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

Chapter 609 The villain sued, Empress Wu slapped her in the face

Chang'an, Daming Palace.

The upright imperial guards have swords and guns in their hands, and the majestic palace is full of gold and jade, and the banners are flying, imposing.

Pei Yan hid a memorial in his sleeve, and walked slowly into the majestic Zichen Palace under the watchful eyes of the surrounding officials.

Walking into the hall, Pei Yan didn't raise his head, and bowed directly: "Chen, Pei Yan, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment, pay homage to the Queen of Heaven, Wanan the Queen of Heaven!"

"Stay flat." Empress Wu sat on the golden seat and waved her hand wearily. The servant next to her immediately stepped forward and received the memorial in front of Empress Wu. On the other side, a female officer brought a cup of hot tea. Put it in front of Empress Wu.

Empress Wu took a sip lightly, and her expression eased a little. She raised her head to look at Pei Yan, and asked softly, "How's the matter with the king of the East China Sea?"

Pei Yan's eyes tightened, but his expression remained calm and he said: "Reporting to heaven, the Ministry of Criminal Justice has investigated most of the imperial clan, relatives, and descendants of all the officials in the womb of the Yin Crown Prince. The bad news has not been found, and the good news is the same. Nothing was found either."

"You can talk." Empress Wu chuckled disdainfully, then waved her sleeves, and said, "This is not good news, nor is it bad news. King Yinxi has been dead for so many years, so who would know?" I miss him, not to mention that the truly capable people have already assumed important positions in the court, and only those trash will hook up with the descendants of the Hidden Queen."

"What the Queen of Heaven said is very true." Pei Yan nodded solemnly, and then said again: "Chang'an and Luoyang are actively investigating, and the localities are also making moves, but the progress is not much, only Yangzhou... the King of Nanchang captured the old man in Yangzhou. Li Huainian, the son of Duke Ankang, was killed in advance and did not make any progress, and the King of Nanchang also seemed to have missed some points."

"Omission, where is the omission?" Empress Wu's eyes drooped slightly, and there was already a trace of anger in his expression.

"Although Li Huainian is dead, he has been working in Yangzhou for many years, and he has already woven a huge network. If he can investigate in depth, he will definitely be able to achieve results. However, the King of Nanchang seems to be thinking about the affection of the clan. It's a pity that I didn't dig deep into it." Pei Yan looked regretful, as if he was in Yangzhou, so he would be able to dig it out.

"Pei Qing!" Empress Wu said suddenly, her voice was not low, but Pei Yan felt an inexplicable chill.

"The minister is here!" Pei Yan solemnly cupped his hands.

Empress Wu said with a hint of coldness in her eyes: "Does Pei Qing still remember the responsibility of King Nanchang's trip to the southeast?"

"I remember!" Pei Yan's face darkened immediately, and he said quickly: "The King of Nanchang will serve as the Deputy Envoy of Jiangnan Dao to recruit soldiers, assist Yangzhou Governor's Mansion Shi Dou Xuande to recruit soldiers, renovate warships, and at the same time communicate with the Japanese country. Silla, let them miscalculate the strength and determination of our army, so as to facilitate the northward retreat of the army."

"Since you understand, why do you still want to frame things like this? The king of Nanchang knows the primary and secondary. You Pei Yan, Pei Zilong, the majestic minister of the Ministry of punishment, and the minister of the central government, don't you really want the southeast to be in chaos now?" Empress Wu angrily said directly He picked up a memorial from the table and threw it viciously at Pei Yan.

With a sound of "slap", the memorial directly hit the ground under Pei Yan's feet, and almost hit him directly.

Pei Yan's face suddenly changed, and he couldn't help but retreat several steps.

In an instant, Pei Yan's face was already pale, because the words on the cover of the memorial in front of him had made Pei Yan break out in a cold sweat: Chen Jiangnan Dao recruited ambassador Dou and deputy envoy Li Zuo to raise troops.

Two or three things, the two or three things written on the cover of the memorial, but Pei Yan knew that in this memorial, Dou Xuande and Li Xuan must have complained in detail about all the things in Yangzhou, including the matter about Li Huainian .

"The king of Nanchang has already asked for an order to deal with the matter of Li Huainian. After all, the Duke of Shi'an is a clan, and he is an elder. Put the Duke of Si'an under house arrest..."

Empress Wu gritted her teeth and looked at Pei Yan: "Now the whole southeast is restless, and you still want to frame a trap, do you have to make chaos in the southeast, unable to help Anton, and finally lead to the defeat of the frontline army, which will affect Tubo's preparations for war... you If you want to make Tang Dynasty feel uneasy inside and outside, you will give up, won't you?"

Pei Yan immediately pulled up the hem of his clothes, and knelt down in the hall, his face full of fear, but he said very sincerely: "Tianhou, you have wronged my humble minister. I am loyal to your majesty and the queen, and I will do my best to the Tang Dynasty. How can there be such evil and insidious thoughts?"

"This empress also hopes that you don't have it, but under the overall situation, don't bring up some small thoughts that shouldn't be there." Empress Wu's voice suddenly became flat, and the resentment in the previous words disappeared without a trace in an instant. .

"I obey!" Pei Yan breathed a sigh of relief. Although he was flustered on the surface and even sweated, his heart was peaceful.

At this moment, Empress Wu continued to speak: "The empress has passed the decree to let the Duke of Shi'an go back to the mansion. The matter of Li's memory has nothing to do with him. He is just looking at the unfilial son for his brother. The King of the East China Sea has nothing to do with it."

"What the Empress said is true, it's my minister Menglang." Pei Yan cupped his hands slightly.

"You back down," Empress Wu waved her hand directly, with a look of impatience on her face.

Pei Yan immediately stood up slowly, not daring to say anything, and retreated directly, his face couldn't help being slightly relieved, but when he retreated halfway, Empress Wu suddenly said: "Forbidden Army Zhonglang General Li Xuansi He was transferred to General Zuo Xiaowei. General Cheng Wuting of Wei Zhonglang, the leader of the right army, was transferred to General Zhonglang of the Forbidden Army."

General Zhonglang of the Forbidden Army guards the Xuanwu Gate.

Pei Yan stopped suddenly, turned to look at Empress Wu, bowed heavily, and then exited Zichen Palace.

After Pei Yan left, Empress Wu turned cold and cursed impolitely: "Trash."

In a word, the entire Zichen Palace was silent.

"Quiet Empress!" A figure stood up from behind the gauze curtain and bowed slightly to Empress Wu.

Empress Wu waved her hand indifferently, but this time, the anger on her face had eased a lot, and she said with a sneer: "It's not a bad thing to be ambitious, but it's not a good thing if you have too much ambition. One person became the Minister of the Ministry of Justice, and the same clan It is the Minister of the Ministry of War, and another in-law is the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, not to mention the position of the Prime Minister, but he even has his eyes on the Minister of the Ministry of Rites. If you really want him to succeed, I am afraid that even the empress will have to be afraid of him."

Although the position of the prime minister in the center of the court is divided by several events, each prime minister has great power. Even the emperor needs to carefully check and balance the power of the prime minister by using the six ministries and nine ministers to maintain the stability of the court. .

The position of each of the six ministers in the center needs to be carefully considered by the emperor again and again before they can be determined, but if a certain prime minister directly focuses on the position of a certain six ministers, and tries to push his cronies to the top...

If this person is highly appreciated by the emperor, and even the position of the future chief assistant and left prime minister, then it is all right, but such a person is not what Empress Wu likes.

Look at the current leaders of the three central provinces, Liu Rengui, Dai Zhide, Hao Chujun, none of them are around [-] years old, but Pei Yan, who has just passed [-], is already actively plotting for the position of prime minister, and even deploying six provinces.

Such a prime minister is too ambitious and covets too much. Even if she is her own cronies, Empress Wu does not like it. She still likes those who know how to measure and know how to advance and retreat.

"Southeast needs to be quiet, but it also needs to find out all the remaining sins of Prince Yin. This is also a delicate job, especially now, it needs patience. Pei Yan is too anxious. He would rather hurt the innocent than finish the matter. There is no such thing as Considering that this will harm this year's autumn harvest and next year's spring plant." Empress Wu shook her head in disgust.

"Tianhou, although Pei Shangshu is a little anxious, he still has a sense of proportion." The standing figure pleaded for Pei Yan again.

"Proper, his sense is to buy favors for himself." Empress Wu sneered, she could clearly see Pei Yan's tricks.

If it wasn't for this, Pei Yan wouldn't have walked out of Zichen Palace just now.

It is impossible for a minister of the Ministry of punishment who has no overall view to become a prime minister.

In fact, Empress Wu knew in her heart that although Pei Yan was more selfish, she was still sure of the situation in the southeast. She used the threat of the King of the East China Sea to oppress the major families in the south of the Yangtze River, and asked them to take the initiative to clean up the people and things related to the King of the East China Sea.

Then seize some evidence to suppress and woo, and at the same time control the situation in his own hands.

Pei Yan's idea is very good, but in terms of actual operation, there are some shortcomings.

After all, it was not Pei Yan himself who actually went to the southeast to operate, but his nephew Xue Zhongzhang.

Although Xue Zhongzhang looks good, in fact, he is procrastinating and easy to advance, especially beside him, there is a more obedient King of Nanchang.

Empress Wu could see through the development of the ending in the southeast almost at a glance. Xue Zhongzhang seemed to be hiding behind Li Xuan, plotting something secretly, but since he put Li Xizhi, Duke of Shi'an under house arrest, all the families in the southeast, Everyone knows who to watch out for.

"Fan Qing!" Empress Wu raised her head to look at Fan Lubing, who had fallen silent, with a slight smile on her face, "What do you think of the other memorial of the King of Nanchang?"

Fan Lubing cupped his hands solemnly and said: "The Queen of Heaven, what the King of Nanchang said is all speculation, without any evidence, so it is not reliable in the court, but..."

"Although there is no evidence, it can be confirmed by guessing that that person is doing it, right?" A coldness flashed in the depths of Empress Wu's eyes. At that time, Anlu County Duke Xu Shan had a faint intention to take refuge, but Empress Wu only slightly Pay attention, Xu Shan died.

But Empress Wu didn't care that much at the time, after all, Xu Shan was just an attitude at that time.

And Empress Wu also had some doubts at that time, that thing was done by the emperor, after all, no one would like a traitor.

But now, everything proves that the emperor didn't know about that incident back then, and now it suddenly broke out, not only embarrassing Empress Wu in front of the emperor, but more importantly, that incident made her miss a prime minister.

Master Xu Yu, as long as he is transferred back to the center, he will immediately become a prime minister.

Empress Wu took a deep breath, and said coldly: "Let Bai Qisi do a thorough investigation, and if they find any evidence, send them to the Ministry of Punishment. If they can't find any evidence, then let Li Anjing's family disappear completely."

"That's what His Majesty meant."

(End of this chapter)