Li Zhi is still the same Li Zhi as before. Even though Li Shimin had decided to give him the crown prince, his temperament still had not changed much, and he was even worried about Li Tai's fate. However, it was precisely because of his personality that Li Shimin was determined to make him the crown prince, because only Li Zhi ascended the throne would not attack Li Chengqian and Li Tai.

"Don't worry, Chi Nu, although your father is very disappointed with your fourth brother, he will not really do anything to him. However, your fourth brother's title of prince may not be able to be saved, and he will stay in other places in the future. It will be difficult for him to return to Chang'an again!" Faced with Li Zhi's worries, Li Xiu said with a smile.

"Why did the Fourth Brother lose his title? Even if the father did not make the Fourth Brother the crown prince, there was no need to deprive him of his title?" Li Zhi couldn't help but ask in surprise when he heard Li Xiu's answer.

"This..." Li Xiu didn't know how to explain at this time, because he knew that with Li Zhi being named the crown prince, Li Tai would definitely be demoted. This was not a punishment for Li Tai, but a protection for Li Tai. Because if Li Tai was not demoted, it would only make Li Zhi feel threatened. Li Zhi is still young now, but if he grows up, he will probably get rid of Li Tai because of this, so now he demoted Li Tai to another place to protect him.

"Zhi Nu, you are still too young. You don't understand some things. When you get a few years older, you will naturally understand them!" Li Xiu finally smiled bitterly and said to Li Zhi. Some things can be done but they cannot be done. Li Zhi obviously doesn't understand this truth, but it doesn't matter. When he truly ascends to the position of prince and is trained by Li Shimin for a few years, he will soon understand this truth.

Seeing that Li Xiu didn't say anything, Li Zhi also showed a disappointed expression on his face. However, he also knew that the affairs in the court were too complicated. Some of them were indeed not something he could understand now, so he did not ask him again. Instead, he asked Li Xiu how to be a qualified prince. Li Xiu had nothing to teach him about this, but instead asked him to ask Li Shimin more questions in the future. After all, the prince is the future emperor, and the most suitable person to teach him is naturally the current emperor.

A few days later, Li Zhi's decree to be crowned as the crown prince was conveyed. In addition to this imperial edict, there was also the imperial edict to be relegated to the title of Prince of Donglai. In this way, the rumor that Li Tai lost the position of crown prince was confirmed because of one sentence. As a result, Li Tai was once rumored to be the laughing stock of the entire Tang Dynasty.

However, although Li Shimin was disappointed with Li Tai, he could no longer help but show his concern for Li Tai in the imperial edict of the title. Moreover, his imperial edict was more like a letter to Li Tai. First, he said that Li Tai was his favorite son, and also recalled a lot of the situations he had with Li Tai before. The words were sincere and thoughtful, which made people want to cry. In the end, Li Tai's reason for the title was written very vaguely, just saying that in order not to make future generations feel that the throne could be obtained through planning, Li Tai was punished.

Of course, no matter what, Li Tai's title of prince is still gone, and he will be demoted to another place. It is estimated that without Li Shimin's permission, he will never think of adding Chang'an in his life. Of course, Li Xiu knew that with Li Shimin's favor for Li Tai, his title would probably be restored in a few years.

With Li Zhi being proclaimed as the crown prince and Li Tai being demoted from Chang'an, the second battle for the throne in the Tang Dynasty finally came to an end. Compared with the cruelty at Xuanwu Gate for the first time, although the competition for the position of crown prince was very fierce, under Li Shimin's restraint, there was no bloodshed. Even Li You, who should have been sentenced to death, saved his life because of his luck. Finally, he was demoted to a commoner and exiled to Chenzhou by Li Shimin, which was farther than Li Chengqian's Quzhou. Not only did he not come back in this life, he probably would have to stay there.

As time goes by, a new year is coming soon. Li Xiu thought that this disaster-prone year was finally over, but what he didn't expect was that just when the Chinese New Year was about to come, Qin Qiong finally failed to survive this winter and passed away immediately after Ma Ye, which made Li Xiu very sad.

Since the destruction of Goguryeo, Qin Qiong's body has begun to age day by day, but it was considered healthy before. However, after Ma Ye passed away, Qin Qiong's body collapsed suddenly due to excessive grief. Li Xiu had visited him many times, and Sun Simiao also helped him with conditioning. However, Qin Qiong was old and suffered too many injuries when he was young. If it weren't for Li Xiu, he would have passed away a few years ago. Now that the old injury has relapsed, it has also destroyed Qin Qiong's body at once, and finally died ten days after the illness.

Li Shimin was also very sad about Qin Qiong's departure. Not only did he go to pay his respects in person, but he also posthumously awarded him the governor of Xuzhou and Duke of Hu after Qin Qiong's death, and was posthumously named "Zhuang".

The departure of Ma Ye and Qin Qiong also marked that the founding heroes of the Tang Dynasty had begun to withdraw from the stage of history. Even among the people who are still alive, such as Fang Xuanling, Li Jing, Cheng Yaojin and others, they have all entered old age. At that time, civil officials like Fang Xuanling were better, but generals like Li Jing and Cheng Yaojin had a huge influence, which also made the Tang army face a newer and more renewed situation.

Fortunately, Li Shimin had already started to make preparations in this regard before. Su Dingfang, Xue Rengui and others were the best replacements. In addition, the military academy was also continuously cultivating talents needed by the army. Although most of these talents can only serve as middle-level generals in the army now, some outstanding talents have already stood out. It is estimated that a new group of famous generals will appear in the Tang Dynasty.

Qin Qiong's funeral was not completed until the New Year. Because there were too many things last year, this year's Spring Festival was not very lively. Li Shimin did not even come to the palace gate to have fun with his ministers. After the New Year, Li Zhi also began to accompany Li Shimin to learn how to deal with the government affairs every day. Every time he went to court, he would take Li Zhi with him. Because Li Shimin was worried that he would not have much time, he had to let Li Zhi learn how to be a qualified emperor in the shortest time.

Li Zhi is busy studying government affairs, so he naturally has less time to come to Li Xiu's place, but Aizi and Lizhi still come every day, especially Lizhi. She and Heianlang have been engaged for a long time, and the two are old, so it is time to discuss the wedding. If nothing unexpected happens, they can get married this year.

However, just as Li Xiu was preparing for his son's wedding, he suddenly received good news that Xuanzang, who had been to India for many years, finally returned from seeking the scriptures!
Chapter completed!