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

Chapter 1709: The Most Valuable Minister in the World Is King Peng
Menxia Province, Zhengshitang.

"Everyone!" Cui Zhiwen, dressed in a purple robe, stood up, waved his sleeves at everyone, and then said with emotion: "The Wu family's rebellion was indeed a serious disaster, but the affairs of the world ultimately come down to the emperor. The emperor is young, so the queen mother should rule the country. This is also the custom from ancient times to the present..."

"Prime Minister Cui, your surname is Cui, not Zheng." Yao Lingzhang sneered and turned his head slightly.

Cui Zhiwen turned and looked at Yao Lingzhang, wanting to refute, but for a moment he couldn't think of what to say.

"Bang, bang!" Liu Rengui sat in the main seat and knocked lightly on the table, then said: "What Prime Minister Cui said is indeed reasonable. The emperor is young, and it is okay for the queen mother to take power on his behalf, but the queen mother can only have the power to know things, not the power to handle things."

Liu Rengui's words were so decisive that everyone else, except Cui Zhiwen, bowed solemnly and said, "Yes!"

Cui Zhiwen's breath was choked, he looked up at Liu Rengui and said, "The power of the governor is only to know the affairs but not to deal with them. What if someone forcibly deposes and enthrones him?"

Li Xuan looked at the table in front of him calmly, as if the person Cui Zhiwen was talking about was not him.

"The Council of State is not just for show." Liu Rengui waved his hand, and the prime ministers all lowered their heads, but some of them couldn't help but glance at Li Xuan out of the corner of their eyes.

Li Xuan did respect the Zhengshitang very much, and he did not interfere in the affairs of the ministers at will.

Although there were many ministers and assistant ministers in the six ministries who had close relations with him, to be honest, he seldom interfered in the work of these ministers, and all the ministers were capable people.

Li Xuan did not interfere. For nearly half a year, the prime ministers handled the affairs of their respective departments in an orderly manner and even began to build up their own power.

Li Xuan said nothing about all this.

In fact, for quite a long time, Li Xuan focused all his energy on the Imperial College.

The princes of the royal family, the princesses, and even Concubine Zheng all admired Li Xuan and said that there was no wiser minister in the world than him.

Under the current situation, if Li Xuan really wanted to do something improper, the princes of the royal family, the princesses, the ministers of the six ministries, and the prime ministers of the Secretariat would not agree.

But at the same time, they didn't want to stimulate Li Xuan too much.

Li Xuan has the support of the Zhuwei army behind him. If he were to be gone, at least hundreds of thousands of troops would be thrown into chaos in an instant.

Unless you can completely eliminate all his influence in the army in an instant and completely control all the armies...

Then, it's time to completely break off relations.

Not only are the prime ministers not united, they also don't have much confidence.

……

Li Xuan's expression remained calm, as if she didn't hear what Cui Zhiwen said.

"Don't make random suspicions. As for the Queen Mother's right to deal with things, she still needs to be given some power." Liu Rengui looked up at Cui Zhiwen and said calmly, "The rule of the Political Affairs Hall is that matters that the six ministries cannot handle should be reported to the Political Affairs Hall, and matters that the Political Affairs Hall cannot handle should be reported to Your Majesty. Your Majesty is young, so let the Queen Mother make the decision."

"Yes!" All the ministers bowed together, but they couldn't help but look at Cui Zhiwen with ridicule in the depths of their eyes.

There are now nine prime ministers in the Council of State, and any issues will be decided internally by the Council of State.

If there are things that the Council of State cannot decide, usually someone else will be asked to take the blame, and these are things that Queen Mother Zheng needs to do.

"Except for the New Year's Day, the Winter Solstice, and the Thousand Autumn Festival, the Empress Dowager attends court on the first day of each month. At other times, a Minister of State, a Minister of the Central Secretariat, and a Minister of the Court report state affairs to the Empress Dowager every day until the Son of Heaven comes of age."

Liu Rengui turned to look at Cui Zhiwen and asked, "Prime Minister Cui, do you have anything to add?"

Cui Zhiwen looked at Liu Rengui with some surprise. Liu Rengui had actually guaranteed the Queen Mother's power as governor to the greatest extent.

Even if the empress dowager was a little more ruthless and used more cruel means, she could get rid of the three prime ministers when they were paying homage to her, or even hold them hostage, and then she would immediately have the opportunity to take control of the government.

Of course, it's just a chance.

Cui Zhiwen knew that things in the world were not that simple.

If many things are not handled properly, government orders cannot even leave Chang'an City, let alone the whole world.

Cui Zhiwen took a deep breath and said, "What about non-court affairs, such as the Queen Mother summoning the princesses, ministers and concubines, banquets, etc.?"

"It's not a court matter, the Council of State Affairs has no say in it." Liu Rengui waved his hand.

Cui Zhiwen turned and looked at Li Xuan. As the general of the imperial guard, Li Xuan had a very important say in this matter.

"Everything must be done according to the palace rules, and there will be no hindrance." Li Xuan nodded slightly and gave away the power in the palace.

This sentence meant that from now on, except for matters concerning the safety of the palace, he would have no right to interfere in the affairs of the eunuchs and palace maids, as all matters would be managed by the empress dowager.

"Thank you all." Cui Zhiwen bowed solemnly and sat down.

……

Liu Rengui looked at the memorial in his hand, looked at the ministers and said, "Prince Peng is the Southeast Inspector General to handle the affairs of Jiangnan. Duan Baoxuan is the Chief of the Yangzhou Grand Military Governor's Office, Wang Fanglin is the Governor of Hangzhou, and the Prince of Jiangdu is the Governor of Wuzhou. I suggest that the Governor of Yuezhou Lai Jingye be transferred back to the court, and that the Governor of Huzhou Pei Guang be transferred. Let's talk about it."

"Yes!" Lu Yuanfang nodded slightly, the first to agree.

The others, Liu Shenli, Li Yiyan, Yao Lingzhang, Wang Dezhen, Cui Zhiwen, and Liu Jingxian, all nodded in agreement.

They knew that if they agreed to Li Xuan's proposal, Li Xuan would no longer have a say in the other five places: the Governor of Runzhou, the Governor of Suzhou, the Governor of Huzhou, the Governor of Kuazhou, and the Governor-General of Yuezhou.

In fact, Li Xuan only took away the position of governor of Hangzhou.

"Let's discuss the governor of Suzhou first." Liu Rengui looked at Li Xuan and asked, "The governor of Suzhou has always been appointed by the kings. What does the term 'a royal family' mean?"

"Prince Shu was transferred to be the governor of Suzhou." Li Xuan bowed slightly, and then said: "As for Dingzhou, after Prince Huo was transferred to be the Minister of Zongzheng Temple, the governor of Dingzhou has been vacant. Dingzhou suppressed the Turks, and the position of governor of Dingzhou cannot be vacant for long."

"Does the King of Han really have to be the Minister of Rites?" Liu Rengui's brows suddenly frowned.

From August to now, the matter of the Minister of Rites has been the focus of contention between the royal family and the Council of State.

After Prince Huo was appointed as the Minister of Imperial Clan Affairs, Prince Han wanted to be appointed as the Minister of Rites. How could the Political Affairs Hall agree to this? With Li Yuangui and Li Xuan in the court, how could they give a ministerial position to a member of the royal family?

Even though the position of Minister of Rites was an undemanding position, they would not give it to a member of the royal family.

Li Xuan remained silent on this matter.

He had fought for the position of Minister of Zongzheng Temple by using his own reputation, and as for the Minister of Rites, he had better keep a distance from him, as he did not want to offend all the prime ministers in the Council of State.

But today, some things have reached the point where they have to be dealt with.

The day after tomorrow, Li Chongjun will ascend the throne. If the position of Minister of Rites is still vacant, it will be disadvantageous to everyone.

"Han Wangbo insisted, he is just worried about chaos in the court." Li Xuan hesitated for a moment and said, "So, Li Huaiyan, the Minister of Rites, will be transferred to the post of Governor of Yingzhou, and Li Ne, the Prince of Han, the Deputy Governor of Langzhou, and the Prince of Wuling, will be transferred to the post of Minister of Rites, and Han Wang will be transferred to the post of Governor of Dingzhou. How do you do?"

"Dingzhou always needs someone to guard it." Liu Rengui looked at Li Xuan deeply, turned to look at the others and said, "Wuling County Prince Li Ne is the Minister of Rites, so who will be the Minister of Rites?"

Liu Rengui's words aroused everyone's interest.

Li Xuan lowered his head slightly. Liu Rengui proposed the position of Minister of Rites, so naturally no one would reject Li Na's position as Vice Minister of Rites.

Each of the ministers had his own candidate, and Cui Zhiwen even mentioned Ouyang Tong's name again in a sinister way.

"Choose one between Cen Changqian and Wei Xuantong." Liu Rengui raised his head, looked at everyone and said, "I and the Right Prime Minister will request to retire the day after tomorrow. At that time, two people will be appointed to the Council of State. One will be Minister Ouyang, and the other one will be chosen between Cen Changqian and Wei Xuantong. The other one will be the Minister of Rites."

"No." Li Xuan suddenly raised his head, looked at Liu Rengui and said, "If Lord Cen is the prime minister, Lord Wei will be the Minister of Rites; if Lord Wei is the prime minister, Lord Cen will be the Minister of Rites. In this way, the position of Shangshu Zuocheng will be vacant."

Wang Yinke, the Shangshu Youcheng, did not have much time in the position and it was impossible for him to be promoted to Shangshu Zuocheng, so the position of Shangshu Zuocheng would inevitably be vacant.

Even Liu Rengui already had a candidate in mind.

"Feng Yuanchang, the governor of Guangzhou." Liu Rengui said, and all the prime ministers fell silent at the same time.

Feng Yuanchang, a disciple of former Prime Minister Hao Chujun, was just as resolute and decisive, and just as hostile to Empress Wu.

In recent years, because of Empress Wu's affairs, many upright officials were transferred to other places, and Feng Yuanchang was one of them.

He served as the Governor of Longzhou, the Governor of Meizhou, and the Governor of Guangzhou. He made great contributions but received no reward.

When Liu Rengui transferred such a person back to the central government, he knew at first glance that he wanted to transfer him back to be the prime minister.

However, compared to Ouyang Tong, Cen Changqian and Wei Xuantong, who were already third-rank officials in the Secretariat during the reign of Emperor Ruizong, although Feng Yuanchang had also served as a governor-general and provincial governor for several terms, so did the others. Therefore, he could not even get the chance to become the Minister of Rites.

Li Xuan was sitting there, and he vaguely felt that Liu Rengui's move was aimed at him.

The Secretariat proposed, the Ministry of Personnel reviewed, and the Ministry of State Affairs executed.

In addition to the left and right Pushes, the person who connected the upper and lower levels of the Secretariat was the Zuo Cheng.

Therefore, at the critical moment, Feng Yuanchang, the Shangshu Zuocheng, was able to greatly control Li Xuan's influence on the six ministries.

But unfortunately, Li Xuan's plan was almost complete.

Feng Yuanchang's return to Beijing at this time would be more beneficial to Li Xuan's plan.

……

Liu Rengui looked at Li Xuan's calm expression, his brows twitched slightly, and he immediately understood in his heart that Li Xuan was not indifferent, but had already made a targeted plan against Feng Yuanchang in an instant, and his methods have always been open conspiracies, making it difficult for you not to jump in.

As soon as Feng Yuanchang appeared, everyone lost interest in arguing.

Soon, everyone decided that Wei Xuantong would be the Minister of Rites, and Cen Changqian would be the Minister of Imperial Households, both of whom were third-rank officials in the Secretariat.

Liu Rengui and Liu Shenli had privately completed the reorganization of the entire Political Affairs Hall after their retirement.

They wouldn't even tell the ministers about this kind of thing, let alone discuss it face to face.

Only two of them would report directly to the Emperor and the Queen Mother, and the Queen Mother would make the final decision.

Other matters were also quickly decided.

Zhang Qian, the Minister of the Imperial Guards, was transferred to serve as the Governor of Yuezhou, and Zhang She, the Junior Supervisor of the Palace, was transferred to serve as the Governor of Runzhou.

This pair of brothers are both sons of former prime minister Zhang Wenguan.

From Zhao Renben, Hao Chujun, and Zhang Wenguan, it can be seen that Liu Rengui is still trying his best to restore the situation during Emperor Gaozong's reign.

The other governors of Huzhou and Kuazhou were all appointed from candidates recommended by the prime ministers.

But at the same time, Yuan Jiazuo, the Chief Clerk of Yongzhou, was transferred to the position of Minister of the Ministry of Defense, Zheng Xuankai, the Junior Minister of Agriculture, was transferred to the position of Supervisor of the Palace, Liu Zhirou, the Chief Clerk of Luozhou, was transferred to the position of Chief Clerk of Yongzhou, and Lai Jingye, the Governor of Yuezhou, was transferred to the position of Chief Clerk of Luozhou.

There was another transfer that no one cared much about.

Du Bixing, the Sima of Jizhou Military Governor's Office, was transferred to be the Sima of Luozhou.

……

"Finally, it's the Wei family's business." Liu Rengui's eyes grew cold, and he turned to look at Cui Zhiwen and said, "The King of Wei will ascend the throne the day after tomorrow, and he will be the emperor after ascending the throne. The Wei family will be charged with the crime of murdering the crown prince, and all those involved will be executed in the autumn of next year, and the three clans will be exiled. The officials will punish the rest of the clansmen, and no one shall be allowed to go unjustly."

"Yes!" Cui Zhiwen bowed solemnly.

Li Xuan's gaze gently fell on Cui Zhiwen.

Some things, once started, are not so easy to stop.

(End of this chapter)