August 8:
Li Yuan officially issued an edict, stating "Heaven favors virtue, and the mandate is with King Qin," formally deciding to pass the throne to Li Shimin.
A tug-of-war between father and son took place within the entire Tang court.
Li Shimin refused for the first ti;
He refused a second ti;
Even Li Yuan was a bit annoyed. Although he understood Li Shimin’s intentions, he still felt slightly angry.
The third ti—
He decided to issue an imperial decree first, ordering Li Shimin not to refuse, before once again issuing the edict of succession.
This ti, Li Shimin did not refuse.
August 9, Xian De Hall, Taiji Palace.
Li Shimin officially accepted the congratulations of all officials, announced the new era na as "Zhenguan", appointed Consort Zhangsun as Empress, the eldest son Li Chengqian as Crown Prince, granted a general amnesty, and officially ascended to the throne as Emperor.
A brand-new era officially began on this day.
And on the following day,
Li Shimin announced the abolishnt of the old Wude policies, implented the new Zhenguan policies, and made a series of personnel appointnts throughout the court.
It was only at this mont that the ministers fully realized how decisive Li Shimin truly was.
This is the invincible spirit of Li Shimin.
As soon as he ascended to the throne, Fang Fu directly promulgated new policies and made personnel appointnts.
He was not afraid of displeasing the ministers, leading to chaos.
No one could hinder his determination to establish a prosperous era, nor was he willing to waste any ti on these matters.
He appointed Zhangsun Wuji as Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Duke of Qi;
Fang Xuanling as Minister of the Secretariat, Duke Xing;
Du Ruhui as Minister of the Ministry of War, Duke of Cai;
Yuchi Gong as Right Martial Marquis General, Duke Wu;
...
All those civil and military officials who followed him in the past formally entered the power core of the Tang court at this mont, forming the foundation of the Zhenguan period.
This even included officials such as Wei Zheng who once followed Li Jiancheng.
This is Li Shimin’s extraordinariness!
As long as he recognized a person’s remarkable ability, he would cast aside past grievances.
Clouds of turmoil rose throughout the court.
He did not give the Gu Clan any explicit rewards, only promoted them according to their rits, nor did he interfere with the Grand Tutor’s authority.
This led many to have other thoughts.
They believed Li Shimin did this because the Gu Clan did not openly support him initially.
But none knew that the rewards Li Shimin bestowed upon the Gu Clan had long been given, only that they had not been fully expressed.
The new era officially arrived.
Compared to the reforms carried out by Gu Yu in the past, the new policies personally implented by Emperor Li Shimin were much more thorough.
He re-divided the provinces and abolished relevant officials.
Unlike the original history,
The current Li Shimin, having traversed more lands, understood the weariness of the common people far better than in the original history.
With Julu and the templates of previous prosperous eras at hand,
He was also clearer on how to enable the people’s recuperation.
Land distribution;
Clean governance;
Criminal law;
Comrce;
During these years in Chang’an, Li Shimin was not only thinking about how to resolve his crises but also how to make the empire prosperous and create a flourishing age.
He had long conceived all these plans.
Although detailed supplentation was still needed from Zhangsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Wei Zheng, and others,
As emperor, Li Shimin only needed to point out a general direction, which was enough!
Actually, Li Shimin wanted to summon Gu Yu back to the court.
He was well aware of Gu Yu’s talents.
If only Gu Yu could return, he could undoubtedly cooperate with him, the Emperor, to swiftly create an unprecedented prosperous era.
But unfortunately, Gu Yu could no longer bear it.
His entire life was ill-fated, and he spent most of it finding a future path for the Gu Clan.
Compared to other exceptional mbers of the Gu Clan, his impact on the world was not as direct, but his contributions to the whole family were imasurable.
He placed all his hopes in his descendants.
By now, even Gu Yi believed that Li Shimin was also one of those entrusted by Gu Yu.
If not—
With Gu Yu’s character, he would never have said so much to Li Shimin in Julu and later in Chang’an.
What Li Shimin was doing now may very well have been what Gu Yu envisioned.
Living in the wrong era was Gu Yu’s greatest sorrow in life.
But eting an Emperor like Li Shimin in his later years and descendants who could carry out his wishes was also Gu Yu’s fortune.
At least, soone could help him complete everything.
Regarding Gu Yu’s health, Li Shimin was equally concerned.
But what could be done?
The root cause of Gu Yu’s weakening body was not illness but his advanced age, sothing even Gu Yi felt helpless about.
Everyone has a ti when their strength is exhausted, and everything Gu Yu did for the family throughout his life had long drained much of his vigor.
Li Shimin remained silent for a long ti after learning all this.
And from that mont on—
He cherished ti even more.
This October;
Li Shimin decided to establish the Imperial Censorate to supervise officials, with divisions like the Tai Yuan, Dian Yuan, and Cha Yuan, and dispatched Imperial Censors to inspect the provinces, sounding a complete integration of the Tang Dynasty’s civil service.
This matter was more significant than ever.
For the officials in the court, this move by Li Shimin truly threatened their vested interests.
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