Honglu Temple and Honglu Temple Guest House are on the west side of Zhuque Gate, and on the east side of Zhuque Gate is Taichang Temple.
To the north are Zongzheng Temple, Yushitai and Taishi Bureau.
Red walls, green tile roofs, red doors, and respectful officials coming and going.
Li Xuan wore a dark crimson official robe and walked in from the gate. Li Zhu was quickly picked up by the clerk and went through all the formalities.
A bookkeeper led the way, and Li Xuan followed with a solemn expression and entered the room of Liu Boying, the minister of Honglu Temple.
…
Li Xuan entered the duty room, raised his head, bowed his head, and saluted respectfully: "My subordinate, Li Xuan, has met Da Honglu!"
Although Liu Boying had white hair and beard, he had a slender complexion, a generous personality and a cheerful temperament. Liu Boying raised his hand with a gentle look and said: "Your Majesty, you are welcome. Please get up... These two are the prince's seniors, the former Honglu Shaoqing, now in Jingzhou Liu Zirou, the governor, and this is Yang Shan, the young minister in charge of the ceremony, Yang Sirou, born in the Yang family of Hongnong."
"Xuan has met Liu Shaoqing and Yang Shaoqing." Li Xuan was the first to greet him respectfully.
"I've met the prince!" Liu Zhirou and Yang Shan stood up at the same time and returned the greeting.
"You all have a seat." Liu Boying stretched out his hand to signal Li Xuan to sit down, and then said: "This time, nephew Rouxian has been appointed as the governor of Jingzhou. The mountains are long and the road is far away. It is the New Year. Tonight, we are preparing a farewell banquet... Although I am old, I’ll have to drink a few glasses of farewell wine tonight.”
The imperial court issued an edict, and Liu Zirou was appointed as the governor of Jingzhou. He chose a day to set off. He arrived in Jingzhou before the Lantern Festival to take up his post. The time was quite tight, so Liu Boying took care of all aspects.
Li Xuan nodded slightly in his heart. Before coming to Honglu Temple, he had already checked everyone's information.
Liu Boying, born in the first year of Wude, was a native of Hongnong County, Guozhou. He was a brave general and served successively as the governor of Suizhou, the governor of Guizhou, General Zuo Xiaowei, the general manager of Pyongyang Road, the governor of Jizhou governor, the governor of Yuezhou, and the minister of Honglu Temple.
His seniority is even higher than that of Duan Baoxuan. He himself was the governor of Yuezhou before Duan Baoxuan.
Although Liu Boying was born in the Hongnong Liu family, the ancestor of the Hongnong Liu family was Liu Kuan, a Huayin native. Liu Kuan's ancestor was Liu Bo, the eldest brother of Han Emperor Liu.
Liu Zhirou was born in the Liu family of Peixian County, and her ancestor was Liu Bang, the great ancestor of the Han Dynasty. Therefore, Liu Boying and Liu Zhirou were somewhat related to each other.
Liu Boying looked at Li Xuan and Yang Shan and said, "King Nanchang and nephew Yang, please have a few more drinks."
"I obey the order!" Li Xuan and Yang Shan both looked relaxed.
Although Liu Zhirou was dismissed from the post of Shaoqing of Honglu Temple by Li Xuan, he is about to be transferred to Jingzhou Governor. Not to mention his promotion, with this step, his future will become brighter. Even Yang Shan feels envious. .
Yang Shan was also from Hongnong. Although he was from the same hometown as Liu Boying, he was born in the Yang family of Hongnong.
Although the Yang family is a former Sui clan, they are not closely related to Yang Jian and Yang Guang and his son. On the contrary, they are closely related to Li Tang.
Several women from the Yang family married into the Li Tang royal family as concubines.
Both Emperor Gaozu and Emperor Taizong had several imperial concubines who were daughters of the Yang clan. Even Princess Qi, the mother of King Cao Li Ming, was born in the Yang clan of Hongnong.
In addition, there is Empress Wu’s mother, Mrs. Rong Guo, who was also born in the Yang family of Hongnong.
Mrs. Rongguo was not close to the Wu family, but she took good care of the Yang family's children.
…
Li Xuan looked calm. It seemed that Liu Boying had full control over Honglu Temple, but Liu Zirou was about to be transferred to Jingzhou. Although Yang Shan was the same, he might not have listened to Liu Boying much.
After casually chatting for a few words, Liu Boying's face became solemn: "Let's get down to business."
"Listen to Da Hong's order." Li Xuan, Yang Shan, and Liu Zhirou stood up at the same time.
Liu Boying nodded and said: "Nephew Zirou is about to go south, but before that, all official duties must be handed over to the King of Nanchang, and they must be delivered properly."
"I obey the order." Li Xuan and Liu Zhirou accepted the order at the same time.
Liu Boying turned to look at Yang Shan and said, "After Nephew Zirou went south, if the King of Nanchang has any questions, he should ask Nephew Sirou."
"Here!" Li Xuan, Liu Zhirou, and Yang Shan all agreed at the same time.
Liu Boying took a deep breath, and then said: "The most urgent matter at the moment is to negotiate with Silla and Japan on vassal and tribute matters. Your Majesty has decreed this matter, and it is all the responsibility of the King of Nanchang, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of War, and the various departments of Menxia Province. assist."
Having said this, Liu Boying looked at Li Xuan and asked in a deep voice: "I wonder, Your Majesty, do you have anything else to ask for?"
Li Xuan cupped his hands and said: "Reporting to Da Honglu, in addition to discussing various matters with the envoys of Silla and Japan, I also need to discuss some matters with the envoys of Tubo. Your Majesty just told me earlier that we must obtain the information from the envoys of Tubo. , asked about the whereabouts of the King of East China Sea."
When Li Xuan said "King of the East China Sea", Liu Zhirou and Yang Shan's expressions couldn't help but change slightly.
Liu Zhirou was okay, he was about to escape the center of the storm, but Yang Shan was more nervous.
The former Prince Consort Yang Shidao was his biological uncle, and Yang Shidao married Princess Changguang, the fifth daughter of Emperor Gaozu.
Not only that, Yang Shan's grandfather was the former Sui Dynasty King Yang Xiong. In addition to Yang Xiong's son Yang Yan, who married Princess Anping, the eleventh daughter of Emperor Gaozu, Yang Xiong also had a daughter who married Taizong as his concubine and gave birth to Yue Wang Li Zhen, who was Yan. Concubine De, cousin of Empress Wu.
King Li Ming of Cao, King Li Zhen of Yue, Emperor Taizong, and Emperor Gaozu were all related to the Yang family, and coupled with the relationship with Empress Wu, the top foreign relatives families at that time were nothing more than this. The only ones who could rival them were the Dou family.
Even the Wu family is inferior by three points.
"King of East China Sea?" Liu Boying considered it carefully, then nodded silently and said, "The King of Nanchang will be solely responsible for this matter."
"Thank you Da Honglu." Li Xuan immediately handed over.
Liu Boying waved his hand and said directly: "In that case, let's come here today. The prince and nephew Zirou will go to handle the handover first. Other matters will be dealt with later."
"I obey the order." Li Xuan, Yang Shan and Liu Zhirou immediately handed over their hands.
…
Standing in the courtyard, Li Xuan and Liu Zhirou raised their hands to Yang Shan at the same time, and Yang Shan returned the gesture gently.
Liu Zhirou led Li Xuan towards the room where the young man was on duty, and introduced at the same time: "Honglu is in charge of court gatherings, guests, good and bad rites. All national ceremonies, suburban temples, sacrifices, court gatherings, banquets, sutra banquets, Conferring titles, entering the calendar, entering the spring, passing on the system, memorializing victory, all doing their own work. Foreign officials paid homage, all tribes paid tribute, and those who had speeches were quoted by Hong Lu. All the great dynasties praised and paid tribute to the officials."
Honglu Temple is affiliated with Dianke and Master of Ceremonies.
The Dianke Office was in charge of the Tang Dynasty's exchanges with vassal states and other matters, and was under Li Xuan's command.
The Office of the Master of Ceremonies is in charge of state ceremonies, sacrifices and other affairs within the court, and falls under Yang Shan's command.
After entering Zuo Shaoqing's duty room, Liu Zhirou asked Li Xuan to sit down, and then asked his subordinates to call the Dian Ke Department Chief to come over, and then said to Li Xuan: "Da Honglu doesn't do anything on weekdays. When dealing with matters, the lower officials and Yang Shaoqing is in charge of the affairs separately, Yang Shaoqing is in charge of the internal affairs, and the subordinate officials are in charge of the external affairs. The duties are clear, but there is not much entanglement."
"That's good." Li Xuan smiled gently, but he knew in his heart that although Liu Zhirou said so, he couldn't really take it seriously.
The reason why Liu Boying didn't do anything before was because Liu Zhirou was half of his clan, and Yang Shan was his fellow villager. Although they had different backgrounds, they both gave him face. Therefore, Liu Boying's control over Honglu Temple Very heavy.
Now that Liu Zhirou has been transferred to Jingzhou, Liu Boying's control over Honglu Temple has immediately collapsed by one-third. If a chain reaction occurs and even Yang Shan starts to treat him aloof, then he will be in trouble.
However, Li Xuan believes that with Liu Boying's sophistication, he can naturally find a way to deal with it.
Li Xuan also respects him as an old minister. As long as his rights are not eroded, the two parties can naturally coexist harmoniously.
…
"There are rumors in the Ministry of Rites that the prince will take over as the Minister of Rites from the Longxi County Prince in a few years?" The chief secretary of the Department of Ceremonies seemed to be drunk, sitting deep in the pavilion of the restaurant, looking at Li Xuan with a naive face.
However, as soon as the Master of Ceremonies finished speaking, all the officials of Honglu Temple fell silent at the entire wine table.
Pingkangfang, Jiangshan Tower.
Everyone in Honglu Temple was waiting to bid farewell to the former young minister Liu Zhirou. After six rounds of drinking, some people still asked inappropriate questions under the pretext of being drunk.
Honglu Temple has one Qing, two Shaoqing, two offices, the Officiant and the Master of Ceremonies, each with two Chiefs and one person in charge.
Now, nine people were at the same table, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.
Nowadays, Li Boyi, the Minister of Rites, is nearly eighty years old. He doesn't know how many years he will live, let alone properly handle the government affairs of the Ministry of Rites.
Today, the government affairs of the Ministry of Rites have always been handled by the two ministers of the Ministry of Rites, but it is hard to say how long this can last.
Earlier, the right servant of the Minister, Shedai Zhide, had been serving concurrently as the Minister of the Ministry of Hubu. Now Dou Xuande is directly appointed as the Minister of the Ministry of Hubu, but the Minister of the Ministry of Rites is still vacant.
There are many discerning people in the court, and many people have seen through the emperor's plan. Therefore, after Li Xuan took office as the young minister of Honglu Temple, rumors that he would take over as the Minister of Rites in the future had already spread among the six bureaus and nine temples. Come.
Suddenly, everyone present looked at Li Xuan to see how he would respond.
It's really hard to answer this. If Li Xuan doesn't say it well, he will offend countless colleagues in the six departments and nine temples who are eyeing the position of minister.
"Master Lu, you've drunk too much." Yang Shan suddenly stood up, pressed his hand on the wine glass and took a hard look. Suddenly, his face turned livid.
The Master of Ceremonies Department is all his subordinates. Now that Chief Lu is making such a fuss, it is hard not to think that it is his instructions.
You must know that the King of Nanchang himself is not easy to mess with. Not to mention the clan, he is trusted by the emperor and empress. He is also the grandson-in-law of Liu Rengui, the left prime minister, the close nephew of Ouyang Tong, the minister of Weiwei Temple, Dou Xuande, the minister of household affairs, and Duan Baoxuan, the minister of Dali Temple. They were all his elders, Li Jingxuan, the Minister of Civil Affairs, and Liu Shenli, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, who had a good relationship with him. Qianniu Guards and Jinwu Guards were his former colleagues and subordinates.
You said it was not good for you to offend anyone, but you offended him.
Do you think you are Pei Yan, the Minister of Punishment, or Pei Xingjian, the Minister of War?
Seeing Yang Shan's expression, Li Xuan waved his hand and said with a smile: "Brother Sirou, you don't have to be like this. What Chief Lu asked is just human nature."
After a slight pause and seeing everyone looking at him, Li Xuan continued: "Actually, Master Lu is right. Xuan does want to be the Minister of the Ministry of Etiquette. In fact, any other position of Minister is what Xuan wants. If If you can climb the Lingyan Pavilion one day, that would be the ultimate achievement for a human being. Please tell me whether what Li Xuan said is right."
Please come to Lingyan Pavilion for a while, as if you are a scholar and a marquis of ten thousand households.
This poem written by Li Xuan spread throughout Chang'an. How could everyone here not know about it.
After a slight pause, Li Xuan continued: "Xuan first took up the position of Honglu Temple at a young age. He will have to stay in this position for at least four or five years. After that, he will have to go out for training. He will have to waste nearly 10 years in the position of governor of more than two states. Ten years later, even if you are lucky enough to return to the imperial court, you will still have to stay in the position of Jiu Temple for a few years. In this way, twenty or thirty years will pass."
Everyone looked confused for a moment. Why did they just say that Li Xuan was going to take over as the Minister of Rites, and why did they suddenly pull out twenty or thirty years?
After twenty or thirty years, these people may all become officials.
So what does it have to do with them whether the King of Nanchang appoints him as Minister of Rites?
With a wry smile on her face, Li Xuan looked at the crowd and said, "With Xuan's background, she is over fifty years old, and it is difficult to meet the eldest uncle for the first time. Perhaps, Xuan's life will end with the eldest uncle."
Li Xuan said one sentence, and everyone felt a sense of admiration in their hearts.
Coming from a clan, after all, it was too restrictive.
Suddenly, the atmosphere at the banquet suddenly relaxed.
Drinking and drinking each other.
No one paid any attention to the drunken Master Lu.
(End of chapter)
