Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 43 Liu Rengui Becomes Prime Minister

In the last few days of the sixth year of Yonghui, Li Zhi discovered something strange.

Wu Meiniang seems to have changed a lot.

In the past, whenever the two were together, Wu Meiniang would always talk about the affairs of the previous dynasty. However, in recent days, her topic always stayed on the harem.

For example: which prince has made recent progress in his studies, which lady's birthday is approaching, and even a poem Princess Yi Yang wrote recently, she would talk about it.

Li Zhi had long witnessed Wu Meiniang's ability to understand people's hearts. She had obviously figured out his bottom line of not wanting her to participate in politics, so she took the initiative to give in.

Li Zhi was naturally happy to see that she was willing to do so.

However, perhaps influenced by Empress Wu, Xu Jin has become more cautious recently.

Li Zhi had no suspicion of Xu Jin and often mentioned things of the previous dynasty to her. However, Xu Jin always used the excuse of "a hen crowing at dawn means trouble for the family" to shirk responsibility.

Li Zhi asked again and again, but Xu Jin ignored him, which made Li Zhi quite helpless.

Only Concubine Zheng was not affected. She responded to whatever Li Zhi talked to her about.

However, she was not very interested in which minister of the previous dynasty was appointed as prime minister. Instead, she was more concerned about those ministers with talents.

For example, Shangguan Yi's calligraphy, Yan Liben's painting, and Lu Chengqing's chess.

She especially loved painting and often sent people to the Hanlin Academy to appreciate the works of some painting masters and leave comments.

During the early Tang Dynasty, students of the Hanlin Academy had no official positions and no ranks. They simply accompanied the emperor in his literary and artistic pursuits.

Yuan Zhi rarely summoned students from the Hanlin Academy, so Li Zhi was not familiar with the Hanlin Academy.

In any case, in the last month of the sixth year of Yonghui, the harem was relatively peaceful and harmonious.

After much consideration, Li Zhi finally selected two new prime ministers.

The first day of the first lunar month was called New Year's Day, also known as Yuanzheng, in the Tang Dynasty.

The beginning of the new year brings new things to the world.

This means that the new year is coming. The most grand court meeting in the Tang Dynasty was held on the first day of the first lunar month.

The grand court meeting on the main day was held in Taiji Hall.

The day before, officials from the Palace Department and the Ministry of Rites set up the imperial tent in the Taiji Hall and arranged the seats for civil and military officials and guests.

The seating arrangements for civil and military officials this time were different from those for the New Moon and Full Moon Dynasties, and were not entirely based on the official ranks.

For example, the descendants of Zhou and Sui, Duke Jie and Duke Zun, and the descendant of Confucius, Hou Baosheng, would all attend court and sit in the front seats.

After the Zhou Dynasty fell, the world was passed to the Sui Dynasty, and the world lost by the Sui Dynasty was recovered by the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, when the Tang Dynasty held a grand court meeting, the two gentlemen would be invited to attend the ceremony.

This is also the way the ancestors of the Tang Dynasty warned their descendants. When seeing these two gentlemen, they should know that the world is not ruled by one person, and they need to be diligent and self-disciplined in order to keep the country.

After the third-rank officials in the capital, there were princes, governors and provincial governors from various prefectures and counties.

Not all vassal kings came. Some were too far away or too lazy to attend.

After them, there were envoys from various states and counties, envoys from various countries, governors and provincial governors below the fourth rank, members of the imperial family, and civil and military officials below the sixth rank.

On New Year's Day, the streets of Chang'an were filled with guards and were under martial law. Only officials and guests who were allowed to attend court meetings were allowed to walk.

Before daybreak, officials and guests gathered outside the palace gate.

There were too many officials participating this time. The three groups of officials that were clearly separated during the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month were now mixed together, presenting a scene of great joy.

Liu Rengui naturally stood with Xu Xiaode, Shangguan Yi and others.

He has shown obvious changes in recent days. He has become more cheerful and his complexion has improved. Even his dark face seems to have turned a little paler.

Shangguan Yi smiled and said, "They say that when a good thing happens, people feel refreshed. Lord Liu is about to be appointed Prime Minister, and he looks completely different now."

The Ministry of Personnel's assessment has been completed, and the transfers of officials above the fifth rank have been submitted to the emperor, who has approved them and sent them to the Secretariat.

After the officials of the Secretariat drafted the edict, the changes in the official positions of all officials would be announced at the first court meeting after the holiday.

The most important change among these is naturally the new prime minister.

The emperor appointed two new prime ministers, one was Liu Rengui and the other was Li Yifu, both of whom were third-rank officials in the Secretariat.

Li Ji was promoted from the third rank of Tongzhongshu Menxia to Shangshu You Pushe, becoming a regular prime minister.

He used to be the Shangshu You Pushe, but was later forced to resign due to pressure from Zhangsun Wuji and others.

Now that the sage is no longer constrained by Zhangsun Wuji, it is only natural for him to promote Li Ji to the position of Right Prime Minister.

Liu Rengui's official rank and actual official position also changed. His official rank was promoted to the upper rank of the fourth rank, Zhengyi Daifu, and his actual official position was promoted to Menxia Shilang.

This news naturally could not be suppressed, and Xu Xiaode went to Liu Rengui's house that night to congratulate him on his appointment as prime minister. By now, almost all officials above the fourth rank who had some connections knew that Liu Rengui was going to be appointed prime minister.

When everyone knew that he was going to be appointed prime minister, no one called him Liu Hulu anymore.

Xu Xiaode said with a smile, "We are also honored that Lord Liu has been appointed Prime Minister."

Shangguan Yi glanced in the direction of Xu Jingzong and Li Yifu and said with a smile, "This group of people relied on supporting Empress Wu to ascend the throne, but now I'm afraid they're going to fight among themselves."

Originally, among the group, Xu Jingzong had the highest official position and the best relationship with Empress Wu. Logically, he should have been appointed as prime minister.

However, the emperor appointed Li Yifu as prime minister.

This shows that the queen's influence on the emperor is weakening.

Now that Li Yifu is the prime minister, Xu Jingzong, the leader, is in an awkward position.

Although the two of them still seem to be in harmony, I am afraid that they have hidden ulterior motives in their hearts, and a rift is inevitable.

Xu Jingzong suddenly looked over here, and Shangguan Yi looked away after making eye contact with him.

Just then, two officials, one tall and one short, walked over from a distance. They were the Minister of Revenue Lu Chengqing and the Vice Minister of Revenue Du Zhenglun.

Lu Chengqing bowed and smiled from a distance, "Congratulations, Mr. Liu, on becoming Prime Minister."

Liu Rengui bowed and said, "Thank you very much."

Lu and Du were originally sworn enemies of the Guanlong Group, so they certainly would not join Zhangsun Wuji's camp after entering Beijing.

Both of them looked down on Xu Jingzong and Li Yifu.

Originally, they wanted to form their own faction within the neutral faction, but when they saw Liu Rengui become prime minister, the old Qingliu faction seemed to be on the rise.

After discussing it, the two decided to make friends with the old Qingliu faction so that they could get some help in the court.

After a few people laughed and chatted for a while, Du Zhenglun suddenly snorted and said, "Look, the Grand Marshal Changsun has arrived. He's so majestic."

Everyone turned around and saw six big men in black carrying a sedan chair with a curtain covering the top, which looked very impressive.

Originally, in the early days of Emperor Taizong's reign, only the emperor could ride in a sedan chair. Later, due to the suicidal attempts of some second-generation nobles, it gradually became popular among the powerful and wealthy.

However, among all the civil and military officials in the court, except for a few princes, only Zhangsun Wuji liked to ride in a sedan chair.

Changsun Wuji's arrival immediately caused a sensation. Not only did people from the aristocratic families gather around him, but even Lord Jie, Lord Zun, and Marquis Baosheng came over to pay their respects to him.

Lu Chengqing said calmly: "After all, he is a veteran of three dynasties, the first in Lingyan Pavilion, and has a wide network of contacts. It is normal for him to receive such courtesy."

An official glanced at him and said with a half-smile, "I heard that Chu Suiliang impeached Minister Lu twice, and that General Changsun was behind it. Doesn't Minister Lu bear any grudge at all?"

Lu Chengqing said, "I came to Beijing to serve the court, not to settle personal grudges."

The man smiled and said, "Minister Lu is a man of high moral character, and we admire him." There was a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

Lu Chengqing pretended not to hear.

Not long after, the sky became brighter and brighter, and foreign envoys arrived one after another.

Murong Xin was treated with the greatest courtesy, and Xu Jingzong, Li Yifu and others surrounded him.

Queen Dongnu stood alone in the corner. This was her first time attending a Tang Dynasty meeting. Seeing that she was surrounded by Tang Dynasty dignitaries and envoys from various countries, she felt a little nervous.

At this moment, a voice came from beside me.

"Congratulations, Queen Binjiu. You have finally fulfilled your wish and become a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty." The person who came was Dubu.

Queen Binjiu glanced at him and saw that there was no one around him. It was obvious that because the news that the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty had sent people to reprimand him had spread, the envoys from other countries did not dare to approach him.

"You don't have to be so sarcastic. You Tibetans are greedy by nature and have killed so many Qiang people. I'm just trying to protect myself." She said coldly.

Du Bu sighed, "The Queen has misunderstood me deeply. I offer my sincere congratulations. I hope that our two countries can enjoy peace on the border and shared prosperity in the future."

Queen Bin was slightly stunned, not expecting him to have such an attitude.

After a little thought, she quickly understood.

Dubu, obviously seeing that the Eastern Women's Kingdom had surrendered to the Tang Dynasty and that it would be difficult to annex it for the time being, tried to show his friendship to appease the Eastern Women's Kingdom and prevent it from helping Tuyuhun.

After Tubo devours Tuyuhun, we will show our fangs and swallow up the Kingdom of Eastern Women in one gulp, and we will not be polite at all.

She forced a smile and said, "As long as you stop bullying my Dongnu Kingdom, I will naturally be willing to live in peace with you."

Du Bu chuckled and said, "Of course. I'll take my leave now. I'll toast to the Queen and apologize at the dinner." Then he turned and left.

(End of this chapter)