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

Chapter 1754: A Memorial to the Emperor on Painting the Image of Mr. Xue of Pingyang County
In the Taiji Hall, Li Xuan looked at Xue Jichang, who looked a bit like Xue Na, and sighed softly, saying, "I am sorry for the Duke of Pingyang regarding Xue Na's matter."

"He is confused himself. It has nothing to do with Your Majesty." Xue Jichang immediately bowed his hands and apologized with a sincere look.

Li Xuan waved his hand and picked up a memorial from the table. Xu Lu took it with understanding and handed it to Xue Jichang.

Xue Jichang took it with some surprise. The name on it had been blackened out. When he opened the inner page, a line of words immediately jumped into Xue Jichang's eyes.

"A memorial on painting a picture of Lord Xue of Pingyang County in the Lingyan Pavilion."

Xue Jichang's eyes couldn't help but change slightly. He was so humble in front of Li Xuan just for Xue Rengui's posthumous reputation.

Not long after Emperor Gaozong passed away, Xue Rengui died with him because he was too sad.

He has a very good reputation in the court.

Even Empress Wu did not make things difficult for Xue Na.

The same thing happened after Li Xuan came to power, appointing Xue Na as the General of the Right Jinwu Guard to guard Chang'an.

But unfortunately, Xue Na joined Princess Taiping in rebellion.

Although Li Xuan was in power at that time and could cause chaos at any time, he did not do so in the end.

Instead, Xue Na and Princess Taiping hurt Li Chongjun, and finally made Li Chongjun unable to face the court officials, so he had to abdicate.

It's all Princess Taiping's fault.

"When I rebuilt the Lingyan Pavilion, the first three people I planned to put in the Lingyan Pavilion were the Duke of Bian, the Duke of Jiang and the Duke of Pingyang. However, due to the heated discussions in the court and the public, I did not dare to act rashly without knowing the minds of the officials." Li Xuan sighed lightly, with an expression of emotion.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your understanding!" Xue Jichang bowed deeply to Li Xuan and felt relieved at the same time.

Since Li Xuan has this intention, then this matter will be easy to accomplish.

"You know, I fought side by side with the Duke of Pingyang in the past. He taught me a lot. Now his reputation has been damaged, and I am very sad." Li Xuan stood up from the imperial couch, walked down the golden steps, walked past Xue Jichang, looked outside the palace, and said softly: "Now there are more than a dozen people who are asking for the Duke of Pingyang, but this is not enough."

"I know what to do!" Xue Jichang turned around and bowed deeply to Li Xuan.

If Li Xuan wanted to have Xue Rengui's portrait sent to the Lingyan Pavilion, he would need the support of more court officials.

Li Xuan was in a difficult position to take any action, and now that Xue Jichang had returned to Chang'an, everything could be handed over to him.

"Do it well." Li Xuan patted Xue Jichang on the shoulder and said, "I have a good relationship with the Duke of Pingyang and Prime Minister Xue. If possible, I will personally draw two portraits and send them to the Lingyan Pavilion. Of course, they will not be as good as Xue Ji's."

"Your Majesty!" A trace of gratitude appeared on Xue Jichang's face. Xue Ji was actually the nephew of Xue Yuanchao. Xue Guan was involved in Princess Taiping's treason case, so all the matters involved three clans.

Xue Ji happened to be outside the three clans and was the fourth generation, so he was not implicated.

Now Li Xuan promoted him to Doctor of Taichang without any hesitation. This kind of care is very rare.

"Go back and prepare well." After a short pause, Li Xuan said, "You have done a good job in Jizhou. Make more preparations. Maybe in three to five years, I will continue to dispatch troops to Andong.

But I will not rule Silla myself. At most I will stay in Jizhou and watch over your retreat."

"Your Majesty!" Xue Jichang suddenly raised his head, looked at Li Xuan and bowed solemnly, saying, "Your Majesty is a wise man."

"Go ahead." Li Xuan waved his hand.

"I'm taking my leave." Xue Jichang bowed his head and saluted, then slowly left the Liangyi Hall.

……

Outside the Liangyi Gate, Dou Huaiqi was waiting calmly.

His gaze seemed to be all around him, and all around him were the provincial governors of Central China who came to report.

Dou Huaiqi was a rare governor of Youzhou Military Governor's Office.

His eyes fell on the square bricks on the ground, and his expression became solemn.

Only the governor of Zhongzhou was summoned, but not the governor of Shangzhou.

Their new emperor is truly a man of extraordinary means.

The Governors of Shangzhou were mostly the Governors of prefectures and counties with the largest populations and the most prosperous economies, while the Governors of Zhongzhou were of a lower rank.

In terms of official position and local place, they were one level lower.

However, it was precisely this one-rank difference that caused many governors of Central Provinces who were unable to be transferred back to the court to serve as third- or fourth-rank officials to keep their eyes on the few governors of Upper Provinces positions.

So when they heard that Li Xuan only summoned the governors of Zhongzhou to return to the court for an audience with the emperor, all the governors of Shangzhou understood.

Li Xuan is threatening.

If they made any rash moves, Li Xuan would immediately replace them with these Zhongzhou governors.

All the governors of Zhongzhou also understood that their chance was right in front of them, and everyone was staring at each other with eager eyes.

So when Dou Huaiqi heard that Li Xuan had received congratulatory letters from all the provincial governors in the world sent to Chang'an, he was not surprised at all.

But what else can Dou Huaiqi do?

He was only the son-in-law of Emperor Taizong, not his son. If he acted rashly, he would probably be immediately accused of treason and would never be able to get rid of it.

Moreover, the Dou family was under great pressure from Dou Xuande.

Except for a few confused youngsters who were involved in Princess Taiping's treason case, no one else was involved.

Because of this, it is even more difficult for Dou Huaiqi to do anything now.

A sound of relaxed footsteps came from the Taiji Gate. Dou Huaiqi subconsciously looked up and saw Xue Jichang walking out. Dou Huaiqi was the governor of Youzhou, and Xue Jichang was the governor of Jizhou. The two lived almost next to each other.

Both of them are high-ranking officials in Hebei. As long as Youzhou and Jizhou join forces, and if Yingzhou can be added, they will be able to separate Hebei immediately.

Unfortunately, Zhou Wudao, the governor of Yingzhou and the consort of Princess Linchuan, died of depression not long after Emperor Gaozong's death, and Xue Jichang disagreed to oppose Li Xuan, leaving only Dou Huaiqi in the whole of Hebei.

"Brother Xue." Dou Huaiqi was the first to bow.

"Brother Dou." Xue Jichang stopped and returned the greeting to Dou Huaiqi. At the same time, he opened the memorial in his hand and flashed it in front of Dou Huaiqi's eyes. After Dou Huaiqi saw it clearly, he took it back and bowed, saying, "I hope Brother Dou can help me with all my strength in this matter."

Dou Huaiqi's eyes slightly changed, but he immediately bowed and said, "The Dou family will definitely help the Duke of Pingyang enter the Lingyan Pavilion."

"Thank you very much." Xue Jichang bowed, then turned and left.

Dou Huaiqi glanced at the ministers around him who had obviously heard these words, and his heart sank completely.

The Xue family will no longer oppose Li Xuan.

Xue Na rebelled, but now the emperor agreed to put Xue Rengui into the Lingyan Pavilion without any suspicion. In this case, how could the Xue family still oppose the emperor?

Especially, Xue Shao is still alive.

At this moment, a eunuch in blue appeared at the Liangyi Gate and shouted, "Your Majesty has ordered that Dou Huaiqi, the governor of Youzhou, come to see you."

"Youzhou Governor Dou Huaiqi accepts your order." Dou Huaiqi immediately stood up and bowed. While accepting the order solemnly, his heart couldn't help but tighten.

……

Standing in the hall, Dou Huaiqi bowed solemnly and said, "Your Majesty, I, Dou Huaiqi, pay my respects to you. May your Majesty live forever."

"Dou Qing, please stand up." Li Xuan raised his hand slightly, then said with a smile: "Speaking of which, you are my brother-in-law. There will be a royal family gathering on New Year's Eve. You can bring Princess Gao Shun with you. There are not many royal family members in Hebei, so it's not a bad thing to get to know them more."

"I obey your order." Dou Huaiqi then bowed and stood up. The moment he lowered his head, his eyes became solemn.

When Li Xuan was able to ascend the throne, the support of King Han, King Huo and King Lu was extremely important. With these three around, almost no one in the royal family opposed Li Xuan's ascension to the throne.

If even the Li clan members are like this, how can you let others who want to do something do it?

Li Xuan's expression calmed down a little, and he turned around and asked, "Have you visited Mr. Dou?"

"I have checked it." Dou Huaiqi immediately bowed and said, "Uncle is in good health. The imperial physician said that he will be fine in the next three to five years."

"That's good." Li Xuan nodded and said, "Speaking of which, you and I are not outsiders either. Empress Taimu is also my grandmother."

"Yes!" Dou Huaiqi had a grateful smile on his face.

After Li Xuan ascended the throne, the thing he did that made the Dou family most satisfied was that he did not posthumously confer the title of emperor on his father, King Pengsi Li Yuanze, nor did he posthumously confer the title of empress on his grandmother, Wang Cairen.

You should know that Emperor Gaozu had only one empress, Empress Taimu, who was also Li Xuan's nominal grandmother.

Li Xuan did not act recklessly, which shows that he has a very good sense of propriety.

"The Dou family has no one above the third rank in the central government, so there may be some vacancies in the court next year." Li Xuan looked at Dou Huaiqi and said, "When Dou Qing returns, discuss it with Dou Weng and have the Dou family push someone to the top."

Dou Huaiqi's face was immediately filled with surprise, and he bowed and said, "I accept your order."

"Let's talk about Youzhou." Li Xuan waved his hand slightly and said, "Youzhou is an important town for defending against the Turks. There have been disturbances in the court in recent years. Ashina Gudulu and Ashina Mochuo have gradually gathered in the central part of the grassland. So, they didn't invade the eastern part of the grassland, right?"

"I did, but I didn't succeed." Dou Huaiqi looked solemn and said, "The Eastern Turkic tribes have long been integrated with the Tang Dynasty. Except for the rebellion of the Wu family last year, the Eastern Turkic tribes did not attend the court. This time when Your Majesty ascended the throne, I know that their people are behind me."

"Yes!" Li Xuan nodded and said, "The Eastern Turks have been dealt with, and the Western Turks have also been dealt with. Now all the Turks who resisted the Tang Dynasty have gathered under the command of Ashina Gudulu and Ashina Mochu. When you go back, you must make more preparations. Who knows, I may send troops to the grassland."

"I obey your order." Dou Huaiqi bowed solemnly.

……

Afternoon, Dou’s compound, study.

Dou Xuande opened his sleepy eyes and looked at Dou Huaiqi: "You said that His Majesty asked you if there is anyone in the Dou family who can be nominated to the position of the third rank of the central government. What do you think?"

"My nephew thinks that Dou Chi is now the Shaoqing of Sinong Temple. He only needs to take one step further to become the Minister of Sinong, so..." Dou Huaiqi paused and looked at Dou Xuande carefully.

Dou Xuande sneered, and then said, "Have you ever thought that His Majesty's intention is probably to transfer you back to Chang'an?"

"Ah!" Dou Huaiqi was stunned, then, with a startled look, he said nervously, "No, uncle, His Majesty transferred my nephew back, what for, Minister of Agriculture?"

"Your Majesty is very clever. He just made a move and it came out." Dou Xuande sighed and said, "It's a pity that the opportunity is gone."

"No more?" Dou Huaiqi's face was full of disappointment, but he couldn't help but feel relieved in his heart.

Dou Xuande looked forward and continued, "The Imperial Censor Wang Jishan is now a third-rank official at the same level as the Secretariat, so after the imperial examination next year, he will become the Imperial Secretary.

The third rank of Zhongshu Menxia, ​​the Minister of Rites Wei Xuantong was transferred to the position of Imperial Censor, and the vacant position of Minister of Rites..."

Dou Xuande looked at Dou Huaiqi as if he were an idiot: "You just pushed it away like that."

"Minister of Rites." Dou Huaiqi looked at Dou Xuande in disbelief and said, "Your Majesty is going to give your nephew the title of Minister of Rites."

"What else do you think it would be?" Dou Xuande shook his head slightly, and said with some regret: "What use are you in Youzhou? Apart from commanding 5,000 left guards, what else can you do? Go to the grassland to fight the Turks? In the end, you came back to the court and you were not even a Minister of Rites. Now, there is no Minister of Rites, maybe you can only be a Minister of the Honglu Temple."

"It's my nephew's fault." Dou Huaiqi couldn't help but lower his head. The governor of Youzhou does not have as much power as the Minister of Rites!

Dou Xuande was about to say something when footsteps sounded outside the hall. Then, Dou Chi, the Junior Minister of Agriculture, appeared outside the door and said, "Uncle, His Majesty has left the palace and gone to the Prince of Xiang's Mansion."

Dou Xuande was so shocked that he stood up.

(End of this chapter)