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

Chapter 1751 Don't Go to Mount Tai, That's a Conspiracy

"Father Yue, is there anything wrong with what your son-in-law is doing now?"

The study room in the backyard of the Duke of Bian’s Mansion.

Liu Rengui, who was sitting on the short couch, came back to his senses and looked up at the young grandson-in-law who had become the emperor but was still standing cautiously in front of him and asking him about his shortcomings. He couldn't help but see the image of another figure emerging in his mind.

Emperor Taizong.

Liu Rengui couldn't help but wonder, when Emperor Taizong committed the Xuanwu Gate Incident, killed his brothers and imprisoned his father, did he also feel uneasy day and night like Li Xuan is now?

Taking a deep breath, Liu Rengui closed his eyes slightly, then opened them and looked at Li Xuan, smiling bitterly, "I'm really old, and I don't have enough energy."

"What are you saying, Grandpa Yue? I'm hoping you'll live a hundred years and give you advice day and night." Li Xuan stepped forward carefully and poured a glass of water for Liu Rengui.

Liu Rengui looked at the clear water in front of him and said with a wry smile: "There are no centenarians in the world."

"Marquis Yuanju Jia Dunshi has been recuperating at home since his retirement. He is now 95 years old. His grandson-in-law also sends imperial doctors to visit him every day to ensure that Marquis Jia will definitely live to be a hundred years old. The same goes for my father-in-law." Li Xuan bowed seriously.

"Human centenarians are better than natural ones." Liu Rengui sighed and asked, "In recent days, there have been many auspicious signs in the congratulatory letters from provincial governors all over the country, right?"

"Yes, there are some, but they are all rare stones and jades, nothing special. Besides, officials are now focusing on governing the country, so few people are doing these things." After a short pause, Li Xuan said, "As for the congratulatory letter, my grandson-in-law has counted the 300 provincial governors in the world, and there are only nine provinces, Huanzhou, Aizhou, Jiaozhou, Fengzhou, Liangzhou, Yazhou, Zhenzhou, and Danzhou, that have not received the congratulatory letter yet."

"The nine southernmost states." Liu Rengui looked up in surprise, looked at Li Xuan, and said, "According to the time, they should all be here in a day or two. Nothing will go wrong. The whole world is bowing to them, what are you still worried about?"

"I always feel that I am too tense. If something unexpected happens, it will be troublesome." Li Xuan shook his head slightly and said, "I always worry that there is something spying on me from a place I can't see, but I can never find it."

Liu Rengui immediately understood what was going on. Wasn't Emperor Taizong in the same situation back then? He couldn't sleep day or night, so he had to let Yuchi Jingde and Qin Qiong guard the gate day and night.

Emperor!
……

"You're right." Liu Rengui raised his head, stared at Li Xuan, and said bluntly, "Someone is watching you, but now no one in the world dares to directly rise up against you. No one has that kind of prestige, and no one has that kind of fighting power, but this doesn't mean that they have given up."

"Please give me some advice, Mr. Yue." Li Xuan looked respectful.

"Of course it's the aristocratic families, the ones you've been suppressing." Liu Rengui specifically mentioned this, and then said, "What you're afraid of is that you no longer have a legitimate reason to suppress these aristocratic families."

Li Xuan's breathing suddenly stopped, and his deepest worries were directly exposed by Liu Rengui.

"In the past, you could easily send them to your opponents, and then suppress and split them up in the name of treason. But now, they have all surrendered to you, so next, they will naturally occupy farmland and oppress the people in invisible places. This is their instinct for thousands of years, and you are afraid that you can't control it."

Liu Rengui raised his hand slightly, nodded at Li Xuan, and then said: "You asked the Censorate and the Ministry of Personnel to keep a close eye on these things, but you know better that even if you can only suppress these things for a while, over time, they will still erode your foundation, make you weak, and finally cause internal strife..."

Li Xuan's breathing became heavier.

Liu Rengui sighed and said, "You are still young now, with eagle eyes and tiger eyes, watching the whole world, and no one dares to mess with you. But you will get old one day, and there will always be times when you lack energy and slack off. You are afraid that when that time comes, others will directly overthrow your world just like you are now."

"Please give me some advice, Mr. Yue." Li Xuan bowed heavily.

"Emperor Wu of Han has three ways of doing things." Liu Rengui looked at Li Xuan and said directly: "Declare foreign wars to consume the power of the aristocratic families; relocate the powerful families so that they cannot oppress the local people... Finally, let them support the crown prince, and then replace the crown prince."

"The first two methods are fine, but forget about the third one." Li Xuan couldn't help but shook his head.

"Emperor Taizong also thought so, but..." Liu Rengui sighed and said, "Going to war with foreign powers will consume the power of the aristocratic families; suppressing the aristocratic families and controlling the number of their first-level provincial governors to a certain number. He didn't want to touch the prince, but the prince stood in his way."

With just a few words, Liu Rengui revealed the secret that Li Chengqian was deposed, and neither Li Tai nor Li Ke came to the throne, but Li Zhi, who had no support behind him, became the emperor.

"Emperor Gaozong was even more so. He failed in the external war and was under great pressure from the aristocratic families. All he could do was bury the power of those aristocratic families along with the crown prince." Liu Rengui sighed and said, "So Crown Prince Zhanghuai was an unlucky child."

Listening to Liu Rengui's words, Li Xuan calmed down. He nodded and said, "Whether it was Emperor Taizong or Emperor Gaozong, the reason they did so was because they did not gain enough from the war against the grasslands, and they did not win the war against Silla."

"Do you have a solution?" Liu Rengui looked at Li Xuan curiously.

"The court will send a large amount of wealth to Hebei in the next few years. My grandson-in-law plans to ease the pressure in Hebei while luring the noble families from Guanzhong and Jiangnan over there. He then uses a corruption case to detonate them and at the same time retreat in Andong to lure out the Silla people. Finally, he will annihilate the main force of the Silla people on the ground in Andong." Li Xuan clenched his fists.

"You are learning from Yang Guang's lesson." Liu Rengui immediately understood Li Xuan's plan.

"Yang Guang acts too hastily." Li Xuan shook his head calmly.

"Well, this can indeed solve one aspect." Liu Rengui looked at Li Xuan and said, "You have another shortcoming, which is the lack of reserve talents. However, you seem to have discovered your weakness and are not in a hurry to let those brave generals in the army serve as local governors."

"They are too reckless." Li Xuan's face was full of helplessness, and then he said: "The system of the court is correct. Military generals need to be demoted to civil officials. Otherwise, if they are appointed as local governors, it will be fine if nothing goes wrong, but if something goes wrong, it will be a big deal."

Li Xuan is not actually afraid of anything happening; what he is afraid of is something going to happen in a confusing way.

"As for the rest, it's about the imperial examination next year. We'll recruit more children from poor families and fewer children from aristocratic families." Li Xuan lowered his voice and said, "So my grandson-in-law plans to use Wei Xuantong as the chief examiner for next year's imperial examination." "When Wei Xuantong, the Minister of Rites, was the Vice Minister of Personnel, he didn't like to promote children from aristocratic families." Liu Rengui nodded and said, "Yes, the Queen Mother promoted Wei Xuantong to be the prime minister, and you will use him as the prime minister sooner or later. It's only natural to promote him after he has been the chief examiner of the imperial examination for one term, and no one can stop it."

"My grandson-in-law has another idea, but I don't know if it's feasible." Li Xuan lowered his head slightly and said softly, "My grandson-in-law wants to wait for a few years, and when the government is stable, extend the time of the imperial examination, change it from once a year to once every three years, and then select 100 people as officials."

Liu Rengui was stunned for a moment, then his face immediately showed surprise, and he nodded and said, "Yes, nowadays, the most important reason that restricts poor children from taking the imperial examinations is the travel expenses. Many poor children come to Chang'an to take the imperial examinations once, and then they can't do it again.

If we select 100 people every three years, the proportion of children from poor families will increase greatly."

With a bang, Liu Rengui slammed the table and said in annoyance, "Why didn't we think of this idea at the beginning?"

"You have to choose the right time." Li Xuan shook his head calmly and said, "There are also capable people in the aristocratic families who can see through many things. My grandson-in-law is worried that there will be a backlash."

"Yes, you are digging their foundation." Liu Rengui quickly calmed down, looked at Li Xuan and said, "You only have one chance."

"Destroy Silla and take advantage of the power of a great victory." Li Xuan nodded slightly.

"Don't go to worship Mount Tai." Liu Rengui suddenly grabbed Li Xuan's arm, looked at him and warned: "Sacrifice to Mount Tai is a conspiracy, don't go!"

"Ah!" Li Xuan looked at Liu Rengui in great surprise.

……

After coming out of the study and hearing what Liu Rengui said, Li Xuan felt a little dizzy for a moment.

But thinking back on all the things that happened back then, if we think carefully, didn’t everything start with the sacrifice to Mount Tai?
A rustling sound suddenly came from the side, and Li Xuan suddenly saw a beautiful but somewhat nervous woman in a pink skirt. She glanced at him from behind an arch not far away, and immediately shrank back.

Wu Niang, Qiong Yu.

……

Li Xuan lifted the red veil and looked at Liu Qiongyu, who seemed a little nervous and scared but managed to smile. She smiled gently and whispered, "Don't be nervous."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Liu Qiongyu subconsciously bowed.

Li Xuan gently raised her chin and said softly, "Call me brother-in-law."

"Brother-in-law!" Liu Qiongyu shouted, and the next moment, her face suddenly blushed with shame.

But this time, she was much more relaxed.

Li Xuan looked her up and down, nodded and said, "Let's drink the wedding wine first. I have to meet the ministers later."

"Yes." Liu Qiongyu nodded obediently. At this time, the red wine glass had been handed to her.

He raised his glass, linked his arm with the familiar face in front of him, and drank the glass of wine.

……

Drunk, Li Xuan walked out from the side door of Liangyi Hall. The cold wind blew and he quickly calmed down.

A figure was standing in front, looking at the full moon above his head in a daze.

"Uncle!" Li Xuan walked up from behind.

Zhao Gong immediately turned around, bowed and said, "Your Majesty."

"No need to be so polite." Li Xuan waved his hand and said, "In half a month, after my nephew and Huan'er get married, I should change my uncle to father-in-law."

"Forget about calling him father-in-law, just call him uncle." Zhao Gong smiled with some relief.

Then, Li Xuan lowered her voice and asked in a low voice: "How is Tang Jianri doing?"

"Fortunately, he goes on duty normally and occasionally drinks with others. There is nothing unusual. However, he meets with Cheng Zheng, Zhou Jitong and others privately every ten days." Zhao Gong lowered his voice and said carefully, "As for the others, there is nothing unusual."

Li Xuan nodded gently and said, "Don't disturb them easily. Others might be watching them and observing them. No one dares to move at this moment."

"Just leave it like this?" Zhao Gong couldn't help but frowned slightly.

"Don't worry, they are just chess pieces in our hands." Li Xuan raised his head, looked at the full moon above his head, and said softly: "On the first day of the first lunar month next year, it will be the time of my coronation ceremony. All the governors of Zhongzhou will come here, and someone will come forward. Next year, we will transfer Tang Jianri to Hebei. It is most appropriate for him, a doctor in the Ministry of Works, to go to Hebei. Other places can also be fully mobilized..."

(End of this chapter)