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

Chapter 1675: Ask the Queen to ascend the throne and change the country's name to Zhou

In front of the Suzaku Gate and under the Tianjin Bridge, the water of the Luo River had become only a thin layer without anyone noticing.

The court officials who saw this scene couldn't help but feel confused.

When they entered the palace from Tianjin Bridge earlier, the water level in Luo River was not much, but it was not so little.

It has only been less than an hour since we entered the palace, and the water in the Luo River is almost gone.

"What happened?" Empress Wu walked lightly onto the Tianjin Bridge, with Zheng following behind her, holding Li Chongjun.

"Queen, please look!" Yan Huaidan led the way and walked to the center of Tianjin Bridge, then pointed to the left front, with an unbelievable and even panicked look on his face, saying: "Just before, a whirlpool suddenly appeared on the Luo River, and then all the river water rushed into the whirlpool in an instant.

It was as if there was a river eye underneath, sucking in all the river water, and then, a stone tablet suddenly gushed out from the vortex. "

Empress Wu glanced at the stone tablet on the river and asked with a frown, "Where is the whirlpool?"

"After the stone tablet appeared, the vortex disappeared." Yan Huaidan said with some excitement, but also some fear: "After I found the words on the stone tablet, I hurried to the palace to report it. As for what happened afterwards, I didn't care."

"Yes!" Empress Wu nodded and said, "I saw some words on it, but what are they? Is it Qin Zhuan?"

"It's Zhou seal!" Secretary Tang Tongtai stepped out from behind Wu Sansi and said with a folded hand: "There are eight words written on it: Holy Mother is here, the empire will prosper forever."

"The Holy Mother is here to bless the world and prosper the empire forever." Empress Wu was slightly stunned and a slight smile appeared on the corner of her mouth.

Wu Sansi glanced at Tang Tongtai with a hint of doubt in his eyes, but then he calmed down, stepped forward, and said, "Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, you can invite scholars from the Imperial Academy, Hongwen Academy, Chongwen Academy, and the Secretariat to study the origin of these eight characters together."

"This is a good omen, and it should be so." Tang Tongtai bowed seriously.

"Yes!" Empress Wu nodded calmly, turned around and walked towards the palace, saying in mid-air: "Promote Tang Tongtai to the position of Secretary Junior Supervisor, in charge of all matters."

"I thank the Queen Mother for her grace. May she be blessed with good health and happiness." Tang Tongtai fell to his knees with a plop and kowtowed solemnly.

When the ministers around saw this scene, although they looked calm, they still felt it was weird.

Auspiciousness, auspiciousness, what kind of auspiciousness is this?

The Holy Mother comes to the world and the imperial cause will last forever.

There were many great scholars among the officials in the court, so this sentence sounds like it is saying that Empress Wu was born and the emperor's empire lasted forever. However, we can also ignore the four words in the middle, so the sentence becomes "The Holy Mother's Empire".

The Tang Dynasty lasted for three generations, and was replaced by a female ruler.

The Tang Dynasty lasted for three generations, and Wu replaced Tang.

Such prophecies have never ceased to be heard in Luoyang City.

No wonder everyone is sensitive.

The magic of Luo River, a stone stele from the Zhou Dynasty.

Shit, that was from last week.

The eyes of the ministers could not help but fall on Tang Tongtai. It seemed that this man was studying the bronze inscriptions and Zhuanwen of the Zhou Dynasty.

Looking at the way he and Wu Sansi responded to each other, everyone knew that this had probably been prepared long ago.

Many people's eyes fell on Li Chongjun who was held in Zheng's arms. How long can this emperor sit on the throne?
……

"Emperor Zhongzong is a few days short of half a year, and Emperor Ruizong is a year and two months short of one year." Li Xuan held the imperial edict in his hand, looked at Su Baotong and Chen Ziang behind him, shook his head, and said, "I'm afraid that after today, no one will see this new emperor Li Chongjun again."

Chen Ziang looked at Li Xuan cautiously, and said with a bow, "Your Highness, what about those pieces of paper from last night?"

"Don't worry, it will be useful today." Li Xuan smiled and then asked, "How many copies of this imperial edict do you think can be sent over?"

When Li Chongjun ascended the throne, Empress Wu immediately issued an amnesty edict in Li Chongjun's name. Except for Li Xuan, almost every general under Li Xuan received a copy.

They were pardoned, no longer considered as members of Li Xuan's party, all their positions were retained, and they were promoted one level.

No one cared about pardon or anything like that. As long as there were soldiers at hand, no one was afraid of Empress Wu.

But it is not easy to get them all promoted to a higher rank.

The people under Li Xuan are basically already the rank of Generals and Generals. If they want to move up a level, they will basically reach the rank of Great General.

Some people have followed Li Xuan for a long time, so they have no problem becoming the general. However, some people are not too close to Li Xuan, so they will inevitably feel that they may not have a chance to become the general in this life. If they really have such thoughts, Li Xuan's subordinates will be in chaos.

"They should all be in Jiufen." Chen Ziang cupped his hands confidently and said, "I'm afraid no one believes the Queen's words anymore. Cheng Wuting's example is still there."

"Let's see, stop attacking the city and retreat three miles, who will do it?" Li Xuan looked towards the direction of Ziwei Palace with a cold look.

From the beginning to the end, Empress Wu's goal was to bribe and win over his subordinates and make him commit chaos.

But she forgot that Li Xuan's subordinates, Li Duozuo, Tang Zhenxing, Su Baotong, Nan Ju, Cui Ding and others had followed Li Xuan for many years and were deeply bound to each other.

Others, such as Wang Fangyi and Liu Dingyuan, had a deep hatred for Empress Wu, and Qu Chongyu was Li Xuan's father-in-law.

In particular, many people understand Li Xuan’s true thoughts. If they follow Li Xuan to take a step further, they will also gain a lot and feel at ease.

But what about those who followed Empress Wu? Zhang Qianxu, Wang Xiaojie, Ma Sizong, and Xue Guwu? These people witnessed their fates with their own eyes.

……

Soon, one imperial edict after another appeared in front of Li Xuan.

Including the letter from Su Baotong in Li Xuan's hand, there are ten letters in total.

Looking at these ten identical imperial edicts, Li Xuan looked towards the direction of Ziwei Palace and said softly, "The Queen is still unwilling to make a big bet!"

"Perhaps, she wants to issue an imperial decree in her own name." Chen Ziang looked towards Luoyang and handed the secret letter to Li Xuan. "The Holy Mother has come to us, and the empire will prosper forever." Li Xuan took a look and said sideways: "Pass the order down, increase the height of the catapult, and double the frequency of stone throwing from now on."

"Yes!" Li Lang bowed solemnly, then arranged for his Qianniu Guards to pass on the order, while he himself rode his horse towards Dingding Gate.

Soon, Li Lang appeared under Dingding's command.

Su Baotong nodded to Li Lang, and the next moment, he nodded heavily towards the catapult. Immediately afterwards, the catapult's pole slid outwards a dozen feet long.

The next moment, a fireball was ignited in the catapult's basket, and then with a "bang", it was thrown into the city.

The fireball flew into the air at a higher height than before, and quickly passed over the city wall and crashed into the third house of Mingjiaofang behind the city wall.

In an instant, a raging fire broke out again in Luoyang City.

The people who originally thought that the fireball could not hit them immediately ran out of their homes frantically.

But at this time, more fireballs were falling from the sky.

……

With a bang, Empress Wu threw the memorial in her hand out, angrily looked at the ministers in the palace, gritted her teeth and said, "There are people throwing fireballs at the ten gates of Luoyang, including outside the palace. Ten gates, ten generals, no one stopped the attack and retreated three miles. Are these people crazy?"

"Empress Wu, these people have followed King Peng for many years. It is not easy to persuade them to rebel." Fan Lubing walked out from the crowd of ministers and bowed to Empress Wu, saying, "Moreover, these people follow King Peng and are probably very loyal to him. Moreover, they have the deposed Crown Prince Chongzhao behind them."

“Li Chongzhao?” Empress Wu stared in disbelief and said, “Don’t they know that Li Chongzhao has already…”

When Li Chongjun heard Empress Wu calling Li Chongzhao's name, he thought she was calling him and turned his head away in confusion.

At this moment, Empress Wu immediately stopped talking, nodded to Li Chongjun, and said, "It has nothing to do with the emperor."

Li Chongjun turned back with some fear.

Empress Wu then looked at the ministers in front of her and said, "Since the fall of Yangzhou, Chongzhao has been missing for three months and no one knows where he is. Wei Qing, please tell me."

"Yes!" Wei Yuanzhong stood up and said, "I was ordered to find the deposed crown prince Chongzhao and followed him all the way from Maoshan to Tiantai. The terrain of Tiantai Mountain is steep and the road is difficult to travel. If you are not careful, you may fall off the cliff. Therefore, after searching for a while without success, I returned to Yangzhou.

As for the deposed crown prince, he may have already gone deep into the depths of Mount Tiantai. As for when he will come out, I don’t know.”

Wei Yuanzhong spoke very restrainedly, but he was implying that Li Chongzhao was very likely dead in Jiangnan.

What's more, he died at the hands of Wei Yuanzhong.

The ministers were very sensitive. Although Empress Wu only said half of the words, they heard it clearly. She wanted to say directly that Li Chongzhao was dead.

Wu Zetian had only one close confidant in Jiangnan, Wei Yuanzhong, so Li Chongzhao had no choice but to die at the hands of Wei Yuanzhong.

Many people even couldn't help but suspect that Empress Wu did not make Li Chongfu the emperor because of Li Chongzhao's death.

"Alas, no matter what, I still hope that Chongzhao can come back." Empress Wu looked at Li Chongjun and said seriously, "It seems that they do not approve of Chongjun as the emperor now."

When Empress Wu spoke, the ministers in the palace keenly heard a different meaning.

However, before they could say anything, Empress Wu waved her hand and said, "Forget it, let's stop here today. Emperor Ruizong's body will be kept for seven months. The current situation is chaotic, so he will be buried in Gongling after seven months. Dismiss the court!"

"Farewell to the Queen." All the ministers bowed their heads. After they stood up, there was no one on the golden steps.

……

At Chengtian Gate, the ministers were discussing the matter.

Li Xuan and his generals did not approve of Li Chongjun and stepped up their offensive against Luoyang.

The crisis in Luoyang remains unresolved.

And Li Dan, a good emperor, was buried in the simple Gong Mausoleum with his two brothers.

Many people believe that this was related to Li Xuan's plan to relocate the tombs of Li Xian and Li Hong, so Empress Wu wanted to bury Li Dan in Gongling.

However, just as the ministers were about to leave Chengtian Gate, an official in a green robe walked ahead from the opposite side, and behind him followed countless common people, almost hundreds of people.

"That's Fu Youyi, the Imperial Censor Fu Youyi. What is he doing?" Qian Weidao was shocked when he saw this scene.

Just as Fu Youyi led hundreds of people to Chengtian Gate, Qian Weidao went up to them and shouted coldly, "Fu Yushi, this is the imperial palace, what are you doing?"

Qian Weidao is the former Chief Censor and current Minister of Justice. As soon as he appeared, Fu Youyi stopped immediately.

Then, under the gaze of all the officials, Fu Youyi knelt down, and hundreds of people behind him followed suit.

Fu Youyi took out a memorial from his sleeve and handed it over, saying loudly: "I, the Imperial Censor Fu Youyi, have led more than 900 people from Guanzhong to the palace to present a memorial. Now that the Tang Dynasty is in decline and the emperor's power is gone, there is a blessing from heaven, and the Holy Mother has come to us to make the imperial cause prosperous forever.

I ask the Queen of Heaven to take the throne for the sake of the country and the world, change the country's name to Zhou, make the Emperor the heir, grant him the surname Wu, change the era name in accordance with heaven, quell the rebellion, stabilize the people, and make the world prosperous again."

Countless people behind Fu Youyi bowed their heads in unison: "Please ask the Queen of Heaven to take care of the country and the world, ascend the throne, and change the country's name to Zhou..."

……

At Chengtian Gate, countless court officials watched this scene in silence.

Ask the Queen Mother to ascend the throne, change the country's name to Zhou, make the Emperor the heir, and grant him the surname Wu...

No wonder there are miracles in Luo River and stone tablets from the Zhou Dynasty today; it turns out all this was prepared long ago.

What is this? This is usurpation of the throne!
Poor little emperor Li Chongjun, he was emperor for only one day!

(End of this chapter)