Chapter 39: I Nearly Persuaded the Crown Prince to Get Himself Deposed

"Is Father tempering the Fourth Brother? It doesn't look like it to me. The rewards and favors Father bestows upon the Fourth are far greater than those given to me, the Crown Prince," Li Chengqian said, filled with suspicion.

"Big Brother, you are truly lost in the fog of your own situation. Father has been grooming you for ten years, hasn't he? How could he just give up on that? Would he then spend another ten years grooming the Fourth Brother? And if the Fourth Brother were then deposed, who would he groom next? Big Brother, Father is a busy man; he doesn't have that many decades to spare. Furthermore, if you were to have a son you wanted to inherit the throne, would you discipline him strictly every day, or would you spoil him incessantly?" Li Shen countered.

Li Chengqian pondered this and realized it made sense. Li Shimin was already nearly forty; in ten years, he would be approaching fifty. There simply wasn't enough time. Moreover, what Li Shen said last was very insightful—if he were to train his own son in the future, he would certainly be strict. He could never let him do exactly as he pleased.

"Big Brother, actually, I think you should be grateful to the Fourth Brother," Li Shen remarked.

"Grateful to the Fourth? Why?" Li Chengqian asked, bewildered.

"Big Brother, you are getting quite old, and you have always performed your duties well. But Father is only thirty-seven now. Tell me, if you remain in this position of singular power for another five or ten years, until you are truly in your prime, Father will only be in his forties. At that point, will you continue to be the Crown Prince, or will you force Father to abdicate? Won't Father be afraid that you might grow impatient?" Li Shen’s words were treasonous, but to Li Chengqian, they struck like a bolt of lightning.

It was true—he was getting too old. How many times in history had this happened? Emperors had deposed their crown princes, sometimes even executing them. And there had been many princes who, unable to wait, had launched rebellions.

"Tenth Brother, did you come up with all of this yourself?" Li Chengqian asked.

"Big Brother, it’s easy to see once you stop being blinded by your own perspective."

"Then, Tenth Brother, what should I do?" Li Chengqian asked.

"First, get rid of your bad habits. Send away all the songstresses and musicians in the Eastern Palace. Of course, you should still enjoy yourself; we are young men. A young man should be vibrant, capable, and decisive. You cannot be prematurely aged, constantly looking over your shoulder, hesitant and procrastinating. What is youth without a little recklessness? Do not pay attention to the Fourth Brother. Do not pay attention to others. Do not let yourself down. If you like a girl, Big Brother, take her as a concubine. If you like horses, go ride them. As long as your own conduct is upright, you will be fine. Big Brother, you are currently straying from the path. Pay attention to the people around you; honestly, as far as I can tell, you don't really have any capable ministers by your side. Being a bit of a rake isn't the problem; the important thing is that you know what you are doing, whether it is right or wrong. If you are willing, go help Father handle affairs of state. Father is exhausted. As the eldest legitimate son, this is your responsibility. Even if he weren't the Emperor, but just a farmer, you should be helping him plow the fields at a time like this. The rest will follow naturally. Sooner or later, these fields will be yours."

"And Big Brother, I truly want to ask you one thing: Do you really want to be the Emperor?" Li Shen stared at Li Chengqian.

"Of course I do. Who in the world doesn't want to be the Emperor?" Li Chengqian replied.

"I don't. What is so good about being an Emperor? You tell me, Big Brother," Li Shen asked.

"The world is mine. Power. Wealth," Li Chengqian said excitedly.

"Big Brother, you are wrong. I believe being an Emperor is the worst profession of all. Take power, for instance: ask Father. With his current status, can he do whatever he wants? You talk of power—do you believe me if I say that right now, even if Father stood in the imperial court and said he wanted to depose the Crown Prince and install the Prince of Wei, he couldn't do it?" Li Shen scoffed.

"Impossible. Why couldn't he?" Li Chengqian was skeptical.

"Because the senior officials would all oppose it. If they all oppose it, it cannot be done. And if he forces it, he will be left with a tainted reputation. The imperial court is a place of struggle, a place where various factions fight for their own interests. The Emperor represents only our Li family. Do you believe me if I say that if Father announced at tomorrow's morning court that the Taiji Palace was dilapidated and damp, and needed repairs, he still couldn't get it done? If the money came from the inner treasury, the officials might not oppose it so fiercely, but the censors would all crawl out of the woodwork, accusing him of being profligate and lawless. That is why, Big Brother, the Emperor's power is limited."

Li Chengqian fell silent. He felt Li Shen was right. Many of Li Shimin's ideas had failed to pass.

"And let's talk about money. Money is a good thing. A nation is not stable without agriculture, and it is not wealthy without commerce. The money in the national treasury is not the Emperor's. The Emperor lives off the taxes of his own lands. I don't need to elaborate on that; you can see how frugally Father lives. So, being an Emperor means having no money, either," Li Shen continued.

"Moreover, you only see the glory of the Emperor. You don't see the sacrifice. Father attends morning court at the hour of the Rabbit, which means he must rise at the hour of the Tiger. He works until the hour of the Hai, and sometimes he doesn't sleep until the hour of the Zi. Big Brother, could you keep that up for decades? Besides, the imperial palace is a prison. The Emperor can only stay within its walls. If he occasionally goes out, he is followed by a crowd, and the court officials object. You are the Crown Prince now; you can still take people and go where you please. Later, you will only be in the palace. This palace is just a prison built for the Emperor. This world is the only place where the Emperor’s word is law, but is it really his? Have you been everywhere? Have you seen it all? The Emperor doesn't even know as many people as a local county magistrate does."

"Being an Emperor means limited power, no money, rising early and sleeping late, and losing your freedom. The common people only know their local officials; they don't even know what the Emperor looks like. You spend your whole life working like an ox, doing the hardest labor, yet you never get what you truly want. You don't even have the freedom of a wealthy noble to do as you please. Big Brother, have you really thought about whether you want to be this kind of Emperor?" Li Shen threw a massive question at Li Chengqian.

Li Chengqian was deeply confused. He felt Li Shen was right, yet something felt off—though he couldn't pinpoint what. Was this truly the kind of Emperor he wanted to be? If it were as Li Shen described, then this was not the Emperor he had imagined.

After a long silence, Li Chengqian looked up and asked in bewilderment, "Then why does Father even want to be the Emperor?"

"Because Father hopes that the people of the world will be fed and clothed and no longer suffer the miseries of war. Because Father wants the people to live better lives. Because Father wants to change this world. But why do you want to be the Emperor?" Li Shen finished his thought and left Li Chengqian alone to ponder. He walked out of the pavilion, looked up at the full moon, and whispered to himself, "And what kind of life do I want to lead here in the Great Tang?"

In the dark corner, three figures stood, having listened to the entire conversation between Li Shen and Li Chengqian. Suddenly, one of them said, "Wang De, do you think if I were to suggest building the Daming Palace at tomorrow's morning court, the officials would oppose it, just as Li Shen said?"

"Your Majesty, this old servant believes they would not. The officials are still very devoted to Your Majesty."

"Enough, you don't need to comfort me. Li Shen is right. The court is a place of struggle. Everyone is fighting for the interests of their own factions, while I must represent not only the Li family but also the people of this world."