A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1063: Changing the title of Song Guogong

At the beginning of the new year, two prime ministers, Xiao Yu and Yang Shidao, were dismissed one after another, which shocked the court and revealed an undercurrent.

Wu Huaiyu went to the palace today to deliver his speech.
The emperor on the throne looked haggard, and the emperor's usually well-groomed beard also looked a bit scruffy at this time.

The chamberlain took out the rosewood box and opened it. Inside was a bright yellow edict.

The edict was handed over to Tongshi Shiren to read it. Zheng Guogong Wei Zheng paid homage to the minister, and he was given two thousand pieces of gifts by Dr. Zuo Guanglu of the first rank.

Wei Zheng stepped forward to receive the order and thank him.

"Your Majesty, I have a memorial."

After Wei Zheng thanked him, he did not retreat. Instead, he wanted to remonstrate with the emperor. Wei Zheng was very dissatisfied with the emperor's current state. Although everyone felt that the emperor was still immersed in grief after the death of Queen Wende, Wei Zheng felt that as the king of a country, the emperor could not always be like this.

“At the beginning of his accession to the throne, His Majesty was determined to be frugal, tireless in asking for advice, always follow the good deeds, and always correct his mistakes. However, now there are more and more reprimands and punishments, and he is more severe than before when he shows off his power and anger.

From this we can see that when you are rich, you do not want to attract arrogance and luxury, but arrogance and luxury come unexpectedly. This is not a false statement.

Back then, the wealth of jeans and household registration in the Sui Dynasty's treasury, how could it compare today?
However, the Sui Dynasty relied on its wealth and strength and worked frequently to build construction projects, which led to the country's peril. We know that we are poor and weak, and the people are peaceful and peaceful, so the world is stable. The truth between stability and danger is obvious.

In the past, when the Sui Dynasty had no trouble, it thought that there would definitely be no trouble. When it is not destroyed, it believes that there must be no danger of destruction. Therefore, they continued to collect taxes and labor, and continued to conquer the east and west, so that they were not aware of the disaster that was about to affect them.

I sincerely hope that your majesty can learn from the fall of the Sui Dynasty, get rid of extravagance and establish frugality, stay close to the loyal and virtuous, and stay away from evil and sycophants. With the current calmness and peace of mind, you can continue to practice the diligence and frugality of the past, so that you can achieve perfection..."

Li Shimin sat there, frowning.

Wu Huaiyu was sitting on his knees in the hall, frowning a little as he listened. Wei Zheng repeatedly emphasized that the Sui Dynasty was the precept. This was of course no problem.

It's just that Empress Changsun died of illness just a few months ago, and the emperor has not yet come out of this sadness. Today is also the first time Li Shimin went to court after the empress left.
He had just given Wei Zheng a promotion, but he was so rude.

Inappropriate.

Moreover, what Wei Zheng said is a bit cliché. The Sui Dynasty unified the world, and the armored soldiers were strong. For more than thirty years, it was popular for thousands of miles and was powerful among people. Who doesn't know it?

There are many reasons for the collapse of a great cause, but everyone knows the main reason.

The reason for death is to be in peace without thinking about danger, to govern without thinking about chaos, to survive without worrying about death.

Wei Zheng was still a little impatient. He once again became a servant and was promoted to the first rank. He immediately wanted to correct some of the bad symptoms now.

But the problem is that you have to look at the timing.

The emperor frowned,

Many ministers have noticed,
I believe Wei Zheng should have noticed it,
But not only did Wei Zheng fail to stop, he continued his long speech. When the emperor became impatient, he interrupted directly.

As a result, Wei Zheng stopped talking about that and changed the topic again.

"Two prime ministers have been dismissed from the political affairs hall. I request your majesty to serve as prime minister again."

"Sikong, Crown Prince and Grand Tutor Wu Huaiyu, served as prime minister for three times. He was young and promising, and served as a general and a prime minister. The reform of the two tax laws that he single-handedly formulated made great contributions to the governance of Zhenguan in the Tang Dynasty.

I recommend Wu Sikong to re-enter the Political Affairs Hall and concurrently lead the Ministry of Civil Affairs."

As soon as Wei Zheng said these words,
The emperor's eyes turned to him,
Wu Huaiyu felt a little unjust. Although he went to his brother's house for tea two days ago, when he came home, he met Wei Zheng when he passed by Wei Zheng's house. He was invited to his house for a meal and chatted for a while.

But there was really no talk about him returning to the political hall.
Wei Zheng didn't say he would recommend him either.
This was a surprise attack.

But the emperor's eyes at this time clearly showed that he knew that he had been a guest at Wei Zheng's house two days ago, and suspected that he had some kind of transaction with Wei Zheng.
That's why Wei Zheng recommended him to return to the prime minister today.

Li Shimin was very vigilant about this kind of thing.

Although Wu Huaiyu and Wei Zheng were related, Wei Zheng's second son worshiped Wu Huaiyu as his teacher and married Wu Huaiyu's sister. The two families were neighbors in the past, but they had many political differences in the court.
The relationship is not that good.

But now that Wei Zheng recommended Wu Huaiyu as prime minister, Li Shimin had to suspect that this was Wu Huaiyu's intention. Wu Huaiyu wanted to stay in Beijing as prime minister, so he visited Wei Zheng and persuaded him to come forward to recommend him.

Wu Huaiyu was helpless,
Did Wei Zheng not take it seriously, or did he do it on purpose, just to deny him the chance to stay in Beijing?

If this is the case, Wei Zheng's scheming is deep enough and his move is powerful enough.
Regardless of whether the emperor had ever thought of letting Wu Huaiyu stay in Beijing to serve as prime minister, he would definitely not agree to such a recommendation.

In this political hall, Zhongshu Ling Ma Zhou is Wu Huaiyu's brother-in-law, and his right servant Gao Shilian also has a close relationship with Wu Huaiyu.

If Wei Zheng also comes together with Wu Huaiyu, Li Shimin will be worried.

At this time, Wu Huaiyu had no choice but to stand up and

"Your Majesty, please play!"

"Sikong, please speak."

"I came to the palace today to pay my respects to my Majesty. Tomorrow I will leave the capital and return to Lingnan. I will continue to patrol Lingnan on behalf of the heavens and visit the four mansions. I am really flattered and a little caught off guard by the recommendation of Prime Minister Wei, but I cannot accept this recommendation."

The emperor looked directly at Wu Huaiyu,
The palace was quiet for a while,
Wei Zheng's two sticks made people feel dizzy when they hit them.

"The recommendation of Prime Minister Wei is very good. Huaiyu has made great contributions to the court. Now that the political affairs hall is missing two prime ministers, it is also necessary to recruit more people. Huaiyu will stay and join the political affairs hall again." As soon as the emperor said this,
The officials were also confused. Could it be that what happened today was the emperor's will, and Wei Zheng was just following the will?
The one who reacted the most was Situ Changsun Wuji, whose eyes were a little red. He had been wanting to return to the political hall and worship the prime minister for many years, but the emperor did not even allow him to serve as a minister.
I used to have Wu Huaiyu as my companion, but now Wu Huaiyu is coming back?
Why should you suppress him alone?
The obese uncle Changsun Guo was feeling aggrieved and angry, but he did not dare to show it. He could only lower his head and clenched his hands tightly into fists in his sleeves.

Wu Huaiyu spoke out again,
Refuse.

He knew the emperor's intentions very well. Since he was promoted to Sikong, he knew that he was afraid that he would never have the opportunity to enter the political hall to worship the prime minister.

The higher the official rank, the higher the invisible ceiling.

Wu Huaiyu refused again and again.
Changsun Wuji was sitting there kneeling, but he was the most nervous person. He really didn't want Wu Huaiyu to really worship the prime minister again. Although he and Wu Huaiyu had secretly formed a secret alliance over the years and had a good relationship. Pay homage to the prime minister again.

Wu Huaiyu really refused,
The emperor no longer mentioned it,
Changsun Wuji breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time he was filled with infinite expectations.

Xiao Yu and Yang Shidao were dismissed, and now the Zhengshitang will definitely add more people. Since Wu Huaiyu will not join the Zhengshitang, Changsun Wuji feels that he is qualified enough.
It's time for him to pay homage to the prime minister again.

But the emperor didn't even look at him.

When the emperor announced the end of the court meeting, Changsun Wuji was still in a daze.

When Li Shimin walked out of the court, he was in a bad mood. He went directly to Longshou Plain to look at the layers of Queen Zhaoling from a distance, which was still under construction.

The emperor wandered around the palace in confusion.

Wei Zheng suddenly came to the court today to give advice, which only made him a little unhappy. However, he recommended Wu Huaiyu to be the prime minister, which made the emperor a little more vigilant.
The emperor had always valued Wei Zheng, and would tolerate his advice no matter how he gave it, even if he was spitting in his face. The most important thing was that although Wei Zheng had been the prince's groom during the Zhenguan period, he had never formed a party.

Even though he once accepted Hou Junji as his student, the two later parted ways.

Wei Zheng was a remonstrating minister, and also a lonely minister, so that the emperor could always trust him and make important use of him. During the Zhenguan Dynasty, Wei Zheng was the prime minister who spent the most time in the political hall after Fang Xuanling.

But if Wei Zheng also starts to form a party, then he will have to take a closer look at Wei Zheng.

Was Wu Huaiyu behind the scenes? Did Wei Zheng and Wu Huaiyu unite?
The emperor knew that Wu Huaiyu had been close to his uncle over the years, but although they were three ministers, neither of them held important positions in the central government, so the emperor acquiesced in their relationship, which could be regarded as a balance to the political affairs of the court.

But if Sikong Wu Huaiyu, Situ Changsun Wuji, and the servant Wei Zheng form an alliance, plus the right servant Gao Shilian and Zhongshu Ling Ma Zhou, this will be very scary.

When these forces are condensed, they can even change the day.

Intuition told the emperor that this might be just a coincidence. It was impossible for Wei Zheng to form a party with Wu Huaiyu, but he was just afraid of it.

Uncle Changsun Guo should be allowed to go to his place.

Returning to the Wude Hall, the emperor picked up a pen, pondered for a long time, and finally wrote on the paper the words of Sun Wuji, the governor of Luozhou.

The emperor took up his pen again and wrote the word Wei Zheng,
But I didn’t write anything again for a long time,
The emperor wanted to remove Prime Minister Wei Zheng, but after much deliberation, it would be too rash to remove him because of a suspicion, especially when the imperial edict had just been issued today, and would have a bad impact.

The emperor crossed out the word Wei Zheng again.

Then write Wu Huaiyu,
After a long time, I put pen to paper again, Governor of Guangzhou.

Wu Huaiyu was originally the observation envoy of Lingnan Road, the strategic envoy of the four governor-general offices of Guangzhou, Yongfu, Guizhou, and Rongzhou, as well as other envoys such as field envoy, salt and iron envoy, etc.
Those are actually unofficial missions.

They are all temporary errands.

Now the emperor decided to change it,
After ending this assignment, he was appointed as a formal local official, governor and governor of Guangzhou.

From the original observation and management of the four prefectures, to the commander-in-chief of the military affairs in Guangzhou, this power has been reduced a lot. The original privileges of taking control and worshiping are naturally gone, and the power of controlling the troops and horses in Lingnan is also gone.

Liu Dewei, the former governor of Guangzhou, recalled him to pay homage to the Minister of Punishment.

Li Daozong, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice, was appointed the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, and Duan Lun, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, was appointed the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

The emperor asked Xiaohuangmen to invite both Zhongshu Ling Ma Zhou and servant Wei Zheng.

When the two prime ministers from Zhongshu's family arrived, Li Shimin directly explained his arrangements and asked Ma Zhou to draft the edict immediately. Wei Zheng then reviewed it and requested that the imperial edict pass through Zhongshu's family today before being issued.

Situ, the Crown Prince and Grand Master, and the eldest son of Zhao Guogong, Sun Wuji, were appointed governor and governor of Luozhou.
Sikong, the Crown Prince and Tutor, and Duke Wu Huaiyu of Jin were relieved of their duties as Lingnan Observer Envoy, Economic Envoy and other envoys, and were appointed governor and governor of Guangzhou, and were granted the title of Duke of Song Dynasty.

Liu Dewei, the governor and governor of Guangzhou, was appointed as the Minister of Punishment...

The two people came in a hurry, thinking that the emperor wanted Xuan Ma to pay homage to the prime minister and appoint a new prime minister, but it turned out that was not the case.

The two third princes served as governors.

After listening to this, Ma Zhou looked a little solemn.
Brother-in-law Huaiyu changed a lot this time. He lost his envoy position and was appointed as a local official. He was no longer an imperial envoy and his powers were much smaller.

And the Duke of Jin changed his title to Duke of Song, not to mention that Jin is a big country.

Thinking of Wei Zheng's previous recommendation of Huaiyu as prime minister in the court, Ma Zhou felt that it had a lot to do with it.

"Draw up the decree." The emperor urged.

(End of this chapter)