Early Tang Dynasty: forge ahead

Chapter 414: My nemesis?
Snapped!
The tea cup fell into pieces.

Queen Wu's palace was very deep, and she always welcomed people with a smile. Even when she punished her servants, she never showed anger, but her methods were harsh and intimidating. Especially the old people who have followed Empress Wu for the longest time. They saw with their own eyes how their master defeated the strong with the weak, defeating the superior Empress Wang and the arrogant Concubine Xiao Shu, and they knew more clearly how their master dealt with them.

She, who had always been calm, suddenly became furious, and her aura suddenly spread out.

The surrounding maids, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, fell to their knees in horror, silent and trembling.

Empress Wu has already tasted the taste of power and is not satisfied with everything she currently has, but she knows very well that she has only obtained this little right, which has already caused constant opposition in the temple.

Especially those officials who claim to be Qingliu, but they just can't see women in power, saying they are anti-Tiangang, and even more so, Si Chen.

Empress Wu memorized the names of the people one by one to ensure that she would not really take power. She would not let anyone go when the time came.

Empress Wu knew that she must obtain sufficient political capital, otherwise it would be difficult for her to go further due to the opposition from the temple.

Until an opportunity arose, Empress Wu saw through Li Zhi's desire to become a Zen leader. Empress Wu, who had been thinking about nothing for a long time, found a glimmer of hope and used the event to earn political capital for herself.

This Zen gift has always been held by a public minister.

Empress Wu felt dissatisfied. Throughout the ages, the emperor was heaven, so she, the queen, should be earth.

The emperor first offered sacrifices to heaven. As an earth, why couldn't he offer sacrifices?
Empress Wu, who was bold and daring to think, began to think about becoming a Zen official from the day she realized that Li Zhi had the intention to become a Zen official to gain political capital for herself.

She encouraged her to be granted the title of Zen, restrained her relatives, and invited herself to be named. Everything she did was to prepare for being qualified to be granted the title of Zen together with Li Zhi.

Now that Feng Chan's quota has been announced, doesn't her own hard work these days become a joke?
Empress Wu forced herself to calm down, tried her best to calm down, and said, "What's going on? Why did Your Majesty decide on the candidate so early?"

According to the practice in his later years, Yaxian and Zhongxian were recommended by officials on the eve of their canonization, and the emperor made the decision. Now is the preparation stage for the canonization, so why have they decided on the candidates?

A maidservant who was kneeling in front of Queen Wu did not dare to raise her head and said with a bit of fear: "I don't know, I just heard this news for the first time."

"Go and check it out."

Empress Wu was filled with hatred for the mysterious man. Li Zhi attached great importance to Feng Chan. If something special had not happened, he would not have announced the gift candidate so early.

The maid hurried away.

Queen Wu felt depressed and a little at a loss.

The previous lawsuit against Chen Qingsi made Li Zhi slightly unhappy, and now the core plan has changed.

Even she felt that her future was bleak this time.

It is very difficult for a woman to make a career in this temple, and the opportunity is rare and rare.

Was this God-given opportunity just missed?
Sneaking away alive before your eyes?
Empress Wu is really unwilling!
"Your Highness the Queen! Madam Rongguo and Madam Korea also request to see you."

Empress Wu was about to find her mother and sister to ask about the situation outside and whether it could be undone.

"Let them in!"

Glancing at the maids who were still kneeling, Empress Wu said: "You all should step aside."

Yang Lao and Wu Shun looked panicked, and they almost jogged to get closer.

Seeing her mother's face, Empress Wu had an ominous premonition.

Wu Shun was the most impatient. Seeing no one around, he ignored the etiquette and said, "The Queen is now announcing outside the palace that the number of ministers to present gifts has been determined. It is Prince Zheng and Li Yinggong. What is going on?"

Empress Wu staggered and almost couldn't stand.

Upon seeing this, Grandma Yang's expression changed drastically, and she quickly stepped forward to support her daughter.

Empress Wu said: "How do you know this?"

Wu Shundao: "It has been spread outside the palace. They say that the people who consecrate the throne with His Majesty this time are King Zheng and Duke Li Ying. They also say that Your Majesty is wise, and Prince Zheng and Duke Li Ying are the best choices."

Empress Wu was lost for a moment and muttered to herself: "It's over, it's over."

There is really no choice now.

Empress Wu did not intend to give up, and thought that maybe there was still room for improvement.

But now that things have spread, she has no chance.

There may be others, for example, King Zheng committed something and lost his qualifications, or Li Yinggong was seriously ill or even passed away and was unable to give gifts...

Substitution is natural in this situation.

But there is no way the backup candidate could be her.

How can a country's queen serve as a candidate for his ministers?

She, Queen Wu, could only be the main candidate.

Now that the official list has been spread, this kind of thing will soon become popular all over the world.

The way forward is completely cut off!

Seeing this, Wu Shun also knew the situation was serious and asked in a panic: "What should we do now?"

Empress Wu wanted to force herself to calm down, but now the situation was like a mess. Except that everything was against her, she had no clue.

After thinking for a long time, Empress Wu said: "Let our people check the source of the news. This news spread too fast, and I always feel that something is wrong."

Empress Wu had no intention of continuing the conversation with Yang Lao and Wu Shun, and asked them to go back to work.

The two were confused and still at a loss, but they could only obey orders.

After leaving the main hall, I vaguely heard the sound of things being thrown behind me...

Empress Wu now had a certain amount of power in the palace and temple, and she quickly found out the whole story.

It’s no secret either…

Originally, the etiquette of this Zen ceremony was not fixed.

This thing has happened only three times since Qin Shihuang became emperor and the concept of great unification came into being.

And the last time was during the reign of Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty, in the 32nd year of Jianwu, more than 610 years ago. During this period, after the turmoil at the end of the Han Dynasty, the Five Husties disrupted China, and the division of the north and the south, many things were fragmented and incomplete, and there was no fixed structure at all. rule.

Chen Qingsi used an advanced table to arrange the bits and pieces of rules one by one, and outlined an outline of the entire Fengchan process.

The gift ambassador is the most important link in the entire Fengchan relief process, so it appears at the top of the outline and needs to be decided first.

Everything makes sense...

Can't fault anything.

Even Li Zhi, who planned to think deeply about Yaxian and the final candidate, felt that he should follow the rules when he saw Chen Qingsi's form.

There are no exact rules, and the outline of the Feng Chan that can convince people is the rules.

"Chen Qingsi..."

Empress Wu was so angry that she almost vomited blood. How could it be this bastard who ruined her good deeds?

Queen Wu was so angry that her eyes were red. She couldn't accept this result.

She would rather have an opponent appear and give her a target, just like Shangguan Yi, to kill and eradicate him and vent the frustration in her heart. But now her plan has been ruined due to an accident, how can she accept this?
Empress Wu did not doubt that Chen Qingsi had done all this on purpose. Chen Qingsi was in Baekje when Li Zhi decided to enshrine him, and he had only been back in Luoyang for a few days. How could he know what he was planning?

All this can only be attributed to God's will.

Although Empress Wu knew that this was not Chen Qingsi's intention, she, who was originally hostile to Chen Qingsi, felt a surge of anger when she heard these three words.

But for Chen Qingsi, Empress Wu was helpless.

Chen Qingsi is good at finding a career. He has been an official for many years and has never made any mistakes. He is an extremely difficult character to deal with.

What's more, she has already failed once and has left a bad impression on Li Zhi. Without definite evidence, any words she says that are unfavorable to Chen Qingsi will sound like lies.

"Could this bastard be my nemesis?"

"Ah!"

Chen Qingsi, who was on official business at the Ministry of War, rubbed his nose.

Does Madam miss me? Or mirror?

Chen Qingsi smiled softly and continued to work. Looking at the news from Qinghai Lake Xi Junmai in his hand, his eyes gradually became cold.

Japan, Silla, and Goguryeo were all just side dishes in Chen Qingsi's eyes. The real feast was Tubo, which was on the plateau and had its own invincible plug-ins.

Upon returning to the Ministry of War, the situation in the Northeast had been decided, and Chen Qingsi immediately focused on Tubo.

By consulting the Ministry of War archives, he learned about the current situation in Tubo: because of the butterfly effect he caused.

Galdongzan of Tubo turned from a king to a domineering one, and the original Zhuge Kongming turned into Cao Cao, who used Zanpu to order Tubo to integrate Tubo's power.

While Chen Qingsi was suppressing Baiji, Galdongzan was also solving the internal situation in Tubo.

After two years of internal liquidation, the Gar family has integrated all the forces of Tubo and is actively communicating with the West to prepare its military.

Chen Qingsi knew that if Gal Dongzan made such a big move, his target must be Qinghai Lake.

Not long after Chen Qingsi took office, he wrote a letter to Xi Junmai, who was stationed in Qinghai Lake, asking him to pay attention to the movements of Tibet and not to be cautious, let alone to be careless and underestimate the enemy.

Driven by Chen Qingsi, Xi Junmai, the first Tang army general stationed in Tuyuhun in the Tang Dynasty, flourished in Tuyuhun.

Xi Junmai is originally from the northwest and is familiar with the environment in the northwest. He also saved Murong Nuohebo, the Khan of Tuyuhun.

With this relationship, Murong Nuohebo and Xi Junmai got along very harmoniously.

Murong Nuohebo was betrayed many times by his own people, and was rescued by the Tang army many times.

The Khan of Tuyuhun trusted the Tang army even more than Tuyuhun. He had already suffered heavy losses due to being defeated by Tibet, so he simply stopped forming his own army and only recruited necessary guards. The other men devoted themselves to animal husbandry.

Because the Tang army attached great importance to Tubo, they had their own army on Qinghai Lake.

There is also a lot more trust between the two countries, and trade exchanges are becoming increasingly frequent.

In particular, Tubo was busy with internal renovations. Without the military disaster, Tuyuhun's economy actually improved, and living conditions rose sharply.

The Tyuhun nobles who originally complained about Murong Nuohebo gradually became silent.

Datang also gained great benefits, especially the good horses on Qinghai Lake, which raised the level of the Tang army's cavalry to a higher level.

But with the internal stability of Tubo, Chen Qingsi knew that the days of peace would not last long.

The latest news from Xi Junmai proves this point.

Tubo has begun to increase its troops to the front line near Qinghai Lake, and Galdongzan's son Lun Qinling also appeared on the front line.

"On Qinling!"

Chen Qingsi read these three words and thought to himself: "Xi Junmai is no match for him. Xue Rengui and Hei Chi Changzhi are not qualified enough, so they have to prove themselves by destroying Goguryeo. The only ones who can defeat him now are Su Xinggong and Su Xinggong. Li Yinggong is busy. He can only rely on Su Xinggong. "

Chen Qingsi immediately wrote a letter suggesting that Su Dingfang be transferred to Shanzhou to take charge.

With this big boss here, what can we do about Qinling?

Chen Qingsi took care of the affairs of the Ministry of War and inquired about the process of Feng Chan. It was not until dusk that he rode home.

When he came to the backyard, his caring son crashed into his arms like an arrow.

Chen Qingsi lifted the mirror directly, held it high, and asked: "Did anyone behave obediently in the school today?"

After deciding to let Jingjing go to Yan's School to study, Chen Qingsi took the time to lead the little one and Shu Xiu to the house on the second day.

Elementary school generally does not pay attention to qualifications. Children who do not suffer from congenital diseases can obtain admission qualifications.

Jing Jing naturally entered the school without any suspense.

At first, it is a child's nature not to cry and fuss when he leaves his familiar environment and his mother who lives with him day and night.

Not to mention the child, even Xiao Miaochen was reluctant to give up and ran to the school to peek at her child from a distance.

But children are children. With companions to play with and an enlightening teacher, they gradually began to like the atmosphere of the book school.

After all, there is not much study pressure in elementary school. Children mostly learn the etiquette of interacting with others and the simple principles of being a human being through contact and communication, and following their teachers to develop their interest.

Jingjing, who has always been at home with less contact with outsiders, now has her own little friends, and has changed from rejecting them to looking forward to them.

Every day I happily get on the carriage. At dusk I say goodbye to my friends and ride the carriage home.

Then he told Xiao Miaochen and Chen Qingsi the interesting things that happened in the school.

Jingjing liked the high angle of view. She kept swinging her legs and said with a smile: "Of course I am obedient. Mr. Jingjing also praised Jingjing, saying that Jingjing set an example by respecting his teacher."

Chen Qingsi looked at her child who was as happy as a little monkey, and laughed out loud, feeling that the fatigue of the day was gone.

Xiao Miaochen usually pays great attention to etiquette, and has raised Jingjing to be a good boy who knows etiquette since he was a child.

The little guy uses the etiquette learned at home to go to the elementary school, which is a dimensionality reduction attack.

But knowing that this was the case, Chen Qingsi still felt happy. There was no reason for this happiness.

"Aye, a young gentleman came to give us a lecture today. He is not very old, only thirteen or fourteen years old, but he is very knowledgeable..."

Listening to the little guy talking about interesting things in the school, Chen Qingsi suddenly had an idea and his eyes lit up.

"Aye, aye!"

The little guy realized that Chen Qingsi was not listening carefully, so he reached out and pinched Chen Qingsi's nose.

Chen Qingsi said hurriedly: "Listen, listen!"

Absently listening to the little guy talking about his interesting stories in school, Chen Qingsi found Zhou Kui while preparing to eat.

"You have to do something. Go to Yan's Academy tomorrow and think of a way to deliver a message, saying that children who dare not sleep alone are cowards..."

Zhou Kui was dumbfounded, this?
I am the descendant of the maoshan blind method, let me do this?
But seeing Chen Qingsi's serious face, she still nodded in agreement.

(End of this chapter)