People in the early Tang Dynasty: I compete with Wu Zhao for the throne

Chapter 1424 Before husband and wife, you and I were each other

In Zhenguan Hall, the lights are brightly lit.

Empress Wu was sitting behind the desk, holding the memorial in her hand, but her eyes were looking in the direction of the palace door from time to time.

There was a steady sound of footsteps, and Empress Wu suddenly raised her head in joy.

Is this done?

Empress Wu's understanding of the emperor almost surpassed her own.

If things didn't work out, then the emperor's footsteps would not be so steady.

Under the firelight, a familiar figure walked in from outside the hall.

Li Zhi, dressed in a bright yellow dragon robe, walked into the hall with an excited look, holding a locust wood box under his right arm.

Empress Wu couldn't help but stood up immediately, faced the emperor, and said with expectation: "Your Majesty, is everything going well?"

Empress Wu's eyes fell unnaturally on the box in the emperor's arms, her eyes full of curiosity.

"Yes!" Li Zhi smiled and nodded, then waved his hand, looked around, and said, "Everyone, go down."

"Here!" All the maids in the palace bowed and exited the Zhenguan Palace from all corners.

Li Zhi then took out the box from under his arm, handed it to Empress Wu, and said at the same time: "After waiting for more than an hour and spending two years of hard work, I finally made three life-extending pills."

As he spoke, Li Zhi, who was originally looking a little excited, suddenly became depressed.

Empress Wu held the medicine box and looked at the emperor. She could feel the regret in Li Zhi's heart.

"Your Majesty, my concubine is responsible for handling all this. Although I have some faults, I have tried my best to control everything. If the gods of heaven and earth blame me, I will bear all the responsibility." Empress Wu looked at Li Zhi solemnly.

Li Zhi shook his head calmly and said: "The Queen is not guilty, everything is mine. What crime does the Queen have? The worst thing is that I will accompany the Queen to worship Buddha more in the future."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Empress Wu breathed a sigh of relief. She glanced at the seal on the box, then looked at the emperor and asked, "Your Majesty, is this medicine really effective?"

"I don't know." Li Zhi shook his head calmly, walked to the imperial couch and sat down, and then said in a daze: "Zhenzhen Zhong said that if everything goes well, he will have a life of three to five years. If everything goes wrong, he will have a life of three to five years." …”

"How?" Empress Wu couldn't help the worry in her eyes.

"I don't know." Li Zhi suddenly laughed, then waved his hand and said, "Why do you need to know? Meiniang and I have already done everything we should do."

"Yes, the gods of heaven and earth will definitely protect your majesty." Empress Wu nodded seriously, looked at the box in her hand, and then asked: "When should I take this medicine?"

"It's time to enshrine the throne." Li Zhi looked solemn, turned to look at Empress Wu and said: "There are still two months until the enshrinement of the Zen. I'm afraid it will be difficult for me to take care of the affairs of the court. Everything in the previous court will be left to the queen. ”

Empress Wu was slightly startled and looked at Li Zhi. Apart from anything else, Li Zhi seemed fine now.

Seeing the firmness in Li Zhi's eyes, Empress Wu nodded gently: "I accept my order."

"Also, Master Zhong will move to the back of Zhenguan Hall and build an Alchemy Hall there. If anything happens to me here, he can come here in time." Li Zhi gently clenched his fist.

To be honest, although I have taken various drugs before, the effects of these drugs are gradually decreasing.

Even Li Zhi himself didn't know when these medicines would be completely useless to him.

At that time, he will need to use various other means to delay the physical pain.

By staying here, Zhong Daoren can at least help him judge whether there is still room for him when he can no longer bear it.

The closer it gets to Feng Chan's arrival, the more difficult choices become.

Li Zhi had already foreseen the difficulty of the situation.

"Also, Princess Fuchang suffered some physical injuries after this incident. Mei Niang will give her some medicine later." Li Zhi couldn't help but sigh.

"Is the situation serious?" Empress Wu couldn't help but become solemn.

Ever since someone spread the rumor that the emperor was taking advantage of Princess Fuchang's blessings to cure his illness, Princess Fuchang's physical condition could also reflect the emperor's physical condition to some extent.

If Princess Fuchang fell ill just after seeing the emperor, it would be inevitable for someone to worry about the emperor's health.

"It doesn't matter, the energy is exhausted, just rest for a month or two." Li Zhi waved his hand slightly, and then said: "Twenty-seventh Lang will arrive in Chang'an at the end of the month. When he arrives in Luoyang, Mei Niang will meet him on my behalf. I'm gone."

The corners of Empress Wu's mouth twitched slightly, and she nodded and said, "I accept the decree."

"The Western Region is currently in turmoil. For many years, Duke Ying, Duke Xing, Duke Jiang, and now Duke Pengcheng have tried to deal with the situation, but it always seems difficult to completely stabilize it. The queen asks Prince Peng for me, if he has any There is no good way." Li Zhi sighed and said, "I don't want to leave these troubles to Saburo."

"Yes!" Empress Wu nodded solemnly.

The affairs of the Western Turks are related to the stability of the Western Regions and the Silk Road.

Today, 30% of Datang's tax revenue comes from Jiangnan, 30% comes from the Silk Road, and the remaining 40% comes from all over the world.

If there is a problem with the Silk Road, the taxes from Jiangnan will gradually occupy half of the world, and the entire situation will be unbalanced.

However, the Western Turks have always been difficult to pacify. The reason for this is actually known to the DPRK. It is simply that the Western Region is too far away and cannot support its military strength, military situation, logistics, etc.

If we want to start a war in the Western Region and completely pacify it, then increasing the number of troops is inevitable. Since it is so far away, the attrition will be serious.

Compared with the current situation a few years ago, the only advantage is that Tubo has been pacified.

Datang could send troops from Tubo to the Western Regions for support, thus stabilizing the situation.

But the problem is that Fanzhou has only been established for only a year. If it goes militarily, it may endanger the territory of Fanzhou.

In this case, Li Xuan has become the key that everyone cannot avoid.

As the governor of Fanzhou, he has a great say in the future wars in the Western Regions and Western Turks.

"There is nothing left, nothing more than government affairs and Fengchan." Li Zhi looked up at Empress Wu and said: "There are some things that should be shared with Sanlang for you, so let him share some of them with you... My body Just like this, if Sanlang wants to stabilize the world in the future, he will have to rely on you, Mei Niang, I can’t afford to collapse. "

"I understand." Empress Wu nodded solemnly.

Although her health is much better than that of the emperor, she is also three or four years older than the emperor. Once she falls ill one day, she is likely to lose the power to manage the government, just like the emperor is now.

Empress Wu lowered his head, his eyes falling on the seal of the locust box, and a deep sense of tranquility flashed deep in his eyes.

"Your Majesty, if this is the case, I will go back first." Empress Wu stood up, placed the box in her hand next to the emperor's bed, and then gently wrapped herself.

"Be careful." Li Zhi nodded, and then watched Empress Wu leave.

……

Li Zhi was the only one in the entire hall, and there was the sound of crackling flames.

Lying on the bed, taking a deep breath, Li Zhi picked up the locust box, turned over, and reached the depths of the bed.

I don't know where the switch was pressed, and a secret chamber appeared under the bed. Under the flickering firelight, one could vaguely see several small medicine bottles placed in the secret pavilion, among which the red medicine bottle presented by Qin Heming was among them.

In addition, there are four scrolls wrapped in black cloth bags.

No, it's an imperial edict.

Li Zhi opened one of the bags, took out an imperial edict from it, looked at it expressionlessly, then stood up with it, walked to the stove, and stuffed the edict into it.

Standing beside the flames, looking at the steaming flames, Li Zhi's expression was terrifyingly indifferent.

After everything was burned clean, Li Zhi returned to the depths of the imperial couch and put the medicine box containing Zhonglu Yanming Pill inside.

Li Zhi placed one hand on the other three imperial edicts, and his expression was extremely solemn.

The imperial edict just now was an edict from King Peng of Jin to King Yong, so what are these three imperial edicts?

Li Zhi gently closed the secret pavilion, lay on the imperial couch, and looked above his head.

The coldness on his face gradually faded away, and Li Zhi's face became more calm.

If those three pills succeed, they will naturally help Li Zhi survive the disaster. What if they fail?

As the leader of the empire, he must consider the possibility of failure.

Once it fails, the entire empire will be succeeded by Li Xian.

Li Zhi's image appeared in his mind, and he couldn't help but smile.

Everything that happened in the East Palace, countless people told him the news every day, and nothing Li Xian did was hidden from him at all.

Li Zhi knew that this was Li Xuan's deliberate move.

In this way, Li Zhi doesn't need to worry about what Li Xian will do randomly when he is weak.

In this way, they don't have to worry that Li Zhi will suddenly have delusions and depose Li Xian and Li Dan.

"Shiro, you are one step late."

Li Zhi couldn't help but shook his head slightly. Li Xian becoming the crown prince was a satisfactory result jointly made by the clan, courtiers, relatives, the military, and even Li Zhi.

If he wanted to replace Li Xian, no matter how stupid Li Zhi was, he would not do it.

Because he knew that if this happened, the first person he would have trouble with would be Empress Wu.

Li Xian's troubles with "Book of the Later Han" over the years have done great harm to the queen.

Li Dan will inevitably be Li Xian again in the future.

As for Empress Wu, Li Zhi is relieved.

Li Zhi closed his eyes gently, but at this moment, in his mind, there was an image of Empress Wu holding the locust box and letting go of it reluctantly after a long time.

Li Zhi turned sideways, a little upset, and looked outside the hall.

It was deep and dark outside the hall, and a cold wind gradually began to rise.

……

Above the night sky, black goshawks fly high.

After crossing countless mountains and ridges, crossing countless plateaus and rivers, we finally arrived at a wide city.

The goshawk fell and landed directly on the red mountain.

Li Xuan stood on the top of the mountain, with the entire sleeping city at his feet.

Occasionally, the fire flashed, indicating that someone was keeping watch.

The crescent moon above his head was like a hook, but it was enough for Li Xuan to clearly see the contents of the secret message.

Raising it forward casually, dense dust and powder flew up.

Li Xuan's face was solemn and her brows were furrowed.

The success of Songshan Dan was not beyond Li Xuan's expectation.

Using Xia'er to open the furnace, Li Xuan didn't care too much as long as it didn't hurt her.

But now it is damaged after all. As for the extent of the damage, Li Xuan needs to see for herself after returning to Luoyang.

The manipulation of the elixir is something that has been decided long ago, so there is no need to pay too much attention to it.

What really concerned Li Xuan was the emperor's imperial edict.

In order to use Xia'er to refine elixirs, the emperor also wrote an imperial edict instructing Li Xuan to be King Yong of the Jin Dynasty and to allow him to participate in state affairs.

Of course, this is Ceng Xia'er's blessing for being promoted to Princess Fuchang.

So the question is, is this imperial edict true?
It is said to be false. It was clearly written by the emperor, stamped with a jade seal, and even kept in the palace.

To be honest, this imperial edict has never been read in any public place, and even now it has been burned in the emperor's heart.

It no longer exists at all.

Of course, as long as Li Xuan has the means, this thing will continue to exist.

What is fake can become true, not to mention that this thing is only half-truth and half-false.

Ridiculous, what is the reason for the emperor to have such a big flaw?

Li Xuan smiled softly and looked up at the entire Luoshu City in front of her.

From the first moment this kind of city came under his control, his penetration and control of it never stopped.

Tomorrow, he will leave Luoche and return to Chang'an.

This time back, the emperor was between life and death.

If nothing else happens, Li Xuan won't be able to come back within three to five months.

He needs to ensure that during the time he leaves Luosuo and Fanzhou, everything here is still under his control.

Empress Wu and the aristocratic family, their methods here cannot make any waves.

(End of this chapter)