Datang: Just been appointed as the crown prince, the counterattack system is here

Chapter 142 Li Yuan: Grandson! Rebellion! ! [Seeking monthly votes]

"Dixon! What nonsense are you talking about!?"

"Someone come! Someone come and capture him for me!"

As the young official rushed out to stop Li Chengqian from accepting the order, the other officials in Jiangling Prefecture were instantly in an uproar.

Some officials took the initiative to order people to arrest the other party without waiting for Li Chengqian to give the order.

Some officials quickly advised Li Chengqian that the other party was mistaking the emperor's intention and committing treason.

What's worse, some people just rush up and knock the other person to the ground to stop him from speaking.

Faced with the chaos before him, Li Chengqian turned a deaf ear and a blind eye.

Just keep thinking about one thing in your mind.

Why did His Majesty Li II do this?
Did he really believe that he would rebel?
But how could he be so ruthless?
Just because of a secret report without any evidence, he wanted to kill himself? This is too hasty!

In history, even if Li Chengqian really rebelled, he did not have such a cruel heart. Why did he do this to himself?
Could it be that he was also possessed by a spirit? !
Li Chengqian couldn't figure it out. He just couldn't understand what was going on.

Then, he turned his cold gaze towards Gao Yao, who was delivering the decree, and asked word by word, "Do you really not know, or are you pretending not to know?"

Gao Yao's face turned pale in an instant, and he knelt on the ground with a thud, his eyes full of fear.
"Your Highness, I really don't know! I'm only responsible for announcing the decree, and I don't know anything else!"

"This imperial edict was sent by the Minister of the Secretariat. Before it was read aloud, I didn't even know its contents. Your Highness, please understand!"

In the Tang Dynasty, the emperor's edicts were generally drafted by the Secretariat, then handed over to the emperor for review. After the emperor agreed, they were sent to the Ministry of Personnel for approval. After the Ministry of Personnel's approval, they were handed over to the emperor to seal with the imperial seal and sent to the Ministry of State Affairs for execution.

Generally speaking, there are two situations. For imperial edicts from within the Great Wall, the Secretariat would send people to announce them. For imperial edicts from outside the Great Wall, the Ministry of Internal Affairs would send eunuchs to announce them.

After all, going outside the Great Wall requires traveling by boat and carriage, and the officials in the Secretariat are afraid of trouble.

By handing it over to the eunuchs, the task can be completed and certain dangers can be avoided.

Thinking of this, Li Chengqian frowned slightly, then fixed his gaze on the young Jiangling official and asked calmly, "Do you know what you are talking about?"

"His Royal Highness!"

As soon as Li Chengqian finished speaking, Liu Li stood up angrily and said, "This person is presumptuously presuming on the emperor's will and alienating the father-son relationship between His Majesty and the Crown Prince."

"enough!"

Before Liu Li could finish his words, Li Chengqian interrupted him coldly and said in a deep voice, "I'm asking about him, not you!"

"I"

Liu Li opened his mouth, but hesitated to speak.

Li Chengqian ignored him and instead looked around at the officials. He said solemnly, "I don't care what you think or what you intend to do. Right now, I just want to know the truth of the matter!"

After saying this, he turned and walked into the high seat in the lobby, slowly sat down, and ordered calmly and majestically: "Laifu! Bring the man in. I want to interrogate him personally!"

"promise!"

Lai Fu agreed, walked towards the young official from Jiangling Prefecture who was pinned to the ground with an expressionless face, and said indifferently: "Get up, come with me inside and have a proper talk!"

"woooooo"

"Ok?"

Seeing that the other person was still being pressed to the ground with his mouth covered, Lai Fu glanced at him coldly.

"Sir, this person..."

"Oh!"

Before the official could finish his words, Lai Fu kicked him half a meter away.

Wow!
The whole place was in an uproar!
Only the official who was suppressed quickly got up from the ground, bowed to Lai Fu to express his gratitude, and then rushed into the lobby without saying a word.

"Sir, what is your intention in beating an imperial official for no reason?" Liu Li questioned Lai Fu with a dark face.

Lai Fu didn't even look at him, and continued calmly: "I am following the Queen's orders to serve the Crown Prince, protect the Crown Prince, and obey the Crown Prince. That's what I mean."

"This"

Upon hearing this, the officials looked at each other in bewilderment.

Some people gloated.

Some people have clear thoughts.

There are also people who turn a blind eye to things that do not concern them.

At the same time, inside the lobby.

Li Chengqian looked at the young official in front of him and asked calmly, "What's your name?"

"I, Di Zhixun, the Censor of Jiangling Prefecture, am responsible for supervising local officials, inspecting livestock and livestock, and inspecting utensils and clothing. If the sacrificial officials are disrespectful, I will impeach them."

"You said praying for rain would kill people, what's going on?"

"This"

Di Zhixun hesitated for a moment and said, "Your Highness, I am not presuming to speculate on your Majesty's will, but it would be dangerous to try to stop Your Highness from praying for rain!"

"Yes, I understand." Li Chengqian nodded, then raised his hand to signal: "Go on!"

"Yes!"

Di Zhixun responded and continued, "According to local customs of praying for rain, it's usually the county magistrate or the provincial governor who sends people to find a spiritual person to perform a rain-praying sacrifice. The Censor-in-Chief is responsible for overseeing this. Therefore, the Censor-in-Chief is responsible for the sacrifice and also serves as the Supervising Sacrifice Envoy!"

"According to what you said, it seems that there is not much danger in offering sacrifices and praying for rain?" Li Chengqian asked with some confusion.

Di Zhixun shook his head and said, "I just said that it was the local government that prayed for rain, not the imperial court!"

"When prayers for rain fail and disaster relief continues, the people often face many problems. At this point, the imperial court will find a solution and preside over a grand sacrifice."

"Then, in your opinion, what does His Majesty mean by summoning me back to Chang'an to preside over the grand sacrifice?"

"Your Highness, I've already said that I'm not presuming to speculate on your Majesty's intentions. I'm trying to dissuade you from doing so, based on the sacrifice itself." Li Chengqian smiled. "Alright, alright, just tell me about the dangers of the grand sacrifice!"

"Yes!"

Di Zhixun responded and said again: "The grand sacrifice of the imperial court is presided over by the Minister of Rites, and the chief priest, according to the ritual, should be the emperor."

"Hey! That's not right! Since the chief priest is the emperor, why would my father let me preside over the ceremony? This is not in accordance with the ritual!"

"Your Highness, according to the ritual, the chief priest should indeed be His Majesty, but there are exceptions to this rule. For example, if the Emperor knows there is a deficiency and is worried that it will not move the Heavens, then he can choose a qualified chief priest instead!"

"what?"

Li Chengqian was completely bewildered, thinking to himself that there was such a thing as this, it was too cunning!
But then Di Zhixun added, "Actually, there are many types of grand sacrifices at the imperial court, and not all of them are dangerous!"

"So, praying for rain is a rare and dangerous ritual?"

"Yes, Your Highness! The drought is a divine punishment. What is divine punishment? It refers to the punishment from heaven on the human world. Since it is a punishment, there must be a terrible price to pay in order for heaven to appease its wrath!"

"absurd!"

Li Chengqian scoffed upon hearing this. "What divine punishment?! History has seen countless incompetent rulers and tyrants, yet why haven't we ever heard of anyone being struck to death by thunder? Besides, floods and droughts are interconnected. If the excessive rain ends, wouldn't drought be the only thing left? What divine punishment?! It's ridiculous!"

"Haven't you heard the saying, 'Heaven and Earth are unkind and treat all things as straw dogs?' If there really were a God, He would look down upon all living things. Why would He care about weak mortals? In His eyes, we are no more than ants on the ground, perhaps even worse than ants. Do you think an ant could make someone angry?"

Di Zhixun was stunned by Li Chengqian's words.

After a long while, he finally recovered from his shock and bowed, saying, "I am grateful for your guidance, Your Highness. My life is not in vain!"

Li Chengqian waved his hand and said, "No need to say anything else. Just tell me the dangers of offering sacrifices and praying for rain, and I will decide whether to accept the order or not."

Having said this, he paused, looked at Di Zhixun meaningfully, and said, "Or how to receive the order!"

Di Zhixun was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said, "I understand."

"In fact, the ritual of praying for rain does not directly cause the death of the person performing the ritual. Instead, the ritual process is extremely tragic, and the person performing the ritual often does not survive for more than a few days after the ritual."

"hiss!"

Li Chengqian couldn't help but take a breath when he heard this.

But soon, he became confused again: "Tell me, does my father know about this?"

"The Imperial Court's sacrifices are the responsibility of the Taichang Temple. There's no way they wouldn't tell Your Majesty of the danger!"

"In other words, my father really intends to kill me?"

"Uh, this."

Di Zhixun shook his head in embarrassment: "I dare not presume to speculate on the emperor's will!"

"Okay, I understand. You go down first!"

"Yes!"

Di Zhixun responded and quickly left the lobby.

Li Chengqian, who watched him leave, narrowed his eyes slightly.

According to Di Zhixun, Emperor Li II knew that praying for rain was dangerous, but still asked him to help him pray for rain, which must have had other implications.

Anyway, it’s impossible to kill yourself!

Because killing himself does not fit the character of Emperor Li II.

Nor will he be supported by the ministers in the court.

After all, the Secretariat, the Chancellery, and the Ministry of Palace Affairs all have their own relationships.

His Majesty Li II really wanted to kill himself, but he couldn't even issue this imperial edict.

So, what is the real purpose of Emperor Li II?

"Cheng Qian! My dear grandson!"

Just when Li Chengqian was puzzled, Li Yuan's voice suddenly came from outside the hall.

At the same time, there were countless "clattering" sounds of metal colliding behind him.

"Ok?"

Li Chengqian was slightly stunned and looked in the direction of the voice.

Li Yuan rushed in with a sullen face. He didn't look like a man in his sixties at all. He walked with great vigor, like an old lion about to explode in anger.

"Grandpa, why are you back? You are not..."

"Cheng Qian! Let's rebel!"

Before Li Chengqian could finish his words, Li Yuan interrupted him with great indignation.

That look was like a knife, making people shudder.

Even Li Chengqian was a little dazed when he saw Li Yuan's eyes like that for the first time.

At this time, Su Dingfang, Xue Rengui, Ma Zhou, Cen Wenben, Zhang Ping, and Pei Xuan, who were following behind Li Yuan, all showed expressions of indignation.

It is obvious that they must have known the imperial edict of His Majesty Li II.

Judging from the content of the imperial edict alone, not only would they misunderstand it, even Li Chengqian himself almost misunderstood it at the beginning.

Fortunately, the censor named Di Zhixun told him the truth.

So, after seeing their expressions, Li Chengqian first smiled dumbly, then his expression straightened up: "Okay! Let's rebel against him!"

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(End of this chapter)