A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

No one could have imagined that Li Longji, a nobody in the imperial court, actually held the power to change the course of events.

He secretly developed his power and, through the military tokens and books in his assistant's possession, gained control of the White Robe Army.

He secretly recruited a large number of scholars from humble backgrounds who had been demoted due to court infighting.

In the fourth year of the Jinglong era, Empress Wei and Princess Anle poisoned Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, Li Xian, and installed the teenage Li Chongmao as the young emperor. Empress Wei ruled as regent, taking full control of the military and political affairs, intending to emulate Empress Wu Zetian in changing the dynasty.

This made Li Longji realize that he had to take the initiative and launch a coup in order to have a chance of survival.

Otherwise, if Empress Wei and Princess Anle were to fully seize power, considering how many Li princes were killed when Wu Zetian first came to power, he would not escape death.

Li Longji knew that his forces were insufficient. Although the Baibao Army was powerful, its numbers were small. Compared with the massive forces in the capital, it was more than enough to defend itself, but not enough to launch an attack.

Therefore, Li Longji took the initiative to contact Princess Taiping, who held intelligence within the palace, some of the imperial guards, and half of the officials in the court.

The two formed a temporary alliance: to kill Lady Wei and restore Prince Xiang, Li Dan, to the throne. Princess Taiping dispatched her son, Xue Chongjian, to directly participate in leading the troops and be responsible for supporting the operation from within the palace.

Li Longji personally led his confidants, with the help of the White-Robed Army to instigate a rebellion by the Imperial Guards, and stormed into the palace that night.

Empress Wei, Princess Anle, all of Empress Wei's relatives and associates, and palace maids and court officials who were attached to Empress Wei were all executed. Overnight, the palace was covered in blood.

After the coup was quelled, the court held a session, and Princess Taiping dragged the young Emperor Li Chongmao off the throne in public, declaring his dethronement. None of the officials dared to stop her, and Princess Taiping immediately enthroned Li Dan as emperor.

Upon ascending the throne, Li Dan appointed Li Longji as Crown Prince.

Princess Taiping was granted a fief of ten thousand households for her great contribution in devising the strategy.

The imperial decrees were issued "first to Princess Taiping, then to the Emperor," creating a situation in the court where the Crown Prince and Princess Taiping were in opposition to each other.

Li Longji controlled the White Robe Army, the Eastern Palace Guard, and half of the Imperial Guards, thus possessing the legitimate title of Crown Prince.

Princess Taiping held the power to support the emperor, commanded half of the imperial guards, and had built up her influence over more than a decade, along with some remnants of the Wu clan's power, far surpassing Li Longji's influence.

Therefore, Princess Taiping always attributed the credit for supporting Li Longji to the throne, thinking that Li Longji was just lucky and took advantage of her, and she didn't think much of Li Longji.

Instead, she felt that Li Longji was too powerful and held military power, which was not conducive to her emulating her mother in controlling the court and ascending the throne. Therefore, she suppressed him in every way.

First, they spread rumors, claiming that "the crown prince is not the eldest son of the legitimate wife, which is against etiquette, and the crown prince should be replaced";

At the same time, she promoted her cronies extensively, and five of the seven prime ministers in the court came from her tutelage;

He even secretly bribed the palace eunuchs, attempting to poison Li Longji.

Li Dan was weak-willed and had been raised to be extremely timid and fearful since childhood.

As she grew up, she encountered Empress Wu's tyranny and was constantly manipulated by Princess Taiping. Faced with her powerful older sister, she could only be submissive and obedient.

He watched helplessly as his sister bullied his son, not daring to say a word, not even a fart.

Even when Princess Taiping showed a desire to seize power, he was willing to relinquish the power he held.

The only slightly better thing was that when Princess Taiping asked him to depose the crown prince, he didn't immediately agree, considering that Li Longji was ultimately his son.

While winning over court officials, Li Longji used a strategy of retreat to advance, making people realize that Princess Taiping was unreliable. This woman only knew how to fight for power and engage in scheming and intrigue, and did not understand what it meant to govern the country or what politics was.

In the second year of the Xiantian era, Princess Taiping devised a plan: to poison the imperial meal, kill the crown prince, then launch a coup by the imperial guards, depose Emperor Ruizong, and establish herself as empress.

However, Li Longji saw through all of this. He intercepted the secret report in advance and decided to strike first.

Li Longji personally led the White-Robed Army to surround Princess Taiping's residence, while simultaneously dividing his forces into several routes to wipe out several of Princess Taiping's most important followers.

Princess Taiping never expected that Li Longji would dare to attack her, and she made no preparations in advance, allowing Li Longji to achieve his goal in one fell swoop.

Princess Taiping's forces were almost completely wiped out, leaving her alone with a few close attendants as she escaped Luoyang through a secret passage.

After escaping Luoyang, Princess Taiping did her best to find out what was happening in the city. When she learned that her forces had been wiped out, she was so angry that she trembled.

"You brat! You deserve to die!"

"I will tear you to pieces!"

After her anger subsided, she realized that she was no match for Li Longji at the moment.

She decided to feign weakness and surrender, while secretly plotting her next great undertaking.

Li Longji never expected such a good thing. He was worried that Princess Taiping would run away and use her influence in various places to cause trouble. With the power that Princess Taiping had accumulated over the years and the assets she inherited from the Wu family, if she caused trouble in various places, even he would have a headache.

Now that Princess Taiping had actually come to surrender, Li Longji had no time to hesitate and immediately ordered her to be executed!

Princess Taiping never imagined that Li Longji would be so ruthless and kill her.

It can only be said that Princess Taiping, having been by Wu Zetian's side all along, learned a lot of intrigue and cunning, and also acquired a vicious heart, enabling her to poison her own relatives.

But women are naturally less politically savvy; they don't understand that politics isn't a dinner party, but a life-or-death struggle.

Perhaps she understood that when facing her enemies, she could kill without hesitation.

But she had a strange confidence that as long as she surrendered, Li Longji would definitely spare her and allow her to make a comeback.

After Princess Taiping was executed, Li Longji swept away all opposition forces in the court.

All the political affairs fell into the hands of Li Longji. Li Dan, an emperor with no great ambition, also wisely chose to abdicate in favor of Li Longji, staying in the palace as a retired emperor, no longer needing to deal with political affairs, and only needing to enjoy himself.

After Li Longji ascended the throne, he changed the era name to Kaiyuan and issued an edict to abolish the government offices and redundant officials that had been set up during the Wu Zhou and Empress Wei eras. He dismissed thousands of idle officials and strictly controlled the selection of officials. The chaotic government of the previous decades was suddenly cleared up, and the operation of the entire court immediately became smooth.

Emperor Xuanzong (Li Longji) appointed Yao Chong as his first prime minister and implemented the Ten Essentials: prohibiting relatives of the empress, suppressing Buddhism and Taoism, reducing taxes and corvée labor, not indiscriminately rewarding military merits, and eliminating harsh punishments. The Ten Essentials became the general outline for governing the country during the Kaiyuan era, laying a solid foundation for the future Kaiyuan prosperity.

Li Longji also issued an edict to investigate all temples in the country, forcing tens of thousands of monks and nuns to return to secular life, and reclaiming a large amount of fertile land to replenish the national treasury.

The official and orthodox performance of "Qin King's Battle Music" was restored, and it was re-performed at the Mingtang and New Year's Day ceremonies, erasing the old rules of the Wu Zhou dynasty that suppressed the military merit music of the Li Tang dynasty.

Everything seemed to be thriving in the Tang Dynasty, moving towards a brighter future.