Ge Fushun then led the sergeant to the forbidden garden to meet Li Longji, and at the same time offered the heads of the three people, after Li Longji confirmed, he and Liu Youqiu went out of the south gate of the forbidden garden, and Zhong Shaojing called on more than 200 people including gardeners and craftsmen in the forbidden garden to carry axes, saws, etc. as weapons to follow up. Li Longji ordered Ge Fushun to lead the 10,000 cavalry guards on the left flank to attack the Xuande Gate, and Li Xianfeng led the 10,000 cavalry guards on the right flank to attack the White Beast Gate, and agreed that everyone would meet in front of the Lingyan Pavilion. After all the roads set out, the progress was smooth, and the guards of the Xuande Gate were few, and Ge Fushun's army soon broke through the city gate and killed the general guarding the gate. Li Xianfeng then followed up, and the two armies met in front of the Lingyan Pavilion, and the Nanya guards who guarded the spirit in the Taiji Hall not only did not resist, but also picked up weapons to respond to the army of the ten thousand cavalry guards. Interestingly, Li Longji was not in this group of troops at this time, he led Chen Xuanli and Li Yide to the flying cavalry, the soldiers of the flying cavalry battalion heard the commotion, the military spirit was already unstable, many people were ready to respond, as soon as Li Longji arrived, it was even more inflammatory, the officers in the flying cavalry led the soldiers to kill the generals sent by Empress Wei on the spot, and then the flying cavalry also entered the palace to prepare to respond to the mutiny.

Coincidentally, at this time, Empress Wei saw that the situation was not right, and took a few attendants to flee to the Flying Cavalry Camp to ask for protection, but the Flying Cavalry Battalion was also preparing to enter the palace, and the two sides met on the road, and Empress Wei shouted: "I am the queen, you come and protect me." "Unexpectedly, just after shouting, several soldiers rushed over, and one of the soldiers sent a big knife to send an imitation of Lai Wu Kan Mi Pai to send the annoying arrow.

At this time, the army began to wantonly kill the Wei family, Princess Anle Li Bao'er was still thrushing at this time, and was hacked to death by the intruding soldiers, Wu Yanxiu (Princess Anle's husband) was also killed, and other Wei family and Empress Wei's cronies were killed. Ten thousand cavalry guards opened the Xuanwu Gate, Li Longji led his entourage from the Xuanwu Gate into the palace majestically, but unexpectedly, a woman led the palace maid to greet in the palace, this woman was Li Xian's concubine Zhaorong Shangguan Wan'er.

Shangguan Wan'er was favored by Wu Zetian at the beginning, and after Wu Zetian was forced to abdicate, she turned to Wu Sansi. Shangguan Wan'er once recommended her cousin (aunt's son) Wang Xian to be the left picker. Unexpectedly, Wang Xian did not appreciate it, and warned Shangguan Wan'er, "Wu is a surname that is destined to perish. When Li Xian was in power, he was Feng Jieyu, and later became Zhaorong) attached to Wu Sansi, which may bring about a catastrophe of extermination, please think twice! Shangguan Wan'er didn't listen. Later, during the coup d'état of the crown prince Li Chongmao, Wu Sansi was killed. and specified that she asked for Shangguan Wan'er, Shangguan Wan'er was frightened, so she turned to cooperate with Princess Taiping, and consciously confronted Princess Anle. After Li Longji launched a coup d'état, Shangguan Wan'er knew that she might be classified as Webster's party and be killed by the army, so she used this method to attract Li Longji's attention, and took out the draft of the edict that she had drafted with Princess Taiping to serve as the prime minister and the assistant to the king, and asked Li Longji to look at it, hoping to clarify herself. was spared from death, but Li Longji did not appreciate it, because Li Longji had long been dissatisfied with Shangguan Wan'er's behavior of forming a party and interfering in politics, and he cooperated with his aunt Princess Taiping because of political needs, and he would not be polite to Shangguan Wan'er, so Shangguan Wan'er was dragged to the military flag and killed on the spot.

The next day, Li Longji reported the incident to his father Li Dan and asked him for forgiveness for not informing him in advance. Li Dan put his arm around his son and said, "The country has not been broken, it has been restored." It's all your credit" means that he also thinks Li Longji has done a good job. After Li Longji reported to his father, he continued his anti-enemy activities, and almost all the officials appointed by the Webster, including the Websters and non-Websters, were killed. And the funniest thing is that Zong Chuke, who opposed Li Dan's auxiliary government and also raised the big hat of his uncle and sister-in-law, as soon as his brother heard that the situation was wrong, he wrapped his face in a white towel and wanted to get out of the city gate, but he may be too famous and notorious. The gatekeeper recognized him at once, and teased him, saying, "Isn't this Zongshangshu?" Where do you want to go? How do you wrap your head like a woman? By the way, there is an order for us to take the adults back, so the adults will obediently follow us! In this way, Zong Chuke was arrested and put to death. And Cui Riyong, who is anti-water in the Wei party, I don't know if Li Longji wants to test his loyalty, Li Longji taught him an errand, that is, to go to Weiqu (the Wei family's residence) to wipe out the people of the Wei family, and Cui Riyong has no mercy on the former master's enemies today, even the baby in his arms is not spared, in order to avoid slipping through the net, he even killed a lot of people from nearby Duqu, which is really despicable.

After the completion of the massacre, Li Longji and his son have really grasped the power, although it is still a bit twisting and twisting to make Li Dan the emperor again, and the process of wanting to welcome and refuse, but supporting the prime minister as the emperor is no longer the fantasy and slogan of a few people at this time, but a fact that cannot be shaken.

Li Dan's helpless balancing technique

Li Dan finally ascended the throne of the emperor again, but he found that this time the throne did not seem to be easier to sit on than the once.

The last time he became the emperor, there was a strong element of luck, because Li Dan was the fourth, according to modern terms, the real lady was the boss, the mistress was the second, and the affair object was called the junior. But just like someone will win the jackpot of the welfare lottery, Li Dan is still the emperor, why?

The reason why Li Dan was able to become the emperor was because he was more obedient than his elder brothers, you know, his mother Wu Zetian wanted to be the emperor herself, but there has never been a woman as an emperor in Chinese history, even later, so if she wants to be an emperor, the resistance she encounters must be very great. Wu Zetian had already taken power when her husband Li Zhi was still alive, but when her husband died, she would rather let her son be the puppet emperor first, rather than dare to ascend the throne as emperor all at once, because the opposition forces had not been wiped out, and she also needed the courtiers to adapt to this situation. In this context, Li Dan's old buddies became princes one after another, but they came down from the position of prince one after another. Among them, the boss Li Hong died of illness (of course, some say that he was poisoned by his mother). The second Li Xian went against his mother, was deposed and detained after being found out by Wu Zetian, and was later exiled, and the end was quite miserable. The third is Zhongzong Li Xian, he was originally more obedient, Gaozong Li Zhi died and succeeded to the throne as the emperor, because I said that I gave the world to my father-in-law There is nothing stupid about it, Wu Zetian of course can not tolerate such a son in power, and as a result, he was also abolished and demoted to a concubine, so after such a round, Li Dan became the emperor. But to tell the truth, Li Dan was purely a puppet when he became emperor for the first time, and he had no real power at all, because his mother made him emperor purely to cross the river and tear down the bridge, so he had no power at all. is still subject to suspicion and blows from time to time, but fortunately, Li Dan has been accustomed to his mother's high-pressure methods since he was a child, and after a few years of trembling, he gave up the throne to his mother. Later, he gave up the position of imperial heir to his elder brother (Li Xian).

The second time he became the emperor, it was mainly due to his son (Li Longji) and sister (Princess Taiping), but because of this, Li Dan did not have his own people, and the foundation of power was not stable enough.

In addition, if we look at it from a modern perspective, Li Dan is more humane. And pay more attention to family affection, which is related to the environment in which Li Dan grew up, he has been treated by his mother since he was a child, many brothers and relatives of the royal family died, his wife (Crown Princess Liu and Concubine Dou) was killed and even the corpse can not be found, when Empress Wu was the emperor, a large family of people was placed under house arrest in the palace, and his life was in danger at any time, I think Li Dan must have a very strong idea and mission in his heart to protect his relatives, so for him. Family affection will be more important than power.

In the political situation after the coup d'état, although Li Dan does not have absolute power, but nominally he is the ruler of the empire after all, so his ideas will still play a great role, and at this time, his greatest wish is to hope that his sister and son can live in peace, but he doesn't know that the most difficult thing in the world to share is power, and the easiest thing in the world to fight for is power, Li Dan tried to balance. But such an attitude caused even greater strife, and finally came to an end that he least wanted to see.

(Original Serialization Update 10)

02 The Battle of the Prince, Offensive and Defensive Battles

The first question Li Dan faced after ascending the throne for the second time was the question of who should be the crown prince. According to tradition, Li Chengqi is the eldest son, and he should be made the crown prince. But the third son Li Longji has made great contributions, and his throne is still earned by him, and if he is not appointed, not only will he not be able to say it, but he is afraid that no one will help him in the future, so Li Dan is very distressed. It was impossible to make a decision all at once.

Li Chengqi understands his father's distress, he thinks in his heart, his talent and achievements are not comparable to his younger brother, not to mention that his younger brother's reputation and prestige are far above his own after making this great achievement, even if his father makes himself the prince, he can't sit in this position steadily, it is better to take the initiative to resign, and he can also sell his favor to his younger brother, and on the other hand, he and his younger brother have lost their mother together since childhood, support each other, have deep feelings, and can't bear to fight with him at this time.

Li Chengqi had made up his mind, so he went to the palace, and after meeting Li Dan, he said: "I heard that the emperor wants to make me the crown prince, I personally think that this matter is not appropriate, the emperor thinks that I am the eldest son, so he considers making me the crown prince, but this is the practice of the country in peacetime." Now that the country is in crisis, and King Ping (Li Longji) has made great contributions to save the country from overthrowing, I think that at this time, King Ping should be appointed as the crown prince, which is more in line with practical needs. In addition to Li Chengqi, Liu Youqiu and other heroes who rose up with Li Longji also demanded that Li Longji be appointed as the crown prince. Therefore, Li Dan originally considered making Li Longji the crown prince, so he also followed the good and set Li Longji as the crown prince, although Li Longji repeatedly asked to give way to Li Chengqi, Li Dan issued an edict not to allow it. On June 27 of the first year of Jingyun (710 AD), Li Longji was named the crown prince.

At the same time, the power of Li Longji's aunt, Princess Taiping, also began to expand significantly. Princess Taiping's personality is calm, decisive, quite a bit of a mother's taste, Wu Zetian was in power, very much love for this daughter, but Princess Taiping knew her mother's means, so in addition to recommending two to her mother in person, she did not dare to solicit power excessively. When Li Xian was in power, Empress Wei and Princess Anle Li Bao'er were also afraid of it, and this time to kill Wei, Princess Taiping made a big effort, so Li Dan respected her very much, every time she entered the palace to do something, Li Dan talked to her for a long time, and the prime minister had something to report, Li Dan often asked, "Have you discussed it with Princess Taiping?" Then he asked, "Have you discussed it with Saburo (Prince Li Longji)?" "It can be seen that its power is great! And several of her sons were also knighted.

At first, Princess Taiping didn't care too much about the crown prince Li Longji, thinking that Li Longji might be easier to control when he was the prince because he was young, which also shows that Li Longji's title of "A Concealment" is not in vain. But soon after Princess Taiping found out that she was wrong, Li Longji was not only wise and resolute, but also quite scheming, and the upright ministers of the court also liked him a lot. Princess Taiping thought that Li Dan's personality was more tranquil, so if she wanted to hold power for a long time, she needed to set up a prince who was easier to control as the prince, and now it seems that Li Chengqi is easier to control than Li Longji, so she began to mobilize her subordinates to launch rumors, saying: "The prince is not a son-in-law, and he should not be the prince." It didn't take long for such remarks to spread both inside and outside the palace. Princess Taiping was secretly proud, and wanted to say that her conspiracy was going to succeed, but she didn't know that Li Dan had already considered this problem, and now that the problem had been solved, there was this kind of noise, which made him feel very unhappy, but Li Dan was unwilling to investigate deeply, but only issued an edict to explain the reason for the establishment of the prince and forbid to discuss the matter again, so that the rumors gradually disappeared.

When Princess Taiping saw that this plan could not be achieved, she knew that it was not so easy for Li Longji to step down. At this time, she began to change her strategy and sent people to infiltrate Li Longji's surroundings, and even many of Li Longji's cronies were bribed. Princess Taiping reported the news she had collected that was unfavorable to Li Longji to Li Dan, but because Li Longji acted cautiously, there was not much difference, but Li Longji also felt distressed and wanted to seek a breakthrough, but there was no good way for a while, and the two were in a stalemate for a while.

However, the whispering offensive will still have a certain effect after a long time, and soon Li Dan secretly summoned the crown prince Shaobao Wei Anshi and said to him: "I heard that government officials have expressed their allegiance to the East Palace, is there such a thing?" Wei Anshi replied, "Where did the emperor hear such words about the death of the country, the prince is wise, benevolent and filial, and everyone knows it."

Once the emperor is suspicious of the prince, the country will be uneasy, I think this is the conspiracy of Princess Taiping, please the emperor to investigate! Li Dan hurriedly said, "I know, don't say more." At this time, Princess Taiping happened to be standing behind the curtain, and heard the content of the conversation between the two clearly, and was furious in her heart, so she tried to frame Wei Anshi, who was soon arrested and investigated, but fortunately was rescued by Guo Yuanzhen, the servant of the imperial servant, and was saved from death. (To be continued.) )