Established a millennium family since King Wu defeated Zhou

Chapter 935: Surrendering the country to life and death

Chang'an City did not change much after the emperor's personal conquest. It was not a surprise for the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty not to stay in Chang'an as early as the Wude period.

In the palace corridor that winds back and forth, a handsome young man of about ten years old, dressed in rich clothes, is running quickly with a volume of documents in his hand.

The palace maids, eunuchs or patrolling palace guards who saw this scene along the way all avoided it and saluted, "Good morning, young master."

Luo Junzhuo hurriedly walked into the side hall of Taiji Hall, waved the document in his hand at Li Zhi who was sitting in the hall, and said loudly with joy: "King Jin, gentlemen, Liaodong has been victorious. Your Majesty has led the army and has returned. In the Central Plains, the chariot has passed Luoyang and is heading to Guanzhong."

boom!
As soon as these words came out, the palace was filled with excitement. The news about Luo Junzhuo came faster than the official news. At a glance, it was clear that this was the news that the emperor had specially sent back in advance.

Li Zhi stood up in confusion and spoke to the remaining prime ministers and ministers, "Masters, according to the etiquette, my father and brother have returned victoriously, and I have been ordered to stay in Chang'an. Should I go out to the street pavilion thirty miles outside the city and kneel down?" Welcome Father."

Luo Junzhuo lowered his head with some meaning and said: "His Royal Highness the King of Jin, His Royal Highness the King of Wei did not return with Your Majesty. He was canonized as King of Qi and stayed in Liaodong to establish the vassal state, so we only need to welcome His Majesty."

"what?"

Li Zhi was completely stunned, "How come fourth brother..."

Several exclamations of surprise rang out in the hall. Fang Xuanling's face was a little confused for a moment, there was a look of panic in his eyes, and his forehead was covered with sweat.

The people here can be said to be some of the smartest people in the world.

Who doesn't know what His Majesty means?
Wei Zheng, who assisted Li Zhi to stay in Chang'an, nodded slightly meaningfully, as if all this was what he expected.

As a former member of the princelings and the prince's junior master, he had some premonitions when the prince became the vassal and was reused by Li Shimin. Now it seems that this is indeed the case.

that……

Everyone is focusing on Li Zhi. His Majesty is the only legitimate son who has not become a vassal, isn't he?

Li Zhi was naturally not a stupid person. The expression of disbelief on his face was still maintained, and a turmoil arose in his heart.

He couldn't help but slowly stretched out his hands. His immature body, his hands were still a little immature, and his shoulders were not broad enough, but at this moment, he suddenly felt that a heavy burden was about to be pressed down.

"We can't be complacent. Brother Wei Wang thought he had a chance to win before, but something unexpected happened."

Li Zhi has an extremely excellent characteristic, that is, he is very patient. He has been good at keeping everything in his heart since he was a child, without speaking it out.

"My lords, please convey my order to the civil and military officials of Chang'an to accompany me to welcome my father's triumphant return."

Li Zhi's voice was a little higher than before, and his expression was high for a moment, and then dropped again, extremely kind.

……

When the blooming flowers in the sky fluttered down on Li Shimin's bright armor with the wind, his hand holding the reins froze for a moment. The light behind the flowers and prosperity cast his shadow, still majestic and tall. Chang'an was still the same, the Tang Dynasty was still the same, and he was still the same, going to the battle, fighting hard, and then returning in triumph.

He looked at the young, wanton, and proud faces in front of him, as if he saw the brightest future of the Tang Dynasty. This was the world that he personally conquered, "Qingyu, what do you think of the Tang Dynasty in the future?" How many glorious victories will Chang'an receive?"

Luo Xuanling knew that the emperor was not really asking him, so he never answered seriously. Instead, he seemed to be praying and full of pride, "The Tang Dynasty will always win until the end of destiny."

Naturally, he was very happy to feel understood. Li Shimin laughed and remembered with emotion, "This is my last war, this is my last battle before my death."

I will build a huge stone altar outside Chang'an, erect a tall stone gate on the altar, and name it "Long Live". The victorious army will pass through this gate to receive the emperor's reward. "

Luo Xuanling stroked his chest, "Your Majesty's will is the will of the Tang Dynasty."

Everyone behind them looked at the monarch and his ministers and laughed loudly. The army was approaching Chang'an thirty miles away.

"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the King of Jin has led all the Chinese, civil and military officials in Chang'an City to kneel down to welcome him."

"Go and see if my son has made any progress."

The generals of the Qianniu Guards surrounded Li Shimin and Li Zhi finally saw his formidable father again. Even though he had grown old, he was still majestic, just like the tallest mountain in the world, and more powerful than the tallest mountain in Huashan. The steep mountain peaks reach straight into the sky.

"Long live my emperor, long live, long live!"

Li Zhi, dressed in princely attire, kowtowed at the front, followed by the ministers and the common people.

Li Shimin dismounted from his horse, held his head high, and strode to the side of Jin Wang Li Zhi, and then lifted him up with one hand. Before Li Zhi could react, he was already standing in front of Li Shimin. Li Zhi came to his senses, He quickly lowered his head.

Li Shimin patted Li Zhi on the shoulder, "Zhinu, you've lost a little weight. It's because you didn't eat well, or you were busy with things when you were in charge of the country."

Li Shimin's attitude made Li Zhi a little confused, and he was stunned for a moment.

Li Shimin didn't pay too much attention. His impression of Li Zhi was always that of a benevolent, filial, and somewhat weak little son.

Li Shimin comforted himself and said there was no need to worry. Now that the four sides were peaceful and there were no foreign enemies, there was still a lot of time to slowly teach him how to become an excellent Shou Cheng monarch.

Moreover, I still have time to leave him a group of humerus ministers. With a group of trustworthy ministers, it is not difficult to maintain the foundation.

……

Datang's defeat of the Liaodong Kingdom was an event worthy of national celebration. It meant that Datang's opponent once again lost a heavyweight player on the chessboard of the world.

But almost no one in Chang'an cares about the victory in Liaodong. Countless turbulent undercurrents are pointing to the only thing, and that is the crown prince's position.

Now there is only one candidate left in front of the crown prince, and that is Jin Wang Li Zhi!
But not everyone wants Li Zhi to become the prince.

There is no other reason than profit.

The first crown prince Li Chengqian's princess was from a Jiangnan noble family, Li Tai's wife was from a noble family in Daibei, and Li Zhi's wife was from a Shandong noble family.

Not to mention the first two, the Shandong gentry and Guanlong have always been at odds with each other, and they despise each other. The Shandong gentry became truly prominent when clan chronicles became popular. At that time, clan chronicles were prosperous in the Southern Dynasty, and the Northern Dynasty also followed suit, and settled down. He came from a noble family.

And because the Northern Dynasty was better than the Southern Dynasty, the major surnames in the Southern Dynasty were inferior. Of course, the Gusu Luo family and the Lanling Xiao family were not among them, because they were too old.

Among the famous families in the Northern Dynasties, there is naturally no Luo family, and the Lu family is also quite special. There is no Lu family in the clan annals, but in Qizhou, the Lu family has a very high status, and the high families also recognize the Lu family as the lintel. Li Zhi's princess came from a famous family in Shandong, but this does not mean that the people who support him are the famous families in Shandong. In fact, the people who support Li Zhi now are the nobles of Guanlong.

The nobles of Guanlong looked down upon the famous families in Shandong. Only those scholars who were born in Shandong would pursue marriage with famous families in Shandong because of the traditions of the past years, such as Wei Zheng, a famous official from a poor background, and Li Shimin who was in the Qin Dynasty. Cheng Zhijie and others in the palace all have this pursuit.

But the real Lao Guanlong despises them from the bottom of his heart.

These old Guanlongs were interested in military exploits and pursued Conglong. When they entered the officialdom, they held official positions in the imperial guards and soldiers in various places. None of them had many titles or military officers.

What they pursue is marriage with the royal family, as well as mutual in-laws between Guanlong and Guanlong, and ultimately control the power of the central court. The Shandong gentry's way of entrenching themselves in the local area is simply disdainful to the Guanlong nobles. This is the development of both sides over hundreds of years. , the differences in concepts that arise.

Guan and Long established the empire and unified the world. There were countless coups before this. In their view, they were the real chess players on the chessboard of the world, while other noble families such as Shandong and Jiangnan were just mere chess players. Just an errand for them.

Although the history is long, if you are told to kill you, I will kill you.

The fact is indeed the case. The Shandong gentry were no match for Guan Long in terms of power. During the 50 or 60 years of the Sui and Tang dynasties, no less than ten direct lineage clan members were killed, and the other clan clans were killed. Needless to say, this number even exceeds that of troubled times.

It was not until the Zhenguan period that the Shandong gentry and the Jiangnan gentry entered the golden age. Although they were suppressed by Li Shimin, at least Li Shimin did not kill people indiscriminately.

Li Zhi is young and has a weak personality. In the eyes of many people, he is easy to manipulate, so the Guanlong nobles hope that Li Zhi can ascend to power, so that they can better continue their wealth.

So when Li Shimin asked in the Taiji Hall in front of all the important ministers, "The country has no crown prince, and the country is uneasy. Who do you think should be the crown prince?"

Changsun Wuji, who was born in Guanlong and liked power, immediately came out and said: "Your Majesty, please establish a direct descendant. Now that the King of Qin and the King of Qi have left the town, only the King of Jin is noble, benevolent and filial, and can be established as the prince to revitalize the country." country."

Generally speaking, when the emperor asked who could become the prince, the ministers would not say anything. If they did, it would be easy for the king to think that if they participated in the throne, they would almost die.

Therefore, ministers usually only say over and over again that the emperor should be appointed crown prince, but they never say who should be appointed crown prince.

But in fact it is not so old-fashioned, and there are some special circumstances.

For example, Li Zhi and Changsun Wuji now.

Changsun Wuji is Li Zhi's biological uncle, and is the only child of the late Empress Changsun who still lives in Chang'an. According to the principle of maternal uncle, Changsun Wuji can't help Li Zhi no matter how much good words or support he gives. People would think there was something wrong with Changsun Wuji, and even Li Shimin would only think that Changsun Wuji was showing love for Li Zhi.

Furthermore, Li Zhi’s identity allows Changsun Wuji to say these words without any scruples. Li Zhi’s identity is the only legitimate son now. It is not a joke to not establish a legitimate son if there is a legitimate son. This is what tradition has given Changsun Wuji. The power to speak.

He was not recommending Li Zhi to Li Shimin, but promoting tradition to Li Shimin. As for whether the emperor accepted it or not, that was the emperor's business.

Li Shimin did not speak, but looked at the others, finally landing on Wei Zheng and Fang Xuanling, "Shang Shu Zuo Pushe, Zhong Shu Ling, what do you mean?"

Fang Xuanling's heart skipped a beat. He was really uncomfortable with the matter of establishing the crown prince, because after Li Chengqian was named King of Qin, he was instigated by his son to favor Wei Wang Li Tai. At that time, the people who turned to Wei Wang Li Tai were really Too many, after all, the emperor's attitude was too obvious, and Li Zhi was too inconspicuous.

No one would have thought that the emperor would choose Prince Jin, who was completely different from himself, and replaced the prince with Prince Jin. Wouldn’t the emperor feel resentful?
The King of Jin is indeed noble, the largest country in the Spring and Autumn Period, and the Kingdom of Jin is the Kingdom of Tang, the land of Longxing. The titles of King Jin and Princess Jinyang are extremely noble.

But this couldn't stand up to the overpowering King Jin in front of him.

Jin Wang Yang Guang died in his second generation.

Fang Xuanling hesitated for a long time, and even Wei Zheng couldn't stand it any longer, so he said first: "I think what You Pushe just said is correct. If you establish a direct descendant, the King of Qin and the King of Qi will become a vassal. The King of Jin is the eldest son, so you should establish a vassal." The king of Jin is the crown prince."

Li Shimin looked at Wei Zheng with admiration. Wei Zheng seemed to have changed a little since Li Chengqian was conferred the title of King of Qin.

Fang Xuanling no longer hesitated when he heard the words, and also bowed and said, "The King of Jin is benevolent and filial. He lives in the land and is the eldest son. He should be the prince. I second the proposal."

Zuo Pu She, You Pu She, Zhong Shu Ling.

The three giants of the Zhengshi Hall confirmed at the same time, and the rest of the people said in unison: "I second the proposal, and the King of Jin should be the crown prince."

"Prince Jin!"

Li Shimin's voice was extremely high, echoing in the hall and floating above the pillars. There seemed to be an echo coming from the hall, but there was a feeling of emptiness in the hall full of people.

Because there is no one to speak.

In front of the door of Tai Chi Hall, there was a slightly thin figure, it was Li Zhi, with the sun behind him and the shadow in front of him.

He stood on the lintel, raised his head, and looked into the palace. His father was sitting high on the throne. He was a little far away and the light was a little dark. He couldn't see the face clearly.

Everyone in the hall turned to look at him. He could see that everyone had no expression on their faces, but he could only feel the blazing eyes shining on him.

Everyone is staring at him.

Li Zhi stepped in. He thought he was walking very fast, but in fact he was walking very slowly, just like his lame brother.

Every time he took a step forward, it seemed as if a mountain of heavy pressure came down on him, making him unable to walk.

"Father!"

He finally walked into the hall, and under the candlelight, he saw everyone's face, as well as his father's face.

He knelt on the ground and kowtowed deeply.

"All the ministers say that 'The King of Jin should be the crown prince.' Do you think you can take on the important responsibility?"

Li Shimin's voice was ethereal, floating from above.

----

It said: "In the past, I was recommended by my ministers, and the late emperor asked, 'Why should I take charge of the country?'

I said to him: "To benefit the country is just life and death!" '

So I used my body to flatter the ancestral temple, and it’s all here, you should know it! "——"Book of Tang·The Chronicles of Emperor Gaozong"

(End of this chapter)