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

Chapter 1526: Guo Daiju takes action, Li Xuan takes revenge
"Your Majesty, the governor of Bazhou reports that the deposed Crown Prince Xian wants to offer sacrifices to the late emperor and asks what kind of etiquette should be used?" Shangshu Zuo Cheng Guo Daiju stood in the hall with his hands clasped.

After Guo Daiju finished speaking, the ministers suddenly quieted down, and many of them looked at him with sidelong glances.

Today is the auspicious day for the Emperor to ascend the throne and receive the title. Why are you mentioning deposing the Crown Prince?

Nothing can wait until the end of the court to be discussed.

What on earth are you thinking?

On the throne, Li Xian fell silent, looked up at Pei Yan and said, "Pei Qing, what do you think?"

Pei Yan's mouth twitched slightly, and he stood up and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, according to etiquette, the deposed prince has become a commoner and is not included in the clan canon, but he is the son of the late emperor after all, so I ask Your Majesty to grant him a spiritual seat to preserve the brotherhood."

Li Xian nodded slightly, pondered for a moment, turned sideways to look at the gently swaying bead curtain, and asked softly: "This matter is serious, what do you think we should do, mother?"

Queen Wu's face darkened, but fortunately no one could see her appearance clearly behind the pearl curtain.

After a brief silence, Empress Wu said, "So be it. By the way, give him clothes, medicinal herbs, and gold and silver. After all, he is my son."

"Yes!" Li Xian raised his head, looked at Guo Daiju, and said, "Also, order the governor of Bazhou to build a house for my brother to use for sacrifice... It can be used as a permanent sacrificial hall. At the same time, allow my brother's son Guangshun to read and learn to read. Bazhou will compile a list so that he can participate in the imperial examination when he grows up."

"Your Majesty is a model for the world with great kindness, benevolence and filial piety." Pei Yan immediately bowed, and the ministers followed suit and said, "Your Majesty is a model for the world with great kindness, benevolence and filial piety."

Li Xian nodded in satisfaction, then looked at the ministers and asked, "Do you have anything else to say?"

"Your Majesty." Li Xuan stood up amid the astonished gazes of the ministers and bowed his hands, saying, "Your Majesty, I happened to pass by the Hongwen Academy the other day and heard about the imperial examination this year. I wonder how the court will arrange the imperial examination this year. Will it be held normally, postponed, or directly suspended?"

Imperial Examination, all the ministers were suddenly awakened, it was already the first month of the year, and according to the system, the Imperial Examination would be held in mid-February.

However, it is reasonable to cancel the imperial examination during the emperor's mourning period.

"Imperial Examination?" Li Xian pondered for a moment, his eyes turned serious, and he looked at the ministers and asked, "What do you think, my dear ministers?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty." Cui Zhiwen was the first to step out from among the ministers and said with a folded hand, "Last October, a large number of students stayed in Chang'an and Luoyang, waiting for this year's imperial examination. Many of them spent a lot of money to come to the capital. If they are allowed to go back, I'm afraid many of them will not be able to come again."

Last year, Cui Zhiwen was demoted to the third rank of Zhongshu Menxia, ​​but the late emperor ordered him to assist in this year's imperial examination as a kind of compensation for him.

But if there is no imperial examination this year, there will be no compensation for Cui Zhiwen.

"Your Majesty." Lu Yuanfang, the Minister of Personnel, stood up and said, "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Personnel began to register the names of the scholars in November last year, and it was completed in mid-December and presented to the late emperor. According to your opinion, you can postpone it and hold the imperial examinations after the late emperor returns to the mausoleum... The court can compensate the scholars for food, clothing, housing and transportation."

The Ministry of Personnel is the one that is truly responsible for the imperial examinations.

Cui Zhiwen no longer had the third rank of Tongzhongshumenxia, ​​but was only a Huangmen Shilang. The dominant power over the imperial examinations was still in the hands of the Ministry of Personnel.

However, when deciding on the Jinshi degree, Cui Zhiwen had certain rights to make his own preferences.

"That is to say, neither of you two is in favor of canceling this imperial examination." Li Xian nodded and looked at Pei Yan and asked, "What do you think, Mr. Pei?"

"I agree with what Minister Lu said. Your Majesty ascended the throne last year and it was New Year's Day. This is a very auspicious sign. The imperial examination should not be cancelled this year. After all, the Tang Dynasty is a prosperous era." Pei Yan said this and all the ministers agreed.

Yes, although the previous emperor passed away, the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty continued, and the imperial examination should not be cancelled. It can be postponed, but it should not be cancelled.

"Mother!" Li Xian turned slightly and asked in a low voice.

Empress Wu looked at Li Xian deeply and said in a deep voice, "Yes."

Li Xian nodded in satisfaction, then turned to look at the ministers. His gaze finally fell on Li Xuan. After a little thought, he said, "Since we have decided to continue holding the imperial examination, there is no need to postpone it. Just hold it as usual."

After a short pause, Li Xian continued, "Now that the late emperor's body is in Luoyang, it is not convenient for me to move it to Chang'an. Therefore, in early February, the Du Shui Jian will assist the Ministry of Personnel to transfer the scholars in Chang'an to Luoyang. All food and accommodation along the way will be assisted by the Honglu Temple and supervised by the Ministry of Personnel, Mr. Cui. The ceremony will be held after the 5th day of February."

"We obey your orders." Pei Yan, Lu Yuanfang, and Cui Zhiwen all obeyed your orders at the same time.

"And more." Li Xian continued, "This is the first imperial examination since I ascended the throne. I decree that forty-nine people will be admitted this time. Let me see how many talents in the world are within my reach."

"Your Majesty is magnanimous and benevolent. We obey your orders!" All the ministers knelt down in an instant.

Even Li Xuan was delighted, as Li Xian had admitted forty-nine Jinshi at once.

This would make the already extremely grateful Changluo people excited.

Not to mention theirs, the whole world will be in an uproar.

It is conceivable that by next year, there will be countless scholars coming to Chang'an and Luoyang to take part in the imperial examinations.

……

Behind the pearl curtain, Wu looked at Li Xian with some disbelief.

How dare he.

Such a big thing, the decision was made immediately.

Empress Wu's gaze swept from Pei Yan to all the ministers kneeling in the hall. She knew that she had underestimated her son.

This kind of decisiveness and the use of political tactics are enough to make all the officials in the world full of expectations for Li Xian.

Empress Wu lowered her head slightly and looked at Liu Rengui, Xue Yuanchao, Yao Lingzhang, Li Xuan, and Su Liangsi. She had to admit that the late emperor had made the right choice in choosing the people to teach Li Xian.

"In that case, let's adjourn the court." Li Xian nodded gently. Wang Fulai stepped forward, waved the whisk in his hand, and said loudly: "Adjourn the court, all the ministers kneel down and bow."

"We, your humble servants, respectfully bid farewell to Your Majesty, the Empress, and the Queen Mother." All the ministers knelt down and bowed.

The sound of the beaded curtain swaying, the whispers of the Emperor and Empress, the sound of footsteps... As the sound completely disappeared, the voice of the eunuch Sheng Dianyi rang out: "Xing!"

All the ministers then stood up. Empress Wu, Li Xian and Wei were no longer in the hall.

Li Xuan breathed a sigh of relief, glanced at the bead curtain, and felt completely relieved.

Today, Li Xian's imperial career got off to an excellent start, but all this was achieved after he set an ambush for Empress Wu.

Next, they will inevitably face Empress Wu’s brutal revenge, but it is unknown how many people will be able to prepare for this kind of revenge.

Li Xuan's gaze swept towards Pei Yan, who was standing at the front of the ministers.

His expression became solemn. If he wanted Li Xian to more firmly secure his throne and if he wanted them to be able to withstand Empress Wu's revenge, he had to rely on Pei Yan's power.

But what to do.

……

Outside Chengtian Gate, Li Xuan sent Liu Jinyu, Pei Shitong and several children onto the carriage, and then climbed onto the horse himself.

Then he slowly followed the carriage out of Duanmen.

Walking along the south side of the Luo River, people around here have already hung up blue spring couplets and blue lanterns in their homes.

Although the emperor had passed away and no celebrations or banquets were allowed within 27 days, the people still had fun in their own ways.

There were still quite a few people on the long street, especially children, with unbridled smiles on their faces.

"My dear son-in-law!" Liu Rengui's voice came from behind, and Li Xuan stopped the carriage slightly.

When Liu Rengui's carriage caught up from behind, Li Xuan bowed and said, "Mr. Yue."

"Come in and talk." Liu Rengui looked solemn.

"Here!" Li Xuan handed the reins to his subordinate, then got on Liu Rengui's carriage and got in.

Liu Rengui watched Li Xuan sit down, then slowly said: "Half of today's events are due to your son-in-law."

Li Xuan bowed slightly and said, "The matter of the Queen and the Crown Prince was indeed the work of my grandson-in-law. As for the appointment of officials in the Eastern Palace, my grandson-in-law only gave an idea, and the rest was handled by the Chief Secretary. As for the matter of deposing the Crown Prince, it had nothing to do with my grandson-in-law. As for the imperial examination, Father-in-law also saw it, and my grandson-in-law only started it."

"You are taking revenge, revenge for deposing the crown prince." Liu Rengui looked at Li Xuan deeply. How could he not know what Li Xuan was thinking?
As soon as Guo Daiju mentioned Li Xian's matter, Li Xuan immediately stood up and mentioned the imperial examination.

Don't be too obvious in your targeting of each other.

Li Xuan fell silent. After a moment, he said softly, "If your Majesty doesn't handle the matter of deposing the crown prince today properly, you will immediately give people the impression that you are mean and ungrateful. Your grandson-in-law is just helping your Majesty win back some people's hearts."

Liu Rengui shook his head and said, "He just hit you with a punch, and you immediately swung your axe back. You are such a petty person."

Guo Daiju did have bad intentions, but Li Xian responded very appropriately. The problem was that Li Xuan's revenge was too brutal.

Just when Guo Daiju was about to test Li Xian, Li Xuan immediately expressed the gratitude of all the scholars in the world to Li Xian.

Thinking of the way the ministers kept discussing the imperial examination when they left the hall, Liu Rengui knew that this matter had been accomplished.

Every family has three or five disciples who take the imperial examinations. It is quite difficult for children from ordinary families to come to Chang'an or Luoyang in their lifetime.

Many of the children of powerful families have participated in every imperial examination. Now that they finally have a good opportunity, they must seize it.

"At least your majesty's throne is stable." Li Xuan nodded slightly and sighed.

The imperial examination is pending. From now until the announcement of the results in mid-March, and the palace examination afterwards, there will be no problem for Li Xian to be the emperor within three months.

There is absolutely no such thing as Li Xian being deposed after only 55 days in the original history.

The longer he is in power, the more people will align themselves with him, and the stronger his power will be.

If Empress Wu wanted to depose him again, she would have to pay a greater price.

Not only that, even if Wu Zetian deposed Li Xian, there would be more voices against her from the people of the world, the aristocrats, especially the middle and lower aristocrats.

Of course, this would also make Empress Wu even more bloody.

……

Liu Rengui looked at Li Xuan and sighed softly, "Be careful. From today on, family members should not go out unless necessary. Especially the children. You must be careful not to be manipulated by others. If they impeach you, you will be in big trouble."

Li Xuan nodded seriously and said, "Grandson-in-law, remember this and be careful about everything."

After a short pause, Li Xuan smiled softly and whispered, "If something really happens, at most I, the Crown Prince's Guardian, can stay in Luoyang for a while. With Your Majesty here, my life will not be in danger.

Under such circumstances, I believe no one in the court would want their grandson-in-law to stay in Luoyang for any longer."

(End of this chapter)