Li Chengqian of the Tang Dynasty: Please say long live His Majesty

Chapter 174: King Wei is going to Qinghua Temple. Okay, go and invite King Jin (First Update)
March is spring and full of vitality.

The first day of the lunar month.

In the Taiji Hall, the emperor, dressed in a scarlet and yellow dragon robe, sat on the imperial couch with a calm expression.

Li Chengqian held the jade sceptre and bowed, standing on the third step of the Danbi. The young Li Zhi stood on the first step of the Danbi with a solemn expression.

Minister of Personnel Hou Junji stood in the hall, bowed earnestly, and said, "Your Majesty, in the 16th year of the Zhenguan reign, the Ministry of Personnel held an examination. The first place was Cui Xuanji from Qinghe, Hebei; the second was Yuan Yihong from Nanyang, Dengzhou; the third was Zhang Da'an from Dunhuang, Shazhou. The other 19 candidates were selected as Jinshi. Your Majesty, please review them."

Zhang Ananda immediately walked down the steps, took the memorial and placed it in front of the emperor.

Li Chengqian looked at the memorial solemnly.

The imperial examinations in the Tang Dynasty were different from those in later generations. They were usually held once a year. The number of admitted candidates was often over 30, and sometimes only a dozen. They preferred to have few rather than admit unqualified candidates.

In later generations, it was generally held every three years, with more than one hundred people admitted each time. If you count based on the number of times the number of admitted people was higher, the numbers are actually about the same.

However, Cui Xuanji was born into the Qinghe Cui family, Yuan Yihong was born into the Nanyang Yuan family, and Zhang Da'an was born into the Dunhuang Zhang family.

What's more, Zhang Da'an is the third son of the late Duke of Tan, Zhang Gongjin, and the third brother of Zhang Daxiang, the Prince's attendant.

However, because he was the youngest son, although he had the support of his family, he was still much weaker, so he simply took part in the imperial examination.

They are all children of noble families.

Li Shimin put down the memorial in his hand, nodded, and said, "Thank you for your hard work, ministers. After the Ministry of Personnel's examination, we will grant you official positions according to the system."

"Yes!" Hou Junji bowed and then returned to the train.

Li Chengqian lowered his head slightly.

He knew that if nothing unexpected happened, after the Ministry of Personnel's examination, Cui Xuanji would be appointed as the proofreader of the Secretariat, Yuan Yihong would be appointed as the editor of the Hongwenguan, and Zhang Da'an would be appointed as the proofreader of the Prince's Chongwenguan.

However, because Zhang Daxiang is also in the East Palace, Zhang Daan will most likely be exchanged with someone else.

……

Seeing Hou Junji retreat to his train, Li Shimin looked at his ministers and said seriously, "My lords, March is already the time of spring, when the flowers are in bloom. Spring planting and watering must be carried out promptly in all regions. The Secretariat has sent a letter to all provinces, urging them to do so promptly... In addition, at the end of this autumn, the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Revenue must prepare to inspect the autumn harvest in all regions. Anyone found to have made mistakes will be dismissed immediately."

"Yes!" Fang Xuanling, Hou Junji and Tang Jian stood up and bowed at the same time.

The emperor's expression grew serious as he continued, "In late March, as per custom, I will be on an eastern tour. During this tour, the Crown Prince will be the regent, Duke Shen will assist, and the Minister of the Central Secretariat, Cen Wenben, General of the Left Guard, Li Daliang, General of the Left Jinwu Guard, Zheng Rentai, Minister of Personnel, Hou Junji, Vice Minister of Revenue, Cui Renshi, Vice Minister of Rites, Wen Wuyin, and Vice Minister of War, Cui Dunli, will remain in Chang'an."

Every time the emperor called someone's name, someone would stand up and bow.

The ministers standing in the hall looked up slightly in surprise.

It’s okay for others, but why did Zheng Rentai also stay in Chang’an?

You know, Zheng Rentai's daughter is the Crown Prince Liangti of the Eastern Palace.

The emperor kept him in Chang'an. Isn't he afraid of something happening?

Although Zheng Rentai didn't hold any official position in the Left Golden Guard, he was, after all, the General of the Left Golden Guard, and previously the General of the Left Guard. If the Emperor wasn't in Chang'an, he would hold military power...

Thinking of this, the ministers immediately understood that the emperor still trusted Zheng Rentai.

Keeping him in Chang'an was more to help the prince stabilize the situation.

Li Shimin continued, "Zhi Ning was dismissed from his post as Prince Secretary and granted the title of Silver and Green Guanglu Dafu. Zhang Xuansu, the Junior Secretary of the Crown Prince, was promoted to the position of Prince Secretary. Ma Zhou, the Doctor of the Central Secretariat and the Grand Master of the Left Praise of the Crown Prince, was promoted to the position of Junior Secretary of the Crown Prince and Acting Chief Censor. Chief Censor Liu Xiaosun was granted the title of Jianyi Dafu."

"We obey your command and thank Your Majesty for your grace." The four of them stood up at the same time and accepted the order solemnly.

The eyes of the ministers in the hall inadvertently fell on Ma Zhou.

Since Yu Zhining went into mourning, the Eastern Palace appointed Zhang Xuansu to be in charge of the Prince's Secretariat.

But Zhang Xuansu was only the Prince's Junior Secretary after all, and many of the things he did were not legitimate. He did not have the huge influence in the court and in front of the emperor like Yu Zhining.

Now Ma Zhou was officially promoted from the Prince's Left Praise Doctor to the Prince's Junior Secretary, and he also served as the Chief Censor.

Coupled with the emperor's trust in him and his huge influence in front of the emperor, the prestige of the Eastern Palace in the court immediately returned to what it was before, and even went a step further.

Not only that, many people still remember that Ma Zhou caught the emperor's favor because he lived in Li Daliang's house. When he gave Li Daliang advice, he was noticed by the emperor and was directly transferred to the Ministry of Personnel.

A few people who were keenly aware of the political situation suddenly discovered a horrifying fact.

Shangshu You Pushe Gao Shilian is not in good health, Zhongshu Shilang Cen Wenben is Ma Zhou's old boss, Ma Zhou has a good relationship with Li Daliang, and now he is also the Chief Censor and the Prince's Junior Secretary, and the Minister of Personnel Hou Junji has been relatively quiet in the past two years.

In other words, without anyone noticing, Ma Zhou had become the real core of the operation of the entire Chang'an when the emperor was not there.

Perhaps the emperor himself arranged it this way.

Ma Zhou is actually his most trusted minister...

Li Shimin looked at his ministers, his expression slightly gloomy, and then he said, "March 15th is the Queen's birthday. On that day, I, the Crown Prince, and all officials above the third rank will gather at the Taiyi Qinghua Temple to watch the consecration ceremony of the Taiyi Qinghua Emperor and pray for the Queen's afterlife."

"We obey your order!" All the ministers bowed in unison.

Li Shimin waved his hand slightly and said, "Okay, let's adjourn the court."

"I will respectfully send you off to Your Majesty!"

……

In the Chongde Hall of the Eastern Palace, Li Chengqian sat on a short couch with a somewhat dazed look on his face.

Zhang Xuansu, Ma Zhou, Li Anyan, Changsun Xiang, Linghu Defen, Xiao Jun, Xue Wanbei, Liu Renshi and others stood on both sides respectively.

"Your Highness is still thinking about the Empress," Ma Zhou suddenly said, and the ministers' eyes immediately fell on Li Chengqian. "Hmm!" Li Chengqian took a deep breath and shook his head. "As for the Taiyi Qinghua Temple, if you have time, please go and take a look. If there are any shortcomings, they should be addressed promptly. We still have another fortnight to go, so there's still time."

"Here!" All the ministers raised their hands.

"By the way, I haven't congratulated Mr. Zhang yet. Your brother passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi. The family tradition continues and he is a good official. Congratulations." Li Chengqian looked at Zhang Daxiang, the prince's attendant, and nodded with a smile.

He had met Zhang Da'an before. He was a young man with a kind character. Unfortunately, the Zhang family already had Zhang Daxiang in the East Palace.

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Zhang Daxiang stood up and bowed, saying, "This humble servant's success was merely a stroke of luck."

"It wasn't a fluke," Ma Zhou said, shaking his head. "If Cui Xuanji hadn't been from Hebei, he might not have won the first place in this imperial examination."

Li Chengqian looked at Ma Zhou in surprise and asked, "My dear, is there anything else about this imperial examination that is unknown to outsiders?"

The ministers in the hall also looked at Ma Zhou in surprise.

Ma Zhou nodded and said, "Haven't you noticed? Cui Xuanji was originally from Hebei. Although Yuan Yihong is a descendant of the Yuan family of Runan, he was actually born in Cangzhou, Hebei Province. As for Zhang Da'an and Zhang Sheren, if I remember correctly, your families are from Weizhou, right?"

"Yes!" Zhang Daxiang nodded seriously. Although his family was from the Zhang family of Dunhuang, they had settled in Weizhou a long time ago because of their ancestors' official duties.

"So basically speaking, the top three in this Ministry of Personnel's imperial examination are all from Hebei. It's just that Cui Xuanji's family background is more direct, so he was able to be directly selected as the top scorer. Otherwise, the top scorer would have been someone else." Ma Zhou directly pointed out the key point.

"Minister Ma is saying that the emperor is making preparations to stabilize Hebei." Li Chengqian immediately understood.

The emperor was actively preparing for the eastern expedition to Goguryeo, and the troops were dispatched in these few years.

Before that, he naturally had to appease the people of Hebei.

Although the court does not pay much attention to Hebei today, the conflicts are not that intense because the population of Hebei is not as large as in later generations.

If we appease the people of Hebei, it will be much easier to recruit civilians from Hebei to transport military supplies.

"Yes!" Ma Zhou nodded, then turned to look at the ministers and said, "So if you are from Hebei and have relatives in Hebei, these two years are the best time to serve the court. His Majesty will definitely not be stingy in granting official positions during these two years."

"Yes!" Everyone nodded to each other.

"Alright, just remember this, everyone. Let's get down to business." Li Chengqian looked at Zhang Xuansu and said, "After the Taiyi Qinghua Temple opens on March 15th, I'll have my broken leg reattached on March 16th. Many things need to be arranged in advance."

"Yes!" All the ministers in the hall became solemn at the same time.

Li Chengqian said seriously, "Three things. The first is the editing of the Southern History and the Northern History. We must start before March 16th. We've been preparing for a long time. Mr. Zhang will write a preface, and then we can start editing. With this first step, the rest can be filled in slowly."

"Yes!" Zhang Xuansu immediately bowed and accepted the order.

"The second thing is about the Kaogong Zhi. This year's focus is on improving bows and crossbows. Ma Qing is in charge of this matter." Li Chengqian looked at Ma Zhou.

"Yes!" Ma Zhou immediately bowed.

"Slow progress isn't important. What's important is that during this period, the number of bows and crossbows in the Eastern Palace must not exceed the palace regulations." Li Chengqian took a deep breath and said to Ma Zhou, "Ma Qing and the Crown Prince's guards will conduct daily inspections of the Eastern Palace, the Imperial Household Department, the three temples, the Left and Right Spring Offices, and even the stables."

"Yes!" Ma Zhou and Dugu Dabao bowed at the same time.

"The third thing is to work with the Sinong Temple to improve the planting method. The family steward was in charge before. Ma Qing will review it. If everything is correct, I will take over the arrangements." Li Chengqian directly handed this matter over to Ma Zhou.

Ma Zhou didn't hesitate and bowed directly: "Yes!"

"The Household Secretary will fully cooperate. In addition, Lord Zhang will monitor the situation at all times." After a brief pause, Li Chengqian said, "As for the matter of superintendent, you all went through it last year. Everything can proceed as usual!"

"Yes!" All the ministers bowed.

At this moment, a burst of hurried footsteps sounded outside the hall.

Gao Zhenxing, the attendant of the imperial court, stood at the entrance of the palace and bowed solemnly to Li Chengqian, "Your Highness!"

Li Chengqian raised his head calmly: "What's the matter?"

"Your Highness, the Secretariat has just forwarded the petition approved by Your Majesty. The King of Wei will go to Taiyi Qinghua Temple together on March 15th." Gao Zhenxing bowed and handed the petition in his hand to Li Anyan with a serious expression.

Li Anyan took it and placed it on the table in front of Li Chengqian.

Li Chengqian took a look at the "King of Wei's Request to Visit Taiyi Qinghua Temple" and a sneer of disdain flashed in his eyes.

"Your Highness!" Ma Zhou, sitting to one side, looked at Li Chengqian and asked, "How does Your Highness plan to respond?"

"Qingque is my younger brother. That day was my mother's birthday, and he went to pray for her afterlife. I was overjoyed." Li Chengqian looked up at the ministers and said solemnly, "No matter what he does."

"Yes!" All the ministers bowed.

The King of Wei has been quiet for several months, and now he suddenly shows up. He must have bad intentions, but at this time, Li Chengqian, as the crown prince, cannot stop him.

To stop it would be tantamount to disregarding filial piety. No matter what the King of Wei did, he could not be stopped.

This is the premise.

Li Chengqian raised his head, his expression softening. "That day, Qingque did everything to pray for the well-being of our mother. He wouldn't do anything else, so... An Yan!"

"I'm here!" Li Anyan immediately bowed.

"Go and tell the Crown Princess to prepare some clean, suitable plain clothes, and send one set to Zhinu and Sizi. Zhinu should have gone with us that day." After a brief pause, Li Chengqian looked up at the sky outside the palace and said softly, "That day, Gu, Qingque, and Zhinu, the three of us brothers, will be there. We are all doing well. If the Queen Mother saw it, she would surely be delighted."

"Yes!" All the ministers in the hall bowed in unison with solemn expressions.

The King of Wei was always thinking about how to become the crown prince, while the Crown Prince was always thinking about their brotherly relationship.

High judgment.

(End of this chapter)