Tibet

At three o'clock in the morning, two thousand inner guards surrounded an independent mansion covering an area of ​​about three acres in the west of Yunyang County. A general came forward to report to Liu Wutong: "There is a group of Japanese samurai living inside, just like wild dogs. When we shout, they shout desperately and throw flying knives at us."

"Are you sure they are Japanese samurai?"

"Confirmed!"

Liu Wutong nodded and ordered coldly: "Light the fire and burn them!"

"Yes!"

The general ran back, and in just a moment, countless torches and gunpowder arrows were thrown into the courtyard, and hundreds of inner guards threw thin-skinned pottery jars filled with kerosene into the courtyard.

The courtyard was filled with thick smoke and flames, and the raging fire soon engulfed the entire courtyard.

Two thousand inner guards surrounded the courtyard and waited with crossbows, but until the end, no one escaped.

The fire lasted until noon the next day. The three-acre courtyard was burned to ashes, leaving only some ruins. The internal guards conducted intensive searches and soon found the charred bodies one by one, laying them in several rows on the ground.

After searching three times in a row, even the cellar was searched, and no new bodies were found, the search was ended.

"General, a total of 25 bodies were found, all burned to charcoal, and their identities were difficult to identify!"

Liu Wutong nodded, which was exactly the same as Su Qi's confession. There were only 25 Japanese assassins in the courtyard, and they did not contact the outside world. Someone came to deliver them food every afternoon. It was only two days, and there would be no changes.

"Notify the county government to clean up the aftermath, and the army will retreat!"

After leaving a pile of mess to the county government, the two thousand internal guards jumped on their horses and galloped towards Chang'an.

The county magistrate came with a large group of yamen runners. Looking at the charred corpses and broken walls on the ground, the county magistrate was overwhelmed. Fortunately, they were all Japanese assassins, so there was no need to distinguish the bodies. He ordered the bodies to be sent outside the city for burial.

The fire in the house was registered as an accident.

When it was the last day of the year, Empress Dowager Zhang issued an abdication edict, officially announcing that the young emperor could not govern the Tang Dynasty due to physical reasons, and announced his abdication to the world.

Empress Dowager Zhang also issued a second edict of ascension, saying that Regent Li Ye was brave and wise, had good governance, and was a legitimate royal descendant of the Tang Dynasty Li family, and could succeed the throne of the Tang Dynasty.

Immediately afterwards, the Political Affairs Hall and the Military and Political Council also issued a formal statement, unanimously supporting Regent Li Ye to succeed the throne of the Tang Dynasty.

On the first day of the first lunar month, just after dawn, the Jingyang Bell on the Hanyuan Hall rang. The bell sounded clear and loud, spreading throughout the city, announcing the official start of the emperor's enthronement ceremony.

The people of the whole city cheered, and hundreds of thousands of people flocked to Danfeng Gate from all directions to witness the emperor's enthronement ceremony.

From Danfeng Gate to Zichen Gate, thousands of huge colorful curtains were hung on both sides. The morning breeze blew and the curtains swayed, which was very majestic and spectacular.

Under each colorful curtain stood a ceremonial soldier holding a long weapon.

"Dong-dong-dong-dong"

As the low drum sounded, the chime music above the Dragon Tail Road of Hanyuan Hall started playing, slowly opening the prelude to the enthronement ceremony.

On the long imperial bridge leading from Danfeng Gate to Hanyuan Hall Square, the new emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Li Ye, came to Hanyuan Hall Square under the escort of two thousand armored cavalrymen. Thousands of ministers were already standing in line on the square.

Li Ye wore a nine-chapter dragon robe, a flat crown on his head, red shoes on his feet, a ribbon and a jade sceptre, and slowly walked up to the enthronement platform. All officials bowed to the ground.

Li Ye first worshipped heaven and earth, burned incense and prayed, and thousands of ministers followed him to kneel and worship heaven and earth.

Then Li Lin, a clan elder, read out the empress dowager's edict and the statements of all officials, explaining the reason for the emperor's abdication. When the emperor grew up, he was found to have intellectual disabilities and could not govern the world, so a new emperor was needed.

Regent Li Ye was wise and brave, and he saved the Tang Dynasty from collapse and rebuilt the Tang Dynasty. His achievements were unparalleled, and he should be made emperor.

Li Ye accepted the empress dowager's edict and the eight treasures of the emperor.

Li Ye then raised the eight seals of the emperor one by one. Every time he raised a seal, all officials knelt and shouted, "Long live your majesty!"

When Li Ye raised the last imperial seal, all officials bowed three times and kowtowed nine times, "Long live your majesty! Long live! Long, long live!"

Accepting the eight treasures of the emperor on the throne meant that Li Ye officially became the emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

Then, Li Ye walked into the Hanyuan Hall, sat on the dragon couch, and accepted the congratulations of all officials.

The enthronement ceremony is divided into three steps. The most important one is the first step, which is to worship heaven and earth on the enthronement altar and accept the emperor's seal. If it is abdication, the old emperor needs to go to the altar and hand over the seal.

But Li Ye is not changing the dynasty, nor abdication, but succession. This is the same as the old emperor abdicating as the emperor, so the succession does not need so many cumbersome ceremonies to prove the legitimacy of his throne.

The ceremony of the first emperor Li Heng's enthronement in Lingwu was much simpler. There was almost no first step of enthronement and worship of heaven and earth. He directly started the second step, accepting more than a hundred officials in the temporary palace, and then sending people to announce it to the world.

This is also the reason why Li Heng has always been worried. After collecting the eight treasures, he wanted to make up for another enthronement ceremony. All preparations were almost done, but in the end it was not held because he fell ill. All the preparations saved Li Ye money.

The second step was to accept the kowtows and congratulations of all officials, and the third step was to accept the congratulations of the people of Chang'an.

In fact, the ceremony was not long, about a quarter of an hour, a total of three quarters of an hour, but it took several months to prepare.

Accompanied by high-ranking officials above the third rank, Li Ye climbed up the Danfeng Gate. The square outside the Danfeng Gate was already crowded with people, and hundreds of thousands of people filled the square and the surrounding streets.

When Li Ye appeared on the top of the city wall, hundreds of thousands of people were excited, and the cheers were like a tsunami, "Long live the emperor! Long live!"

Li Ye waved to the people. At this moment, Li Ye's eyes were a little wet. At the age of 30, he finally ascended the throne of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

The coronation ceremony was over, and then the traditional New Year's banquet was held. The emperor entertained all the officials in the court. This year coincided with the emperor's coronation. The New Year's banquet was more lively and larger in scale. Many low-ranking officials who were not eligible to attend the banquet in previous years also got the opportunity to attend the New Year's banquet, toasting their superiors and increasing their chances of appearance.

This is actually also a kind of official social interaction. The court held a New Year's banquet on the one hand to thank the officials for their hard work last year, and also to encourage the new year.

But the unspoken unspoken rule is also to hope to resolve the old grievances in the officialdom, unite in the new year, and contribute to the rejuvenation of the Tang Dynasty.

In the afternoon, hundreds of cavalrymen rushed to various states with the imperial edict printed by the court to announce to local officials that the new emperor of the Tang Dynasty had ascended the throne and announced that the new year would be the first year of Jiaxing.

The coronation ceremony was over, but the celebration in Chang'an continued. All the artist groups in Chang'an took to the streets to perform parades. The people of Chang'an had just attended the coronation ceremony of the new emperor in the morning, and in the afternoon they took their wives and children out to watch the parade.

The city was beating gongs and drums, and the laughter was deafening. The celebration of the new emperor's coronation finally reached its climax in the evening.

The people of the city ran to watch the fireworks display. This was the first time in history. In fact, it was a large gunpowder arrow, which of course would not hurt anyone. It was fired into the sky with a heavy crossbow on the top of the city and exploded in the sky. The gunpowder was mixed with iron powder and white sugar, just like a blooming peony, which was particularly bright and beautiful in the night sky.

The fireworks of the Tang Dynasty were relatively simple, but they were numerous and constantly soared into the sky. They were colorful and lasted for a quarter of an hour, which made millions of Chang'an people intoxicated and applauded.

Li Ye's accession to the throne was just a change in status, but there was no change in the court system and operation. If there must be a change, it was that the title changed. He could no longer be called Your Highness, but Your Majesty.

After Li Ye ascended the throne, he first made a series of canonizations.

First, the abdicated little emperor was renamed the Prince of Jiyin. Because he was mentally retarded, he continued to be raised in the palace. His living arrangements were taken care of by the Zongzheng Temple. The queen mother also formally abdicated and was renamed the Lady of Luoguo, temporarily living in the palace to take care of her son.

Li Ye then canonized his grandfather Li Linfu as Emperor Wenzong, honored his father Li Dai as the Supreme Emperor, his mother Pei as the Empress Dowager, and his grandmother Mu as the Grand Empress Dowager.

Then it was the concubines' turn. Dugu was canonized as the queen, Liangdi Yang was canonized as Huifei, Liangdi Liu was canonized as Defei, Liangdi Xiao Dugu was canonized as Shufei, Liangyuan Xiao Shen was canonized as Zhaoyi.

The eldest son Li Tan was canonized as the crown prince, the other sons were all princes, and the daughter was canonized as a princess.

In the room, Li Ye and his wife Dugu Xinyue sat opposite each other and drank. Dugu Xinyue smiled and said, "I am very happy that Your Majesty listened to my advice and did not make Yuhuan a noble concubine."

Li Ye smiled and waved his hand, "When we are alone, you should still call me husband. I think this is husband and wife, not monarch and minister."

Dugu Xinyue nodded, "I also think it's easier to call husband."

Li Ye smiled and said, "You can hide it for a while, but you can't hide it for a lifetime. If one day it is exposed, it will be normal to make Huifei, but two consecutive noble concubines will be laughed at by future generations."

"That's the reason."

Li Ye put his arm around his wife's waist and let her sit in his arms , Dugu Xinyue stretched out her finger and gently tapped her husband's nose and said with a smile: "You are already the emperor, but you are still so frivolous!"

Li Ye smiled and said: "It is easy to change the country, but it is difficult to change one's nature!"

Dugu Xinyue just said it, her husband still liked her so much, her heart was like honey, she simply hugged her husband's neck and said coquettishly: "I still want a daughter, you have to work hard tonight!"

Li Ye raised the wine glass and smiled: "Drink another glass, let's go to bed and give birth to a little princess!"

Dugu Xinyue raised the wine glass. Although they were an old couple, Dugu Xinyue was still embarrassed and gently raised the glass and clinked it with her husband.