Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 12 Chu Suiliang and Xu Jingzong

Censor Lu Botao, a member of the Fanyang Lu family, has a close relationship with Zhangsun Chong. He often impeaches pro-military officials and is a sharp weapon of the aristocratic faction.

The Censorate was the stronghold of pro-military officials. Normally, the pro-military officials tried their best to find something to use against Lu Botao to deal with him, but they never found any.

Now that Lu Botao dared to be absent from the New Moon and Full Moon Courts, Cui Yixuan would naturally not let him go and immediately asked for permission to arrest him.

Li Zhi was secretly surprised.

According to Wu Meiniang's report, Zhangsun Wuji summoned all his officials last night, obviously determined to win today's court meeting.

How could there be a sudden flaw?

In any case, the only thing to do now is to summon Lu Botao to the court and ask him questions clearly.

He immediately approved the request, and twelve Jinwu Guards, led by a Lang Jiang, left the court and went to Lu Mansion to arrest the person.

Of course, the ministers could not wait for Lu Botao, so the court meeting continued.

A tall, thin official in a purple robe with floral patterns stepped out, holding up a tablet and speaking in a clear voice, "Your Highness Han Ai has something to report!"

Li Zhi glanced at him, and memories of this person emerged in his mind.

Han Ai's official position was Shizhong, the head of the Menxia Province. He belonged to the party of Zhangsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang. Together with another prime minister Lai Ji, he firmly opposed the abolition of Wang Liwu.

Logically speaking, such a person should be banished from the court like Chu Suiliang.

However, after Empress Wu came to power, Emperor Gaozong of Tang not only did not punish the two, but praised them instead.

Empress Wu even submitted a petition requesting Li Zhi to reward the two of them, which showed her great magnanimity.

The main reason is that the aristocratic families have deep roots in the court. If they are forcibly expelled from the court, they are likely to unite and become desperate.

In addition, due to the system of the previous dynasty, most officials came from aristocratic families. Even if an iron-fisted approach was used to purge the aristocratic families, there would not be enough talented people to replace them.

If the emperor wants to govern the world, he must rely on officials. Without officials, how can the emperor govern alone?

Therefore, if one wants to deal with the aristocracy, the imperial examination is the top priority. Only by recruiting officials from humble backgrounds all over the world can the aristocracy's monopoly on the official group be broken.

This kind of thing cannot be rushed. The only way is to slowly increase the number of candidates admitted through the imperial examinations and gradually weaken the power of the aristocratic families.

Therefore, Emperor Gaozong of Tang and Empress Wu could only proceed slowly, appease the two men with kind words, and at the same time appease the Guanlong Group to prevent them from taking risks.

Li Zhi's mind was racing. He smiled at Han Ai and said, "What do you want to report, Mr. Han?"

Han Ai said in a clear voice, "I heard that when the governor of Tanzhou, Chu Suiliang, climbed Taogong Mountain in Tanzhou and visited Shitou Temple, he was so impressed by its grandeur that he wrote the four characters 'Great Tang Dynasty Prospers Temple' on the stone tablet. This shows that Chu Suiliang has a deep affection for the country. I implore Your Majesty to issue an order to summon Chu Suiliang back to the capital and reinstate him to his post!"

Li Zhi's heart moved.

He had conducted in-depth research on celebrities like Chu Suiliang and had a fixed impression of him.

Generally speaking, Chu Suiliang's strengths are his loyalty to the country and his rigor and integrity, while his weaknesses are his narrow-mindedness and vindictiveness. He is a person with both obvious strengths and weaknesses.

However, he inherited the memory of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, and had an additional impression of Emperor Gaozong of Tang about Chu Suiliang in his mind.

This impression was very strong because Emperor Gaozong of Tang disliked Chu Suiliang very much.

This was not only because Chu Suiliang opposed the abolition of Wang Liwu, but also because he was a rigid person and did not know how to adapt.

When Emperor Gaozong of Tang first ascended the throne, Zhangsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang were both ministers of state, and the imperial edicts were basically decided by the two of them together.

All Emperor Gaozong of Tang had to do was nod his head like a chicken.

After all, Changsun Wuji was the uncle of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, so the two had an additional layer of kinship. Moreover, Changsun Wuji had high emotional intelligence and was good at speaking, so he would not embarrass Emperor Gaozong of Tang.

Chu Suiliang was different. He spoke directly and never considered Emperor Gaozong's face.

Moreover, he always liked to talk about Emperor Taizong, often saying what would have happened if Emperor Taizong were still alive...

Emperor Gaozong of Tang was soft on the outside but strong on the inside, and was always scolded like a child by Chu Suiliang, so he was already full of anger.

He hated Chu Suiliang very much, but was concerned about the power of Guanlong nobles such as Zhangsun Wuji, so he did not react violently. He endured it secretly until he deposed Wang Liwu.

These two impressions formed a sharp contrast in Li Zhi's mind.

He was not Emperor Gaozong of Tang now, so he did not have any deep aversion to Chu Suiliang.

However, with these additional memories, it's like watching a movie, and my impression of Chu Suiliang has somewhat declined.

No matter what he felt, he would not recall Chu Suiliang now, otherwise the aristocratic families would become powerful again and he, the emperor, would not be able to be independent.

He was just pondering how to reject Han Ai's memorial when someone spoke up. "I have heard that after Chu Suiliang was exiled to Tanzhou, he wrote several poems expressing resentment towards the court. How can he be recalled if he remains unrepentant?"

The person who spoke with a smile on his face was Li Yifu, the Minister of the Central Secretariat.

Li Yifu is a very interesting person. Before deposing Wang Liwu, he actually did not dare to offend the Changsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang groups.

Among all the civil and military officials in the court at that time, only old ministers such as Xu Jingzong and Li Ji dared to come forward to support Emperor Gaozong of Tang in deposing Wang and enthroning Wu.

But Li Yifu is also a very smooth person.

Although he did not explicitly support it, he was very close to Xu Jingzong's son-in-law Wang Dejian.

As a result of this incident, Changsun Wuji used iron-fisted means to banish him from Chang'an.

Li Yifu was naturally angry. Under Wang Dejian's persuasion, he went to Emperor Gaozong of Tang at night to express his support for deposing Wang and enthroning Wu.

Although Li Yifu was only a fifth-rank Zhongshu Sheren at that time, this position was very important. He was responsible for drafting imperial edicts and had a clear understanding of all the government orders of the Zhongshu Province.

With such a person in the Secretariat, officials were able to fool the emperor.

Therefore, Emperor Gaozong of Tang was very happy when Li Yifu came to surrender.

He withheld the imperial edict demoting Li Yifu from Chang'an and saved his official position.

Later, the edict to depose Wang Liwu was written by Li Yifu himself, which can be said to be a great contribution.

Moreover, according to the memory of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Li Yifu came from a poor family. Because of his hard work and diligence, he was appreciated by Li Daliang and recommended to Li Shimin.

If it weren't for the memories of later generations in his mind, Li Zhi would definitely regard Li Yifu as a loyal minister.

After hearing this, Han Ai angrily said, "What nonsense! Mr. Chu's new work was simply inspired by the past, yet you villains are exploiting it to accuse him of something. Aren't you afraid of being ridiculed by the world?"

Li Yifu turned to look at Yu Zhining and said with a smile, "Prime Minister Yu, you are the emperor's tutor and a master of poetry. What do you think of Mr. Chu's poems, whether there is resentment in them?"

This trick is called diverting trouble away. Yu Zhining coughed twice and said nothing.

He was originally the third-in-command of the Guanlong Group. Among the eight pillars that formed the Guanlong Group, the Yu family was one of them.

Strictly speaking, judging only by origin, Yu Zhining is more legitimate than Changsun Wuji, not to mention Chu Suiliang, a Shandong nobleman.

However, Yu Zhining was not talented enough and was not appointed as regent by Emperor Taizong.

Therefore, in the aristocratic family faction, he could only rank third, surpassed by Chu Suiliang, a Shandong nobleman.

Chu Suiliang was not a good person. He didn't even give face to the emperor, let alone Yu Zhining, and often scolded him like a dog.

Yu Zhining had long been harboring resentment, and when Wang was deposed and Wu was enthroned, he saw Chu Suiliang bravely fighting, so he chose to stay out of it.

He thought that after Chu Suiliang was demoted, Zhangsun Wuji would rely more on him, win him over, and make him the second-in-command.

Unexpectedly, Changsun Wuji was disgusted with his behavior of surrendering to the enemy in the face of battle. He did not allow him to explain at all and directly kicked him out of the aristocratic faction.

Later, when Xu Jingzong tried to win him over, he sternly refused. As a result, he was now in a difficult position and in an extremely embarrassing situation in the court.

Han Ai glanced at Yu Zhining and said coldly, "Mr. Yu is old, his mind isn't sharp anymore, how could he have made the distinction? Besides, accusing someone of a crime based on just one poem is outrageous."

Li Yifu said loudly, "When did I ever say that Chu Suiliang was convicted based on his poetry? Chu Suiliang's crimes are rebelliousness, outspokenness, and disrespect. Those poems show that he has not repented after being demoted and harbors resentment. Therefore, he should not be recalled. Your Majesty, please make your decision!"

Li Yifu's words were logically clear and well-organized. Han Ai was interrupted and was speechless for a while.

Xu Jingzong suddenly stepped out and said in a hoarse voice, "Minister Li is absolutely right. I, this old minister, think that not only should Chu Suiliang not be recalled, but he should be punished!"

As soon as these words were spoken, they immediately angered the aristocratic faction. Several officials came forward at the same time and denounced Xu Jingzong for taking revenge on personal grudges.

Although Xu Jingzong was old, he was well-versed in ancient and modern knowledge and had excellent eloquence.

He first recounted Chu Suiliang's past misdeeds one by one, and then cited extensive evidence, comparing him with officials in past dynasties who were originally loyal to the country but later became corrupt.

Officials from the aristocratic factions also tried to refute the allegations by citing anecdotes from figures of various dynasties.

However, Xu Jingzong had supervised the national history and assisted Wei Zheng in compiling the Book of Sui. When it came to historical records, all the officials from the aristocratic factions combined could not arguably defeat him alone.

Li Zhi looked at Xu Jingzong who was talking eloquently and found that his reputation was actually quite good now, and a wonderful feeling arose in his heart.

Because the New Book of Tang compiled by Ouyang Xiu and others in the Song Dynasty contains a list of treacherous ministers of the Tang Dynasty.

Xu Jingzong was rated as the most treacherous minister in the Tang Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)