Chapter 505: Emperor's Ceremony

There was a wailing in Wugong Villa, Li Yuan felt his eyes go dark, and he almost couldn't stand. Li Sanlang hurriedly supported him.

Li Yuan really felt heartbroken that an old person had to send off a young person.

These legitimate sons were all his dearest ones. At this moment, all the emotions that had arisen from power over the past few years disappeared, leaving only grief.

Although Li Sanlang was holding Li Yuan's hand, the words "Sanlang, it's good to do it, it's good to do it" kept echoing in his ears.

He understood why his second brother was anxious for him to come over.

It must be that the second brother's health can't hold on for much longer, so the power must be transferred to him.

Although the two brothers have had a very bad relationship in recent years due to matters in the court, they are still brothers no matter what.

The two were close in age and grew up together, practicing martial arts, reading, riding and archery together. After they started their rebellion, they fought together from Longyou and Guanzhong to Yingchuan, Luoyang and Jinyang.

Wherever the army went, it swept across most of the world.

Now, that brave and skilled brother with great martial arts skills is gone.

Everyone was immersed in sorrow. Li Yuan almost fainted, and Li Sanlang stood there in a daze, unable to speak.

The Crown Princess and the two Crown Princes were also extremely grief-stricken and unable to handle the situation.

Dou Gui, Chai Rong and a group of officials from the Eastern Palace could only gather around Li Sanlang and ask him for advice.

What etiquette is followed when the prince is buried?
Should we follow the prince's etiquette or
Li Sanlang said absentmindedly, "It is already the first year of Zhenguan. Your Majesty issued an edict last year to abdicate at the end of the year. Although the grand ceremony has not been held, my second brother has made outstanding contributions, so we should prepare for his death with the rites of an emperor."

Li Yuan, the only person who might have opposed this matter, was so sad that he was completely deaf and speechless.

So Li Sanlang's decision became the current standard.

Everyone even understood that if the prince were alive, he could firmly suppress the Prince of Jin by virtue of his merit of capturing the Turkic Khan alive.

After the Crown Prince passed away, the momentum of the Prince of Jin became unstoppable by anyone.

All the Weifu troops in Guan, except the six generals of the Eastern Palace, were formed together with Li Er and him, and most of them were their common old subordinates.

After Li Yuan lost power, he was the only one who could suppress the current situation.

The distance from Wugong to Chang'an is actually not far. The prime ministers in Chang'an soon learned the news and began to prepare for the funeral ceremony according to the order of King Jin.

On the eighteenth day of the first lunar month, the prince's coffin was returned to Chang'an with the rites for the Emperor.

At the same time, he ordered people to select a site at Jiuyi Mountain to build the "Zhaoling". Jiuyi Mountain is abrupt, located on the north side of the Jing River and the south side of the Wei River, across the Guanzhong Plain to the south, and facing the Taibai and Zhongnan peaks. On the east and west sides, the mountains are undulating and stretching to the plain. There are nine mountain ridges evenly distributed around the main peak, which are high and arched. In ancient times, small mountain ridges were called "yi", hence the name Jiuyi Mountain.

This place is a rare auspicious place for an imperial mausoleum, and it was also the place chosen long ago by the Imperial Observatory and the Imperial Construction Bureau of the Tang Dynasty.

At the same time, a sharp problem began to emerge: the question of how the King of Jin would succeed to the throne.

It was a foregone conclusion that Li Yuan would lose power and become the emperor emeritus. Now that the crown prince had passed away, although the Prince of Jin had clearly stated that he would prepare the funeral rites and funeral according to the rites of the emperor.

But after all, there was no coronation ceremony, only the funeral was prepared with the rites for the emperor.

Therefore, one group of people advocated that Emperor Li Yuan should make Prince of Jin the crown prince and then abdicate.

Another group advocated that the crown prince be posthumously crowned as emperor, and the King of Jin ascended the throne in front of his brother's coffin according to the Golden Casket Alliance, and followed the rule of succession from brother to brother. But this view is undoubtedly untenable.

It would not be good for the Prince of Jin if he admitted that the prince died as an emperor rather than as a prince.

Because if the crown prince ascends the throne, then the crown prince's descendants will have the legal right to inherit the throne. Even with the Golden Casket Alliance, the crown prince's eldest son still has natural legitimacy.

But if the crown prince died, Li Sanlang would become the eldest son and could completely bypass the Golden Casket Alliance and let Li Yuan hand over the throne to him.

This is not the succession from elder brother to younger brother, but the succession from father to son. The legitimacy is totally different from the succession from elder brother to younger brother.

Li Sanlang did not dwell on these matters too much. None of Li Er's descendants could pose a threat to him. In addition, with the Golden Casket Alliance, Li Sanlang did not have to worry about the throne falling into someone else's hands.

After the funeral, the prime ministers took two opinions to ask the King of Jin to make a decision, but the King of Jin directly asked the prime ministers to consult Li Yuan. Li Yuan saw it and waved his hand, "Go ask Sanlang, I don't have anything to say anymore."

Li Yuan didn't even use "I" but "I", which shows how disheartened he was.

The prime ministers could only ask the King of Jin again. This time Sima Xiuye ​​said directly: "In the current situation, King of Jin still wants to keep a low profile? If King of Jin has no intention of inheriting the throne, it is better to return the power to Your Majesty."

This sentence directly blocked Li Sanlang's retreat route.

Li Sanlang finally said helplessly: "Then I will trouble Sima Gong again and ask His Majesty to choose a day to issue an edict."

This case involving the Eastern Palace, the Prince of Jin's Mansion and the emperor himself finally came to a conclusion.

Li Yuan issued an edict, saying that he was old and had no interest in state affairs, and was ready to enjoy his old age. The third son, Prince of Jin, Xuanqing, was the legitimate son of me and Empress Taimu, and had a noble character, so he should inherit the throne.
Li Yuan issued an edict, and the King of Jin had to submit a letter of resignation, completing the procedure of three resignations and three declines.

But at the same time, Li San was not idle during this period. After the prince's funeral, he immediately ordered Donggong Liu to rush to Hanoi for assistance on the grounds that the war in Luoyang was urgent.

This was undoubtedly due to the fear that some trouble might arise from the Crown Prince's old subordinates, and at the same time, all the officials of the Eastern Palace were disbanded.

Du Keming was the Minister of Works, Fang Qiao was the Minister of Dali Temple, Xue Shou was the Chief Academician of the Imperial College, and Xue Yuanjing was the Vice Governor of Yongzhou. Although they all had different appointments, none of them could be called demotions but promotions.

In early February, the Yewang garrison on the battlefield of Hanoi finally couldn't hold on any longer and prepared to leave the city. The Yewang garrison commander Gao Junyu was still somewhat smart. He pretended to break out to the north, but actually headed south to Wen County to join Su Dingbian.

But this level of tactical deception could not be hidden from Zhu Deyu. The Yewang defenders marched quickly southward and then plunged into the encirclement prepared for them by the Tang army.

Gao Junyu was born in the Gao family of Bohai. He was skilled in riding and shooting since childhood and was proficient in bow and horse. Before Liu Xuanji ascended the throne, he led his troops to join the army. He was brave and good at fighting and had made many achievements.

At this moment, facing the encirclement of the Tang army, he also showed the bravery of the Yanzhao men and ordered his troops to line up and fight. More than 20,000 elite soldiers of the Tang army's left guard attacked from three sides according to the military order, and the Han army could only hold on with difficulty.

Su Dingbian in Wen County soon received the news that Gao Junyu was surrounded, and after careful consideration, he decided to send troops to rescue him.

However, he ran into Zhang Jian's Right Guard with more than 10,000 infantry and cavalry. Seeing that the encirclement was hopeless, Su Dingbian could only head north towards Zixia Pass.

Because he knows that one cannot do it alone.

Gao Junyu was in Yewang and he was in Wen County. The two sides could still hold on with the support of each other, but he would not be able to hold out for long if he was trapped in Wen County alone.

Might as well take this opportunity to run away.

And he really couldn't save Gao Junyu here.

Zhang Jian immediately led the infantry and cavalry to pursue them, while Su Dingbian personally led the elite troops to cover the rear, fighting and retreating.

In the end, there were less than 3,000 Han troops who returned to Zixia Pass alive, with nearly half of them killed.

Gao Junyu's troops were completely wiped out, more than 1,800 were beheaded, and 3,000 were captured, including the main general Gao Junyu, who was captured alive.

The battle report was delivered to the Qishui camp. Li Yuanhui was overjoyed after reading it. He immediately sent orders to Zhu, Zhang, and Xiao, ordering them to come to Qishui after resting.

Of course, the good news didn't stop there. Li Yaoshi led 50,000 soldiers and finally arrived in Luoyang after a thousand-mile journey.

Arrived in Hanoi soon.

Now the Tang army could mobilize nearly 150,000 troops on the Hanoi battlefield.

Then, among the series of good news, I received the news that my second brother had died of illness on his way back to the army.

"What did you say? Say it again?"

Looking at the messenger in mourning who was reporting the death of a man, Li Yuanhui was stunned.

That night, maybe it wasn't a dream, but it became our final farewell.

Second brother?

(End of this chapter)