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

Chapter 1495 The emperor knows his health best
Deep door with green curtains, red pillars and golden steps.

Heavy footsteps were heard from the entrance of the palace, and the emperor, dressed in a black dragon robe, walked into the palace from the side door with a relaxed look on his face.

Empress Wu, in a purple ruqun, followed by her side; Crown Prince Li Xian, in a bright yellow dragon robe, Prince Li Dan, in a purple dragon robe, and Princess Taiping, in a light green ruqun, also entered the hall together.

Li Xuan stood beside the table and looked at Princess Taiping with surprise.

Princess Taiping had just given birth to a child the day before yesterday, and now, just two days later, she has appeared in Qianyang Palace, walking around as usual.

Li Zhi sat on the imperial couch, Empress Wu sat beside the emperor, and Li Xian and Li Dan returned to their respective seats.

The ministers immediately bowed their heads and said, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. May your Majesty live a long life. Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. May you live a long life."

"Everyone, please stand up." Li Zhi raised his hand slightly and looked towards the hall. The hall was full of people both inside and outside.

Today is the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, the eve of the Chinese New Year. In addition to the three central ministries, six departments, nine temples and five academies, there are also many local governors, chief secretaries, princes and dukes of the royal family, and so on. All officials above the fourth rank in the court are present.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Li Xuan bowed along with the other ministers, and then Li Zhi nodded and said, "Please take your seats, everyone."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Li Xuan bowed again and sat down.

On his left is the family of Zheng Wang Li Jing, and on his right is the family of Deng Wang Li Jiong.

Further ahead are the princes and uncles. In front are Pei and Prince of Linzi, and further ahead are Princess Taiping, Prince Xiang, and the Crown Prince's family.

Li Xuan's gaze fell on the emperor with a solemn expression, and then he bowed slightly.

The emperor smiled and said, "My dear ministers, the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month is the day when the East Kitchen God reports to heaven on the good and evil deeds of the world. In the second year of Yonglong, my own planning has been relatively safe. After today, the New Year will be approaching. All the ministers will raise their glasses with me, and wish that heaven will have mercy on us, and that the weather will be good and the people will be happy in the coming year."

"May God have mercy on us and bring good weather and happiness to the people in the coming year." All the ministers raised their glasses at the same time with solemn expressions.

Li Zhi took a sip, then put down the wine glass and raised his hand slightly. The sound of drums and music started, and a group of graceful court dancers quickly entered the hall and began to sing and dance.

Li Xuan drank the glass of wine and then placed it on the table.

He glanced at Liu Jinyu next to him, and saw that Liu Jinyu had also finished drinking a glass of wine.

Xia'er and Zhao'er sat solemnly beside Liu Jinyu, their eyes constantly turning to look at the other children in the hall.

Most of the children who can appear in Qianyang Palace tonight have some title.

Normally, even the governor's family could not bring their children into the palace.

……

After the dance, many dancers bowed and retreated immediately.

When the palace was quiet again, the emperor raised his glass again, looked at his ministers and said, "My dear ministers, today is also the day for the people to have a small family reunion. Today, I am happy but also ashamed that you have troubled me to gather with me in the palace.

Come, I offer a toast to all of you, my dear ministers, and wish you all good fortune and happiness in this new year."

"May Your Majesty live forever." The ministers bowed again and drank the glass of wine directly.

Li Zhi took another sip and his eyes fell on Pei and Prince of Linzi Li Guangren standing beside him.

"I have four sons. My eldest son was unfilial and left me early. Fortunately, the Prince of Linzi inherited the family lineage, which comforts me. However, I also did some things wrong." Li Zhi looked at Pei and said directly, "Second Mother."

Pei immediately stood up, walked to the center of the hall, and knelt down: "My daughter-in-law is here."

Li Zhi sighed and said directly: "Since Dalang passed away, the palace has not properly accommodated you. You won't blame me, will you?"

Pei kowtowed solemnly and said, "Father, letting Ren'er accompany your daughter-in-law is the greatest blessing for your daughter-in-law."

Li Zhi nodded slightly and said, "But after all, he has a legitimate title, the Zongzheng Temple."

The Minister of Zongzheng Temple, Wei Siqian, stepped forward and bowed to the ground: "Your Majesty!"

"Issue an imperial decree to demote the Crown Princess Pei of Emperor Li Hong to the rank of Princess of Dai. After she raises the Prince of Linzi to adulthood, she will be given the rank of Consort Dowager of Linzi. One hundred years later, the Princess of Dai will be buried in Gong Mausoleum." Li Xuan couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as the emperor finished speaking.

He immediately understood why the emperor called Pei into the palace today.

Li Hong was posthumously named the Filial Emperor, the first time in history, but this also laid a hidden danger.

What does it mean to be filial to Emperor Li Hong's son?
Although Linzi Prince Li Guangren was the son of the deposed Crown Prince Li Xian, now that he had become the adopted son of the filial Emperor Li Hong, he had a chance of inheriting the throne.

Especially now, when the emperor is in unwell, he can easily be taken advantage of by those with ulterior motives.

Even if there is only a slight possibility, it will pose a huge threat to the stability of the government.

It must be dealt with.

Li Xuan had been an official for many years and had a deep understanding of the emperor's methods.

His most common tactic is to promote people openly and demote them secretly.

This is the reason why many people, even though they had been deprived of their real power, were still grateful to the emperor and had little resistance.

Today, he officially issued an edict, demoting the Crown Princess Pei of Emperor Li Hong to the rank of Princess of Dai. When the Prince of Linzi grew up, he would be given the rank of Linzi Consort.

In particular, a hundred years after Pei's death, she was buried in Gong Mausoleum as the Princess of Dai, rather than as a filial empress to the emperor.

In this way, the possibility of Linzi Prince Li Guangren inheriting the throne will be greatly reduced, and his threat to the throne will even be greater after the dethronement of Crown Prince Li Xian.

At least in terms of orthodoxy, after today, he no longer has any possibility of inheriting the position.

But this is not a bad thing for Pei and Li Guangren.

Pei’s identity has always been extremely embarrassing, and it is inconvenient for her to appear in many occasions.

Even Prince Linzi Li Guangren was not allowed to appear at clan gatherings.

Now that the emperor has completely confirmed the identities of Li Guangren and Pei, the interactions between the royal family, even the Eastern Palace, the Prince of Xiang's Mansion, and Princess Taiping, will return to normal.

"Thank you so much, father!" Pei knelt heavily on the ground, looking so excited that she even wanted to cry.

"Return to your seat." Li Zhi raised his hand slightly, and Pei immediately responded and retreated.

"The royal family is harmonious and is also a role model for the people." The emperor raised his hand again, and the sound of bells and chimes rang out on one side, and singing and dancing entered the palace again. ...

Amid the singing and dancing, Li Xuan lowered her head slightly.

Others might not understand what the emperor was doing, but he could see it clearly.

Although the emperor today is still pursuing the hope of immortality, in reality, he has begun to worry that he may not be able to pass this test.

If he really can't get through this level, then he must start preparing for the future from now on.

Li Xuan's gaze swept across the emperor. The emperor seemed immersed in the singing and dancing and no longer cared about anything else.

However, all the ministers in the palace understood that today's incident might not end so easily.

Sure enough, after the dance ended and the dancer left the stage, the emperor raised his glass again.

All the ministers were suddenly solemn.

Seeing the expressions of his ministers, the emperor smiled and said, "In a few days, it will be the first day of the new year, the first day of the first lunar month, when the Fengshan ceremony will be held. I also know that Fengshan is tiring, so starting from tomorrow, all the ministers in the court can leave their posts half an hour earlier, and those who are over sixty years old can leave their posts one hour earlier."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." The ministers immediately stood up and bowed deeply to the emperor.

During the New Year, the officials in the court did not have much time to pay attention to state affairs. Now that the emperor could find a reason to take a holiday early, the officials were extremely happy.

"Come, let's drink to victory." The emperor raised his glass, and his ministers drank it all without any hesitation.

With a "ding" sound, the bells and chimes rang again, and Hu Niang entered the hall and danced the Hu Xuan dance together. The whole hall became more and more lively.

But everyone remained seated, and although their eyes were on Hu Niang, their attention was still on the emperor.

After the dance, Hu Ji left the stage.

The emperor looked at Li Xian who was sitting on the side and said, "Prince, please pay respect to all the ministers on my behalf."

"Yes!" Although Li Xian was a little surprised, he still stood up.

He did this kind of thing quite often. During every New Year's Day court meeting and banquet, he would toast to all the ministers.

Watching Li Xian toasting several prime ministers, ministers, vice ministers, and provincial governors one by one, Li Zhi nodded with satisfaction.

He looked outside the hall, which was also brightly lit.

Li Dan sat on one side, his eyes slightly dim.

Because in the past, when toasting to the ministers, the crown prince was usually responsible for inside the hall, and Li Dan was responsible for outside the hall.

Today, the emperor no longer needs him.

Now, most of the people inside and outside the palace were provincial governors. After Li Xian's toast, all the provincial governors understood the emperor's meaning.

The Crown Prince has inherited the throne, and no one is allowed to have any other thoughts.

Coupled with the previous incident with Prince Linzi, the emperor’s attitude has become extremely clear.

……

The sounds in the hall gradually quieted down, while the sounds outside the hall gradually became louder.

Li Xian has already arrived outside the palace.

Li Zhi sighed softly, and his eyes swept across the ministers, finally landing on Li Xuan, and he said, "King Peng!"

"I'm here!" Li Xuan stood up immediately.

Li Zhi nodded and said, "You have always been a man of great literary talent. Today is a rare and important day. Please compose a poem for me to celebrate."

"I obey your order." Li Xuan bowed quickly.

The eyes of the ministers in the palace have fallen on Li Xuan.

Even if there were no great poets like Yang Jiong, Lu Zhaolin and Du Shenyan, Ouyang Tong, Cen Changqian, Wei Xuantong, Xue Yuanchao and others were also great literary figures.

Li Xuan has been known for his amazing poetic talent for many years, and everyone wants to hear what masterpiece he will come up with today.

After a brief pause, Li Xuan slowly said, "According to ancient legend, on the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month, the Kitchen God looks up to the sky to speak."

The ministers couldn't help but laugh. Li Xuan's poem was too plain, but also very appropriate to the situation.

"The cloud chariot and the wind horse linger a little, the family has cups and bowls for the rich sacrifice. The pig's head is rotten and the two fish are fresh, and the red bean paste and sweet pine powder are bait balls."

Many people couldn't help swallowing and looked at the plates in front of them.

"Men offer wine and women avoid it. Pouring wine and burning money pleases the Kitchen God. Don't listen to the fighting of maids, and don't be angry at the filth of pigs and dogs."

The emperor couldn't help but smile. Under Li Xuan's poems, the joy of ordinary people was fully displayed before his eyes.

Li Xuan turned slightly, looked at Li Zhi and bowed, saying: "I will send you drunk and full to the gate of heaven. Don't tell me whether the ladle is long or short. I will take the profit and share it with you when I return."

Li Zhi couldn't help but raise his eyes and look at the ministers in the hall. The ministers immediately bowed at the same time: "Your Majesty."

Li Zhi smiled and said, "Yes, although this poem is not as amazing as before, it is rare that it can be completed in such a short time. Come on, give King Peng two hundred gold. King Peng is so familiar with the people, it can be seen that he is very dedicated to governing the place."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Li Xuan bowed heavily.

Li Zhi raised his head, looked at the ministers in the hall, and said with a smile: "My lords, if you have anything else to say today, why not say it together."

"Your Majesty!" Imperial Censor Yao Chong walked out from the palace gate and bowed deeply to the emperor: "I have something to report."

Li Xuan looked at Yao Chong in disbelief. What would an imperial censor do today when he stood up?

"Speak!" The emperor didn't care. He raised his head slightly and motioned Yao Chong to continue.

Yao Chong cupped his hands, looked at the emperor solemnly and said, "I impeach Cui Ji, the nephew of Imperial Censor Cui Mi, for colluding with bribery."

(End of this chapter)