White Horse, Silver Spear, Grand Commandant Gao

Gao Xingzhou didn't find anything unusual about encountering his former superior. Shi Jingtang's entry into the court was also reasonable; his relationship with Li Siyuan as father-in-law and son-in-law was beyond doubt, and he must have wanted to see the late emperor off on his final journey.

Shi Jingtang risked his life to protect Li Siyuan on the battlefield more than once.

In the twelfth year of Tianyou, Shi Jingtang fought Liu Xun in Shen County. Dust filled the air, and both men were trapped in the enemy lines. Shi Jingtang leaped forward, sword in hand, and fought repeatedly, covering dozens of miles. He pursued Liu Xun to the east of the old Yuan City, killing and wounding more than half of him.

In the fifteenth year of Tianyou, the Tang army captured Yangliu Town. Liang general He Gui ambushed them at Wushi Mountain. Li Siyuan was forced to retreat by him. Shi Jingtang was in charge of the rearguard and defeated more than 500 Liang cavalrymen before turning back.

In the nineteenth year of the Tianyou era, at the Battle of Hulutao, the Tang army was slightly forced to retreat. Seeing the enemy's sharpness, Shi Jingtang drew his sword and cleared a path, protecting Li Siyuan as they retreated. The enemy, seeing this, dared not attack.

In the twentieth year of Tianyou, Shi Jingtang accompanied Li Siyuan to observe the Yangcun stronghold of the Liang people. None of the soldiers were wearing armor. Suddenly, the enemy launched a surprise attack, with their soldiers closing in on their backs. Just as the blades were about to reach their backs, Shi Jingtang charged forward with his halberd and struck down several of the fierce chieftains. Li Siyuan then resolved the predicament.

In addition to the time he stood up to protect his master during the surprise attack on Yunzhou, remaining unmoved by slander, Gao Xingzhou knew of at least five other such incidents.

Besides the bond between father-in-law and son-in-law, the two also share a deep affection for each other, having gone through life and death together on the battlefield.

Therefore, when the Khitans advanced on Yanmen Pass the year before last and ordered Shi Jingtang to guard Taiyuan, Li Siyuan was reluctant to part with his son-in-law and held a banquet at Zhongxing Hall.

Shi Jingtang offered a toast to Shi Jingtang, saying, "Though I am humble and timid, I dare not fail to do my utmost in the affairs of the border. But I fear that I am far from the imperial court and will not have the opportunity to repay your kindness."

After bowing again to take his leave, Li Siyuan wept, tears streaming down his face.

Who would have thought that this parting between father-in-law and son-in-law would be their last, and they would never see each other again.

This must have been a lifelong regret for Shi Jingtang.

Gao Xingzhou, trying to gauge the other person's feelings, verified his identity and entered the imperial city after him.

According to the Tang Dynasty system, when officials from the capital entered the palace with their official titles and names, the relevant department would send a document to the gate indicating their rank and name. Officials from outside the capital would also have their roles recorded, along with their age and appearance, and the gatekeeper would send the document to the supervisor for verification before allowing them to enter.

With the Xuanwu Gate Incident as a precedent, emperors from Taizong onwards all attached great importance to the gatekeeper system. When Gao Xingzhou went to the capital for an audience, the reason for his visit had already been reported by the Imperial Secretariat, recorded, and sent to the gatekeeper, whereupon the court dispatched a special envoy to escort him.

Upon arriving at the waiting area, I found a man with a deep purple face, arms crossed over his chest, resting with his eyes closed.

Gao Xingzhou knew that if this person opened his eyes, they would be mostly white with little black. He was Shi Jingtang's personal attendant. He remembered that the man's surname was Liu, but he had forgotten his given name.

Shi Jingtang had disappeared without a trace, and the imperial envoy led Gao Xingzhou to the Censorate.

Several years ago, the Imperial Censor Li Qi passed away, and the court did not abolish the position, instead appointing the Vice Imperial Censor as its head.

Gao Xingzhou performed the proper court audience ceremony, but due to matters of state, he thanked the emperor outside the Xuanzheng Gate and agreed to complete the audience ceremony another day.

Gao Xingzhou was completely understanding that Li Congke did not immediately grant him an audience. He went out of the city and stayed at his private residence outside Luoyang, waiting for notification of an audience.

Before meeting the emperor, he had an important ceremony to attend.

……

The 27th day of the fourth month of the first year of the Qingtai era (1266), the year of Bing Shen.

Gao Xingzhou got up at the fourth watch of the night, put on the prepared mourning clothes, and waited outside the imperial city.

This morning, the coffin of Emperor Mingzong was moved.

The gates of the imperial city opened one after another, and the imperial procession led the way, but it was not the usual dazzling display of clashing swords. Banners, umbrellas, and weapons were all wrapped in white silk, musicians played mournful music, and eunuchs and palace maids carried lanterns made of white paper, dressed in white mourning clothes with their heads bowed, and filed out in single file.

The coffin cart, pulled by four pure white horses, then appeared. White cloth was tied to the four pillars, and the rope of the cart was a whole piece of white silk, tied to both ends of the cart, splitting into six strands, each thirty feet long and seven inches in circumference, for the mourners to hold and pull.

The fan is a coffin decoration, made of a wooden frame, two feet wide and two feet four inches high, square in shape with high corners, resembling a large fan, and wrapped in white cloth. The handle is five feet long, and people hold it to accompany the carriage when it is in motion.

Only twelve people were qualified to hold the hairpin, including princes such as Li Congcan, Li Congzhang, Li Congwen, and Li Congmin, and ministers such as Li Yu and Liu Xu.

The emperor's coffin was called a "dragon carriage," and very few close relatives were allowed to accompany him on either side, pulling the ropes and holding the saddle. (Note 1)

Gao Xingzhou, like the other civil and military officials, followed behind the imperial carriage. He looked at the men and women who were crying their eyes out.

One of the women was about thirty years old, and Shi Jingtang was supporting her. She was probably Li Siyuan's third daughter, Princess Wei. Both of them walked away in deep sorrow.

A woman in her fifties with a sorrowful expression looked back at the young woman from time to time. She was the young woman's birth mother, the current Empress Dowager Cao.

On the other side of the coffin, a woman, about a step behind the woman in her fifties, walked slowly alongside a three-year-old child, each holding a white rope.

Even dressed in white mourning clothes, she was still bright and beautiful, more beautiful than any flower.

Since their parting in Bianliang, Gao Xingzhou and she had not seen each other for more than ten years.

He turned his stiff neck, trying to look away, and gazed at the tall figure in front of him, draped in coarse hemp rags and with a hemp rope tied around his head.

The coffin was pulled by horses, and all that was needed was to hold the white cloth and pull the rope. But the man carried the white rope on his shoulder and pulled it straight, as if he was using all his strength.

Although he couldn't see the emperor's face clearly, Gao Xingzhou intuitively felt that the emperor must be silently shedding tears at this moment, just as he was.

According to Tang Dynasty custom, at the funeral of an emperor, there were 200 mourners dressed in white cloth robes and white cloth turbans; two sets of elegiac songs, each with 64 people; and 150 people who wailed on behalf of the emperor, singing the song "Xie Lu" (Dew on Leeks), which describes people as being like dewdrops on leeks, disappearing in an instant.

Amidst the mournful cries and lamentations of his relatives, Li Siyuan's coffin slowly drove out of Luoyang City and was buried in Huiling Mausoleum.

The Huiling Mausoleum is located in Xin'an, seventy li from the city. Apart from the relevant officials, the Empress Dowager, the Imperial Concubine, and the Princess escorted them to the outskirts and then turned back, without accompanying them all the way to the mausoleum.

Except the emperor.

Li Congke escorted the imperial carriage all the way to the mausoleum. Shi Jingtang took the white rope from his wife, and the two walked silently, one on the left and one on the right, just as they had in the past when they were under Li Siyuan's command.

As dusk fell, we arrived at Huiling Mausoleum, where a high-ranking official of the imperial court was already waiting for us.

When Sikong Feng Dao was appointed as the Commissioner of the Imperial Tombs, Li Siyuan promoted him and appointed him as a scholar of the Duanming Hall. The title of Duanming began from this point.

Before long, Feng Dao's career progressed smoothly, and he was successively promoted to Vice Minister of the Chancellery, Minister of Justice, and Chancellor. It was most appropriate for him to handle the late emperor's funeral arrangements.

After paying homage to the emperor, Feng Dao saw Gao Xingzhou behind the coffin and nodded slightly in acknowledgment, indicating that the two knew each other.

As the burial ceremony began, Feng Dao loudly read aloud the posthumous title and eulogy written by his two colleagues. His tone was as plain and unadorned as his expression, without any intense emotional fluctuations.

However, only those who were extremely close to him could hear the deep sorrow and loneliness of a lost wise ruler in his voice.

"Emperor Shengde Hewu Qinxiao, whose personal name was Dan, was born in a border region. Although he came from a barbarian land, he was pure and kind, and his nature was benevolent and loving."

"Having served on the battlefield and earned merit in battle, I have never been concerned with matters of seclusion. However, the royal family is facing many difficulties, and the imperial regalia has arrived of its own accord. This is surely due to divine favor, not human planning."

"In the year he ascended the throne, he was already quite old. He did not indulge in sensual pleasures or enjoy hunting. He reduced the number of palace women and entertainers, abolished the inner treasury, and all the goods presented from all directions were returned to the relevant officials."

"He ascended the throne in response to the times, and was capable of implementing the kingly rule. During his seven-year reign, his policies were all moderate, the Central Plains were at peace, and the wars subsided. During the Tiancheng and Changxing reigns, there were many bumper harvests, and the people enjoyed a period of relative prosperity and rest."

As Feng Dao recited the incantation, the coffin was lowered, carried into the underground palace, the tomb chamber was sealed, and the mausoleum was closed.

Peng.

The heavy stone door was completely shut, sealing off the space between the living and the dead.

That night, Li Congke was unwilling to return home and stayed overnight by the mausoleum. (Note 2)

In the dead of night, no one knew what the newly enthroned emperor and his adoptive father, who lay quietly in his tomb, said to each other.

Explanation? Repentance? Or simply venting one's grievances?

April 28th, Dingyou day.

Li Congke returned to the southern suburbs, personally carried the spirit tablet, and entered it into the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

The Book of Posthumous Titles states: "To illuminate the four directions is called Ming; to think far ahead is called Ming; to protect the people and elders is called Ming; to appoint the virtuous and achieve far-reaching goals is called Ming; to have unique insight and foresight is called Ming; to be a sage and set an example is called Ming; to be sincere and self-aware is called Ming; to maintain stillness and know the constant is called Ming; to have foresight and guard against the slightest signs is called Ming."

In the chaos of the late Tang Dynasty, Li Siyuan ushered in a brief period of peace, and, true to his title of Emperor Mingzong, ascended to a high position, residing in the divine shrine and indifferent to the changing world.

His deeds remain only in the memories of a few people.

April 29th, the year of Wuxu.

Feng Dao, the Imperial Envoy, Minister of Works, Vice Minister of the Chancellery, and Chancellor, submitted a memorial requesting to resign from his post, but it was not granted.

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Place Name Comparison

Huiling Mausoleum: Located in the area of ​​Hujiazhuang, northeast of Xin'an County, Luoyang City, Henan Province.