Various news about the Western Expedition continued to reach Chang'an.
The emperor arrived in Western Xinjiang.
The emperor prepares for a decisive battle with Luo Luo.
The emperor defeated the Luoluo army...
The people of Chang'an cheered for joy.
The emperor went deep into the territory of Luoluo and made great progress along the way.
The emperor captured the Luoluo capital.
This is the destruction of the country.
The people in Chang'an were all numb, but Liu Qing was complaining. He felt that the emperor was clearly enjoying such a life and left this stall to his old bones.
It's time for you to come back.
Liu Qing stood on the top of the city and said tremblingly to the people around him: "I am old. Please tell your majesty that if you don't come back, I will fall."
…
The emperor returned in the early summer of the ninth year of Yongde.
The prince returned first.
The prince looked completely different from before he left for the battle. He was mature and majestic, and his eyes were bright. Liu Qing burst into tears and said that he seemed to have seen His Majesty in Chenzhou back then.
The prince returned and order in the court was quickly restored.
But what about the emperor?
Everyone looked at the prince.
…
The emperor was sending Helian Guang off.
"If your mother-in-law doesn't want to come, then I'll tie her up."
"My mother-in-law will beat me up when she's angry!" He Lianguang felt that he was digging a hole for himself.
"When we get to the sea, she can only beat me!"
"Okay then!" He Lianguang agreed immediately.
…
The emperor is back.
The whole of Chang'an was cheering for him.
The queen blamed him for taking too long.
"This is my last expedition in the Tang Dynasty." The last three words were spoken very softly, and the queen, who was immersed in the joy of her husband's return, did not hear them clearly.
After washing away the dust of conquest, the emperor began to take big actions. At the end of that year, the emperor made a big move to adjust the officials of the world. Those old ministers who had followed him for many years retired when they should, and changed places when they should...
At first, many people thought that the emperor wanted to hide his talents, but then they saw that most of the ministers who took over were young and promising, and most of them were from the prince's lineage, and then they realized...
The emperor is paving the way for the prince.
What is he trying to do?
Everyone was puzzled, but no one dared to ask the emperor, who was becoming more and more majestic at this moment, and finally thought of Ning Yayun.
"Hey! Why bother bothering me!"
Ning Yayun's favorite thing now is playing the piano. His piano skills have already reached a state of perfection. Just stroking the strings can make people intoxicated.
An old friend from outside the country listened to the song and sighed after returning, saying that Ning Yayun entered Taoism with the piano and opened up a new path of cultivation. She could be called the most outstanding master in hundreds of years.
Ning Yayun couldn't bear the harassment from everyone, so she had to go to the palace to see the emperor.
…
The emperor is very leisurely.
"I have left most of the affairs of the court to A Liang. You have watched that child grow up, and you know what his character is. I can rest assured that I will leave the Tang Dynasty to him."
"Are you...really going to quit?"
The outside world has long forgotten the emperor's original words, but Ning Yayun still remembers them.
The emperor nodded, "I hate this palace deeply. Living in it is not enjoyment, but a prison."
"Power can make people intoxicated in a small area." Ning Yayun said.
"I have always been the young man who likes to run around in the Dongyu Mountains, even if I am a little bit in the middle. I have suffered myself for many years for the sake of this world and for A-Liang. Now my mission is completed. I can leave the world to A-Liang with peace of mind.
"
"So, where do you want to go?"
"Overseas, the headmaster of Zhongzhou, do you want to come with us?" The emperor said bewilderedly: "That place is sparsely populated and the landscapes are all pristine..."
"I..." Lao Shuaiguo was obviously moved.
"Leave metaphysics to them and follow me out to sea. Wouldn't it be comfortable to build another metaphysics overseas?"
"this……"
Qin Ze looked at Ning Yayun who was moved, covered his mouth and snickered.
He glanced at Han Shitou, who had gray hair and beard, and stepped forward to give him a hand.
After seeing Ning Yayun off, Yang Xuan turned around and said, "Shitou, you stay in the palace to recuperate. With A Liang here, everything will be at ease."
Han Shitou raised his head and took a breath, "Your Majesty, I realize that my time is not far away. This is the end! I dream about these things every night... This is the late emperor summoning me!"
"You..." The emperor frowned.
"I want to go to Gongling to stay with the late emperor for a while. After my death... Your Majesty," Han Shitou knelt down.
"Get up!" The emperor gave him a hand but did not move him. His cultivation level was not even as good as that of the queen, let alone Han Shitou.
Han Shitou said: "Your Majesty, I have a luxury wish to be buried beside Gongling Mausoleum after my death. Just dig a hole wherever I want. I want to continue to follow the late Emperor after my death, so I beg your Majesty's permission."
The emperor looked at him and said for a long time: "Okay!"
Han Shitou happily packed up and set out on the second day.
He looks like he is ten years younger.
"This is his obsession." The queen stood beside the emperor and said, "He spent his whole life writing one word, loyalty."
"It's a pity that I couldn't repay him with anything." The emperor felt a little sad.
"Perhaps the late emperor will repay him!"
The emperor looked sideways at the queen, "Get ready for A Liang's wedding!"
"so early?"
"I have returned to Chang'an, and Luoluo has just begun to be in chaos...those small countries will not feel the threat, and will covet Zhongzhou again. I must set off quickly, otherwise, King Wei will not be able to hold on for long."
"Who are you taking with you?" the queen asked.
"You," the emperor said, "take Erlang and Sanlang away."
"Are you paving the way for Ah Liang?"
"The next few decades will establish the future pattern of the Tang Dynasty. Once the pattern is set, the Tang Dynasty will rule the world. For this reason, I will not leave any hidden dangers to A Liang."
"Are you... Erlang and the others willing?"
"Erlang's wild nature has not been revealed in front of you as a mother. That child... many times on the way back... I gave him a bandit number and let him go."
Queen: "..."
"A Ning, I know you are unwilling." The emperor said: "If I stay in Chang'an, even if I retire, the life of the Supreme Emperor will still be free. But what can you and I do? Take care of A Liang's children in the palace? Like this
Are you willing to live a life where you can see the end in sight?"
The Queen nodded, "Yes."
emperor:"……"
The emperor cheered up and said, "There are many wonderful places overseas, such as waterfalls that are as high as the sky, red canyons, huge birds... we even... haven't my father-in-law been depressed at home all the time? Take him there!"
Just one year before the emperor's expedition, Zhou Zun became an official.
I don’t know whether the emperor was sincere or pretending to retain her three times... It gave my father-in-law enough face.
After returning home, Zhou Zun accompanied Zhou Qin in his twilight years, and the father and son spent more time in silence.
After Zhou Qin left last year, Zhou Zun became even more lonely. The Queen occasionally went home to visit, and found that he smiled like a kind grandfather and loved to ask about his children.
Zhou Ning was moved.
"Can you bring so many people?"
"The ship is big," the emperor assured.
After conquering the Southern Zhou Dynasty, the emperor ordered the research on new warships, the kind that could withstand waves. Several types have been produced over the years, and the latest one is said to be able to withstand storms.
"This time..."
"I can come back." The emperor was full of nonsense.
"But Ah Liang is alone in Chang'an!"
"I was alone back then. Then, wouldn't he soon become two or three people?"
"Wedding?"
"Yes! Wedding!"
The prince is getting married.
On the fifth day after the emperor returned, Yi Niang went to the Wang family on behalf of the emperor.
The Wang family had nothing to say and nodded in silence. They just felt that the dowry was a bit shabby. Yi Niang said that too many dowries for the prince's women would be a disaster.
These words implicitly pointed out the emperor's attitude: the prince's woman, and even the prince's woman must be of ordinary origin.
Then don't even think about women from wealthy families.
The Wang family thought the wedding would take its time, but the emperor's vigorous and decisive actions once again caught them off guard.
The prince's wedding was held in midsummer. This was achieved only after the emperor repeatedly urged it. For this reason, the officials of the Ministry of Rites often slandered the emperor.
Weddings are very lively.
There are also many guests coming.
Those who were interested noticed that the attitudes of the envoys from foreign vassals who came to congratulate him changed greatly. When they faced the emperor, the fear in their eyes was impressive.
There was even an envoy from a small country who knelt down when he saw the emperor.
After the prince's wedding was over, the emperor couldn't wait to pretend to be sick in court, saying that he had been fighting for many years and needed to recuperate...
He also moved out the queen, who was very skilled in medicine and said very seriously that he must rest, otherwise...
The ministers were a little uneasy.
Although the prince showed pleasing abilities, they were still accustomed to governing the world under the emperor's rule.
Will there be any problems if we change the emperor?
This is not only a concern for the ministers, but also a concern for everyone in the world.
But the emperor simply lay down.
He won't come to court.
This is such a shame!
Finally, Liu Qing, who had gone home to wait for death, came back again and said, "Don't push him anymore. If you push him again, he will really run away quietly. It'll be up to you what you do then."
have to!
The ministers could only bow their heads.
An emperor who abdicates should be depressed, but at the ceremony, the emperor could not hide his pride and joy.
At the end of the ninth year of Yongde, Emperor Li Xuan passed the throne to Prince Li Qi.
…
"You said His Majesty abdicated the throne?"
Luocheng has now become a complete port city, with countless ships coming and going every day. Three years ago, the DPRK set up the Municipal Shipping Department to manage Luocheng full-time and collect taxes.
"yes!"
Two clerks stood on the pier, waiting for a fleet to dock. The next step was to inspect the goods, value them, and collect taxes.
"Your Majesty is still in his prime! Now that he has abdicated, where can he go?"
"It's because he's not in good health. I guess he's taking care of the children in the palace!"
"Trying with grandson with pleasure?"
"The fleet is coming, no, this is a warship!"
The navy is back.
The huge fleet of ships slowly docked.
Several generals got off the ship, and the officials of the Shipping Department were about to come forward to say hello when they saw them saluting behind them.
"I have met His Majesty!"
Everyone turned around and saw the emperor... no, they saw a middle-aged man walking around surrounded by others. In the distance, there were a group of women and children of different ages.
"I am the Supreme Emperor!"
This is the emperor who everyone said was raising the new emperor's children in the palace.
"I've met the Supreme Emperor!"
The Supreme Emperor nodded, "Are you all ready?"
A general stepped forward. He glanced at the emperor quickly, with unconcealed enthusiasm in his eyes, and lowered his head, "The navy is ready to attack. I would like to ask your majesty for instructions on the purpose of this trip."
The emperor looked at the end of the sky and showed a smile that was familiar to countless opponents in the past.