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

Chapter 1850: Disciple, Internal Guard

In early winter in October, dew turns into frost.

Li Xuan, dressed in a scarlet and yellow dragon robe, sat in the Taiji Hall with a stern expression. All officials above the ninth rank in Chang'an were present.

Pei Judao, the Minister of Revenue, stood in the hall and saluted, saying: "Your Majesty, the autumn tax for the fifth year of Kaiyuan has been fully collected, and all states have begun to deliver the tax grain to Chang'an.

According to the preliminary reports submitted by various states, this year's weather is favorable and the harvest is abundant. It is estimated that the annual revenue will be 3 million guan more than last year. "

"That's 20 million guan per year." Li Xuan nodded calmly and said, "Yes, I am very satisfied. Go and do the statistics carefully. I want specific figures. If the results satisfy me, then at the end of the year, we will use the same method as last year. In the last month, the salaries of all officials will be doubled."

The Ministry of Revenue is three times.

Pei Judao immediately bowed his hands and said earnestly: "I accept your order."

Although Li Xuan did not say that out loud, Pei Judao could fully guarantee that the emperor would do so.

Last year, because of this incident, Pei Judao’s prestige in the Ministry of Revenue and among officials in the Ministry of Revenue system throughout the country increased greatly.

In other words, in the current ranking of the prime ministers in the court, his position is still at the back. Otherwise, Pei Judao would be able to become the prime minister just by relying on the support of officials in the Ministry of Revenue system.

Li Xuan watched Pei Judao retreat back to the class and said calmly, "Ministry of Personnel, Imperial Censor, and the Ministry of Personnel."

"I'm here." The four chief officers, the Minister of Personnel Yun Hongyin, the Imperial Censor Wei Xuantong, the Palace Attendant Ouyang Tong, and the Palace Attendant Zhang Da'an, stood up and attacked and defended together.

"It is now the fifth year of Kaiyuan, and I have been on the throne for five years. Therefore, I have decided that starting from today, a nationwide investigation will be conducted." As soon as Li Xuan's words came out, there was silence.

But then, Lin Renji, Wei Xuantong, Ouyang Tong and Zhang Daan all bowed and said, "I obey your command."

There is a system in the country. Every year, the Ministry of Personnel conducts a small inspection by the Ministry of Personnel itself. There is a mid-term inspection every three years, which is completed jointly by the Ministry of Personnel and the Censorate. There is a major inspection every five years. The prime minister is the leader and all officials in the country are inspected for a period of one year.

When the prime minister steps in, the Ministry of Personnel and the Censorate all get into action, and even the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice have to cooperate.

Li Xuan has been on the throne for five years, and it is time to start according to the system.

The ministers knew even more that after this investigation, the emperor would immediately launch a war against Tubo.

Before going into battle, it is only right to clear your plate.

However, the emperor did not let the left and right prime ministers take the lead, but instead let the Menxia Province be responsible for it alone.

A chill ran down the ministers' spines.

"Okay, that's it, let's adjourn the court." Li Xuan raised his hand slightly, and the ministers immediately bowed and said, "Your Majesty, we respectfully bid you farewell."

"Yeah!" Li Xuan stood up and walked towards the side door of the Tai Chi Hall.

……

In Ganlu Palace, Li Xuan allowed Du Liu and Cheng Yan to help him take off his dragon robe, then looked at Shangguan Wan'er and said, "Pass the order down. I need to rest for an hour. Don't disturb me unless it's important."

"Yes!" Shangguan Wan'er immediately bowed.

Li Xuan, wearing silk underwear, walked towards the back hall of Ganlu Temple.

Du Liu and Cheng Yan immediately followed quickly with solemn expressions.

The rear hall of Ganlu Palace is a place that is often overlooked because in the eyes of ordinary people, the emperor rarely comes here.

Ganlu Hall, the emperor's bedroom.

According to court rules, when the emperor stayed overnight in Ganlu Palace, he would randomly choose one of the dozens of inner palaces behind the palace to live in. Even the head of the eunuchs did not know which room the emperor would stay in.

However, ever since Li Xuan moved into Ganlu Hall, he has basically never lived in the back hall.

With his control over the palace and his own abilities, he could counterattack and assassinate even in his sleep.

This way, even if something happens, you won’t waste time dealing with it because of others looking for you.

Ganlu Palace also has another function, which is to visit concubines.

Most emperors have concubines in their palaces, and many of them do not have their own palaces, so they need to bring their concubines into the Ganlu Palace. Ganlu, Ganlu, is the meaning of this.

But Li Xuan doesn't need it.

He had so many concubines.

Everyone has his own palace, and Li Xuan has his own routine for where he sleeps every night.

So except for the night of the wedding, when the Queen comes here, not many people come here on normal days.

Not to mention the back hall of Ganlu Temple.

As soon as he entered the back hall, the sound of dense footsteps reached Li Xuan's ears.

In such a large space, dozens of palace maids were summarizing and transcribing the secret reports sent from various places in detail, and then delivering them to Du Liu and Cheng Yan in different categories.

Generally speaking, the two of them would pass the important information to Shangguan Wan'er, who would then pass it to Li Xuan.

The secret guards, inner guards, Qianniu guards, and even Li Xuan's secret guards, a group of guards that very few people know about, would all send the news here.

When Li Xuan needs to know information about a certain aspect, the information will be delivered to him immediately.

In this way, it would be very convenient for him to compare the news with that of the previous dynasty.

The assessments from the Ministry of Personnel, the grain and fodder statistics from the Ministry of Revenue, the criminal case handling from the Ministry of Justice, even the thoughts of the officers and soldiers from the Ministry of War, the changes in the royal family from the Ministry of Rites and the Temple of Imperial Clan Affairs, and even the material mobilization from the Ministry of Works would all be delivered to his hands when he needed them.

Li Xuan himself would also regularly check comprehensive intelligence to ensure that nothing was missed.

……

Li Xuan looked at the palace maids in front of him. These were the few literate palace maids in the palace. They were the backbone of the palace's internal guards.

Yang Sixu, the Junior Eunuch of the Imperial Household, was merely the commander in charge of external affairs. The one who truly managed everything around Li Xuan was Shangguan Wan'er.

The reason why eunuchs become a hidden danger is that they hold official positions in the court.

The Eunuch Supervisor, the Junior Eunuch Supervisor, and the entire Eunuch Department were official government offices of the imperial court, enjoying official rights and salaries.

The women in the harem, even Shangguan Wan'er, did not have the chance to speak a word in the court.

This ensures that the only person they can truly rely on is Li Xuan.

Li Xuan raised his head and said, "Bring the news from Qi and Lu states."

"Here!" Du Liu bowed, then walked quickly towards the shelf beside him.

The mechanism twisted, and soon letters of information were delivered to Li Xuan's hands.

Li Xuan opened the letters one by one and began to read. Countless top-secret information that could not be seen in official articles appeared completely in Li Xuan's eyes.

Qilu, Henan Road.

In today's world, Northwest, Jiannan and Jiangnan are Li Xuan's strongholds, and Guanzhong and Luohe areas are also completely controlled by him.

Huainan Road has never been taken seriously by any party, but Li Xuan has already taken it into his hands.

We took Shannan last year and Hebei this year.

Countless forces quickly poured in through the channel that was opened before, and all kinds of more secret information would be passed into Li Xuan's hands.

There is Lin Renji in Lingnan Province, so there is no need to worry. Li Xuan in Fujian and Hunan has a very high level of control.

The only ones left are Qi and Lu.

After a long pause, Li Xuan said, "Send an imperial decree to order Deng Jiuguang, the governor of Dengzhou, to return to the court to see the emperor at the end of the year... Let someone keep an eye on who he will meet along the way."

"Here!"

(End of this chapter)