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

Chapter 1706: Eight Months Ago, Pei Xingjian Died
Xuzhou, Hanwang Town.

In the Temple of the King of Han, Li Xuan respectfully performed the ritual of three kneelings and nine kowtows in front of the statue of Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang.

Behind him, also kneeling were General Liu Dingyuan of the Left Guard, Junior Minister of the Imperial Clan Liu Yuanshen, and Secretary of the Central Secretariat Liu Yicong.

Three kneelings and nine kowtows, the fragrance fills the air.

Liu Yicong was the legitimate son of Liu Shenli, Duke of Pengcheng County. He was a direct descendant of the Pengcheng Liu family and a direct descendant of Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang.

Liu Dingyuan was from a branch of the Pengcheng Liu family, but he chose a military career, and things would have been smooth sailing. Unfortunately, the Wu family was in chaos, Liu Shenli was far away in the Western Regions, and Xuzhou was an important town for the Eastern Expedition. In addition, the Pengcheng Liu family had relations with Pei Yan and Cheng Wuting, so Liu Dingyuan actually had no choice.

Liu Yuanshen was the eldest son of Liu Rengui and a descendant of Emperor Zhang of Han, Liu Zhuang. Liu Zhuang was the grandson of Emperor Guangwu, Liu Xiu, and Liu Bang's ninth-generation grandson.

Although the family tree is divided into separate volumes, they are all of the same bloodline and share the same surname, Liu.

Li Xuan was the heir to the throne of King Peng, and his wife Liu Jinyu was a descendant of Liu Bang.
So even if he had to perform the ritual of three kneelings and nine kowtows, he was more or less willing to do so.

Not to mention, Liu Bang was the founding emperor of the Han Dynasty.

Before the Tang Dynasty, except for the short-lived Sui Dynasty, there was Liu Bang.

"Book of Han" and "Book of the Later Han" both record the affairs of the Liu family.

The elder of the clan beside took the incense from Li Xuan, and then inserted it into the incense burner. Li Xuan then came out of the Hanwang Temple and talked with the elders and younger generations of the Liu clan...

……

On the banks of the Yudai River, Li Xuan walked calmly, looking at the sparkling water, and said softly: "When I was young, when I was studying the topography of the world, I once curiously asked others why the Peng Palace was in Pengzhou instead of Pengcheng. After all, the ancient Pengdi was in Xuzhou."

"Ancient Peng is a great Han state." Liu Yi sighed, then shook his head and said, "The reason Emperor Gaozu appointed the kings was actually to maintain stability in the country, so he appointed King Peng in Pengzhou, under the Dangxiang Mountains.

As for the name Pengzhou, it is because Pengzhou is located at the source of the Minjiang River, with two mountains facing each other, which was called Tianpeng Gate in ancient times, so it was named after it. "

"Yes!" Li Xuan nodded and praised: "Brother Yi is very knowledgeable..."

"Da da da..." A burst of hurried horse hoof sounds came from the east. Li Xuan looked up and saw Li Lang riding a horse galloping towards him.

When he got closer, Li Lang dismounted, bowed to Li Xuan, and presented an official document, saying, "Your Majesty, an urgent letter from Chang'an."

"Yeah!" Li Xuan's expression calmed down.

An invisible majesty emanated, and Liu Dingyuan and Liu Yuanshen both took half a step back.

Liu Yi stepped forward, took the document from Li Lang's hand, glanced at the seal on it, and then handed it to Li Xuan and said, "Your Highness, it's correct."

Li Xuan took the document, opened it in public, read it once, and then handed it to Liu Yicong, saying softly: "Mr. Yue guessed correctly. This time it was indeed a scam. They tricked me and the two prime ministers to go to Yangzhou together. The Wei family took the opportunity to poison the Weiguo Concubine and impeach Prime Minister Cui. They even tried to throw dirty water on me in the end."

Hearing what Li Xuan said, Liu Dingyuan's expression changed slightly. He subconsciously looked at Liu Yuanshen and Liu Yicong, and both of them looked much calmer.

Liu Dingyuan immediately understood that Liu Yuanshen and Liu Yicong must have known about this matter for a long time.

This means that Liu Rengui and Liu Shenli, the two Shangshu Pushe on the left and right, had noticed something.

At this point, with the two prime ministers agreeing, the Wei family would be unable to turn the tables.

After Liu Yi finished reading the document, he handed it to Liu Yuanshen, then looked at Li Xuan and said, "All the people involved in the Wei family will be imprisoned directly, and all the three clans will be imprisoned directly. Your Majesty, what's next..."

"Write a letter to Secretary Yu Ze, and ask him to tell Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice Li Zhaode, Chief Censor Zhang Hongyu, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court He Yiqiu that in this matter, we in this department will act according to the law. We will not make things difficult for anyone, and we will not let anyone go. We will deal with everything based on the facts, and make sure that whatever we find out is made public." Li Xuan looked to the side.

Chen Ziang, who was standing at the side and behind, stepped forward and bowed to receive the order.

"Also, send a special letter to the Imperial Censor Zhang Jianzhi, asking him to keep an eye on the person in charge of handling this matter under Prime Minister Cui. If anyone has made a mistake, ask him to impeach him directly. Don't be polite." Li Xuan raised his deep eyes and looked towards the direction of Xuzhou City. He said softly, "Has that Imperial Censor Wei been captured?"

"Prime Minister Yao has been captured." Li Lang bowed slightly.

"Yes!" Li Xuan nodded and said softly: "Send someone to Luoyang, and then ask Zhang Jianzhi to send a copy of the daily events in Chang'an to Luoyang."

"Yes!" Chen Zi'ang bowed solemnly.

Li Xuan turned around, looked in the direction of Yangzhou, and said softly: "The news about the emperor of Huzhou was actually fabricated by Wei Shishi."

Liu Dingyuan was the last one to read the document and his expression became solemn.

The news that Li Chongzhao was in Huzhou turned out to be false, which inevitably made people disappointed and even desperate.

It is now the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month in the second year of Sisheng. It is said that a country cannot be without a ruler for a day, but the prime ministers in the central government have persisted for eight months. They cannot last a year, so this time Li Xuan went to Yangzhou to make a final decision.

"Let's go." Li Xuan raised his head and walked towards Hanwang Town, saying, "Let's go to Huzhou first to make sure that the emperor is really not in Huzhou, and then go back to Yangzhou to put an end to the emperor's affairs."

"Yes!" Everyone bowed.

……

On Lake Taihu, four three-masted ships sailed south with the wind, heading straight for the capital of Huzhou.

Li Xuan stood at the bow with a calm face, looking at the vast surface of Taihu Lake.

The lake is sparkling and as calm as a mirror.

Li Xuan couldn't help but feel a little amused. He slipped and fell into the water in Taihu Lake.

What on earth was Wei Shishi thinking, that he actually wanted to use this method to kill him?

Li Xuan turned his head and looked behind him, and saw dozens of small boats following closely.

Some of them are even faster than the big ships, and they occasionally insert themselves between the big ships and then flexibly move away.

Water battle, water battle.

Although Li Xuan was not an expert in naval battles, he had been in Wuzhou, Hangzhou and Yangzhou for a while. He had enough manpower at his disposal in the Yangzhou Navy and the Hangzhou Navy. It was not easy to drown him.

The Wei family's actions in Jiangnan were just under the guise of looking for Li Chongzhao, so the Jiangnan families would give their all to help them.

But once he turned against Li Xuan, the entire Wuyue Sixteen Aristocratic Families would immediately turn against the Wei Family. The Wei Family had no idea how deeply Li Xuan and the Wuyue Aristocratic Families were bound together.

Li Xuan had worked hard to get He Zhizhang the title of top scholar, which made countless Wu Yue families jealous.

Without Li Xuan, it would be very difficult for the Wu Yue family to gain a foothold in the central government that has always looked down on them.

Even Prime Minister Lu Yuanfang was to be dismissed.

In this regard, the Wu Yue family sees it clearly and there is no need to ask what choice to make.

Now, Yao Lingzhang went to Yangzhou, Li Xuan came to Huzhou, Wang Dezhen went to Muchou, and Duan Baoxuan still stayed in Maoshan.

Within five days, they did everything they could to find Li Chongzhao's whereabouts.

Five days later, no matter what, everyone returned to Yangzhou and then set off back to Chang'an.

For the national interest.

We need to determine Li Chongzhao's whereabouts and whether he is alive or dead.

The wind was howling, and the capital of Huzhou was already just opposite.

……

Li Xuan calmly walked into the Huzhou prison and asked softly, "So, they did find the whereabouts of the emperor?"

"Yes!" Huzhou Governor Pei Guang's mouth twitched slightly, but then he still cupped his hands and said: "But that man was just sent by the Duke of Jiang to lure out the pursuers. The emperor went deep into the vast Tianmu Mountain, maybe to Huainan Road, maybe to Jiangzhou, or even to Tiantai Mountain."

"Yeah!" Li Xuan nodded slightly, without saying much, and finally reached the end of the state prison.

A middle-aged man in black silk clothes lay quietly on the haystack.

"Open the door." Li Xuan turned sideways and looked at Pei Guang.

Pei Guang didn't hesitate at all and went straight forward to open the door.

With a creaky sound, the cell door opened.

Li Xuan turned sideways and looked at Pei Guang.

Pei Guang bowed his head deeply, clasped his hands and stepped back.

When Li Chongzhao ascended the throne in Yangzhou, Pei Guang did not choose to get close to him, but when Empress Wu conquered Yangzhou, Pei Guang did not add insult to injury.

But it was also because of this that when the world was settled, no one made things too difficult for him, but at the same time, no one appreciated him.

Now, among the three prime ministers in Jiangnan and the Jiangnan Pacifier, none of them even glanced at him.

His future was over.

After he finishes his term as governor of Huzhou, he will be idle.

……

Li Xuan stood in the cell, looking at the middle-aged man named Pei Fu, nodded, and said: "This king remembers you, you are someone close to Duke Jiang."

"Your Highness!" Pei Fu bowed heavily.

"When Wei Shishi came to you, you told him that the emperor had entered Tianmu Mountain, and then divided his troops into more than a dozen groups to lead the pursuing troops away." Li Xuan looked at Pei Fu dimly.

"Yes." Pei Fu bowed earnestly, then said, "Does this general really not know where the emperor is?"

"So, Master Wei has locked you up." Li Xuan stared at Pei Fu.

"Yes!" Pei Fu cupped his hands in confusion and said, "I don't know what happened either. I just told him that I didn't know the whereabouts of the emperor, and he locked me up."

Li Xuan nodded gently and said, "I know the reason. The emperor entered Mount Mao in April, and it has been eight months now. You should know that I took Chang'an in May and Luoyang in August. The news has spread all over the world. Even if the emperor has entered the mountains, he still needs supplies. No matter what, as long as he communicates with outsiders, he can always know the major events in the world and find them out..."

"Duke Jiang has made some arrangements in the mountains in advance, so there is no need to communicate with the outside world." Pei Fu's eyes jumped and he lowered his head subconsciously.

Li Xuan glanced at him and continued, "Because the emperor never came out of the mountain, even you were found, but the emperor didn't, so Wei Shishi naturally thought that the emperor was dead..."

"No, the emperor is still alive." Pei Fu looked up suddenly, but Li Xuan on the opposite side was staring at him intently, so Pei Fu turned his head subconsciously.

Li Xuan shook his head and said, "There is one thing I am not very clear about. When Wei Shishi found you, you had obviously been in contact with the people around you, knew the major events in the world, and knew that the emperor's mother's family, the royal family, and the prime minister were all looking for him. But not only did you not go to the government, but the moment you saw the soldiers, you turned around and ran away..."

"No, I don't know." Pei Fu couldn't help but take a step back, his face turning pale.

Li Xuan looked at him and continued, "The only reason I can think of is that you assassinated the emperor in the mountains, but I didn't expect that I would take back the world."

Pei Fu looked up suddenly after hearing Li Xuan's words, then quickly waved his hand and said, "It's not like that, it's not like that, I'm just following orders..."

"Whose orders?" Li Xuan stepped forward, stared at Pei Fu and asked, "Who told you not to contact the government under any circumstances? Who gave the order, Duke Jiang, Pei Siqing, or Wei Xuanfu?"

Pei Fu opened and closed his mouth, but no word came out.

Li Xuan looked at him dimly and said softly, "Then it must be the Duke of Jiang..."

"No, no!" Pei Fu struggled extremely and looked at Li Xuan with fear on his face.

"Not Duke Jiang." Li Xuan looked at Pei Fu, and a terrifying thought came to his mind. He suddenly stepped forward, grabbed Pei Fu's shoulders, gritted his teeth and asked: "You are from the Pei family, why don't you listen to the orders of Duke Jiang, but listen to others, could it be that Duke Jiang..."

Pei Fu suddenly looked at Li Xuan with a sad face, his tears already streaming down the corners of his eyes.

Although he didn't say a word, Li Xuan already knew that Pei Xingjian was dead.

It is even possible that he had died before the fall of Yangzhou.

(End of this chapter)