Chapter 439 Whose Heart Is Comforted
In the hall, after Li Si finished speaking, Li Yuan and Li Er both fell silent.

Both of them understood the implied meaning of Li Si's words. In fact, the key point lies in the last sentence, "peace of mind."

Whose hearts are they trying to appease? They are the hearts of everyone in the Tiance Qiwang Mansion behind Li Si.

It is the Tiance General's Mansion, the Qi Wang Mansion, the Shaanxi East Grand Secretariat, the Left and Right Wuwei, and the Left and Right Weiwei.
He was a poor warrior who was born in a humble family, rose from the Jianghuai region, and was picked by Li Si. He was a Central Plains noble family that was suppressed in the struggle with the Guanlong nobles.

Lianghuai is a place that has never produced any aristocratic families, but is full of fortresses, powerful clans and wealthy people who dictate the local affairs.

Before the war, Guanzhong had soldiers and generals, and was able to suppress the King of Qi, the leader of all factions in Guandong, in the name of righteousness.

But now, almost all of the Weifu troops representing Guanzhong were killed in Hebei, while the army under the King of Qi suffered only a few thousand casualties.

If Li Yuanhui didn't really care about the overall situation, he would have enough strength to be independent.

On the contrary, it was difficult for Guanzhong to protect itself after the great defeat.

But because of the existence of a powerful Northern Yan, the Tang Dynasty must not afford internal strife now.

Li Yuanhui made his words very clear, he almost said directly, "Stop talking nonsense, if I hadn't been suppressing you, things would have been in chaos long ago."

The situation was stronger than the people. Li Yuan, who had already agreed to hand over power, naturally had no objection. However, Li Er nodded in agreement after hesitating for a while.

But Li Er also raised a question, that is, after the elder brother dies, to whom will the succession be passed after you, Li Si?
Li Si said directly, the eldest brother's descendants. The order of succession in the future will be the descendants of the four brothers in turn.

Li Yuan immediately agreed and Li Sanlang had no objection either.

Afterwards, Duke Dugu Huaiyi of Suguo and Prime Minister Pei Hongde served as witnesses, and Shizhong Pei Ji wrote the edict and the covenant. He also summoned the civil and military officials of Luoyang, and after making it public, he sealed it in a golden box.

The covenant also mentioned that if anyone violated the covenant, they would be attacked together.

But even though the covenant is established, how binding it is depends entirely on strength.

When leaving the palace, Li Er walked in front, and Li San and Li Si followed behind.

Arriving at the palace gate, Li Er stopped before mounting his horse, turned back to look at Li Si and said, "Silang, you have been planning this for a long time, right?"

Li Si thought for a moment, then said, "Second Brother, is there a better way than this?"

Li Er was silent after hearing this, shook his head, and then mounted his horse. After riding on the horse, he looked at the endless Luoyang Tianjie in the distance, and then his heart suddenly felt broadened, and he smiled and said, "Yes, it's better than us fighting against each other! It will be laughed at for generations to come."

Then he rode away.

Li San and Li Si stood there and watched Li Er's back disappear from their sight.

"Silang, from today on, we brothers and the second brother may become rivals."

Li Sanlang said with interest.

Li Si replied, "It's not uncommon for brothers to quarrel over family property, not to mention that we separated when Aye was still alive."

Li San smiled and then left.

After the three brothers parted ways, they each returned to their own residence in Luoyang.
After Li Yuan agreed to hand over power, the crown prince would naturally be the regent. However, it was impossible for the King of Jin and the King of Qi to give up everything and just take the future inheritance right.

In fact, the conflict between the three brothers had just begun.

Because of the defeat, a large number of positions in the court became available. Li Er had to discuss with his staff about which positions should be filled and which positions should be replaced by his own people.

In addition to quickly seizing power, the interests of Li San and Li Si must also be considered.

As for Li San and Li Si, what they value is the local strength.

At present, Guanzhong, Longyou and Hexi are Li Er’s base, but their strength has been greatly weakened.

Li San had greater influence in Jingzhou, Shuzhong, Hanzhong and Hedong.

Li Si is not to be mentioned, as the area east of Shan County is his. Li San and Li Si both hold the position of Grand Chancellor, which means they have a full control over the local military and political power, but Li San can only directly control the area east of Hedong.

Although the rest of the northern part of Jingzhou, Shuzhong, and Hanzhong appear to be connected on the map, they are actually independent geographical units.

But Li San also had a large number of supporters in Guanzhong, and his influence was only slightly less than that of Li Er.

This forms a situation where you are in me and I am in you with Li Er's sphere of influence.

Although Li Yuan was unwilling, he also knew that although the three brothers had conflicts, there was no dispute about him handing over power, so he had no choice.

What's more, the defeat in Hebei was so devastating that he really didn't have the face to confront or argue with his sons about some things.

In Li Si's Palace of Prince Qi, the main issues discussed were the defense of the area around Luoyang and the autumn harvest in the Central Plains and Lianghuai.

At present, the main forces of the Tang Dynasty are concentrated along the Yellow River in Baima Liyang, Yanzhou, and Luoyang.

In Bai Ma there were 3,000 former troops of Zhao Da, 5,000 troops of Liu Yuanqing, and more than 3,000 troops of Chai Rong's Yanzhou army. In Liyang there were 4,000 troops of Liu Yuanqing and 3,000 former troops of Zhao Da.

On the Luoyang side, Chen Zhen's Zuowei Guard had ten Zhechoufu with more than 10,000 people, Huang Junhan's had more than 5,000 people, Xiao Shizhi's had more than 10,000 people, plus Li Yuanhui's personal army of 8,000, a total of more than 30,000 people.

In addition, there were several thousand people in the Left and Right Guards, more than ten thousand people under Duan Xiong, and more than two thousand remnants of the Left and Right Guards. But Li Er was sure to bring these more than ten thousand troops back to Guanzhong.

The situation in Guanzhong is also very critical.

On the second day, the three brothers gathered in the palace again with several key aides.

Li Er brought Du Keming, Fang Qiao, Xue Shou, and Xue Yuanjing, while Li San brought Cui Xiaotong, Zu Junyan, and Yao Yi. Li Yuanhui's side included Li Baishi, Li Qinglian, Dugu Ying, Yu Zhining, Gao Kan, and others.

In addition, the three prime ministers Pei Hongde, Pei Ji, and Yuwen Chengye, as well as Li Yuan who had lost power, were all present.

Li Er said directly: "I am afraid that Chang'an will be in turmoil. Father, why don't you stay in Luoyang for a while."

Hearing this, Li Yuan let out a long sigh and nodded.

He understood that Li Er wanted him to stay in Luoyang for some time, which would give Li Er the opportunity to turn Chang'an into his own territory.

When he goes back, he will probably be a puppet.

But even if he was allowed to go back now, there was no point in competing with Li Er. All his prestige was lost in the battle in Hebei. All his direct troops were also annihilated.

There is no point in arguing even if you want to.

Then Li Er, as the crown prince, also told his own arrangements. Luoyang was undoubtedly the property of Qi Wang Li Yuanhui. There were also troubles and pressures.

In addition, he wanted to take away Duan Xiong's troops and the remnants of the left and right guards. Naturally, everyone had no objection to this.

They were all his old subordinates.

In short, all matters concerning Guandong are decided by the King of Qi, all matters concerning Hedong are decided by the King of Jin, and all matters concerning Guanzhong and the court are decided by the Crown Prince.

As for when to abdicate, none of the brothers mentioned it, and Li Yuan would not bring it up on his own initiative.

The situation is so tense right now, we have to wait until it calms down before we can talk about this.

In addition, regarding personnel adjustments, Yanzhou Governor Chai Rong was going back to Chang'an. This was not because Li Si wanted to move his brother-in-law away because he was an eyesore, but because Li Er took the initiative to ask his brother-in-law Chai Rong to return to Chang'an to help him stabilize the situation.

Li Si naturally would not object. He took the opportunity to propose his cousin, Huaiyang County Prince Li Xuandao, to be the governor of Yanzhou. This was one of the few Qi Wang factions among the Li clan.

As for personnel adjustments and appointments at other levels, there is no need to discuss them on this occasion.

Official positions such as prefect and general were all decided by the King of Jin and the King of Qi themselves.

Li Yuanhui’s last proposal was to promote Luoyang to the Eastern Capital.

(End of this chapter)