Marry Changle in Datang

Xu Jingzong, Yang Jixing and other backbones of the queen's party rushed to the palace when they heard the Queen's order.

Seeing the arrival of a group of confidant ministers, Wu Zetian said to the ministers.

"The emperor wants to make my palace a regent, but there are many ministers in the court who object with reason. You can have a plan to silence the courtiers who refuse to accept my palace's regent."

When the ministers heard what the queen said, it was Xu Jingzong, an old man who had been immersed in officialdom for many years, who came out to speak.

"The Empress Dowager thinks this is easy to handle. If you want to deal with officials like Hao Chujun who respect Confucianism in the imperial court, you have to start with culture, find out arguments, and treat them in the same way. These officials are not good at everything. Do you want to pay attention to the rules left by the ancestors, then let's have people compile—the biography of the martyrs—the ministers' rules—the new precepts of the hundred bureaucrats—the book of music—and other books and articles, and we will see how the ministers in the court respond."

Xu Jingzong's move was nothing more than trying to build momentum from public opinion so that Wu Zetian's regent could stand firm in terms of etiquette and law. His intention was to use cultural erosion to create an atmosphere among court ministers that was beneficial to Wu Zetian's supremacy.

Wu Zetian heard the words and thought that this plan was feasible, so she handed over the compilation of books and articles to Xu Jingzong.

The external affairs were properly arranged, and Wu Zetian made another plan, so she talked with Li Zhi about political affairs in the harem, saying that the military and government of the empire should not be left to the prime minister's disposal, and deceived the emperor, so that the emperor did not understand the process of the incident but only knew the result of the disposal. It is a shortcoming of the implementation of the imperial military administration, and it is suggested that the emperor should decide and approve the officials' shukou, and then let the prime ministers discuss and deal with it, so as to achieve the purpose of decentralizing the power of the prime ministers.

Hearing what the queen said, Li Zhi thought it was reasonable, but his body did not have the energy to review a large number of memorials every day, so he came up with a method of envoy the prince to supervise the country, and the queen participated in the decision of all officials.

This is Wu Zetian's cleverness. She knew Li Zhi's current physical condition, and making such suggestions at this time would undoubtedly give her the power she wanted.

Wu Zetian was allowed by the emperor to participate in the decision of all officials. Such power made her have the power to deal with the military and political affairs of the empire, although she was not able to become the regent of Jinluan.

Li Zhi's proposal to make the empress regent was opposed by many ministers. After shelving this proposal for the time being, the decision to let the empress participate in the decision of hundreds of officials is undoubtedly a change of soup, but it just prevents Wu Zetian from really sitting alone in the golden throne The courtiers paid homage.

At the court meeting this day, Li Zhi spoke to the ministers again in the hall.

"Because of my health, the new crown prince Li Xian is in Chang'an to perform the important task of supervising the country. All the ministers should do their best to help him."

It was the emperor Li Zhi who made the prince supervise the country, but secretly allowed the queen to participate in politics, so that the prince Li Xian and his mother finally fought fiercely for power.

At that time, Prince Li Xian summoned the outstanding literati and Confucians of the empire to annotate the obscure "Book of the Later Han Dynasty". With his own talent, he personally commented on many details in the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty". It is called "Zhang Huai Zhu". For a time, the government and the public respected Li Xian as "Prince Zhang Huai", which made the ministers in the court recognize Li Xian's ability to supervise the country and govern the country. .

Wu Zetian got permission from Li Zhi to make a decision on all officials. It was a time of political success. How could the crown prince be supported by the officials and threaten the power he had finally obtained? In the Luoyang Palace, the queen reprimanded the prince many times in letters, reprimanding him for supervising the country, arbitrarily handling the government, and blocking the memorials of all officials to Luoyang.

Soon after the conflict between Li Xian and Wu Zetian gradually escalated, rumors spread in the palace that he was not born to Empress Wu, but was born to Empress Wu's sister Mrs. Han and Li Zhi.

At the time when rumors spread in the palace, Prince Li Xian was known for his generosity and shrewdness in his administration and his fair handling of military and political affairs, which was praised by Li Zhi. Officials and court officials made some adjustments, so that Dai Zhide, Zhang Wenguan, Hao Chujun, and Li Jingxuan were all promoted and served as officials of the East Palace.

The four prime ministers, Dai Zhide, Zhang Wenguan, Hao Chujun, and Li Jingxuan, were staff members of the late Prince Li Hong, and had a tense relationship with Empress Wu Zetian before Li Hong was alive. The tense relationship made it possible for the seven prime ministers of the Tang Dynasty to overwhelm the powerful ministers loyal to Wu Zetian.

On this day, the seven prime ministers who gathered the power of the Tang Dynasty accompanied Li Zhi to watch the newly completed "Mirror Hall" in the Luoyang Palace. After seeing it, the right servant shot Dai Zhide to kneel and play, exaggerating.

"Your Majesty, I think that there are no two suns in the sky, and there are no two lords in the country. Just now, I saw several emperors appearing on the four walls of this mirror hall. This is an ominous omen!"

What this guy played was obviously an excuse, aimed at Wu Zetian's seizure of power, and was seconded by Zhang Wenguan, Hao Chujun, Li Jingxuan and other courtiers, while Xu Jingzong, Wei Yuanzhong, and Yao Chong who heard the words were full of anger, and Xu Jingzong also played the Tao .

"Lord Dai's words are a crime of deceiving the emperor. Thinking about the person in the mirror, although it appears from different angles, it was originally caused by one person. How can there be such a simple truth? As a right servant, I don't know. It can only show that adults have suspicions of provoking trouble in their hearts, or it is common sense that adults know the world, not as good as children!"

Hearing this, Li Zhi didn't know why the courtiers on both sides opposed each other, but he acted as if he hadn't heard it, and didn't express his opinion at all.

This is also the emperor's balancing act, and he will not allow one side's power to become stronger.

Seeing that the emperor was silent, all the ministers were elites among the people, how could they not know what the emperor had in mind, both sides were dismissive.

Not long after this incident, the books and articles edited by Xu Jingzong, an angel of Empress Wu Zetian, were widely circulated in the court and the public. The Tang Dynasty set off a culture of praising martyrs and being a woman. However, the rumors of Li Xian's life experience in the palace became more and more The words were so precise that Li Xian himself felt suspicious and fearful that his position as the crown prince would not be guaranteed.

Prince Li Xian was very disturbed by this matter. He knew that he had just taken the position of prince not long ago. Although he was favored by his father and emperor with a series of deeds marked "Hou Han Shu", he felt that his reputation and connections still could not match that of his elder brother. Compared with the former prince Li Hong, he came up with the idea of ​​gathering talented people as his private team, and ordered Zhang Da'an, the left concubine of the prince's mansion, Liu Neyan, the prince Xima, Ge Xixuan, who joined the army in Luzhou Sihu, and Xu Shuya, a bachelor, to be the backbone of the East Palace. Recruit talents everywhere for your own use.

Li Xian's recruitment of talents was soon known by Wu Zetian. The queen laughed at her son for being too young and restless. She thought to herself that her son dared to fight against his mother. When she wanted to calm down the struggle between mother and child, she unexpectedly learned that there was a description in the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" marked by Li Xian that the imperial power had fallen to the hands of relatives, which made Wu Zetian furious.

"You are unkind to my old lady, don't blame my old lady for being unrighteous to you!"

Li Xianwen listened to the detailed reports arranged in the palace, and knew the empress's hateful remarks. He was very afraid of this empress who was seriously ill and most taboo about other people's relatives. He shuddered when he dealt with the former prince Li Hong.

Just when Prince Li Xian was uneasy and acting cautiously, Ming Chongyan, Wu Zetian's favorite minister or her confidante, was killed by thieves, which caused an uproar in the court.

Ming Chongyan was from Yanshi, Luozhou. He became an official in the early years of the "Qianfeng" of the Tang Dynasty, and was granted the title of Huang'an County Chancellor. This person learned the Taoism of summoning gods and ghosts when he was young. Li Zhi heard that he was very clever. Appreciation made it promoted to Yiwangfu literature.

In the second year of "Yifeng" in the Tang Dynasty (677), Ming Chongyan was promoted to the official admonition doctor of the imperial court, and Li Zhi specially ordered him to enter the cabinet to worship.

Every time this guy went to court, he commented on the gains and losses of current affairs with Shinto, which made Li Zhi very much agree with him. Moreover, this guy even used partial methods to treat the emperor's wind disease, which was very effective, which made the emperor and empress very happy with him. Over time, Ming Chongyan fell into Wu Zetian's eyes, and often summoned this fellow to discuss current affairs and the ways of ghosts and gods in the harem. The two of them knew it.

After Ming Chongyan was killed, the emperor and empress were furious, and ordered the officials to search for the thieves, but there was no trace of the thieves, and rushed to arrest a group of officials responsible for the investigation.

Not long after Li Zhi bestowed Ming Chongyan as a servant and appointed his son Minggui as secretary Ying, rumors spread again in the government and the public that Chongyan's death was inseparably related to Prince Li Xian, which put Prince Li Xian at the forefront of the storm. above.

At that time, there were rumors in the ruling and opposition parties that Li Xian was dissatisfied with the Queen's pressure, while Ming Chongyan, the favorite minister, framed the prince's background behind his back, which led to his death. This matter is general.

When Prince Li Xian heard about these rumors, he was even more nervous about his mother. He was afraid that her mother would use some means to take down his position as prince.

Censor Zhongcheng Cui Mi was ordered to investigate the case, and it was very lawless. He arrested many innocent people and tortured him. He planned to settle the case quickly, but because the confession of the criminals could not stand scrutiny, he forced The case was long and not enough, even though he searched Luoyang City all over, he still couldn't find even the slightest trace of the real murderer.

Soldiers and headhunters searched for the murderer back and forth, making the city of Luoyang turbulent, and the common people and businesses stayed behind closed doors to avoid disasters from the sky. For a while, the huge city of Luoyang was very quiet, and there was still half of the bustling scenery of the capital. .

In such a strange environment in Luoyang City, many courtiers began to dissatisfy with the queen's insistence on going her own way, which made the government arrest the murderer at any cost.

In the court hall, Li Zhi read the memorials of all the officials, pondered for a while, and then sent an order to Bingzhou Facao Di Renjie to be promoted to Dali Temple to take over the Ming Chongyan case, so that he could secretly investigate and handle it, so as not to interfere with the normal life of the people.

Di Renjie took up the post, and ordered his subordinates to arrest the head and start the investigation of Ming Chongyan's case. He ordered to focus on all the whereabouts of the man before he was killed, and his close relatives and friends, in order to find clues to the case.

This Mr. Di is a master at judging cases. He is from Jinyang, Bingzhou. He was born in the Di family of Taiyuan. Slot.

Bingzhou Renshang and Di Renjie won the trust of the court and the people's conviction in the judgment and judgment of the case. This time, the emperor appointed him as the chancellor of Dali Temple because of his affirmation of his ability, so that the Ming Chongyan case, which has caused a lot of trouble, can be settled in his court. Close the case as soon as possible.

In the yamen of Dali Temple, Di Renjie carefully screened the criminals arrested by Cui Miyin, the former censor Zhongcheng, and released all the criminals who were not suspected, so that they could live in peace. This move was greatly supported by the people of Luoyang.

The Jinwu Guard has the important task of defending Luoyang City. Soldiers often patrol the city and understand the situation in Luoyang City. Di Renjie and Li Yuanfang, the number one master under his command, went to the Jinwu Guard Barracks to meet General Xu Xiaole.

Qin Xiaole heard that the Men's Army reported that Di Renjie, the chancellor of Dali Temple, had visited, and ordered the Men's Army to bring them into the army's discussion hall.

When Di Renjie and Li Yuanfang came in, Qin Xiaole politely invited them to sit down and talk. Di Renjie thanked him and sat on the upper left side of Xu Xiaole's commander-in-chief, but Li Yuanfang stood behind Di Renjie without saying a word.

Qin Xiaole was not surprised, "hehe" said with a smile.

"I don't know what advice Mr. Di has for Xu?"

When Di Renjie heard the words, he leaned forward and said.

"The general is serious. I am here today. I want to ask the generals and soldiers who are in charge of patrolling Luoyang city. Before and after Ming Chongyan was killed, can they find anything unusual in the city during the patrol? There are many disturbances. I hope the general will understand."

Knowing the purpose of Di Renjie's coming here, Qin Xiaole ordered the sergeant on duty outside the gate to invite veteran Liao Huan to come, because Liao Xing was in charge of patrolling Luoyang city.

After a while, Liao Huan entered the house, and Qin Xiaole informed Di Renjie of his purpose.

After the ceremony, Liao Huan and Di Renjie sat down and said.

"Although the last general was ordered to be in charge of patrolling the city of Luoyang, apart from discovering that the market has been depressed recently, he did not listen to the soldiers patrolling the city reporting that when Lord Ming Chongyan was killed, there was any abnormality in the city. I am afraid that Lord Di will be disappointed. The soldiers of the Jinwu Guard are inferior to the yamen guards who are in charge of public security in the city, and the sergeants are only on guard against major incidents in the city, and they are responsible for protecting the environment and the people, and do not participate in the government affairs of the yamen.”

Di Renjie also agreed when he heard Liao Huanzhi's words, he just came here hoping to get some clues from the soldiers and try his luck.

Without getting any useful clues, Di Renjie and Qin Xiaole got up to leave after chatting in the camp, and said to Liao Huan before going out.

"General Liao may wish to inquire among the soldiers and ask them if they found anything unusual during the patrol. If any soldier thinks of anything, please tell Di Mou."

Hearing this, Liao Huan cupped his hands and said calmly.

"If you find out, Liao must have someone report it to Lord Di as soon as possible."

After Di Renjie left, Liao Huan said to Qin Xiaole.

"This Master Di is a bit courageous. He dared to investigate the case in the Jinwuwei barracks. What does the general think should be done?"

Qin Xiaole said with a smile.

"The new official took office three fires. Master Di wanted to speed up the time to solve the case. I understand the feeling of making meritorious service. However, we are the army defending the capital. We must not participate in the power struggle of the court, and no matter how he investigates the case, soldiers As for the discovery of the subordinates of the Prince’s Mansion outside Chongyan’s Mansion in the Ming Dynasty, it’s better for me to say less, so as not to get involved in unnecessary disputes.”