Li Longji knew that his aunt, Princess Taiping, had built up a great power over the years. Ever since his father ascended to the throne, his aunt's power had expanded at an astonishing speed. However, his estimation of his aunt's power was greatly off.
Prime Minister Wei Anshi had been driven out of the court by Princess Taiping. In order to appease Princess Taiping, Li Dan drove Yao Chong and Song Jing out of the capital. In the past, when Princess Taiping chose the Prime Minister, she paid more attention to their talents and the outside world's opinions, so she didn't put too many private people into the Political Affairs Hall.
Ever since she suffered a loss from Yao Chong and Song Jing, Princess Taiping no longer had any scruples in appointing people. She arranged for her own people to fill the three vacancies. At this time, there were seven Prime Ministers in the Political Affairs Hall. Five of them were under Princess Taiping's tutelage. Princess Taiping also placed many private people among the court officials and imperial army generals.
As a result, after Princess Taiping left the capital and went to Puzhou, the officials immediately began to neglect their duties. Li Longji, the Crown Prince who was supervising the state, unexpectedly became so strict that he couldn't even leave the palace. The officials didn't dare to openly defy the decree, but it was easy for them to delay or distort the decree.
Li Longji was full of ambition, but it was as if he had fallen into a swamp. He was trapped in the mud and couldn't move his hands or feet. He was still a young man full of vigor. Facing his aunt's powerless methods, he was both depressed and resentful. In desperation, he angrily wrote to the Emperor, requesting to resign from the position of Crown Prince.
Li Dan didn't care about politics and enjoyed herself in the palace. She had a limited understanding of her son's difficulties, so she immediately rejected his request. Ever since Princess Taiping went to Puzhou, Li Dan had to personally handle the appointment and dismissal of officials above the sixth rank. Li Dan was annoyed by this. Seeing that her son wanted to resign from the position of Crown Prince, she thought there was some rumor in the outside world. In order to avoid further entanglements, Li Dan simply gathered the officials above the third rank and discussed the matter of abdication.
Li Dan said to the officials above the third rank, "I have always been indifferent to worldly affairs and don't value ten thousand. Mother resigned from the position of Crown Prince because she was the heir of the emperor, and the previous emperor declined the suggestion of the emperor's younger brother. Now that I am the Emperor, I am tired of government affairs and intend to officially pass the position to the Crown Prince. What do you all think? "
The officials looked at each other, not knowing what the Emperor was trying to do. Faced with such a sensitive issue, the officials who were loyal to the Crown Prince did not dare to say much, and those who were loyal to Princess Taiping did not dare to rashly oppose it. The officials were silent for a long time without saying a word. Li Dan was rather impatient and asked again, "What do you all think?"
The Palace Attendant Imperial Censor and Feng Yao were not third-ranked officials, but their positions were special. That was why they were present at the Palace Hall. Seeing that the officials did not speak, he did not have much scruples. He spoke: "Your Majesty is still young and has not been on the throne for long. The people of the four seas have only just begun to admire you. How can you abdicate so hastily? I do not think it is appropriate."
As soon as someone took the lead, the rest of the ministers began to talk. One after another, the Taiping Party members came forward to oppose. Seeing the crowd's ferocious mood, Li Dan was rather displeased, but there were too many people opposing, Li Dan did not want to be stubborn, so he had no choice but to drop the idea. But the next day, he still issued an edict, announcing that all military and national affairs would be handled by the Crown Prince, and that the crimes of officials below the fifth rank, as well as their appointment and removal, would be decided by the Crown Prince. The appointment and removal of officials above the fifth rank, as well as their crimes, would have to be discussed with the Crown Prince first, and then reported to him.
In this way, Li Dan was giving Li Longji the power that he had previously given to Princess Taiping. But although Li Longji had been granted great power, the political situation was still very difficult to carry out, because the Taiping Party members seemed to agree on the surface but opposed on the inside, it was still difficult to carry out his orders. This kind of official struggle also could not use force, so Li Longji was helpless.
If he wanted to change the status quo within the official rules, he could only vigorously attack the Taiping Party members and reform the government. But although Princess Taiping had gone to Puzhou, she would return sooner or later. Based on her position in his father's heart, Li Longji could not harden his heart to shed all pretense of cordiality with his aunt. Moreover, even if he threw caution to the wind, out of the seven Prime Ministers of the Political Affairs Hall, five of them were Taiping's disciples. His adjustment of the high-ranking officials would not be approved.
The Tang dynasty spent another four months in this kind of internal friction. During these four months, the imperial court was almost in a state of stagnation. Fortunately, this empire was too large, and only relying on inertia, there would not be any trouble within a year. If there was no accident, this kind of internal friction would continue for a few more months until Li Longji could not bear it anymore and took extreme measures, or Princess Taiping was ready and launched an all-out attack on Li Longji. But an accident quickly changed the situation: Wu Youji was dead!
Wu Youji fell ill not long after he arrived in Puzhou. Originally, it was not serious, but after a period of treatment, his illness became more and more serious, and finally he died.
When the news came out, Li Dan, the emperor who was perfunctory in the court but very concerned about family, immediately conferred Wu Youji the posthumous title of Prince Ding. He let Princess Taiping's eldest son inherit the title, and her second and third sons were also conferred the title of Junwang to show his favor. Immediately, he issued an edict to welcome Princess Taiping back to the capital.
When Princess Taiping arrived, she had been preparing for a counterattack. She wanted to use the officials' indolence to give Li Longji a show of strength, and let Li Longji retreat. As she expected, Li Longji chose to resign from the Crown Prince position out of anger, but unfortunately, it was rejected by Li Dan.
Seeing that her plan had failed, Princess Taiping began to plan another attack on Li Longji. When there was a major flaw in the imperial court, the five Prime Ministers would lead the civil and military officials to impeach the Crown Prince and force him to abdicate. Unexpectedly, because of her husband's death, Li Dan took her back to the capital in advance.
…
Yang Fan kept a low profile when he left the capital, and he also kept a low profile when he returned. Almost no one was alarmed. So it was not until the third day after he returned that some of his friends heard about his return and came to see him. But Princess Taiping was different. When she returned to Chang 'an, the entire imperial court was almost empty.
The Emperor, Li Dan, led the Crown Prince, the princes, and the Prime Ministers to welcome her in person. Many officials of the imperial court also spontaneously went to welcome her. This was the first time that Princess Taiping publicly showed her capital to the Crown Prince, and also a disguised demonstration to Li Longji.
After Princess Taiping returned to the capital, the Emperor held a banquet to welcome her, and then the civil and military officials came one after another to the Princess Taiping's Mansion to greet her. Many officials who were not even qualified to greet Princess Taiping presented greeting cards and gifts to show their sincerity.
Princess Taiping did not feel much about Wu Youji's death. Among her two husbands, only Xue Shao was the man she truly loved, and also the man she was sincerely sad for and cherished. Besides him, only Yang Fan could enter her heart. Wu Youji was just a political marriage her mother forced on her, and she never regarded him as her lifelong partner.
The focus of this marriage was not the union of the man and the woman, but the union of the two political groups they represented. Now, one of the two political groups had risen again, and the other had completely declined, just like their marriage had ended.
Therefore, after Princess Taiping returned to the capital, she did not act like an ordinary woman observing mourning, but quickly and actively prepared for the counterattack against the Crown Prince. This return was a victory for her. She wanted to use the remaining power of the victory to pursue and completely defeat the Crown Prince.
Princess Taiping began to meet the officials frequently, and with each meeting, the counterattack against the Crown Prince began to brew. This arrangement was cleverly concealed by the courteous visits of the officials. As for the mountain of greeting cards and invitations, she threw them all to the Chief of Staff to deal with.
Princess Taiping had no time to pay attention to these things. Because of this, it was not until three days later that Yang Fan's invitation was sent to her. This invitation was mixed in with many ordinary officials' invitations and greeting cards. These days, the Chief of Staff of the Princess's Mansion was also very busy, so he dealt with these things a little late.
Under normal circumstances, he did not need to care too much about these things. He only needed to take time to organize these greeting cards into a list for Princess Taiping's reference, so that she could know which officials were close to her. Naturally, he was not in a hurry.
But he did not expect that there was an invitation from Yang Fan among them. When he saw this invitation, he thought of the rumors about Princess Taiping and General Yang in the marketplace. He could not help but be shocked and broke into a cold sweat. He quickly took this invitation to see Princess Taiping. As he expected, when Princess Taiping saw this invitation, she immediately flew into a rage.
"How dare you! This invitation was sent the day before yesterday, and the date of the invitation was yesterday. You actually sent it today! "
The Chief of Staff was sweating and stammered, "I only thought that those greeting cards and invitations were unimportant matters, so I was negligent. I am guilty, and I am willing to accept punishment from Your Highness!"
Princess Taiping said angrily, "What's the use of punishing you? If you are negligent again, you will lose your position as the Chief of Staff. Leave! "
"Yes, yes, yes!" The Chief of Staff of the Princess's Mansion was sweating and left awkwardly.
Holding the invitation card, Princess Taiping thought that she had failed to meet Yang Fan's invitation three times. She felt a little uneasy. Looking back at the high pile of official letters on the table that needed to be dealt with urgently, Princess Taiping finally made up her mind and ordered loudly, "Guards! Prepare the carriage! "
A light carriage with only three to five guards quietly drove to the Yang Mansion by the Longqing Pool. A bodyguard got off the horse and rushed to the gate. Soon he returned and reported to the person in the carriage, "Princess, the Yang Mansion's people said that General Yang is having a banquet in the 'Golden Hairpin Drunk' and is not in the mansion."
"Golden Hairpin Drunk? Is there also a 'Golden Hairpin Drunk' in Chang 'an? "
Hearing the name of this restaurant, Princess Taiping suddenly fell into a trance, as if she had suddenly returned to Luoyang and returned to the 'Golden Hairpin Drunk' winery more than ten years ago. At that time, the relationship between her and Yang Fan was very subtle. They were like enemies, but also like friends. But because of the passion, compared with the indifference now, she especially missed it.
Princess Taiping gently sighed and ordered, "Go to the 'Golden Hairpin Drunk'!"
The bodyguard was stunned and hesitated, "Princess, I … I don't know where the 'Golden Hairpin Drunk' winery is located."
Princess Taiping was furious, "Bastard! What's the use of your mouth? Don't you know how to ask? "
The bodyguard was as quiet as a cicada in winter. He hurriedly agreed and directed the carriage to leave Longqing Lane.
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