Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 13 The First Little Brother of the Tang Dynasty
Not only Xu Jingzong was on the list of treacherous ministers, but Li Yifu was also on the list, ranking second.

Who would have thought that these two had such a good reputation before Wang Liwu was deposed?
Actually, if you think about it carefully, it’s not surprising.

A person starts to become arrogant only after he has achieved success and fame. This was true for Changsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang.

Xu Jingzong and Li Yifu have just emerged. Previously, they were both unsuccessful people in the court.

At that time, he only wanted to be granted a title of nobility and become a prime minister, and to achieve great things. Therefore, he was particularly concerned about his reputation and naturally would not make big mistakes.

Of course, there is another possibility that these two people may have been slandered by historians. After all, the New Book of Tang and Zizhi Tongjian were all written by literati in the Song Dynasty.

This group of Song Dynasty scholars were extremely conservative in their thinking and hated Wu Zetian's reign as emperor. Anyone who supported the abolition of the king and the establishment of Wu was denounced as a traitor, including Li Ji.

What the truth is, whether Xu Jingzong and Li Yifu are loyal or treacherous, can only be known after a long time, when Li Zhi witnesses it with his own eyes.

Just as Xu Jingzong was arguing with his ministers, the Jinwu Guards sent by Li Zhi returned with bad news.

The censor Lu Botao died unexpectedly. He took poison at home. Before his death, he wrote a memorial.

The debate in the court was interrupted, and all the ministers looked at Li Zhi, or to be more precise, at the memorial in his hand.

After reading it, Li Zhi said slowly, "Lu Botao guarantees with his life and property that the court will recall Chu Suiliang."

This is a death warning!
Han Ai's voice was hoarse as he shouted, "Your Majesty, Lu Botao risked his life to remonstrate with you. You are rich and peaceful, yet you are expelling your old ministers. Have you not yet come to your senses?"

Li Zhi remained silent.

He knew that Han Ai had a bad temper. He had once compared Emperor Gaozong of Tang to King You of Zhou who played tricks on the princes by lighting beacons in the court, which made Emperor Gaozong so angry that he expelled him from the court.

It's not surprising to say such things.

Xu Jingzong and others were caught off guard by this move. They had already guessed that Lu Botao's death was related to the banquet hosted by Changsun Wuji last night.

Xu Jingzong winked at Cui Yixuan.

Cui Yixuan understood what he meant and was about to step out to speak when he suddenly saw Li Zhi walking down from the throne.

All the officials were shocked.

Emperor Gaozong of Tang had a feminine and introverted personality. Since he took office, he always sat on the dragon throne to discuss state affairs in an orderly manner. Even if he stood up in anger, he would quickly sit back down.

This was the first time that the lady got married and walked down from the throne like this.

Li Zhi slowly walked among the ministers, his eyes sweeping over them one by one. All the ministers lowered their heads, not daring to confront him. Only Han Ai stared with his big eyes, calm and fearless.

Another prime minister, Lai Ji, couldn't help but worry for him and kept giving him looks, but Han Ai pretended not to see anything.

Han Ai was also from a noble family in Guanlong.

His family was not big and he himself had no talent, but his father was one of the first people to follow Li Shimin and had a very good relationship with Changsun Wuji.

After Emperor Gaozong of Tang ascended the throne, he rose step by step under the care of Zhangsun Wuji.

In the third year of Yonghui, he entered the Menxia Province and served as the Yellow Gate Minister.

In the fourth year of Yonghui, he was awarded the title of "Zhongshu Menxia Tongsanpin" and was appointed as the Minister of State Affairs and Prime Minister.

In the sixth year of Yonghui, he was appointed as Shizhong and concurrently the Prince's guest.

In the past, there were two big bosses, Zhangsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang, in the front. Although Han Ai was the prime minister, he had few opportunities to show up.

Now that Chu Suiliang has been demoted, Changsun Wuji has hidden behind the scenes.

He felt that it was time for him to take on the responsibility himself and improve his family's status in the aristocratic group, so he was very stubborn and refused to give in.

Li Zhi and Han Ai stared at each other for a long moment before slowly returning to the throne. He spoke softly, "Lu Botao's death demonstrated his resolve, earning respect. Xue Qing, you personally lead the Qianniu Guards and summon Lu Botao's wife and children to the side hall. I must personally meet with them before making a decision!"

Xue Rengui agreed: "Yes."

Han Ai asked anxiously, "Your Majesty, how can you, with your status, meet the family of a Censor?"

Li Zhi glanced at him and said, "Although Lu Botao holds a low position, he is loyal and courageous, and is devoted to serving the country. What's wrong with me visiting his family?"

Li Yifu stepped out quickly and said with a smile, "Your Majesty is benevolent and generous. This is truly a blessing for our Tang Dynasty!"

Han Ai's face changed suddenly, and he looked at Lai Ji, both of them looking a little uneasy.

In a sense, Lu Botao was forced to death by them.

At the night banquet at Changsun Mansion last night, everyone discussed how to recall Chu Suiliang, but no one could think of a good solution.

Finally, Han Ai proposed the idea of ​​dying as a warning.

Aristocratic families have been able to survive for centuries precisely because they know how to choose and sacrifice. Sacrificing an ordinary family member to save the elders is a common occurrence. Then again, the suicide candidate can't just be anyone. If the official is too high, it would be a pity to die. If the official is too low, his death would be useless.

In the end, the Censor, who held a low position but had great influence, became the best choice.

However, since Cui Yixuan was won over by Xu Jingzong, the number of censors from the aristocratic family factions has become fewer and fewer.

There were no family members in the Changsun, Lai, and Han mansions to serve as censors, so they could only be selected from other noble families.

After much deliberation, the unlucky Lu Botao was chosen.

The Lu family of Fanyang initially resisted strongly. They were old-established nobles in Shandong, and their interests were not completely consistent with those of the Guanlong Group. They were unwilling to sacrifice an elite from their own family for the benefit of the public.

It was not until Zhangsun Wuji offered extremely generous conditions to the Fanyang Lu family that the patriarch of the Lu family finally agreed.

Han Ai didn't know how the Lu clan leader persuaded Lu Botao, but he believed that Lu Botao must have died reluctantly, after all, he still had a bright future.

When a person dies with resentment, his family will naturally be able to tell.

If the emperor finds out any flaws, he will lose both the wife and the army.

Han Ai looked at Lai Ji, who shook his head with a helpless expression.

No one had thought in advance that the emperor would suddenly act out of the ordinary and ask to meet the family of a small-time censor, so they were completely unprepared.

Now it all depends on whether Zhangsun Wuji, who has not yet attended the court, can take one step ahead and fill this gap.

The issue of Chu Suiliang was finally brought to light, but the court meeting had just begun.

Prime Minister and Minister of War Cui Dunli stepped out and said in a hoarse voice, "Your Majesty, Cheng Zhijie, the commander-in-chief of the Congshan Road, has reported that due to heavy rain, less than 20% of the military rations have been delivered to the front. Please request that the court send more military rations."

Although Cui Dunli was not the oldest person in the court, he looked the most old and weak. After speaking a few words, he became a little breathless.

Han Ai strode out and said, "Your Majesty, Cheng Zhijie has been ordered to go to war for nearly half a year, but he still remains in Shanzhou. He is obviously too old to lead the troops. I think Cheng Zhijie should be removed from his position as the Grand Commander of Congshan Road and replaced by another capable general."

Lai Ji stepped out and said, "Duke Ying is a skilled warrior and holds great prestige in the army. He is perfectly suited to shoulder this important responsibility. I recommend Li Ji to succeed Cheng Zhijie!"

Li Ji squinted his eyes and smiled, but did not step out to speak for himself because he guessed that someone would do it for him.

As expected, Xu Jingzong came out and said, "Your Majesty, as far as I know, Duke Lu is not marching fast because he is waiting for a surprise attack, not because he is deliberately being slow."

Han Ai asked, "What surprise troops are you waiting for?"

Xu Jingzong smiled slightly and said to Cui Dunli, "Old Minister Cui, is there anything you forgot?"

Cui Dunli had just sat back down when he heard this. He was stunned for a moment and stared at the tablet with his dim old eyes.

One of the purposes of ministers carrying a tablet was to record text so as to prevent themselves from forgetting what they were going to report to court.

After reading it, Cui Dunli slapped his forehead and stood up tremblingly.

"Oh, I almost forgot, Your Majesty, I have something else to report."

Li Zhi said, "Old Minister, please speak."

Cui Dunli said, "Po Run, the deputy governor of Yanran, has assembled five thousand cavalrymen and wants to join General Cheng to help our army attack Helu. He also said he would provide his own rations and not require the imperial court to provide them."

Li Zhi was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized.

It turns out that Po Run was the leader of the Uighurs. His father was the first Uighur Khan who surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, and was later killed by his nephew Wuhe.

The Wuhe controlled the Huihe tribe and wanted to join the Turks.

Po Run was in his early twenties at the time and had no prestige in the tribe. He was unable to compete with the Wuhe at all, so he had to ride alone to the Yanran Protectorate to ask for help from the Tang Dynasty.

The deputy protector at that time was named Yuan Lichen. When he heard that the Uighurs had rebelled against the Tang Dynasty, he did not dare to be negligent. He assembled more than 10,000 cavalrymen and, under the guidance of Po Run, found the rebellious Uighur army and defeated it.

Po Run personally cut off Wuhe's head and offered it in front of his father's spirit, expressing his deep gratitude to the Tang Dynasty.

He followed Yuan Lichen to the court to pay homage, and was named Uighur Khan and Deputy Protector of Yanran by Li Shimin.

Since then, the Uighurs led by Po Run became the most loyal brothers of the Tang Dynasty. Whenever the Tang Dynasty used troops in the Western Regions, the Uighurs would volunteer to fight alongside the Tang Dynasty, and they would also provide their own dry food and not cause trouble to others.

Of course, under the protection of the Tang Dynasty, the Uighur tribe became increasingly powerful, and no one dared to provoke it.

Li Zhi smiled faintly and said, "General Cheng is worthy of his years of command. He must have guessed that Po Run would ask for orders to attack, so he slowed down his march. Approved!"

Han Ai and Lai Ji looked at each other and sighed. Not long after the court meeting began, the aristocratic factions lost the two most crucial battles.

(End of this chapter)