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

Chapter 1605: Asking Fan Yunxian how Emperor Zhongzong died
Standing on the Lanzhou city wall, Li Xuan looked coldly at General Song who was standing on the top of the city wall.

The rage in his heart was surging.

I wish a ball of fire would fall from the sky and burn down the city blocking my way.

No, it would be too easy for them to just capture the city.

If they really wanted to capture Lanzhou by force, without sufficient reasons, Li Xuan would be labeled a traitor.

Even if he uses Li Chongzhao's name at that time, I'm afraid people won't have much support for him.

Moreover, Li Xuan has a deeper hidden worry.

How much food is there in Lanzhou City now?

In June of this year, Li Chongzhao arrived in Yangzhou, and then Pei Xingjian returned to Yangzhou from Dengfeng.

It is also because of this that not much autumn grain from Yangzhou, and even the entire Jiangnan region, is transported to Luoyang.

After all, they were too dependent on the canal, and Yangzhou was one of the starting points of the canal.

The fact that grain from the south of the Yangtze River cannot be transported to Chang'an is not important to Luoyang.

After all, whether it is Henan, Shannan, Shandong, or Hebei, they are all important grain-producing areas. It is not a big problem to free up some of it to supply Luoyang, which has just accommodated the entire center.

However, if Luoyang consumed all the food, Chang'an would become a big problem.

Chang'an has a population of millions, and once food is insufficient, it immediately becomes a big problem.

In this case, grain can only be transferred from all directions. If it cannot be transported to Luoyang, then grain can be transferred from Jiannan, Lanzhou, and even the Hetao area. But even so, the grain price in Chang'an has still increased several times.

There might still be grain in the government warehouses in Lanzhou, but among the people, those speculative merchants had probably already sent all the grain to Chang'an and sold it at a high price.

This is the big problem.

Lanzhou will face food shortage next year.

Once Li Xuan captures Lanzhou, tens of thousands of troops will be stationed there, and the number may even be as large as a terrifying 100,000.

One hundred thousand people have to be transported from Changzhou over mountains and hills. If the other side is an expert and cuts off Li Xuan's food supply, he will have no way out.

On the contrary, if Li Xuan gave up Lanzhou, the imperial court would gather 100,000 troops.

Countless amounts of food are consumed every day.

As long as Li Xuan cuts off their retreat, once these people collapse, Li Xuan can even fight all the way to Chang'an.

As long as he captured Chang'an and controlled Hangu Pass, Li Xuan would have taken over half of the Tang Dynasty.

This is the most ambitious strategy in Li Xuan’s mind.

Similarly, under this strategy, the war will cause the least damage to the Tang Dynasty.

But he has come to Lanzhou with great difficulty. If he does not completely shake the hearts of the people in Lanzhou and even the entire Northwest, then he will not be himself.

He wanted everyone in the northwest to know that the person currently sitting on the throne of the Luoyang Imperial Palace had obtained his position by illegitimate means.

The person who should truly inherit the throne is in Yangzhou.

……

"King Peng." After an unknown amount of time, a figure in armor appeared behind the parapet.

This person was none other than General Min Wengu of the Zuowei Guard.

Min Wengu walked to the side of General Song, looked at Li Xuan calmly and said, "I don't know what happened to Emperor Zhongzong's prince. I only know that on May 15th of the first year of Sisheng, Emperor Zhongzong was cursed to death by witchcraft. The Queen Mother, as the Empress Dowager, with the approval of all the ministers, established the Prince of Xiang as the Son of Heaven and heir to the throne. I don't know what's wrong with this?"

Li Xuan looked at Min Wen Gu in surprise. This General Zuo Wei was able to calm down in such a short time. It seemed that he was the person most trusted by Empress Wu in the whole Lanzhou.

Facing Min Wengu's questioning, Li Xuan said calmly: "After the Prince of Xiang was established as the emperor, the Minister of the Left Liu Rengui asked to retire, the Minister of the Central Secretariat Pei Yan asked to retire, the Minister of War Duan Baoxuan asked to retire, the Minister of Rites Wei Daijia asked to retire, the Minister of Works Huang Rensu asked to retire, the Minister of Guanglu Temple, the Minister of Taichang Temple, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice and others all asked to retire. Oh, and the General of the Left Jinwu Guard Cheng Chubi, who is familiar to everyone, also asked to retire."

Li Xuan raised his head and looked at Min Wengu, then continued, "Lu Yuanfang, the Minister of Personnel appointed by Emperor Gaozong himself, was transferred to the position of Prince's Left Secretary and left idle. Ouyang Tong, the Minister of Revenue, was placed under house arrest in Luoyang. Wang Jishan, the Minister of Punishment, was placed under house arrest in Luoyang. Yao Lingzhang, the Minister of the Secretariat and the Third Rank of the Secretariat, and Du Shenyan, the Secretary of the Secretariat, were imprisoned. Emperor Zhongzong was bloodied in the Qianyang Palace. General Min, come and tell me, this is called succession to the throne, this is a palace coup."

Li Xuan gritted his teeth and said "palace coup", and everyone in Lanzhou city changed color.

Just from what Li Xuan counted just now, half of the officials in the court either requested to retire, were placed under house arrest, or were imprisoned.

There is no way the legitimate succession to the throne would be like this.

Min Wen Gu wanted to refute something, but he didn't know what to say.

General Song at the side grabbed his arm tightly, shook his head and begged him not to speak again.

He has already seen clearly everything that happened today.

The reason why Prince Peng is making so much trouble today is to question the legitimacy of Prince Xiang's succession to the throne.

If it is not legitimate for Prince Xiang to inherit the throne, then who is the legitimate successor to the throne? It would naturally be Prince Li Chongzhao of Yangzhou.

Since it is legitimate for Yangzhou's Crown Prince Li Chongzhao to inherit the throne, then what are those who are now blocking Prince Peng from entering the capital to restore order?

Not just them, but all the military and civilians in Lanzhou and the entire Northwest.

Once King Peng's words fell into their ears, it immediately became a deep torture of their conscience.

Li Xuan suppressed his anger and continued, "General Min, you just said that Emperor Zhongzong was cursed to death by witchcraft. Did you see it with your own eyes, or was there an imperial edict issued by the court? If so, please show it to me, okay?"

Li Xuan's light words made Min Wen Gu stunned.

How could the imperial court possibly say openly that Li Xian died from a witchcraft curse?

Witchcraft has always been a taboo in the government and the country. Even among the common people, if witchcraft is found, the person will be beaten to death immediately.

Therefore, Li Xian’s final death, as stated in the imperial edict issued by the court, was simply a sudden death from illness, certainly not a result of witchcraft or curse.

However, a private letter from a court minister who was related to Min Wen Gu clearly stated that the emperor died from witchcraft.

This kind of thing should be discussed in private. If Min Wen Gu takes out the letter now, not only will Li Xuan doubt it, but it will also implicate his friend.

Min Wen Gu now didn't know how to start.

……

Seeing the silence on the top of the city wall, Li Xuan's indifferent gaze fell on Fan Yunxian under the city wall. He said calmly: "The general and the envoy don't know how Emperor Zhongzong died, but there is one person who knows it. He was at the scene on the day Emperor Zhongzong died, and he saw Emperor Zhongzong die with his own eyes."

In an instant, Min Wengu and Song Shijiang understood what Li Xuan meant, and immediately looked at Fan Yunxian under the city wall in horror. On the day the emperor died, Fan Yunxian was in Luoyang, even beside the emperor, on the golden steps.

In an instant, Fan Yunxian's face turned extremely pale.

Only now did he understand that everything that happened today was just Li Xuan's interrogation of him.

The siege was just a cover-up.

Li Xuan looked at Fan Yunxian and said softly, "Eunuch Fan Yunxian, is what I said true? You were in Qianyang Palace that day?"

Fan Yunxian kept his mouth shut tightly. He knew that if he revealed even a word about what happened that day, he would surely die.

There will be no place for him in the whole world.

Li Xuan raised his gaze from Fan Yunxian to Min Wengu and Song Shijiang, and finally to the vast sky: "Fan Jian, tell me how Emperor Zhongzong died?"

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Fan Yunxian subconsciously couldn't help but lower her head.

"You come and tell me." Li Xuan's roar echoed throughout the city of Lanzhou. He shouted angrily, "Tell me, how did Sanlang die? How did he die?"

With a "bang", the long spear in Li Xuan's hand smashed hard on the stone slab on the side of the road, and the stone slab instantly shattered into pieces.

Fan Yunxian couldn't help but shiver.

Li Xuan stared at him intently, gritting his teeth, his eyes already filled with tears.

In Lanzhou city, everyone could feel the deep sorrow and pain.

General Song could not help but shake his head. He had heard in the past that although Prince Peng and Emperor Zhongzong were uncle and nephew in name, they were actually brothers.

Now it seems that the rumors are true.

His eyes fell on all the soldiers on the city wall. Even the soldiers holding crossbows could not help but put down their bows and arrows.

Li Xuan's grief was visible to the naked eye. At the same time, all the soldiers wanted to know at this moment: how did Emperor Zhongzong die?

Although Emperor Zhongzong did not reign for long, he was the official successor chosen by Emperor Gaozong himself. He handled state affairs fairly well for half a year and made few mistakes.

But such an emperor died so suddenly.

The imperial edict in the court said that he died suddenly due to an acute illness, but in fact, wasn’t it referring to sudden death?
Afterwards, rumors spread that the emperor was cursed by witchcraft.

Many people would not choose to investigate. After all, the new emperor has been decided, and they are not too close to Emperor Zhongzong, and they have nothing to do with all the affairs. Therefore, there are definitely not many people in the world who are willing to investigate how Li Xian died.

However, Li Xuan, who is now standing in front of General Song, is one person who must be investigated.

Even Li Xuan's roar and Fan Yunxian's weird expression showed that the death of Emperor Zhongzong was not that simple.

Now even General Song couldn't help but feel the urge to get to the bottom of everything.

Li Xian might not have done him any favors, but Emperor Zhongzong promoted him from a humble family to his current position as a governor.

If he had not had any support in the central government, he might have been transferred back to the six ministries to serve as the minister.

General Song clenched his fists tightly, and suddenly, he shuddered.

No, no.

His emotions were controlled by others.

General Song couldn't help but shudder.

It would do him no good to find out the truth about Emperor Zhongzong's death.

On the contrary, it is likely to bring disaster upon oneself, after all, the one who truly holds power in the world now is the Queen Mother.

The coup in the palace was led by the Queen Mother.

Unconsciously, General Song had completely come to believe that there must be many unexplainable reasons behind Li Xian's death.

……

Li Xuan closed his eyes gently, endless pain flowing through his heart, and then he suppressed it all.

After opening his eyes, Li Xuan pulled the reins, and the warhorse immediately turned around and headed towards the direction of the black-armored cavalry.

The horse's hooves fell one after another, and the heavy sound of horse hooves rang out one after another.

The whole world was in silence, and only he walked calmly towards the queue.

No one on the Lanzhou city wall behind him wanted to raise their crossbow and shoot an arrow at Li Xuan's back at this moment.

Returning to the black-armored cavalry, Li Xuan's expression had completely calmed down.

Turning around, he looked at General Song on the top of the city again, his eyes swept over Fan Yunxian, and he said calmly: "Song Governor, this person was at the scene of Emperor Zhongzong's death that day. If you are interested, just ask yourself. I am not interested today. One day, I will go to Qianyang Palace to ask in person... Let's go!"

Li Xuan waved his hand suddenly.

The next moment, countless black-armored cavalrymen had cleared a passage in the middle.

Li Xuan rode his horse quickly through the crowd, turned around and disappeared from the sight of everyone in the city.

Immediately, all the black-armored cavalry, all the Turkic Tuyuhun royal captives, and the escorting soldiers all turned around and headed towards Shanzhou in an orderly manner.

Just a moment later, there was only a mourning shed and Fan Yunxian left.

However, the doubts raised by Li Xuan remained deeply in everyone's heart.

How did Emperor Zhongzong die?

Was Prince Li Dan’s ascension to the throne in accordance with orthodox etiquette?
If it is unorthodox, then where is the orthodoxy in the world?

……

General Song couldn't help but sigh and bow his head. King Peng's plan was too strong. If the news of today's incident spread...

Suddenly, General Song's face turned extremely ugly.

Because he saw Fan Yunxian still standing under the city.

(End of this chapter)