Concubine Wei, Wei Guier, and her first husband Li Min once followed Yang Xuangan in the rebellion.
When Li Min failed in his rebellion and was killed, Wei relied on Jingzhao Wei's reputation to break away from Li Min and avoid punishment.
Later, Li Shimin led troops to attack Wang Shichong. After capturing Luoyang, he heard about Concubine Wei's reputation and took her into the palace as one of his concubines.
Also taken into the palace with Wei Guier was her cousin Wei Nizi.
Wei Nizi was also married before entering Li Shimin's palace. He was also the son of Wang Shichong, Li Shimin's enemy.
In other words, Li Shimin killed Wei Nizi's husband, then snatched Wei Nizi away, and took Wei Nizi's cousin Wei Guier away with him.
No matter which of the two sisters was snatched away first, in short, both sisters were widowed before being taken over by Li Shimin.
Later, when Li Shimin ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, Wei Guier became one of the four concubines in the harem because of her beautiful appearance, her ability to serve men, and the support of Jingzhao Weishi behind her.
And Wei Nizi also got a position as the ninth concubine - Zhaorong because of her fair skin and beauty.
The Wei cousins occupied two of the four concubines and nine concubines. This situation was not uncommon in the harem of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty.
For example, for the Hongnong Yang family's daughter, in addition to the daughter of Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty who was canonized as Yang Fei, there was also a Hongnong Yang family's daughter who was canonized as Yang Jieyu.
This is the benefit of a prestigious family.
The more heirs you have, the more likely you will be a beautiful woman.
For another example, the Zheng family in Xingyang married Zheng Guanyin to Li Jiancheng, but later also gave a beautiful daughter Zheng Yuerong to Li Shimin.
Zheng Yuerong and Zheng Guanyin were also cousins. Later, Li Shimin ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, and Zheng Yuerong was also named Zhaoyi, whose status was still above Wei Nizi.
Therefore, beauty is an important strategic resource at any time.
this day.
Wei Guier called Wei Nizi to her palace. The two sisters sat behind the couch and exchanged words in a low voice:
"Little sister, as long as I can grace the world, our sisters will have the harem from now on."
Wei Guier worked hard to win over her cousin Wei Nizi and help her consolidate her position in the harem.
Because Wei Nizi had no heirs, he didn't have much interest in power.
No matter what his cousin said, Wei Nizi could only agree:
"Don't worry, sister, I know what I know..."
Wei Guier was particularly favored by the emperor because she knew how to serve men.
In the harem, Wei Nizi still needs to rely on his cousin Wei Guier for support.
While the two sisters were chatting, suddenly the chamberlain of Hanyuan Palace received Li Chengqian's order and hurriedly came to report:
"Empress, Your Majesty is furious and wants to drive His Highnesses the Ninth Prince and the Tenth Prince to the fiefdom."
"What is the situation, what is the reason, why is Your Majesty angry?"
Wei Guier was two years older than Li Shimin and had been through a lot of troubles. Although she was shocked by the sudden news, she was not upset.
After the waiter reported the situation clearly, Wei Guier was rewarded with a jade pendant.
After sending away the chamberlain, Wei Guier quickly sent someone to find his son, and asked his son Li Shen to go to Hanyuan Hall to plead guilty.
But she herself just continued to sit still.
When Wei Nizi saw it, he couldn't help but asked curiously:
"Sister, Your Majesty wants Shen'er to become a vassal, why aren't you in a hurry?"
"Your Majesty has a decree, what can I do?"
Wei Guier had a guess in her mind, but it was inconvenient to tell Wei Nizi, so she could only pretend to be resigned to fate.
Wei Guier gave birth to two daughters and one son.
The eldest daughter was born to her and her ex-husband Li Min. She was named the lord of Dingxiang County and was already married to Ashina Zhong, Duke of Xue.
The second daughter, Princess Linchuan, whose maiden name is Li Yi and whose courtesy name is Meng Jiang, is fifteen years old this year and has been betrothed to Qiaojun Gongzhou Daowu.
Zhou Daowu was the son of Zhou Shaofan.
Zhou Shaofan was Li Shimin's confidant. His relationship with Li Shimin was closer than that of Cheng Yaojin, Qin Qiong, and Hei Yuchi.
Unfortunately, Zhou Shaofan died in the seventh year of Zhenguan.
After Zhou Shaofan passed away, Li Shimin took the young Zhou Daowu into the palace to take care of him.
This kind of treatment far exceeds that of other royal relatives and nobles.
Originally, Li Shimin planned to let him marry Princess Linchuan when Zhou Daowu's filial piety period expired.
Who would have expected that God's calculations are not as good as those of man's calculations.
Two or three years ago, Emperor Gaozu and Empress Changsun died of illness.
Princess Linchuan wanted to keep filial piety for her grandfather and aunt, so their marriage was postponed again.
This year, Princess Linchuan is already fifteen years old, and she has become the oldest princess in the palace.
As for Li Shen, Wei Guier's only son, he was named King of Ji and appointed governor of Xiangzhou.
He is only eleven years old this year. Because his mother was favored in the harem, and the previous empress Changsun cared for other concubines and children in the harem, Li Shen had not suffered much since he was a child, and he developed a character as gentle as jade, and his conduct was also pure and clean. Ruri has become a breath of fresh air among many princes.
If it were not necessary to maintain the eldest son system, Su Mingzhe would have wanted to make Li Shen the crown prince instead.
Today, Li Shen did not go to class at Hongwen Hall. It was not because he did not want to go, but because he was dragged by several brothers and sisters to the Imperial Garden to enjoy the flowers.
It is mid-March and the flowers are in full bloom.
A group of princes, princesses, and royal family members made an appointment, and they all gathered in the imperial garden to enjoy flowers, drink, and play games.
When Wei Guier sent people over, they were all dumbfounded when they heard that they were being 'examined'.
Nearly twenty princes and clan members, all with pale faces, hurried to the entrance of Hanyuan Hall and knelt down to apologize.
"Father!"
When Li Chengqian heard the pleas from outside, he quickly knelt in front of the royal Eucalyptus, wanting to open his mouth to plead for the people outside.
"I won't mention this again. If you want to plead with them, you might as well kneel outside!"
Su Mingzhe finally found a reason to use the topic as a reason to punish these disobedient brats.
Naturally, you won't let them go so easily.
Seeing that Su Mingzhe was so "hard-hearted", Li Chengqian could only bow before him, then ran outside the hall and knelt down with his younger brothers and the clan members.
At this time, when everyone saw Prince Li Chengqian kneeling down together, they realized that the emperor was really angry and no longer dared to ask for mercy.
However, these people did not dare to leave, so they could only kneel upright.
A group of clan members knelt in front of Hanyuan Hall. Naturally, such a big matter could not be hidden from the ministers of the court.
However, Su Mingzhe's methods can scare these clan members, but they cannot scare these thousand-year-old foxes.
Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji, Tang Jian and others all laughed when they heard about this.
Only the fathers of the clan children heard about it and asked to see them one after another, wanting to intercede for their children.
On the other side, when Wei Guier heard that her son was kneeling in front of Hanyuan Hall, she began to wonder what the emperor meant.
However, she herself did not dare to show up rashly and plead for mercy.
After thinking about it, Wei Guier turned his attention to his daughter Princess Linchuan: "Yiyi, your brother is kneeling in front of Hanyuan Hall. Your father has always loved you. Please go and beg for mercy on your brother's behalf."
"Let's go now, kid."
Princess Linchuan was very talented, so she could naturally see that her father just wanted to scare everyone.
However, it would be chaotic if his mother and concubine cared about her.
Princess Linchuan also felt sorry for her brother, so she agreed to go to Hanyuan Hall to plead for mercy.
However, before going there, Linchuan could not guarantee that he would be able to achieve success by himself.
So, before going, she went around again and brought several younger sisters with her who were about the same age. They all came to Hanyuan Hall, knelt down and begged for everyone.
Su Mingzhe heard that several of his daughters also ran over and knelt down to beg for mercy, especially his most beloved Si Zi among them. Then he walked out of Hanyuan Hall and said with a gloomy face:
"Look, look, they all look listless, they are really promising..."
Su Mingzhe scolded and cursed for a while, and finally put down his words:
"Each of you, after you go back, you must think about your mistakes behind closed doors, write an independent book on your mistakes, and then write a strategy for governing the fiefdom. Whoever fails to write will not have to go to class or go to the fiefdom to establish a vassal. Until I’m satisfied!”
Hearing Su Mingzhe's words.
Instead of worrying, Li Zhi, Li Shen, and the other clan members kowtowed to express their gratitude.
The reason why they don't pay much attention to writing thoughts and policy discussions.
The main reason is, of course, that everyone has a scribe at home, and they think that after returning home, they can just find someone to write for them.
Immediately afterwards, Su Mingzhe spoke to Li Chengqian and Zhang Anan, asking Li Chengqian, as well as the princes and princes living in Chang'an City, to submit a strategy for managing the fiefdom.
This is the real use of the topic.
When the elders of Zhongshu Province, Menxia Province, and Shangshu Province heard Su Mingzhe's order, their eyes lit up, and the efficiency of their work suddenly increased.
When something goes wrong, there must be a monster.
The former Li Shimin and the former Emperor Gaozu were particularly doting on the children of the clan.
If a clan member makes a mistake, he or she is often just scolded and reprimanded lightly, and that's it.
When courtiers make mistakes, they may be fined or demoted.
Now, Su Mingzhe has started to become strict with the princes and princes. If he says there is nothing fishy, no one will believe him.
At this time, some smart ministers began to think of the gossip that had been circulating inside and outside the court recently: the emperor was planning to demote the emperor.
In the past, everyone was still thinking whether this incident was groundless or whether it was true.
Now it seems that downgrading to a higher rank has been something the emperor has thought about for a long time and is something that must be done.
The ability of ministers to associate and guess is the so-called "one leaf falls, and you know autumn".
Chu Suiliang, the attendant and living man, recorded everything today word by word.
Su Mingzhe was also helpless when he saw Chu Suiliang recording his every word and deed.
This is the role of the historian.
Because there was a living man beside him, the emperor had almost no privacy.
Even at night, when the emperor's work was over, there were still eunuchs who continued to record the emperor's actions.
】
Yesterday, Su Mingzhe left Wang De and prepared to go to Yeting Palace alone to find Zheng Guanyin and Dai Ji.
However, before leaving, he still informed Wang De.
On the surface, Su Mingzhe said that Wang De should go to Dai Ji to find him if he had something to do.
In fact, what he meant was for Wang De to note that he would rest at Dai Ji's place tonight.
Later, Dai Ji became pregnant, and this record was the proof.
By the afternoon.
News of the emperor's punishment of the princes and clan members has begun to spread throughout Chang'an City.
The people who had the biggest reaction to this incident were not the princes and princes who lamented the disaster of Chiyu.
Neither are those court ministers, civil and military nobles.
It was the literati who lived in Chang'an City.
These people all feel that their opportunity has come, and they are sharpening their pens one after another, preparing to write a good policy statement, strive for a successful contribution, and then become famous in Chang'an.
