First Minister of the Tang Dynasty

...

Gao Chong originally asked Pang Xiaotai to recruit boatmen, and he just did it casually. He didn't expect to recruit people here, but he didn't expect that when he heard that the government was recruiting boatmen, the news was shocking.

In just one day, more than 300 qualified skilled boat workers were recruited.

Gao Chong was also very surprised by this. Logically speaking, skilled shipwrights should be extremely valuable no matter which fleet they were in. How could so many people be unemployed?

Gao Chong immediately summoned some people to inquire, and the results shocked him.

The boatmen all reacted to the same situation. The southwestern barbarians were in chaos and attacking each other. The coastal fleets could not go to sea. The black-hearted shipowners were unwilling to keep many young people for nothing, so they expelled them all.

Anyway, after the ship is opened to navigation, the shipowner can still recruit a large number of people.

After the boatman left, Gao Chong immediately wrote two letters, one to Feng An, the governor of Gaozhou, and the other to Li Shou, the governor of Jiaozhou.

The contents of the letter are all the same, that is, asking about the affairs of the countries on the Indochina Peninsula.

Here, Gao Chong deliberately proposed the concept of Indochina for the first time and explained it so that it is more convenient to call it.

Before that, there was no such name as Indochina. For the countries on the Indochina Peninsula, the Central Plains dynasty was mostly called Southwest Yi. This title comes from "Book of the Later Han Dynasty: Biography of Nanman and Southwest Yi". Now it specifically refers to Funan on the Indochina Peninsula. , Linyi, Zhenla and other countries.

That's fine with Feng Ang. He has lived in Gaozhou for a long time and has been harassed by the Tan family in Luozhou in recent years. He may not have time to care about the affairs of Indochina, but Li Shou, the governor of Jiaozhou, should not be unaware of it.

Speaking of Li Shou, he was also a man of extraordinary origin.

It should be noted here that Li Shou, the governor of Jiaozhou, is not Li Shou, the king of Huai'an County.

Li Shou, the king of Huai'an County, also known as Shentong, lived in the world with his words, and the world often called him Li Shentong.

This Li Shou, whose real name is Li An and whose courtesy name is Shishou, also lives by this name. People in the world often call him Li Shishou.

After Li Shimin ascended the throne, in accordance with the usual practice, and of course out of consciousness, Li Shishou directly changed his surname to Shou, that is, his surname was Li An and his given name was Shou. When he lived by this name, he was called Li Shou.

The reason why Li Shou is said to have an extraordinary background is because he is an authentic member of the Li Tang clan.

Shortly after the founding of the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan named his ancestors and officially confirmed the 41 clans in the world. He designated the founder as Li Tianci and posthumously awarded him the title of King Longxi, with the posthumous title of Yi, that is, King Yi of Longxi.

Li Tianci was the father of Li Hu, Taizu of the Tang Dynasty, and the great-grandfather of Li Yuan. Later, in the fifth year of Emperor Xianheng of the Tang Dynasty, Li Tianci was posthumously granted the title of Emperor Guang, with the temple name Yi Zu.

Zongzheng Temple determined that the Li Tang clan had a total of 41 rooms, one of which was called Dingzhou Governor's Room, the second was called Nanyang Gongfang, the third was called Qiao Wang's room, and the fourth was called Cai Wang's room... a total of 41 rooms.

The current governor of Jiaozhou, Li Shou, came from the Dingzhou governor's house, the first clan member, because the ancestor of the Dingzhou governor's house was Li Qidou, the youngest son of Li Tianci, who was also the direct brother of Tang Taizu Li Hu.

Because Li Qidou served as the governor of Dingzhou during the Northern Wei Dynasty, this room was called the governor's room of Dingzhou.

Li Qidou, the governor of Dingzhou in the Northern Wei Dynasty, gave birth to Li Zhen, the Duke of Lingshou County, Li Zhen gave birth to Li Ji, the Duke of Jiyang County, and Li Ji gave birth to Li Shou. After Li Yuan became emperor, he named Li Shou the Duke of Sui'an County.

Li Qidou was the younger brother of Li Hu. Li Hu was the father of Tang Shizu Li Bing, Li Bing was the father of Li Yuan, and Li Yuan was the father of Li Shimin. Therefore, in terms of seniority, Li Shou was Li Shimin's elder brother.

In fact, Li Qidou, the governor of Dingzhou in the Northern Wei Dynasty, was not prominent after the founding of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Qidou only had one son, Li Zhen, and Li Zhen had three sons. The eldest son Li Hui served as the governor of Weizhou in the Northern Zhou Dynasty and was granted the title of Duke of Kaihua. The second son was Li Ji. In the former Sui Dynasty, he was appointed the governor of Weizhou and was granted the title of Jiyang. County Duke, the youngest son Li Lingjue was granted the title of Duke of Xi.

From this point of view, the generation of Li Yuan's contemporaries is pretty good. Basically, their official titles are not low, and they all have their own achievements. However, the next generation is not so good.

Li Hui gave birth to four sons, and they all basically relied on their status in the clan to gain official status. The eldest son, Li Shidu, was granted the title of Duke of Jinan, the second son, Li Puding, was granted the title of Duke of Xiping, and the third son, Li Shiwu, was granted the title of Duke of Beiping. The youngest son, Li Shiwen, died young.

Li Ji only had one son, Li Shishou, his only son.

At present, it seems that Li Shou's achievements are actually the greatest in the Dingzhou governor's office. He has been promoted to the governor of Jiaozhou, and has been given the title of Duke of Sui'an. He is already the voice of the Dingzhou governor's office.

Gao Chong was not deeply impressed by this clan member, and his reputation was far less famous than that of Li Daozong and others. Judging from the current situation in Indochina, Li Shou was definitely not a virtuous person.

The "Southwestern Barbarians" on the Indochina Peninsula were in chaos. Li Shou, as the governor of Jiaozhou, was so close that he didn't react at all. Gao Chong was very curious about what kind of trouble was hidden in this.

This is not because of being meddlesome, but because the barbarian wars on the Indochina Peninsula have seriously affected the maritime trade along the coast. The reason why the fleet is now disbanded and unable to go to sea is because of the impact of the war, which will inevitably affect Go to his shipping department.

But now even if Gao Chong intends to intervene in the Indochina Peninsula, it is obviously beyond his reach.Li Shou, the governor of Jiaozhou who was most able to interfere in this matter, chose to pretend to be deaf and mute, and could only wait until Lingnan was consolidated in the future before making any plans.

Fortunately, the current official post has been basically perfected. As long as there is no human intervention, the message can be delivered without delay. Gao Chong received the imperial edict on the third day he waited in Bobai City.

Gao Chong was not surprised by Li Shimin's generosity, but the other officials were shocked.

Lingnan economic envoy, governor of Guangzhou, champion general, governor of Guangzhou, city shipping envoy, and Duke of Yan.

The name of this university all belongs to the young man in front of me. If you think about it carefully, Gao Chong is the same age as the saint. He is only 27 years old this year.

Seeing that Li Shimin basically arranged everyone according to his instructions, Gao Chong was completely relieved.

Time has proven that Ning Chun is absolutely loyal. Even if he abandons his clan, he will not rebel against the court. This is because his Confucianism is deeply rooted.

Lunan is young and energetic, passionate about his career, and with his father Lude leading by example, his loyalty is unquestionable.

As for Pang Xiaotai, Mo Zhongwen and others, unless the imperial court is weak, they have no reason to abandon the imperial court.

Ning Chun might have been dissatisfied with Ning Chun's request for one-third of the Ning family's ships, but now it seems that Li Shimin did not hesitate to reward him and directly asked him to take over Ning Changzhen's position and be promoted to the governor of Qinzhou. Ning Chun didn't think twice about it.

It's just that Gao Chong was sensitive enough to realize that the court might have strict control over titles in the future, not only because of his foresight, but also because of the court's control over titles in recent years.

During the Lingnan turmoil, Ning Daoming rebelled and attacked Jiangzhou. Ning Changzhen defended his territory and sent people to Yuezhou. The Tan family of Luozhou attacked Gaozhou. In the end, after things stabilized, only one of them was born in this dispute. The title of a fifth-grade male from Founding County.

That is to say, Shi Lu Deyong, the governor of Nanyin Prefecture, was awarded the title of Dongluo County Male for his meritorious service in suppressing the rebellion and appeasing him. Lu Deyong had actively served Gao Chong when he was trying to conquer Lingnan, but he has not yet been awarded the title of County Male.

This time, Ning Chun was promoted to the governor of Qinzhou, but he did not receive any titles. There were also brothers Pang Xiaotai, one governor and one army commander, who did not have any titles.

If this situation were placed in the early years of Wu De, Ning Chun, as the governor, that is, the general manager at that time, would at least have the title of Duke of the country, and at least he would be the Duke of the county.As for Pang Xiaotai, he was a local chief in a state, so at least he started as a county prince. Back then, Ning Changzhen accompanied Yang Guang in his expedition to Goguryeo in the north, and Linyi in the south, and was eventually granted the title of Duke of Qinjiang County.

It was only from the last years of Wude that the court's control over titles became more and more stringent, and even more so in the later years, the control over titles became even stricter.

On the original track, Xue Rengui defeated the nine-surnamed Tie Le and became famous, but in the end he was just the Duke of Pingyang. Pei Xingjian was powerful in northern Xinjiang, and finally he was given the title of Duke of Wenxi County. Gao Kan captured the Turk Chebi Khan alive and conquered Goguryeo in the east. Finally, he was granted the title of Duke of Pingyuan County.

This momentum has begun to gain momentum now, but Gao Chong is already a Duke. During the period of political stability in the Tang Dynasty, his title of Duke has reached its peak, unless...

Gao Chong shook his head and smiled, put aside his distracting thoughts, and directly arranged for Tian Yangming and others to pack their bags and prepare to set off.

This time, Pang Xiaojie, the new commander of the Panyu Military Mansion, will also accompany him.

If nothing unexpected happens, the military power of Guangzhou in the future will lie with Pang Xiaojie, and the maritime trade of the Shipping Department will lie with Tian Yangming.

These two men, both civil and military, will be Gao Chong's arms in Guangzhou. As for the secretariat, it will still be the four young men.

Pang Xiaotai led a group of subordinate officials to send Gao Chong away in a car, and Liu Yanchang, the commander of Shuiming Military Mansion, was also among them.

Seeing Gao rushing forward with more than a thousand people shouting and marching forward in a mighty manner, and the flags he waved were very terrifying. The envoy, governor, and general, Liu Yanchang was in a state of confusion.

In fact, he is also the same type of person as Pang Xiaotai. He does not have much ambition and has no objection to the imperial court, but the prerequisite is that the imperial court is powerful.

Once someone as powerful as Ning Changzhen in Lingnan rebels, such as Pang Xiaotai and Liu Yanchang, they will respond obediently and will never dare to "quell the rebellion" if they are concerned about their wealth and life.

Liu Yanchang also heard that Ning Daoming was defeated and died, so he dared to lead his troops into the city and killed Baizhou Sima Pang Pangji.

But seeing how powerful Gao Chong was now, Liu Yanchang couldn't help but murmur in his heart, would the court really deal with Gao Chong and Pang Xiaotai based on his specious reporting letter? Liu Yanchang also had no idea about this.

"Unfortunately, the general manager just left like this?" The people around Pang Xiaotai looked confused, "Then the Liu family...".

Pang Xiaotai waved his hands irritably, "Since the envoy didn't make any arrangements, he must have his own intentions." He turned around and saw Liu Yanchang with a gloomy expression on the other side.

Pang Xiaotai felt hatred in his heart again, glared at him fiercely, and finally turned around and left.

Even before the team set off, Pang Xiaotai had already told Pang Xiaojie to be more attentive and inquiring along the way to see how the military envoy dealt with the Liu family.

Pang Xiaotai doesn't feel panic now. After all, he has someone in the "court". As long as Pang Xiaojie works by Gao Chong's side, there is no reason for the manager not to help his Pang family.

Looking back at Liu Yanchang, the reason why he felt uneasy was that after Pang Xiaojie was promoted, Erlang of the Pang family, who used to be just a small soldier who joined the army, was now promoted several levels and became the commander of the army.

Panyu Military Mansion belongs to the Shangfu, and its level is higher than his Shuiming Military Mansion, which makes Liu Yanchang start to feel restless.

But his uneasiness will soon disappear, because the day after the imperial edict to reward Lingnan ministers was issued, the Ministry of War received a report from Shuiming Military Mansion.

Is Pang Xiaotai, the governor of Baizhou, a rebel?The manager Gao Chong is suspected of colluding with the rebels and has evil intentions...

Du Ruhui, Minister of the Ministry of War, burst out laughing when he saw this memorial. He had already put the memorial into his arms and went straight to the Ganlu Hall.

Du Ruhui is the Minister of the Ministry of War, and he has a clear understanding of the process of suppressing the rebellion in Lingnan. Pang Xiaotai woke up in time and made great contributions. The saint not only did not punish him, but instead awarded him the honorary title of Captain of Qingche. This is enough to explain the situation. .

This Liu Tongjun actually used this point to criticize Pang Xiaotai and even implicated Gao Chong. Didn't he know the details of counterinsurgency?
Thinking of this, Du Ruhui paused, frowned and thought for a long time, then shook his head and said with a smile: "What a Gao Youzhi...".

"Ruhui, what are you doing here?".

Fang Xuanling was coming out of Ganlu Palace when he saw Du Ruhui, with his hands behind his back, deep in thought under the palace wall.

On the original trajectory, Du Ruhui died of illness in the fourth year of Zhenguan, and Fang Xuanling died of illness in the 22nd year of Zhenguan. That is to say, Fang Xuanling lived for 18 years after Du Ruhui's death, but in fact Fang Xuanling was six years older than Du Ruhui. , Du Ruhui's life span is only 45, and Fang Xuanling's life span is 69.

"Brother Xuanling," Du Ruhui bowed his hand. The two of them had a close personal relationship and always called each other by first names in private. "Brother Xuanling is about to meet the saint, but there is one thing that I am not sure about. Come and take a look."

Immediately, he took Fang Xuanling aside, took out Liu Yanchang's memorial from his arms and handed it to Fang Xuanling.

Fang Xuanling was also stunned and laughed.

"Brother Xuanling, what do you mean by Gao Youzhi?" Du Ruhui asked directly without hesitation.

Fang Xuanling raised his hand and twisted his beard and said with a smile: "Do you dare to say that Gao Youzhi doesn't know? He definitely knows, but he didn't mention a word about Liu Yanchang in the previous memorial. This is obviously a trick."

"What do you think, Brother Yi Xuanling?" Du Ruhui asked directly.

"Liu Yanchang? He's just a clown. If that's the case, then Gao Youzhi's wishes must be fulfilled." Fang Xuanling clapped his hands to report, and said with a smile behind his hands, "It seems that Baizhou Pang's fortune has turned around."

Du Ruhui also meant the same thing, and immediately nodded and smiled, "Come, come with me."

The two walked hand in hand. Fang Xuanling walked with her hands behind her hands and looked at the sunset on the horizon. She said with emotion, "When I was in the thatched cottage in Xi County, I never thought about today."

Du Ruhui laughed when he heard this and said: "So, when I was idle at home, I never thought that I would be able to work with the Prime Minister today."

The two looked at each other and laughed, without saying anything.

A moment later, in the Manna Palace, Li Shimin behaved just like the two of them before. He threw the report aside and said angrily: "Isn't this Liu Yanchang here to make people happy?"

Du Ruhui also smiled and said: "Then what does Your Majesty think should be done? Liu Yanchang slandered Shangguan, should I order a reprimand from the Ministry of War?"

Li Shimin slowly picked up the tea cup, glanced at him intentionally or unintentionally, and snorted: "If you just reprimanded me, then Gao Youzhi might complain to me later. Since you also said that you were slandering an important minister, how could you do that?" "Easy to spare".

After finishing speaking, Li Shimin asked Zhang Anan to find some albums related to Lingnan, checked them for a long time, and said bluntly: "This Shuiming Military Mansion has been in existence for a hundred years, and I'm afraid the surname is Liu from top to bottom.

According to the decree, the Shuiming Military Mansion was abolished, Liu Yanchang was dismissed from his position as commander of the army, the Ministry of War established a division, and a new military mansion was set up in Jianning. As soon as the military mansion responded to the officials, the Ministry of War made the selection, and the Zhongshu was immediately promulgated."

Fang and Du looked at each other and agreed.

Then Liu Yanchang was completely screwed. This was completely asking for death. The two sides were not on the same level at all. Nothing happened to Gao Chong. The emperor had to comfort him later. Liu Yanchang suffered a big loss. Not only was he dismissed from office, but also Shui Ming The military government that Liu has controlled for hundreds of years will also be abolished.