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

Chapter 1496: Reporting to the officials and criticizing the ministers, no taboos
In Qianyang Palace, Cui Zhiwen suddenly looked up and stared at Li Xuan's position.

Li Xuan sat there, bewildered, as if he had no idea what was going on and was at a loss as to what to do.

Cui Zhiwen's eyes were full of sneers.

Everyone in the court knew that Yao Chong was a man of King Peng, and that Li Xuan had only shown the memorial to Yao Chong impeaching Cui Mi a dozen days ago.

Now it is taken out again.

What he wants to do.

Under the gaze of all the ministers, Yao Chong handed the memorial to Wang Fulai with a solemn expression.

Wang Fulai quickly brought it to the emperor's desk.

Li Zhi's eyes fell on the memorial and saw that it said: Your Highness, Attendant Censor Yao Chong, impeached Cui Ji, nephew of Grand Censor Cui Mi, for bribery.

Li Zhi did not open the memorial. He raised his eyes and looked at Cui Mi who was not far away. He asked softly, "Mr. Cui, is there such a thing?"

Cui Mi stood up tremblingly, bowed to the emperor, and said bitterly: "I dare not deceive your majesty, this is true. I discovered this not long ago and have punished Cui Ji. The offending officials and the censors involved in the case have also been severely punished."

"You are thoughtful." Li Zhi nodded and said with emotion: "I also know that you are not such a lawless person, but after this incident, it is not appropriate for you to be in charge of the Imperial Censorate. So, transfer you to the position of Right Palace Attendant."

The left and right Palace Attendants were in charge of serving, admonishing and admonishing, and providing advice and responses. The left one was affiliated with the Menxia Province, and the right one was affiliated with the Zhongshu Province. Although they were official positions, they were actually casual officials.

In fact, the only right he had was to occasionally meet the emperor and to reprimand his advisers, but he had no real rights.

Almost equivalent to a scholar of the Hongwenguan.

With just one word from the emperor, Cui Mi was demoted from the powerful Grand Censor to the Right Palace Attendant, which was equivalent to a minor official. How cruel it was.

"I thank your Majesty for your kindness."

Cui Mi stumbled out from behind the desk, knelt down in the middle of the hall, and kowtowed solemnly.

Li Zhi nodded calmly and said, "You may return to your seat."

"Yes!" Cui Mi took a deep breath, then walked back to the table with a sad face, his body suddenly becoming much more hunched.

Li Zhi sighed and said, "The Imperial Censor is responsible for investigating all officials and impeaching all ministers. There is no vacancy."

The emperor's words made all the officials in the palace feel horrified at the same time.

He criticized all the officials and consulted all the ministers.

Since when did the Grand Censor have the power to impeach the ministers?

No, he didn't have it before, but now he has it.

In an instant, all the ministers understood the real reason why Cui Mi was dismissed by the emperor.

He had been the Imperial Censor for many years, and although he had impeached many officials, he had never impeached the Prime Minister before in this dynasty. Naturally, the Emperor was dissatisfied with him.

Under normal circumstances, this would not be a big deal, but now the emperor needs this time.

Cui Mi, who had done nothing, naturally could not stay.

That is why now the emperor brazenly gave the Grand Censor the right to report to the prime minister.

In other words, the emperor restored the right of the Grand Censor to report to the prime minister.

Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, the Grand Censor has been responsible for supervising all officials, especially the prime minister.

In many cases, the Chief Censor could also serve as the Prime Minister.

However, during the Sui and Tang dynasties, the power of the Grand Censor shrank rapidly, and gradually, he lost the right to impeach the prime minister.

Even the famous Wei Zheng and Wei Baice had never been a Censor-in-Chief. At most, he had served as a Counselor of the fourth rank in the early days.

After that, they were Shangshu Zuocheng, Secretary General, and Shizhong.

That’s right, Minister.

The Menxia Shizhong was the general manager of the official duties, and the Supervisory was also among them.

Now, the emperor returned the power to supervise the prime minister to the chief censor.

Therefore, although the next Chief Censor was still of the third rank, his authority was in no way inferior to that of a third rank official.

He was only one step away from becoming the prime minister.

The emperor said that the position of Grand Censor must not be left vacant, which meant that the position of Grand Censor that had just been vacant due to Cui Mi being dismissed would be filled immediately.

For a moment, countless people began to breathe rapidly.

Many people even set their sights on Li Xuan.

They suspected that all of this was most likely planned by Li Xuan in secret.

Then this Imperial Censor...

……

Sitting on the imperial couch, the emperor looked at the reactions of his ministers with some amusement, but a hint of coldness flashed in his eyes.

Empress Wu sat aside, her face solemn and she said nothing.

The Imperial Censor Cui Mi was her man, but the emperor had decided to depose Cui Mi, and she had no way to refute it.

But fortunately, the emperor gave her enough compensation.

The emperor's eyes swept among the ministers and finally fell directly on Su Liangsi.

"Su Qing!" As soon as the emperor opened his mouth, all the ministers were shocked at the same time.

Su Liangsi, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, served in this position for no more than ten days.

Su Liangsi himself was also extremely surprised. He could not help but stand up, walked to the center of the hall and knelt down: "Your Majesty!"

Li Zhi nodded, leaned forward slightly, and said, "Grand Censor, you are responsible for investigating all officials and criticizing all ministers. I ask you, do you have the confidence to do this?"

Su Liangsi was slightly stunned, then he solemnly bowed and said: "Your Majesty, I am willing to do it."

When the opportunity came, Su Liangsi grabbed it without hesitation.

"Okay, pass the decree, appoint Su Liangsi, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, as the Imperial Censor, and let him investigate all officials and criticize all prime ministers, without any taboos." Li Zhi said this, and all the officials in the palace were in an uproar. In comparison, the six ministers in the court were relatively stable, but the prime ministers all looked heavy.

All the ministers in the court, no matter what opinions they had, would resolve them in the Council of State Affairs Hall. Even if they came before the emperor, it would only be discussed during a small court meeting.

But now that we have the Grand Censor, once someone is impeached, everyone in the court will know about it immediately.

In an instant, all the prime ministers felt as if a sword was hanging over their heads.

"I thank Your Majesty for your great grace. May Your Majesty live forever." Su Liangsi kowtowed solemnly, his face extremely solemn.

Li Xuan looked at it calmly, but a hint of realization flashed in his eyes.

He now roughly understood what was going on.

It was Xue Yuanchao's affair that was discovered by the emperor.

There was a cold flash in Li Xuan's eyes. It seemed that the conversation between him and Xue Yao in the princess's mansion that day was known by the emperor.

Sure enough, the former subordinates of the deposed Crown Prince Li Xian still attracted attention.

Especially for the emperor.

Fortunately, although Xue Yao’s affairs attracted the emperor’s attention, Xue Yuanchao was more important.

After Xue Yuanchao became Shangshu You Pushe, his health condition deteriorated day by day, and this kind of thing could not be hidden from the emperor.

Although Li Xuan knew that Xue Yuanchao would never be able to compete with Empress Wu in the future, in the emperor's eyes, Xue Yuanchao, his childhood friend, played a crucial role in the balance of power.

Xue Yuanchao had a problem, so the emperor immediately wanted to make up for it, and the person he chose was Su Liangsi.

Su Liangsi had served as the commander of the secret guards, the Sima of Yongzhou, the Prince's chief guard, and the vice minister of the Ministry of Justice. Now serving as the chief censor would not cause any problems.

In fact, because of his previous duties, he would be more comfortable in the Censorate.

The emperor really chose the right person.

Li Xuan breathed a sigh of relief. With Su Liangsi in the court, even if the emperor passed away and Empress Wu and Pei Yan joined forces, Li Xuan still had many means to implement.

Li Xuan's expression became calmer and calmer.

……

The emperor raised his head, looked at his ministers and said, "The position of assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice is vacant. I think, Li Qing, you should take the position."

The emperor's eyes fell on Li Zhaode, who immediately stood up and bowed solemnly: "I accept your order."

Seeing Li Zhaode kneeling on the ground, many people's eyes passed over Li Zhaode and fell on Li Xuan.

They became more and more suspicious that all of this was closely related to Li Xuan.

Su Liangsi is the Prince's chief night watchman, and the current situation is extremely favorable to the Eastern Palace.

Li Zhaode was Li Xuan's chief secretary for Prince Peng. Today, he replaced Su Liangsi as the vice minister of the Ministry of Justice, which was equivalent to Li Xuan pulling Li Zhaode into the camp of the Eastern Palace.

The emperor raised his head, looked forward, and continued, "Wang Yinke, a doctor in the Ministry of War."

"I'm here." The 30-year-old Wang Yinke, dressed in a red robe and looking very smart, walked out and knelt on the ground with his head bowed.

"From today on, you will serve as the chief secretary of Prince Peng. Next year, you will follow Prince Peng to Fanzhou." When the emperor said this, Li Xuan's eyes couldn't help but change slightly, but then his face was full of joy.

At this moment, the emperor turned to look at Li Xuan, who immediately stood up and saluted, saying at the same time as Wang Yinke: "I accept your order."

"Attendant Censor Yao Chong." The emperor looked at Yao Chong again.

In the past ten days, Yao Chong has impeached Dou Sitai and Cui Mi, and his actions have become more and more serious.

But all these things were arranged by the emperor behind the scenes. Now that things have been done, the emperor will naturally reward him.

"I'm here." Yao Chong kowtowed heavily.

Li Zhi nodded and said, "You have made meritorious contributions in impeachment. Therefore, you will be transferred to the post of Langzhong of the Ministry of War and Inspector of Imperial Censor."

"I obey your order." Yao Chong kowtowed again.

Li Xuan watched all this calmly, but a sneer flashed across his heart involuntarily.

Wang Yinke, as the commander of the secret guards, was transferred to be the chief secretary of King Peng, and was actually keeping an eye on him.

Yao Chong was transferred to the position of Langzhong in the Ministry of War. On the surface, he was Li Xuan's man, and with Ouyang Tong in the Ministry of War, it would be easier for him to be the Langzhong.

But in fact, Yao Chong was also the Inspector of the Imperial Censor, which meant he was in charge of the Ministry of War, but he was keeping an eye on Ouyang Tong.

Although in the eyes of most people, Yao Chong is Li Xuan's man, but in fact he is just close to Li Xuan, he does not completely belong to Li Xuan.

He was more loyal to the emperor, and Li Xuan had no objection to this.

He even had no objection to Wang Yinke going to Fanzhou with him.

All this at the moment was nothing more than a threat to the power he held by the Emperor and Empress Wu.

But the real power that Li Xuan possesses in Fanzhou is far beyond anyone's imagination.

……

Li Zhi sat on the imperial couch, watching Li Xuan sit down calmly, nodded with satisfaction, then looked at the prime ministers on his left and right, and said, "In the second year of Yonglong, the court and the country are prosperous, but I feel that my governance is quite inadequate. I want to change the reign. What do you think?"

Change of era?

Hearing Li Zhi say this, Li Xuan looked at Li Zhi first.

The emperor's expression had become much calmer at this time. Inexplicably, the atmosphere in the entire Qianyang Palace suddenly became cautious.

"We listen respectfully to the Holy Spirit's instructions." All the ministers in the hall bowed at once.

Li Zhi nodded and said, "I want to change the era name to Hongdao. The Minister of the Central Secretariat has drafted an edict to change the era name. At 9:00 tomorrow, I will read the edict at Chengtian Gate. All officials above the ninth rank in Luoyang, retired celebrities, elders, young scholars, and foreign envoys should all be outside Chengtian Gate to listen to my order."

"We obey your orders." The ministers bowed again.

Li Zhi smiled with satisfaction, but the ministers in the palace, including Li Xian and Li Dan, couldn't help but have a hint of worry flashing in their eyes.

(End of this chapter)