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

Chapter 649 Honglu Temple, intrigue
Honglu Temple and the guest house of Honglu Temple are on the west side of Zhuquemen, and Taichang Temple is on the east side of Zhuquemen.

To the north are Zongzheng Temple, Yushitai and Taishi Bureau.

With red walls, green tiled roofs, and red gates, there are a lot of respectful officials coming and going.

Li Xuan wore a dark scarlet official robe and walked in through the gate. Li Zhu was quickly picked up by Dian Ke and went through all formalities.

A chief secretary led the way, and Li Xuan followed with a solemn expression, and entered the valet room of Honglu Temple Minister Liu Boying.

……

Li Xuan entered the duty room, raised her head, bowed her head, and saluted respectfully: "My subordinate Li Xuan, I have seen Da Honglu!"

Although Liu Boying's beard and hair are all white, but his complexion is hale and hearty, he is generous and has a cheerful temperament. Liu Boying raised his hand gently and said: "My lord, you are welcome, please stand up...These two are the seniors of the lord, former Honglu Shaoqing, now Jingzhou Liu Zirou, the governor, this is Yang Shan and Yang Sirou, the Shaoqing in charge of the master of ceremonies, who were born in the Hongnong Yang family."

"Xuan met Liu Shaoqing and Yang Shaoqing." Li Xuan took the lead in bowing respectfully.

"I've met the prince!" Liu Zhirou and Yang Shan stood up at the same time to return the greeting.

"Everyone sit down." Liu Boying stretched out his hand to signal Li Xuan to sit down, and then said: "This time, Nephew Rou Xian will be the governor of Jingzhou. The mountains are long and the roads are far away. It's the New Year. Tonight is preparing for a farewell banquet...Although this old man is old, but The farewell wine tonight will also have a few glasses."

The imperial court ordered Liu Zirou to serve as governor of Jingzhou, and set off on a certain date. Before Lantern Festival, he arrived in Jingzhou to take up his post. Time was tight, so Liu Boying took care of everything.

Li Xuan nodded slightly in his heart. Before coming to Honglu Temple, he had already checked the information of everyone.

Liu Boying, born in the first year of Wude, was born in Hongnong County, Guozhou. He was a brave general.

His qualifications are even higher than that of Duan Baoxuan, and 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 from Huayin, and Liu Kuan's ancestor was Liu Bo, the elder brother of the Han emperor Liu.

Liu Zhirou was born in the Liu family of Pei County, and his ancestor was Liu Bang, the great ancestor of the Han Dynasty, so Liu Boying and Liu Zhirou still have some family ties.

Liu Boying looked at Li Xuan and Yang Shan, and said, "King of Nanchang and Nephew Yang Xian, drink a few more glasses too."

"The next officer obeys the order!" Li Xuan and Yang Shan both looked relaxed.

Although Liu Zhirou was dismissed by Li Xuan from his position as the Shaoqing of Honghe Temple, he is about to be transferred to be the governor of Jingzhou. Not to mention his promotion, this step will open up the road ahead, and even Yang Shan feels envious .

Yang Shan is also from Hongnong. Although he is from the same hometown as Liu Boying, he was born in the Yang family of Hongnong.

Although the Yang family is the former Sui clan, it is not closely related to Yang Jian and Yang Guang and his sons, but has a close relationship with Li Tang.

Several women in Yang's family married into Li Tang's royal family as concubines.

Gaozu, Taizong, several imperial concubines were daughters of the Yang family, and even Princess Qi, the mother of Cao Wang Li Ming, was also born in the Hongnong Yang family.

In addition, Empress Wu's mother, Mrs. Rong Guo, also came from the Hongnong Yang family.

Mrs. Rong Guo 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 was in full control of Honglu Temple, but Liu Zirou was about to be transferred to Jingzhou, even though Yang Shan was the same, he might not listen to Liu Boying much.

After casually chatting a few words, Liu Boying's face became serious: "Speak the business."

"Listen to Dahonglu'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 the handover must be done properly."

"Your subordinate obeys the order." Li Xuan and Liu Zhirou agreed at the same time.

Liu Boying turned his head to look at Yang Shan, and said, "After nephew Zirou went south, if the king of Nanchang asked something, he asked 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 thing at present is to negotiate with Silla and Japan about vassals and tributes. Your Majesty has an order for this matter, and the King of Nanchang is in charge of it. assist."

Speaking of this, Liu Boying looked at Li Xuan, and asked in a deep voice: "I don't know, my lord, do you have any other requests?"

Li Xuan cupped his hands and said: "Reporting to Dahonglu, this time, besides negotiating with the envoys of Silla and Japan, I also need to discuss some matters with the envoys of Tubo. , Ask about the whereabouts of the King of the East China Sea."

When Li Xuan said, "King of the East China Sea", Liu Zhirou and Yang Shan couldn't help but change slightly.

Liu Zhirou was okay, he was about to leave the center of the storm, but Yang Shan was more nervous.

The former captain-in-law Yang Shidao was his uncle, and Yang Shidao married Princess Changguang, the fifth daughter of Gaozu.

Not only that, but Yang Shan's grandfather was Yang Xiong, the former King of Guan in the Sui Dynasty. Yang Xiong had another son, Yang Yan, who married Princess Anping, the eleventh daughter of Emperor Gaozu, and another daughter, who married Taizong as his concubine and gave birth to Li Zhen, king of Yue. Concubine De, cousin of Empress Wu.

Cao Wang Li Ming, Yue Wang Li Zhen, Emperor Taizong, and Emperor Gaozu were all related to the Yang family, plus the relationship with Empress Wu. At that time, the top foreign relatives were no more than that. The only ones comparable were the Dou family.

Even Wu Family is inferior by three points.

"King of the East China Sea?" Liu Boying considered carefully, then nodded silently, and said, "The King of Nanchang will be fully responsible for this matter."

"Thank you, Da Honghe." Li Xuan immediately cupped his hands.

Liu Boying waved his hand and said directly: "So, let's come here first today. The prince and nephew Zirouxian will go to handle the handover first, and other matters will be dealt with later."

"Your subordinate obeys the order." Li Xuan, Yang Shan and Liu Zhirou immediately bowed their hands.

……

Standing in the courtyard, Li Xuan and Liu Zhirou bowed their hands to Yang Shan at the same time, and Yang Shan returned the salute gently.

Liu Zhirou took Li Xuan to Shaoqing's house, and introduced: "Honghe is in charge of court meetings, guests, good and bad ceremonies. All national ceremonies, suburban temples, sacrifices, court meetings, banquets, sutra feasts, Canonization, Jinli, Jinchun, passing on the system, winning the victory, each has its own affairs. Foreign officials make pilgrimage, and the Tibetans pay tribute, and those who have speeches will be led by Honglu. All the great dynasties praise all the officials and salute."

The Dianke and Master of Ceremonies under Honglu Temple.

The Dian Ke Department is in charge of Tang Dynasty's exchanges with the vassal states and other affairs, and belongs to Li Xuan's command.

The Office of the Master of Ceremonies is in charge of all matters such as national ceremonies and sacrifices in the court, and belongs to Yang Shan's command.

Entering Zuo Shaoqing's duty room, Liu Zhirou asked Li Xuan to sit down, and then asked his subordinates to call Dian Ke Shucheng over, and then said to Li Xuan: "Da Honglu usually doesn't care about things, and when he handles affairs, the subordinate officials and Yang Shaoqing is in charge of it separately, Yang Shaoqing is in charge of the internal affairs, and the subordinate officials are in charge of the external affairs, the responsibilities are clearly defined, and there are not many entanglements."

"That's good." Li Xuan smiled gently, but he knew in his heart that even though Liu Zhirou said so, he couldn't really take it seriously.

The reason why Liu Boying didn't care about things before was because Liu Zhirou was half of his clan, and Yang Shan was his fellow villager. Although the two had their own backgrounds, they both sold his face. Therefore, Liu Boying's control over Honglu Temple very heavy.

Now that Liu Zhirou is transferred to Jingzhou, Liu Boying's control over Honglu Temple will immediately collapse by one-third. If there is a chain reaction, even Yang Shan will start to be indifferent to him, 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 respected him as a veteran, as long as his rights were not eroded, the two sides would naturally be able to coexist harmoniously.

……

"There are rumors in the Ministry of Rites that the lord will succeed the King of Longxi County as the Minister of Rites in a few years?" The master of the ceremonies department seemed to be drunk, sitting in the deep part of the restaurant, looking at Li Xuan with a naive expression on his face.

However, as soon as the Master of Ceremonies finished speaking, all the officials of Honglu Temple fell silent on the entire wine table.

Pingkang Square, Jiangshan Building.

A group of people from Honglu Temple waited to bid farewell to the former Shaoqing Liu Zhirou. After drinking for six rounds, some people still asked questions that should not be asked by virtue of being drunk.

Honglu Temple has one Qing, two Shaoqing, Dianke and Master of Ceremonies, each with two Cheng, and each has a master.

Right now, all nine people were at the same table, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.

Li Boyi, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, is now nearly eighty years old, and he doesn't know how long he will live, let alone handle the government affairs of the Ministry of Rites properly.

The current 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 it will last.

In the early days, the Minister of the Ministry of Households had been held concurrently by Shedai Zhide, the right servant of the Minister, and now Dou Xuande directly served as the Minister of the Ministry of Households, but the Minister of the Ministry of Rites was still vacant.

There are many discerning people in the court, and many people have seen through the emperor's plans, so when Li Xuan took office as the young minister of Honglu Temple, rumors that he would take over as Minister of Rites in the future have already spread among the six temples and nine temples. Come.

All of a sudden, everyone present looked at Li Xuan, to see how he would respond.

It was really hard to answer this question, Li Xuan would offend countless colleagues in the six divisions and nine temples who were staring at the position of Shangshu.

"Master Lu, you've had too much to drink." Yang Shan stood up all of a sudden, put his hand on the wine glass and looked at it heavily, and suddenly his face was ashen.

The master of ceremonies is all under his subordinates, and now Master Lu is making such a fuss, it's hard not to let people think it's his order.

You know, the King of Nanchang himself is not easy to mess with, not to mention his clan, he is highly trusted by the emperor, and at the same time he is the grandson-in-law of Liu Rengui, Minister of the Left, the nephew of Ouyang Tong, Minister of the Weiwei Temple, Dou Xuande, Minister of the Household Department, Duan Baoxuan, Minister of the Dali Temple, They are all his elders, Li Jingxuan, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, and Liu Shenli, Minister of Industry, have a good relationship with him. Qianniuwei and Jinwuwei are even his former colleagues.

You said that it was not good for you to provoke anyone, but you provoked him.

Do you think you are Pei Yan, Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, or Pei Xingjian, Minister of the Ministry of War?
Seeing Yang Shan's expression, Li Xuan waved his hands and said with a smile: "Brother Si Rou doesn't have to be like this, what Master Lu is asking is just human nature."

Pausing for a while, seeing everyone looking at him, Li Xuan continued: "Actually Master Lu is right, Xuan really wants to be a minister of the Ministry of Rites. In fact, any other position of minister is what Xuan wants. To be able to ascend to the Lingyan Pavilion one day, that is the ultimate human minister, everyone, whether what Li Xuan said is true or not."

Please go to Lingyan Pavilion for a while, if you are a scholar, Wanhuhou.

The poem that Li Xuan wrote at the beginning was spread throughout Chang'an, how could everyone here not know.

After a slight pause, Li Xuan went on to say: "Xuan was still young when he was appointed to Honghe Temple, so he had to stay in this position for four or five years, and after that, he had to go out to practice. After ten years, even if you are lucky enough to return to the dynasty, you will have to stay in the position of the Nine Temples for a few years, so if you calculate it, 30 to [-] years will pass."

Everyone was puzzled, why did they just say that Li Xuan was going to take over as Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and why did they say that it has been 30 or [-] years?

After 30 to [-] years, these people may all retire.

So what does it have to do with them whether the king of Nanchang is the Minister of Rites or not.

With a wry smile on Li Xuan's face, he looked at the crowd and said: "Since Xuan was born, he is over half a hundred years old, and he first came to Dazong Uncle, but it's too late. Perhaps, Xuan's life will end with Dazong Uncle."

When Li Xuan said a word, everyone felt a sense of sigh at the same time.

Clan origin, after all, is too restricted.

Suddenly, the atmosphere above the banquet eased down.

Gong chips are staggered.

No one paid any attention to the drunk Master Lu.

(End of this chapter)