Li Shimin passed away in May and stopped in the spirit for a hundred days. Now it has entered late autumn. The ginkgo trees in Zhaoling are once again hung with golden leaves, rendering the entire Zhaoling into a golden world.

But it’s strange. The night before the funeral procession arrived at Zhaoling, that is, the night when Li Xiu and the others were resting halfway, a strong north wind suddenly blew, which caused countless ginkgo leaves in Zhaoling. The funeral procession walked into Zhaoling with these golden leaves.

After a night of rest, the next morning, Li Shimin's coffin was officially sent to the tomb and buried with Empress Changsun. The infatuated Concubine Xu Hui and Xu Xian were buried next to the coffin of Li Shimin and his wife, which was considered to fulfill her wish before her death.

After putting down Li Shimin's coffin, the main tomb of Zhaoling also fell into the dragon-breaking stone, and the entire tomb chamber was sealed. Although other imperial concubines would be buried here after their death in the future, they were all in another tomb chamber and were not connected to the main tomb chamber. As the tomb chamber was sealed, it also symbolized that no one could disturb Li Shimin's peace.

However, at the moment when the tomb was sealed, Li Zhi and Li Chengqian and other brothers and sisters were crying bitterly, and all civil and military officials also shouted that "My Emperor" would give Li Shimin the last journey. After the tomb was sealed, Li Zhi held a grand sacrificial ceremony in Zhaoling. When the ceremony ended, the entire funeral came to an end.

After the funeral, it was already late, so everyone could only rest in Zhaoling. Zhaoling occupied a huge area and was a continuous palace complex on the surface. In addition, Li Zhi held sacrifices here every year, so this place was enough to accommodate the funeral team to rest.

However, just that night, Li Zhi suddenly came to visit Li Xiu, which made him stunned. Then he hurried out to greet him. In the end, Li Zhi was alone, and there was no one else to accompany him except a few guards, which surprised him even more.

"Thank you for two days, why don't you rest early?" Li Xiu immediately stepped forward and said, although Li Zhi was his student, the other party has ascended the throne as emperor, so the etiquette between the monarch and the minister cannot be careless.

"Sir, don't be too polite, I can't sleep either, so I want to come to chat with you!" Li Zhi frowned as he spoke, and it seemed that he was worried.

Li Xiu invited Li Zhi to his residence, and then Li Zhi also asked the people around him to retreat, and there were only two teachers and students left in the room. Then Li Zhi said, "Sir, after the funeral ended today, I talked to my elder brother for a few words. Originally, I thought my elder brother suffered a lot after being demoted, so I wanted to add him to Duke, but my elder brother refused me and made a small request to me."

Li Xiu was also stunned when he heard this, because he knew what Li Chengqian and Li Zhi were talking about. Then he hesitated for a moment and said, "Does Chengqian want to go to Jiaozhou?"

"Sir, do you know about this?" Li Zhi couldn't help but ask with wide eyes when he heard Li Xiu's words.

"Yes, I met your elder brother in the Valhalla two days ago. He asked me about my opinion on this matter, but although I understood him, I advised him to consider it carefully." Li Xiu sighed and confessed.

"Sir, understand my brother's idea?" Li Zhi couldn't help but say with surprise when he heard Li Xiu's words, "That's great. I just don't know what my brother really thinks. After all, why did he let a duke do not do it, but he wanted to go to a barbaric place like Jiaozhou. Even if I appointed him as the governor of Jiaozhou, although Jiaozhou is nominally under the jurisdiction of our Tang Dynasty, it is actually more influenced by Linyi Kingdom. After all, it is too far south. The rule of our Tang Dynasty there is very weak. In addition, Linyi Kingdom often rebels, and Jiaozhou is not peaceful."

Jiaozhou, Guangzhou, Guizhou, Rongzhou and Yongzhou were collectively known as the Five Governors of Lingnan. It belonged to the southernmost territory of the Tang Dynasty. Jiaozhou was the southernmost territory of Lingnan. Its ruled area included Guangdong and Guangxi in later generations, as well as the northern and central regions of Vietnam. In the fifth year of Wude, these five states established governors' offices, and each state was stationed in governors' jurisdiction.

During the Sui Dynasty, General Liu Fang once invaded Linyi State south with Jiaozhou as the foundation, and finally captured Linyi's capital and returned. For this reason, Emperor Wen of Sui also set up a Linyi County, but after Liu Fang left, Linyi State quickly restored the country.

Because Linyi and Jiaozhou bordered by Linyi, they were greatly influenced by Linyi, and even the number of Han people in Jiaozhou was not large, and the local natives and Linyi people came from the same source. Therefore, the rule of the Tang Dynasty in Jiaozhou was not stable. Linyi had long coveted Jiaozhou to annex there, but was afraid of the Tang Dynasty's military front and did not dare to take action openly, but the secret actions were constantly.

"Your elder brother's idea is actually very simple. The northern border troubles of the Tang Dynasty have been completely wiped out by the former emperor. However, in addition to the north, the Tang Dynasty has a very vast territory in the south. However, because these lands are too far from Chang'an, the Tang Dynasty's rule there is not stable. Not to mention anything else, taking Quzhou where your elder brother is, the imperial decrees sometimes cannot be conveyed there at all. For example, sweet potatoes and corn have been promoted for so many years, but there is no planting in Quzhou. This shows how weak the Tang Dynasty's rule over the south is."

"I know these things too, but what does this have to do with my elder brother going to Jiaozhou?" Li Zhi asked even more puzzled when he heard this.

"Jiazhou is the southernmost part of the Tang Dynasty, and the imperial court's rule over it is even weaker. In addition, there are Linyi in the south of Jiaozhou, Zhenla, Liuzhao and other local forces in the west. These forces rebel and rebel, and have always threatened the security of the south. It is precisely because your elder brother saw this that he wanted to do his best to stabilize the southern border for you." Li Xiu spoke again at this time.

"So that's it!" Li Zhi finally understood what Li Chengqian was thinking when he heard this, but then he showed a hesitant expression, because Li Chengqian's special identity was not suitable for power. If he was sent to Jiaozhou, it would probably cause criticism. After all, Li Chengqian is different from Li Ke. Li Ke can be in charge of government affairs in Yangzhou, but Li Chengqian cannot.

"Your Majesty, Cheng Qian just wants to contribute to the Tang Dynasty, but this matter does make Your Majesty very embarrassed, and it may cause some other consequences in the future, so Your Majesty must also consider it carefully!" Li Xiu said at this time, but he also kicked this matter to Li Zhi in his words. As for whether he agrees, it depends on his mind and courage.
Chapter completed!