People in the early Tang Dynasty: I compete with Wu Zhao for the throne

Chapter 1723 The Emperor's Eastern Tour and Secret Meeting with the Princess

Seeing Guo Huiyue just bowing slightly but not saying anything, Princess Taiping sneered.

After a while, Princess Taiping finally calmed down and said, "Send all the things that happened in Chang'an these days to Huaizhou, and let Prime Minister Fan carefully analyze everything that King Peng did in this incident, analyze his strengths, and find out his weaknesses."

"Yes!" Guo regretted and bowed solemnly.

Princess Taiping let out a long sigh, leaned back, and asked quietly, "How long do you think he will endure?"

Guo regretted his silence. How long could he endure? The natural way was to overthrow the emperor and ascend the throne himself.

After a long while, Guo regretted and bowed deeply, saying, "Before today, I might have thought that King Peng would at most endure for half a year before plotting a rebellion and ascending the throne, but judging from the current situation, his patience is much greater than I thought. I can't help but think of Yang Jian back then."

"Yang Jian, who usurped the throne from the Yuwen family?" Princess Taiping thought for a moment.

In the first year of Xuanzheng (578), after the death of Emperor Wu of Zhou, Yang Jian's son-in-law Emperor Xuan of Zhou ascended the throne, and Yang Jian was promoted to General of the State and Grand Marshal. However, it was not until the first year of Dating (581) that Yang Jian, who had eliminated all hidden dangers, forced Emperor Jing of Northern Zhou to abdicate.

It took three full years.

"Now in the court, the prime ministers seem to be in charge of the country, but in fact, without the support of the emperor who has the final say, the prime ministers' real authority is not great. In many cases, they are even not as powerful as the ministers of the six ministries."

Guo bowed in regret, then said: "In today's court, the prime ministers govern the world, and what they really rely on is actually King Peng, who holds military power and supports the emperor. The six ministers have a closer relationship with King Peng, so the six ministers have more power. It's just that King Peng is the prime minister now, so the prime minister's authority seems to be more important."

"King Peng uses prime ministers to govern the world, not Chang'an." Princess Taiping waved her hand. During this period of time, other people had helped her analyze the matter thoroughly.

The role of the prime minister in the court is to connect and stabilize the counties and prefectures throughout the country.

Although Li Xuan was the Grand Marshal and the Vice Prime Minister, he had only served in a few states and counties in the entire world.

There are three hundred states in the world, and if you want to avoid problems, you must rely on the power of more people.

Being a member of the royal family alone is not enough. Every prime minister in the court has his own background, colleagues, friends, students and subordinates, most of whom serve as governors and chief officials in prefectures and counties throughout the country.

For example, Lu Yuanfang alone can connect Li Xuan with the entire Jiangnan family. Not only can Li Xuan get financial support from the entire Jiangnan, but even those officials from Jiangnan who are serving in the country will support Li Xuan.

In addition to Li Xuan, there were eight prime ministers, plus his use of the personal connections of old prime ministers such as Liu Rengui, Liu Shenli, Hao Chujun, Zhao Renben, Zhang Wenguan, and Li Jingxuan, which allowed him to firmly connect with all the states in the world.

Not only did it prevent any unexpected events from happening in the empire, it also made the provincial governors of all provinces obey the orders of the central government.

Half a year had passed since the fall of Wu Zhou, and the world had become increasingly stable.

Cui Zhiwen was forced to take action after seeing this, because he also became one of Li Xuan's pawns.

"Although the overall situation in the world is under the control of King Peng, apart from a few prime ministers and the six ministers, few of them are loyal to King Peng."

Guo Huiyue looked at Princess Taiping and began to count them one by one: "Minister of Personnel Yun Hongyin is a filial prince's junior secretary to the emperor, Minister of Revenue Pei Judao is a filial father-in-law to the emperor, Minister of Rites Wei Xuantong is just a fellow of Minister Ouyang, Minister of Punishment Xiao Siye is quite old and will not last for many years, and Minister of Works Huang Rensu has always been honest."

"The only one left who is a staunch supporter of Prince Peng is the Minister of War Wang Fangyi." Princess Taiping breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yes!" Guo Huiyue continued to bow and said, "Li Bi is the Minister of the Ministry of War, Yu Ze is the Junior Secretary, He Yiqiu is the Minister of the Dali Temple, Liu Yuanshen is the Junior Secretary of the Honglu Temple, and Li Yan is only the Doctor of the Ministry of Revenue. If these people want to completely stand in the position of the six ministers, it will take at least five to ten years, or even longer..."

"Indeed, within five to ten years, King Peng will not make any major moves, but his control over the world will become more and more solid..." Princess Taiping suddenly raised her head, looked at Guo Hui and said, "You just said that Li Yan is a doctor in the Ministry of Revenue?"

"Yes!" Guo Huiyue was a little surprised. He was just a fifth-rank doctor in the Ministry of Revenue.

"Now I finally know what he is doing?" Princess Taiping suddenly gritted her teeth, looked at Guo regretfully, and said bitterly: "He is staring at the Ministry of Revenue and Duzhi Langzhong. Yes, it is the Ministry of Revenue and Duzhi Langzhong. The Queen Mother has always been in charge of the government because the Ministry of Revenue and Duzhi Langzhong has always been her people. Whether it is Qian Weidao or Di Renjie, they are all her people.

Prince Peng followed his mother's example and appointed Li Yan as the Director of the Ministry of Revenue, so that he could control the finances of the whole country. In this way, he could control the whole country more firmly. "

Guo regretted looking at Princess Taiping and said in disbelief, "King Peng wouldn't have such a plan, right?"

"It has to be so. We must find a way to get rid of Li Yan... Damn it, Cui Xuanwei shouldn't have been transferred to the position of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue." Princess Taiping finally saw through Li Xuan's true plan hidden behind the layers of curtains.

Guo Huihui suddenly shuddered, then bowed and said, "Your Highness, it's okay to kill people, but how can we prevent King Peng from finding out? If he goes crazy because of this..."

Princess Taiping calmed down all of a sudden. The reason why the current situation is stable is because Li Xuan is slowly eroding the empire step by step. If he were to suddenly go crazy, there might be a lot of loopholes, but Princess Taiping, who kills people, would definitely be in trouble.

At the very least, the power of her subordinates will be completely stripped away, and even Xue Shao will be implicated.

"Your Highness, the reason why we can still act secretly is because King Peng is not focusing his attention on us. If we provoke him and target us..." Guo regretted almost saying it all, but fortunately Princess Taiping came to her senses.

Princess Taiping waved her hands and calmed down: "I understand. Besides, it is too difficult to take action in Chang'an City."

"Yes." Guo Huihui narrowed his eyes slightly and said through gritted teeth: "The entire Yongzhou Prefecture is under his sight."

"So if we want to take action, we can't do it in Chang'an." Princess Taiping said this, and Guo Huihui suddenly became serious.

"Since Li Yan is destined to take the position of Duzhi Langzhong, then let him go. Not just anyone can hold that position." Princess Taiping looked up and then smiled softly, "It's me who is anxious. Even if he holds the position of Duzhi Langzhong, it won't be of any help to the court against Prince Peng."

"In April, the emperor will be on an eastern tour to Luoyang. Send a message to ask Prince Yuzhang to go to Zhengzhou. I want to meet him." Princess Taiping narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Princess, what about King Peng?" Guo regretted with a trace of worry in his eyes. "May 15th is the anniversary of my brother's death. King Peng may go to Dingling to offer sacrifices. He won't be in Luoyang during those days." Princess Taiping tapped the table gently and said, "Luoyang was vacant due to the war last year. In the past six months, too many people have entered Luoyang from all over the country."

"Yes!" Guo Huihui understood the meaning of Princess Taiping's words.

"Go and get busy." Princess Taiping waved her hand.

"Yes!" Guo regretfully bowed, and in a blink of an eye, he had disappeared through the rear window.

Princess Taiping lay leaning on the couch, looking upward, and a map of Luoyang flashed in her mind.

Luo River, White Horse Temple, and Songshan Mountain.

There are so many things that can be used in Luoyang.

……

In a blink of an eye, it is mid-March and the green shade is fragrant.

A black-sailed boat was sailing quietly on the Qujiang River, and the surrounding boats were inexplicably moving away.

Zheng Zhi, dressed in a green skirt, lay in Li Xuan's arms and put the fruit in her hand into the lazy Li Xuan's mouth.

"My dear, tomorrow is the Qujiang Banquet for the Jinshi of the Yiyou Year. Can I go with you?" Zheng Zhi's soft voice sounded in Li Xuan's ears.

"Sure!" Li Xuan smiled and said, "The first year of the Chuigong imperial examination is finally over. Next, the emperor will go on his eastern tour. When we pass by Xingyang, how about we visit your hometown?"

"Okay!" Zheng Zhi subconsciously said the word "Okay", but then she bit her lip and shook her head gently, "Forget it. There was a big commotion at home last month. Even if my husband doesn't go, they won't be very happy. It's better to go directly to Luoyang. When we get there, let them come to our house, and they will be much more easy to talk to."

After all, Zheng Zhi was born into a noble family, so she could see some things more clearly than girls from ordinary families.

"Okay, I'll listen to you." Li Xuan smiled, his eyes fell on the edge of Qujiang Lake, and he changed the subject and said, "Fifteenth Lady, you know that although the test questions this time are the same as those of Prime Minister Li, his style is similar to that of my husband, and both of them prefer to be realistic. In the end, no matter whether it was the champion or the Jinshi selected, none of them satisfied him."

"Who is the top scorer at this moment?" Zheng Zhi asked curiously.

"Wu Shidao is from Ye County, Jizhou." Li Xuan nodded slightly and said, "We chose him as the top scholar this time because his answer sheet was indeed the best among all the candidates, and also because he is from Hebei."

“From Hebei?”

"Hmm!" Li Xuan raised his eyes, looked towards Hebei, and said softly: "The world is gradually becoming stable, and the problems in Hebei also need to be solved slowly."

Hebei is one of the places with the heaviest taxes in the world, second only to Jiangnan.

Li Xuan hugged Zheng Zhi into his arms, and gently stroked her skin with his right hand. Subconsciously, his eyes fell and looked at the distant shore.

There seemed to be a figure there, following from a distance.

Li Xuan waved his hand slightly, and someone on the small boat following behind him immediately rushed over.

……

Princess Mansion, Study.

Yang Shan cupped his hands and said, "The most outstanding candidate in this imperial examination is Lu Xiangxian, the son of Prime Minister Lu. If he had signed his name, then he would have been the number one in this imperial examination, not Wu Shidao. Your Highness, there really aren't many talented candidates in this imperial examination."

"Yes!" Princess Taiping nodded gently and said, "Then there is no need to worry about it. Your Majesty will travel east next month. Has anyone been decided who will be the regent?"

"It's settled." Bi Jing stepped forward and said, "The King of Dai will stay in Chang'an to supervise the country, Prime Minister Li and Prime Minister Cen will stay in Chang'an to assist, and the others will go to Luoyang together."

"Chang'an and Luoyang are not far away, it's OK." Princess Taiping looked up and said, "Any news about the other sixteen guards?"

"That hasn't happened yet." Bi Jing said thoughtfully, "King Peng will not let others know about this easily."

"No matter what, we must ensure that Xue Na goes to Luoyang with us. As the Right Jinwu Guard, he will be crucial in case of accidents." Princess Taiping said seriously.

"Yes!" Yang Shan and Bi Jing bowed at the same time.

"Is there anything else?" Princess Taiping relaxed.

"Regarding the matter of the Five Kingdoms, I heard that Tang Zhenxing has begun to march into Yunnan. In addition, Yao Yi has already found out the names of many officials who contributed to the chaos in the Five Kingdoms." Yang Shan looked solemn.

Princess Taiping waved her hands and said, "Prime Minister Cui has lost his mind. We won't..."

A burst of hurried footsteps was heard from outside the door, and then a secret letter was delivered in.

Princess Taiping glanced at the secret letter with a solemn expression.

(End of this chapter)