Chapter 63: Pu'er Tea

Cheng Zhijie grew more furious the more he fought; they were both blockheads, one cultivating Buddha, one cultivating Dao, how could the difference be so great?

"Useless thing! Others cultivate Dao to reach the True Self, but you—you cultivate Dao while thinking of rebellion, you're going to be the death of me!"

Cheng Chuliang defended himself with a thread of breath: "I did not, the old brute dares to slander me, sooner or later I will let you know the anger of a Daoist master."

"You bastard, you really never learn!"

Seeing him dare to talk back, Cheng Zhijie felt his teeth itch with rage, yet he could not truly beat his own son to death.

"Someone, take the second son back to his room!"

"Yes!"

Cheng Zhijie was cautious his whole life and never participated in the struggle for the succession; in his view, as long as he followed Li Shimin closely, no matter who ascended the throne, he could still preserve his family's wealth and honor with his merits.

Zhangsun Wuji was different; he had stood on Li Chengqian's side from the beginning, and now he stood on Li Zhi's side.

Now he could only follow Li Zhi closely, otherwise, whether Li Chengqian or Li Tai ascended the throne, the Zhangsun family was destined to decline.

For this reason, when Li Chengqian invited him to meet at Lingying Temple, he agreed without much thought.

At this moment, Li Chengqian was sitting cross-legged in front of the Three Pure Ones statue in the temple, with a tea table placed in front of him.

"Glug! Glug!"

The kettle on the stove to the right made a boiling sound, and Li Chengqian picked it up casually to pour into the tea bowl.

At this time, tea was still boiled, and most of it was green tea; this was Pu'er that Li Chengqian had people transport from Yunnan.

This time meeting Zhangsun Wuji, Li Chengqian had specifically brought Pu'er, also to prepare for the future.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince is so leisurely; I imagine the Eastern Palace has finished its purge!"

Li Chengqian pointed to the seat opposite him and spoke with a smile:

"Uncle, please sit. I will brew a pot of tea for you; these tea leaves are from Rong Prefecture.

If Uncle thinks it is not bad, I will have someone send some over later."

"Oh?"

Zhangsun Wuji glanced at it and exclaimed in surprise: "No need to boil? Just brewing is enough? Let me try!"

Picking up the teacup and taking a light sip, Zhangsun Wuji's eyes lit up:

"The tea is fragrant; it is indeed good tea!"

"I am glad you like it, Uncle; I will have someone send some over later."

Li Chengqian wore a smile at the corners of his mouth: "Wencheng has been married to Tibet for two years now; I want to send some tea leaves over. Could Uncle help with this small favor?"

"Tibet?"

Zhangsun Wuji was somewhat bewildered; weren't they here to talk about the compilation of books? How did it get to Tibet?

"Crown Prince, could you be clearer?"

"That depends on whether Uncle is willing to help; there is no such thing as a free lunch in this world."

"Such a small matter, Your Highness can just send anyone; why do you need me to act?"

"Of course, it must be sent in the name of the Great Tang. The Eastern Palace Secretary Cui Zhiwen has always had great talent; I want him to serve the Great Tang in the Ministry of Rites."

"The Qinghe Cui Clan?"

Zhangsun Wuji frowned slightly: "When did the Crown Prince find this person? Does he come from the main branch of the Cui Clan or?"

"The Yanling Branch; it was recommended by my father-in-law. He is only sixteen now, and there is no need to arrange a high position; just let him help with the Tibet side."

Zhangsun Wuji could not understand what Li Chengqian wanted to do, but he knew that the place of Tibet must be beneficial to Li Chengqian.

However, compared to Li Chengqian, he now wanted to know Li Shimin's thoughts more, or rather, he wanted to know why the Eastern Palace needed to be purged.

"Very well! Once the Crown Prince is acting as regent, I will arrange these things, and the Emperor will have nothing to say."

"As expected of Uncle, magnanimous!"

Li Chengqian's words were full of admiration: "If I had listened to Uncle more back then, I wouldn't have ended up where I am today.

Now my life is hanging by a thread; I don't know when I will be killed by Father."

"Clatter!"

Zhangsun Wuji loosened his right hand, and the teacup fell onto the tea table:

"How could it be so serious? You are the eldest son of the primary wife, the first child of my sister; even if you rebelled, the Emperor would not go so far as to take your life."

"For the sake of the Great Tang's empire, what is a son? Throughout the dynasties, cases of fathers killing sons and sons killing fathers are not rare.

I did one thing that made Father feel he could not control me, fearing that Qingque and Zhinu were not my match."

"How so?"

"The authority to compile books was given to Qingque from the start; the Guozijian, the gambling dens, the Prince of Bohai, and the Bamboo Paper were all just to make Qingque believe that the authority to compile books was arranged for him by Heaven, and that he had snatched it himself."

Zhangsun Wuji opened his eyes wide: "The deaths at the gambling den were really your doing, not a coincidence?

So, Huangsun Xiang beating Huangsun Xin was also arranged by you?"

"That's right!"

Li Chengqian looked solemn: "The ones with the most books in the world are the aristocratic clans; if Qingque wants to complete the 'Wude Compendium', he must cooperate with the aristocratic clans.

Qingque gets the books, the aristocratic clans get official positions, and since the four generations of emperors of Sui and Tang have worked so hard to suppress the aristocratic clans, Father will not allow the aristocratic clans to occupy the imperial court again.

In this way, Qingque getting the authority to compile books is equivalent to cutting off his path to the throne.

At the same time, because Qingque has the authority to compile books, the scholars of the world will stand on his side; if future emperors deal with him casually, it is equivalent to pushing all the virtuous scholars out of the court."

Zhangsun Wuji's face was gloomy: "So, the Emperor is afraid you will use the same trick against the Prince of Jin; at that time, even if he doesn't agree to you being the Crown Prince, he will have to.

That is why he wants to give the authority to compile books to the Prince of Jin, and when you learned of this, you disregarded your own safety and implicitly brought up Xuanwu Gate again, forcing the Emperor to give the authority to compile books to the Prince of Wei.

You have completely broken with the Emperor; is this the real reason you wanted to purge the Eastern Palace?"

"That's right! I originally thought Father would push Qingque to the throne, but once the Imperial Edict for Zhinu to join the army on the eastern expedition was issued, I didn't know anymore.

But one thing is certain: Father will not let me continue to stay in the position of Crown Prince."

"If I have not guessed wrong, once the eastern expedition ends, my position as Crown Prince will also come to an end, so I need to protect myself."

Speaking of this, Li Chengqian paused, picked up his teacup and drained it in one gulp before continuing:

"Jiaozhi alone is not enough for self-protection; I need to leave Chang'an. The Liangzhou troops will enter Chang'an after Father's eastern expedition."

"They will escort the Tibet envoys to negotiate the tea-horse trade with Great Tang; in return, I can help you find Sun Simiao."

"If one day in the future you and Zhinu fail, Cousin Chong can take up a post in Jiaozhi Commandery."

"Is the tea-horse trade the same as the trade of yaks and other livestock between the people of Shu during the Han Dynasty and the Tibetans?"

"That is correct!"

Li Chengqian nodded slightly: "Only by using this excuse can the Liangzhou troops enter Chang'an and protect my life."

"I know what Uncle is worried about, and I can tell Uncle clearly that the troops coming from Liangzhou number only a few hundred, and the Duke of Chen will also be on the eastern expedition; I do not have the ability to incite a rebellion in Chang'an."

Zhangsun Wuji gave an irrelevant answer: "The Prince of Wei has already obtained the authority to compile books; does that mean he has already lost his qualifications?"

"It depends on whether he realizes it. If he realizes it, there is still a chance."

"If he realizes it, he only needs to put on the appearance of doing his best, while letting the progress of the book compilation be slow for various reasons!"

"For example?"

"There are many! Screen the great talents for compiling books; if their calligraphy is not good enough, remove them! If their scholarship is insufficient, do not take them!"

"Build a palace specifically for compiling books, and build a palace specifically for storing books."

"During construction, have people stir up some trouble, and he can fly into a thunderous rage, and so on!"

"It's just acting! A very simple matter!"

"In any case, Father is still conflicted, and doing this perfectly aligns with Father's expectations."