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 time;

He refused a second time;

Even Li Yuan was a bit annoyed. Although he understood Li Shimin’s intentions, he still felt slightly angry.

The third time—

He decided to issue an imperial decree first, ordering Li Shimin not to refuse, before once again issuing the edict of succession.

This time, 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 name 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 abolishment of the old Wude policies, implemented the new Zhenguan policies, and made a series of personnel appointments throughout the court.

It was only at this moment 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 appointments.

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 time 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 moment, 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 merits, 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 implemented 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;

Commerce;

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 supplementation 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. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

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 members of the Gu Clan, his impact on the world was not as direct, but his contributions to the whole family were immeasurable.

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 meeting 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, someone 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, something even Gu Yi felt helpless about.

Everyone has a time 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 time after learning all this.

And from that moment on—

He cherished time 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.