I Can Control My Ancestors

Chapter 544 - 55: Li Shimin Passes Away, Entrusting the Realm

Li Shimin is truly aging.

Though he had only a few cups of wine, his body couldn’t handle it, and he had to leave the banquet early.

Death is near at hand.

Even Li Shimin could feel it.

Yet he persisted, maintaining his dignity in front of the envoys from all directions.

The celebration was not confined to the palace.

It included the common people of Chang’an.

Likewise, during this grand celebration, they exuberantly proclaimed the current prosperity of the Great Tang.

The entire city of Chang’an was brightly lit, and nearly everyone’s face was adorned with a smile; this is the Great Tang capital of today, at the pinnacle of the world.

And it will leave endless legends for posterity.

Yet—

To Li Shimin, after the splendor fades, only solitude remains, eroding the bones.

He did not return to his sleeping quarters.

Instead, he slowly ascended the Lingyan Pavilion alone.

The dim candlelight gradually illuminated.

Li Shimin was truly lonely; perhaps only those who had already passed could completely open his heart.

He walked into Lingyan Pavilion, lighting incense for those old comrades who had passed and telling them about the current might of the Great Tang.

Among these people, in truth, not all were that close.

Yet now, these people had long become irreplaceable fragments in his memory.

Until the very end—

He finally stood before Gu Quan’s portrait.

"Ziyuan, the great ship is completed, I have named it Tuo Hai, and it has now set sail."

As he lit the candle for Gu Quan, he recounted recent events at court, "Unfortunately, I too have reached an age."

"I cannot recklessly abandon everything and personally go to Panyu."

"If it were otherwise—"

"I would surely have a close look at whether this Tuo Hai can bear the ambitions of both you and me."

"But rest assured, I have seen the portrait, and I will surely recount it all to you in detail."

His tone grew increasingly complex.

Gazing at Gu Quan’s portrait, scenes from the past flashed once more in his mind.

From when the two met, to later battles on the battlefield.

Those scenes were incomparably vivid.

Until Xuanwu Gate, when Gu Quan abandoned everything to return, disfiguring himself to help him.

An unending sense of loneliness continuously assaulted him.

The surging emotions in his mind were impossible to extinguish.

Thinking of Gu Jing’s deeds, and all at the last moment, Li Shimin gazed at the portrait before him and suddenly gave rise to a thought.

He swiftly turned around!

Picking up the vermilion brush used for writing memorial essays from the table!

Without a moment’s hesitation, he struck it down fiercely—

Thick, coarse ink marks instantly covered Gu Quan’s elegant visage on the portrait.

Until the face in the portrait gradually merged with the memory of Gu Quan in his later years, only then did Li Shimin stop.

His body uncontrollably began to tremble, and rolling tears now streamed from his eyes.

...

The celebration continued, a feast of revelry for all the people, radiating from the court to the common folk, and then from Chang’an spreading to all parts of the world.

Under Li Shimin’s instruction, Gu Jing also began to involve himself in matters of relocating the people.

Indeed, in our nation’s feudal dynastic history.

No matter the era—

Relocating people could be considered the greatest of all matters.

Under the constraints of productivity, population represented everything, and the stability of a region was closely tied to it.

Why did Lingnan stabilize so quickly?

It was precisely because Gu Yi had previously relocated the people of Jizhou State there; this laid the true foundation for Panyu.

And it is the same now.

Li Shimin had already decided to fully integrate the entire Goguryeo defense line into Kyushu.

There are many issues involved in this.

It is not just about the consumption along the way; it is also about planning for the people’s livelihood after the relocation, which requires immense manpower and resources.

Fortunately, the Great Tang is indeed strong enough to provide a sufficient foundation for this matter.

Coupled with the increasingly high prestige of Gu Jing.

The supervision of the Imperial Censorate lies in place; no official dares to tamper with this matter, making the entire relocation process rather smooth.

It is worth mentioning—

perhaps because of the awe-inspiring power demonstrated in the Goguryeo campaign,

the pace of cultural integration in the Western Regions has unexpectedly become smooth as well.

All opposition forces have now been pacified.

Over more than a decade of efforts, finally in the Western Regions, have begun to bear fruit; with all resistance forces subdued, the Great Tang’s system of cultural integration has been completely established in the Western Regions.

Moreover, the first batch of scholars from the Western Regions to complete their education have finished their studies.

Now returning to the various countries of the Western Regions, spreading the culture of Kyushu to all parts.

The seeds of Kyushu’s civilization, therefore, are being sown to even more distant territories.

And the glory and majesty of the Great Tang have thus reached their zenith.

Within all four borders, the various vassals held their breath—

no one dared to gaze upon the imperial visage, let alone challenge its might!

All under heaven is peaceful, everything renewed—

all seems to be steadily advancing toward an unprecedented, magnificent golden age.

However—

precisely when the empire was at its zenith, Li Shimin’s body could no longer withstand the erosion of time, and he finally collapsed entirely.

The twenty-second year of the Zhenguan era, July.

Li Shimin suddenly fainted.

This seemed like the flicking of a switch; though under the treatment of the Imperial Physician, Li Shimin eventually regained consciousness, he could no longer control the court.

The trend of events, the Celestial Mandate is difficult to defy.

Li Shimin had to hand over the court to Crown Prince Li Zhi.

Issuing edicts for Gu Jing, Zhangsun Wuji, and Chu Suiliang to assist in governing, he began to face his impending death head-on.