Because of the drought in Guanzhong during the Xianheng period, there were actually four prime ministers who were ordered to stay in Xijing and take on the duties of the East Palace to assist the prince in supervising the country: Dai Zhide, Zhang Wenguan, Xiao Dezhao, and Li Jingxuan. However, their respective responsibilities and positions, and their closeness to the prince are also slightly different.
Among them, Dai Zhide is the most virtuous and distinguished person. He is a native of Anyang, Xiangzhou (now part of Henan). He was the nephew of Dai Zhou, the Prime Minister during the reign of Emperor Taizong, and the heir of Dai Zhou, the Duke of Tao. He was the crown prince Zuo Shuzi under the title of Zhongshu Ling; Now he is 67 years old, so he stayed in Beijing by grace, and the title of assistant is actually to support him in his old age.
Secondly, he was the official minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and was added as the Yinqing Guanglu doctor. He was still the prince's right concubine and the third rank of Tongxitai (under the Zhongshu family). Later, he was ordered to supervise the compilation of national history, Qiaoxian County, Bozhou (today's Qiaocheng District, Bozhou City, Anhui Province). ) person Li Jingxuan. He is also a close and important minister who was born as an attendant in Jinshang's old residence.
Furthermore, Xiao Dezhao, who was a bachelor of Chongwen Hall, third grade of Tongxitai (under the Zhongshu family), and the right concubine of the prince, came from the Xiao family of Lanling, a famous family in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Naizu was Xiao Yi, a minister of Taizong (prefaced by Li Lanting), so he was also a famous contemporary literary master and a calligrapher of his generation;
In a sense, this was also the teacher pointed out by Emperor Gaozong to Prince Li Hong, who was truly qualified to interfere with his studies. However, in terms of private kinship, he seemed to have more to do with the Queen of Heaven. However, this great scholar, Xiao, was relatively free from both sides and rarely exceeded his responsibilities.
At the end of the list is Zhang Wenguan, a native of Wucheng, Beizhou (now Gucheng County, Hebei Province), who is the third rank of Dali Temple (under the Zhongshu family) and the third rank of Dongxitai (under Zhongshu's sect). Privately, he had the closest relationship with Prince Li Hong, the prime minister.
According to the left-behind system arranged by Emperor Gaozong himself, these four ministers are either highly respected, talented, loyal and reliable, or cautious and careful. They each perform their duties and check and balance each other. Even if the prince Li Hong is unable to take charge of the matter ; It can also ensure the normal operation of Xijing Liusi/Xingtai.
Therefore, under normal circumstances, these four ministers have their own duties, and they only have the opportunity to meet each other when they take turns to be on duty at Zhongshu's door; only when they have a routine audience with the prince, are they all present; in order to avoid suspicion and prevent They were not given instructions, and even food on the verandah was not in one place.
However, this time, due to the case of spying on the East Palace that was uncovered not long ago, and the subsequent robbery and murder outside the Hot Spring Palace; facing the East Palace investigators from the East Capital Imakami, Dr. Ginqing Guanglu, and Huangmen Shilang , Hao Chujun, the Minister of Military Affairs of the School, also gathered together for the first time.
However, this meeting between the ministers and ministers, which took place in the Imperial City, in the left pavilion of Menxia Province in front of the Taiji Hall, did not last long and dispersed in a hurry. Or maybe it is because the attitudes shown by the ministers on this matter are so obviously different that it is impossible to achieve much consensus and progress.
Among them, Dai Zhide, the Prime Minister of Zhongshu Ling, who was both father and son, was so old that he kept yawning during the morning meeting. His eyes were always dim and he had to do everything half a beat slower than others before he could react. appearance. It was obvious that he was only waiting for a dignified official career and did not want to do anything more.
And because Xiao Dezhao has a background related to the Queen of Heaven, he was dismissed by the prince not long ago. In this matter, he can keep his mouth shut even if he doesn't say anything; he behaves like he does everything well for others and doesn't hold back his hands. As long as it involves Prince Li Hong, he will be praised one after another, and he will not hesitate to praise him.
In contrast, Li Jingxuan, who was originally from Jinshang's old residence, has more in common with Hao Chujun. However, Li Jingxuan had been in charge of the civil service for many years, and he was jointly married to the Li family of Zhaojun, whose surname was Wu Qiwang. His three wives were all from Shandong noble families, and they often hid in opposition to the Queen.
The attitudes towards these two cases are equally clear-cut. Among them, the spying on the East Palace case must be investigated openly and with great fanfare, and no suspicion of swaying or offending the prince will be tolerated; but the robbery and murder outside the Hot Spring Palace involves the dignity of the Tian family, and needs to be investigated secretly and not to be implicated.
In the end, it was Zhang Wenguan, the minister of Dali Temple, who was closer to Hao Chujun, who was on a mission; he advocated that both matters should be pursued to the end, but one could be loosened and the other tightened. It is to cut the knot quickly and produce results on the public surface, but in private it is to follow the clues and continue to hold people accountable.
In this way, the dignity of the prince and the Tian family can be maintained, and those who may be behind the scenes will not be able to easily escape punishment. It is also in line with the instructions of the Tian family before leaving, which is to give the prince sufficient compensation and protection, and to ensure that the situation will not be dragged along randomly.
In other words, before this matter is allowed to be used by those who are interested in it and becomes a reason to destroy the system of the Second Holy Land; control it within the appropriate scope of influence. So after the meeting ended, Zhang Wenguan was led to another hall and saw Hao Chujun again.
However, he was not surprised. He took out something from his sleeve pocket and said straight to the point: "This is the transcript of the confession of the thief who was seriously injured by the guards of the East Palace at the scene of the incident. It's just that it involves a lot of things, so it's true or false." It is difficult to distinguish and it is inconvenient to make it public, so I apologize for the inconvenience."
"..." Hao Chujun, who had gray hair and was described as "Shen Jun" with a noble character, pondered for a moment and then accepted the certificate. However, after just a few glances, he couldn't help but his brows twitched, and an invisible storm stirred up in his heart, and he immediately understood the other party's intention.
Because, whether it is the Yang family, the Helan family, or the Wu family in this confession, they all involve the grudges of the past and present, and it is also a huge taboo between the two saints who are currently in court. ; If it were accidentally revealed, it would be enough to disgrace the Tian family and shock the whole country.
Regardless of other things, perhaps the Queen of Heaven still has a little bit of preservation and care for the Yang family of her former mother clan; but the Wu clan clan members clinging to the left and right may not let this party go together to fight against dissent, and will divide the Queen of Heaven. The care and favor of the relatives completely wiped out the chance of leaving.
Not to mention that as a close minister, he also knew something about the death of the mother and daughter of the Great Wu family and the Little Helan family. It was still a pity in the hearts of the Tian family; if someone really wanted to use this to tear them apart, I'm afraid There is no peace inside and outside the court, but it endangers the most favored little highness.
Therefore, when Zhang Wenguan said goodbye, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart. Next, I am afraid that there will be endless disputes in the inner circle and the court, and he will not be able to care about the affairs in Xijing for the time being. And the things and purposes that the Crown Prince privately entrusted to him can be considered basically completed.
"Your Highness, I don't know what step you can take?" Zhang Wenguan asked with vague expectations in his heart: As one of the ministers who stayed in Beijing to assist the prince in supervising the country, he was friendly to the prince Li from his consistent position and origin. Hong, and firmly believed that the other party was the most ideal prince of the Tang Dynasty.
Therefore, in a sense, he is half of the East Palace. Regarding the current series of changes that are happening to Prince Li Hong, as well as the positive changes coming from within the East Palace, he is also quite happy to see them happen, and he doesn't even mind indirectly participating and promoting them in secret.
After all, whether it is using things called newspapers to publicize the imperial decrees and administrative purposes, disseminating moral articles of sages and debating the fallacies of ancient and modern classics; or improving the method of book printing, establishing libraries in various parts of the capital, and Win the hearts and minds of the majority of scholars.
Or they recruited a large number of outstanding young scholars to expand the literary talents in the East Palace; they recruited poor students who were studying in Beijing and were waiting for the examination, and gave them a decent job to supplement their livelihood in order to repair calligraphy and seal characters. They are all good policies and good governance that are of great benefit to the country and the people;
This is also the natural responsibility of the princes of the East Palace in the Tang Dynasty; even if there are some strange and novel features, they can be regarded as the continuous innovation of later generations. It's just that the prince has been suffering from lung disease since he was a child, so he was delayed in his work for so many years.
But now that Donggong wants to make a difference, as the bastard of the East Palace, he naturally cannot lag behind others. At least compared to the prince who liked to perform barbarian dramas in the palace or have secret relations with powerful generals, this prince who loved literature and poetry was the one the two saints were most happy to see.
In fact, he has privately submitted several lists of talents recommended to the East Palace. Based on his authority as prime minister and at the private request of the prince, he has selected some people with considerable talents in Beijing or Gyeonggi Province. A low-level official with practical experience and rich experience.
Of course, with the vision and position of a prime minister, there are candidates with higher titles in the government and the public, but in terms of the current conditions that the East Palace can use to win over, they lack reliability and persuasiveness. From this point of view, His Highness’s pragmatic humility is equally satisfactory.
At the same time, inside the Lishan Hot Spring Palace. After some fright, the Crown Princess Pei finally accepted the fact that a raccoon slave could talk and was treated with extraordinary respect by her husband. Of course, she may not understand what the long river of time is and what observers are beyond time and space...
But she also understands one thing. No matter what kind of spirit the raccoon slave in front of her is, or whether it is a fairy or a demon; at least it knows most of what will happen in the future, and may save her husband's life in the future, and even the things he values everything, that's enough.
As a kind of candid attitude, she held Jiang Tian in her arms again. Of course, the still abnormally tense heartbeat and breathing, as well as the slightly trembling arms and body, revealed that she was still restless; in other words, Pei seemed to feel that she could restrain the other party for a moment when necessary.
However, at this moment, Prince Li Hong's attention was attracted by dozens of shiny and transparent objects on the tray. This is the jade craftsman of the Prince's Neifang, who carefully selected flawless natural crystals and ground them into uneven flakes;
There are also some frames and small parts made of gold and silver, which are arranged on the other side.
(End of chapter)
