After transmigrating to the sixteenth year of Zhenguan, Li Chengqian has only this to say: If I'm going to die, then I'll turn the whole world upside down first!
He wakes to find that his modern soul has become Li Chengqian, crown prince of the Great Tang: a lame, disfavored heir on the verge of being deposed, doomed by the history books to ruin himself through “rebellion”!
Before him lies the splendor of the Zhenguan golden age, but beneath his feet yawns an abyss.
His father, Emperor Li Shimin, grows more disgusted with him by the day. His younger brother, Prince of Wei Li Tai, eyes the throne hungrily. The court officials all consider him a hopeless case.
The transmigrator knows how it ends: rebellion, deposition, and a lonely death in confinement!
Faced with utter desperation, he turns the court's own arguments against it:
When Zhang Xuan Su condemns him in the name of the Spring and Autumn Annals, he asks, “When blood was shed at Xuanwu Gate and a minister killed the heir apparent, how does the Spring and Autumn Annals explain that?”
When Kong Yingda instructs him according to the Classic of Filial Piety, he asks, “Forcing one's father to abdicate and confining him deep in the palace: is that what is meant by ‘the foundation of virtue’?”
When Yu Zhi Ning advises him to follow the path of benevolence and righteousness, he asks, “Killing your own nephew, a mere child, what had he done to deserve it? Is this what ‘the benevolent love others’ means?!”
Every line backed by the classics, every word aimed straight at Xuanwu Gate! He tears open the embroidered robe of the golden age, exposing old scars stained with blood. He challenges the emperor's authority and questions the foundations of morality.
This is no act of rebellion. It is an all-or-nothing gamble in a desperate situation!
Li Shimin is livid, and an edict of deposition hangs over his head! The Eastern Palace teeters on the brink! Can a “sacrificial pawn” who knows how history ends wield his words as a sword and the people's hearts as a shield, finding a sliver of hope amid the raging waves of the sixteenth year of Zhenguan?
This is a life-or-death struggle between a transmigrator and an emperor for the ages.
Can he save the Eastern Palace from its impending fall? Or will he, too, become an anonymous sacrifice beneath the golden age?
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Not a buddy
Are you saying that if you were an ordinary modern person, only knowing the ending, without any cheat codes, and went back to the early Tang Dynasty to play politics with Emperor Taizong and all the officials, how much would you need to drink to write a novel like this? This kind of opening can only be resolved by the Xuanwu Gate Incident.
A few thoughts
This isn't criticism, but rather a thought: if someone were to transmigrate into the body of the lame Li Chengqian, it would be incredibly difficult for him to inherit the throne. His disability, especially compared to Li Er (Emperor Taizong of Tang), is described as a "lame dragon."
This sentence is well written!
How can a lame dragon bear the weight of the nine heavens? Fat Tiger is delusional enough to lift the tripod of mountains and rivers?
Looking back, Li Shimin never considered making Li Chengqian his successor. He treated the crown prince like his elder brother, and even projected Li Tai onto himself, filling in any gaps in his own life with what he lacked. He relentlessly suppressed Li Chengqian until his death, driving anyone who dared to challenge him to madness.
I haven't read the content of this work. Many time travelers assume they're incredibly powerful and arrogant, unaware of their own shallow and limited understanding. What's the difference between modern and ancient people? It's not wisdom, but rather that modern people have gained some different perspectives.
To think he could gain approval and ascend the throne without launching the Xuanwu Gate Incident is wishful thinking. Historically, he did a good job as crown prince, but he was suppressed. He didn't like the crown prince to begin with, and killing all the legitimate sons left him with no choice. Considering his reputation and the state, the possibility of him taking the throne was much greater.
Being constantly on the defensive and unable to retaliate—that's what makes this story so frustrating!
The Li Chengqian you wrote is practically the enemy of the whole world; even with all that time travel, it's still so difficult for him. If he were alive, he would have been killed before he was even a sperm.
Li Chengqian could only succeed to the throne in two ways: First, his leg would be cured. However, if his leg could be cured, the Imperial Hospital would be in serious trouble, likely due to a powerful family conspiracy. Given Li Shimin's intelligence, he wouldn't consider anyone else, as Li Chengqian was the only clean heir. Second, absolute force. Without a system, considering only the first option, any other solution would be laughable. It would be better to just give a system to a novice.
Why not just kill Li Shimin? Why go through all that trouble?