalanche occurred, not a single snowflake would be able to stay out of it.
He, Zhangsun Wuji, was the bond between the aristocrats and the imperial family, the smoother.
"Uncle, I heard that Chang 'an City has taken down the skit producers and they are promoting it to Li Ke these days. These people are spreading rumors to confuse the public. Should we intervene?”Li Chengqian asked.
Zhangsun Wuji shook his head and sighed." Li Ke's unintentional actions created the genre of skits and became the founder of this genre. I didn't expect it to be effective at this time. I just don't know. Back then, he already expected these people to be his help today.”
Skit.
Li Ke created this sect and became famous by stepping on him, Zhangsun Wuji!
Half a year had passed, and all kinds of skits had appeared.
However, the New Year's Eve for Uncle Zhangsun was still the most popular skit!
"We can't make a move now. His Majesty is watching. Moreover, the entire aristocrat class has been mobilized. They will think of a way.”
At a certain wine shop.
In the lively hall, a few skits were performing a skit called "Old Soldiers Never Die" on stage.
The customers in the hall burst into laughter, but they revealed reverent expressions.
"I heard that this skit is based on the King of Wu attacking Tumen Pass and defending Tumen Pass.”
"Is that so? Is it really like a show? The two armies brushed past the mountains, and the soldiers were almost discovered. They all mimicked the cries of birds, wolves, and foxes.”
"I didn't expect that those soldiers who used to be so scary would actually have such a side to them.”
"Isn't that so? At the end, when I played with Songzan and defended Tumen Pass, I laughed until my stomach hurt, but I still couldn't help but want to cry.”
……
In a corner, three young and shabby scholars, a pot of inferior wine, and a stack of peanuts were quietly watching the skit performance and listening to the discussions of the surrounding people.
" These skits are starting to defend the reputation of the founder of their school. I think the rumors against His Highness in Chang 'an will soon be reversed.”One of the young scholars said with a smile.
His companion on the left shook his head and said," It's difficult. I'm afraid Brother Shangguan doesn't know yet. This time, it's the entire aristocratic family behind the scenes. The weak skits, a group of people from all walks of life, are useless.”
"I think so too." Another person agreed.
"I heard that the reason for this is because His Highness said something against the aristocrats. Big Brother Ma Zhou, you were present at the banquet that day.”
Shangguan Yi also looked at Ma Zhou.
Ma Zhou nodded." Yes, His Highness Ke showed extreme contempt and disgust towards the aristocrats."”
"If His Highness were to review the Spring Quarter Examinations this time, there wouldn't be only three Humble Class scholars among the 100 who made it into the roll, right?”Shangguan Yi said indignantly.
Du Zhenglun sneered." Even those three have chosen to rely on the powerful. Isn't Li Yifu, one of the top three, an aide of the King of Wei? It seems that if we want to be high school students, no matter how good our articles are, it's better to choose a powerful person to rely on.”
"If you choose to rely on a noble, I think that His Highness Ke is not bad.”Shangguan Yi said.
Du Zhenglun shook his head repeatedly.
Ma Zhou sighed and said," His Highness can't even protect himself. Moreover, he has no intention of fighting for the throne. Offending the aristocrats is equivalent to offending all the civil officials in the court. It's not appropriate to rely on His Highness. Of course, if His Highness has the ability to reverse the rumors that are surging in this time, it might be worth our loyalty.”
……
It was just like the discussion of Ma Zhou and the other two.
The aristocrats retaliated quickly. The next day, rumors began to spread in Chang 'an that the Four Guardians of Tumen Pass were useless and that the King of Wu, Li Ke, had lost tens of thousands of elites for his own selfish desires.
"Defending Tumen Pass to the death is the King of Wu, Li Ke, fishing for fame to highlight his useless actions!”
"That's right. How could a small barbarian like Tubo dare to oppose our dynasty? Even if the Tubo were to occupy Tumen Pass, as long as our dynasty's army takes down the Dafei River and reopens it, the Tubo would definitely retreat!”
"The King of Wu, Li Ke, stepped on the blood of tens of thousands of soldiers to achieve his reputation! In order to fight for the throne, he will do anything!"
"Now, he's pretending to be merciful and fishing for fame to care for the injured soldiers. It's already been more than ten days, what has he done?”
"Li Ke is living a drunken life in the palace, while those injured soldiers are drinking the northwest wind in the camp outside the city. They are not miserable at all.”
"I saw it too."
"Li Ke didn't even think of doing anything for those soldiers who died or were injured in the battle for the throne. He just wanted to gain a good reputation!”
……
As Li Ke did not make any moves, rumors of Li Ke being hypocritical to gain fame appeared.
Moreover, the people began to doubt it.
After all, more than ten days had passed, and Li Ke really had not done anything.
At the Wei Manor.
Li Tai leaned against the railing and sighed as he fed the fish,""Royal brother, why bother? Let me guess correctly.”
"Your Highness, it's better to stay away from the King of Wu. The entire Shi clan is targeting him.”Li Yifu bowed to the side and reminded him in a low voice.
"Ai, this king understands."
In the Eastern Palace.
Li Chengqian personally played the zither and laughed,""Li Ke, oh Li Ke, you shot yourself in the foot. You offended a class that you can't afford to offend!”
Taiji Palace Warm Pavilion.
Li Shimin put down the memorial in his hand and asked with a frown,"What has that bastard been doing these days? Why is there no reaction at all?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, today, King Wu quietly left the Imperial Residence and went to the military camp. As for what he did, we have not found out. The defense of the wounded soldiers camp outside the city is very tight.”
"Find out as soon as possible. Is that bastard really willing to take on this dirty water this time?”
The release of the results had infuriated Li Shimin. There were very few Humble High Schools, and those in high school had already defected to the aristocrats.
This made Li Shi Min very helpless, and he wanted to cut people with a knife.
He had hoped to use the imperial examinations to break the monopoly of the aristocratic families, but now it seemed that he had basically gone bankrupt.
This b * stard. Usually, when he was bitten by a dog, he would secretly bite the dog. Why was he so obedient this time? Could it be that he was really afraid?
There was something he was afraid of?
Li Shi Min hoped that Li Ke would do something to teach the newly victorious aristocrats a lesson.
"Your Majesty, should the Imperial Court issue a notice to announce that those people have gone too far? They actually dared to smear the importance of Tumen Pass.”Wang De asked carefully.
He didn't dare to mention helping Li Ke and only dared to use Earth Gate Pass to take a detour.
After all, the imperial court's reputation was at stake here.
It was the glorious battle that the Imperial Court had been promoting!
"No need, zhen wants to see if Li Ke dares or not!”
……
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