Li Zhi was also troubled.
To be honest, even though he is the emperor, he is actually very afraid of the noble families.
How was the Sui Dynasty overthrown? The great ancestor Li Yuan's rise in the army was one of them. More importantly, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty was immoral, and all the noble families in the world were rebelling against him. It just so happened that Li Yuan ascended the throne at that time and called out, and the noble families were happy to follow him.
After the founding of the Tang Dynasty, three generations of emperors did not dare to neglect the aristocratic families. Each generation of emperors entered into marriage alliances with major aristocratic families. They were afraid that the scene of the Sui Dynasty being overthrown by everyone would happen again to the Li and Tang royal families.
Even in Li Zhi's generation, he was well aware of the threat to the imperial power from the aristocratic families and deliberately used various policies to suppress the aristocratic families. However, Li Zhi did not dare to go too far. He always had to slow down, advance slowly, and weaken the power year by year.
When an emperor wants to balance the situation of the government, he should not be too impulsive in doing things. No matter how disgusted he was with the aristocratic family, Li Zhi would hold his nose and smile to show his favor to the aristocratic family every year during the greetings. Every few years, he might send a princess out to marry the aristocratic family.
But Li Qinzai, a minister, couldn't control so much. He lived too freely, took pleasure in grudges, and reported them on the spot, and even the number was consistent. It was simply another kind of humiliation for Li Youdao.
At this moment, Li Zhi was even a little envious of Li Qinzai. He was born with no taboos in the world. Not only did he have an awesome grandfather to help him find out, but he also had an unjust emperor as his backer.
Such a life is not necessarily worse than that of an emperor.
"Is the Li family of Zhaojun the only one who wants fame from Li Qinzai?" Li Zhi asked again.
Song Sen said: "The Li family of Zhao County has just surfaced. In fact, several major families in Shandong have united. They plan to divide the dozens of fame and honors in Li Qinzai's hands to expand their power in the court..."
Li Zhi sneered several times: "With dozens of titles, the appearance of the family is not so ugly. Their more important purpose is to ruin the imperial examination system and ruin their reputation. From now on, the court will lose its trust among the scholars all over the world."
"If the imperial examination is full of chaos, and someone can still get involved just by relying on power, from now on, who among the poor people in the world will dare to trust me again? Who will participate in the next imperial examination?"
Song Sen said sincerely, "Your Majesty sees further than I do, I admire you."
Li Zhi said calmly: "How did Li Jingchu react?"
Song Sen said: "If Li County Marquis had agreed to them, there would have been no horse-killing demonstrations. Just because he rejected Li Youdao, he got into trouble and offended those aristocratic families. I'm afraid this matter will be difficult to resolve. .”
Li Zhi smiled happily and said: "Jing Chu lived up to my expectations and kept his conscience. I didn't misjudge him, haha."
Then Li Zhi stared at Song Sen and said slowly: "I heard that you have a good personal relationship with Li Jingchu?"
Song Sen's eyelids twitched and he hurriedly knelt down and said: "Although I have a slight personal relationship with Marquis Li, I have never done anything to disgrace His Majesty. Marquis Li occasionally asked for help, and I just helped him within my ability and helped him check some things." It’s a trivial matter, Your Majesty knows it for sure!”
Li Zhi smiled and said: "I don't mean to blame you. You and Jingchu are both my trusted ministers. We have a good relationship in private, so it is understandable. Besides, you two have also worked together to help me achieve great achievements." , you were also indispensable for collecting Tuyuhun."
Song Sen felt a little more relaxed and quietly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
Li Zhi pondered for a moment and said slowly: "Jing Chu has provoked several big families. He may not be able to cope with it on his own. Since you have a good personal relationship with him, you might as well help him. Bai Qisi must have accumulated a lot of experience over the years. There are a lot of cases about aristocratic families, right?"
Song Sen immediately understood and bowed: "I obey the order and will definitely help Marquis Li to deal with the noble family calmly."
After Song Sen withdrew, Li Zhi sat alone in the hall and meditated for a long time. He suddenly raised his voice and said, "Chang Fu, I'd like to send Xu Jingzong an audience."
…………
Another palace in Taiji Palace is called "Zhenguan Palace".
Empress Wu sat in the palace and summoned Hejian County Duke Li Yifu behind the curtain.
Li Yifu is an out-and-out rear party member and the backbone of the rear party.
There was no way around it. There were too many courtiers and people who had the ability and qualifications to hug Li Zhi's lap. Li Yifu had been queuing for several years and still didn't get his turn, so he had to find another way and turn around and hug Empress Wu's lap.
After hugging Empress Wu's lap, I have to say that the official career is also very prosperous. The wind blowing on the pillow is strong, and Li Yifu's promotion speed is so fast.
Over the years, his interests and those of Empress Wu have been deeply tied together.
What are Empress Wu's interests now?
Like Li Zhi, weaken the power of the family.
Empress Wu is the daughter of Ying Guogong's warrior Xun, and she is said to be from the Duke's palace. However, warrior Xun was originally just a businessman. In terms of family background, she could not reach those aristocratic families with thousands of years of foundation.
After the incident of deposing Wang Liwu, Changsun Wuji fell. From then on, Empress Wu became incompatible with the family members. Li Zhi made up his mind to weaken the power of the family, and it was Empress Wu who was more or less instigated.
Li Zhi heard about it, and Empress Wu also heard about it.
While Li Zhi summoned Song Sen, Empress Wu also urgently summoned Li Yifu.
She and Li Zhi had the same idea. Li Qinzai could not withstand the revenge of the family by himself.
Therefore, the Tian family must take action, and it has nothing to do with private friendships and grievances. What Li Qinzai is doing now is exactly in the interests of Empress Wu. She also hopes to use Li Qinzai's hand to severely suppress the family and formally establish the imperial examination system.
Li Yifu naturally followed Empress Wu's lead. After listening to Empress Wu's statement, Li Yifu frowned and said in a deep voice: "These aristocratic families are becoming more and more arrogant. They even dare to interfere in the imperial examinations. They should be beaten hard."
Empress Wu sat behind the bead curtain. The jingling bead curtain covered her cheeks, but her cold voice could be heard.
"Jun Gong Li, the imperial examination system is very important to your majesty and I. I don't want this matter to have any twists and turns. Even if someone secretly stirs up trouble, I hope to suppress the storm. The imperial examination must be held calmly and as scheduled without any mistakes. .”
Li Yifu hesitated for a moment and then said tentatively: "I wonder what the queen means..."
Empress Wu said coldly: "Li Qinzai has offended the family. He is too young after all. There are some things that he cannot handle alone. I hope that Duke Li will respond to him in the court."
Li Yifu said without hesitation: "I understand, Queen, don't worry, I will try my best to help Li County Marquis for the Queen."
After a moment of silence, Li Yifu said cautiously: "Queen, I have something that I don't understand..."
"you say."
"We and Li Qinzai... What I want to ask is, when Li Qinzai admonished Mount Tai to become a Zen monk, he had a rift with the queen. Has the queen already resolved this grudge? Please tell the queen frankly. It will be better for me to get along with Li Qinzai." There’s a charter.”
Empress Wu understood what Li Yifu meant, and was asking whether the grievances between her and Li Qinzai had been resolved, and whether Li Qinzai showed any signs of defecting to the rear party.
Empress Wu was silent for a long time, and then said slowly: "Am I someone who can forgive others so easily?"
Li Yifu understood immediately.
Benefits belong to interests, grudges belong to grudges, and one cannot be too naive.
(End of chapter)
