Chapter 44 Minister: What's your new trick, Li Tang family?
After Li Shimin finished speaking, everyone was stunned!
Li Heng could hardly believe his ears. He and all the ministers at the moment stared and looked at Crown Prince Li Yu.
The new version of the Xuanwu Gate Incident created by Prince Yan was actually instigated by the Crown Prince behind the scenes?
Oh my goodness, it turns out that the biggest villain behind the scenes is not the King of Yan, but the Crown Prince?
I didn't expect that the filial prince with thick eyebrows and big eyes would also rebel. I really misjudged you!
But that's not right. Since Prince Yan succeeded in forcing the emperor to abdicate and had military power and manpower in his hands, why didn't he take the throne himself and instead handed it over to his elder brother?
After two hundred years, could there be such an honest person in the Li family?
No one quite believed it. But Li Yu was still the biggest suspect. Everyone looked at him with an expression of sudden enlightenment and shock.
Li Yu: ………? ? ?
No! Didn’t I come here to eat melons?
What happened to the Xuanwu Gate that has nothing to do with me?
At this moment, Li Yu was facing the gazes of his father and the ministers, and he almost dug out a Huaqing Palace with his toes.
His scalp tingled, and he quickly knelt on the ground, almost prostrating himself in the direction of Li Shimin:
"Father, although I am the crown prince, I am far inferior to my third brother, the Prince of Yan, in terms of talent and virtue.
I, as a son of this world, feel truly unworthy of this position! Let my third brother do it!"
Li Shimin immediately knelt down in the direction of Li Yu and said very humbly:
"Brother, why do you say that? Your virtue is renowned throughout the world. I've only quelled a few rebellions. In terms of virtue and superiority, you should be the Crown Prince!"
[Ahahahahaha oh my god, I’m dying of laughter!
Is this a live broadcast of a historical drama? This is even funnier than unofficial history!]
[In order to create a good impression of your Li Tang family, where brothers are friendly and respectful to each other, fathers are kind and sons are filial, Erfeng, you want to transfer the throne from Li Heng to Li Yu, and then have Li Yu sell it to you second-hand through Xianyu, right?]
[No, no, no, it was clearly Erfeng who hung the throne on Zhuanzhuan, first transferred it out, and finally transferred it back through Li Yu!]
[No, Li Yu is really miserable!
Erfeng, you've almost given up. Can't you consider your grandson's feelings?
Just treat him as a tool! 】
At this moment, Li Yu's expression was about to break.
Li Shimin kicked the ball back again, and Li Yu had to continue to belittle himself and try to kick the throne back, but Li Shimin kicked the ball back again:
"Now that my elder brother is here, the position of Crown Prince will never be yours!
Please accept His Majesty's order, brother!"
Li Yu:!!!
Ancestor, that’s enough!
Li Yu thought that Grandpa Taizu was just being humble when he declined the throne three times, and he could just take the throne. However, he didn't expect that Grandpa Taizu really regarded him as a big victim!
It seems that he has to continue to act in this drama, and the throne has to pass through his hands no matter what!
Grandpa Taizu, do you really not think about me, your grandson, at all?
Is it necessary to involve him in the Xuanwu Gate Incident and let him be blamed in history?
Faced with the resentful look of his grandson Li Yu, Li Shimin chose to turn a blind eye, and frequently signaled him with his eyes to quickly accept the imperial edict.
Li Yu could only accept the imperial edict promoting him from crown prince to emperor with a resentful look on his face.
This doesn't feel like being an emperor at all!
Li Heng and the ministers were also shocked at this time. After all, they all realized that Prince Yan was just acting.
This was to clear his own reputation through Li Yu, and to portray himself as a better father, filial son, brother and respectful younger brother than the King of Qin of that year.
But is he so sure that Crown Prince Li Yu will become the emperor that he will hand over the throne to him?
Li Heng even suspected that Prince Yan had some serious evidence against Li Yu. Otherwise, why did it feel like Li Yu was about to become Prince Yan's grandson?
The ministers looked at Li Shimin, who seemed to be very honest and simple, and their minds were in a mess.
That's not right. How come this is completely different from the Xuanwu Gate inheritance method that has been used in your Li family for almost two hundred years?
When did your Li family become so respectful to each other in front of the throne?
Your new script and new play are really rare!
Of course, at this point, Li Heng felt that there was nothing left for him to do, and finally decided to go back and calm down, crying for the throne he had lost.
However, Li Shimin did not intend to let him go and said:
"Father, although the two traitors of the previous dynasty have been exterminated, their followers are still causing chaos everywhere.
Empress Zhang has evil intentions and intends to join forces with the eunuchs to force her to abdicate and rebel. I beg Your Majesty to issue an edict to depose her as Empress Dowager."
After all, Empress Zhang was his nominal elder and the Empress Dowager, so it would be better to let Li Heng do it.
By the way, Li Fuguo and Yu Chaoen's eunuch followers were also dealt with.
After all, by the time he came to power, the former military governors would have grown in power, the aristocratic families would have complicated issues, and there would be a lot of trouble. Solving the eunuch and harem issues in advance would save him some experience.
What else could Li Heng say?
All he could do was say under the bloody sword of Li Shimin, "Okay, okay, my son, you are absolutely right," and then have someone draft an edict.
In short, after Li Shimin was satisfied and left the palace, Li Heng became the emperor emeritus and Empress Zhang became an ordinary concubine.
Crown Prince Li Yu became the biggest winner on the surface and was about to become the new emperor of the Tang Dynasty.
Soon, all the officials who heard about this were shocked, including Gao Shi, Du Fu, Li Bai and others who were close to Li Shimin.
At this point, Gao Shi was no longer suspected of rebellion. Everyone came to the Prince of Yan's mansion. A group of suspicious people sat in a row, their eyes widening:
"No, is Crown Prince Li Yu going to ascend the throne? Or did you, Prince of Yan, help him deal with the Xuanwu Gate?"
What's wrong with this script?
Du Fu scratched his head, and more hair fell out:
"So Li Yu is...about to become emperor?"
Just as Li Shimin was about to speak, a eunuch came outside the door to convey his imperial decree.
In short, Li Yu could not stand it for even a single day these days and immediately prepared to abdicate.
In the imperial edict, Li Yu praised the Prince of Yan throughout, saying that he was the best in the world, possessing all the qualities of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness, and was a good young man with all-round development in morality, intelligence, physique, aesthetics and labor. Therefore, he wanted to give the throne to his third brother, the Prince of Yan.
So that's how it is. Everyone suddenly realized and rediscovered the brotherhood between Li Tang.
It’s been almost two hundred years, and I didn’t expect that the Li family still has such friendly and respectful brothers!
But Li Shimin did not accept it, but declined it instead.
So, a few days later, Li Yu issued another decree, praising Li Shimin so much that even he himself could not bear it.
But Li Shimin still refused, saying that he had no interest in the throne and only wanted to be a good brother who was friendly and respectful to his brothers.
[Hahahahahahahaha! God-like lack of interest, this sentence is more valuable than Mr. Ma!]
It turns out the three concessions and three refusal in official history are so interesting. If I had known earlier, I would have gotten a perfect score on the history test!
[When Li Shimin was forced to abdicate as the Prince of Qin, Li Yuan issued an edict to have an extreme struggle with Li Shimin, pushing and shoving back and forth three times.
No one really cared much about it, because everyone knew what was going on. But now it's different. If you tell anyone about this, who wouldn't be confused?
Even those who write history books in the future will have to wonder whether your Li family is really so brotherly and respectful. They might even say that Taizong is not as good as them.
[But don't you consider Li Yu's feelings? Hahaha, how could such a pitiful carp be so miserable!]
At this time, Li Yu in the palace was about to collapse, his face full of resentment!
Ancestor, please hurry up. If you don’t take over this hot throne, I will really become the emperor!
After all, who among the princes doesn’t dream of becoming an emperor?
But Grandpa Taizu was there. Even if he could really become the emperor right now, could he compare with Li Shimin?
He may not even be able to compare with Li Yuan!
At least my father was still alive to be the emperor, but he couldn't possibly be alive to be the elder brother, right?
So, Grandpa, please stop it! Otherwise, your grandson will die in front of you!
So for the third time, Li Yu personally led all the important civil and military officials to the Prince of Yan's Mansion. When he saw the grandfather, Li Yu almost knelt down in front of him!
Fortunately, this time, Li Shimin finally stopped refusing, and with Li Yu so happy that his eyes were filled with tears, he reluctantly took over the throne.
All the civil and military officials in the court: ………
Okay, your Li family’s performance is finally over, can we extras go home now?
[Ahahaha, Erfeng's acting, is it so difficult to be the emperor?
Those who didn’t know would think he was going to be executed! 】
Li Yu finally breathed a sigh of relief! But isn't anyone paying attention to the second-in-command, the King of Yue, who's caught between the eldest and third in command?
[The second one is even worse off. It’s not easy for him to try to reduce his presence amidst the fierce competition in the past month.
Let’s not mention the guy above, let’s give him some room to live! 】
Congratulations to Erfeng for taking the throne and becoming emperor once again! Where are the salutes? Where are the gifts? Applause!
[Ahhh Erfeng, wait for us to give you a gift! This gift is definitely more thoughtful than last time!]
[The gifts are given for free by us modern people, but would you like to have a drone phoenix show at your coronation ceremony?
This costs money, but it’s really necessary! And it looks really good! 】
Modern people have seized new business opportunities, and several drone flight performance companies are about to fight in the sky.
Although Li Shimin didn't quite understand what it looked like, based on his previous knowledge of drones, it would definitely become the best means of political propaganda.
Not only can it offset the impact of the Xuanwu Gate Incident, but it can also directly maximize his authority as the new emperor.
When this kind of thing gets out, educated people may not believe it, but the common people will buy into it!
Although the price is a bit high, Li Shimin can still make some money if he squeezes a little.
After bargaining with several companies, we finally chose one that was more reasonable in terms of price and other aspects.
"No problem, Mr. Party A, please go ahead!
If you have any requirements, please feel free to tell us. We can discuss the details. If you have any other custom designs you would like to have, please let us know, such as a dragon..."
It turns out there can be more than one pattern?
At this time, Li Shimin temporarily ignored the fact that the modern Party B was holding his hand tightly, and quickly decided on patterns with practical political significance, such as auspicious dragons and phoenixes, and bumper harvests, and let them do the rest.
When the new emperor ascended the throne, there was a lot of work to be done. He had a lot of things to do and had no time to worry about these etiquette details.
"The first thing is to move the retired emperor Li Heng out so that Guanyinbi and I can move more easily.
But where to move him?"
Li Shimin finally planned to move him to Taiji Palace to keep Li Longji company. After all, in this way, Li Heng would definitely be subjected to Li Longji's sarcasm and ridicule.
These two people have a bad relationship now, but they have to live together, and they will definitely torture each other.
However, Taiji Palace was a good place for Li Shimin to live in the past, but now it is the most dilapidated, darkest and dampest of the Tang palaces.
But if he just threw Li Heng over, people might say he was unfilial?
"There's no need to discuss so much! Even if Taiji Palace is shabby, it's still the imperial palace. What difference does it make in the eyes of the common people?"
[That's right, most of us modern people don't know about this kind of trivial matter, and we don't have the time to study it.]
Isn't this hilarious? Li Heng forced Li Longji to relocate, and then he was forced to relocate himself. It's a cycle of cause and effect!
[But compared to this, Erfeng, you should beat them up right away! I want to see what happens next!]
"There's really no rush for this. These two can't escape either."
Li Shimin said this, revealing a mischievous fox smile:
"Li Heng has just lost the throne and power, and he will be sad for a while.
If I let him know my identity now, wouldn't he be so preoccupied with fear that he wouldn't have time to grieve over the throne? "
[That makes sense! Then let him and Li Longji argue with each other in sorrow and regret!]
Sure enough, Li Heng, like Li Yuan back then, lived in a big house and didn't want to move.
But this was not his real father, and Li Shimin would not tolerate him. He soon sent his good grandson Li Yu to forcibly relocate his father.
Li Yu: …No???
So his grandson is just a brick, and he can be moved wherever his ancestors need him, right?
Li Shimin pretended not to notice Li Yu's resentful look. After all, he was very busy dealing with the complicated affairs of state.
So as a grandson, you should avoid causing trouble and just do your best to complete what I, your great-grandfather, have asked you to do. This is also a great form of filial piety!
[Yes, yes, yes, this is the kind of filial piety that is unique to the Li Tang family! ]
In short, Li Shimin didn't care whether Li Heng's defenses collapsed during the relocation. He was now busy selecting the next heads of the three provinces and six ministries.
Meritorious officials who deserve rewards must be rewarded, but he will never banish officials based solely on their merits.
Therefore, before the coronation ceremony was even prepared, all the ministers had already received offers from the new leader.
"The current imperial court positions are really too complicated and redundant. What the hell are Li Longji and Li Heng doing?"
Li Shimin looked at the many official positions, such as the Salt and Iron Commissioner, the Transport Commissioner, the Privy Councilor, and the Tongpingzhangshi, which was equivalent to the prime minister.
The power of the three provinces and six ministries has almost been hollowed out.
"How much more work have these two damned grandsons added to my workload!"
[I checked, and it’s really different from the early Tang Dynasty!
Although there are three provinces and six ministries, the three provinces have now been hollowed out by the Hanlin Academy, the Prime Minister, various envoys, eunuchs and others.
The imperial guards were all replaced by the Shen Ce Army, led by eunuchs, and the local military governors were completely deprived of power.
Li Shimin first reorganized and appointed officials in the court:
"Li Mi, the Minister of the Secretariat, was responsible for drafting imperial edicts, removing the Hanlin Academy's authority to draft and discuss matters. The Hanlin Academy was responsible for ritual education, the imperial examinations, and the compilation of documents.
Li Bai was appointed as a Hanlin scholar, and Du Fu was appointed as a Hanlin attendant and concurrently a censor.
"As for the Shangshu Province, which was responsible for reviewing and refuting imperial edicts, Yan Zhenqing was appointed as the Shangshu Ling.
The position of Imperial Censor is now held by Zhang Xun, who will lead the Imperial Censorate and be responsible for supervising all officials."
"The Ministry of Personnel is responsible for implementing the imperial edict's resolutions. Liu Yan will replace Diwu Qi as the Left Prime Minister, and Guo Ziyi will serve as the Right Prime Minister, concurrently serving as the Minister of War."
Guo Ziyi's position was more nominal than practical. Generally speaking, he participated in court affairs, but played a greater role in military management.
Li Shimin would never be as timid and stingy towards the various military governors and generals who fought bravely during the Anshi Rebellion as he was before him, such as Li Heng, the Emperor Suzong of Tang.
"Li Guangbi and Pugu Huai'en commanded the Shen Ce Army, serving as Left and Right Guard Generals respectively."
As for other people, Li Shimin also gave them higher official positions and rewards. For example, Li Siye, Gao Shi, Zhang Xiaojing and others were all granted titles.
In addition, for ministers whose families had died fighting for the country, Li Shimin personally wrote tombstones and eulogies to express the court's attention.
Before the new emperor ascended the throne, there had been a major reshuffle of court officials, the eunuchs' power had been completely eliminated, and all those who had made contributions and achievements during the Anshi Rebellion were promoted and given salary increases.
Pugu Huai'en was finally happy now!
It was not because of how much reward he received, but because of his family's efforts and his unwavering loyalty to the Tang Dynasty that he finally won the recognition of the Tang emperor.
This is the greatest comfort and reward for his loyal family.
"Boss Erfeng, what about me?
You haven't forgotten my promotion and salary increase, right? Don't just make empty promises! "
Some people are happy to be promoted, while others will be demoted or dismissed.
However, most of those people stayed at home and stayed emo, but Shen Yue went directly to the Prince's Eastern Palace and confidently asked Li Shimin for a promise.
"When we were still a small, unlisted company, I was one of the first investors. Boss, you can't just make empty promises!"
"Don't worry, I haven't forgotten you.
You can take the house, manpower and rewards first. As for the official appointment, I will inform all officials after the court session.
If someone is dissatisfied, you can speak up in person to avoid them criticizing you behind your back."
She didn't expect that her boss would even think of this for her. Shen Yue, a modern person, was immediately very moved.
[Wow, I really want to forward this to my modern boss and see how Erfeng is the boss!
Not only do they care about their subordinates so much, but they also generously give them financial incentives. Look at you modern bosses!
[Wow, wow, wow, I quit. I want to switch jobs and work for Er Feng!
Erfeng, Erfeng, please start recruiting! You have so many positions that we modern people can fill. We guarantee that we can do it better, faster, and more efficiently than the ancients!
[That's right, it's finally time for us modern people to show our talents! For example, we can write your diary, serve as historians, and be your secretaries!
After all, you ancient people wrote so slowly, how could it be compared to how fast we are at blind typing on computers!
We can organize the meeting minutes right after the daily meeting! They even include an outline of important events!
[Yes, and our family relationship is simple! You just need to pay us a salary!]
During festivals and holidays, individual awards are given to individuals for individual items. There's no need to confer titles on descendants or grant imperial decrees to ministers' wives. How much money is saved!
After hearing this, Li Shimin was also tempted.
It seems that it is quite useful for modern people?
All of his ministers had families to support, so the reward would include a large house, an imperial decree for their wives, occasional gifts and rewards, and a small official position for their sons...
"What about you nine clans?
Don’t you modern people have nine generations? Did you pop out of a crack in the rock? Don’t you have sons, daughters, wives, or husbands?”
Li Shimin was a little confused. After all, this was the traditional thinking of the ancients. For loyal and valued ministers, their families should be rewarded.
We modern people all have our own jobs. My parents and grandparents have pensions, so I'm lucky enough not to have to pay for my house.
[The wife and husband work separately during the day and only eat and sleep together at night! As for children?
I'm sorry, I won't get married or have children, so my generation will be extinct!
[Yes, no marriage, no children, eternal youth, fewer and better births, a happy life!
I am the last cow and horse in our family! I will never reproduce new cows and horses as consumables!
Li Shimin didn't quite understand it, but he felt that he was impacted by modern people.
Unparalleled?! Are you modern people so casual?
Li Shimin couldn't understand, but was very moved:
"Then can you write my daily notes so I can read them in private?
As for Chu Suiliang, I even praised him for being docile and kind, but he was still so stingy that he wouldn't even let me look at him.
"Tian Tian Bao's daily records, if I want to read them I have to sneak around, like a thief in my own home!"
[That must work!]
Boss, you pay me to work for you. Don’t you even have the right to see the work I complete every day?
Boss, you can look at me however you want. Don't even mention looking at me secretly. We can look at me openly too!
[Now that you mention it, it seems like they weren't very good at being workers in ancient times?
How dare a worker who gets paid to work treat his boss like this? Even the ancients could tolerate this, but modern people can't!
Erfeng, let me take over. Let us, the modern secretaries, crush them to death! 】
After saying this, Li Shimin immediately recruited several people to serve as historians, who were responsible for writing daily notes, recording history and minutes of court meetings.
The salary of a central secretary is really high. After being hired, modern workers are all very happy and immediately jump to Datang.
[Hehehe, I'm kicking the old boss out of the way. Erfeng, wait for me to pack my bags. I'm coming right over!]
[Making money in the Tang Dynasty and spending it in the modern world, Erfeng's high salary is really great! ]
Before the modern people took office, Li Shimin's coronation ceremony was approaching.
The sixth day of September is a good day for the autumn harvest, with clear and cool weather.
On the day of his enthronement, in addition to civil and military officials, Empress Zhangsun and members of the royal family, the retired emperor Li Longji and Li Heng also had to be present as usual.
After all, when the emperor ascended the throne, the emperor emeritus, as his father, had to crown the new emperor, which was an important part of ancient etiquette.
Li Heng's face was very dark when he was crowned. It might be because he had been with Li Longji every day in the past few days. He looked like he had several more wrinkles and looked much older.
Facing Li Heng's ugly face, Li Shimin was very calm and followed all the etiquette.
Li Heng looked at Li Shimin, who had ascended the throne as the new emperor. Seeing that he had no joy in ascending the throne, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
This San Lang was so calm and collected. He had really neglected his guard before!
[Hahaha, our Erfeng has become emperor for the second time. It's like being familiar the first time, so why are you so happy?!]
[That’s right, who can be happy when thinking about the mess Li Heng and Li Longji had?
But now there are two retired emperors, how should we address them? We can't use their names.
Indeed, Li Shimin was also a little conflicted.
There were retired emperors in history, but there has never been a case where both a grandfather and a father were retired emperors at the same time. This is the first time in history.
[Just call them the Grand Emperor and the Grand Lower Emperor! The First Grand Emperor and the Second Grand Emperor! The Great Grand Emperor and the Small Grand Emperor!]
Too much egg yolk and too much duck yolk! 】
The comments from the audience in the barrage were getting more and more outrageous, so Li Shimin decided to call him "Taitai Shanghuang" or "Your Majesty the Emperor" in the future.
Although it sounds a bit strange, it is much better than the names in the barrage!
Li Heng didn't know that Li Shimin was still thinking about these messy things when he was emperor.
At this moment, he thought of the Xuanwu Gate Incident that day and still refused to accept it. He always felt that he was just one step short.
If he could do it again, he would never lose to his own son!
Faced with Li Heng's unconvinced expression, Li Shimin pretended not to see it, but his desire to win was aroused.
Therefore, when the coronation ceremony was over and it was getting dark, he asked Li Heng and Li Longji to come forward to take a closer look:
"Look up, what's that in the sky?"
At this time, night falls and the show of modern drone performance officially begins!
All the officials looked up as Li Shimin spoke, and their eyes widened when they saw the scene above the palace.
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