People in the early Tang Dynasty: I compete with Wu Zhao for the throne

Chapter 1543: This King Also Asked to Be Buried
Kaihuafang, a continuous piece of white silk.

When the previous emperor passed away, the etiquette used by the royal family was second only to that of the emperor.

Not many kings returned to Chang'an. Most of them returned to their places of office after leaving Chang'an.

Li Xuan entered Kaihuafang from the gate, and the clan members who followed him bowed one after another and returned home.

Li Xuan stopped his horse at the gate and looked at his clan brothers returning home with a slightly relaxed expression.

The hilt of the black-scabbarded long sword hanging on the side of the horse naturally fell on the edge of his palm holding the reins.

The sound of horse hooves rang beside him, and Li Xuan's mind became slightly distracted.

Empress Wu would certainly take action against the royal family in the court, but definitely not before the central government officials.

After decades of discipline by the previous emperor, the royal family of the Tang Dynasty had become extremely obedient.

Even those who occasionally took action were all descendants of Emperor Taizong.

Perhaps now we should also add the descendants of the late emperor.

Prince, Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount.

Among the royal family members of the Tang Dynasty today, there are quite a few who are descendants of Gaozu, Taizong and the previous emperor, but they are not many either.

Even when Empress Wu took action against members of the royal family, she would start with those who were close to the emperor in blood, starting with the legitimate sons.

Those who already had very low titles, or even those who were illegitimate sons, were not on Empress Wu's slaughter list at all.

These people are the ones that Li Xuan can really use.

Especially in Chang'an.

They had so many connections that they didn't know how many in-laws they had in Chang'an.

It is of great use to Li Xuan.

……

In front of Prince Peng's mansion, Li Xuan dismounted from his horse.

Seeing Ouyang waiting at the door, he quickly stepped forward, then knelt down and said, "Mother."

Ouyang looked at Li Xuan, whose crown and left arm were both tied with white silk strips, with pity, and said softly, "You have suffered."

"It's all my son's duty." Li Xuan turned sideways to look at Pei Shitong and Chang'er who knelt down behind him, and then said, "Sanniang and the others are still in Luoyang. They have to go to the palace to mourn and offer sacrifices to the late emperor every day. They can't come back for the time being, so I asked my son to greet you."

"Yeah!" Ouyang reached out to support Li Xuan.

Li Xuan quickly stood up and said, "Let Tong'er talk to her mother first. I will go to the ancestral temple and burn some incense for my father."

"Okay!" Ouyang nodded and looked at Li Xuan with a hint of surprise in her eyes.

A wise child is better than his mother.

Although Li Xuan would burn incense to Li Yuanze after returning home on weekdays, it was rare for him to be so anxious today.

Li Xuan accompanied Pei Shitong to send Ouyang to the main house, and then walked alone to the family temple in the backyard.

Stepping into the ancestral temple, five spirit tablets arranged one above the other caught Li Xuan's eyes.

Emperor Yizu Guang was blessed by heaven.

Emperor Taizu Jing is a tiger.

Emperor Shizu Yuan Bing.

Emperor Gaozu Taiwu Yuan.

Peng Si Wang Yuanze.

……

Li Xuan lit the incense himself, inserted it into the incense burner, then knelt down straight, and kowtowed three times and nine times solemnly.

After doing all this, Li Xuan looked up at the five tablets in front of him, and finally landed on the tablet of Emperor Gaozu Taiwu Li Yuan.

Li Xuan had never seen his grandfather. After the Xuanwu Gate Incident in the ninth year of Wude, his grandfather had been under house arrest.

He never interfered in state affairs again.

Then he died of illness in the ninth year of Zhenguan.

A total of ten years.

Li Xuan suddenly understood why some of his uncles and aunts rebelled.

For example, Li Yuanchang, King of Han, and Li Yuanjing, King of Jing.

Just think about it, if your emperor father was imprisoned, as long as you can rescue your emperor father, you will immediately be credited with great merit, and being made the crown prince will be a matter of a moment.

What's more, he could even follow the example of Emperor Taizong, ask the emperor to be the supreme emperor, and then ascend the throne himself.

Just one step away.

But this is the step that no one else has taken except Emperor Taizong.

Li Xuan's gaze fell on the spirit tablet of his father, King Pengsi Li Yuanze.

Emperor Taizong died of illness, his father died of illness, and now Emperor Gaozong died of illness, but he is still alive.

Li Xian is the emperor now, but soon he will be deposed.

Li Dan would also be deposed, and Empress Wu would ascend the throne directly.

Li Xuan came here today just to ask Emperor Gaozu and his grandfather what this meant.

Later generations talked about the prosperous Tang Dynasty, from the founding of the country by Emperor Gaozu to the destruction of the country by Emperor Ai of Tang, a total of 289 years.

However, if we look into details, the Tang Dynasty was actually cut off during the reign of Wu Zetian.

Li Xuan raised his head and looked at the spirit tablet of Emperor Gaozu.

He just wanted to ask, what would the Tang Dynasty be if Li Longji had not been restored to the throne.

The Sui Dynasty fell in the second generation, and the Tang Dynasty, including Li Xian, only lasted for four generations.
Even earlier there were the Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Five Barbarians and Sixteen Kingdoms.

If Li Longji had not been restored to the throne, the Tang Dynasty would have been only slightly stronger than the previous Sui Dynasty.

If Wu Zetian is compared to Wang Mang, who reigned for fifteen years, then can Li Xuan also be compared to Emperor Guangwu of Han?

If he succeeds, can he be compared to Liu Xiu and become Emperor Guangwu of Tang?

I just don't know whether people in this world can admit this matter under his sharp sword.

Perhaps, Empress Wu's sharp blade will make them more obedient to Li Xuan.

……

There was a warm stove under the stone pavilion in the backyard.

Li Xuan sat on one side, watching Pei Shitong putting plates of mutton into the boiling hot pot, and couldn't help but smile.

Li Zhichang was standing by and was eating with gusto.

Li Xuan raised his head and looked at the lake that had completely melted away. He couldn't help but look thoughtful. He thought of Liu Rengui.

Today, Liu Rengui suddenly asked about the last conversation between Li Xuan and Li Yiyan in Luoyang, which made Li Xuan sigh at Liu Rengui's sharpness.

In fact, not only Liu Rengui, but every prime minister was equally sharp.

So was Liu Rengui and so was Li Yiyan.

Wang Fulai died of illness. Although everything that happened in the palace was natural and there was not even a trace of it, many people already smelled danger.

Wang Fulai was a close confidant of Emperor Gaozong and the holder of countless palace secrets.

After his death, only Empress Wu knew these secrets.

Only Empress Wu knew these secrets, which meant that she could modify them at will according to her wishes.

Many other people in the court were part of these secrets, which fell completely into Wu Zetian's hands, making them feel extremely uneasy.

Li Yiyan was the Minister of the Secretariat, the third rank official of the Secretariat, and the prime minister.

He has another identity, that is, he was the one who followed Hao Chujun to target Empress Wu.

Hao Chujun passed away due to illness last summer.

If we were to ask who in the court was the most vocal in opposing Empress Wu, it would definitely be Li Yiyan.

Everything was fine. When Wang Fulai was alive, Li Yiyan never thought much about it. But as soon as Wang Fulai died, Li Yiyan immediately smelled the scent of fear.

The night before Li Xuan returned to Chang'an, Li Yiyan privately told Li Xuan that if the situation did not go well, he would resign due to illness.

Retire directly and leave the court.

To avoid being liquidated after Empress Wu came to power.

Li Xuan didn't know how Liu Rengui knew about this, but there was no doubt that Liu Rengui also smelled the danger.

Wang Fulai was a palace eunuch who controlled countless secrets when Emperor Gaozong was alive. Now, Wang Fulai died just over forty days after Emperor Gaozong passed away. I wonder how many people would jump up when they heard the news.

Liu Rengui was one of them. After returning to Chang'an and getting rid of the direct threat from Empress Wu, Liu Rengui immediately couldn't help but look for Li Xuan.

Prime ministers like them know too much about what goes on in the palace.

When Emperor Gaozong was alive, Wang Fulai and Qiu Huan shared the power of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Now that Wang Fulai had suddenly died of illness, it meant an imbalance of power in the palace.

The note Wang Fulai gave to Li Xuan clearly stated, "Be careful of the internal security."

For the prime ministers, even if they did not see the note, they could still sense the changes in the power of the inner guards.

The emperor was out of control in the palace.

Li Xuan smiled, looked at Li Zhichang who was eating a piece of meat with chopsticks, and said with a smile: "Slow down, don't rush."

"When the late emperor's coffin was in Luoyang, I didn't eat or sleep well for a month." Pei Shitong looked up and rolled her eyes at Li Xuan, saying, "Chang'er is like this, Xia'er, Zhao'er, and Ming'er are all like this too."

"Officials mourn for 27 months, and the emperor mourns for 36 months. The late emperor was merciful and left an edict to replace months with days. Although we, the royal family, do not have to mourn for 36 months like Your Majesty, we still have to be cautious when we are in Luoyang."

Li Xuan raised his head, looked at the palace in front of him, and said softly: "Only in this palace can you and I be free."

Pei Shitong stopped using her chopsticks and her face couldn't help but look full of hatred.

……

It was dark at night in the study.

Li Xuan handed three slips of paper to Li Zhu and said seriously, "Send all three secret letters by hawk, not pigeon."

"Yes!" Li Zhu turned around and left without any hesitation.

Walking to the door of the study, Li Xuan looked at the sky calmly.

Three carrier eagles soared into the dark night sky and disappeared into the distance in the blink of an eye.

He was moving so fast that even with countless spies monitoring the palace, it was difficult to track Li Xuan's destination.

Li Xuan sighed softly.

Chang'an, Chang'an.

Chang'an without the emperor and Empress Wu.

Even though there was a crown prince, Liu Rengui, Wu Sansi, and Li Zhaode, Chang'an was empty in Li Xuan's eyes.

He does whatever he wants.

Turning around, Li Xuan walked towards the bedroom.

The night is getting colder.

……

The fifth day of February was the second day that the prince returned to Chang'an.

Li Xuan stepped into the Taiji Palace with a solemn expression, and together with other ministers, he kowtowed to the late emperor's clothes and coffin. After crying for a moment, the ministers slowly walked out of the Taiji Palace.

Li Xuan, what do you want? Three people came and walked out of Taiji Gate.

"The late emperor's coffin is scheduled to depart from Luoyang and return to Chang'an on May 7th. If the weather is bad, it may be postponed." Li Xuan sighed lightly, Lai Sui and He Yiqiu nodded. At this time, they saw seven or eight foreign envoys walking together in front.

One of them suddenly said loudly: "Although the late emperor was wise and powerful, after all, there is still one aspect in which he cannot compare to Emperor Taizong."

"Which aspect?" Others couldn't help but ask, causing a lot of noise.

Li Xuan suddenly stopped and frowned.

Lai Sui and He Yiqiu looked at those people in the same surprise. Are they crazy? They were talking about the late emperor like this in Taiji Palace.

"Remember that when Emperor Taizong passed away, Duke Liang and Duke Bi requested to be buried alive with him and guard the mausoleum, but the late emperor did not allow it, so they gave up. Now that the late emperor has passed away, not a single minister in the court has mentioned being buried alive with him." A tall, blond, blue-eyed foreign envoy could not help but sneer.

In the 23rd year of Zhenguan, Emperor Taizong died and Emperor Gaozong succeeded to the throne. Qibi Heli and Ashina She'er requested to commit suicide to be buried with him and guard the mausoleum.

Emperor Gaozong gave up the plan because Emperor Taizong had already issued a will prohibiting burial alive with the dead.

But this story has been passed down as a good story for many years.

"You guys only know a little about what's going on in the court." Li Xuan's slightly cold voice sounded from behind.

Everyone turned around subconsciously and was immediately surprised to see Li Xuan. Then they bowed in fear and said, "Greetings, King Peng."

Li Xuan walked calmly through the crowd. He was not unfamiliar with these people. He had seen most of them when he was the Shaoqing of the Honglu Temple.

Envoys from India, Kangguo, Silla, Wakoku, Ryukyu, Annan, Zhenla, Java, Uighur, Tiele and other countries.

Li Xuan walked in front of the crowd, looked at the Suzaku Gate in front, and said softly: "Others don't know, but on the day of the late emperor's death, he summoned me. I also asked the late emperor to be buried with him, but the late emperor did not allow it and ordered me to assist the prince. Only then did the matter fall into place. Don't talk nonsense."

"Yes!" Many foreign envoys bowed in fear and panic.

Li Xuan snorted coldly, then walked forward calmly.

Leaving behind him only a gaze of awe.

Li Xuan was about to march into the Western Regions, and if he was "careless", his country would be destroyed.

(End of this chapter)