Li Hong also knew that his mother had always admired Princess Pingyang, because in history, no princess had ever been buried with military honors after her death.
Princess Pingyang was the first and only princess in the entire Chinese history to be buried with military honors, not just in the era before the Tang Dynasty.
Throughout the Tang Dynasty, the first princess who was posthumously named "Zhao" was naturally the object of admiration by women of the queen mother's character. Moreover, in this era, the superiority of men over women has not yet been as deeply rooted as in the Song Dynasty, so it is also a very common thing for many women in the Tang Dynasty to imitate and admire Princess Pingyang Zhao.
Otherwise, the "Weize Pass" where Princess Pingyang Zhao guarded would not have been named "Niangzi Pass" after her death, to commemorate her deeds of leading the women's army to guard the Shanxi pass.
Li Hong followed Wu Mei without thinking. The palace maids behind him were already accustomed to the behavior of the royal mother and son.
No matter which prince it was, when he came before the queen, he would observe royal etiquette and be respectful, in an attempt to leave his mother with the impression that he was well-educated and a model of royal etiquette.
But only His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has done the opposite since he was young. He has no etiquette or rules in front of the Queen, but even so, he is still the most favored.
Of course, this is also inseparable from the Crown Prince’s extreme intelligence and his contributions to the Tang Dynasty.
Li Hong continued to hold Wu Mei's arm and walked slowly in front of the door of Linde Hall. Looking at the palace maids and eunuchs rushing in and out, and the brightly lit hall, he couldn't help but ask in surprise: "Could it be that all the civil and military officials in the court are here?"
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"Can you behave a little like a prince?" Wu Mei looked at the arm that Li Hong was holding in his arms and said coldly, "You've come all this time, but you can't behave a little like a prince? You don't even tie up your hair..."
"Besides the civil and military ministers, there are other people? Oh my god, why are Aunt Lanling and others here too?" Li Hong said in surprise as he looked at the three people over there, who were slowly walking over under the guidance of the ceremonial officer.
"Many princes are here, and they all come for you, little bastard." Wu Mei rolled her eyes at him, slowly took two steps forward, waiting for Lanling and others to greet her.
Li Hong was stunned. All the royal family members were here. Was this really to see him off? Wasn't it to see him off after his death?
Why do I feel like so many people are coming here to say goodbye to me and to see me for the last time?
Lanling and Xincheng did not die of illness as recorded in history books. This is probably because Li Hong invited them to Taiyi City and Zongsheng Palace to cultivate their bodies whenever he had time.
Among the three, Lanling is the oldest, now 38 years old, followed by Li Zhi's sister Chengyang, who is 36 years old, and the other one is Li Hong's aunt, Li Zhi's sister Xincheng, who is only 32 years old this year.
The three people standing together with Wu Mei were like four golden flowers, blooming with their own charm and appeal under the illumination of palace lanterns.
Li Hong no longer worried about whether he was seeing them off or attending their final resting place. Looking at the four beauties, he wished he could stand in the middle of them and take a photo to send to his previous life. This was an opportunity not everyone had.
So he couldn't help but give a thumbs up and praised repeatedly: "Oh my, father is really not lucky enough to see four beauties standing together like this. It's rare to see them. Even plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum can't compare to you."
"Keep talking, you little bastard. If you don't praise your mother and your three aunts to the sky, I'll show you how I'm going to deal with you." Although Wu Mei was the oldest, she had lived an extremely leisurely life in the past few years. Standing with the three of them, no one could tell that she was the oldest.
"Hehe, how could I, your son, have that ability? You all have beauty that can rival the moon, looks that can shame flowers, graces that can make fish sink to the bottom of the water, and demeanors that can make wild geese fall. To use any mundane words to describe you four beauties, your son would feel it is a blasphemy." Li Hong scratched his head. No great poet has ever seen the four of you together. He wanted to compose a poem to praise you, but he couldn't.
Fortunately, nowadays, "Bi Yue", "Chen Yu Luo Yan" and "Xiu Hua" all have allusions, and although "Chen Yu Luo Yan" has not yet been born, as soon as the eight words, four phrases, "Bi Yue Xiu Hua" were uttered, Wu Mei and others naturally felt very happy.
When women get together, there is always only one ending. Even if they are queens or princesses of the Tang Dynasty, when they get together, they will chat in low voices endlessly like women from ordinary families.
So that person was naturally left out and could only rub his nose and follow silently behind to the Linde Hall.
The royal family, royal relatives, and civil officials filled the entire Linde Hall. As the ceremonial officer's hoarse shouting sounded, the entire Linde Hall immediately became quiet.
The lengthy imperial decree came out of the ceremonial officer's mouth, but until it was finished, Li Hong and all the other officials looked at each other in bewilderment, because they did not hear a single word that was related to their official position on this journey to the West.
Fortunately, Li Hong already had his own little plan, which he kept in his mind at the moment.
Li Zhi was the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Naturally, he could not do without his own son, the crown prince, who was about to go on an expedition to the Western Regions.
Therefore, all the court officials, royal family members and Li Hong were so excited that their ears were almost longer than rabbit ears, but they did not hear that Li Zhi had conferred him with any official position for his journey to the west.
Finally, after Li Zhi said a few words of encouragement, Li Hong began to curl his lips and said, "Hmph, since you are still finding it difficult to appoint me an official position now, I will appoint myself one later!"
With such thoughts in mind, he was still in a trance when Li Zhi called him up. If Yi Yang beside him hadn't pinched his waist, he would still be thinking about how to get the leaders of the Ministry of Personnel and the Secretariat to stamp the appointment letter in his arms after they got too much wine.
Li Hong came back to his senses and looked at the officials and royal family members present. The female ceremonial officer who was playing the elegant music seemed to sense what Li Hong was about to say and lowered the volume of the music a lot.
"There is the destruction of a country, and there is the destruction of the world. What does the destruction of a country and the destruction of the world mean? Changing surnames and names is the destruction of a country. When benevolence and righteousness are so prevalent that beasts eat people, and people are about to eat each other, this is the destruction of the world. Therefore, one must know how to protect the world before knowing how to protect one's country. To protect a country is the responsibility of its monarch and his ministers, who are meat-eaters; to protect the world is the responsibility of even the humblest of men." Li Hong looked at the ministers, including his father the emperor and his mother the queen, and asked calmly.
Li Hong believed that unless this group of people could live a thousand years later, they might understand the above words from Zuo Zhuan and Lienu Zhuan. And the above words were said by Gu Yanwu, a thinker in the Ming Dynasty a thousand years ago.
"The rise and fall of national affairs is the responsibility of the emperor, generals, civil officials and military commanders? Is it really irrelevant to the people? Is the rise and fall of the world the responsibility of every citizen? If the country perishes, the people suffer. If the world perishes, the people suffer even more. Therefore, it is not that the rise and fall of the world is the responsibility of every man, but it should be the rise and fall of the country, the responsibility of every man! This is the responsibility of the emperor, generals, civil officials and military commanders, and also the responsibility of every citizen of our Tang Dynasty. This is the responsibility of everyone in our Tang Empire! Therefore, as the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty, I should set an example for the people of the world, and I should go to the Western Regions to do my part for the country and the people of the Tang Dynasty and the stability of the people on the border."
After he finished speaking, he did not want to hear Princess Xincheng secretly saying to her mother: "You have always said that he is unlearned and unskilled. He is always so proud and his beard is sticking up, but after listening to what he said just now, I am afraid that even a great scholar would find it difficult to summarize such generous words as the rise and fall of a country and the responsibility of every citizen."
"Who knew that the little bastard was flipping through that ancient book again? Alas... he only flipped through it when he needed it. If it was really that good, then the ponytail-like hair at the back of his head, is that a royal model? Did the ancestors let him tie his hair like that?" Wu Mei rolled her eyes at Li Hong who was speaking impassionedly.
Li Hong couldn't help but touch his nose in embarrassment. Is this really his biological mother? His son shines in front of others, why does she always criticize him from behind?
Zhang Wenguan stood up slowly and said, "Your Majesty, I think what His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said just now is right and well-founded. Every man has his share of responsibility for the rise and fall of a country. This is what we in the Tang Dynasty should teach our people. I congratulate Your Majesty and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
The Minister of War could understand this best, because whenever the Crown Prince was in the Ministry of Revenue, he would come to him for no reason, and each time he would ask for his opinion on the pros and cons of the military system, as well as its future development. Although he could not give a specific answer, he always seemed to vaguely feel that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince seemed to have some unique insights to alleviate the problem of the increasingly scarce military personnel.
And now, hearing His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's words that every citizen has a share of responsibility for the rise and fall of a country, he seemed to have found a clue on how to solve the problem of the shortage of soldiers in the palace.
Naturally, everyone praised Li Hong's views. Fortunately, Dai Zhide had been dismissed, otherwise, they would probably argue with him again.
With the shouts of the ceremonial officer and the sound of elegant banquet music, everyone finally began to clink glasses and eat meat.
This was different from the time when Li Shimin was in power. He could still have fun with his ministers after getting drunk. He would either feel good about himself and perform the Hu Xuan dance for his ministers, or he would wrestle with his subordinates who had helped him build the country together and watch everyone else.
At this time, court banquets had become more elegant and formal, but the ceremony of going to war had long been replaced by banquets. Every time there was an expedition, there would be many officials who came to congratulate, just to drink, eat, and enjoy singing and dancing.
Li Hong improvised a poem: "The bright moon in Qin and the pass in Han, those who marched thousands of miles have not yet returned. If only the flying general was in Longcheng, the Hu horses would not be allowed to cross Yinshan Mountain." The banquet was pushed to the climax.
Li Zhi, Wu Mei and all the officials didn't care if Li Hong drank occasionally. Besides, the wine today was bought by Lanling and it was free.
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