In the winter of the twenty-fourth year of Kaiyuan, Zhang Jiuling was dismissed as prime minister, and the era of the three prime ministers, Yao Chong, Song Jing, and Zhang Jiuling, came to an end.
Li Linfu, who had the ability but not the virtue of a prime minister, succeeded Zhang Jiuling and became the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty.
The first thing he did after becoming Zhongshu Ling was to unite with Concubine Wu Hui to attack the princelings.
On April 17, the twenty-fifth year of Kaiyuan, the imperial censor Zhou Ziliang wrote a letter disobeying the imperial edict, and Xuanzong ordered him to be killed in battle.
Concubine Wu Hui was studying with Li Changan when she heard about this incident. After listening to the female officer's account, she couldn't help but feel happy on her face.
This is a very rare look. Except for the smile on Concubine Wu's face when facing Li Longji, Concubine Wu usually does not show her emotions or anger when getting along with others. Even Li Changan has not seen Concubine Wu Hui in private a few times. Smiling, but today in front of many palace maids and eunuchs, Concubine Wu Hui could not hide her smile.
Fortunately, Concubine Wu Hui quickly realized this. She raised her hand and waved away the palace maids and eunuchs, leaving only her personal eunuch and Li Changan in the palace. Concubine Wu Hui then stroked her hands and smiled softly: "Zhang Jiuling, Zhang Jiuling, I want to see you." Now that you can't even protect yourself, can you still protect the prince you care about so much..."
She knows very well what kind of person Li Longji is. In recent years, Li Longji has become more and more domineering, especially in his attitude towards the prince. As Li Longji grows older, Li Longji no longer treats the prince like a father treats his son. , but like an emperor treating his rebellious ministers.
And Zhang Jiuling was an extremely typical scholar. He hoped that the Tang Dynasty could be safely handed over from the emperor's hands to the prince's hands. Li Longji used to admire Zhang Jiuling very much. When others recommended talents to him, Li Longji would lament that "his talent is not as good as Zhang Jiuling." He admired Zhang Jiuling to such an extent, but it is different now.
In the past, when Li Longji looked at Zhang Jiuling, it was the emperor looking at his own minister, and he would only look better and better; but now when Li Longji looked at Zhang Jiuling, it was the emperor looking at the prince's minister. The more he looked at him, the more he felt that he wanted to give up his throne to the prince. It is strange that the monarch and his ministers are not separated from each other.
But now that Zhou Ziliang, a small censor, dared to openly disobey Li Longji, Li Longji must be furious. It just so happened that this Zhou Ziliang was an official recommended by Zhang Jiuling. Concubine Wu Hui knew very well how suspicious her pillow person was. .
"Ming Yue, hand this letter to Prime Minister Li personally." Concubine Wu Hui wrote a letter and handed it to the female officer beside her. Mingyue took the letter and immediately turned around and left the Changqing Palace.
Li Changan stayed aside obediently and said nothing, just watching Concubine Wu Hui's movements.
After Mingyue took the letter out, Li Changan approached Wu Huifei again. Wu Huifei was in a happy mood and asked Li Changan casually: "Do you know Zhang Jiuling?"
"I know him. He was my father's previous prime minister."
In fact, I am more familiar with the song "Looking at the Moon and Huaiyuan" written by him. "The bright moon rises on the sea, and we share this moment at the end of the world." Li Changan added silently in his heart.
Concubine Wu Hui chuckled and said, "Yes, the former prime minister is no longer the prime minister. In a few days, he will not be able to stay in Chang'an City anymore."
"Is it because he is in the same group as the person who contradicted my father today?" Li Changan tilted his head.
"You are quite perceptive." Concubine Wu Hui praised Li Changan.
During this period, Li Changan did not deliberately hide his edge in front of Concubine Wu Hui. She is now Concubine Wu Hui's daughter. Concubine Wu Hui is the kind of person who hopes that all her children will be smart, so Li Changan did not avoid Concubine Wu Hui when doing things.
Including selling tea, the whole process was done under the nose of Concubine Wu Hui.
After Concubine Wu Hui realized that Li Changan was much smarter than her peers, she gradually stopped avoiding her when doing things.
"The big thing that Grandma has been thinking about is finally coming true." Concubine Wu Hui said meaningfully to Li Changan.
That night, Li Longji slept in Changqing Hall.
I don't know what he and Concubine Wu Hui talked about. In short, Li Changan didn't look happy when he saw Li Longji leaving Changqing Hall, but rather... murderous.
After receiving Concubine Wu Hui's letter, Li Linfu sat in the moon hall and meditated for several hours, stroking his beard and mumbling something. After a long time, his face became happy and he walked excitedly in the hall.
"Zhang Jiuling, when it comes to talent, I am not as good as you, but when it comes to being an official, you can't catch up with me."
On the second day, Li Linfu packed himself up early, wore official robes, and sat in the main hall waiting for Li Longji's call.
Sure enough, as soon as the sun rose, the eunuch beside Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty hurried in and said, "The sage has spoken and ordered Li Linfu to be summoned to see him."
Li Linfu stood up unhurriedly and straightened his appearance. While adjusting his official robes, he casually asked the eunuch: "How is your Majesty's mood today?"
The young eunuch did not dare to neglect the hot new minister, and said with a smile: "The saint seems to be in a bad mood today."
Li Linfu had some calculations in his mind and made up his mind.
In the Daming Palace, Li Longji was sitting casually, holding a teacup leisurely in his hand, sipping tea with his eyes lowered, not showing any signs of being in a bad mood.
Just speaking a word showed that he might not be as calm in his heart as he looked on the surface.
"Do you think Dong Gong was behind Zhou Ziliang's rebellion?"
Li Linfu became more and more respectful: "Your Majesty has a clear understanding of fire, and I dare not make any unreasonable comments."
Li Longji turned the tea cup in his hand and looked at Li Linfu: "You are the prime minister. What is there in the Tang Dynasty that you dare not discuss?"
"Of course I don't dare to discuss your Majesty's family affairs. The prince is your majesty's son. This matter is a matter of your majesty's family. I am Zhongshu Ling. I only care about the official affairs of the Tang Dynasty. The affairs of your majesty's family have nothing to do with me. How can I dare to overstep it?" ." Li Linfu said respectfully.
Li Linfu is a very smart man. His ability to climb to the position of prime minister is definitely not based on his "talent" that he can't even recognize words. What he relies on is his knowledge.
The biggest difference between him and Zhang Jiuling is that Zhang Jiuling thinks that he and the saint are monarchs and ministers. Unlike Li Linfu, he only regards himself as Li Longji's domestic servant.
As expected, Li Longji's face became even more ugly after listening to Li Linfu's words. He put the tea cup in his hand heavily on the table: "You know this truth, but some people don't."
This is almost naming Zhang Jiuling.
Li Longji has disliked Zhang Jiuling for a long time. You can even say a piece of loyal advice when you go against him once or twice, but you go against him every time. Who is the emperor and who is the minister? He is a king, not Zhang Jiuling's subordinate!
What's more, every time he mentioned that he wanted to depose the prince, Zhang Jiuling rushed out like a crazy old dog to admonish him. He used a bunch of ancient examples to admonish him, saying that Duke Xian of Jin killed Shen Sheng after listening to Li Ji's slander, and Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty Xin Jiang Chong killed the prince. , Emperor Hui of the Jin Dynasty listened to Empress Jia... as if he, Li Longji, was a foolish emperor who could not defend his loyalty and treachery.
When Li Longji thought of this, he became even more angry. He actually didn't care how powerful the prince was. What he cared about was that his prime minister was clearly favoring the prince! Did these people think he was old and couldn't wait to replace him so that the beast could take the throne early?
Thinking of this, Li Longji was so angry that he couldn't hold back his anger and slapped the table hard.
There was a loud noise on the tabletop, and the tea cup and teapot shook three times.
Li Linfu's heart, which was lifted up in the air, fell into his stomach with this loud noise.
It’s done.
Zhang Jiuling is going to get out, and the prince is going to become an abandoned prince.
At this point, Li Longji simply stopped being polite to Li Linfu. He asked directly: "I want to depose the prince, what do you think?"
Li Linfu became more respectful: "This is the emperor's family matter, and the ministers are outsiders. Why should your majesty discuss the family matters with outsiders?"
After returning to the Prime Minister's Mansion, Li Linfu immediately went to the study, wrote a letter and sent it to the palace.
After Concubine Wu Hui got the letter, she hurriedly opened it and read it. The expression on her face changed. Finally, she held the letter and pondered for a long time before putting it on the candle and burning it.
On April 20, Xuanzong pursued Zhang Jiuling because Zhou Ziliang was recommended by Zhang Jiuling. He launched an attack on the grounds that his appointment was unclear and demoted Zhang Jiuling to the position of governor of Jing.
After the court, two groups of people hurried in two different directions. They wanted to tell the people behind them what happened in the court today as soon as possible.
Two directions are the residence of Prince Li Ying and the Changqing Hall located in Daming Palace.
Concubine Wu Hui got the news even an hour faster than Prince Li Ying. Li Ying became more and more dissatisfied when Li Longji came in and saw him, so she simply claimed to be sick and hid in the mansion, so as not to be seen by Li Longji and deliberately looking for trouble, so when he got After the news that Zhang Jiuling was demoted to Jingzhou Governor, he was so sad that he almost cried.
"Once Prime Minister Zhang is gone, who can protect me?"
Li Ying let out a long sigh, and then ordered her surroundings: "Get your horses ready, I'm going to see Prime Minister Zhang."
Zhang Jiuling is already sixty years old. His figure is stooped and his hair is gray. When Li Ying saw him, Zhang Jiuling was sitting blankly in the hall. After seeing Li Ying, he hurriedly stood up and saluted, but he stood still in a daze. Unable to stand still, he staggered.
Li Ying hurriedly stepped forward to support Zhang Jiuling, first said some personal words, and then got to the point.
He held Zhang Jiuling's hand tightly and said sadly: "Sir, can you give me one last pointer on what the students should do in the future?"
Zhang Jiuling's turbid eyes looked at the panicked young man in front of him. This was the prince he was determined to save.
Starting from Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, the succession of emperors was full of bloodshed, and every emperor who took the throne could not be said to be right. He originally thought that he had this ability to make the transition of the next emperor of the Tang Dynasty justifiable and peaceful.
But after all, he overestimated his ability.
Zhang Jiuling sighed deeply, patted Li Ying's hand, and finally gave this young man who he had protected for several years a piece of advice: "If your highness trusts me, just give up the position of prince... The position of prince in the Tang Dynasty may not be a good thing." thing……"
Li Ying's body froze, and he looked at Zhang Jiuling in shock: "Why did Prime Minister Zhang say this? Ying has made no mistakes in taking the position of prince."
"Seriously?" Zhang Jiuling looked directly at Li Ying.
Li Ying did not dare to look at Zhang Jiuling. She only looked away and said stubbornly: "Seriously."
Zhang Jiuling turned his back in disappointment, his back hunched a lot, and his voice was full of fatigue: "I am already old, and now I have been demoted to the position of governor of Jing. Your Highness is already old, so why do you need to come here to do anything? What about asking me?"
He knew that Li Ying had done something behind his back, but those things were not too big, and in his opinion, they were not enough for His Majesty to depose the crown prince. But at this critical moment of life and death, Li Ying still kept it from him. Zhang Jiuling said it was impossible not to be disappointed.
"Your Highness, please leave first. I still have a lot of luggage to pack." Zhang Jiuling actually said goodbye directly.
Li Ying watched in shock as Zhang Jiuling left without mercy, and had no choice but to turn back to her mansion.
This matter also fell into the ears of Concubine Wu Hui an hour later.
Concubine Wu Hui stroked Li Changan's hair and chuckled: "Mother An, do you know how your Majesty put down the disaster of Empress Wei and supported the late emperor to ascend the throne?"
Li Changan blinked, looking innocent.
A bloody royal tradition of Li Tang has begun. This is the first time Li Changan has witnessed the bloody struggle for power.
——This time, she is not a participant.
