Capital Datang

In the Hall of Liangyi, 26-year-old Li Zhi is listening to the reports of the ministers below. Each government affairs has been given a solution by the court and assigned to different officials. The more important government affairs are temporarily placed on his desk. He will not give a result until he thinks carefully, and even some important ministers will discuss it now. (you can find this site)

Originally, Li Zhi was handling government affairs in the Mingde Hall of the East Palace, but after Li Shimin knew that he had a long time, he let go of all the government affairs and handed them over to Li Zhi, and he also personally ordered Li Zhi to go to the Liangyi Hall to summon the officials To deal with government affairs, only the emperor can sit on the dragon chair in the Liangyi Hall, so Li Shimin's order has almost passed the throne to Li Zhi in disguise.

One by one government affairs were handled by Li Zhi. According to the unwritten rules, the most important government affairs would be submitted by Changsun Ji who is the prime minister. , the court meeting should end at this time.

But what everyone didn't expect was that a fat minister wearing a fourth-rank official uniform came out, and then saluted Li Zhi's body: "Your Majesty, I have something to report!"

"Oh? What's the matter with Mr. Xu?" Li Zhi asked with a smile on his face when he saw the minister coming out. [

The minister who stood up was Xu Jingzong who had just been transferred back to Datang from Daqi. At the same time, Li Yifu and others who went to Daqi with him were also transferred back.And as soon as they returned to Datang, these people were immediately entrusted with important tasks by Li Zhi. Among them, Xu Jingzong is currently the servant of the Huangmen and the second chief of the Menxia Province. The position of door servant has great real power.

"Your Majesty, in the cotton textile industrial bases in Youzhou, Yizhou, Cangzhou and other places, hundreds of large factory owners have jointly signed a letter, denouncing some wealthy families for hoarding cotton. The price of cotton has been driven up, so that the value of cotton has risen since the Chinese New Year this year. Several times, many factories cannot start work due to lack of raw materials, and workers have to go home on vacation. Naturally, they cannot get wages to support their families. This has already made many workers live in poverty. If this continues, I am afraid it will cause more serious consequences. Please Your Majesty's Holy Judgment!"

As soon as Xu Jingzong and others came back, they were immediately entrusted with important tasks. This naturally caused dissatisfaction among many courtiers, but no one thought that Xu Jingzong would not say anything.A blockbuster, such an important event was directly announced, and the spearhead was directly pointed at Changsun Ji. No one of the ministers present knew that the Changsun family owned a large cotton field in the Western Regions and controlled a considerable share of cotton production. What Xu Jingzong said Those rich families who drive up the price of cotton.The first of them is the Changsun family.

It was also Xu Jingzong's astonishing performance that made the courtiers couldn't help chattering. At the same time, almost everyone looked at Changsun Ji, planning to see how the Great Tang Prime Minister would respond.

But what everyone didn't think of was.Not only did Changsun Ji not fight back immediately, but he was very calm on the surface, as if what Xu Jingzong said had nothing to do with him.For his reaction, some insiders secretly sneered.Ready to watch Changsun Ji's jokes, those who don't know are full of doubts.I am going to visit my friends at the meeting of retreating to find out the reason.

In fact, although Changsun Ji looked calm on the surface, his heart was full of sadness.The political structure of the early Tang Dynasty was a system of three provinces and six ministries, among which the three provinces of Zhongshu, Menxia, ​​and Shangshu held the core power of the court. Changsun Ji's current official position is "Tongzhongshu Menxia Sanpin", which is actually the highest position of the three provinces. One person, that is, the position of prime minister, has less power than Wang An, the prime minister under Li Yin, but he is also under one person and above ten thousand.

It can be said that after Fang Xuanling's death, Changsun Ji was appointed as the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, and he also had quite a lot of supporters in the court. Before that, there was no one in the court who could compete with him.However, this situation began to change after Li Shimin became seriously ill and Li Zhi took over government affairs.

At the very beginning, Li Zhi was quite obedient to Changsun Ji, but occasionally he would express his own opinions on some matters, which made Changsun Ji discover that his seemingly cowardly nephew actually had his own opinions.

Later, with the return of people like Xu Jingzong and Li Yifu, Li Zhi immediately revealed his ambition. Regardless of the opposition of the Ministry of Officials, he promoted Xu Jingzong to be the Minister of Huangmen in Menxia Province, and Li Yifu served as Minister of Shangshu. Among Zuo Silang, Shangguanyi was exceptionally promoted to Zhongshusheren, and other people who came back from Daqi or were Li Zhi's cronies were also promoted in different ways. Although most of them had low official positions, they had mastered With great real power.

It was also because of Li Zhi's wanton promotion of officials this time that he placed all of the 24 departments in the six departments of the three provinces into his hands. Changsun Ji now feels a little restricted in his actions.And as people like Xu Jingzong became familiar with Zhenghe, he had to face the fact that above the court, a new political opponent was growing rapidly.

It is also because he clearly knows the above, so Changsun Ji was not particularly surprised by Xu Jingzong's sudden attack this time. As for the price gouging that Xu Jingzong said, it is true, and this year is not the first time The price of cotton was driven up only a few years ago because he suppressed it, let alone those textile factory owners, and even some nobles involved in the textile industry dared not say anything.

But now that Xu Jingzong had just returned, and he, the prime minister, had not yet fallen, it was too courageous for those textile factory owners to jointly sign a letter.So Changsun Ji didn't have to guess at all. There must be someone behind these people. As for who has the ability to organize those scattered textile mill owners?Apart from His Majesty the Emperor of Daqi, there is no other person to think about.

Considering that there is Li Yin's shadow behind this matter, Xu Jingzong, Li Yifu and others are also inextricably linked to Li Yin, coupled with Li Zhi's secret support, the combination of these forces, if Changsun Ji If you take the initiative to resist, it would be a bit too overwhelming.

After listening to Xu Jingzong's request, Li Zhi on the dragon chair first glanced at the calm Changsun Ji, and then suddenly said, "Lord Sikong, how do you think this matter should be handled?"

Hearing Li Zhi asking for his opinion, Changsun Ji first sighed secretly in his heart, stepped forward and bowed and replied: "His Royal Highness, the cotton textile industry has surpassed the silk industry, and cotton cloth has also become the most important export of our Tang Dynasty." One of the goods is the cotton textile bases in Youzhou and other places. The cotton cloth produced accounts for one-third of the total cotton cloth on the market, so there must be no chaos there. "

Regarding Changsun Ji's self-deprecating words, Li Zhi finally showed a triumphant smile. Regarding today's attack, he secretly planned with Xu Jingzong and others for a long time, and even asked the sixth brother Li Yin for help. Suddenly overwhelmed his powerful uncle.

However, Li Zhi still had some regrets in his heart. Originally, he thought that when Changsun Ji faced Xu Jingzong's attack, he would immediately jump out to argue with him, but he didn't expect the other party's eyes to be so sharp, and he could see through the balance of power between the two sides at once. , so he chose to back down very wisely, which made Changsun Ji's loss not so ugly.

Seeing that Changsun Ji chose to admit defeat so easily, many courtiers were very shocked, especially those courtiers who were attached to Changsun Ji, they seemed a little panicked for a while, and some smart people had already started to think about this matter secretly. Changes in the court situation, and at the same time weigh in your heart how should you choose?

"Okay, since even Master Sikong said so, then this matter is settled!" Li Zhi laughed and said with an excited smile on his face, then he turned his gaze to Li Yifu and said: "Master Li is the new Zuo Silang In the middle, you are responsible for implementing the imperial government's decree. This time, you are responsible for cracking down on the powerful and stabilizing the price of cotton. You will be responsible for the implementation, and the six departments and departments will assist in the implementation. No one can interfere!" [

When Li Zhi said the last few words, he couldn't help showing a bit of the majesty of an emperor, which made everyone feel irresistible.Even Changsun Ji felt in a trance for a while, as if sitting in front of him was a young Li Shimin.

There was no longer anything to discuss in the next court meeting, Li Zhi immediately announced his withdrawal from the court, and then took the lead to leave the Hall of Liangyi.At the moment he just left, the courtiers immediately divided into several small groups and began to discuss what happened today. Several of the small groups that were originally at odds with Changsun Ji looked at the front of Changsun Ji , with gloating expressions on their faces, and at the same time they also began to approach where Xu Jingzong, Li Yifu and others were.

A large number of ministers also gathered around Changsun Ji, but most of them had a bit of frustration on their faces, and some of them even looked away, not knowing what they were planning in their hearts.Among them, Chu Suiliang, who was second only to Changsun Ji, seemed to want to say something, but Changsun Ji interrupted him with a wave of his hand, and then said with a bit of despondency: "Stop talking, let's go!"

After Changsun Ji finished speaking, he strode out of the crowd, and then left the Hall of Liangyi without looking back, leaving Chu Suiliang and others to look at me and you, and finally heaved a long sigh, and then dispersed .

Changsun Ji, who left the Liangyi Hall, did not stay in the palace, but went directly through the Chengtian Gate, preparing to get in his own carriage and go home. Although he was mentally prepared for what happened today, it was still too sudden after all. He needs to explain to his family, so as not to be caught by Li Yifu and others. In addition, he also needs to calmly think about what he should do in the future?

But just when Changsun Ji was about to board his carriage, a clear voice suddenly said: "Master Changsun, are you interested in talking to someone?"