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

Chapter 1121 The Prince’s father-in-law, General Fang Xianzhong of Zuojinwu Guard

In mid-March, the grass grows and warblers fly.

Empress Wu looked at the secret report sent back from the grassland, frowned and asked, "Why did the Demon Cult appear again?"

Zhao Gong seriously handed over his hands and said: "They are from the Yinji Sect. Emperor Xiao died and left a big mess in Mobei. The people from the Demon Sect began to go to Mobei to take over the remaining things."

"Pingyang County Lord went north last year, didn't he clean up everything?" Li Zhi turned around.

"After the death of Emperor Xiao, the Yinji Sect sent a message to the Demon Sect disciples in Mobei to disperse, but the Turks could not leave and were all killed."

After a slight pause, Zhao Gong forwarded his hands and said: "The secret guards followed Pingyang County Duke's army northward and found and killed many new disciples of the demon sect who were developing in Mobei, but the older generation had already escaped first."

"That's it!" Li Zhi nodded lightly and said, "Don't worry if you know who is causing trouble. I have figured out the Demon Sect's behavior over the years. They will not become Ashina Wenfu's tools. Yes, maybe I will really fight to the death with Fu Wen."

"This grassland matter can be postponed for a while." Empress Wu said softly.

The emperor nodded and said no more.

At this time, a steady sound of footsteps sounded outside the palace. Immediately, the chamberlain entered the palace, cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, Zuo Xiang, Zhongshu Ling, He Zhongshu, and the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Kao Gonglang are here to see you."

"Passed." Li Zhi suddenly looked solemn. Things in the grassland were all foreign affairs, and the list of new scholars presented by the Ministry of Civil Affairs today was the official business.

……

Liu Rengui, Li Jingxuan, Liu Shenli, Dou Xuande, and Liu Sili entered the palace at the same time, stood under the steps, and saluted Li Zhi and Empress Wu: "I will see your Majesty, and see the Queen."

"Get back on your feet." Li Zhi raised his hand and asked, "Has the list of new scholars come out? Who is the first name chosen by the ministers?"

"This is Zhu Qi of Henan, the second son of Zhu Cao, the governor of Suizhou, and the younger brother of Zhu Jingze, the captain of Huanshui County." Liu Sili stood up, earnestly handed over his hand, and at the same time handed a handful of articles to the imperial case.

"Hey!" Li Zhi paused his hands in surprise, looked at Li Jingxuan and asked, "Do you have any objections to Mr. Zhao Guo?"

"Your Majesty, Zhu Qi has outstanding literary talent. He is different from his brother. I have no objection." Li Jingxuan stood up and held his hand.

Everyone present nodded. Although Li Jingxuan had some conflicts with Zhu Jingze, he had nothing to do with Zhu Qi.

"The Zhu family!" Li Zhi sighed and said: "The Zhu family has moved from the south of the Yangtze River to Bozhou for several generations. The family has always been famous for its filial piety and righteousness, and its Ci Fu...

Back then, I wanted to confer filial piety on Zhu Jingze, but he was directly rejected by Zhao Guogong. Today, Zhao Guogong accepted Zhu Qi as the number one scholar.

The government and the public finally knew that Duke Zhao was dedicated to serving the public good. "

Although the four major families in the south of the Yangtze River, Gu, Lu, Zhu and Zhang, are not as good as the Jiangbei clan, they are still of high rank.

Moreover, it has been hundreds of years since the Zhu family moved from Jiangnan to Henan, and they have intermarried with countless aristocratic families.

The mothers of Zhu Qi and Zhu Jingze were from the Zhao family in Henan, and had some relationship with Zhao Renben, the servant.

This year, there are no outstanding talents in the aristocratic family. Zhu Qi is also very talented in literature, so this time he was selected as the top pick.

……

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your praise." Li Jingxuan bowed seriously to the emperor with an excited expression.

When Li Jingxuan was appointed Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, although he was amiable from top to bottom, he also had his own persistence.

That is to reduce informal appointment channels as much as possible.

Zhu Jingze was favored by the emperor because he had a reputation for filial piety and excellent poetry, but he had not participated in any imperial examinations, so Li Jingxuan refused against the emperor.

There are indeed some rumors about this matter.

It is said that the emperor valued Zhu Jingze very much and was about to promote him, but he was demoted by Li Jingxuan and was only awarded the title of Huanshui County Lieutenant.

But in fact, the emperor did not blame Li Jingxuan for this matter. Sometimes rules are rules.

Years of old things were over, and Li Jingxuan felt relieved.

"Who is second on the list?" The emperor recognized Zhu Qi as the number one scholar and naturally asked with concern.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, this is Qibi Song, the young grandson of the Duke of Liang." Liu Sili handed over his hand seriously and said at the same time: "The article of Qibi Song is in your hands. His writing style is elegant and elegant, and his ability to express his virtues and merits is really rare."

"Oh?" Li Zhi was really surprised.

He had paid a lot of attention to the current generation of scholars before, and among the current generation of scholars, Song Jing was undoubtedly the most popular one.

Song Jing followed Li Xuan in handling cases for a long time last year and attracted much attention from the upper class.

In addition, he was erudite and talented, specializing in poetry and poetry. He could write poetry and prose at the age of seven, and he could recite "Ode to the Birds" after reading it once, and he became the best in the capital for a while.

But Li Zhi never thought that there were two people who were above him.

Of course, Zhu Qi is the number one scholar. Although talent is rare, it is somewhat related to his family background.

As for Qibi Song, although the emperor intended to increase the number of foreign scholars as Jinshi this time, it was really extraordinary that Liu Sili valued him.

Li Zhi did not read Qibi Song's article. He pondered for a moment and said: "Lang Guogong himself admired literature, and Qibi Ming was even more successful. It is rumored that many of his family's teachings were influenced by great Confucian scholars. Now it seems that it is It’s really successful.”

Li Zhi once thought about appointing a Turkic scholar as the number one scholar, but this idea passed in the blink of an eye.

If a Turkic scholar becomes the number one scholar, this kind of thing will not only fail to calm the Turks, it will even make the literary families in the Tang Dynasty dissatisfied.

Do more harm than good.

But Qi Bisong was different. Everyone in Chang'an knew that Qi Biming liked literature, but they didn't expect the results to come out.

"As usual, Qibi Song's articles will be posted outside the palace after the list is released." After a slight pause, Li Zhi said: "The prince will host the banquet in Qujiang Pool in a few days, and the imperial censor Shi Di Renjie will accompany him."

"Here!" All the officials present raised their hands at the same time, but when they bowed, their expressions flickered.

……

"Where is Tanhua?" the emperor continued to ask.

"The third flower is Song Jing of Xingzhou." Liu Sili raised his hand seriously and said, "Song Jing is literary enough for business and has an upright and courageous personality. He should be the third flower." The emperor nodded lightly. In fact, he understood that if there were no rules in the court, , Song Jingcai should be the number one scholar in the dynasty.

However, there was a tacit understanding between the royal family and the aristocratic families at that time, and the number one scholar in each subject was selected from the children of the aristocratic families. Although Song Jing had a family background, he was actually from a poor family.

Qibi Heli was born in the Tiele Khan family, and he also served under the Turks in his early years. Later, when the Eastern and Western Turks perished and Tiele rose up, Qibi Heli's family was replaced by Tiele's rise and joined the Tang Dynasty. He became the Great General of Zuowei of the Tang Dynasty. , Liang Guogong.

The emperor pondered for a moment and said: "That's it. After all, exploring flowers requires solid knowledge, so let Song Jing take over."

"Your Majesty, you are wise." All the officials in the palace cupped their hands at the same time.

In fact, although Qibisong's literary talent was good enough to rank among the top ten, had he not caught up with the Turks' unrest, the ministers in the court would not have mentioned him to second place.

The emperor continued: "After the imperial examination, Zhu Qi was awarded the title of Secretary Provincial Secretary, Qibi Song, and Song Jing was appointed Supervisory Censor. After four months, he will inspect Hebei with Di Qing."

"Here!" All the officials in the palace bowed.

The secretary, Provincial Secretary Shulang, is of the ninth grade, but the supervisory censor is the eighth grade.

It is normal for Zhu Qi, the number one scholar, to be awarded the ninth rank, but the appointment of Qibi Song and Song Jing seems a bit out of the ordinary.

But in fact, Qibi Song was promoted to second place because the emperor wanted to use him to appease the people of Chang'an, Luoyang, and even Northern Xinjiang, especially Hebei Province.

As for Song Jing, Song Jing once worked for Li Xuan.

Song Jing also contributed to Li Xuan's strangulation of Xiao Tianzi and Li Jingye, and was recorded as a third-level meritorious officer. Now they are both rewarded.

The key is that the emperor is interested in his ability. Young talents who can be on par with Yao Chong are also worthy of the emperor's attention and training.

In addition, even though Song Jing was born in Xingzhou, a place in Hebei, sending him to Hebei was also comforting.

With the addition of Di Renjie, the emperor finally felt a little more relieved about Hebei.

……

"That's it for this year's imperial examination." Li Zhi raised his head, looked at everyone, and said, "The rest is to arrange this year's eastward tour. The prince will supervise the country, and Prime Minister Zuo and Prime Minister Hao will stay and watch. Chang'an, the others went to Luoyang as usual...Fang Xianzhong, the general of the Jinwu Guard on the left, accompanied Luoyang, and Xue Guwu, the general of the Jinwu Guard on the right, stayed in Chang'an."

"Here!" Everyone lowered their heads in unison, with solemn expressions.

Zuo Jinwuwei General Fang Xianzhong, Prince Li Xian's father-in-law, so he was the son of Shangzhu State, Minister of the Ministry of War, Zuo Xiaowei General, Youzhou Governor, and Qinghe County Gongfang Renyu.

The Fang family was born in Qinghe, Hebei Province. Fang Renyu was the uncle of Prime Minister Fang Xuanling. The Fang family had great influence in Youzhou, especially in the military.

At that time, Fang Renyu started his career by wiping out Chen Shuozhen's party, and he almost became prime minister.

But unfortunately, he died of illness in the first year of Qianfeng.

However, the Fang family held important positions in the court and the Hebei Army. Especially after Li Xian became the crown prince, the positions of these people were promoted by more than one level.

The Fang family is Li Xian's biggest help.

The emperor's many arrangements this time were not only to guard against the Turks, but also to guard against the Fang family.

The Turks are outside and the Fang family is inside.

Once the Fang family is in turmoil, the whole of Hebei will fall into corruption.

Pei Xingjian inspected Northern Xinjiang, Xue Rengui guarded Daizhou, Di Renjie, Qibisong, and Song Jing inspected Hebei, and they were on guard.

Zhao Gong stood in the shadows. According to the information he had, the matters in the East Palace did not involve the Fang family.

The Fang family didn't make any move, as if they were just watching the changes in the situation.

It seems that even if Li Xian is deposed, they don't care.

But is it really so?

The emperor couldn't afford to gamble, and no one could afford to gamble.

"Transfer General Cheng Chubi of the Zuo Jinwu Guard to Luoyang, and transfer General Cheng Wuting of the Forbidden Army to Luoyang." The emperor's arrangements went on in an orderly manner.

Zhao Gong lowered his head, and the emperor's murderous intention was finally revealed.

Chang'an seems empty, but with Liu Rengui around, there can be no chaos; on the contrary, Luoyang is very tight.

Fang Xianzhong was transferred to Luoyang, Liu Shenli, Cheng Chubi, and Cheng Wuting were all in Luoyang, and they almost watched him to death.

The prince seemed to be able to move a lot in Chang'an, but in fact there were countless relatives of the founding fathers of Chang'an, as well as a large number of generals and prime ministers who had reached official positions.

Therefore, everything can only end in Luoyang.

……

I don’t know how much time passed, but the prime ministers left and the emperor also left.

Empress Wu raised her head: "Zhao Gong, let's continue investigating this case."

A memorial was placed on the upper right corner of the table by Empress Wu, and Zhao Gong immediately handed it over: "Here!"

Zhao Gong was no stranger to the black memorial, and he even knew the contents.

Shiyin Zhenren Ming Chongyan's fly whisk and jade pendant were found in Tianhe Mountain in Xingzhou.

Qinghe belongs to Beizhou, adjacent to Hengshui to the north and Xingzhou to the west.

Kong Yingda and Kong Zhiliang were from Hengshui.

Fang is from Qinghe.

After more than a year, the case is finally coming to a close.

Zhao Gong sighed in his heart, he was also from Qinghe.

And Song Jing is from Xingzhou.

(End of this chapter)