Chapter 305 Nine Gifts
Murong Yang was very lucky. Taking advantage of the time when the Li brothers entered the city, he, together with a group of trusted men and three thousand cavalrymen, first headed eastward, and then quickly headed north. He broke through the blockades of several Western Army cavalry units, ran all the way to the Yellow River, waded across the river on the ice, and escaped.

And because all of Murong Yang's cronies, including Wei Xiaoju, one of the main generals defending the city, had fled with him, the people left in the city had no desire to resist. This led to the Western Army's unusually smooth progress in taking over the city defenses, armory, and various military camps after entering the city. In fact, before Murong Yang left, he had made arrangements for Wei Xiaoju to arrange for the defenders to set fire to Hanjia Granary, armory, and various other places.

Wei Xiaoju did make arrangements, but he selected very smart people and also made some verbal hints. Basically, he did not expect the fire to start.

As he expected, these people did not act rashly and did not set fire as planned, causing chaos in the city.

This ensured the stability of Luoyang, the Eastern Capital and the most powerful city in the world.

At dawn, many people realized that the Western Army had entered the city.

Li Yuan knew that there was a shortage of food in the city, so he specially ordered people to transport food from Luokou Warehouse into the city and distribute it to the people.

The people in the city all shouted "Long live the King of Tang". Although this was inappropriate according to etiquette, no one cared at the time, and no one could pursue it.

Li Yuan entered the imperial city with his two sons and a group of generals, but he did not rush into the palace. Instead, he ordered people to invite several prime ministers.

Gao Shize, Xue Chu, and Liu He.

Soon, two prime ministers, Xue Chu and Liu He, who were both soldiers from Hedong, arrived one after another. As for Gao Shize, he used harsh words to kick out the aide who came to invite people.

After hearing the report from the staff, Li Yuan smiled and said, "Mr. Gao is highly respected, but he is old. He might have been disturbed when the army entered the city last night. When this matter is resolved, I will go there in person to apologize to Mr. Gao."

Afterwards, Li Yuanhui made a signal and the guards guarding the palace gate immediately opened the gate. Li Yuan led everyone in and walked through the long corridor straight to the Qianyang Hall, the main hall of the Luoyang Palace.

When they arrived at Qianyang Palace, Empress Dowager Cao had already arrived.

That’s right, it was Empress Dowager Cao, not Empress Dowager Wei.

Emperor Zhaowu's empress Cao had previously been sent to a temporary palace outside the city to be placed there to worship Buddha.

After Li's army entered the Luoyang Basin, they naturally rescued the "Queen Mother". After all, she was the biological mother of the young emperor Murong Chang in Chang'an City and the queen of Murong Ying. Not long after Murong Chang ascended the throne, she was given the title of Queen Mother. It was just that Cao was in Luoyang at that time.

Now that the Western Army has arrived, the Queen Mother can be considered to have been successfully restored to the throne.

Cao was sitting on a seat added beside the dragon throne in the main hall. Everyone bowed and saluted. Only Li Yuan, the owner of the four-piece set of sword and shoes required to enter the hall, stood in front of everyone without being servile.

Cao looked at the current situation and knew that the situation was stronger than people. Although her future life might not be as peaceful as when she was eating vegetarian food and worshiping Buddha in the palace, she had no choice at the moment.

So, Empress Dowager Cao ordered someone to read out the imperial edict prepared by Li Yuan. The gist of it was that since the death of Emperor Zhaowu, wars had continued, refugees were everywhere, and the country was in ruins. Li Yuan and his sons followed the imperial edict and raised troops, and they made great contributions. Li Yuan himself was awarded the Nine Gifts, and his three sons were all given a thousand households of food and land. All matters in the court and rewards for meritorious officials were under the overall supervision of Li Yuan.
Basically, after Li Yuan received the Nine Gifts, he just had to wait to return to Chang'an to accept the abdication of the young emperor.

Everything is going smooth.

After the court meeting, Li Yuan gave Li Si a task to move Empress Dowager Wei and Empress Yuwen out of the palace. Li Yuanhui could decide where to place them.

Li Yuanhui naturally could not refuse after hearing this. After all, Empress Dowager Wei was his mother-in-law, and for the sake of his wife, he had to make good arrangements for her.

Then Li Si came to the palace where Empress Dowager Wei lived, looked at the trembling eunuchs, and said, "Go to the court and tell them that Li Yuanhui wants to see the Empress."

Soon, a eunuch came to invite him in.

Wei was sitting on the couch, and standing beside her were Empress Yuwen and a child about ten years old.

"Greetings to the empress."

Li Yuanhui bowed and saluted very respectfully.

Wei looked at Li Yuanhui with mixed feelings, "I didn't expect you to come. How is your father going to deal with us?" Li Yuanhui said seriously, "Your Highness, the fault of the King of Wu naturally has nothing to do with you and the princess. However, the Queen Mother Cao has been restored to the throne. You and the princess should return to the King of Wu's mansion for the time being."

Upon hearing this, Wei smiled and said, "It seems that you are not going to kill us women and children. Then I have to thank you, Li Silang."

"Your Highness, your words are too polite. Please pack your belongings with the princess as soon as possible. All the palace servants in your palace can go to the Prince of Wu's mansion to continue serving. I will not disturb you two."

After saying this, Li Yuanhui turned around and prepared to leave, but he heard Wei say, "Li Silang, wait a minute."

Li Yuanhui stopped walking, then turned around and bowed, "Does your Majesty have anything else to tell you?"

Wei shook his head and said, "Jia Luo, are you okay?"

It has been almost two years since Murong Jiayin went to Huainan. Due to the war, the two sides were enemies and had been cut off from each other for two years, as Wei was also very concerned about her only daughter.

Li Yuanhui said: "Before I sent troops to Runan at the beginning of the year, Jialuo was already pregnant. I think she will give birth soon."

After hearing the news, Wei nodded and then said nothing.

Li Yuanhui also bowed and said goodbye, then looked at the half-grown child beside Wei, and suddenly seemed to remember something and asked, "Vajra?"

The child was stunned for a moment, then smiled and nodded, "Brother-in-law."

Li Yuanhui also smiled and said, "You've grown up so fast. I've been busy these days. I'll talk to you another day."

Afterwards, he turned around and walked out of the Queen Mother's Palace, and then ordered the palace guards to be careful and not to allow anyone to disturb them.

After leaving the palace, Li Yuanhui went straight to the Secretariat of the Three Ministries.

Li Yuan summoned several confidants here to discuss the takeover of Luoyang City and the management of the vast area currently under actual control. Naturally, his sons, sons-in-law and major generals in the army would also participate.

First, Li Yuan ordered his trusted general Liu Wenhui to lead 20,000 troops to cross the Yellow River to the north, take over Henei County, and control several passes north of Luoyang and the important strategic location of the three cities of Heyang.

Son-in-law Chai Rong, Yuwen She and Zhang Pinggao were responsible for receiving and reorganizing the surrendered soldiers in Luoyang.

Pei Ji, the chief secretary of the Prime Minister's Office, was appointed as the governor of Henan and concurrently the magistrate of Luoyang. Zhao Wenke, the military officer of the Prime Minister's Office, was appointed as the governor of Yingchuan. Li Gaoqian, the military officer of the Prime Minister's Office, was appointed as the governor of Xingyang.
Basically, all the local officials in Luoyang and its surrounding areas, as well as the reception of the surrendered soldiers in Luoyang, were appointed by Li Yuan's confidants, which meant that all his three sons and their advisers and generals were excluded.

Li Yuanhui had no objection to this at all. He had never intended to turn Luoyang into his sphere of influence.

And after Li Yuan made the personnel appointment, when the second and third brothers were very secretive, Li Si stood up and said, "Aye, since Luoyang has been recovered and the Central Plains has been stabilized, if there is nothing else, I will go back to Hefei first."

After hearing this, Li Yuan's face changed immediately. What does that mean? Are you unhappy that I didn't seal your people in Luoyang? Are you leaving now? The second and third brothers were also a little surprised.

So Li Yuan just waved his hand and asked everyone to go out, leaving only his sons in the hall.

Li Yuanhui saw his father's expression and realized that he had misunderstood, so he immediately explained: "When I set out, Princess Jinyang and her concubine Zhang were already pregnant. According to the date, she may have given birth."

Sure enough, when Li Yuan heard this, his expression instantly turned from gloomy to bright! The family was going to have a new baby, and one of them was Li Yuanhui's first legitimate son or daughter. This kind of thing was very important for a big family.

Li Yuanhui was already 20 years old when he had his first child, which must have been because he was busy with military affairs in Huainan.

Li Yuanban complained: "Why didn't you say so earlier? But it's too late for you to go back now. Wait until you go to Chang'an after the New Year, and then go back."

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanhui immediately understood that after returning to Chang'an, he would be asked to participate in the ceremony of abdication.

(End of this chapter)