Chapter 159 Li Xiang: I want them all (asking for monthly tickets)
Li Xiang really didn't expect that giving away a copy of "Hundred Family Surnames" could bring him so much knowledge and almost gave him a wife.

Ask yourself, if you want to say whether he likes Pei Xueqing or not...

Not really, after all, there is not much in common.

But if you ask him whether he wants to take her as his concubine, he will definitely not refuse. After all, Pei Xueqing is very much in line with his aesthetic standards.

"But as my eldest grandson, you must not take only one concubine." Li Shimin reached out and knocked on the table. After a moment's silence, he said, "I heard that Wei has a daughter named Yunshang, who is very beautiful. Du also has two daughters. Although they are a little older than you, they are from the Jingzhao Du family. After returning to Beijing, Xiang'er can choose one and see which one he likes."

Li Xiang asked hesitantly, "Do I have to choose? Can I not choose?"

Li Shimin frowned: "What are you talking about! You are going to do this in the future... No, don't tell me that you only like Pei Xueqing?"

What Lao Li didn't say was that you are going to be the emperor of the Tang Dynasty in the future, so how can you only marry one?
"No," Li Xiang curled his lips, "I want to ask Grandfather if I can have them all."

Of course he is not a fool. Being an emperor and practicing monogamy, isn't that a complete idiot?
There was a monogamous idiot named Zhu Youtang, who was the emperor that pure love warriors liked to flatter the most.

Needless to say, what became of him.

Zhu Houzhao's death left him without an heir -

Li Shimin was worried again. Oh no, could this grandson be a lustful man?
But that doesn't make sense. If he was a lustful man, how could he not have even a personal maid by his side now?
Now Old Li was a little confused and looked at Li Xiang in confusion.

"Xiang'er is so lustful!" Li Mingda said strangely from the side.

"This is not lust, only children make choices." Li Xiang put his hands on his hips and said, "I am not a child now. Grandpa and aunt can't look down on me. Of course I want them all..."

grass……

Li Shimin now finally understood Li Xiang's mentality. It was not because he was lustful or anything else. It was simply an occupational disease that only emperors had.

Uh-huh, uh-huh, it’s all uh-huh!
The taste is so authentic...

"Okay, I got it." Li Shimin waved his hand: "Don't you want to go to Dengzhou? Why don't you leave quickly?"

"We'll leave soon, don't miss me, old man." Li Xiang said with a smile.

Li Shimin raised his eyebrows and said viciously: "How could I miss you, little bastard? Go quickly! Don't bother me under my nose!"

Li Xiang spread his hands towards Li Mingda, and Li Mingda smiled sweetly at him.

At the gate of the palace, Li Mingda reached out to smooth out the wrinkles on Li Xiang's clothes.

"If you feel uncomfortable in Dengzhou, don't force yourself." She said reluctantly, "Write to your aunt and tell her. If your grandfather doesn't agree, your aunt will speak for you."

"Thank you, aunt." Li Xiang said gratefully. It was really nice to have his aunt to protect him.

"You are my nephew. If I don't protect you, who else can I protect?" Li Mingda took the bag of fruits from Luluo beside him and handed it to Li Xiang, saying, "These are seasonal fruits. Eat them in the car."

"Aunt is so nice." Li Xiang took the fruit and said with a smile.

Then he took Li Wei and Fubao onto the carriage.

"Xiang'er, please write to me often!" Li Mingda waved his hand, his eyes sparkling.

"Don't worry, aunt!" Li Xiang also waved at her.

After sending Li Xiang away, Li Shimin issued an order to summon the heads of the five surnames and seven families to Luoyang.

Before they came to Luoyang, Li Shimin picked up his pen again and changed the Hundred Family Surnames written by Li Xiang, putting Du at the end and Su in the second place, and asked Li Mingda to copy it again.

Afterwards, after Li Chengqian and his two brothers entered the palace, the revised Hundred Family Surnames were handed to them.

"Look! This is what the elephant wrote."

"Written by Xiang'er?" Li Chengqian became interested. He opened the Hundred Family Surnames and saw Li ranked first and Su ranked second.

"Why is Su ranked second?" Li Chengqian asked in confusion, "The Su family is not a noble family, so why is it ranked before Pei, Wei, Cui, Lu, Zheng, and Wang?"

Li Tai was also equally puzzled. He stood on tiptoe to take a look and was still very confused.

"Xiang'er told me that the Crown Princess treated him as her own son, so I put the Crown Princess's surname in the second place to show my gratitude for her raising me." Li Shimin smiled and did such a favor for his eldest grandson.

Li Chengqian suddenly realized, no wonder, no wonder...

Li Tai, who was standing next to him, was so jealous that his eyes almost turned red. He looked at Li Chengqian without disguising his envy and jealousy.

Li Zhi suddenly said, "If my son can be half as kind and filial as Xiang'er in the future, I will be satisfied."

After praising Li Xiang for a while, Li Shimin said again: "This Hundred Family Surnames is a primer. When you three go down, have a good discussion on how to promote it."

"Yes!" the three brothers said immediately.

After returning to the bedroom, Li Chengqian took the booklet and handed it to Crown Princess Su Yi.

Su Yi looked at the booklet in confusion, not knowing what Li Chengqian meant.

"This is the Hundred Family Surnames compiled by Xiang'er." Li Chengqian pointed at it and said, "Xiang'er listed the surname Su as the second. He told Aye that he was grateful for his mother's kindness in raising him for so many years, so he listed the surname of the Crown Princess's relatives as the second."

"Hmm..." Su Yi's eyes were red. She stretched out her hand with some emotion and gently touched the words written on it.

If you want to ask her whether she wanted Li Jue to be the emperor, of course she did.

That could be traced back to when she had just given birth to Li Jue. She was full of confidence at that time. However, since Li Chengqian became increasingly invisible and shapeless, her focus was no longer on whether Li Jue could grow up smoothly and take over, but on whether her husband, the prince, could be kept.

Li Chengqian first got close to the Turks and took people to learn Turkish customs every day. Then he doted on a little girl named Chengxin, becoming increasingly distant from her and even leaving the Eastern Palace to Chengxin.

If Li Xiang had not suddenly emerged last year and quickly consolidated the crown prince's position, Su Yi estimated that Li Chengqian would not have been able to remain the crown prince for long.

As Su Yi got along with Li Xiang, he felt more and more that he and Li Shimin were like cast in the same mold.

With the previous example of Li Shimin as a lesson, Su Yi certainly would not think of letting Li Jue do anything.

All she wanted now was to make Li Jue a wise king and help Li Xiang share his worries instead of causing trouble for him.

Anyway, Li Xiang's mother died during childbirth, so Li Xiang could be said to have been raised by her personally, and there was no difference between her and her biological mother.

Li Xiang is a man of affection and loyalty, and he would definitely not have a quarrel with Li Jue over any disagreement.

Although Li Chengqian didn't know what Su Yi was thinking, he could see that Su Yi was touched.

Just as he was about to stretch out Cheng Qian's claws, Su Yi suddenly covered his mouth and vomited.

"My beloved, what's wrong?" Li Chengqian asked with concern.

"No... I don't know." Su Yi reached out to support Li Chengqian: "I just suddenly feel a little uncomfortable, just take a rest."

"I'd better call the imperial physician for you." Li Chengqian did not dare to neglect it and immediately sent someone to summon the imperial physician. As the imperial physician, Qian Shu had to accompany the emperor to Luoyang. He felt Su Yi's pulse briefly, then stood up and bowed to Li Chengqian, saying, "I congratulate the prince, congratulations to the prince."

"Where does the joy come from?" Li Chengqian asked in surprise.

"The Crown Princess is suffering from morning sickness..." Qian Shu said with a smile. This was a great thing for him - after all, this kind of thing would require a reward.

Rice is expensive in Beijing and it’s not easy to live in a big city, so it’s always good to get more reward money.

"Really?" Li Chengqian looked at Qian Shu stupidly, then at the Crown Princess, and cheered happily.

Although it was not his first time to be a father, Su Yi was his favorite woman after all. Even the satisfaction of death could not compare to Su Yi.

After all, he now realized that Chengxin was just a spy sent by Li Yuanchang.

And hatred is transformed from love. How deeply Li Chengqian loved Chengxin before, how deeply he hates him now.

You ruined my chance to be a good person!
Fortunately, the Crown Princess never left him and saved him, which prevented Li from turning evil.

Su Yi smiled and ordered the maids in the East Palace to reward Qian Shu. She also urged Li Chengqian to tell Old Li the good news.

When Li Shimin heard that the Eastern Palace was going to have another addition, he was of course very happy.

While he was happy, he was also teasing Li Tai.

"Qingque, look at your elder brother. Counting Juer, he already has two sons." Li Shimin stroked his beard and said, "Look at you again. You have only one Xiner so far. How about I give you a few concubines?"

"Goodbye." Li Tai said with a bitter face. Princess Yan Wan of Wei was not an easy woman to get along with.

He looked at Li Zhi again and said, "It's time for Zhinu to get married. After meeting with these family heads, I will ask the head of the Wang family about the Wang girl that Princess An mentioned."

"Okay, thank you, Aye." Li Zhi bowed happily.

"This brat..." Li Chengqian and Li Tai laughed together.

It must be said that Li Chengqian and Li Tai are both pure love warriors. Li Chengqian used to be in love with Chengxin, but now he prefers Su Yi; while Li Tai has always liked Yan Wan.

But Li Zhi was different. He was a well-known playboy.

From Queen Wang, he fell in love with Concubine Xiao Shufei, from Concubine Xiao Shufei, he fell in love with Wu Meiniang, from Wu Meiniang, he fell in love with Wu Shun, and from Wu Shun, he fell in love with Helan Minyue.

Of course... for an emperor, being a playboy is not a bad thing.

But don't learn from Li Zhi, who was so hungry that he didn't even let Wu Meiniang go.

A few days later, the heads of the five surnames and seven families arrived in Luoyang.

Li Shimin used the information he obtained from Li You to warn the heads of the families.

The family heads were naturally terrified. After all, if they were implicated in this matter, although they would not be killed, they would at least be made to bleed heavily.

After the knock, Li Shimin brought up the issue of dividing the examination areas.

When it was said that the five surnames and seven families would all be divided into one examination area, the head of the Zheng family in Xingyang was obviously dissatisfied.

But after all, Li Shimin had already struck with the big stick before, so even if there was opposition, it would not cause any waves, but would make the stick strike even harder.

Therefore, regardless of whether the family heads were convinced or not, they all expressed their willingness to compromise and even supported Li Shimin's decision.

The essence of politics is the exchange of interests, and Li Shimin has mastered this kind of political means.

In exchange for not exaggerating the handling of this act of treason, they would be forced to express their support for the imperial examination reform. This deal is very profitable.

After learning that the Shandong gentry supported Li Shimin's decision, the other aristocratic families did not dare to complain about Li Shimin, but they gritted their teeth at the Shandong gentry.

Shameless old thief! He really is the traitor among them!

A typical example is that Xie of Chenjun, who had originally decided to marry the daughter of Cui of Boling, suddenly regretted the engagement, saying that she was not worthy of the Shandong gentry.

This immediately ignited the dissatisfaction between the two groups of people who had never gotten along well with each other, and the two sides were on the verge of becoming enemies.

The so-called "the swallows that flew in front of the Wang and Xie halls in the old days now fly into the homes of ordinary people" refers to the Wang family of Langya and the Xie family of Chenjun.

And these two families are also among the four major overseas Chinese families in the Southern Dynasty.

The Four Great Overseas Chinese Families of the Southern Dynasties were the top families during the Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, namely the Wang family of Langya, the Xie family of Chenjun, the Xiao family of Lanling and the Yuan family of Chenjun.

However, after the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, the political center moved northward, and the Shandong gentry rose. From then on, the Shandong gentry became the top, and the four great overseas Chinese in the Southern Dynasty became second-rate gentry.

Old Li also handed the revised Hundred Family Surnames to the Shandong gentry. In this revised version, before the Shandong gentry, it was actually Xiao, Xie, Yuan and Wang.

As a result, the Shandong gentry became even more unhappy with the Four Families of Jiangnan. Why do you, the second-rate gentry according to the old calendar, rank ahead of us?

But they didn't dare to say this to Li Shimin, so they had to turn their anger towards the four families in Jiangnan.

Old Li took advantage of this opportunity and even selected several people from the four major families in Jiangnan to enter the core.

As a result, the Shandong gentry, who had always been eager to enter the central government, completely turned against the four families in the south of the Yangtze River.

He knew clearly that Li Shimin had bad intentions and wanted to divide the aristocratic families and stir up conflicts among them, but when interests were at stake, how could he care so much?

However, after he struck a blow to the Shandong gentry, he made a marriage contract with the head of the Wang family and let Li Zhi marry the legitimate daughter of the Taiyuan Wang family.

This was a blow followed by a sweet reward, which really made the Five Surnames and Seven Families feel a little numb.

After all, Li Zhi was the youngest son raised by Li Shimin since childhood. He was born to Empress Wende, so naturally he was different.

Li Shimin's purpose in doing this was very simple. After all, he just wanted to make the Shandong gentry obedient, rather than completely overturn the table and kill all the Shandong gentry.

After all, there are many outstanding talents among the aristocratic families, such as Cui Dunli, who is a rare diplomatic talent.

After warning the Shandong gentry, Li Shimin thought about it and decided to send Cheng Yaojin and Yuchi Gong to guard Shandong in order to prevent the gentry from being dishonest.

Of course... he didn't think that the noble family would really dare to be dishonest, but he asked these two to protect Li Xiang in secret.

Although he said that he didn't miss Li Xiang, Li Shimin felt a little anxious the day after Li Xiang left.

After writing three letters in succession, Li Shimin felt a little better.

He immediately sent a fast horse to chase Li Xiang and deliver the letter to him.

(Ask for monthly ticket)

(End of this chapter)