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

Chapter 1585: The Imperial Decree

With a creaky sound, the door closed again.

Li Yuanjia walked over to sit opposite Li Yuangui and Li Yuanming, and then said calmly: "The same goes for you two. When you go back, don't do anything. Wait for the late emperor to be buried and return to your post."

"Yes!" Li Yuangui and Li Yuanming nodded seriously.

"This Chang'an City is too dangerous."

Li Yuanjia sighed softly, then shook his head and said, "My twenty-second brother is too stupid. It is true that Emperor Zhongzong was deposed and killed, the Eastern Palace was bloodbathed, and Li Dan was made emperor. The court officials easily surrendered under the lies and rewards. However, there is an endless bloodbath as a warning."

During the Luoyang Palace coup, the imperial guard general Li Yi was killed and his head was thrown directly onto the hall.

Bloody.

Although no one was worried about the extermination of the three clans of Crown Prince's concubine Yang, the words "extermination of three clans" were enough to make court officials uneasy.

The Eastern Palace was massacred in blood. Although it was said at the court meeting today that it was Zhang Qianxu who acted recklessly, in fact, this was also a kind of intimidation from Empress Wu to the officials in Chang'an.

This is the case with the Eastern Palace. If others still refuse to surrender when Empress Wu offers them a way out, then they will end up dead.

"Now, I'm afraid that the sixteen guards of Chang'an have all fallen into the hands of others." Li Yuangui couldn't help but shook his head, looking helpless.

These people, including all the officials in the court, were trapped in the imperial palace by Zhang Qianxu for seven days.

During these seven days, Zhang Qianxu, as the general of the imperial guards and with the imperial edict of Empress Wu, had taken over the imperial guards and the Sixteen Guards Army in Chang'an.

Now that Li Dan returned to Chang'an, he deprived Zhang Qianxu of his power to command the army, but Xue Guwu and Ma Sizong took over again.

There is also Li Lingwen in the palace, and the military power of Chang'an is in the hands of Empress Wu.

Not to mention, there are secret guards.

Li Yuangui then smiled bitterly and said, "Anyway, no matter what, those sitting up there are all descendants of Emperor Gaozong, Emperor Taizong, and my father. That's enough."

Li Yuanjia nodded slightly in silence.

As long as the one sitting on the throne is still a descendant of the Li family, these old guys will have nothing to say.

If Li Yuanying's thoughts just now were really known to outsiders, then no matter whether they supported Li Dan's succession to the throne or not, they would not let him go.

The intervention of the royal family is not a palace coup, but treason.

"Three years!" Li Yuanming said softly, "After three years, the emperor will take power. By then, everything will be back on track."

"Not necessarily." Li Yuangui smiled bitterly, turned to look at Li Yuanming and said, "Today, because Emperor Zhongzong wanted her to retreat to the harem, she deposed and killed Emperor Zhongzong. One day, when the three years are up, she may not return the power. Who knows, Silang may die of illness in three years, and then she will not make such a mistake in deposing Sanlang."

Empress Wu deposed Li Xian. People had always known that she was extremely power-hungry, and now it was completely revealed to everyone.

After all, Li Xian had been the crown prince for many years and had a lot of supporters.

After the death of the previous emperor, he continued to rule for nearly half a year. It took a lot of effort and risk for Empress Wu to depose him. Although she succeeded in the end, she left behind many hidden dangers.

For example, Li Chongzhao’s escape.

But if she were given another three years, not only would the previous hidden dangers be completely eliminated, but it would even be much easier to depose the emperor.

It may even be silent.

It would be enough to give Li Dan chronic poison continuously for three years.

As for the mother-son affection, Li Xian's death has proved everything.

"No matter what, we have to leave Chang'an alive first." Li Yuanjia raised his head, looked at Li Yuangui and Li Yuanming seriously, and said, "Be careful in Chang'an. If we are caught by others, we will be killed without any resistance."

"Yes!" Li Yuangui and Li Yuanming nodded solemnly at the same time.

They all knew that the reason why Empress Wu was now acting in a pacifying manner was to show it to the world.

But if someone had any reckless intentions, then Empress Wu would not mind using bloody heads to warn the world in a legitimate way.

"Leave Chang'an, and then go to a safe place. Once we return to our place of work, we will feel a little more secure." Li Yuanjia smiled bitterly, but he couldn't help but feel relieved in his heart.

Li Yuangui and Li Yuanming looked at each other and felt much more relaxed.

Not everyone is as foolish as Prince Teng Li Yuanying. Li Yuanjia, Li Yuangui and Li Yuanming are all around sixty years old and have served as local governors for their entire lives. Their experience and vision are not comparable to Li Yuanying's.

Emperor Gaozong died, and the official successor chosen by Emperor Gaozong died.

Even though the one who truly holds power today is Emperor Gaozong's empress, the Empress of the past and the Empress Dowager of today, her prestige among those in charge of local prefectures and counties is far less than that of Emperor Gaozong.

The prestige that Emperor Gaozong once left behind has completely disappeared.

When Emperor Gaozong was alive, as long as there was an imperial edict, the local governors and county magistrates would obey the order, and even their lives would have to be surrendered.

For example, the two successive Kings of Jiang, as well as King of Cao Li Ming, King of Yue Li Zhen, etc., didn’t they all die in this way?

The most unfortunate one was King Jiang Li Hun. He hadn't done anything yet, but was impeached by his subordinate, the clerk, and was so frightened that he hanged himself.

This is due to the prestige of Emperor Gaozong.

But now, all of that is gone.

Although Empress Wu was in power and also controlled the secret guards, it would be difficult for her to decide someone's death with a single word, as she did during the reign of Emperor Gaozong.

People from local prefectures and counties don’t even need to put up a hard fight. It is enough for them to kill the messengers and imperial envoys who deliver the imperial edict along the way.

These were things that no one dared to do when Emperor Gaozong and Emperor Zhongzong were alive, but now that Empress Wu is in power, they dare to do them.

Not to mention those aristocratic families, even Li Yuanjia, Li Yuangui and Li Yuanming dared to come.

As long as they return to their hometown, it will be difficult for Empress Wu to threaten them again.

In the final analysis, although Empress Wu helped the late emperor govern the country for decades, she was ultimately nothing more than an internal prime minister.

Although she is now the empress dowager and her authority can overwhelm the two states of Yong and Luo, her authority will decline sharply in the local areas.

This is the biggest consequence of deposing Li Xian and enthroning Li Dan.

"But we are not doing nothing." Li Yuanjia's expression became solemn. He looked towards the direction of the palace and said softly, "Silang is the emperor now after all. No matter what happens in three years, he still has three years at least. We also have three years. In order to prevent the throne from slipping in three years, we still need to help Silang." Three years later, if Li Dan was deposed again and Empress Wu re-established a new emperor, then the threat posed by them to Empress Wu would increase to a greater level.

"How to do it?" Li Yuangui couldn't help but frowned.

"Crown Prince." Li Yuanjia sighed and said, "Three years later, if there is chaos, the crown prince will most likely be the successor. So we need to add weight to the crown prince. If the crown prince is stable, the emperor's position will be more secure, and we will be safer."

"How to do it specifically?" Li Yuanming repeated Li Yuanjia's question.

"Inner school." Li Yuanjia took a deep breath and said, "When Ershiqilang was here, he once proposed to set up an inner school to teach Crown Prince Chongzhao to go to school. Now Crown Prince Chengqi is about the same age as Chongzhao, and it is time for him to go to school. We should set up an inner school to let the children of the royal family, military generals, civil officials, nobles and relatives gather around Chengqi."

Li Yuanjia drew a circle and said, "These people surrounding Chengqi means they are supporting the emperor. In this way, after three years, Silang will be able to rule the country smoothly, which is the best for us."

"Good!" Li Yuanming and Li Yuangui nodded at the same time.

“But speaking of it, speaking of Twenty-Seventh Brother.” Li Yuanming looked up at Li Yuanjia and said, “Although Twenty-Seventh Brother is now leading the army in the Western Regions, with the changes in the court, that person will definitely not let him stay alone. I’m afraid he will be recalled to the capital, but after returning to the capital…”

Having said that, Li Yuanming couldn't help but turn his head and look at Li Yuangui.

Li Yuangui's face was gloomy.

The relationship between Li Xuan and Li Xian was even a model for the royal family.

Not only that, he was also the one who led the most troops among the royal family. Although there were others such as Li Xiaoyi and Li Hui, they were not as good as Li Xuan.

Li Yuanjia also looked at Li Yuangui and said, "Shisilang, what do you say?"

Li Yuangui pondered for a moment and said, "Twenty-Seventh Brother has led the army for many years and has served in the court for a long time. He may have his own opinions on this matter. We'd better not act rashly and don't contact him, so as not to affect his judgment... With his ability, he can protect himself. The key is that we need to take good care of Wang's wife and Princess Peng."

Li Yuanjia nodded, his eyes flickering, and then said: "How about this, when the late emperor is buried, all the family members will gather for a banquet, and the location will be the Prince Peng's Mansion."

"Yes!" Li Yuangui nodded.

Now is not the time to be afraid of being feared. The most important thing now is to make people feel fearful.

After collecting his thoughts, Li Yuanjia said, "That's basically it. We can wait for the late emperor to be buried peacefully, and then return to our posts. But before that, we need to do one last thing."

Li Yuanming and Li Yuangui looked up in surprise. Li Yuanjia said solemnly, "We need to see if His Majesty has any special instructions."

Li Yuanjia's words immediately reminded Li Yuanming and Li Yuangui of the decree issued by Li Dan in the court today to exempt the people in the Yongluo area from rent and labor service.

Their new emperor was not so contented either.

But that's a good thing.

"Yes!" Li Yuangui nodded very seriously.

He understood that Li Yuanjia did not really want to help Li Dan, but wanted to get something.

In this way, if Li Dan was deposed again in the future, they could use this thing to protect themselves.

When doing things now, I am not afraid of being feared by others, but I am afraid of not being feared by others.

……

After Li Yuanming and Li Yuangui left, Li Yuanjia walked back to the table.

The black box looks very ordinary, and when it is opened, the objects inside are also ordinary.

A bright yellow belt.

Just no words.

Looking at this belt, Li Yuanjia fell into deep thought.

The imperial edict.

The bloody secret decree.

The secret decree issued by Emperor Xian of Han was to ask Dong Cheng, Zhong Ji, Wu Shuo, Wang Zifu, Liu Bei, Wu Zilan and others to murder Cao Cao.

However, in the end, the secret letter was discovered by Cao Cao, and Dong Cheng, Zhong Ji and others were executed along with their entire families.

Liu Bei brought his surrender belt and sent a letter to Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao took the imperial edict to attack Cao Cao.

What followed was the Battle of Guandu.

Today, if they could get such a secret edict, then if there was ever a matter of deposing or enthroning an emperor again, they would have the power to intervene.

Thus he avoided being killed by Wu.

You know, over the years, countless members of the royal family have died at the hands of the Wu family.

With something like this, they will be able to resist.

But at the same time, if such a thing were known to the Wu family, it would immediately bring endless fatal disasters.

The most crucial thing is how to get this secret decree in the most secretive way.

Will Li Dan give it to him?

Also, who brought this box in?

The timing was so cleverly calculated.

You know, his mansion is not so easy to break into.

But just when the siege of the palace was lifted and his people began to go out to inquire about his situation, someone came in and placed the things here.

Who put things here?

What kind of thoughts are there?

(End of this chapter)