Chapter 2: Three Strategies for the King

  I arranged my thoughts and ordered the book boy named Li Xin to inform him, after which I would see him when Prince Yong got up. Who knew that in a short while, I saw Prince Yong and Shi Tuo hurrying in, with their clothes neat and tidy, looking slightly tired, as if they hadn't slept all night. At first, I was stunned, then suddenly enlightened - it seemed that Prince Yong had been waiting anxiously?

  Please have a seat, Your Highness. After exchanging a few casual words and seeing that the Duke of Yong had calmed down, I asked: 'May I ask, Your Highness, why must you ascend to the throne?'

  Yong Wang was taken aback, as he had long considered ascending to the throne a necessary task for himself. The reasons were not only that he believed he deserved such retribution but also that he felt no one else could unify the world under Great Yong's rule. For the sake of Great Yong's ancestral temple, he had to disregard his reputation. However, when Jiang Zhe asked him this way, he suddenly found it difficult to answer. Usually, he and his subordinates took this matter for granted, but now he didn't know how to explain it to Jiang Zhe.

  I smiled slightly, this is something I've discovered a long time ago. When Prince Yong tried to persuade me to surrender, he didn't explain his own ideology at all. This can only show that Prince Yong's own ambition is not clear and his stance is not firm. A high-rise building rises from the ground, if there isn't such an ideology as the foundation, then Prince Yong's great cause will ultimately be a castle in the air.

  I continued: "Given the current situation, Da Yong's foundation is quite solid. The crown prince occupies the position of eldest son and has no obvious shortcomings. Why must the officials support him against the emperor's will? With his control over the military, he can summon a hundred responses with one call. If he were to forcibly seize power, he would inevitably be subject to criticism for plotting rebellion and usurpation. Although the crown prince is wise and powerful, if he leaves behind an incorrect example for future generations - that as long as one has power and achievements, they can ascend to the throne - then treason can proceed under the guise of legitimacy. The authority of the monarch would be called into question. The function of a stable system outweighs that of a wise ruler. Therefore, although the crown prince's achievements are unparalleled, they cannot serve as justification for him to seize the imperial throne."

  Li Zuo thought for a moment and said: "This is probably the reason why the old courtiers value my achievements but are unwilling to actively support me in succeeding to the throne."

  I nodded and said: "If I were those elders, watching the rise of Dayong from nothing to something, they would not want to see the power of Dayong diminished due to internal strife. Therefore, they cannot support Your Highness's succession, even if Your Highness is a better candidate for the throne in their minds. They will not strongly support you unless it is for personal gain and future glory. Only a few can see that only with Your Highness on the throne can Dayong be preserved. Ordinary people do not understand the importance of Your Highness's succession, so Your Highness should tell them."

  Li Zai listened to what I said and asked, "To be honest, the king just feels that he cannot hand over the throne to his imperial brother. He is too close to Fengyimen, but the reason is not very clear."

  "I humbly submit that the first strategy I offer to Your Highness is to clarify your ambition. Although the Great Harmony appears prosperous, it is actually beset by hidden worries. This worry is none other than the Phoenix Instrument Gate. The concern of the Great Harmony does not lie in the strong enemies from the four directions, but rather within its own walls. The Phoenix Instrument Gate uses benevolence and righteousness as its outer garment, while using power and strategy as its inner workings. It controls the imperial harem and manipulates the officials below. If this continues, the Phoenix Instrument Gate will eventually become the de facto ruler of the empire, with the Crown Prince being nothing more than a puppet. Your Highness, as the rightful heir, does not know how to cultivate virtue and instead colludes with the Phoenix Instrument Gate in order to secure his position. If you allow the Crown Prince to ascend to the throne, not only will your own life be in danger, but also the foundation of the empire will be destroyed, allowing the Great Harmony to fall into the hands of women. However, if the Crown Prince were to eliminate the sycophants around him and sever ties with the Phoenix Instrument Gate, even then he would have no power to defend himself, and Your Highness would not dare to take action against him. This is because the Crown Prince's lack of virtue comes first, rather than any intention on your part to rebel. Moreover, if we speak frankly, the empire does not belong to a single family or surname. If the Phoenix Instrument Gate were truly a good choice, then I would not need Your Highness to eliminate it. However, in my opinion, the disciples of the Phoenix Instrument Gate are arrogant and reckless, unaware of the suffering of the people, and only concerned with contending for power and profit. Although I am from Chu, I have lived in Southern Chu for many years and have a good understanding of them. If such short-sighted and self-aggrandizing women were to grasp power, I fear that the common people would suffer greatly. Perhaps the original intention of the Phoenix Instrument Gate was to serve the country and the people, but now it has degenerated into a tool for seizing power. If Your Highness cannot eliminate the influence of the Phoenix Instrument Gate, then not only will the Great Harmony be unable to unify the empire, but also risk falling into the hands of women. As the son of the emperor of the Great Harmony, how can you bear to see the empire fall and the people suffer? Since the Crown Prince is blinded by the temptation of power and cannot fulfill his duties as the rightful heir, then it is only natural that Your Highness should take his place."

  Upon hearing this, Li Zai's face lit up with excitement as he said: "Sir, you have truly grasped the thoughts of this king. I too have thought the same way, only it has never been so clear and distinct. Indeed, if not for the existence of the Fengyi Gate, what would be wrong with me being a carefree prince?"

  I smiled slightly and didn't bother to distinguish between what was true or false in Li Zai's words. Anyway, it wasn't important.

  I said calmly: "A strategy to make Your Highness resolute, please allow me to explain the current situation first. The reason why you feel like you're in a precarious position is because of the close relationship between the Emperor, the Crown Prince, King Qi, and Feng Yimen, making it difficult for you to take action. However, in my opinion, they are not as united as they seem. The Emperor, the Crown Prince, and King Qi are not as defenseless against Feng Yimen as you imagine. They only tolerate Feng Yimen's existence because of their own personal interests.

  If the Emperor didn't have any reservations, Empress Ji wouldn't be childless. Over the years, the Emperor has had many concubines who have borne him numerous children, indicating that he is in good health. However, Empress Ji remains childless, which makes me think that the Emperor doesn't want her to have a son and compete for the throne.

  The Crown Prince may favor his concubine, but he loves his son dearly. As the saying goes, 'a mother's status is elevated by her son, and a son's status is elevated by his mother.' Throughout history, there have been many cases of men killing their wives and children because they favored their concubines. If the Crown Prince didn't also have reservations about Feng Yimen, I'm afraid the Crown Prince would have lost favor long ago.

  As for King Qi, although he has a wife, he is distant from her. I once saw King Qi, and judging by his appearance, although he has a gentle disposition, it's strange that he is so cold towards his legitimate wife. Therefore, the Emperor and the others are not as trusting of Feng Yimen as they seem. However, without Feng Yimen, they would not have any leverage to oppose you."

  "Secondly, although the Emperor favors the Crown Prince, if the Crown Prince endangers the state, the Emperor will not tolerate him no matter how much he loves him. Therefore, in recent years, despite being repeatedly threatened, the King of Yong has remained safe and sound because he is a crucial pillar supporting the imperial court. The Emperor would never allow the Crown Prince to harm him as long as he does not cross the Emperor's bottom line. As long as the King of Yong gets rid of the Crown Prince, even if the Emperor becomes enraged, he can only pass on the throne to the King of Yong. Therefore, the King of Yong must control all power while the Emperor is still in office, and then he can ascend to the throne with legitimacy."

  Finally, the Crown Prince relies heavily on King Qi, and King Qi supports the Crown Prince. Your Highness may think they are an inseparable alliance, but in my opinion, there may be some discord between them. From the intelligence gathered by Your Highness, it can be seen that the Crown Prince is not a person who can tolerate others. King Qi's personality is arrogant and overbearing, often revealing himself even in front of the Crown Prince. It was only to deal with Your Highness that the Crown Prince wooed King Qi. I learned from intelligence that the Crown Prince once cold-shouldered King Qi for many days due to his defeat in battle without merit, but recently began to show favor to King Qi again because of Your Highness's affairs. How could King Qi not know about the Crown Prince's shallowness and lack of righteousness? However, King Qi has no choice but to do so. Since Your Highness is a commander-in-chief who leads troops in battle, if Your Highness ascends to the throne, King Qi will have no room to display his talents. This is a point I want to remonstrate with Your Highness: as the saying goes, "A golden son does not sit under the eaves." Your Highness has already achieved great military merit and should cultivate generals. Why do you need to compete with subordinates for achievements? Moreover, in the future, Your Highness will rule the world, and it is impossible to only focus on military affairs. If there are no capable people who can take Your Highness's place to conquer the four directions, would Your Highness still have to go into battle personally?

  At this point, I saw Li Zai looking at Shi Wei with some embarrassment, while Shi Wei was full of approval, apparently he had also advised him in the same way before.

  I paused for a moment, seeing that Li Ze had already shown signs of agreement. I continued: "Your Highness has heard me explain the situation, so now please listen to my second plan - the 'Cutting Heart Strategy'. Although Your Highness is currently in a precarious position, the enemy still has its own internal conflicts. In my opinion, the greatest weakness of the alliance formed by Your Highness's enemies lies with the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince cannot afford to make mistakes, otherwise the Emperor will inevitably question his own decisions, and the King of Qi will certainly worry about his own future prospects. Moreover, the Phoenix Gate will lose its basis for opposing Your Highness. Therefore, as long as the Crown Prince makes a mistake, Your Highness can cause that alliance to split apart. However, the Crown Prince is not a fool, and he has advisors by his side who counsel him, so it's not easy to make him make mistakes. Thus, we must work on two fronts: first, we need to plant one of our people beside the Crown Prince, someone who can gain his trust and make him listen to their plans; second, Your Highness must let the Crown Prince gain an advantage on the surface, so that he will become complacent and destroy his own defenses."

  Li Zai frowned and said, "We can still show weakness in a way, but how can we insert such a person beside the crown prince? The crown prince is still very cautious about this matter. Although we have several people beside the crown prince, none of them can participate in important matters."

  I smiled and said, "Since I've spoken out, of course there's a way. As long as Your Highness can provide a suitable candidate, I'll naturally be able to make the Crown Prince trust him, even to the point of being completely obedient. This person must be good at flattering the Crown Prince, and also be able to help the Crown Prince solve problems. In short, he must have the talent to replace the Crown Prince's trusted advisor Lu Jingzhong. Under my plan, this person will become the Crown Prince's indispensable confidant, and Your Highness can manipulate the Crown Prince. With the Crown Prince under control, Your Highness can dominate the court and shock the imperial power. What's there to worry about not being able to inherit the throne?"

  Li Zai's expression was shocked and confused, he thought for a moment and said: 'Controlling the crown prince is not easy to talk about, let alone Ru Jingzhong being unpredictable, even Feng Yimen won't let us succeed easily.'

  I smiled and said: "When I said to control the crown prince, it's not about controlling his life or death, but rather controlling his thoughts. As long as we can make the crown prince act according to our plan, no matter what he originally wanted, it has nothing to do with Your Highness. Please rest assured, I already have a feasible plan in place. Although there may be some twists and turns along the way, as long as we achieve our goal, we can ensure Your Highness's safety and peace of mind."

  Li Zai said: 'Let's talk about the details later, sir. Since you're confident, I'll feel at ease too. But after controlling the crown prince, what do we need to do?'

  I smiled and said, "It's not that I'm doing anything, just letting the Crown Prince suspect Qi Wang. The Crown Prince is a suspicious person by nature, today he's jealous of your achievements, tomorrow he'll inevitably be jealous of Qi Wang too. I'm just making this happen earlier, as long as the Crown Prince thinks he's already suppressed you, he'll naturally reveal his true form. Then I'll arrange for him to do some arrogant and wrong things, in less than two years, the Crown Prince will become a tyrannical ruler in the eyes of the world. When the Crown Prince loses virtue, who can still compete with you for the throne? At that time, Fengyi Gate will be in a difficult position. At that time, I'll discuss it carefully with you again, and we must make sure that Fengyi Gate cannot control the court again."

  Li Zai's eyebrows danced with joy, and he thought to himself: "Jiang Zhe is indeed a man of great talent. How could I have not realized that the enemy's strongest point is also their weakness? The crown prince was the core of their alliance; if something were to happen to him, their alliance would naturally collapse." Although he still didn't know the specifics of the plan, Li Zai's heart had already cleared of its worries. He stood up, bowed his head and said: "Hearing your words is worth more than reading ten years' worth of books; thank you, sir, for your teachings."

  I rose and returned the courtesy, saying: "Your Highness is overpraising me. Please listen to my third strategy - the strategy of attracting talented individuals. Although Your Highness has a reputation for being wise and has many civil and military officials under your command, in my opinion, there are still some areas that are lacking. If Your Highness has ambitions to rule the world, then you must consider how to govern the imperial court. Currently, many officials in the imperial court and the Fengyi Gate have connections with each other. If Your Highness were to ascend to the throne and continue to use these people, it would not be possible to prevent the Fengyi Gate from rising again."

  Li Zai frowned and said, "I also know this point, but if we suddenly change, I'm afraid the court will be in turmoil, the powerful families will rebel, and our great Yong dynasty will perish in an instant."

  I said calmly: "Your Highness attaches great importance to the civil and military officials, but neglects the hearts of the soldiers and the people. In these years, Your Highness has been undefeated in battle, and many times has opened the eyes of the people. Who doesn't know about it? However, at the beginning of the founding of Dayong, we relied on local strongmen to a certain extent. At that time, this approach did accelerate the process of unification, but now these strongmen have occupied the people's fields, refused to pay taxes, and according to what I know, many ordinary people have lost their land and had to become slaves of the aristocratic families. Everyone in the world hates the strongmen to the bone. However, Your Highness has allowed ordinary people to open up wasteland and cultivate it under the pretext of strengthening the army. The fields are nominally owned by the military, but actually belong to the people. Therefore, many young men are willing to join the army so that their families can get land. This is also one of the reasons why the aristocratic families in the court favor the prince. If Your Highness tolerates this situation, Dayong will eventually fall into a state of warlordism. It's better to take advantage of the current struggle for succession and let these strongmen get involved. Your Highness can use this as an excuse to purge the powerful aristocratic families, appoint talented officials from humble backgrounds, and rebuild Dayong. As long as Your Highness plans carefully, these aristocratic families will not have any chance to rebel. Although this will weaken Dayong in the short term, within a few years, it is possible to make Dayong transform and become the true number one power. At that time, conquering Southern Chu, destroying Northern Han, and expelling the northern barbarians will be as easy as turning over one's hand."

  Li Zai listened intently, he also knew these drawbacks, but every time he wanted to propose reforms, they were suppressed. This was also one of the reasons he wanted to get the emperor's position. Originally, he thought that after taking the throne, he would slowly set up a plan. Jiang Zhe's calculation was ruthless, but it wouldn't hurt the foundation of Dayong. After all, the struggle for the imperial throne wasn't something that didn't involve tens of thousands of people. As long as he did it cleverly, he could eliminate most of the powerful families and fill the court with his own talents. Within ten years, he could make Dayong no longer be controlled by the powerful families.

  After understanding, Li Zai stood up again and paid his respects: 'The first two strategies can make me ascend to the throne, but I only admire them. This strategy can bring peace and prosperity to the altar of our great nation, I, on behalf of the imperial family and the people of the world, thank you, sir.'

  I rose and bowed, saying: 'Your Highness is willing to listen to my wild words, it should be me thanking Your Highness on behalf of the people of the world. I am a humble commoner, knowing much about the suffering of the people, Your Highness is willing to speak out for the people, it is a great fortune for all.'

  After sitting down, I said: "Eliminating the powerful families is only one part of this strategy. If there are no wise and capable people to assist, the court will be empty, how can Your Highness govern the world? Therefore, Your Highness must widely recruit talented individuals to govern the world. If you worry about the Emperor's and Crown Prince's suspicions, Your Highness can request a fief from the Emperor, then Your Highness can appoint wise and capable people within your own territory, store up talent, until when Your Highness ascends to the throne, they can fully take over government affairs."

  Li Zai said: "I have been fighting outside for a long time, although the emperor has given me Youzhou as my fiefdom. The general manager of Youzhou, Pei Ji, is my trusted advisor and manages the territory in an orderly manner. However, cultivating talent may not be his strong suit. What do you think we should do about it?"

  I smiled and said: "Your Highness, if you're worried that replacing Pei Ji will hurt the feelings of your subordinates, there's no need to worry. Your Highness can report to the Emperor and let the Crown Prince go to Youzhou to take charge, then dispatch Mr. Shi to assist the Crown Prince. As the chief historian of the commander-in-chief's headquarters, Your Highness can promote Pei Ji's position. It would be best to transfer Pei Ji back to your side. Then, Mr. Shi can help you recruit talented people. When you meet with talented individuals, it's easy for them to arouse suspicion if they stay by your side. Why not send them temporarily to Youzhou to familiarize themselves with government affairs? Of course, Mr. Shi must guide them well so that in the future, they can take over the government immediately. At that time, with just one order from Your Highness, they can enter the capital and become officials."

  Li Ziqiang suppressed the excitement in his heart, although he was very happy about Jiang Zhe's surrender, but the probing of Jiang Zhe a few days ago still made him somewhat wary. Now, with the three strategies of Mingzhi, Kuixin and Naxian, he felt that all the hardships of the past few days had been rewarded. If not for his sincere respect for the wise men, how could he have heard such a strategy? He tried to calm down and said: "Since so, I will entrust everything to you, Mr. Ziyou will go to Youzhou to establish a foundation for our king, this matter is of great importance, except for Ziyou, no one can share my worries."

  Shi Yu naturally understood the weight of his responsibility, but he had some worries. If it were to be this way, in the future, almost all of the new emperor's courtiers would be his own disciples and students. He couldn't help but feel that his power would be too great, so he looked at Jiang Zhe with a worried expression, after all, it wasn't good to speak frankly to the King of Yong.

  I had long been prepared to say: "Your Highness, Mr. Shi has a heavy responsibility, the Crown Prince is not being taken care of and educated by anyone, why don't you choose another capable person to assist in teaching and guiding the Crown Prince? This way, Mr. Shi can also be more at ease and avoid delaying the Crown Prince's studies."

  Li Zuo thought for a moment and said, "How about this? The prince's uncle, Gao Rong, is wise and capable. Taifu Chuping's son, Chu Wen yuan, has excellent moral character and outstanding talent. He can assist the prince, so that Zi You can focus on recruiting talents."

  Shi Yu finally felt at ease and said, "Zi You will definitely do his best, please don't worry, Your Highness. Once your order reaches Youzhou, Zi You will surely return immediately, day and night. As for the matters in the capital, I'll entrust them to Sui Yun, please ask him to take care of it."

  I also solemnly said: 'Mr. Shi, rest assured, since Yun has set his mind on the plan, he will definitely make it happen, otherwise it would not only be unforgivable to His Highness, but also to Mr. Shi's painstaking efforts in Youzhou.'

  Li Zuo smiled and said, "Alright, we've talked for so long. I'm getting hungry. Why don't we go have dinner first? Then you two gentlemen can take a good rest. Otherwise, if you're exhausted, who will help me come up with strategies? With Zi You, I no longer have to worry about my back. And with Sui Yun, I no longer need to fear those evil spirits."

  I shook my head and said, "Your Highness is wrong." Li Zuo and Shi Wei looked at me with surprise and I continued, "Your Highness is as pure as the clear moon, why would you be afraid of those petty people? It's just that there's no way to get rid of the filth. As for me, I have some cunning plans that a gentleman like yourself can't resort to, but I can do it."

  Li Zai looked at me with a sincere face, moved in his heart, but didn't know what to say. Hehe, I thought he wouldn't guess that although some of my words were true, others were just flattery. If Li Zai was a pure gentleman, he might not even have the qualifications to ascend to the throne and become emperor.