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

Chapter 1806: Vaguely aware of the trap of Fengshan

Sitting in the Qianyuan Hall, Li Xuan recounted what happened in Le'an County from beginning to end.

At the end, he said seriously: "Through Le'an County, the palace can send more people to Jiangnan to keep an eye on all the changes there."

"Yes!" Liu Jinyu nodded slightly, then turned the chapter to the front, looked up at Li Xuan and said, "The governor of Xuzhou sent six beauties?"

Li Xuan was stunned for a moment, then said helplessly, "I just said so many things, but the Queen didn't remember a single word, except for the six beauties sent by the Governor of Xuzhou."

"Where are the people?" Liu Jinyu looked straight at Li Xuan.

"At Xia'er's place." Li Xuan smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying, "As soon as the person was delivered, I sent him to Xia'er's place, and then they took care of Xia'er."

"Yes!" Liu Jinyu nodded, and then asked: "This time, the Le'an incident involved the Jiangnan Gu family. Didn't the Gu family send any beauties to Your Majesty?"

"What are you sending? I have already tortured them to death." Li Xuan's eyes gradually calmed down, and then he sneered softly, "The Jiangnan Gu family just has no evidence this time to prove that someone sent relief grain to the Gu family's old house, otherwise I would have returned even later."

The later he comes back, the more people he kills.

"My husband should have come back later." Liu Jinyu sighed and said, "The Jiangnan Gu family only has one doctor of the Imperial Academy and one doctor of the Imperial Household. They are officials of the sixth or seventh rank. If we investigate them carefully, we may be able to find out something."

No aristocratic family can withstand scrutiny.

The same goes for the Gu family.

Li Xuan shook his head slightly and said, "Things in Jiangnan still need to be stabilized. Although the Gu family is just one family, the Jiangnan families have been connected with each other for many years. The men of the Gu family may not have any outstanding talents in recent years, but the daughters of the Gu family, the Lu family, the Zhang family, the Chu family, and the Yu family all have many. Don't act rashly."

After a short pause, Li Xuan said, "Let the Left Prime Minister tell you something. Now is the time to employ honest people. If the Gu family can make contributions in the conquest of Silla, then I will not pursue them. But if they try to pretend to obey but actually disobey, then don't blame me for killing them."

"Okay." Liu Jinyu nodded heavily. She understood that the reason why Li Xuan acted like this was because he was afraid of Lu Yuanfang.

There is nothing wrong with Lu Yuanfang himself, but when it comes to things in Jiangnan, there are many things that he cannot control.

Now it’s just that Lu Yuanfang hasn’t done anything wrong yet, but if Li Xuan really forces him, who knows what will happen.

Therefore, it is better to take a step back and not push too hard.

……

Li Xuan closed the memorial and said, "The rest are things that cannot be recorded in it."

Liu Jinyu's expression became solemn.

Li Xuan's southern tour this time had many unknown means, and that was the real purpose of his southern tour.

"People from Qianniu Guards and Jinwu Guards have been transferred to the fourteen Zhechoufu on both sides of the canal. At the same time, the original colonels and lieutenants have also been transferred to Qianniu Guards and Jinwu Guards. After observing them in Beijing for two or three years, they can be sent back to the local areas to further strengthen our control over the local soldiers." Li Xuan's expression was slightly grim.

Although the government troops throughout the country were nominally under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War, they were actually closely connected with the local governments.

When conquering Luoyang, Li Xuan dispatched a hundred people from various Zhechoufu to watch and even participate in the battle to conquer Luoyang. This deterred and stabilized people's hearts, but that only made the local Zhechoufu recognize Li Xuan's power to command the army, which was far from enough.

Afterwards, Li Xuan kept transferring soldiers who had completed their service in the army to various Zhechoufu, and only then was he able to barely stabilize the situation.

After Li Xuan ascended the throne, there were people who were ready to make some moves, but unfortunately, Chang'an, Luoyang, Yizhou, Bingzhou, Yangzhou, and Jingzhou all had heavy military presence, and they did not have anyone with strong appeal.

Not to mention, the Tang Dynasty has always emphasized controlling the world with Guanzhong, so they couldn't move at all.

At that time, if someone really rose up in rebellion against Li Xuan, Li Xuan would be able to lead his troops to suppress it the next day.

So at that time, Li Xuan also opened her eyes wide and looked everywhere.

It was not until all the provincial governors submitted congratulatory memorials that Li Xuan gradually gained control of the country.

It was only this year that Li Xuan began to increase the intensity of official transfers across the country.

The first to start were the local soldiers.

The Qianniu Guards and Jinwu Guards who were transferred to the local government troops are not only important chess pieces for Li Xuan to control the local Zhechongfu, but also his spies to keep a close eye on the local governors.

Once a local governor loses control, raising an army is the least of his worries. The most troublesome thing is heavy taxation and extortion, which makes the people suffer.

Fortunately, Li Xuan is in power now, and most of the local governors are old men from the Emperor Gaozong's time, and they have close relationships with the prime ministers in the central government.

The prime ministers under Li Xuan were generally upright and honest, with outstanding abilities, so there were few corrupt officials among the local governors.

Even if there were, they were quickly replaced.

Li Xuan had a firm grip on the local officials through these prime ministers in Chang'an. In the past two years, he had also kept the loyalty of the provincial governors in his hands through constant replacement and audiences.

However, the local governors were merely tools for governing the world; the local aristocratic families, wealthy families, clerks, and the common people were the focus of governance.

The local aristocratic families and clerks are the real main force in stealing the foundation of the world.

Only by controlling them can Li Xuan completely control the world.

However, this is not easy. Li Xuan has strong control over many wealthy places. On the contrary, in those remote and poor places, not only are the local people ignorant, but Li Xuan also has little control over them.

Of course, even Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu had very little control over these places.

That will be something that will be taught slowly in the future.

……

"The palace soldiers are the first." Li Xuan's expression became a little serious. He looked at the night scene of Luoyang outside the Qianyang Palace, and then said, "The second is the Dushuijian."

Liu Jinyu was stunned, and immediately began to flip through the records about Xu Jian, the Water Conservancy Commissioner, in the memorial.

There is very little record here, but it is obvious that Xu Jian did a lot in secret.

"The Jiangnan region relies mainly on water transport." Li Xuan looked solemn, and then said: "After arriving in Jiangnan, Xu Jian has completely taken control of the Dushuisi of each state in Jiangnan. Don't forget, he himself came from Wuzhou."

"If we master the water transportation in Jiangnan, all the details of Jiangnan will be clearly displayed." Liu Jinyu nodded seriously.

"That's right." Li Xuan smiled, and then said, "If we mobilize the government soldiers and control the water conservancy bureau, we can control the main power of the local areas, at least in the areas south of the Yangtze River. Next year, my wife and I will go to Jingzhou, and by the way, we will also completely control the entire Shannan Road."

"Provincial governors, government soldiers, and water conservancy officials. If the imperial examination system is added in, these are the means the emperor has to govern the country." Liu Jinyu nodded seriously.

"There is also a marriage alliance." Li Xuan finished speaking, waved his hand and said, "So the Xuzhou governor's move cannot be rejected. At most, I will not reward him."

"Then why was Your Majesty so honest in Yangzhou?" Liu Jinyu looked at Li Xuan with sidelong glances.

"Because I'm very busy!" Li Xuan sighed and said, "Although the people of Silla are still unsure whether I will invade Silla, the noble families in the world all know what I'm thinking. Now they are all waiting to join me in invading Silla and sharing a piece of the pie."

"With the people's opinions in the world like this, no one will make trouble for the relationship between you and me as husband and wife." Liu Jinyu nodded vigorously.

"This is the legitimate benefit for the world." Li Xuan sighed softly, "It is because you and I had destroyed the Queen two years earlier. Otherwise, after she had been on the throne for two more years, I don't know what kind of chaos the world would be in. That would be troublesome."

When Emperor Gaozong was in power, it was easy for Empress Wu to govern the country with the help of Emperor Gaozong's prestige. But when Emperor Gaozong died, it became difficult for Empress Wu to govern the country.

Especially since the local noble families were disloyal, Empress Wu would even lose her local spies.

So in the end they could only resort to the means of submitting letters to the copper box and reporting secretly.

Of course, Empress Wu was also shrewd. She appointed and deposed dozens of prime ministers throughout her life and tormented all the noble families in the world. Although she finally conquered the world, she also made the power of the Tang Dynasty weaker.

……

"One last thing." Li Xuan calmed down and looked at Liu Jinyu and said, "My lady has to return to Chang'an in advance."

"Oh!" Liu Jinyu looked at Li Xuan in surprise.

Li Xuan shook his head slightly and said, "You and I have been away from Chang'an for more than half a year. Although many political affairs are in our hands, Zhao'er has not been urged by you and me for half a year. Who knows how he has become now... Any person or event you meet on the road of life will cause huge changes.

Therefore, Sanniang should go back to Chang'an first. If there is anything wrong with Zhao'er, please correct him as soon as possible, otherwise it will be difficult to deal with it when I return."

"Your Majesty, you are worrying too much. I am confident about Zhao'er's personality." Liu Jinyu smiled, but after she finished speaking, she still nodded and said, "To prevent any accidents, I will go back!"

"And more." Li Xuan continued, "The autumn harvest has come to an end. As usual, all the prime ministers and provincial governors are going around the country to inspect and ensure that this year's autumn harvest is a smooth one."

After a brief pause, Li Xuan said with a gloomy look, "Taking advantage of the disaster year, lying, concealing the truth, and even exaggerating the losses caused by the disaster, and embezzling the court's relief, this is the most abominable.

This reminds me of the time when Emperor Gaozong and the Empress of Heaven performed Fengshan at Mount Tai and attacked Goryeo, but famine continued throughout the country. Was it really famine that continued throughout the country? "

Liu Jinyu suddenly became serious, and a sentence Liu Rengui once said came to her mind again.

The Fengshan ceremony was a huge trap.

There are huge benefits hidden in this, even the benefits of dividing the world.

(End of this chapter)