A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 781 No Prince
  Changan.

In the early days of the dynasty, the emperor issued an edict to King Li Tai of Wei to open a literary museum, appointed a group of noble and famous people from the Qing Dynasty to enter the museum, and agreed to the request of King Li Tai of Wei to compile the "Kuo Di Zhi". expenditure.

Not only that.

Just when everyone thought that Wei King Li Tai was extremely favored, today's morning court was over.

The emperor suddenly mentioned something.

Li Shimin said that someone reported to him that officials of the third rank and above in the imperial court were not very polite to Wei King Li Tai.

Speaking of this, the emperor became furious,
  He directly lectured the golden and purple ministers in the palace,
  “During the previous dynasty of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, officials below the first rank were humiliated and manipulated by the kings. Isn’t the King of Wei my son?

I just don’t want them to be tyrannical.

But this is not the basis for your rudeness. You dare to despise them. If I indulge them, can't I humiliate you? "

This is a very serious statement,

Even with great anger,

The emperor's anger is extraordinary.

But who can become a third-rank minister in the court is no ordinary person. They all heard the emperor's anger today. He was talking about the princes, but in fact he was specifically referring to Wei Wang Li Tai, especially the emperor's exceptional favor to Li Tai before.

The Crown Prince seems to have been neglected recently, but King Wei is becoming more favored day by day.

The emperor's operation made the ministers feel uneasy, and even made some people have bold thoughts in their hearts.

The prime ministers were Fang Xuanling from the left, Li Jing from the right, Wen Yanbo from the Zhongshu Ling, Gao Shilian from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and Zhang Liang, the imperial censor.

Everyone stood up to plead guilty to the emperor.
  Li Shimin looked at them, "You don't need to apologize to me. You have to apologize to King Wei. You must not be rude and contemptuous again in the future."

King Li Tai of Wei was also standing in the hall. The fat King Tai of Wei looked like a loyal young man.

"His Majesty!"

Suddenly, the servant Wei Zheng stood up and shouted loudly.

I saw Wei Xiangguo's expression unchanged, standing in the hall and saying: "I secretly thought that the ministers would not dare to despise the prince, let alone the king of Wei.

According to etiquette, ministers and princes are equal. "

"Spring and Autumn" says: Even if the king of Zhou is humble, he must be ranked above the princes.

Those of the third rank and above are ministers, and His Majesty has always treated them with respect and courtesy.

If the discipline is corrupted, it is natural not to talk about it. If the sage is superior, the king of Wei will have no reason to humiliate his ministers.

Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty indulged his sons, causing them to behave rudely, and in the end they were all killed. Is this worthy of imitation by future generations? "

Only Wei Zheng dared to rebuke the emperor so directly.

The former emperor was the emperor, and the current emperor is also the emperor. The former emperor was the emperor, and the current emperor is certainly the emperor.

But in the past, the emperor allowed the emperor to often humiliate ministers below the first rank, but the result was that brothers killed each other, and even left the suspicion that Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty was executed in the Xianren Palace. In the end, none of Emperor Wen's five sons died a good death.

This is a shocking truth.

Li Shimin was indeed silent.

At this time Wang Gui, the servant of Huangmen, also stood up.
  "According to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, officials of third rank and above do not need to dismount from their horses and salute when they encounter the emperor or clan relatives on the road. But now, all ministers have to dismount from their horses and salute when they see the princes. This behavior obviously violates the court's etiquette system,"

"Even ministers and ministers of the third rank and above have to dismount and salute the prince. This is obviously inappropriate."

"In the entire Tang Dynasty, the emperor was the true king, the crown prince was the prince, and the rest were ministers. Even if the king of Wei is the emperor's second son and is extremely favored by his majesty, he cannot undermine the country's etiquette system."

Li Shimin's face was gloomy.

Seeing Wei Zheng and Wang Gui's rebuttal in public, they stood up and asked questions to the ministers,

"What do you mean?

Is it wrong for the ministers to salute the prince when they see him dismounting from his horse? Do you want to elevate the status of the court ministers and belittle my sons? Don’t you look down on the King of Wei? You can’t respect the King of Wei the same way when you pay a great courtesy to the prince? "

The atmosphere became tense.

The emperor was really angry. Fang Xuanling, Wen Yanbo and the others did not dare to say a word.

But Wei Zheng refused to bow his head and said bluntly: "The Yin Shang Dynasty valued simplicity. If the elder brother died, the younger brother could inherit his position in order of eldest and youngest.

Since the Zhou Dynasty, the crown prince must be the eldest son in the direct line. The reason for this is to prevent other princes from coveting the supreme position and to prevent brothers from being suspicious of each other and committing suicide.

Therefore, the crown prince and the prince are completely different things, and they must be very cautious and distinguished very clearly. Otherwise, all hell breaks loose. "

"Everyone in the world can understand His Majesty's love for the King of Wei, but if you can't straighten the position of the Crown Prince and the King of Wei, you will be harming the King of Wei."

"I heard that Your Majesty intends to let King Wei move into the Wude Palace. This is absolutely not possible. The Wude Palace is within the palace, closer to the saint's palace than the East Palace. Moreover, Wude Palace was previously occupied by the Chaosi King Yuanji. ah."

Li Shimin was rebuffed again and again by Wei Zheng.

He blew his beard and stared, breathing heavily.

After a long time, a sentence suddenly came, "The reason why the country appoints a prince is to prepare him to inherit the throne. Therefore, a person's status does not depend on his age. If there is no prince, then the younger brothers of the same mother will be established in turn. Prince."

"From this point of view, how dare you despise King Wei?"

The emperor's words were astonishing.

Although everyone had a vague feeling that something was going on between the emperor and the prince recently, no one expected it to be serious.

But at this moment, the emperor actually said that if there is no prince, then he will be the mother and brother in turn.

Crown Prince Cheng Qian is the eldest son and the emperor's eldest son. He has been the crown prince for six years and has always performed well and has a good reputation.

Why did the emperor suddenly say such cruel words?

Even Wei Zheng was stunned and couldn't say a word for a long time.

Suppose there is no prince,

How can there be no prince?

How could the prince who had been established for six years disappear?
  Then there is only one possibility, it is abolished.

Or dead.

But the prince is not sick, nor is he jumping around. He is only fourteen years old. How can he die? Therefore, there is only one possibility: to be deposed.

The whole palace was shocked.

There was silence in the hall.

Li Shimin stared wide-eyed and gasped loudly. The words he just said seemed to be an angry remark, but the words spoken by the Emperor Jinkou Yuyan were extraordinary.

"Your Majesty, be careful what you say." Wei Zheng finally came to his senses and said
  Li Shimin finally said at this time, "I'm just making assumptions."

King Li Tai of Wei knelt and sat there in a daze.
  At this time, Wang Gui immediately remonstrated again, and other ministers also admonished the emperor for his inappropriate remarks and that he should not make such assumptions.

This may shake the country's foundation.

Li Shimin glanced at the ministers, and finally his eyes swept over the dazed King Li Tai of Wei.
  "From now on, when ministers of third rank and above meet princes, as long as they are not princes, they do not need to dismount and salute,"

Li Shimin looked at Wei Zheng again, and then looked at Fang Xuanling.

"Before Zhenguan, he followed me to pacify the world and traveled through hardships and dangers. Fang Xuanling's contribution is unparalleled.

Since Zhenguan, Wei Zheng is the only one who has served me wholeheartedly, offered loyal and upright advice to safeguard the country and benefit the people, and who is not afraid of offending my majesty but gives honest advice and corrects my deviations. "

"Wei Zheng's loyalty and uprightness are not inferior to those of famous officials in ancient times."

"Reward Wei Zheng with a hundred pieces of silk!"

"Retreat."

The emperor leaves.

The ministers in the palace all had complicated expressions. The emperor had left, but today a shocking news was revealed.

Although the emperor said that in the future, ministers of the third rank and above would not have to dismount and salute the King of Wei, but given that sentence, if there was no prince, who dares to say that the King of Wei would not become the new prince?
  It was like a sudden earthquake. For a moment, no one knew how to stand during this earthquake.

(End of this chapter)