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

Chapter 1592: Conspiracy, rallying people's hearts against Empress Wu

The pearl curtain swayed slightly, and Empress Wu saw Su Liangsi bowing again. She interrupted decisively and said, "Su Qing, please put aside your thoughts for the time being. The King of Han said before that he wanted to set up an inner school to let the crown prince, the Prince of Ping'en, as well as meritorious officials, court officials, and the children of the royal family and relatives study together. As for the teachers, what do you think Su Qing would choose?"

Prince.

Hearing the word "Crown Prince", Su Liangsi fell silent. Finally, he cupped his hands and said, "As for the Crown Prince's teacher, in my opinion, it would be sufficient to first select Li Zhaode, the Doctor of the Ministry of Justice, and then add Du Shenyan, the Secretary of the Central Secretariat, and Li Jiao, the Supervisory Censor."

Empress Wu nodded and said, "That makes sense. In this case, we will appoint Su Weidao, the Imperial Censor and the Minister of War, as the Crown Prince's Junior Secretary, Cui Rong, the Crown Prince's Tutor, as the Crown Prince's Central Sheren, and Song Zhiwen, the Scholar of the Hongwen Academy, as the Crown Prince's Horse Groom."

The ministers looked up in great surprise. Empress Wu used none of the three people recommended by Su Liangsi.

But in the end, she used Su Weidao, a new literary figure from the Su family with military skills, as the Prince's Junior Secretary. The others, Cui Rong and Song Zhiwen, were both old ministers of Li Xian when he was in the Eastern Palace.

Su Weidao is a member of Su Liangsi's clan.

Although Cui Rong and Song Zhiwen were old ministers of the Eastern Palace, they did nothing between the death of Li Xian and the ascension of Li Dan to the throne.

These are two cowards.

Appoint these two cowards as the prince's teachers.

Su Liangsi raised his head and said solemnly, "Queen of Heaven..."

"That's it." Empress Wu waved her hand forcefully and said, "I have come all the way from Luoyang and dealt with so many things. I am tired. Let's stop here today."

"We, the ministers, respectfully bid farewell to the Queen Mother." Liu Rengui, Dou Xuande, Pei Yan and other old ministers quickly kowtowed to the ground.

Behind the pearl curtain, Empress Wu looked at Su Liangsi kneeling there reluctantly and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Then he stood up and walked out from behind the bead curtain.

Li Dan followed Empress Wu and walked towards the side door. At the last moment, Li Dan could not help but look back, and his eyes lightly swept over Su Liangsi and King of Han Li Yuanjia.

……

"Rise!" The Eunuch Department's Ceremony Director shouted loudly, and the ministers slowly stood up.

At this moment, everyone's eyes involuntarily fell on Su Liangsi, and they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, Empress Wu did not intend to investigate Su Liangsi further today, and Liu Rengui, Dou Xuande and others interrupted Su Liangsi's words in time, otherwise, Su Liangsi might really have been killed in the hall today.

"Left Prime Minister, Pei Prime Minister, Dou Prime Minister." Su Liangsi thought for a moment and spoke to the three of them. The three of them bowed at the same time: "Grand Censor."

"I am sorry for the injustice." Su Liangsi bowed, then looked at the ministers and said solemnly, "Where are the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice and the chief justice of the Ministry of Justice?"

"I'm here." Vice Minister of Justice Li Zhaode, Vice Minister of Justice Pei Judao, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Dugu Qi stood up at the same time.

Su Liangsi nodded and said coldly, "I don't care about other things, but the former crown prince is living abroad. For the sake of the stability of the world, all departments must do their best to find the whereabouts of the crown prince. Therefore, after returning, please issue the order of the Ministry of Justice, the Dali Temple, and the Censorate to all counties and prefectures to immediately search for the whereabouts of the former crown prince. There must be no mistakes."

"Yes!" Li Zhaode, Pei Judao and Dugu Qi bowed at the same time.

Su Liangsi raised his head and looked at the other officials, and said in a cold voice: "Everyone, although the times are different now, the Tang Dynasty is still here. I hope you will do your job well and run the government smoothly. If anyone is slack, I will personally report to the Empress and impeach them. Then, either I will be dismissed from office or you will be dismissed from office."

The ministers in the palace were slightly stunned, and then someone raised his hand from time to time: "Yes!"

Then, even the Minister of War Duan Baoxuan in the hall nodded slightly in agreement.

Only a few prime ministers did not say much.

Su Liangsi turned around and looked at Fan Lubing.

Among all the ministers in the Council of State, Fan Lubing is the one most trusted by Empress Wu.

After all, he is now the head of the North Gate scholars.

Even the Minister of the Interior Guo Daiju was inferior to him.

Not to mention old guys like Liu Rengui, Pei Yan and Dou Xuande.

Su Liangsi bowed and said, "Brother Fan."

"Brother Su!" Fan Lubing bowed in return.

Su Liangsi nodded and said, "The Ministry of Personnel reviews and the Minister of State executes. However, the work of the Political Affairs Hall is often delayed, and you hold an important position in the Secretariat. Please be more diligent in the communication between the upper and lower levels, and do not let things stop in the Political Affairs Hall and the Secretariat...

If this is true, I would like to ask the Queen Mother, is the power granted to me by the late Emperor to impeach the ministers valid in this dynasty?"

He impeached all officials and criticized the prime minister.

This power of Su Liangsi as Imperial Censor was specially granted by the late emperor.

It was used without hindrance during the reign of the late emperor and during the reign of Emperor Zhongzong. If Su Liangsi really questioned Empress Wu about it, it would probably be difficult for her to deny it.

Especially in today's special circumstances.

Fan Lubing took a deep breath and said, "Brother Su, rest assured. I will do my best to ensure that the affairs of the court are not delayed."

Fan Lubing looked serious. How could he refuse such a thing?

Since the death of Li Xian and the succession of Li Dan, state affairs have been stagnant for a long time.

The fundamental reason was that Li Dan's succession to the throne was not legitimate.

Although Empress Wu won the hearts of the people through killing and rewards, in reality, the ministers and chancellors were unwilling to do more because they were not sure how long they could stay in such a position.

The most obvious example is Ouyang Tong.

As Li Xuan's uncle, Ouyang Tong was transferred from the Minister of War to the Minister of Revenue by Empress Wu, and was also made Prime Minister together with the third-rank official of the Secretariat. But in fact, because of the bloody death of Li Xian, Ouyang Tong always felt that he would be liquidated by Empress Wu one day. Although all the affairs of the Ministry of Revenue were still being done, they were not as efficient as before.

Of course, Empress Wu's people had completely taken control of the Ministry of Revenue, and even without Ouyang Tong as the Minister of Revenue, the affairs of the Ministry of Revenue were functioning normally.

But such normal operation and all officials working together for the country are two completely different things.

In addition, there are Pei Yan, Liu Rengui, Wang Dezhen, Lu Yuanfang, Wang Jishan, Duan Baoxuan, Wei Daijia, Huang Rensu, Wei Xuantong and so on. These people are not Beimen scholars and Wu Zetian's confidants. They all believe that they will be dismissed and replaced sooner or later, so how can they devote themselves to court affairs?

Others, even the likes of Dou Lu Qinwang and Dou Xuande, were more concerned with fighting for power and profit.

Therefore, over the past month, the court's government affairs have been slackened to a great extent.

The most crucial thing is Empress Wu, who is at the top of the social ladder. Her attention is still on suppressing the dissatisfaction of the people throughout the world, and not on governing the world at all.

The upper beam is not right and the lower beam is crooked.

In today's situation, how many people are paying attention to politics?

Fan Lubing was undoubtedly the one whom Empress Wu trusted the most among all the ministers.

He will surely hold the positions of Zhongshu Ling and Shangshu Pushe in the future, and what he needs most now is to establish his prestige.

Su Liangsi's words were equivalent to telling all officials clearly that the core of the court and the country now was him, the Secretary of the Central Secretariat.

As long as all officials can focus on their work, Fan Lubing can move to higher levels step by step.

With clear government affairs, Fan Lubing will have greater power, and he will also be able to prepare for competing with Empress Wu in the future.

That’s right, it’s to compete with Empress Wu.

Fan Lubing has always been Li Dan's teacher. He has been by Li Dan's side since the time of Ming Chongyan, Liu Yizhi and Yuan Wanqing.

What he hoped most was that Li Dan could become a wise ruler in the future.

But now, after Li Dan ascended the throne, a person appeared who could threaten Li Dan's throne, and this person was not of the surname Li.

He had already made up his mind that if Empress Wu really wanted Wu Sansi to...

Fan Lubing will definitely make Empress Wu change her mind.

No matter what you do.

Everything Su Liangsi does now is in his best interest.

……

Seeing Su Liangsi's statement, the other prime ministers hesitated for a moment and then nodded one after another.

Su Liangsi's final gaze fell on Wei Xuantong and others.

Shang Shu Zuo Cheng, and Wei Xuantong, a third-rank official under the Zhongshu Menxia.

Noticing Su Liangsi's gaze, Wei Xuantong bowed solemnly.

No one wants to be directly replaced in the future. If they can work together with others and make the queen dare not give up easily, this is their future.

"Thank you for your help, please come in." Su Liangsi nodded, stood in the hall, and watched the officials leave one by one.

Everyone else was fine, but when it was Pei Yan's turn...

Pei Yan walked past Su Liangsi with a guilty look on his face.

Su Liangsi just nodded calmly without looking at him any more.

……

The Shenlong Temple is located to the east of the Ganlu Temple.

Now Emperor Li Dan and his family live in Ganlu Palace, while Empress Wu lives in Shenlong Palace.

After the court was dismissed, Empress Wu returned to the Shenlong Palace with a calm expression.

Just as she sat down, a maid carefully placed the teacup on the table, and as she pushed it away, the cup flew out, brushing against her body.

With a "bang", the teacup fell heavily to the ground and broke into pieces. Water and tea leaves were all spilled all over the floor.

"Queen, please calm down." All the palace maids and eunuchs in the hall fell to their knees in fear.

"Everyone, go out." Empress Wu shouted coldly, and the palace maids and eunuchs in the hall quickly retreated respectfully, leaving only Shangguan Wan'er and Qiu Huan.

"Queen, please calm down." Shangguan Wan'er walked silently behind Empress Wu and gently massaged her shoulders.

Empress Wu gritted her teeth and said, "One day, I will kill him."

He, who, of course, is Su Liangsi.

Su Liangsi mentioned in the hall today that "The Tang Dynasty lasted for three generations, and Wu replaced the Tang Dynasty", which directly touched Empress Wu's sore spot.

Empress Wu already knew the prophecy "Tang will last for three generations, and Wu will replace Tang" when she was in Mount Li. However, she did not stop the prophecy from spreading widely in Chang'an and its surrounding areas. Instead, she promoted it intentionally or unintentionally.

As for the reason, it was nothing more than this sentence, which touched her heart most deeply.

In today's court, she controls the Sixteen Guards, the Left and Right Imperial Guards, the Secret Guards, the Dali Temple, and the Ministry of Justice. She has become the most actual ruler of the court.

Even going a step further is not a bad idea.

However, Empress Wu has not made up her mind yet. After all, the one sitting on the throne now is her last son.

The reason why she deposed Li Xian was because she had noticed overtly or covertly that Li Xian was beginning to try to restrict her rights and deprive her of them, so Empress Wu took complete action.

But Li Dan was a puppet, and Empress Wu could easily let him continue in power forever.

Until he started to rebel.

Shangguan Wan'er gently pinched Empress Wu's shoulders, and the anger in her heart gradually dissipated.

Finally, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and said, "We can't kill him, at least not now. King Peng is still in the Western Regions, and there can't be any more changes in the government."

Shangguan Wan'er raised her eyebrows slightly. She immediately understood that Li Xuan's large army in the Western Regions put a lot of pressure on Empress Wu.

After Li Xian died, Empress Wu could still explain and cover up the matter by saying it was a power struggle, but once Su Liangsi died, Li Xuan would suddenly feel that Empress Wu could not tolerate him.

Under such circumstances, how could Li Xuan come back from the Western Regions?

Therefore, Su Liangsi could not be killed.

Empress Wu raised her head, looked to the side, and asked, "How is the investigation of Chongzhao going? Who saved him?"

Crown Prince Li Chongzhao was the only one who escaped during Empress Wu's palace coup.

Qiu Huan walked out quietly, bowed and said: "I have checked all the noble families, officials, and generals in Chang'an. They don't have much to do with the time. On the contrary, I have gained something in other aspects."

As he spoke, Qiu Huan placed the basic memorial on Empress Wu's desk.

Then he took a step back and said, "We just received a report from Jizhou and Taiyuan Prefecture. Someone in Jizhou and Taiyuan Prefecture has killed the secret guards."

Empress Wu’s brows furrowed instantly.

(End of this chapter)