7. Kill the prime minister
7.1 “Harvest Reeds” campaign
The benevolent eunuch Zhang Juhan knew how to advance and retreat, and promptly exited the officialdom. However, not everyone can retreat bravely, and most people died in the pursuit of fame and fortune without hesitation, such as the prime ministers in Li Cunxu's era. them.
Perhaps in the eyes of Douluge, Wei Shuo and others, political struggle is not so scary. The two of them can even claim to be evergreen trees in the political arena and trend-setters in turbulent waves. They have fame and fortune at their fingertips, as easily as digging into a bag.
During the Li Cunxu era, they ascended to the throne and became Guo Chongtao's puppets. However, they didn't mind at all and were even secretly happy about it. Because in peacetime, they only need to flatter and follow Guo Chongtao's instructions to enjoy glory and wealth, and the one who is attacked is often the big tree behind them, so Guo Chongtao will die, but they will live forever.
In addition to Guo Chongtao, the two also worked as licking dogs for the eunuch Zhang Juhan. Although Zhang Juhan did not really hold real power and was in the same situation as Douluge and Wei Shuo, Zhang Juhan was a eunuch after all. In Li Cunxu's era, the status of eunuch was very popular.
Do you know which cloud has rain? I have to worship any god.
After paying homage to various docks, the two hugged each other to keep warm. Douluge promoted Wei Tao, Wei Shuo's son, to a bachelor of Hongwen Palace, and Wei Shuo promoted Doulu, Douluge's son, to a bachelor of Jixian Palace.
This is the way of survival and the experience of being an official according to Doulu Ge and Wei Shuo.
Their second lesson is to be aware of current affairs. Being a licking dog is also a science. A small licking of powerful ministers, a big licking of the king.
On the day Li Siyuan entered Luoyang, Prime Ministers Douluge and Wei Shuo led all civil and military officials to persuade Li Siyuan to enter Luoyang, and respectfully invited Comrade Li Siyuan to take up the post of emperor. He persuaded Jin to show his loyalty and stand with Li Siyuan.
The two took the lead in singing hymns to Li Siyuan every day, praising his virtues, declaring that the destiny of the people, the aspirations of the people, and the wishes of the people were the direction of the destiny. They repeatedly requested Comrade Li Siyuan to obey the will of the people and take charge of the state affairs as soon as possible.
In less than half a month, with the strong support of Douluge, Wei Shuo and other ministers, Li Siyuan accepted the persuasion and ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor.
At the beginning of Li Siyuan's reign, he also needed figures like Doulu Ge and Wei Shuo, so he actively responded to his kneeling behavior. After killing the envoy Kong Qian, Li Siyuan abolished the "Neigou Division" controlled by the eunuchs, restored the "Three Divisions", and appointed a prime minister, Doulu Ge.
After Li Siyuan proclaimed himself emperor, in May, he was granted the title of Douluge Zuopushe; he was granted the title of Wei Shuo's minister, minister of household affairs, and supervisor of the compilation of national history.
In July, the funeral was held for Li Cunxu. He was buried in Yongling (now in Xin'an County, Henan Province), with the posthumous title of Emperor Guangsheng Minxiao and the temple name of Zhuangzong.
Douluge was appointed director of the funeral committee (Shanling envoy). The Shanling Envoy is a temporary official position responsible for the funeral of the emperor. It is usually held by the prime minister of the previous dynasty. Being able to serve as the Shanling Envoy is also the prime minister's highest honor.
Generally speaking, after the late emperor is laid to rest, the Shanling Envoy will be promoted again by the new emperor as a way of affirming his past work and thanking him for everything he has done for the empire.
After pretending to cry at the funeral, Douluge could no longer hide the joyful smile on his face. Peipianer Peipianer returned home and never went out again, because he was afraid of missing the book-making ceremony to welcome his promotion. Like candidates waiting at home for their admission notice.
One day passed, two days passed, three days passed... The court seemed to have forgotten him. Douluge opened the door wide, dressed in costumes, and walked around the courtyard.
Before that, Douluge had already distributed the good news of his promotion to his relatives and friends in advance, and invited everyone to see him off for his promotion. Nowadays, relatives and friends gather in the courtyard carrying gifts. In addition to admiring his fashion show, they are also whispering and discussing.
"Sir, haven't you been promoted? May I ask where you are now?"
"Yeah, where's the best?"
The question made Douluge very upset and said, "Wait a minute, wait a minute."
Later, his relatives and friends persuaded him to go to the court to inquire about the news.
So, Douluge shamelessly found An Zhongjie, a popular person next to Li Siyuan, "Look, the late emperor has also been buried, the paper money has been burned, and the monks who chanted sutras have also withdrawn... Should I do the same?" Go back to the court and help everyone?"
An Chongjiao was an upright and strong man, very much like Guo Chongtao. To be honest, when I first read this history, I confused Guo Chongtao and An Chongjie as the same person. The two have many similarities. We will discuss An Chongjie’s character analysis and political struggle in detail later. Expansion is only briefly mentioned here.
He is upright, so he hates people like Douluge and Wei Shuo very much. He is strong, so he will not show any mercy to Douluge and will not miss any opportunity to humiliate him.
An Zhongjie pulled his face and said to Douluge in public: "Aren't you a temporary envoy of the mountain mausoleum? If you don't take good care of the tombs, make books without the emperor's order, and come to the central government without authorization, don't you think the emperor is in the eyes of the emperor?" Do you think we Shatuo people are easy to bully?"
This sentence frightened Douluge half to death. He quickly admitted his mistake and apologized, and got out in a hurry with his tail between his legs.
An Zhongjie's words were not just an expression of personal emotions, but a clear political signal. The civil and military officials of the DPRK immediately got the latest trend of the imperial court. An Chongjie and Li Siyuan did not worry about the next thing. Their subordinates were very smart.
Singing praises blindly and shouting long live long live long live is just the lowest and most entry-level way of flattering others; but guessing the leader's thoughts and taking the initiative to do things that the leader wants to do but is inconvenient to do is the advanced version. For example, An Chongjie and Huo Yanwei were good at killing princes.
When the weak Li Siyuan came to Luoyang, he could not do without the support of "traitors" and "leaders" such as Douluge and Wei Shuo. As all work gets on track, some old legacy will be eliminated in due course. The ground was eradicated. So removing Doulu Ge and Wei Shuo is just a matter of time and method.
An Chongjie had a clear understanding of this. Now, he clearly released this signal and launched the first political struggle in the Li Siyuan era-the "Reed Harvest" movement.
The person who stood up and took the vanguard in this movement was the admonishment doctor Xiao Xifu (pronounced similar to "little daughter-in-law").
The "little daughter-in-law" is a very interesting person. Some historical data say that she "has the hope of correct remonstrance", so she was rejected by Douluge. At first glance, Douluge is a treacherous villain, while the "little daughter-in-law" is an honest gentleman who speaks out and dares to rebuke. However, the historical truth cannot be accurately summarized in such a sentence. If we look at it further, the "little daughter-in-law" is really not a gentleman. She can even be said to be morally corrupt, unfaithful, unfilial, and ruthless!
