After Li Hong died of illness, Li Zhi not only posthumously presented him with filial piety to the emperor in the edict, but also dug a mountain to build a mausoleum for him according to the emperor's specifications in Hutuoling, northeast of Luoyang, which lasted two months before it was completed.

When Li Hong was officially buried, Li Yu also returned to Luoyang from Pyongyang to mourn.

The whole city of Luoyang was plain, and the procession in plain clothes stretched for three miles, and it took five days to complete Li Hong's burial ceremony.

Li Yu was physically and mentally exhausted and had just stepped into the mansion of King Yan in Luoyang, and Zhang Chao came to proclaim Li Zhi's oral message to pass him into the palace.

Regarding the controversy over the crown prince caused by the violent death of his eldest brother in the past two months, Li Yu has some understanding through his night exercise in Beijing, and he knows very well which people in the court and China support him and who oppose him as the crown prince.

From the bottom of his heart, Li Yu very much hoped that the minister who opposed him as the crown prince would win, so that he would not have to worry about his own brain to let his father take back his fate.

Li Zhi saw Si Yan, who had not returned for two years, and he had just lost the pain of his beloved son, so he kindly called Li Yu to take a good look at him.

patted the sturdy shoulders of Li Yu, who was eighteen years old and grew to a height of 5.34 feet, and said with a smile: "It is worthy of my son who has been fighting on the battlefield for many years to have this tough physique." No, your eldest brother can have such a good body as you, and he won't let my white-haired person send a black-haired person. ”

Li Zhi thought of his eldest son who had just died, his old and cloudy eyes turned red, and he sighed and sat back on the floor.

Thinking of the eldest brother who was gentle and amiable, and took care of their five younger siblings in many ways, Li Yu was also sad, and people's fate was difficult to change after all. Even if he had repeatedly advised his eldest brother to pay attention to his body and insist on practicing martial arts for half an hour every day to strengthen his body, it could not save him from tuberculosis (tuberculosis), which he had suffered from since childhood.

"The eldest brother was inspired by heaven and earth, and he must not want to see the eldest father hurt the dragon body because of this......"

Afraid that his father would suffer from the pain of losing his son and causing an attack of old physical diseases that he had managed to recuperate, Li Yu hurriedly comforted.

Li Zhi sighed, took the handkerchief handed over by Zhang Chao and wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes, looked at the fourth son Li Yu standing in front of him, and asked with a heavy heart: "Si Yan, over the years, you have pacified the Huyi Rebellion in Andong and made a lot of great contributions to the country. Although many ministers in the DPRK and China have impeached you for your radical behavior towards Hu Yishang, I believe that you have a reason for doing so. ”

"Erchen is just doing his best for the country, and he doesn't want to waste his time in the glory and wealth of the prince in this life, and he is willing to protect the peace of the northeast frontier for the country from now on."

Li Yu replied sincerely, deliberately revealing that he had no intention of becoming the crown prince, and hoped that his father could make the decision to appoint the second brother as the crown prince as soon as possible, so that he could withdraw from the whirlpool of the court and do what he wanted to do wholeheartedly.

As the king of a country, Li Zhi was able to sit on the throne of the crown prince unharmed from the fierce competition between the two brothers, and he was able to gradually disintegrate the auxiliary minister group headed by the eldest grandson Wuji after succeeding to the throne.

Li Zhi, who has experienced too many power struggles in his life, how could he decide that this is his sincerity based on Li Yu's voiceover?

Li Zhi didn't break it, but just said: "Now that the vacancy of the position of the prince has caused turmoil in the hearts of the government and the opposition, many ministers in the court and the central government think that you who have made remarkable achievements in the past few years in charge of the Andong Protectorate promise to be the prince, and after a hundred years of being a father, it will be a blessing for the people of the Tang Dynasty." Hao Chujun, the minister of the political affairs hall, and the deputy of the province of Menxia, Huangmen Shilang Laiheng, and other ministers of the central government proposed to their father to make you the crown prince. For your father, your fifth brother is young and ignorant, and Sanyang has a lot of fun, only you and Eryang can be the prince. Your second brother has been in Liangjing for a long time, and has never traveled far to observe the people's situation in the world, although he has read a lot of books, but he has not much experience in governing the local government. In terms of vision and insight, it is not as good as you who have been out for several years. Therefore, my father wants to make you the crown prince and shoulder the heavy responsibility of the country. ”

"Father, the son-in-law is just a martial artist in the field of the horse, and it is still good to defend the frontier for the country and attack the four yi, and it is really difficult to make the son-in-law the prince."

Li Yu argued with a flustered expression: "What the prince is fighting on his shoulders is the future of the Tang Dynasty, and it is really difficult to resist this heavy responsibility with the talent of his son." The second brother wants to be more handsome, dignified, and agile than his sons, and when he assists the eldest brother in supervising the country, he has handled many difficult state affairs perfectly, showing the second brother's excellent governance ability. In addition, he is often in Beijing, and he is more suitable to serve as the prince of the country than his sons. ”

"I also ask my eldest father to make the second brother the crown prince as soon as possible, so as to calm the disputes between the government and the opposition, and to determine the hearts of the people in the world."

Li Liuchengken knelt down and pleaded.

Li Zhi didn't think that Si Yang would refuse the position of the crown prince so simply, so he had to wonder if he had heard it wrong. The prince of the country, the supreme imperial power in the future, isn't Si Yang greedy? Nuo can't become the prince and ascend the throne as the emperor in the future, Si Yang never thought that when the new monarch succeeds to the throne in the future, everything he has now will be taken back one by one? The final result was either to raise troops to protect themselves and finally be defeated, or to take back all official positions and imprison Jingzhong.

"Si Yan, although my father is old and sick, it doesn't mean that I don't know the ability and temperament of my sons. With the talent and ability you have shown in front of the world, you have rejected the position of prince today, and have you not thought about the consequences of the new monarch succeeding to the throne in the future? No matter how deep the brotherhood is today, once you become a king in the future, it is not the deep brotherhood that can demarcate everything. ”

"Erchen knows." Li Yu raised his head and replied with a firm expression.

Li Zhi finally made up his mind from the disputes between the ministers of the court and the ministers of the political hall to appoint Si Yan as the crown prince, and prepared to carefully build a princeling party for him that covers the government and the opposition, the border and the interior, and the society and the military and government. didn't think about it, but Si Yan, as the protagonist, didn't want to do it himself. How can Li Zhiqing, who has spent several days and nights of power and pros and cons, be embarrassed?

Li Zhiping, who was angry, was angry at his beloved son for the first time in his life and said, "Then why don't you want to sit on the throne of the crown prince?" ”

Li Yu was very aggrieved in his heart, and he couldn't tell his father that his mother was too strong, her political skills were too vicious, and she was the number one strong woman in terms of courage, scheming, and power in the five thousand years of China. I don't have the heart or the courage to fight for power with my mother in the court.

If you are careless, you will end up with the second brother in history, which will be a tragedy, and the dream of hegemony and changing the stubborn diseases of Chinese history has become a thing of the past.

Instead of dancing on the needle carpet, it is better to take another path, and you can also be called the emperor and create a great cause.

"Because sitting on the throne of the crown prince is not what the sons want."

"And what do you want?"

Li Zhi angrily pointed at Li Yu and asked.

"Explore more rich areas unknown to our predecessors, so as to expand the living space of our Chinese and Miao descendants."