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

Chapter 1716 How to steal the imperial examination questions from the Political Affairs Hall?
On the eighth day of February, the spring breeze blows.

Under the cover of night, the palace was heavily guarded.

Cui Zhiwen walked calmly from Ganlu Palace, passed Ganlu Gate, and arrived outside Liangyi Palace.

Under the Liangyi Sect, Li Xuan was talking to Zheng Xuankai with a smile and a relaxed tone.

Seeing Cui Zhiwen approaching, they both bowed and said at the same time, "Greetings to Prime Minister Cui."

"You're welcome." Cui Zhiwen smiled and waved his hand slightly, then looked at Li Xuan and Zheng Xuankai and said, "In four days, Shiwu Niang will marry into the Peng Palace. By then, the Zheng family and the prince will be our family, and I can also benefit from it and become the prince's elder."

The three families of Cui, Lu and Zheng had countless intermarriages with each other. Even if they occasionally married with other families, the marriages were always with younger girls who did not involve the core members.

Of course, given Cui Zhiwen’s blood relationship with the Zheng family, there is no problem for him to be Li Xuan’s elder.

"What are you saying, Cui Xiang? In Xuan's heart, Cui Xiang has long been Xuan's elder." Li Xuan bowed slightly, looking humble.

"Okay, I won't disturb you. I'll go back and rest now. Your Majesty, please be careful during the imperial examination tomorrow." Cui Zhiwen advised gently, as if he really cared about you.

"Yes!" Li Xuan bowed again. When he whispered, a hint of indifference flashed across his eyes. But when he raised his head, his face was full of gentleness: "Prime Minister Cui, be careful on the road."

Cui Zhiwen smiled, then waved and left.

……

Passing by the side of Taiji Palace, Cui Zhiwen's gaze fell in the direction of Menxia Province. He could vaguely see that the lights in Menxia Province were still on.

Cui Zhiwen knew that it was Ouyang Tong who was on duty in the Government Affairs Hall all night.

Ouyang Tong was the chief examiner of this imperial examination, and the first chief examiner of the imperial examination since the new emperor ascended the throne.

In order to avoid any unexpected events, Ouyang Tong had no intention of sleeping tonight and would just rest outside the Government Hall for the day.

Then the next day, Lu Yuanfang, Li Yiyan and Ouyang Tong went to Ganlu Palace together to hand over the box containing the nine test papers to the emperor.

Finally, the one-year-old emperor chose one at random and without prejudice.

This is the topic of tomorrow’s scientific examination.

In order to avoid corruption in the imperial examinations, Ouyang Tong was on duty at the Government Affairs Hall and Li Xuan was on duty at the Ganlu Gate.

It can be seen that this uncle and nephew really want to nip in the bud any possibility of cheating.

And tonight, before the Emperor opens the test questions at noon tomorrow, is the time when problems are most likely to occur in their eyes, so even Li Xuan and Ouyang Tong were on the move all night long.

Cui Zhiwen walked into the Tai Chi sect, and in the shadows, his face was filled with sneer in an instant.

Then, after walking out of Tai Chi Gate, Cui Zhiwen's expression had calmed down a lot.

A purple-covered carriage pulled over from the side, and Cui Zhiwen got into the carriage. When the carriage left the Suzaku Gate, a team of Jinwu Guards and a team of Qianniu Guards had already escorted both sides.

This is the treatment only given to the prime minister.

Similarly, all of Choi Ji-won's actions in leaving the palace will reach Li Xuan's ears in the shortest possible time.

This night was filled with endless intrigue.

……

Shengyefang is the residence of Zhongshu Ling Cui Zhiwen.

Cui Zhiwen walked calmly between the pavilions and corridors, and the servants and maids on both sides all bowed and stopped.

Cui Zhiwen walked into the study calmly without looking at any of them. At this moment, there was already someone waiting in the study.

This person was none other than Lu Chen, the Minister of Personnel.

He was supposed to be busy in the Ministry of Personnel, but at this time, he had already appeared in Cui Zhiwen's residence.

"Uncle!" Lu Chen was the first to bow and then asked in a low voice: "Exam questions..."

Cui Zhiwen waved his hand to stop Lu Chen, and walked to the table to rest. He took out a sealed envelope from his sleeve and handed it to Lu Chen. He said with a little pride in his eyes: "This is the test paper written by King Peng. Have someone send it out tonight."

"Here!" Lu Chen took it with a bow, then asked carefully, "Uncle, is it only King Peng's test questions?"

"Of course." Cui Zhiwen raised his head and said with great confidence: "Tomorrow, His Majesty will choose King Peng's test questions, and will only choose King Peng's test questions, so it is enough to just get his."

"Yes!" Lu Chen bowed in awe, his eyes could not help but fall on the scroll in front of him. He was a little curious. This thing was placed in the Council Hall and was watched day and night. How did his uncle get it out?

As if he had seen through Lu Chen's thoughts, Cui Zhiwen sneered: "King Peng has people watching day and night, and Ouyang Tong is on duty tonight, fearing that someone might steal the test questions. But they forgot that I have been in the Ministry of Personnel for nearly ten years. It is very easy for the Political Affairs Hall to make some moves and take out some things in advance. After copying them, they can send them back."

Having served as the Imperial Court Minister for ten years, Cui Zhiwen was able to do a lot of things in the government hall.

On the surface, the political struggle is grand and majestic, but in reality, it is petty and the winner takes it all.

“Three days later, the imperial examination will be over. On the day when Prince Peng gets married, while his attention is on the Zheng family, we will send people to expose the cheating in the imperial examination. Then we will quickly organize the scholars to petition the palace gate. Finally, we will go to Ganlu Palace to see the Queen Mother and ask for her order to execute Prince Peng.” Cui Zhiwen clenched his fists immediately, his eyes excited.

"Yes!" Lu Chen bowed solemnly. With the death of King Peng, the world changed drastically.

Cui Zhiwen took a deep breath, looked out the door, frowned and asked, "Why hasn't Xuanwei come yet?"

Cui Xuanwei, the Langzhong of the Ministry of Revenue and Duzhi, was recognized as the next prime minister among the three families of Cui, Lu and Zheng.

The Duzhi Langzhong in the court have always been valued by the emperor. Whether it was Qian Weidao or Di Renjie, they were all known to have the talent to be prime minister.

It’s a pity that Qian Weidao, Fan Lubing and others were ordered to retire and return home to teach.

The same was true for Cui Xuanwei, but because he was from the Qinghe Cui family, he was suppressed even more.

Be it Li Xian, Li Dan, Empress Wu, or now Li Xuan, none of them have any intention of getting too close to him.

"Xuan Wei may feel that this matter will hurt the family's reputation, so he is unwilling to participate." Lu Chen paused for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Uncle, if he doesn't want to participate, then don't let him participate. The fewer people who know about this matter, the less likely it is to leak."

"The imperial examination is not the most important thing." Cui Zhiwen shook his head slightly and said, "The key lies in how to appease and win over the old subordinates under Prince Peng. When the time comes, the Ministry of Revenue will need to allocate a large amount of money and grain in time. How can he, a doctor of the Ministry of Revenue, do this?" "Uncle, don't we still have the wealth of Prince Peng's mansion?" Lu Chen said in a low voice, "When the time comes, we can use the wealth of Prince Peng's mansion to appease the soldiers. Prince Peng has accumulated a lot of wealth over the years."

"No matter how much wealth King Peng's family has, they can't let every soldier get ten strings of copper coins." Cui Zhiwen gave Lu Chen a cold look.

"Ten strings of cash?" Lu Chen was immediately shocked. He looked at Cui Zhiwen and asked in disbelief, "Wouldn't that mean it would cost several million strings of cash? Tang..."

"That's why we have to use the Ministry of Revenue." Cui Zhiwen looked above the study and said in a cold voice, "When we confiscated the Wei family's property before, King Peng's people were watching closely. Now that 40% of the wealth has been deposited in the Ministry of Revenue, it's just right to take it all out."

"Yes!" Lu Chen's expression became extremely solemn, but then he felt a little relieved.

If everyone was given ten strings of cash, who among the soldiers would be willing to follow King Peng?

"The money is just a total amount. After it is given to the generals leading the army, the rest is up to the generals to divide among themselves." Cui Zhiwen looked at Lu Chen with disdain. Lu Chen is so old, how could he still think that all the money would be distributed once it fell into the hands of the generals?

All Cui Zhiwen needed was to take money out of the national treasury and give it to the generals to ensure that the soldiers were obedient.

Ten strings of cash per person is just a saying.

As long as the generals can control their soldiers, they can allocate them however they want.

Cui Zhiwen said with a hint of sarcasm: "Those murderers can't keep the money even if they have it. It won't be long before they spend it all and it ends up in our hands again."

"Yes!" Lu Chen lowered his head slightly.

……

"What did Prince Shu say?" Cui Zhiwen put his hands on the table, his face becoming serious.

"No news." Lu Chen's expression became serious, and he whispered, "I sent someone to Suzhou last month, but there has been no news. Is there anyone..."

"Not necessarily." Cui Zhiwen sneered and shook his head, saying: "Perhaps someone wants to be a fence-sitter again, just like when King Peng attacked Luoyang, and now it's just a repeat of the past."

When Li Xuan attacked Luoyang, none of the kings came.

Although it was Li Xuan who gave them the order to guard the place first, it was interesting that not only did the kings not come themselves, they did not even send their sons.

“But…” Lu Chen’s expression became solemn. Li Xuan was also one of the kings. With him in Chang’an, the world could maintain the rule of the Li family. But if he was gone, the rule of the Li family would be shaky. By then, the kings would inevitably send their troops back in a hurry. Could they stop them?

"Is there no news about Xue Na either?" Cui Zhiwen raised his head and looked at Lu Chen coldly.

"Yes!" Lu Chen lowered his head with a grim expression.

"It's okay. This is expected." Cui Zhiwen waved his hand gently, then looked at Lu Chen and said, "Tonight, go to Princess Taiping's mansion and hand this letter to her."

As soon as Princess Taiping uttered these four words, Lu Chen immediately looked up in surprise.

It turns out that my uncle’s real trump card is Princess Taiping.

Cui Zhiwen took out a letter from under the table and handed it to Lu Chen, saying softly: "The prince consort is a man of great talent, but being a junior eunuch in the palace is not enough for him. He is more than qualified to be the chief officer of Yongzhou."

"Uncle, the Chief Secretary of Yongzhou?" Lu Chen stood up immediately and looked at Cui Zhiwen in disbelief.

The post of Chief Secretary of Yongzhou, third rank, the top provincial governor in the world, was given away just like that.

Cui Zhiwen rolled his eyes at Lu Chen in anger and said, "Why are you panicking? The reason why the Chief Secretary of Yongzhou is so important now is because King Peng has transferred the finances and punishments of Chang'an and Wannian counties to Yongzhou Prefecture. Now, if we take them out of Yongzhou Prefecture and return them to Chang'an and Wannian counties respectively, the Chief Secretary of Yongzhou will be a nominal position."

Only then did Lu Chen realize that the position his uncle gave him was just an empty title.

"Okay, let's go to the princess's mansion. Be careful. King Peng's spies are everywhere. Don't get discovered." Cui Zhiwen waved his hand, and Lu Chen took the letter and turned to leave.

Princess Taiping, Princess Taiping, with Princess Taiping, the royal families in the world can live in peace.

……

Seeing Lu Chen leaving excitedly, Cui Zhiwen's face turned cold.

He knocked lightly on the table, and the next moment, Cui Shou, the housekeeper of the mansion, walked out of the study door.

Cui Zhiwen leaned back slightly and asked, "Where is Shen Ji now?"

"The governor of Daizhou has led his troops to Hejin, waiting for orders to cross the river." Cui Shou bowed slightly.

Cui Shenji, the governor of Daizhou, has served as the governor of Daizhou since the death of Xue Rengui. When Li Chongjing, the chief officer of Bingzhou and the Earl of Yancheng, just took office, he secretly led 3,000 elite troops to Hejin.

Cui Shenji was originally the chief officer of Daizhou. He had been in the Daizhou army for many years and had deep connections. His family also had connections with Bingzhou, so it was not difficult for him to quietly kill his way to Hejin.

But he didn't dare to enter Yongzhou easily. Once he entered Yongzhou, he would immediately fall into the sight of King Peng.

"Three days later, a batch of gifts from Luoyang will be sent to Hangu Pass, and then they will join the group at Huazhou, and then enter Chang'an, and deliver this letter from the Zhaojun Li family. It will be enough for them to enter and leave Chang'an City." Cui Zhiwen handed over the letter from the Zhaojun Li family that he had prepared long ago.

"Here!" Butler Cui Shou took it with a bow, then went out carefully and closed the door.

Cui Zhiwen raised his head slightly, looked upward, and a hint of sneer flashed in his eyes.

Who Princess Taiping, who Xue Na, Cui Zhiwen has always trusted only his own family.

Cui Shenji was the son of Cui Yixuan, former governor of Wuzhou and imperial censor.

Ever since the suppression of Chen Shuozhen, Cui Yixuan has begun to cultivate manpower in the army. Now, more than 30 years have passed, and he can call upon 3,000 elite soldiers at any time.

It’s a pity that it’s not three thousand cavalry.

But enough.

As long as they could deal with King Peng, their Cui family would be the number one family in the world, with the emperor in charge and the three families of Cui, Lu and Zheng ruling the country.

What a prosperous era!
……

On the ninth day of February, the imperial examination begins!
(End of this chapter)