Early Tang Dynasty: forge ahead

Chapter 536 Emerge
Chen Qingsi's frankness made Xu Jingzong stunned at first.

But he soon figured out the reason. From the beginning, the other party did not believe in the will and realized that he would face a political game when he returned to Beijing. So he planned an assassination and planned to use this assassination to make trouble. His expression changed back and forth for a while.

Chen Qingsi looked at Xu Jingzong and said word by word: "I also hope that Mr. Xu can do the same. I don't know what happened to the late emperor before his death. I only know one thing, what they can give you, I Chen Qingsi can also give you. What they can't give, I can also give. They can't protect the people I want to move. They are not qualified to move the people I want to protect."

Xu Jingzong suddenly burst into laughter, tears welling up in his eyes, and said, "Your Majesty is right. Chen Xianggong is a tiger pretending to be a cat. He keeps his claws and fangs because he is around. Once he is gone, few people will be able to control him."

Chen Qingsi sighed, "Your Majesty, you are too kind."

Xu Jingzong looked at Chen Qingsi, who had already revealed his claws and fangs, and sighed inwardly that the world is unpredictable.

He was very curious at first. Since Chen Qingsi was so dangerous, why didn't he be eliminated in advance?

Later I figured it out: How incompetent must the superior be to be so afraid of the abilities of his subordinates?

When Li Zhi said this, he felt like he was taming a tiger into a cat, rather than feeling fear.

Xu Jingzong actually knew that Li Zhi had already prepared a backup plan to deal with Chen Qingsi, but things in the world are unpredictable.

At this critical moment, if Chen Qingsi is not allowed to step up, the foundation of the Tang Dynasty may be destroyed.

Oh! You clown, do you really think that Your Majesty is confused? Don't you know how to arrange for someone to restrain you?

That's because he knew that few people could be Chen Qingsi's opponent. Instead of setting up numerous obstacles and letting him gamble his way to the top, it would be better to give him enough trust and assist the new king to overcome the difficulties.

Thinking of this, Xu Jingzong was filled with regret and sighed, "I am ashamed to say this. Your Majesty values ​​me and entrusted me with the important task of compiling history books. At that time, I was in high spirits and acted recklessly. I was quite careless in compiling history books, which allowed Pei Yan to seize the opportunity and use it as a threat."

Xu Jingzong's writing of history was not just sloppy, it was simply reckless.

Compiling history is a top priority in China, and every dynasty has taken it very seriously, considering it a great benevolent policy.

However, since Xu Jingzong took charge of the national history, he has been recording events in a perverse and untrue manner.

That year, Yu Shiji and Xu Jingzong's father Xu Shanxin were killed by Yu Wenzhi. Xu Jingzong pretended to be crazy and stupid to escape.

Xu Jingzong flattered himself and talked about how he avoided being hunted down.

As a result, Feng Deyi was the Secretary of the Internal Affairs Bureau at the time. He saw the situation completely and told the truth: "Yu Shiji was executed, Yu Shinan walked on the ground and asked to die in his brother's place, Xu Shanxin was executed, and Xu Jingzong danced and pretended to be crazy to survive."

Xu Jingzong was jealous of Feng Deyi because of this, and when he wrote a biography of Deyi, he fabricated and imputed his crimes.

Xu Jingzong's daughter married Qian Jiulong, the General of the Left Guard, who was originally a slave of the royal family. Xu Jingzong married him for money, so he flattered Qian Jiulong's family background, falsely attributed his achievements to him, and promoted him to the same level as Liu Wenjing and Zhangsun Shunde.

Xu Jingzong's son married Yuchi Baolin's granddaughter, so when writing the biography of Baolin's father Yuchi Jingde, he concealed all the faults and crimes of Yuchi Jingde. Even when Emperor Taizong Li Shimin wrote "Fu of Prestige" to be given to Changsun Wuji, Xu Jingzong changed it to be given to Yuchi Jingde.

Not only that, Pang Xiaotai from Baizhou joined the army to fight against Goguryeo, but Goguryeo knew that he was cowardly and defeated him. However, in Xu Jingzong's writings, it was said that he defeated the bandits many times, killed and captured tens of thousands of enemy bandits, and Su Dingfang was the only brave and strong general among the Han generals, and he directly promoted a useless person to the same level as Su Dingfang.

In short, Xu Jingzong wrote history at will, based on his own preferences, without any regard for rigor. He always deleted and revised history based on his likes and dislikes.

This historical incident was dug up after his death, and all the officials in the court were filled with indignation.

This history writing is one of the highest honors for civil officials, but Xu Jingzong was so troubled. Therefore, when discussing Xu Jingzong's posthumous title, most people supported giving him "Miao"...

In the end, Li Zhi remembered their old friendship and gave Xu Jingzong the posthumous title of "Gong", which means "able to correct one's mistakes."

But now Li Zhi died before Xu Jingzong, and Xu Jingzong no longer had any support. If the news of his changing history were to spread, he would be condemned by thousands of people and would be infamous for eternity.

Xu Jingzong was already in his twilight years, with most of his body about to be put into the coffin. All he wanted was a name.

If this matter were to spread, the three names of Xu Jingzong would carry a bad name for thousands of years.

Pei Yan seized on this point and threatened Xu Jingzong to nod and agree.

After listening to Xu Jingzong casually talk about the mistakes he made when he was young and frivolous, Chen Qingsi was speechless.

This is nonsense.

No wonder the old fox who has been in the government for most of his life was caught by a junior in the end.

Chen Qingsi said without hesitation: "I will minimize the impact of this matter. The classics that Xu Xianggong participated in editing will be reviewed and edited again in the future to avoid affecting Xu Xianggong's reputation in the future."

Xu Jingzong was slightly disappointed, but his psychological expectations were met. Although his "masterpiece" would be modified, he also avoided the risk of being criticized by future generations for thousands of years.

After getting Chen Qingsi's guarantee, Xu Jingzong did not hesitate and told Chen Qingsi Li Zhi's true will.

"Oh, by the way, His Majesty also left a letter for me. It should still be in the palace, but no one has given it to me. I guess they are worried that the letter will reveal their intention to let me govern alone, which will cause their plan to fail."

Chen Qingsi got the answer he wanted, and without further delay, he bowed and said, "Thank you, Mr. Xu, for your honesty. I am anxious to go home to see my wife and children, so I won't bother you any more."

Xu Jingzong's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he said, "If you need me to testify, please let me know. I have been in the government for most of my life, and I cannot bear the humiliation of being threatened by a kid."

Chen Qingsi said: "There will be a place where Mr. Xu will be needed."

After bidding farewell to Xu Jingzong, Chen Qingsi returned to Chen's house and met his family members whom he had not seen for a long time, including his two wives, his son and his daughter.

Chen Qian has grown from a toddler to a child, and even his little daughter has begun to speak babblingly, and seems a little unfamiliar in front of her strange father.

At her age, she cannot understand her parents and family very well, but she is attached to those close to her.

Chen Qingsi was obviously not among them.

Looking at his shy daughter, Chen Qingsi felt a little guilty.

Fortunately, the little guy was not afraid of strangers. When he saw a familiar face, he let Chen Qingsi hold him and tease him.

Chen Qingsi was reluctant to let go and soon won the little girl's favor.

At the dinner table, Li Hongqing asked about the assassination and became so angry that his eyebrows were raised.

Chen Qingsi didn't want to talk about politics in front of his son, so he just brushed it off.

That night Chen Qingsi slept in Xiao Miaochen's room. He wanted to do his duty, but the little girl pestered Li Hongqing and wanted to sleep with her mother.

Chen Qingsi had no choice but to settle for the next best thing.

Chen Qingsi hugged the defeated Xiao Miaochen and spoke sweet words to him.

Xiao Miaochen leaned on her husband and responded weakly. It took a while before she got down to business.

Xiao Miaochen's perspective is very novel. It is not about the affairs in the temple, but the trends in the circle of women in the back garden.

"I have a feeling that I have been ignored recently. Except for a few close friends, many people who used to smile and flatter me seem to be avoiding me."

Chen Qingsi thought for a moment and said, "Seeing that the wind is blowing towards the Pei family, I will naturally lean towards the Pei family."

The Tang Dynasty's aristocratic families were headed by the Five Families of Guandong, followed by Lanling Xiao and Hedong Pei.

At first, Li Zhi wanted to support Lanling Xiao to fight against the five surnames of Guandong, but Concubine Xiao Shufei was too stupid and the plan failed.

As a result, Pei Yuweng from Hedong benefited, and many of his disciples were given important positions.

Needless to say, there are Pei Yan and Pei Xingjian, one civil and one military, and there is also Pei, the daughter of the former Crown Princess and current Queen Pei Judao.

As the Pei family grew bigger in such an environment, they naturally became the most prominent.

Xiao Miaochen said worriedly, "From the perspective of the atmosphere, this Empress Pei is more hostile to us than Empress Wu. Empress Wu at least tried to cover it up, but this new Empress is not even willing to cover it up."

"It's okay!" Chen Qingsi lowered his head and kissed Xiao Miaochen on the forehead, saying, "It won't be long before they behave themselves."

The next morning, Chen Qingsi put on a purple robe, buckled the golden jade belt around his waist, and walked into the Secretariat.

There was no court session today, so Chen Qingsi went directly to the Secretariat to take up his post.

"Gather all the memorials, memorials, imperial edicts, and imperial seals from the past month and give them to me!"

Chen Qingsi said to the Zhongshu Shilang Liu Jingxian and Zhang Renyi.

Liu Jingxian hesitated slightly.

Zhang Renyi said, "My Lord, most of these memorials, memorials, and imperial edicts have been submitted to the Ministry of Personnel for review, or even to the Ministry of Chancellery for execution. It is somewhat difficult to sort them out now."

Chen Qingsi nodded and said, "Difficult? This is difficult? What else can you do? Who promoted you? What did you do before? The Ministry of Personnel really needs to be restructured to let an incompetent person take such an important position!"

He ignored Zhang Renyi and gave Liu Jingxian an order directly: "Jingxian, go and do it. Also notify the Ministry of Personnel and ask him to check who this person is. It's not important. Just look at his qualifications. It's bad luck to put anyone in the Secretariat."

Liu Jingxian hurriedly said: "Yes!"

Zhang Renyi's face flushed red. He wanted to refute, but was too afraid to do so. He was so angry that his body was shaking slightly.

Chen Qingsi didn't look kind to him and said directly, "Get out!"

But it’s not that he doesn’t want to be friendly with his subordinates. Liu Jingxian and Zhang Renyi are Pei Yan and Li Jingxuan’s men respectively.

Chen Qingsi's decision to become prime minister this time was not to compete with Pei Yan and Li Jingxuan. He wanted to inherit Li Zhi's entrustment, assist Li Hong in defeating the Arabs, and reform the civil service by the way, so that his trip would not be in vain.

Compete with Pei Yan and Li Jingxuan?

They must also have the qualifications.

In Chen Qingsi's eyes at this moment, the two were just small stones in front of him, and he could just kick them away...

How could a tiger lower itself to challenge cows and sheep?
(End of this chapter)