Chapter 1214: Restoring Polo

The time has entered December, Hedong has been recaptured, Taiyuan is safe and sound, and the whole court is celebrating. Li Ye specially ordered a day off to celebrate the return of Hedong Road.

Also in order to commend Li Ye for his recovery of Huainan Road and Hedong Road, Empress Dowager Zhang issued an order to formally appoint Li Ye as the regent of the crown prince brother and continue to serve as the supervisor of the country.

Li Ye was called the regent by many officials before, but he was not the regent, but the general overseeing the country. This was his official position.

The regent is a higher level than the supervisor. Under special circumstances, ministers can also serve as supervisors. For example, Huo Guang is the de facto supervisor.

The Queen Mother's visit to the court can be regarded as supervising the country, but supervising the country is not a position, but only a function and a power.

The regent clarified Li Ye's powers in an institutional way.

If there were no words for the crown prince, the regent would indeed be the highest authority in the country.

But with the addition of the word "Crown Prince", what does the Regent mean to him?

For example, in the movie "The Lord of the Rings", Denethor serves as the regent as the Prime Minister of Gondor. Although he holds the power of Gondor, Denethor must give way after the return of the King of Aragorn.

Unless all the royal heirs are killed, Denethor can change the dynasty, but other important families in Gondor may not agree.

The crown prince is the heir to the throne. He can be called the prince, the crown prince, the crown prince, the crown prince, the crown prince, the crown prince, the crown prince, the crown prince, etc. It depends on the relationship with the emperor.

According to the clan hierarchy, Li Linfu is the same generation as the Supreme Emperor Li Longji, so Li Ye is one generation lower than the late emperor Li Heng, and is the same generation as the current young emperor Li Dong. He is the emperor's brother.

To be honest, naming Li Ye as the regent went smoothly, but naming Li Ye as the crown prince was somewhat beyond Li Ye's expectation. According to his plan, he should have named Li Ye the crown prince after he recovered Hebei.

However, the Queen Mother Zhang's decree needs to be stamped by Li Ye before it will take effect. This Queen Mother's decree is in Li Ye's hands.

Li Ye told Empress Dowager Zhang in detail about his plan, and the two reached a consensus. He did not want Empress Dowager Zhang to disrupt his plan in advance or delay. He planned to use his great achievements in unifying the world to support the crown prince's title.

It's too early now.

At noon, Li Ye hurried to Nuange, Daming Palace, where Empress Dowager Zhang lived throughout the winter.

After waiting for a moment in front of the Nuan Pavilion, the door opened, and a palace maid saluted: "The Queen Mother is waiting in the inner room. Your Highness, please!"

Li Ye tidied up his inner armor a little. He had three flying knives hidden on his body. Many times he had to guard against it. There were too many forces in the Tang Dynasty and they were too complicated. There were countless enemies who hated him to the bone and wanted to chop him into pieces. , he doesn't worry at home or in the government office, but outside, he still has to be vigilant at all times.

Li Ye walked into the Nuan Pavilion. The room was as warm as spring. With a gauze curtain drawn, he could vaguely see the Queen Mother Zhang lying on the bed, holding her head in her hands and looking at him with beautiful eyes. Li Ye sighed in his heart, she here we go again.

"Your Highness, please take a seat!" Queen Mother Zhang waved to him with a smile.

Li Ye sat down opposite her and asked directly: "Why does the Queen Mother call me the crown prince?"

"Why, you don't want to?"

Li Ye shook his head, "It's not that I'm unwilling, but I'm a little surprised. We agreed before that this title should only appear after the Hebei feudal towns were pacified, and the Queen Mother moved it a year earlier."

Queen Mother Zhang sighed, "The Aijia are a little tired. I don't want to play this kind of game anymore. It's meaningless to me. I face that little fool every day. I get annoyed when I see him. What virtues and abilities does he have? He dares to call him emperor?"

"Queen Mother, this is what we agreed to do. I don't want you to change your mind or plan at will, leaving me passive."

With that said, Li Ye put the decree on the table and said calmly: "Draft a new one, remove the word "Emperor Taixiong" and change it to "Prince Regent".

Empress Dowager Zhang stood up, walked out from the curtain, walked behind Li Ye, put her delicate fingers on Li Ye's shoulders, and whispered in his ear: "You heartless person, I don't need this method, you will come to see me me?"

Li Ye was furious, "You——"

Empress Dowager Zhang smiled charmingly, sat in Li Ye's arms, put her arms around his neck and said sweetly: "Why don't you give me a reward for cooperating with you so much?"

Li Ye was annoyed, but had no choice but to pick her up and walk to the back room.

Back in the official room, Li Ye put a Shenlong Order on the table. It was given to him by the Queen Mother. He didn't know what the meaning of this thing was.

At this time, Du You said at the door: "Your Highness, Dugu Shangshu wants to see you!"

Li Ye nodded, "Invite him in!"

After a moment, Dugu Lie hurriedly walked in, bowed and saluted, "I am here to see you, Your Highness!"

"Master, no courtesy, please sit down!"

Dugu Lie sat down and suddenly saw the Shenlong Order on the table. He couldn't help but be startled, "The Shenlong Order!"

Li Ye smiled and said, "This was given to me by the Queen Mother. I wonder what its significance is? Does the Minister understand?"

Dugu Lie nodded, "This is a talisman secretly made by Prince Li Xian, Prime Minister Zhang Jianzhi, Cui Xuanwei and others in the first year of Shenlong. With this talisman, the three thousand troops of the East Palace can be mobilized. It is these three thousand troops that surround them." In the palace of Emperor Tian, ​​Wu Sansi and others were arrested and overthrew Zetian's rule.

This dragon order became a symbol of the Tang Dynasty's origins. Zhongzong was passed on to Ruizong, Ruizong was passed on to Xuanzong, and Xuanzong was passed on to Suzong. It represented the orthodoxy of the Tang Dynasty. When the new emperor ascended the throne, it was placed on the throne like the Eight Treasures of the Jade Seal. On the royal desk, as a ritual vessel. "

"Is it just a ritual vessel?"

"At that time, there was also a Dragon Envoy, who was a person with extremely high martial arts skills and was specifically responsible for protecting those who held the Shennong Order. The previous Shennong Envoy was Lie Feng, and the current Dragon Envoy is probably Pei Min."

"But Pei Min is no longer a personal guard, and has been appointed as a general of the Shenwu Army."

Dugu Lie nodded, "So its guarding function has disappeared, and it is just a simple ritual vessel. The Queen Mother gave it to you."

"I see!"

Li Ye picked up the Dragon Order and put it in the cabinet. Since it was just a ritual vessel, it had no meaning to him.

Dugu Lie also turned to business. He took out a report and presented it to Li Ye, saying: "This is a draft of the polo competition formulated by the Ministry of War in accordance with your highness's request. Please take a look at it!"

The polo competition in the Tang Dynasty was completely stopped after An Lushan's rebellion. The previous emperor Li Heng once wanted to resume it, but he was not successful.

Li Ye naturally wanted to resume the polo competition. On the one hand, this was a reflection of the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty. On the other hand, countless polo fans in Chang'an were looking forward to the reopening of the annual competition.

The polo competition is the business of the Ministry of War, which is in charge of the Ministry of War. There is also a polo department as the executive agency. Li Ye naturally handed it over to Dugu Lie.

Li Ye picked up the plan and looked at it, and said with a smile: "There are at least thirty or forty teams in the various governors' offices in the border army, the various guards in the guard army, as well as the martial arts halls and military schools and civilian teams. Isn't it too much?"

Dugu Lie smiled and said: "So there are two types of competitions: qualifying and finals. We suggest that all registered teams hold qualifying competitions in Chang'an, Luoyang, and Taiyuan respectively, and then calculate the points. The top 24 will participate in the finals held in Chang'an. The entire competition will last about half a year, from March next year to around September, and it will become a grand event that the whole country pays attention to."

Li Ye nodded, "In addition to the martial arts competition, weightlifting, foot archery and horse archery, even if you can't read, you can sign up. After being selected, you can receive literary training. I believe that polo and martial arts competitions will be very lively!"