Chapter 470: Starry Night
After the Minister of the Central Secretariat Wen Daya was ordered to go to Liangzhou and Yizhou to collect supplies, the Shangshu Province was left with the Shangshu Zuo Pushe Pei Hongde and Sima Xiuye ​​to handle the central affairs.

Apart from the prince's health condition, most general official business will be handled directly by the two prime ministers. If there is a major event, Du Keming, the Shangshu Zuocheng and the prince's confidant, will take a memorial to the East Palace for instructions, and the prince will approve it.

Although the prince is currently resting in bed, his handwriting appears to be normal, though it does not seem as vigorous as before. However, his writing is clear and he is as decisive as ever.

This also allowed the two to put aside many of their worries and barely maintain the operation of the center.

However, Pei Hongde and Sima Xiuye ​​both understood that this was not a long-term solution. But the changes still came faster than expected.

At the beginning of August, Shizhong Pei Ji returned from Luoyang, bringing with him Li Yuan's imperial edict.

The imperial edict conferred titles on the crown prince's eldest son, Li Chengqian, as the King of Shu, and his second son, Li Chengtai, as the King of Wu. At the same time, Pei Jihai sent a message that Li Yuan would leave Luoyang after the Mid-Autumn Festival and return to Chang'an.

At this time, conferring the title of prince on the two legitimate sons of the crown prince seemed to be a declaration that he was still the emperor and had the most legitimate power to bestow titles.

"Ahem, ahem, the King of Qi told me about this in his letter a few days ago. What can I do?"

Li Er sat on the couch, his face flushed due to violent coughing, and then turned pale again.

In the East Palace's study, those sitting in a circle were all the East Palace's confidants and former members of the Qin Palace.

In addition to the eighteen scholars of the Qin Palace, there were many military generals, including the General of the Left Guard Xue Renmei, the General of the Left Guard Duan Xiong, the General of the Left Jinwu Guard Qin Bogui, the General of the Right Guard Qin Zhongyu, the Eastern Palace Guard Qiu Xinggong, Zhai Changsun, Zhang Jin, etc.

Everyone gathered in the East Palace, all wanting to discuss a plan with Li Er. They didn't want to be broken up and sent out by Li Yuan again.

Seeing Li Er like this, they were really a little hesitant.

Li Yuan had just returned from Luoyang, and he didn't say what he was going to do to Li Er. What could the Eastern Palace do at this time?
You can't just rebel and force Li Yuan to give up the throne, right?
The biggest problem is that the crown prince is in poor health and does not have the confidence to compete with Li Yuan for control of the court.

This made everyone a little discouraged. If it was a matter of life and death, there would naturally be no lack of blood and energy when fighting for one's life, but it was this kind of uncertainty that made people hesitate to act rashly.

Seeing no one answering, Li Er could only sigh and say, "Then we can only let Sanlang come back."

When everyone heard this, they had different expressions, but no one raised any words to refute.

If the Prince of Jin returns to Chang'an, it will be beneficial to the stability of the political situation, but it may not be a good thing for the prince's confidants.

But Prince Jin had at least always stood with the Crown Prince before. Instead, the uncertainty of Emperor Li Yuan was more worrying.

And what could they use to object? After all, whether the Prince of Jin came back or not was not something they could stop.

Immediately, Li Er issued an imperial edict to the crown prince, ordering Zhaojun Prince Li Huaizhen to be the governor of Bingzhou and to go to Hedong to replace Jin Wang. He also wrote a secret letter asking Jin Wang Li Sanlang to return to Beijing quickly.

After receiving the letter in Hedong, Li San summoned a group of his subordinates and Bingzhou civil and military officials, ordered Wang Yi to temporarily take charge of Bingzhou's military affairs, and Xu Maogong to guard Yubi City. He then headed straight for Puban with hundreds of personal guards, crossed the river, and rushed to Chang'an overnight.

The reason why Li Sanlang was in a hurry to rush back was not to return before Li Yuan, but to control the situation in Chang'an as much as possible before Li Yuan returned to Guanzhong.

Apart from Li Er who was lying on the couch, only Li San could do this.

Li Si's roots in Guanzhong are still shallow, so there is no need to mention him at all.

When Li Sanlang entered Chang'an City and walked all the way to Li Erta amid the astonished eyes of the guards, he suddenly felt a little sad.

Not long ago, the second brother who was so brave on the battlefield was now much thinner and his face was sickly pale.

"Now that Sanlang is here, I have nothing to worry about."

Li Er felt relieved when he saw Li Sanlang appear in front of him.

Now he would rather hand over Chang'an to his third brother than let his father come back to rule. Li Sanlang said: "Silang also wrote to me, saying that my father was going back to Chang'an, but I didn't know that you, my second brother, were so seriously ill."

Li Er said: "In recent years, my health has deteriorated. I used to be able to march 300 miles day and night without feeling anything. Now I can't even get on a horse."

"Then take good care of yourself. Now that I'm back, you don't have to worry about the affairs of the court."

"Okay, then I'll leave it to you, Saburo."

Li Xuanqing's official titles are as follows: Minister of the Interior, Minister of the Chancellery, Supreme Pillar of the State, Supreme General of the Heavenly Pillar, Governor of Jingzhou, Grand Administrator of the Three Departments, Grand Administrator of Hebei Province, Prefect of Jingzhao, and King of Jin.
Among them, the Shangshu Ling was the head of the Shangshu Province. Before this, he had been sitting outside and had no chance to perform his duties in the Shangshu Province.

Jingzhao Yin was the chief executive of the Chang'an area. These were previously honorary titles.

And when Li Er issued an edict to the crown prince, he appointed Prince of Jin as the governor of Xijing in the name of regent, co-prime minister, and commander-in-chief of all military affairs at home and abroad.

The situation has changed.

Shangshu Ling Jia Tong Pingzhangshi is equivalent to the prime minister, and is the highest ranking among the prime ministers. He is the governor of Xijing, the commander of all military forces at home and abroad, represents military power, and can control the troops in the capital. In addition, he is the general of Tianzhu, which originally has the title of general in charge of the entire army. In theory, Li Sanlang already has the right to control the military and political power in Chang'an. Of course, in reality, his popularity and old subordinates in Chang'an are no less than those of Li Er Donggong.

Therefore, when he appeared in the Secretariat with the Prince's edict, Sima Xiuye ​​and Pei Hongde were both very surprised.

"Why is His Royal Highness Prince Jin here?"

What I didn't ask was, shouldn't you be in Hedong?
Li Sanlang said, "Your Majesty is far away in Luoyang, and the crown prince is seriously ill, so you urgently summoned me back to Chang'an to take charge of the overall situation and stay in Xijing. Now that the Northern Han Dynasty has just been established, the world is in turmoil. Although I am not virtuous or talented, I cannot shirk the responsibility of taking care of the country. I can only take on the responsibility. I also ask Pei Gong and Sima Gong to help."

After saying this, Li Sanlang bowed.

Pei Hongde and Sima Xiuye ​​saw this and hurriedly bowed to return the greeting. Pei Hongde said, "Your Majesty is the oldest prince under the Crown Prince and has always been prestigious. The Crown Prince is now seriously ill, and now that Your Majesty has returned from Hedong to take charge of the situation, we can rest assured."

Sima Xiuye ​​also said: "That's right. With the king in charge, people will surely be at peace."

After hearing what Prince Jin said, they understood the prince's choice.

The power was handed over to the Prince of Jin, but it was not legitimate, and there would inevitably be some twists and turns after Li Yuan returned.

It's better than Li Yuan coming back to take over the government, where he might end up with nothing.

It is equivalent to pulling the Prince of Jin together to fight against the emperor.

Both old foxes agreed with the King of Jin's return to Chang'an to guard Xijing.

The edict of the Crown Prince Regent is also valid. Moreover, this is a power dispute between the father and son of the Li family, and they cannot participate casually.

Even if there are objections, only Li Yuan who has returned is qualified to raise objections. Who dares to interfere in the emperor's family affairs?

The two prime ministers were meaningless, so Li Sanlang directly summoned the generals of the guards who were currently in charge of the defense of Chang'an and the city inside and outside the palace to the Secretariat.

The general of the Right Jinwu Guard was Liu Zhenghui, the general of the Left Xiaowei Guard was Liu Zongxun, the general of the Right Xiaowei Guard was Dou Cong, and the general of the Right Lingjun Guard was Chai Rong.

The four were also surprised when they saw Li Sanlang, but like the two prime ministers, they immediately recognized Li Sanlang's rights as the commander-in-chief of all military forces at home and abroad, and expressed their willingness to "follow orders."

At this point, the prime minister and the general in charge of government affairs in Chang'an all recognized the rights of the Prince of Jin.

At this moment, Li Yuan was unaware of the situation in Chang'an and was still waiting in Luoyang to celebrate the festival.

(End of this chapter)