Chapter 935: Life and Death for the Country
There was no change in the city of Chang'an after the emperor's personal expedition. It was not uncommon for the emperor of the Tang Dynasty not to stay in Chang'an as early as the Wude period.
In the winding corridor of the palace, a handsome young man in his teens, dressed in gorgeous clothes, was running fast with a scroll of documents in his hand.
The palace maids, eunuchs, or patrolling palace guards who saw this scene along the way all stepped aside and bowed, "Hello, young master."
Luo Junzhuo hurried into the side hall of the Taiji Hall, waved the document in his hand vigorously at Li Zhi who was sitting in the hall, and said loudly with a tone full of joy: "Prince of Jin, gentlemen, after a great victory in Liaodong, your majesty has led the army back to the Central Plains, and the carriage has passed Luoyang and is heading to Guanzhong."
boom!
As soon as these words were spoken, the palace was in an uproar. Luo Junzhuo's news came faster than the official one. It was obvious at a glance that this was news that the emperor had specially passed on in advance.
Li Zhi stood up and said to the prime ministers and ministers who stayed behind, "Gentlemen, according to the etiquette, my father and my brother have returned victoriously, and I have been ordered to stay in Chang'an. Should I go out of the city to the street pavilion thirty miles away and kneel to welcome my father?"
Luo Junzhuo lowered his head meaningfully and said, "Your Highness Prince of Jin, His Highness Prince of Wei did not return with Your Majesty. He was canonized as Prince of Qi and stayed in Liaodong to establish a vassal state, so we only need to welcome Your Majesty."
"ah?"
Li Zhi was completely stunned, "Fourth brother, why…"
Several exclamations were heard in the hall. Fang Xuanling's face suddenly became a little embarrassed, with panic in his eyes and sweat on his forehead.
The people here can be said to be some of the smartest people in the world.
Who doesn't know what Your Majesty means?
Wei Zheng, who was assisting Li Zhi in guarding Chang'an, nodded slightly with a meaningful look, as if all this was within his expectations.
As a former member of the prince's party and the prince's junior tutor, he had some premonitions when Li Shimin valued him after the prince went to the fiefdom. Now it seems to be true.
That……
Everyone's eyes are on Li Zhi. Isn't he the only legitimate son of His Majesty who has not been enfeoffed?
Li Zhi was naturally not a stupid person. He still maintained an expression of disbelief on his face, but his heart was filled with turbulent waves.
He really couldn't help but slowly stretch out his hands. His body had not yet matured, his hands were still a little tender, and his shoulders were not broad enough, but at this moment he suddenly felt a heavy burden was about to fall upon him.
"Don't be complacent. Brother Wei Wang thought he had a sure win, but something unexpected happened."
Li Zhi had an extremely good trait, which was patience. He was very patient. Since he was a child, he was good at keeping everything in his heart and not speaking them out.
"Gentlemen, pass on my order. All civil and military officials in Chang'an, follow me to welcome my father back in triumph."
Li Zhi's voice was a little higher than usual, and his expression was uplifted for a moment, then fell again the next moment, showing great kindness.
…
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 the 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, unbridled, and proud faces in front of him, as if he saw the brightest future of the Tang Dynasty. This was the world he had conquered with his own bravery. "Qingyu, how many glorious victories do you think the Tang Dynasty and Chang'an will welcome in the future?"
Luo Xuanling knew that the emperor was not really asking him, so he did not answer seriously. Instead, he seemed to be praying, full of pride, "The Tang Dynasty will always win until the end of fate."
Li Shimin was naturally very happy to feel understood by others. He laughed heartily and reminisced with emotion, "This is my last war, this is my last battle in my lifetime.
I will build a huge stone altar outside Chang'an, erect a tall stone gate on the altar, and name it "Long Live the Emperor". In the future, the victorious army will pass through this gate to receive the emperor's reward. "
Luo Xuanling stroked his chest and said, "Your Majesty's will is the will of the Tang Dynasty."
Everyone behind them looked at the emperor and his ministers and laughed out loud. The army was already thirty miles away from Chang'an.
"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin has led all the civil and military officials in Chang'an to kneel and welcome you."
"Go and see if my son has made any progress."
The generals of the Qianniu Guards surrounded Li Shimin and walked forward. Li Zhi finally saw his intimidating father again. Even though his hair had turned gray, he was still as majestic as the highest mountain in the world, and his momentum was even higher than the steepest peak of Mount Hua.
"Long live our emperor, long live our emperor, long, long live our emperor!"
Li Zhi, dressed in the robes of a prince, knelt at the front, followed by his ministers and the common people.
Li Shimin dismounted, held his head high and strode to the side of Jin Wang Li Zhi, then picked 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 and quickly lowered his head.
Li Shimin patted Li Zhi on the shoulder and said, "Zhi Nu, you have lost some weight. Is it because you don't eat well or because you were too busy as regent?"
Li Shimin's attitude made Li Zhi a little confused, and he was stunned for a moment.
Li Shimin didn't care too much about it. His impression of Li Zhi had always been that of a kind, filial, and somewhat weak younger son.
Li Shimin comforted himself and told himself not to be in a hurry. Now that everything was pacified and there were no external enemies, there was still a lot of time and they could slowly teach him how to become an excellent monarch who would maintain the status quo.
Moreover, he still has time to leave behind a group of trusted ministers for him. With a group of trustworthy ministers, it will not be difficult for him to maintain his foundation.
…
The fact that the Tang Dynasty defeated the Liaodong Kingdom was a cause for national celebration, as it meant that on the chessboard of the world, the Tang Dynasty once again lost a heavyweight player.
But almost no one in Chang'an cared about the great victory in Liaodong. Countless turbulent undercurrents were pointing to only one thing, and that was the position of crown prince.
Now there is only one candidate left standing for the position of Crown Prince, and that is Prince of Jin Li Zhi!
But not everyone wanted Li Zhi to become the crown prince.
There is no other reason, just because of profit.
The first crown prince Li Chengqian's crown princess was from a Jiangnan gentry family, Li Tai's wife was from a noble family in Daibei, and Li Zhi's wife was from a Shandong gentry family.
Not to mention the first two, the Shandong gentry and Guanlong have always been at odds with each other, and they looked down on each other. The Shandong gentry really began to become prominent when clan records became popular. At that time, clan records were popular in the Southern Dynasty, and the Northern Dynasty also followed suit and established noble and famous families.
Also, because the Northern Dynasty was superior to the Southern Dynasty, the big families in the Southern Dynasty were inferior. Of course, the Gusu Luo family and the Lanling Xiao family were not among them, as they were too ancient.
Among the famous families in the Northern Dynasties, the Luo family was naturally not included. Among them, the Lu family was also quite special. There was no Lu family in the clan records, but in Qizhou, the Lu family had a very high status, and the noble families also recognized the Lu family's status.
Li Zhi's Crown Princess came from a famous Shandong family, but this does not mean that those who supported him were from a famous Shandong family. In fact, those who supported Li Zhi were the Guanlong nobles.
The Guanlong nobles looked down on the Shandong nobles. Only those scholars from Shandong would pursue marriage with Shandong nobles because of the tradition of the past years. For example, famous officials like Wei Zheng who came from a poor background, and Cheng Zhijie and others from Li Shimin's Qin Palace, all had such pursuits.
But the real old Guanlong people look down on them from the bottom of their hearts.
These old Guanlong people are interested in military merit and the goal of following the emperor. When they enter the officialdom, they take positions in the imperial guards and local military forces. Every family has several titles and military officials.
What they pursued was marriage with the royal family and mutual marriage between Guanlong, and ultimately to manipulate the power of the central court. The Guanlong nobles simply looked down upon the Shandong gentry's way of occupying the local area. This was a difference in concepts that emerged between the two sides during hundreds of years of development.
The Guanlong clans founded the empire and unified the world. Before that, there had been a tradition of countless coups d'état. In their view, they were the real players on the chessboard of the world, while other gentry such as those in Shandong and Jiangnan were just servants doing their jobs.
Although the history is long, I will kill you if I say so.
This is indeed the case. In terms of power, the Shandong gentry were no match for the Guanlong gentry. During the fifty or sixty years of the Sui and Tang dynasties, no less than ten well-known direct descendants were killed, not to mention the other branches. This number even exceeded that of the chaotic times.
It was not until the Zhenguan period that the Shandong and Jiangnan gentry entered their golden age. Although they were suppressed by Li Shimin, at least Li Shimin did not kill people indiscriminately.
Li Zhi was young and weak in character, and in the eyes of many people, he was easy to manipulate, so the Guanlong nobles hoped that Li Zhi could come to power so that they could better continue their wealth and prosperity.
So when Li Shimin asked in front of all the important ministers in Taiji Hall, "The country is in turmoil without a crown prince. Who do you think should be the crown prince?"
Zhangsun Wuji, who was born in Guanlong and liked power, immediately stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the eldest son should be made the crown prince. Now the King of Qin and the King of Qi are both stationed in foreign vassal states. Only the King of Jin is noble and benevolent and filial. He can be made the crown prince to strengthen the country."
Generally speaking, when the emperor asked who could become the crown prince, the ministers would not speak. If they spoke, it would be easy for the king to think that they were competing for the throne, which would almost certainly mean death.
Therefore, ministers would usually only ask the emperor to appoint a crown prince over and over again, but they would never say who should be made the prince.
But in fact it is not that old-fashioned, there are some special cases.
For example, Li Zhi and Zhang Sun Wuji now.
Changsun Wuji is Li Zhi's uncle and the only child of the late Empress Changsun who remains in Chang'an. According to the principle that the mother is the eldest and the uncle is the most important, no matter how many good things Changsun Wuji says to Li Zhi or how much support he gives, no one would think that there is anything wrong with Changsun Wuji. Even Li Shimin would only think that Changsun Wuji's expression of love for Li Zhi is his.
Furthermore, Li Zhi's identity also allowed Changsun Wuji to say these words without scruples. Li Zhi's identity was that he was the only legitimate son now. Not establishing a legitimate son when there is one is not a joke. This is the right to speak given to Changsun Wuji by tradition.
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, and finally landed on Wei Zheng and Fang Xuanling, "Shangshu Zuo Pushe, Zhongshu Ling, what do you mean?"
Fang Xuanling's heart skipped a beat. He felt really uncomfortable about the issue of appointing a crown prince because after Li Chengqian was named King of Qin, he, at the instigation of his son, leaned towards King of Wei Li Tai. At that time, there were too many people who sided with King of Wei Li Tai. After all, the emperor's attitude was too obvious, and Li Zhi was too inconspicuous.
No one would have thought that the emperor would actually choose the Prince of Jin, who was completely different from himself, and replace the crown prince with the Prince of Jin. Didn't the emperor feel disgusted?
The King of Jin is indeed noble. It was the largest country in the Spring and Autumn Period, and Jin was the Tang, the place where the dragon rose. The two titles of King of Jin and Princess of Jinyang can be said to be extremely noble.
But this could not withstand the fact that the King of Jin in front was too arrogant.
Prince of Jin, Yang Guang, died in the second generation.
Fang Xuanling hesitated for a long time, and even Wei Zheng could not bear it any longer, so he said first: "I think what the Right Prime Minister said just now is correct. The eldest son should be made the crown prince. The King of Qin and the King of Qi are in their fiefdoms, and the King of Jin is the eldest son, so he should be made 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 after hearing this, and also bowed and said, "Prince Jin is benevolent and filial, and the eldest son of the family, so he should be the crown prince. I second the proposal."
Zuo Pushe, You Pushe, and Zhongshu Ling.
The three leaders of the Political Affairs Hall confirmed it at the same time, and the rest of the people said in unison: "We second the motion. The Prince of Jin should be the Crown Prince."
"King Jin!"
Li Shimin's voice was very loud. It echoed in the hall and floated above the pillars. It seemed that there was an echo coming from afar. In this hall full of people, there was a feeling of emptiness.
Because no one spoke.
In front of the door of Taiji Hall, there was a slightly thin figure, it was Li Zhi, with the sun behind him and his shadow in front of him.
He stood on the door lintel, looking up at the center of the hall. His father was sitting high up on the throne. He was quite far away and the light was dim, so he could not see his face clearly.
Everyone in the hall turned around to look at him. He could clearly see that there was no expression on anyone's face, but he only felt that their gazes were shining on him.
Everyone was staring at him.
Li Zhi walked in. He thought he was walking very fast, but in fact he was walking very slowly, just like his lame brother.
Every step he took forward seemed to be followed by a mountain of pressure, which made it impossible for him to move forward.
"Father!"
He finally walked into the hall, and in the light of 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 Prince of Jin should be the Crown Prince. Do you think you can handle this important task?"
Li Shimin's voice was ethereal and floated from above.
————
The emperor said: "When my ministers recommended me, the former emperor asked me, 'How can I take charge of the country?'
I replied: "If it is beneficial to the country, life and death are all that matters!"
I was able to serve the ancestral temple with my humble body. It’s all here. You should know it now!” - The Book of Tang: The Chronicle of Emperor Gaozong
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(End of this chapter)
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