People in the early Tang Dynasty: I compete with Wu Zhao for the throne

Chapter 1092 Palace Supervisor, Palace Supervisor

At the Luoyang Palace Gate, a carriage slowly drove out of the palace gate.

Above the palace gate, Xue Yao, the prince's lieutenant, watched Wei Hongji leave the palace with a solemn expression and worried eyes.

……

In the carriage, Wei Hongji, who was nearly sixty years old, sat in the carriage with a solemn expression and headed towards Sigongfang.

Wei Hongji would not have left the palace today without repeated urging from his family.

Of course, when he first supervised the construction of Shangyang Palace, Wei Hongji stayed in the palace all year round, but now he is a little annoyed.

On weekdays, I only live in the palace occasionally.

But today, the prince suddenly came to Luoyang. Although he didn't know what happened, Wei Hongji chose to stay in the palace to guard him.

But news from home forced him to leave.

The king of Nanchang wanted to see him.

What did the King of Nanchang see him doing at this time, and it was through the Pei family's relationship. If something really happened, he would just come to him directly in the palace.

But since it was the King of Nanchang who was looking for him, Wei Hongji couldn't care less about the prince.

Firstly, the relationship between the King of Nanchang and the East Palace was good, and the prince might not say much when the King of Nanchang came to him. Secondly, the King of Nanchang was also a true confidant of the emperor.

In his early twenties, he was promoted from the third-rank border governor to the general of the left guard. This kind of favor was comparable to that of several princes.

Although Wei Hongji was also a close minister of the emperor, compared to Li Xuan, he was still inferior.

After all, Wei Hongji was not a slippery official in the court, and he did not care at all. Given his age and official position, there was nothing wrong with going to the palace to see Li Xuan like this.

Maybe he never really took it seriously by leaving his own capital behind.

……

The carriage stopped at the entrance of Yulong Garden. Li Xuan took Pei Shitong and opened the middle door wide to welcome Wei Hongji.

"I have met the prince." Wei Hongji slightly cupped his hands and greeted politely: "How dare you greet the prince like this?"

"Uncle Shi is here, and my nephew should naturally greet him. Please come inside!" Li Xuan invited Wei Hongji to enter Jade Dragon Garden. He didn't care at all about the eyeliners staring outside the door.

"I heard that the prince and Tong'er were on wedding leave in Luoyang. I was supposed to visit them afterwards, but I didn't expect that today..." Wei Hongji said with a wry smile.

"Uncle Shi, you're welcome. Xuan originally planned to visit the elders in Luoyang after her wedding leave, but something suddenly happened and Xuan had to come back." Li Xuan took the lead to walk to the central hall, and Wei Hongji followed. At this moment , two Qianniu guards walked out of the door.

The two of them bowed their hands slightly towards Li Xuan, Wei Hongji and Pei Shitong, then withdrew and closed the door tightly.

With a "squeak" sound, the door was closed tightly.

Wei Hongji's heart suddenly tightened: "Your Majesty, this?"

Li Xuan smiled gently, then stretched out her hand and said, "Uncle Shi, please sit down. I have no choice but to invite Uncle Shi here today."

"If there is anything else, please tell me, Your Majesty." Wei Hongji glanced sideways at Pei Shitong.

Pei Shitong stood behind Li Xuan and did not leave. He just stood and watched, which made Wei Hongji secretly relieved.

Li Xuan picked up the teapot and poured Wei Hongji a cup of tea before sitting back in his seat.

"Uncle Shi should know that the prince suddenly arrived in Luoyang yesterday." Li Xuan raised his eyes and looked at Wei Hongji.

Wei Hongji's face darkened slightly and he said, "I paid homage to the prince yesterday."

"Uncle Shi comes from a family, so he must know that the prince is so important that he cannot leave the imperial capital or His Majesty's side easily. There are countless lessons in the history books, and Uncle Shi should understand this." Li Xuan placed her left hand on the teacup and rubbed it gently.

Wei Hongji nodded, and then said: "The prince said that it is His Majesty who has the decree. The subordinate has sent a letter to Chang'an, but there is no reply yet."

"Uncle Shi, I'm afraid I won't be able to wait for a reply." After Li Xuan finished speaking, she raised her eyes and stared straight at Wei Hongji.

Wei Hongji was stunned for a moment, then his face changed drastically: "Did something happen in Chang'an, but the prince is still in Luoyang?"

"Uncle Shi is overthinking, there is nothing wrong with Chang'an, otherwise this king would not be here." After a slight pause, Li Xuan said seriously: "Uncle Shi hasn't figured it out yet, there is nothing wrong with Chang'an, and the prince is okay, so His Highness is here now Why did you come to Luoyang?"

"Why?" Wei Hongji raised his head and twitched the corners of his mouth slightly: "Is it possible that His Highness the Crown Prince came to Luoyang this time to be promoted to an official position?"

"Uncle Shi, drink tea." Li Xuan gently raised the tea cup.

Wei Hongji didn't move. Li Xuan's actions had already told him the answer. His face instantly turned terrifying. He gritted his teeth and asked, "But what did I do wrong?"

"Uncle Shi." Li Xuan lowered his eyes and spoke softly: "Uncle Shi should remember, what has His Royal Highness been mainly busy with this year?"

"Checking the hidden fields." Wei Hongji said it without thinking. After speaking, he frowned: "Is this matter related to the lower official?"

"Xiao Wang also heard what His Highness the Crown Prince said today." Li Xuan drank all the tea in the cup, then looked at Wei Hongji and said: "There is a piece of land. The original owner of the land was sentenced to beheading by the government, and his family members They were all exiled, but after a closer look at the files, they discovered that this person had been wrongly accused, and further investigation revealed that the matter pointed to a steward of your house."

Wei Hongji's expression changed slightly.

This matter is not big or small.

If no one cares, the stewards of the government will be thrown out as scapegoats, and the land will be restored to the original owner. At the worst, some compensation will be made.

After all, they have been cultivating these fields for free for several years, and they make a small loss, but not a loss at all.

But if this matter really needs to be investigated, even the prime minister will be dismissed from office.

At that time, Xu Yushi used his own personal experience to tell everyone that if he was not careful and was caught in pigtails, even the prime minister would be dismissed from office.

"This person will be handed over to the prince, the relevant people, and the accounts of the palace, and will be handed over to His Highness the Crown Prince." Wei Hongji did not hesitate at all and gave in directly. Li Xuan nodded slightly and said, "Uncle Shi, if this is the case, do you think you should come here with Xuan?"

"Please elaborate, Your Majesty." Wei Hongji clenched his fists immediately.

He originally wanted to fool Li Xuan temporarily, then quickly go home, carefully investigate the behind-the-scenes of the incident, and then make amends.

But unfortunately, Li Xuan didn't give him any chance.

"After this person occupied the land, I don't know how he got through it. There are no records related to it in Luoyang County, Luozhong Prefecture, or even the Ministry of Household Affairs. It wasn't until I turned forward to the archives of the Ministry of Household Affairs during the Zhenguan Dynasty that I found out There was some preserved information about the fields there that were never found again.”

After a slight pause, Li Xuan said: "Uncle Shi, someone modified the household registration book... No, it's not a modification, it's a destruction.

All information about the existence of those hundreds of acres of fields was completely erased from the official records of the Tang Dynasty.

Uncle Shi, come and tell my nephew, how many places like this do you have in your home? "

"How many places, not even one place." Wei Hongji's hands trembled slightly. After all, he was a third-grade inner palace supervisor, so he was very sensitive to this matter.

Destroying or modifying the yellow household registration book is tantamount to treason.

"This is the reason why His Royal Highness the Crown Prince came to Luoyang this time, to find out the truth about this matter." Li Xuan concluded softly.

"When I get back, I will send all the people, all the accounts at home, and all the fields to the East Palace." Wei Hongji did not hesitate at all and immediately chose to cut off his arm to survive.

Li Xuan shook his head slightly and said: "Uncle Shi, do you think His Highness the Crown Prince came to Luoyang just because of the mistakes you made alone? Was such a mistake made by you alone, or by countless disciples of the Wei family over the years? What I’m most used to doing.”

"No, this matter has nothing to do with the family." Wei Hongji finally couldn't help but stood up and stared at Li Xuan.

Li Xuan sat there steadily, looked at Wei Hongji and said: "Uncle Shi, the servants in the government have done this very smoothly. Even Luoyang County and Luozhou Prefecture have people to cooperate with it. In the end, the Ministry of Finance was also involved, and I'm afraid he couldn't do this alone.

Let’s not talk about the up and down involvement. Let’s talk more deeply. Is this the way Jingzhao Weishi always does things? Is this the way Changan Luoyang and countless aristocratic families do things? How many Yin Tian and uncle Shi are involved in this? It needs to be made clear. "

The corners of Wei Hongji's mouth twitched, and then he turned to look at Pei Shitong.

Pei Shitong subconsciously looked at Li Xuan in surprise. She did not expect that the Pei family would be involved.

Li Xuan gently stroked the teacup and whispered: "Your Majesty sent the prince to Luoyang. Uncle Shi, Your Majesty is so concerned that he even sent the prince here. My nephew knows that Uncle Shi holds a very important position in His Majesty's mind. But it won’t be that bad at this point.”

Wei Hongji's face suddenly became extremely ugly.

The emperor sent the prince, of course, not just for him, but for the entire Wei family, and even the entire other big families in Luoyang.

Li Xuan picked up the tea cup and said softly: "Uncle Shi, this matter starts from you and will naturally end with you. You are a descendant of a noble family, so of course you know what to do?"

After Li Xuan finished speaking, Wei Hongji couldn't help but tremble.

Aristocratic families, aristocratic families, their best method is naturally killing people.

Only Wei Hongji took the responsibility for this matter, so all the dirty water will be poured on him alone.

When the water is mixed, there will naturally be time to deal with everything.

Other major aristocratic families will naturally introduce their own scapegoats, who will bear everything when the time comes and relieve the emperor's anger.

This happened more than once.

Although Wei Hongji was a close confidant, to be honest, his position in the court was not important. Even the position left behind in Dongdu was given because he wanted to supervise the construction of Shangyang Palace.

If we really want to deal with him, it will only take a word from the emperor.

"So, Uncle Shi, please resign." After Li Xuan said this, Wei Hongji raised his head in astonishment.

Li Xuan continued calmly: "Uncle Shi, you have been serving as a governor of the Shaofu for a few years. Find a place to be the governor of Bianzhou, wait for two years, and then return to the court. By then, with His Majesty's favor, maybe , and can be promoted to minister, or even prime minister."

Wei Hongji suddenly opened his eyes wide and looked at Li Xuan in disbelief.

Li Xuan lowered her head and took a sip of tea, but her attention was always on Wei Hongji.

I sighed softly in my heart. Although this Wei Hongji had some abilities, he was not mentally resourceful enough. He was able to get to where he is today entirely because of the emperor's favor.

He simply does not have enough talents as prime minister.

What Li Xuan looks at now is whether he is loyal enough to the emperor. If he is loyal enough to the emperor, then Li Xuan can use this person.

Wei Hongji nodded slowly, still looking at Li Xuan in disbelief: "If this is the case, how will your Majesty and the Crown Prince explain it?"

"In this matter, as long as the matter of Yintian is investigated clearly, His Majesty's love for talents will not attach great importance to the uncle. Otherwise, he will not send the prince, but the censor." Li Xuan said softly. Those words made Wei Hongji suddenly wake up.

What the emperor always wanted was fields, not people.

Wei Hongji only needs to ask his family to hand over the fields and take some responsibility.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for waking up." Wei Hongji bowed deeply to Li Xuan.

Li Xuan shook her head calmly and said: "Originally, there was no need for Uncle Shi to leave the center, but what happened..."

Wei Hongji raised his head, somewhat unsure of what Li Xuan was going to say.

"If this happened, Uncle Shi, and the prince saw it, it means that you have a handle and a weakness, and will be grasped by the prince. Your Majesty does not want to see it." Li Xuan said a word, and Wei Hongji took several steps back. .

weakness!

Prince!

(End of this chapter)