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

Chapter 1717 Bridal Chamber Flowers and Candles
At si shi, the sky brightened
Menxia Province, in front of the Political Affairs Hall.

Li Xuan was dressed in red and golden armor, with a long sword hanging from his waist. He looked solemn as he stood on the left of the five prime ministers: Wang Dezhen, Cui Zhiwen, Yao Lingzhang, Liu Jingxian, and Cen Changqian.

Behind the ministers were six chancellors, nine temple ministers, five supervisors, the chief censor and others, who were arranged in a densely packed manner.

On both sides were General of the Imperial Guard Li Rong, General of the Imperial Guard Li Xiaoyi, General of the Left Thousand Oxen Guard Zhou Qian, General of the Right Thousand Oxen Guard Li Dazhi, General of the Left Jinwu Guard Cui Ding, and General of the Right Jinwu Guard Xue Na.

The remaining countless Jinwu guards in red clothes and golden armor spread outward.

Today is the first imperial examination since the emperor ascended the throne. The examination will recruit thirty-six Jinshi in various subjects.

The numbers are quite standard, which also shows that the emperor's governance is quite standard.

Rules are the greatest order in the world today.

With a creaky sound, the door of the government hall opened.

Lu Yuanfang, the Minister of the Left, Li Yiyan, the Minister of the Central Secretariat, and Ouyang Tong, the Palace Attendant, walked out side by side.

Standing in the center was the Minister of the Central Secretariat Li Yiyan, with Lu Yuanfang and Ouyang Tong standing on both sides.

Li Yiyan held a sandalwood box in his hand, which contained nine copies of the imperial examination questions, one for each of the ministers.

After the test questions are sent to the emperor for review, they will be taken to the Ministry of Personnel by Ouyang Tong, Zhang Da'an, and Wang Jishan, and the imperial examination will be conducted in the Examination Institute of the Ministry of Personnel.

Li Xuan kept staring at the sandalwood box with an extremely solemn look.

In today's imperial examination, Ouyang Tong is the chief examiner.

If today's affairs are not handled properly, Ouyang Tong's career will not only be over, but his reputation will also be ruined, and it will even affect future generations.

Li Xuan could not be hidden from Cui Zhiwen's methods, but how to deal with it perfectly without affecting Ouyang Tong was what Li Xuan really needed to care about.

……

Cui Zhiwen's eyes were always on Li Xuan. Seeing Li Xuan's nervous look, Cui Zhiwen couldn't help but sneer in his heart.

Lu Yuanfang, Li Yiyan and Ouyang Tong walked through the crowd and headed towards Ganlu Hall.

The ministers followed the three men and headed towards Ganlu Gate together.

Just after the ministers left, a team of Qianniu Guards closed the government hall again.

When Cui Zhiwen walked out of the province, he happened to see this scene, and a hint of sarcasm flashed across his lips.

Li Xuan didn't look back at Cui Zhiwen, but just walked forward calmly.

The ministers stopped outside the Ganlu Gate, and the harem was ahead.

Only Lu Yuanfang, Li Yiyan and Ouyang Tong passed through the Ganlu Gate and entered the Ganlu Palace.

For a moment, the atmosphere among the ministers relaxed slightly.

Then, everyone began to discuss in a low voice who the emperor would choose to answer the test questions, what kind of questions each prime minister would ask, and especially the final policy essay.

Each prime minister has a different style and asks different questions.

For example, Ouyang Tong's questions tended to be about righteousness and integrity, while Li Xuan's questions were always pragmatic and mostly related to government affairs.

The other prime ministers also had their own preferences.

I don't know how much this has been discussed among the people of Chang'an during this period.

Li Xuan still stood on the Ganlu Gate with a solemn expression. On the Ganlu Gate, Li Zhu bowed slightly to Li Xuan.

A smile flashed in Li Xuan's eyes. He had been too low-key during this period, and his mind was focused on other states outside Chang'an and Luoyang. This made many people think that he was weak.

But now, half a year has passed, and Li Xuan is no longer worried that what he does will cause chaos in the world and the feudal system.

Now is the time for him to concentrate on solving the problems in Chang'an.

Suddenly, everyone fell silent.

Three people from Ganlu Sect, Lu Yuanfang, Li Yiyan and Ouyang Tong, came out. At this time, Ouyang Tong was walking in the center.

He was already holding the sandalwood box in his hands.

There should be only one test paper in the sandalwood box at this moment, but no one knows who it belongs to.

Lu Yuanfang and Li Yiyan paused for a moment, and Ouyang Tong took a half step forward and shouted to the ministers: "The test questions have been released. All ministers should go to the Imperial Ancestral Temple to offer sacrifices to the late emperor."

"Yes!" All the ministers bowed.

Ouyang Tong strode forward and headed towards the Taimiao.

The ministers immediately turned around and followed. Just as Li Xuan was about to leave, Lu Yuanfang suddenly stopped him, "King Peng, stay a moment!"

Li Xuan looked back in surprise.

Lu Yuanfang shrugged helplessly and said, "Congratulations, King Peng. You will stay in the Political Affairs Hall for three days."

"Ah!" Most of the ministers couldn't help but look back when they heard this. At the same time, they completely understood that today, this question was the one asked by Li Xuan and was selected.

The astonishment on Li Xuan's face disappeared immediately. He bowed to Lu Yuanfang earnestly and said, "Xuan obeys your order."

Then Li Xuan slightly turned sideways, looked behind him and said, "Starting from today, within three days, the ground in Yongzhou will be subject to a level one martial law."

Zhou Qian, Cui Ding, and Liu Zhirou stood up at the same time, cupped their hands and said, "I obey your orders."

Li Xuan turned around and bowed to Lu Yuanfang earnestly, saying, "I'll trouble you, Prime Minister Zuo, for everything."

"Yeah!" Lu Yuanfang's expression became serious, he nodded, then turned and left.

When Cui Zhiwen saw this scene, his expression became solemn.

Within three days, the entire Yongzhou will be under level one martial law.

This would restrict his ability to do many things, but there was nothing he could do about it.

Although Li Xuan has now resigned from his military power, he is still the Grand Marshal and the General of the Imperial Guard, and is still in charge of the safety of the entire Chang'an. This is also agreed by the kings, ministers, and even the queen mother.

Fortunately, Cui Zhiwen's method was put off for three days.

Three days later, the imperial examination was over and King Peng got married, which was enough to divert everyone's attention away from this.

……

In the government hall, Li Xuan sat calmly at the top. Everyone else was busy with their own things, only Li Xuan was confined to the government hall.

Of course, Li Xuan was only not allowed to leave the Council of Government Hall within these three days, but all matters could still be sent to him.

His message can still be spread.

But this is the Political Affairs Hall, and every message Li Xuan sends out from here will be watched by countless people.

He can do official things, but as for private things, unless he is willing to be exposed to everyone, it is best not to do anything.

Li Xuan raised his head and looked at the pine and cypress trees in the yard, his heart filled with solemnity.

Perhaps it was because of this that Li Xuan was the most alert at this time. Countless pieces of information were dug out by spies from all over the place and then sent to Yu Ze, Wang Yinke and Liu Jinyu.

Of course, there is also Zhao Gong.

Many people have overlooked Zhao Gong.

Although Zhao Gong is only the commander of the secret guards now, among the deputy commanders of the secret guards, there is also Li Mo, the right thousand-bull guard general.

There are many things that the Right Thousand Bull Guards can also do.

Not to mention, there is Lu Yuanfang.

……

Li Xuan stood up and walked to the right side of the Government Affairs Hall.

The two heads were sitting behind the desk. When they saw Li Xuan, they immediately stood up and bowed, "Your Majesty."

"Ask the six chambers to bring over the official documents that have been accumulated over the past few days." After a brief pause, Li Xuan said, "Also, tell the three provinces to send over all the official documents that need to be sent to the Political Affairs Hall for processing in the near future. I will try to process as many as possible in three days."

"Yes!" The two leaders bowed solemnly at the same time, and one of them turned around and left.

Li Xuan is now in the Government Affairs Hall, but he is not imprisoned here. Instead, the ministers have discussed it before. Whoever's test questions are drawn will be responsible for being on duty in the Government Affairs Hall for three days.

Within three days, except for the meetings held in the Political Affairs Hall, all other matters requiring handling by the Political Affairs Hall will be handled by Li Xuan.

In addition to the daily meetings of ministers and national affairs that need to be handled in the Government Affairs Hall, there are also many other things that need to be handled by the Government Affairs Hall.

But such matters are usually handled by the prime minister on duty in the government hall that day.

Yes, there is a prime minister on duty in the Council of State Affairs every day. Many matters that are not worthy of being held in the Council of State Affairs but that the lower levels are unwilling to deal with will be handled by the prime minister on duty in the Council of State Affairs.

Of course, it cannot be ignored and left to be resolved at the Council of State Council meetings, but this will not have a good reputation.

But now, Li Xuan is on duty in the Government Affairs Hall and cannot go anywhere within three days.

It’s just right that he can deal with these things properly.

Soon, a large number of official documents were processed quickly and sent back to the Three Provinces, Six Departments, Nine Temples, Five Institutions and the Censorate.

There were many disputes involving different departments that were unwilling to take the blame, state affairs where responsibilities were unclear, impeachment of officials from various departments by the Censorate, etc. A large number of matters were handled properly by Li Xuan and then sent to various departments and counties across the country.

Within three days, a large amount of accumulated official business in various provinces and departments was completed.

Many things are handled properly at first glance.

For many things, even if the results cannot be seen immediately, from Li Xuan’s perspective, this is already the best way to deal with it.

Three days later, the three provinces, six ministries, nine temples, five bureaus and the Censorate all breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Xuan handled affairs in the Political Affairs Hall, and things were going well at first, but later on he even forced officials from various departments to speed up the pace of handling affairs.

It just so happened that he was on duty in the Government Affairs Hall, and if he was not careful, he would be reprimanded by the Government Affairs Hall.

If the case is minor, it’s fine. But if it is serious, once it is included in the records, it will be immediately sent to the Ministry of Personnel and affect your future prospects.

When Li Xuan was on duty in the government affairs hall, it was like there was a whip always swinging behind everyone.

However, within these three days, many difficult issues were properly handled by Li Xuan.

Three days later, many people felt unbelievable when seeing the somewhat empty duty room.

Many people even expressed their gratitude to Li Xuan, especially those officials who were impeached by the Censorate, but in fact many of them were wrongly accused, and Li Xuan clarified the matter vigorously.

There were also a large number of local governors who were inactive. Li Xuan severely reprimanded them and, within three days, dismissed and replaced a large number of governors of prefectures and counties in the Council of State Affairs.

This surprised many people, and they couldn't help but feel awe and emotion.

This kind of thing has not happened for a long time since the death of Emperor Gaozong.

Even when the Left Prime Minister was in power, most of the time he had to carefully handle the interests of all parties, which slowed down government affairs a lot.

It would be better if younger people like Lu Yuanfang and Wang Dezhen came to power.

Today, many people can't help but think of Emperor Gaozong when talking about Li Xuan.

……

Three days later, the imperial examination ended.

Li Xuan stretched and walked out of the government hall.

It was already dark, and except for a few people on duty in the Government Affairs Hall, everyone else had gone home.

Li Xuan walked out of the door calmly. He couldn't help but look back. The light was dim.

Within three days of the imperial examination, everything was calm.

It may seem calm as usual, but few people know that this is just the calm before the storm.

Tomorrow, Li Xuan will marry Zheng's daughter as a seventh-rank Teng woman, and tomorrow, the imperial examination fraud will completely break out.

A light sound of footsteps sounded behind him. Li Xuan turned around and saw Li Mo, dressed in red and golden armor, walking over quickly and handing over a letter: "Your Majesty, there is a letter."

Li Xuan took it. There was no name on it. Li Xuan frowned and asked, "Is this right?"

"It's Cui Shenji, the governor of Daizhou." As soon as Li Mo finished speaking, Li Xuan suddenly looked up in disbelief.

Then, Li Xuan couldn't help laughing: "Hahaha!"

……

Pass the imperial examination and have the wedding night.

The sound of joyous noise could be heard outside the door. Li Xuan picked up the golden wedding scale in his hand and lifted up Zheng Shiwu Niang's red veil.

The beauty has a golden hairpin and beautiful eyes.

Li Xuan reached out and took the wedding wine from the side, handed it to Zheng Shiwu Niang, and then said softly: "From now on, you are my person. The affairs of the Zheng family have nothing to do with you anymore. Do you understand?"

"Yeah!" Zheng Shiwu Niang bit her lip and nodded vigorously.

Li Xuan smiled, stretched out his arm, and finally drank the wine in the cup together with Zheng Shiwu Niang.

Looking at the timid and innocent bride, Li Xuan held her cold hand and said softly, "Rest here while I accompany the guests. I will come back to see you later."

"Yes!" Zheng Shiwu Niang's face turned red inexplicably.

"Haha!" Li Xuan stood up with a smile and walked out of the bridal chamber.

When Li Xuan arrived outside the courtyard, Li Lang just stood still when he approached a little and whispered, "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Cui has entered the palace."

"Yeah!" Li Xuan took the towel and spat out all the wine in his mouth.

(End of this chapter)