On the morning of the 23rd day of the first year of the Divine Dragon, the heads of the five Zhang brothers were displayed on Vermilion Bird Avenue.
This news had just spread through Chang 'an when another astonishing piece of news arrived: the empress had announced that the crown prince would oversee the country and be the president.
The people of Chang 'an felt even more of a sense of belonging to Li Tang than the people of Luoyang. Upon hearing this news, the crowd cheered and countless people poured into the streets, as if they had returned to the bustling scene of the Lantern Festival.
Fan Chuan and Du Jingting rushed to Vermilion Bird Avenue and set up an incense table in front of the heads of the five Zhang brothers. For a moment, they wept.
Soon after, the crown prince, Li Xian, appointed Yuan Shuji, the Minister of the Prince of Xiang's household, as assistant minister of the Wind Pavilion and minister of peace. He sent ten envoys with the crown prince's imperial seal to comfort the ten provinces.
If Wu Zetian continued to hold the title of empress, it would be very beneficial to the smooth transition of power. They could use Wu Zetian's name to resolve many outstanding problems and use the emperor's name to deal with matters that were not suitable for the crown prince to handle.
But because of Zhang Jianzhi and Huan Yanfan's decision, the three-month transition period was shortened to one day. On the 24th day of the first month, the court announced the abdication of the empress and the abdication of the crown prince. This not only made many of the plans impossible to implement, but also created a new problem.
The sudden change in the plan of military remonstrance immediately caused a split in the remonstrance group. The furious Wu Sansi angrily reported his illness to the crown prince and shut himself in. All the sons of the Wu clan with military positions were sent to the army, and even Wu Youyi was released to the Featherwood Guard.
The Prince of Xiang, Li Dan, and Princess Taiping also reported their illness to the crown prince. For a moment, Li Xian was badly battered. But he could not resist the temptation of immediately ascending the throne. He had already promised Zhang Jianzhi and the others, and he had already announced it to the entire country. How could he go back on his word?
Helpless, Li Xian could only lower himself and personally pay a visit. He first visited the Prince of Xiang's estate, then Princess Taiping's estate, and finally the Prince of Liang's estate.
In his private conversation with his brother and sister, Li Xian did his utmost to clear his name and push all the blame onto Zhang Jianzhi, Cui Xuanhui, and their group. The Prince of Xiang and Princess Taiping knew that since this matter had already become a fact, it was impossible to force the Crown Prince to change his mind. It was just that they found it hard to calm down and were a little emotional.
Now that the crown prince had taken the initiative to visit them, put down his pride, and begged them with soft words, the two of them grumbled for a while before agreeing to attend the coronation ceremony. However, Wu Sansi did not give Li Xian any face. No matter how much Li Xian tried to flatter him, Wu Sansi refused to come out.
Although the Prince of Xiang, Li Dan, was in control of the Southern Office Guard, and as long as he agreed to attend the coronation ceremony and support the Crown Prince's ascension, the safety of the nine cities could be guaranteed, Li Xian was not at ease. Even though Zhang Jianzhi had repeatedly assured him that the Wu clan would not dare to break the great taboo of the world and cause trouble, he was still on edge.
Taiping of Princess of Dynasty Wu Dynasty, of Wu of Dynasty of the Taiping of the Dynasty. Wu Wu Wu of Palace, of the Taiping of Dynasty. Princess Taiping had no choice but to agree. After some negotiation, Wu Sansi reluctantly agreed.
These matters were naturally only known to Li Xian, his siblings, and Wu Sansi. At the very least, in the eyes of outsiders, the crown prince's ascension to the throne was expected by all.
Although the coronation ceremony on the twenty-fifth day of the first month was rather crude because of its haste, the presence of so many powerful figures naturally made people feel that the crown prince's ascension to the throne was well-deserved. However, a few officials and Confucian scholars familiar with the etiquette of the Imperial Court were still able to discern some special flavor.
There were some matters that should be announced on the day of the coronation, such as how the new emperor would deal with the previous emperor since he was abdicating. When the new emperor ascended the throne, what year would be decided, what major state policies would be decided by the new emperor. When the new emperor was established, what appointments and transfers would be made to the civil and military officials …
And all of this, because Li Xian's ascension to the throne was too hasty, and it involved important interests, the coup group had yet to reach an agreement and could not immediately announce it. As a result, after 20 years, when Li Xian ascended to the throne again, he actually only announced one thing at the ascension ceremony.
And this matter should have been the last and not the only one in the usual procedure on the day of the Emperor's ascension to the throne, and that was to grant amnesty to the people!
Li Xian announced that since the beginning of the Civilization era (684 AD, the year Li Xian stepped down from the throne), all those who had been convicted, except for Xu Jingye, Li Zhen, Li Chong, Li Chong, the leader of the rebellion, as well as the diehard followers of Zhang Yi and Zhang Yi, would be cleared of their crimes. Those who had lost their children would all be pardoned.
Zhang Yizhi's party could be pardoned, but why couldn't Xu Jingye, the Prince of Yue Li Zhen and the Prince of Langya Li Chong, the two hot-blooded princes of the Tang Dynasty, be pardoned? In the end, it was because Zhang Jianzhi's sudden persuasion had disrupted the best rhythm for the succession of power.
Perhaps Zhang Jianzhi was trying to suppress the power of the royal family and the relatives of the emperor, or perhaps he was trying to allow the group of meritorious officials to obtain the greatest political benefits. As for what he was thinking, outsiders had no way of knowing. But his hasty persuasion, not leaving a buffer period for the coup, was definitely a big political mistake.
These three people, who should be rehabilitated the most, could not be rehabilitated because of Zhang Jianzhi's rash advance. This was because these three people had raised the banner of rebellion against Wu Zetian, and Li Xian had ascended the throne in the name of Wu Zetian's abdication. If he rehabilitated the three "traitors" who had raised the banner of rebellion against Wu Zetian, wouldn't that be indirectly admitting that he was also opposed to Wu Zetian?
He couldn't do something like slapping himself in the face. Whoever started the trouble should untie it. These cases should have been resolved during the period when the Crown Prince was in charge of the country, and he should have found an opportunity to "issue an edict" in the name of Empress Wu Zetian to pardon them. But because of the sudden change in plans, there were far more unresolved matters.
On the 26th day of the first month, Wu Zetian moved out of the Emperor's palace and moved to Shangyang Palace.
On the 27th day of the first month, Li Xian led the civil and military officials to Shangyang Palace to pay their respects to Wu Zetian and was honored with the title "Great Saint Emperor Zetian." In order to express his filial piety to his mother, Li Xian publicly announced that every ten days, he would lead the officials to pay their respects. Presumably, Wu Zetian, who had been stripped of her power and placed under house arrest in the inner courtyard, did not like this arrangement. However, she had no right to ask for anything and naturally had no right to object.
A new dynasty was in the air. A new Emperor had ascended the throne, so it was impossible for the officials to not move at all. Besides, everyone knew that this time, the Crown Prince had ascended the throne ahead of time under the background of purging the Emperor's corrupt officials and executing the second Zhang. Thus, there would definitely be meritorious officials. The rewards for meritorious officials could not be dragged on endlessly.
Thus, the busiest matter for the five officials, including Zhang Jianzhi, Jing Hui, and Huan Yanfan, who controlled the court, was to discuss the distribution of meritorious officials.
On the 28th day of the first month, the first list of meritorious officials was finally released.
The first to be rewarded was the group of meritorious officials who had planned the coup. Li Xian announced that Zhang Jianzhi would be the Minister of Xia, a third-rank Luantai of the same Phoenix Pavilion. Cui Xuanwei would be the Inner Custodian, Yuan Shuji would be the third-rank Luantai of the same Phoenix Pavilion. Jing Hui and Huan Yanfan would both be Na Yan. The five people above would all be the Prime Ministers and would all be conferred the title of Duke.
Li Duozuo was already the Great General of the Yulin Guards and could no longer be promoted. He was conferred the title of Prince of Liaoyang. Wang Tongjiao, as the Emperor's son-in-law and the main meritorious official, was conferred the title of Right Thousand-Ox General and conferred the title of Duke of Langye. Li Zhan was conferred the title of Great General of the Yulin Guards and conferred the title of Duke of Zhao. Yang Fan was conferred the title of Great General of the Yulin Guards and conferred the title of Loyal to Marquis Wu.
From the title conferred on Yang Fan, Li Xian had not forgotten the great kindness of rescuing him from Fangzhou and bringing him back to the capital. On the contrary, in this rebellion, Li Xian and the group of meritorious officials did not think that Yang Fan had played any key role. However, Li Xian still allowed him to command a thousand cavalry, which could be considered as an expression of his full trust.
In terms of official rank, Yang Fan had almost climbed to the peak of the military rank. Above him were only the ranks of Great General of Light Cavalry, Supporting the State, and Guarding the Army. Of these, the first two were just empty titles. Among those who wielded real power, Yang Fan was only a single step away from the top and conferred the title of Guarding Great General.
As for the other meritorious officials, because the various factions were fiercely fighting over every inch of land and were unwilling to give up on a single spot, they had yet to come to a conclusion. However, from the fact that they had first conferred meritorious officials and then Zhang Jianzhi and the others had all been conferred the title of Duke and paid homage to Prime Minister, it could be seen that Zhang Jianzhi's persuasion had achieved absolute results. The court was now under their control.
After conferring meritorious officials, it was time to confer rewards on the members of the imperial family and other meritorious officials who had participated in the coup d 'état. The first to be conferred were naturally the Prince of Xiang and Princess Taiping, who had contributed the most.
The Prince of Xiang, Li Dan, was conferred the title of Governor of Bingzhou, Great General of the Left Guard, Commander of the Crown Prince's Guards, Protector-General of the North, and Prince of Xiang. He was conferred the title of Prince of Xiang of the An Kingdom. Princess Taiping was conferred the title of Princess Zhenguo, conferred five thousand households, and was conferred the title of Princess Zhenguo. One was in the An Kingdom and the other was in the Zhenguo. One could imagine the status of these two siblings in the jianghu.
As for Wu Sansi … unfortunately, due to the lack of time and the failure of the negotiations, this old man was placed in the next batch of meritorious officials to be conferred.
The above conferments were naturally not decided by Li Xian alone. Instead, they were led by Zhang Jianzhi, Cui Xuanhui, and the others who had been in control of the political power since the day of the political coup d 'état. It was also their decision to exclude the Wu Clan.
In their view, the Emperor had already ascended to the throne and the overall situation was settled. The Southern Office was firmly under control, and the Northern Office was also being divided and infiltrated. The Wu Clan was no longer a concern. In time, they could easily kick the Wu Clan out of the political arena and no longer need to care about their feelings.
After being used, Wu Sansi was thrown aside like a rag. This infuriated him. He first ground his teeth in anger, and then he sharpened his knife in anger. At first, they had said that they would kill the Second Zhang, but in the end, that old bastard Zhang Jianzhi changed his mind at the last minute and helped the Crown Prince ascend to the throne ahead of time. Okay, he endured it.
Then, in order to get him to agree to attend the coronation ceremony, Li Xian, that bastard, personally came to him and said all kinds of nice things in a low voice. Then he brought up Princess Taiping to plead for him. He gave him face and attended the coronation ceremony. Now it was time to reward them according to their contributions, but he was put in the second tier. "Uncle can bear it, aunt can't bear it!"
Putting aside the angry Wu Sansi, there was another great meritorious official who helped Li Xian ascend to the throne this time. This person had made great contributions and had to be rewarded. But after the meritorious officials were rewarded according to their contributions, when it was her turn, the Emperor and the five Prime Ministers were in a dilemma because they didn't know how to reward her …
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
