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

Chapter 1602: Honoring Empress Dowager Wu as Grand Empress Dowager
Luoyang, Qianyang Palace.

The fire is bright, the air is warm and the wind is blowing.

Empress Wu sat behind the imperial desk, calmly handling memorials one by one.

After Emperor Gaozong was buried, Empress Wu stayed in Chang'an for only one month before returning to Luoyang in July on the pretext of attending the funeral of Emperor Zhongzong.

Li Dan, as well as Empress Dou, Concubine Xiang, Princess Ying, Wei, and Prince Ping'en all followed him.

Only Crown Prince Li Chengqi was left in Chang'an to supervise the country.

Of course, although he was the regent, in reality, most of the affairs of Longxi and Jiannan had to be sent to Luoyang.

There were only two old ministers, Liu Rengui and the Crown Prince's Left Assistant Lu Yuanfang, left there to assist.

The others were mostly in charge of some unimportant assistant ministers of the six ministries and junior officials of the nine temples.

The six ministers of the six ministries, the nine ministers of the nine temples, and the three prime ministers were all in Luoyang.

Gradually, Luoyang replaced Chang'an as the imperial capital of the world.

Although Empress Wu had said that she would return to Chang'an after Emperor Zhongzong was buried in Qianling Mausoleum in October, it was actually already the end of November and she had no plans to leave, let alone prepare for the emperor's coronation ceremony on New Year's Day.

……

The candle flickered, and Empress Wu suddenly felt a little dry in her eyes. She put down her brush, turned sideways and asked, "How is Prince Peng? There has been no news from him for more than half a month."

Shangguan Wan'er, who was wearing a light blue female official uniform, stepped forward and whispered, "My Queen, the governor of Dunhuang, Linghu Mou, sent a message yesterday saying that he had found traces of King Peng in the desert outside Dunhuang, but he had no intention of approaching Dunhuang."

It is not surprising that it is difficult to find whereabouts in the thousands of miles of desert.

Therefore, when five thousand cavalry appeared outside Dunhuang, Linghu Mou subconsciously thought that it was Li Xuan.

"He doesn't dare." Empress Wu leaned back slightly, and Shangguan Wan'er immediately walked behind her and began to massage her shoulders.

Empress Wu said softly, "He killed Du Huaibao in Anxi. Although he said that Du Huaibao was transferred to the Western Regions and then accidentally died in battle, he added at the end that last year, the late emperor granted him the privilege of beheading governors and reporting later. He used this privilege to kill Du Huaibao."

"But King Peng is willing to come back after all." Shangguan Wan'er comforted softly.

Empress Wu shook her head and said, "Dunhuang must leave his 5,000 cavalry behind. Otherwise, he might really turn into a military remonstrance when he returns this time."

Li Xuan killed Du Huaibao and helped Wang Fangyi, which greatly touched Empress Wu's bottom line.

If he did not have 5,000 loyal Right Guard cavalrymen under his command, Empress Wu might have captured him immediately.

But even so, Empress Wu had quickly dispatched tens of thousands of soldiers from Ganzhou, Liangzhou, Shazhou, and Suzhou, and ambushed them in Dunhuang. As soon as Li Xuan showed up, Empress Wu would let the Dunhuang governor Dugu Qi directly strip Li Xuan of his military power.

"Let's not mention him." Empress Wu shook her head. In her opinion, Li Xuan, who had left the Western Regions, left the four towns of Anxi, crossed the desert and came to Dunhuang, no longer posed much of a threat to him.

In Dunhuang, Li Xuan would either die in the desert outside Dunhuang, or give up everything and return to the court, and then be slaughtered like a dead fish.

……

Empress Wu turned to look to the other side and asked solemnly, "What is the situation in Yangzhou?"

Qiu Huan stepped forward and whispered, "Duke Jiang has cut off all transportation routes east of Suzhou, so it's difficult for news to get out."

After returning to Yangzhou, Pei Xingjian quickly took over all foreign affairs.

With his abilities as the General of the Imperial Guard, the former Minister of War, and now the Chief Clerk of the Yangzhou Military Governor's Office, it is difficult for the power of the court to infiltrate Yangzhou.

Empress Wu glanced at Qiu Huan with a grim expression.

Pei Xingjian was traveling from Yangzhou to Chang'an. He had already reached Luoyang, but suddenly turned back.

Empress Wu immediately sent Qiu Huan to chase after him, but Qiu Huan even caught up with Pei Xingjian's shadow.

If Empress Wu had not called him back in time, he would have continued to travel east and would have inevitably reached the area of ​​Yangzhou.

Pei Xingjian was different from other local governors. He was the general of the imperial guards and had commanded an army of 180,000 to fight against the Turks.

You must know that this 180,000 is a real army of 180,000.

If it were placed somewhere else, it would be no problem even if it was worth three hundred thousand.

If such a person really wanted to take action, he would be able to control the entire Yangzhou Grand Military Governor's Office.

If Qiu Huan continued to go deeper, he might die there.

Later, Empress Wu issued an edict to summon Pei Xingjian to return to the court, and a "plague" suddenly broke out in the south of the Yangtze River.

Pei Xingjian refused to return to the court on this ground, and Empress Wu could do nothing about it.

Qiu Huan quickly lowered his head and said, "However, there is still news coming out..."

At this point, Qiu Huan suddenly paused, looked at Empress Wu with an embarrassed expression, and said, "The latest news from the secret guards said that Yangzhou is preparing for the crown prince to ascend the throne."

Crown Prince Li Chongzhao ascended the throne.

After the death of Emperor Zhongzong, Crown Prince Li Chongzhao should have ascended the throne as the crown prince, instead of Li Xian dying and Li Dan ascending the throne as it is now.

It is clearly written in the "Spring and Autumn Annals" that if the elder brother succeeds the younger brother, it will lead to disaster.

"The Minister of Zongzheng Temple Wei Siqian is still in Yangzhou, and with Pei Xingjian, the Prince's Junior Tutor, if he can have the support of the governors of various states in the south of the Yangtze River, especially with Prince Ze also here, then as the Crown Prince, it will not be a problem for him to ascend the throne." Empress Wu looked calm. It had been five months since Li Chongzhao arrived in Yangzhou, and she had long since gotten used to it.

During this period, she sent people to Yangzhou more than once to try to confirm Li Chongzhao's identity and assassinate him, but to no avail. Now Yangzhou has the Prince's Junior Tutor, the Imperial Guard General, the Minister of the Imperial Clan, the Prince of the Imperial Clan, the brother of Emperor Gaozong, and the Prince...

During this period, the news had vaguely reached Luoyang, and the atmosphere among the officials in Luoyang gradually became a little strange.

Empress Wu took a deep breath and said, "Let the two Zhechongfu in Jinan advance southward, the Zhechongfu in Xuzhou advance eastward, and the Zhechongfu in Yuezhou advance northward as well. There is also a navy in Hangzhou, right?"

"Yes!" Shangguan Wan'er stepped forward from the side and whispered, "Your Majesty, Ji Xiao, the commander of the Hangzhou Navy, is an old general of the Left Prime Minister. Most of his men returned from serving under King Peng, and many of the Right Guard sailors were trained in the Hangzhou Navy before going to Fanzhou."

Empress Wu looked up at Shangguan Wan'er and narrowed her eyes. "Yes, there is also a Prince Peng. Let the deputy commander of the Hangzhou Navy take over... You just said that Prince Peng arrived in Dunhuang?"

"Yes!" Shangguan Wan'er nodded immediately.

Empress Wu finally nodded in understanding: "So, they are waiting for Prince Peng."

Shangguan Wan'er and Qiu Huan looked at each other, not understanding what was going on for a moment.

"Duke Jiang is a very smart man. He knows that it is not easy to get the world to recognize Zhongzhao's legitimacy with the power of Yangzhou alone. So in the past few months, he has been integrating the inside and outside, and waiting for the return of Prince Peng." Empress Wu suddenly shook her head and said regretfully, "It was a mistake. I shouldn't have let Prince Peng return."

One is Pei Xingjian, the other is Li Xuan.

When the two men began to move towards Chang'an and Luoyang, one from the east and one from the west, Empress Wu suddenly felt a huge pressure.

……

Empress Wu looked up and asked, "What is the reaction of the court?"

Empress Wu held regular court sessions every day and grand court sessions on the first and fifteenth days of every half month.

However, the officials behaved one way in public and another way in private.

At least in the past few months, no one has ever mentioned the matter of the crown prince in front of Empress Wu.

Shangguan Wan'er stepped forward and whispered, "At first, the court did not believe that the prince had arrived in Yangzhou, but as more and more people saw the prince in Yangzhou, the news was confirmed. However, the officials were not too inclined to communicate with Yangzhou. The Imperial Censor was trying his best to restrain the officials, especially after Prime Minister Pei was placed under house arrest."

Yes, Pei Xiang was under house arrest.

Ever since Pei Xingjian revealed his intention to re-establish Li Chongzhao as emperor in Jiangnan, Pei Yan was immediately placed under house arrest by Empress Wu.

It was not only because Pei Yan was also from the Wenxi Pei family, but also because he was the only regent minister left by the late emperor with full legitimacy.

Once he began to criticize Li Dan for his illegitimate succession to the throne, the whole world would be in chaos.

Therefore, when it was confirmed that Li Chongzhao appeared in Yangzhou, Empress Wu immediately took control of Pei Yan.

Later, when it was discovered that Pei Xingjian was showing signs of establishing Li Chongzhao as emperor, Empress Wu immediately found someone to impeach Pei Yan and then ordered him to reflect on himself behind closed doors, but in fact he was put under house arrest.

However, when Pei Yan was placed under house arrest, a bunch of people immediately pleaded for him, including Cheng Wuting.

Empress Wu was a little impatient and summoned Cheng Wuting back, but in fact, she was worried that Cheng Wuting would join forces with Li Xuan.

Once Li Xuan arrived in Lanzhou from Dunhuang, Cheng Wuting and Li Xuan would join forces to take Lanzhou. At that time, the threat to Chang'an would be too great.

"The people in the court are in turmoil, and he is the one who stands out." Empress Wu pondered. She was originally determined to kill Su Liangsi, but now it seems that he is still very useful.

"Apart from Wei, the people who have been most active in the court during this period are the Queen's family." Shangguan Wan'er told Empress Wu about the situation in Luoyang in detail.

Empress Wu nodded calmly and said, "Don't worry about the Jingzhao Wei family. Princess Ying gave birth to a daughter some time ago. Find a time for Princess Ying to meet with the Wei family. Also let Prince Ping'en show up. The Wei family should know what to do."

"Yes!" Shangguan Wan'er immediately knew that Empress Wu already had plans for Yangzhou.

"Finally, we have to fight." Empress Wu stood up, walked down the golden steps, and walked to the front door of Qianyang Palace. She said in a deep voice: "Let General Wang Guo of the Left Guard begin preparations. Transfer 20,000 men from Chang'an to Luoyang, and another 10,000 from Luoyang and 20,000 from Henan, a total of 50,000 men, to attack Yang as quickly as possible..."

Empress Wu's gaze fell on the palace gate, and a thousand-bull guard quickly jumped off his horse and rushed towards Qianyang Palace frantically.

None of the soldiers around tried to stop her, and Empress Wu immediately realized that the matter in Yangzhou had come to an end.

……

The Qianniu Guards knelt on the ground, and the secret report had already fallen into Empress Wu's hands.

Empress Wu read it calmly, handed it to Shangguan Wan'er, and said, "Emperor Zhongzong and Crown Prince Chongzhao ascended the throne in Yangzhou yesterday, with the Crown Prince's Junior Tutor Pei Xingjian as Grand Tutor, the Crown Prince's Junior Protector Peng Wangxuan as Grand Commandant, and the Minister of Zongzheng Temple Wei Siqian as Grand Tutor.

Li Shangjin, Prince of Ze, was appointed as Taibao, Sima Changyu, the Sima of the Grand Marshal's Office of Yangzhou, was appointed as Zhongshu Ling, Wei Xuanfu, the governor of Runzhou, was appointed Shizhong, and Wei Chengqing, the assistant general of the Household Department of the Grand Marshal's Office of Yangzhou, was appointed as Shangshu of the Ministry of Revenue.

The Empress Dowager Wu was honored as the Grand Empress Dowager, and the Empress Wei was honored as the Empress Dowager.

As Prime Minister Wang Dan and his subordinates conspired to steal the throne through witchcraft and were considered traitors to the world, it was not a good opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

Pei Xingjian was appointed as the general manager of the rebellion suppression, and he was to prepare an army of 100,000 soldiers from the south of the Yangtze River. In February of the next year, he was to attack Chang'an and rectify the government order."

Just as Empress Wu finished her words, another fast horse came from a distance.

Then another Qianniu Guard delivered the secret report to Empress Wu. After Empress Wu unfolded it, her expression finally changed.

"Right Guard General, Pacifying Envoy of Luoshui Road, King Xuan of Peng, has been ordered to return to the court. It happened that Eastern Tuyuhun rose up in rebellion against the Tang Dynasty, so he went from Anxi, through Gaochang and Shanshan, to Western Tuyuhun and Eastern Tuyuhun to quell the rebellion. Today, a group of Eastern Tuyuhun royal family members were captured and brought to Qugou. I have specially reported to you that they will set off for Lanzhou tomorrow. I hope the officials will prepare."

Shangguan Wan'er's face suddenly changed. She looked at Empress Wu and said, "Empress, what about Dunhuang?"

"Dunhuang is just a cover. His real goal is Changzhou. If he takes Changzhou, Fanzhou will be under his control again. Finally, he will gather the overall situation in the west and take Lanzhou."

Empress Wu immediately turned aside and said, "Order the governor of Lanzhou... No, send someone to Prince Peng's mansion first, hurry up, otherwise it will be too late."

(End of this chapter)