About 60 miles north of Chang'an, there is a very spectacular tomb located, called Xianling, and the burial owner is Li Shimin's father, Li Yuan, the Emperor Gaozu of Tang Dynasty.

Xianling Mausoleum faces north and south, built in imitation of Emperor Guangwu's original mausoleum. The entire mausoleum is large in scale, with soil covering the shape of a bucket, looking like a mountain of earth. The entire mausoleum is rectangular, surrounded by rammed earth as walls, and one door is opened on each wall. There are two stone tigers in front of each door. There are special guardians outside the mausoleum, and no one is allowed to approach it at all.

However, today all the guardians of Xianling were suddenly moved away, and all around were guarded by a special force. In the afternoon, the main entrance to the south was also opened, and then a young man in an ordinary green gown pushed a wheelchair in. Although it was already early in the summer, the old man in the wheelchair was still covered with a thin blanket, and his thin hands on his legs were trembling slightly, and his old eyes were filled with crystal tears.

Li Yan also discovered the strangeness of his father Li Shimin. In fact, just as they approached Xianling, Li Shimin began to become very excited. His expression changed, sometimes sad, sometimes guilty, and various emotions were intertwined. This shows Li Shimin's violent psychological activities.

Li Shimin knew that he had not had much time, so he wanted to settle several unfulfilled wishes in his heart in this limited time. Among them, Yizi's marriage is being planned, and the remaining few things are relatively secret, such as coming to Xianling to worship quietly, and even to keep it secret, in addition to him and Li Yan, the people arranged around him were either his shadow guards or Li Yan's four guards. These people would not reveal what happened today until they died.

In fact, when it comes to Xianling, Li Shimin comes to worship almost every year, but this time he mainly comes to worship his father Li Yuan, but someone else.

Li Yan pushed Li Shimin's wheelchair and slowly moved forward along the bluestone road. He walked to Li Yuan's tomb. At this time, Li Shimin sighed and tears flowed down his cheeks.

"Liulang, put the incense candle on your grandfather, then kowtow a few times, wait outside the tomb, and come in after an hour!" Li Shimin did not wipe the tears from his face, and directly ordered in a hoarse voice.

"Son of my order!" Li Yan opened the box in his hand, took out incense, candles and other items from it, and placed it in front of Li Yuan's mausoleum. There were a few fruits and a pot of wine. Finally, Li Yan followed the etiquette and kowtowed a few times to his grandfather, whom he had never met before. Then he returned to the outside of the mausoleum and waited.

Although the main purpose of this time was not to worship Li Yuan, as a son, since he came to Xianling, he naturally had to worship his father. Moreover, Li Shimin had many places where he had let his father down before. In addition, his life was not long, so he also had many words in his heart that he wanted to talk to his father.

Li Yan had no impression of Li Yuan's grandfather, because the other party passed away just one year before he traveled through time. In history, Li Yuan, the Emperor Gaozu of Tang, has never been very high, and the most criticized thing is that he allowed Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin to compete for the throne. In addition, Li Yuan was also very lustful, especially after ascending the throne and becoming emperor. There were more women in the harem than Li Yan's grandfather, Yang Guang.

However, as Li Yan slowly integrated into this era, his understanding of Li Yuan was no longer limited to later historical books, which made him quickly discover that Li Yuan was not as incompetent as later generations evaluated. There is a very obvious evidence. As the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, he could stand out among the many heroes at the end of the Sui Dynasty. How could he be an incompetent person?

Speaking of which, Li Yuan was actually a man of both civil and military affairs. When he first started his army, he was able to leverage his strength and decided to take Guanzhong first and then pursue the world. It was precisely because of this correct strategic idea that the Tang Dynasty almost swept the world with an invincible momentum in a very short period of time, and had conquered the entire Central Plains in a few years.

However, compared with military achievements, Li Yuan's greatest contribution was actually political. It was his decision that made all aspects of the Tang Dynasty follow the Sui system, and the equal-field system was promulgated and abolished a large number of miscellaneous taxes from the former Sui Dynasty, laying a solid foundation for the future prosperity of the Tang Dynasty. It can be said that if Li Yuan had not been able to have Li Shimin's later Zhenguan rule.

Unfortunately, although Li Yuan was a good emperor, he was not a good father. For Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin, two equally excellent sons, he not only did not play a role in his father's regulation, but also made random wishes, which made the two brothers feel as if they were in trouble. Finally, the "Xuanwu Gate Incident" broke out, which made him lose two sons at once, and even he was forced to abdicate himself, and at the same time he was also incompetent.

Li Yan was thinking about Li Yuan's life outside. An hour passed quickly. When he pushed open the gate of the cemetery and walked in, he found that Li Shimin was still sitting in a wheelchair, with his dry hands covering his wrinkled face, like an ordinary old man, crying silently there.

This was the first time that Li Yan saw his father lose his composure, and he couldn't help but guess what Li Shimin would say to his father Li Yuan's tomb before. At the same time, his footsteps couldn't help but stop, standing more than ten steps away from Li Shimin, wondering if he should step forward?

After a while, Li Shimin realized Li Yan's arrival. Then he turned around and wiped the tears from his face, took a long breath, calmed down his excitement, and then spoke to Li Yan: "Liulang, come and help me up. I want to kowtow to my father and mother."

"Yes!" Li Yan hurried over and responded. Not only was Li Yuan buried in Xianling, but Li Shimin's mother, Empress Dou, who had died early, was moved here to join Li Yuan to bury him. As for what Li Shimin said in front of his parents' tomb just now? Why did he burst into tears? I'm afraid only Li Shimin himself knew about this.

Li Shimin was sick and weak. When Li Yan held his arm, he felt that Li Shimin was very light and he seemed to be holding a handful of bones in his hand. Thinking of the energetic Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Li Yan couldn't help feeling sad.

With the help of Li Yan's support, Li Shimin struggled to stand up from the wheelchair, then slowly moved to his parents' grave, and knelt down slowly with his knees. Only then did Li Yan let go of himself, hold the ground with thin hands, then bent down with difficulty, and kowtowed to his parents a few times. Li Yan naturally did not dare to stand, but also knelt behind Li Shimin, respectfully kowtowing to his grandfather and grandmother.

After Li Shimin stood up, he picked up the wine pot in front of him and filled three glasses of wine. Only after he spoke again: "Father, this is your favorite Jiuqing in Yicheng. My son originally wanted to buy it for you in person, but unfortunately he is weak now and he really can't go there. He had to ask Liulang to send some people to transport some from Yicheng. My son tasted it in person, and it was still the same old taste as back then, and you would definitely like it!"

Li Shimin said, picking up three glasses of wine and sprinkling them in front of Li Yuan's tomb. Then he poured three more glasses, but this time he drank it all by himself. Li Yan was worried about his body and wanted to dissuade him, but he opened his mouth several times, but he still didn't say it. Finally, he just sighed silently.

Li Shimin was also very restrained. After drinking three glasses of wine, he never drank it again. Instead, he began to slowly sprinkle the wine in front of Li Yuan's tomb. When the last drop of wine fell, Li Shimin suddenly sighed and said in an extremely low voice: "Father, I'm sorry!"

Li Yan, who was behind him, was shocked when he heard Li Shimin's last words. At the same time, he looked at his father in front of him with complicated eyes. Although Li Shimin only said five words, there was a huge message in it.

First of all, since Li Shimin came in, he has always called Li Yuan a father, that is to say, he had always faced Li Yuan’s tomb as a son, but in the last sentence, Li Shimin suddenly changed his words to “Father Emperor”. Although it was just a title, it meant a change in Li Shimin’s role. At this time, he was no longer just Li Yuan’s son, but also the emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Shimin apologized to Li Yuan as an emperor, and the meaning of this was very intriguing. The first thing Li Yan thought of was that after the Xuanwu Gate Incident, Li Yuan was forced to abdicate. Although Li Yuan lived for another nine years and gave birth to a bunch of princes and princesses, as an emperor, he was forced to abdicate by his son. Just use his brain to think about it and you can understand how frustrating Li Yuan would be?

In addition, in the Xuanwu Gate Incident, two of Li Yuan's only three legitimate sons died due to killing each other, and Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji were both very favored by Li Yuan. This shows how sad Li Yuan would be. Li Shimin had to bear the most direct responsibility.

As the saying goes, people are good at dying. Li Shimin chose to come to Xianling before he died and then said sorry to Li Yuan in person. This shows that the Xuanwu Gate Incident left an indelible scar in Li Shimin's heart.

Thinking of this, Li Yan couldn't help but sigh. As for his father's affairs, he naturally had no right or wrong as his son. However, Li Yan knew that if time went back and Li Shimin chose it again, he would definitely do it without hesitation. This is the cruelty of imperial power, and the greater the imperial power, the more cruel the battle for the throne, which is also one of the reasons why Li Yan always wanted to weaken imperial power.

After saying sorry, Li Shimin signaled Li Yan to help him up. When he returned to his wheelchair again, Li Shimin pointed to the northeast of Xianling, which was the burial area of ​​Xianling, where the royal family, including Li Shenfu, King Xiangyi, Li Shentong, King Huai'an, and some important ministers, were all buried here after their death.
Chapter completed!