Early Tang Dynasty: forge ahead

Chapter 410 Empress Wu is trapped in a cocoon
Empress Wu was already involved in politics and had great power in handling the Shangguan Yi incident.

This is also Li Zhi's usual operation.

This time the political purge is directed at the former prince and eldest son Li Zhong. Li Zhi has always cherished feathers. He would never personally intervene in such things that harm his own reputation. Letting others take the blame is Li Zhi's most common method.

If Li Zhi knew that he pushed his wife out to take the blame time and time again, and cultivated a female empress, which led to him being known as weak, would he be so angry that he would crawl out of the coffin and change his style.

Empress Wu was determined to involve Chen Qingsi and immediately instructed Xu Jingzong to take Guo Guangjing for interrogation.

Xu Jingzong would not object. He, an old fox, knew that Li Zhi was planning to use Shangguan Yi's affairs to eliminate Li Zhong as a future danger.

Everyone knows that Guo Guangjing is on good terms with Shangguan Yi. Who can guarantee that he is not from Li Zhong's faction?
What’s more, the more people take, the more powerful they appear to be at work.

Xu Jingzong is not a good person to begin with, just sitting back and enjoying his success.

Empress Tianwu handed Li Zhi the interrogation report compiled today.

Responsible for purging Li Zhong's faction, headed by Queen Wu and Xu Jingzong, but Li Zhi controls everything behind the scenes, and all situations will be reported to him in the end.

Li Zhi looked at Guo Guangjing's name appearing for the first time, glanced at Queen Wu casually, and continued reading.

In Guo Guangjing's confession, he explained the circumstances of his meeting with Chen Qingsi and Shangguan Yi's request.

It's the same as what Chen Qingsi said to him.

The little beard on Li Zhi's chin trembled and he put down the interrogation report in his hand.

Empress Wu said: "The Governor Chen entered the city yesterday. It was already dusk at that time, and not many people knew about it. Early this morning, Guo Guangjing went to the Governor. It was not clear what he said, but now this is all he has to say. point."

Empress Wu was deliberately ambiguous. On the one hand, she said that when Chen Qingsi came to Beijing, she met Guo Guangjing without even bothering to meet the saint to report her duties. On the other hand, she questioned that Guo Guangjing's confession was wrong, and insinuated that the two of them might be involved in a big problem. .

Empress Wu knew her husband's character very well. Chen Qingsi was not an ordinary person. He was both civil and military, and his abilities involved military and political affairs. He had a certain weight in the temple and had certain connections in the army.

Don't say that such people have no second thoughts. Even if they are dedicated to serving the public good, they still have to be careful. What's more, in this situation, something unique like this has happened.

Empress Wu did not expect to be able to overthrow Chen Qingsi at once this time. As long as she could leave a seed of doubt in her husband's heart, her goal would be achieved.

Once the king is suspicious, it will be easier to implement many things in the future.

Queen Wu's eyes showed that she was sure of victory.

Unexpectedly, Li Zhi just responded simply: "The matter of catching wind and shadow is not worth making a fuss about. Shangguan Yi has lived in the two capitals for decades, does he really want to put everyone he has spoken to in prison?"

His tone of response was very light, but what he said was very serious.

Li Zhi knew that Empress Wu had selfish motives in dealing with Shangguan Yi, and conveniently dealt with some people who offended her, such as those who opposed her participation in politics, and those who followed Shangguan Yi to impeach Fang Renyu.

Li Zhi always turned a blind eye and didn't take anything seriously as long as he didn't go too far.

There is no shortage of talents in the Tang Dynasty, just demote some people and promote them again.

But it would be too much to target a talent that is in urgent need like Chen Qingsi.

What's more, this great talent was promoted by him single-handedly. He is also loyal to him, and even trivial matters will be reported in detail.

This touched his bottom line.

Empress Wu suddenly turned pale. She didn't know where she was wrong and said hurriedly: "I understand."

Li Zhi waved his hand and asked Queen Wu to retreat.

Queen Wu walked out of the hall, a feeling of powerlessness came to her heart.

This time she lost completely.

Empress Wu has a certain talent for tactics, and she knows what this failure means.

This means that in Li Zhi's eyes, he already has prejudice and hostility towards Chen Qingsi.

With this impression, any bad words she says about Chen Qingsi in the future will be regarded as having ulterior motives.

Chen Qingsi was originally an extremely difficult person to deal with, but now it is even more difficult to deal with.

Chen Qingsi didn't know about all this, and it was not because of his clever calculation that he told Li Zhi about Guo Guangjing in advance, but because of his own political level, he would not expose his flaws easily.

The flaw that Queen Wu thought could be exploited had long been erased by Chen Qingsi's own inadvertent prudence.

Chen Qingsi left the palace and returned home to write greetings and invitations.

After two and a half years away from the temple, returning to Gyeonggi naturally meant that I had to re-consolidate my relationship network.

Returning from Baekje this time, Chen Qingsi brought many gifts from Haidong.

Haidong is poor, but because it is close to Changbai Mountain, there are indeed many good things.

Ginseng, Ganoderma lucidum, Dongzhu, mink, etc. are all treasures.

Chen Qingsi distributed the gifts one by one according to their status, and invited the core figures of the Qing school and the good figures in the Shangluo literary circle to his house one by one to reminisce about the past.

Especially many great scholars in the literary world.

Because of Shangguan Yi, people in the literary world were panicked.

Shangguan Yi's crime was colluding with the former prince Li Zhong to rebel, which was a serious crime of genocide. If the circumstances are serious, everyone who has interacted with him will be implicated.

In particular, Empress Wu took the opportunity to eliminate dissidents and used this political incident to bring down many people who opposed her, causing people to panic.

The appearance of Chen Qingsi at this moment allowed them to find their backbone and stabilize the people's hearts.

It took Chen Qingsi five days to finish socializing.

In the absence of Chen Qingsi, everyone knows the situation of the Qingliu Party.

With his return, there was no doubt that he regained the position of party leader.

Especially since Chen Qingsi is now a minister, she is only one step away from becoming a prime minister.

Needless to say, the literary world is currently in need of blessings from big names like Chen Qingsi.

Chen Qingsi effortlessly grasped the two political forces in his hands.

As for the position of Minister of War, Chen Qingsi also took charge immediately.

He had been a minister in the Ministry of War, and because of his ability, he almost replaced his superior.

Although he left for two and a half years, the Ministry of War has not changed much under Jiang Ke's management. It wasn't until Fang Renyu took over the Ministry of War that certain changes occurred.

Unlike Jiang Ke, Fang Renyu entered the Shangshu purely for military merit and was not good at politics.

He is politically capable and does not want to be the leader of a department full of the atmosphere of his predecessor.

He made a lot of moves in the Ministry of War, but after all, he was not in power for long, and he had been serving as an official in other places. He did not have much power in Beijing. He made limited changes to the Ministry of War. He only made some small changes and gave them to Li Zhi. Kicked out of the temple.

Chen Qingsi's return was also welcomed by the elders of the Ministry of War.

Everything went smoothly, but Chen Qingsi was a little irritable.

This emotion even somewhat affected his work. "What do the people in the household department do to eat? Why is the food not in place? The soldiers on the front line are fighting with their lives, and a group of them are thinking about Qingfu in the back. They can't even do this little thing? Go and urge..."

Zhang Ming, an old colleague who was now the minister of the Ministry of War, immediately agreed and trotted out of the office of Shangshu Yamen.

Zhang Ming happened to meet Guo Rui, the head of the Staff Division, on the road.

Guo Rui asked: "Shilang Zhang, how is Shangshu feeling?"

Zhang Ming gave a helpless expression and said: "Bless yourself and don't make any mistakes."

Even if Chen Qingsi is angry, he will not vent it at will. If he does something well, he will praise him. But if he makes a mistake, he will be sorry and must be reprimanded.

Guo Rui was complaining a lot. Chen Qingsi came back and everything was fine, but for some unknown reason, his temper got worse.

Is it because he has been in the military for too long?
Guo Rui could only guess, but he didn't dare to ask any more questions.

The anger in Chen Qingsi's heart was not about who provoked him, but a helplessness, a helplessness that was completely helpless.

He boasts that he has many ideas and can handle everything, but he has no way to deal with his own living father.

Because Chen Qingsi had been in charge of Baekje for many years, Xiao Miaochen was lonely at home. He devoted all his thoughts and love to his husband to his son Jingjing. He got used to sleeping with his son and watching the crystallization of the couple's life to comfort his lovesickness. suffering.

This time, Jingjing got used to sleeping with her mother, getting used to her mother's bedtime stories, getting used to her mother's comfort, and getting used to her mother's smell.

I can't sleep without my mother at all, and I'm totally uncomfortable with it.

Crying and making a fuss...

I cried so hard that my voice became hoarse, and no matter how hard I tried to persuade me, it was useless.

Chen Qingsi was so angry that she really wanted to reinvent him...

Every time she looked at her sweet son who was like a light bulb, Chen Qingsi felt both loving and angry, unable to do anything about it.

On this day, Chen Qingsi was invited to the British government to discuss the matter of being granted Zen status.

This was also the first meeting between several envoys after Li Zhi decided to grant Zen.

Chen Qingsi attached great importance to this conferment and arrived at the British government residence two quarters of an hour early.

There is no doubt that he is the first.

Li Ji was as humble and polite as ever, and he personally greeted Chen Qingsi's arrival.

Chen Qingsi immediately looked flattered, said polite words, and went to the living room to talk.

Li Ji was both civil and military, but he rarely got involved in political affairs and focused on military strategy.

Chen Qingsi has fought many wars in Baekje and has some experience. The conversation between the two also revolved around military affairs.

Chen Qingsi asked some questions. Li Ji had rich experience. He had never seen any battlefield situation before, and he could explain everything he knew.

Li Ji was also very interested in the methods used by Chen Qingsi in Goguryeo.

Economic blockade, political coercion, and subjugation without a fight.

Li Ji looked at the eloquent young man in front of him and thought to himself: "His Majesty Taizong, the court has such a man, you will be able to smile."

Even though Li Shimin passed away many years ago, veterans like Li Ji still miss the Tian Khan deeply.

It can even be said that he has been staying in the temple and unwilling to retire from office, just so that when he attacks Goguryeo, he can wear armor and take command, so as to fulfill Emperor Taizong's long-cherished wish.

But he didn't expect that Emperor Taizong's unfulfilled long-cherished wish was mostly completed in the hands of this young hero in front of him.

With the current situation in Goguryeo, Li Ji was not willing to lead his troops to fight until they decided the winner.

How can you kill a chicken with a bull's knife?

Even with Li Ji's current qualifications, he wouldn't even bother to see this kind of achievement brought to his doorstep.

Facing Chen Qingsi, Li Ji was sincerely happy and appreciative.

Soon as the appointment came, Li Yuanli and Xu Jingzong also arrived one after another.

The four Zen envoys took their seats on the left and right.

Facing Li Yuanli and Xu Jingzong, Chen Qingsi naturally took the last seat.

Li Ji, the Fengchan envoy, was actually a hands-off shopkeeper.

People have specializations, but Li Ji's ability is not reflected in etiquette. He was born as a military general, and although he was both wise and brave, this wisdom was mostly reflected in wisdom rather than erudition.

Li Ji was the only one who could serve as the official envoy of Zen, but he was not required to do so.

Li Ji was also very self-aware. He just made a start, said a few opening remarks, and let the people below speak freely.

Li Yuanli was a little better than Li Ji. He had made preparations and summarized the processes of the previous conferrals of Emperor Qin Shihuang, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty.

The really powerful one is Xu Jingzong.

There is a reason why Xu Jingzong has been favored by Li Zhi to this day. He was the only one of the eighteen bachelors of the Qin Dynasty.

Xu Jingzong's erudition is shocking and admirable. He is like an encyclopedia. He can answer whatever you say and quote the classics and tell the sources of ancient books.

Li Zhi has a problem, he likes to ask questions.

When I go to an unknown place, I want to ask where it is and what the allusions are.

Only Xu Jingzong could answer.

Even once, Li Zhi wanted to test Xu Jingzong and pointed directly at Kunming Pool and asked, what is the allusion to Kunming Pool?
Xu Jingzong said without any hesitation that the envoy sent by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to pacify the southern border was blocked by Dianchi Lake in Kunming. Therefore, he borrowed the old lake of Haochi Pond and used it to pass through Dianchi Lake to practice water warfare, so it was called Kunming Pond.

Li Zhi didn't believe in evil and asked in a difficult tone: "When did it happen?"

Xu Jingzong said directly: "The third year of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty Yuanshou!"

Li Zhi was stunned and ordered someone to check the information, which was accurate.

Chen Qingsi also saw the true ability of Xu Jingzong, an eighteenth-year scholar, and saw various etiquettes for conferring Zen, as well as some etiquette that had certain arrangements for conferring Zen but had not yet been implemented. Xu Jingzong came casually and spoke clearly and logically.

Not only Chen Qingsi was impressed, but Li Ji and Li Yuanli were also impressed.

In terms of erudition, Li Ji, Li Yuanli and Chen Qingsi are not as good as Xu Jingzong.

Xu Jingzong was not only knowledgeable about the past, but also knowledgeable about the present. He knew what Emperor Li Zhi was thinking in his mind: Li Zhi was self-aware and did not dare to compare with Qin Shihuang, Emperor Wu of Han, and Emperor Guangwu of Han. However, he planned to carry out this conferment together with his father's unfulfilled wish, plus a Li Shimin, then there is a comparison.

Li Zhi doesn't care whether he can be like no one after him, but he must be unprecedented, and he must suppress the ostentation of Qin Shihuang, Emperor Wu of Han, and Emperor Guangwu of Han.

So this time Li Zhi not only wanted to bring all the civil and military officials of the Tang Dynasty, but also the kings and envoys of the barbarians from all over the world to Mount Tai for a pilgrimage together.

This is an unprecedented situation that requires new rituals...

This meeting is also based on this...

(End of this chapter)