A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 628 Empress Xiao in the Golden Wolf Tent

"Is this really the Imperial Seal of the State?"

Dingxiang Khan's Court

When Li Yi received the jade seal from Su Dingfang, all the generals gathered around to watch.

The Imperial Seal of the State—who doesn't know its name? But how many people have actually seen it?

Ignoring his fatigue from the long journey with the army, Wei Zheng stared at the imperial seal with burning eyes. "Minister, let me examine it. I know a little about the Imperial Seal of the State."

Li Yi thought the Imperial Seal of the State looked rather ordinary, but it was indeed gold-inlaid jade, with one corner inlaid with gold.

"Please give Secretary Wei your opinion."

Wei Zheng carefully took it, afraid of dropping or bumping it.

After receiving it, I carefully examined it from all angles.
"This jade seal is most likely the Imperial Seal of the State."

"really?"

Wei Zheng happily explained to everyone, "First of all, look at this jade. It has a corner inlaid with gold, which is exactly the characteristic of the Imperial Seal of the State carved from Lantian jade after Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms."

Historical records state that when Wang Mang usurped the Han throne, he demanded the imperial seal from Empress Dowager Wang. She struck him with the seal, breaking off a corner. It was later repaired with gold, thus becoming known as "gold-inlaid jade."

"Secondly, look at the material, it is indeed Lantian jade, and the inscription on it is in the insect and bird seal script, which looks like insects and birds. It is not an ordinary seal script. These eight characters are 'Received the mandate from Heaven, may you live long and prosper'."

Li Cunxiao asked, "What do these eight characters mean?"

Everyone looked at him with disdain.

Wei Zheng explained with a smile, "These eight characters mean that I, the First Emperor, am appointed by Heaven, so the country's fortune will surely be long-lasting and prosperous."

"Qin Emperor Ying Zheng called himself the First Emperor and wanted the Qin Dynasty to last for ten thousand generations, but unfortunately the Qin Dynasty only lasted for two generations."

Li Yi was also quite curious about this imperial seal, after all, it had such a great reputation, as if whoever obtained it would definitely become the emperor.

In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Sun Jian led his troops into Luoyang and retrieved this long-lost national treasure from the well, which he then kept for himself.

After Sun Jian's death, Sun Ce used this jade seal to borrow troops from Yuan Shu, thus beginning his rise to power in Jiangdong. Yuan Shu, whose family had held high office for four generations, brazenly declared himself emperor after obtaining the jade seal.

He who obtains the imperial seal will rule the world, but unfortunately Yuan Shu was besieged by many and ultimately suffered defeat and death.

Even in the novel *Romance of the Sui and Tang Dynasties*, Li Mi went to great lengths to seize the Imperial Seal of the State.

However, in reality,

The Imperial Seal of the State was important, but not that important.

Both Wang Mang and Yuan Shu obtained the Imperial Seal and declared themselves emperors, but neither of them enjoyed long and prosperous reigns.

Sun Jian was known as the Tiger of Jiangdong, but he would perish if he obtained the imperial seal.

The seal is four inches square, with five dragons intertwined on the top knob. One corner is missing and it is inlaid with gold.

It's quite unremarkable.

“Look at this,”

Wei Zheng pointed to the shoulder of the seal, where there was also a row of inscriptions.
"The Imperial Seal that Wei received from the Han Dynasty."

These words were carved by craftsmen when Cao Pi usurped the Han throne, to demonstrate his legitimacy.

“There are words over there too,” Yuchi Gong said, pointing to the right side of the imperial seal, his eyesight sharp.

Wei Zheng nodded, "Yes, there are also four characters here: 'Heaven's Mandate of the Shi Clan.' This was carved by Shi Le of the Later Zhao during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. He obtained the Imperial Seal of the State and added this line of characters to consolidate his position."

Looking at the two inscriptions added by later generations that Wei Zheng pointed out, Li Yi realized that they were indeed full of historical flavor, just like the gold-inlaid corner.

It even gives you the feeling of watching Emperor Qianlong stamping and inscribing his name on calligraphy works.

Wei Zheng was well-versed in history and knew the history of the Imperial Seal of the State like the back of his hand.

He told everyone,
When Cao Pi usurped the Han throne, he inscribed those words on the Imperial Seal of the State, but the Cao Wei dynasty was soon usurped by the Sima family.

After the War of the Eight Princes and the Five Barbarian Invasions, Liu Yuan of the Xiongnu captured Emperor Sima Chi of Jin and seized the Imperial Seal of the State.

Sima Rui crossed the Yangtze River and declared himself emperor in Jiangdong, but he no longer possessed the Imperial Seal of the State, and was scornfully called the "Blank Emperor."

The Imperial Seal changed hands several times during the Former Zhao dynasty. Later, Shi Le of the Later Zhao obtained the seal and inscribed it with the words "Heaven's Mandate, Shi Clan," but ultimately the Later Zhao was destroyed by Ran Min…

After many twists and turns, Fu Jian was defeated and killed, and the seal fell into the hands of Yao Chang. Fu Jian claimed that he had already sent the imperial seal to the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

When Liu Yu established the Liu Song dynasty, he seized the Imperial Seal of the State from the Eastern Jin dynasty.

During the reign of Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Imperial Seal of the State was unexpectedly discovered in a temple in Ye City.

After Chen Baxian established the Southern Chen Dynasty, a monk presented him with a jade seal, which was said to have been thrown into a well by Hou Jing's son.

Thus, during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the three kingdoms of Northern Zhou, Northern Qi, and Southern Chen each possessed a jade seal, which they all claimed to be the Imperial Seal of the State.

Later, when the Sui Dynasty unified the country, all three imperial seals fell into the hands of Yang Jian.

When Dou Jiande was captured, his wife, Cao, surrendered and offered up a jade seal, which was one of the three imperial seals held by the Sui Dynasty.

The seal that the Xiao family has now acquired is one of the three seals possessed by the Sui Dynasty.

Which one is the one that was passed down from Qin Shi Huang?
“This one should be the real Qin and Han imperial seal, not only because it is inlaid with gold, but also because it has the four characters ‘Heavenly Mandate Stone’ on it, which are more than the one presented by Dou Jiande’s wife.”

Three jade seals from the Sui Dynasty

The Tang Dynasty has now acquired two pieces, but the whereabouts of the other piece remain unknown.

Li Yi instructed Wei Zheng to take good care of the jade seal, and Li Yi also specially assigned ten personal guards to protect it.

Besides the Imperial Seal of the State

The capture of the Khan's court yielded many gains.

They beheaded over a thousand people, captured over ten thousand men and women, seized tens of thousands of livestock, and captured Jieli's mother, Poshi, as well as her son, Dielashi, and others.

They even wiped out the entire Later Sui dynasty.
The three-year-old Prince Yang Zhengdao of Sui, and Empress Xiao, who was already over fifty years old.

Jieli's Golden Wolf Tent could accommodate hundreds of people.
The interior is quite luxurious.

The floor was covered with Persian carpets, and the tent was decorated with gold ornaments everywhere, making it quite extravagant.

Outside it was freezing cold, but inside the stove it was warm and there was no unpleasant smell.

Li Yi ate roasted lamb and drank milk tea.
They met Empress Xiao.

According to unofficial historical records, in the early years of the Zhenguan era, Li Jing defeated the Turks, captured Empress Xiao, and sent her back to Chang'an. It is said that Li Shimin actually had an affair with Empress Xiao. Li Yi, while eating roasted meat and observing Empress Xiao, thought that the unofficial history was utterly absurd.

Empress Xiao is now in her early fifties; if she had gone to Chang'an at the beginning of the Zhenguan era, she would have been sixty.

He was sixty years old, while Li Shimin was only thirty at the time.

The saying goes, "A woman three years older brings good fortune," but does that mean a woman thirty years older will bring the throne? Li Shimin conquered the empire himself; why would he need a sixty-year-old Empress Xiao to give him a throne?

At this time, Empress Xiao had been living in the Dingxiang Khanate for almost three years.

Although she still looked elegant and sophisticated with her makeup, she had definitely aged. The crow's feet around her eyes were quite noticeable, and she even had quite a few gray hairs.

Her skin wasn't exactly good either.
The winds in the north are quite fierce.

"Would you like some tea or some grilled meat?" Li Yi asked.

"Let's have a pot of milk tea," Empress Xiao said calmly.

This is a woman who has weathered countless storms. She was born into the royal family of Western Liang and was the daughter of Emperor Xiaoming, Xiao Kui.

It is said that because she was born in February, and according to the customs of Jiangnan, girls born in February are considered unlucky, she was given to Xiao Kui's sixth brother, Prince Xiao Ji of Dongping, for adoption. However, Xiao Ji and his wife both died less than a year after adopting her, which seemed to confirm the ominous saying.

She was given to her uncle for adoption, but her uncle Zhang Ke was poor, and Xiao Shi had to do housework for him since she was a child. Until the second year of the Kaihuang era, Emperor Wen of Sui, for political reasons, selected a consort for his second son Yang Guang in the Western Liang Kingdom, but the divinations for the princesses of Liang were all inauspicious.

Finally, Xiao was brought back from Zhang Ke's house. The divination was auspicious, and she was chosen as the Princess Consort of Jin.

After Xiao married Yang Guang, the couple remained very loving.

However, after the siege of Yanmen and the upheaval in Jiangdu, the Xiao family's fate became increasingly turbulent. They were taken north by the regicide Yuwen Huaji, and then fell into the hands of Dou Jiande in Hebei.

Fortunately, her sister-in-law, Princess Yicheng, sent people to bring her to the Turkic Khaganate. Although the border region was bitterly cold, at least she had a place to settle down.

Here, he can also raise his grandson, Zhengdao, with peace of mind.

But this peaceful life was shattered so quickly.

Princess Yicheng, the younger sister-in-law, died last winter in Jinci, Taiyuan.

Now the Tang army has also captured the Dingxiang Khanate.

Fortunately, in the past few years, Xiao had been a prisoner of Yuwen Huaji, had also fallen into the hands of Dou Jiande, and had even lived as a guest in the Turkic Khaganate.
got used to.

Send over a pot of milk tea.
Yang drank quite elegantly.
Li Yi ate his barbecue, not thinking of offending her.

Although she was the empress of the previous dynasty,

However, her younger brother Xiao Yu was the Prime Minister and Right Vice Minister in the Tang Dynasty. The Lanling Xiao family was a famous family in the world, and many of their members served as officials in the court, even in the Western Liang Dynasty.

They're related to the Li family, the imperial family.

Yuwen Shiji, the former son-in-law of Empress Xiao, is now also a Vice Minister of the Chancellery and has been granted the title of Duke of Ying.

In the backyard of Li Shimin's palace, there were several women surnamed Yang, one of whom was Yang Guang's daughter. Although she was not Empress Xiao's biological daughter, she was still a daughter, and she could be considered Li Shimin's half-mother-in-law.

Li Yi didn't have much to say to her either.
Send people to keep a close watch on her, and don't let something like what happened with Princess Yicheng happen again. Princess Yicheng is dead, but Empress Xiao is dead. When Li Yi returns to Chang'an, things will definitely get very complicated.

Li Yi never intended to make things difficult for Yang Zhengdao, the Prince of Sui, nor did he intend to kill him.

He was just Yang Guang's grandson, Yang Jian's posthumous son. He wasn't even born when the Jiangdu Incident happened, and he's only a three-year-old child now, so he doesn't understand anything.

"What does Li Sikong intend to do with us?"

After finishing her tea, seeing that Li Yi ignored her, Empress Xiao couldn't help but ask.

Li Yi put down the knife he was using to cut meat, wiped his mouth with a silk handkerchief, and took a couple of sips of tea.

"Don't worry, I will send someone to escort you safely back to Chang'an."

Empress Xiao pleaded, "Thank you, Minister Li, but I hope you can leave us some maids and servants."

"no problem."

"Could my nephew, Siye, bring a guard of attendants?"

Li Yi thought for a moment, "He can choose fifty of his men to serve as your guards, but each of them can only be equipped with a sword, and cannot be equipped with armor, bows and crossbows, or warhorses."

Empress Xiao frowned slightly, but finally nodded and thanked her.

She got up, said goodbye, and left.
Before leaving, I asked one more question.

"For Li Sikong to launch such a surprise attack on the Khan's court so conveniently when the Great Khan Jieli was away, he must have known about the Great Khan's whereabouts beforehand, right?"

Li Yi smiled slightly.

Seeing this, Empress Xiao's suspicions were confirmed: "Can Jieli still come back?"

"I can only tell you that the King of Qin has been waiting for him in the east for a long time."

The words fell,

The family retainer Song Yi came in and delivered a report of victory.

After reading it, Li Yi couldn't help but show a look of joy on his face.

"Breaking news: King Qin has defeated Khan Jieli at Yehuling in Beiyan Prefecture, capturing and killing more than 30,000 men. Jieli's entire army was wiped out, and he himself was captured alive."

Xiao said to Li Yi, "Congratulations, Sikong, you have won! You have achieved a great victory."

Li Yi laughed and said, "We have won. This is a war between China and foreign races. We Chinese have won, and the northern frontier can finally have peace."

Since the Battle of Yanmen Pass in the eleventh year of the Daye era, for the past seven years, the vast northern frontier has suffered annual invasions by the Turks, and millions of border residents have been ravaged.
After this battle,

The people can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Xiao bowed and turned to leave.

Li Yi sat there and said again, "Before Princess Yicheng died, she kept murmuring two words: 'Go home.'"

You are luckier than Princess Yicheng. She spent twenty-three years on the grasslands and never returned home. But you, in just three years, will be able to go home.

Empress Xiao paused.

She turned to Li Yi and said, "Thank you, Minister Li, for allowing us to go home."

Li Yi nodded, "The Great Tang will allow every wanderer who has been stranded beyond the Great Wall to return home."

(End of this chapter)