Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 53 Di Renjie Enters Beijing

On the fifth day of the first lunar month, the holiday finally ended.

At the first court meeting of the new year, Li Zhi announced new personnel appointments.

Because they were all planned last year and there were significant personnel changes, the court officials had already been mentally prepared and there were not many disturbances.

Officials below the fifth rank were the most transferred, but this had little impact on the court structure. The most important thing was the changes in officials in the central government of the two provinces.

Liu Rengui naturally received the most attention. He was promoted directly from Jieshi Zhong to Menxia Shilang, and then to Canzhi Zhengshi, officially becoming the third in command of the Menxia Province.

In addition, Shangguan Yi was transferred to the Secretariat and became the Secretary of the Secretariat.

This was originally a very sensational event. Although Shangguan Yi's rank did not change much, his power was increased more than Liu Rengui's.

Generally speaking, when people are transferred to a less busy government office like the Secretary General, they are usually first transferred to the Six Ministries Vice Minister position, and then to the Secretariat as adjutants.

Shangguan Yi skipped a step and directly entered the core of the two provinces. As the Minister of the Secretariat, his power was even greater than that of Xu Xiaode, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

During the Lunar New Year holiday, the ministers discussed this matter more than once, wondering what Shangguan Yi had done to suddenly gain the sage's special attention.

Only Xu Jingzong knew that Shangguan Yi had won the emperor's favor by impeaching him over the matter of returning gifts to foreign envoys.

Xu Jingzong worked hard last year and finally helped the emperor depose Wang Liwu. He thought he would be appointed prime minister this year.

Unexpectedly, he lost the emperor's favor because of a trivial matter, and Liu Rengui and Li Yifu took the lead.

What frustrated him most was that Empress Wu suddenly stopped interfering in the affairs of the previous dynasty, and his most important connection became useless.

Being depressed, he has not had the energy to go to the yamen recently.

Li Yifu was the exact opposite of him. He seemed a few years younger and full of energy. Every day he spun around in the Secretariat like a top.

Yuan Gongyu, Cui Yixuan and others saw that Xu Jingzong was no longer favored and Li Yifu was in the limelight, so they turned around and followed Li Yifu's lead.

On the other hand, Xu Xiaode, Liu Rengui and Shangguan Yi came to power, and the power of the Old Qingliu faction increased greatly. They were no longer marginal figures in the court.

Young people like Pei Yan and Xue Yuanchao among the young and vigorous elites originally looked down on these old elites, thinking that they were living like dogs at their age, so they drew a clear line with them.

Now that they have regained their rightful status, they no longer hesitate and return to their roots.

With their joining, the power of the Qingliu faction increased greatly.

In the court, the Qingliu faction, the Yongwu faction and the Aristocratic family faction formed a three-way balance of power.

These changes in the court had no effect on the people of Chang'an City.

The spring is still chilly and the weather is getting warmer. In the new year, people start to work hard for their livelihood.

In mid-January, outside the Chunming Gate of Chang'an City, people and merchants were coming in and out.

Among the crowd entering the city, a young man wearing a futou was looking at the surrounding vendors and said with a smile: "Di Shun, how many years have we been away from Beijing?"

A servant nearby said with a grin, "Ah Lang, you went to Beijing to take the imperial examination three years ago. Have you forgotten so quickly?"

The young man in the bun was Di Renjie, who had come to Beijing to take up his post. He sighed and said, "Yes, I've only been in the government for three years, and I've suddenly been promoted to Acting Dali Temple Junior Secretary. I don't know whether this is a blessing or a curse."

Di Shun smiled and said, "Of course it's a blessing. The higher the official, the better. We servants can also look down on others."

Di Renjie glanced at him and said, "What do you know, little boy?"

Di Shun stuck out his tongue and said with a smile, "Ah Lang, where are we going now?"

Di Renjie thought for a moment and said, "Let's go pay our respects to Lord Yan first."

Although Yan Liben was not Di Renjie's mentor, he had helped him, and Di Renjie always admired Yan Liben as a person.

Yan's Mansion is located on the East Street of Chongrenfang, not far from Chunming Gate.

As it was still early, Yan Liben was probably at the yamen, so Di Renjie wandered around the city for a while. He felt that Chang'an had become more lively after not seeing it for several years.

As I was walking on Pingkangfang Street, I suddenly saw a young man coming towards me. He was about seventeen or eighteen years old, with delicate eyebrows and eyes, fair face and red lips. What a handsome young man.

The young man was riding on a white horse. He was a handsome man and the horse was also very handsome. Five or six servants gathered around him, and a parrot with colorful feathers stood on his shoulder, cooing non-stop.

Di Shun praised: "Ah, it is worthy of being the emperor's feet to give birth to such a god-like young man."

Di Renjie laughed and said, "There are many powerful people in the capital, and there are many young men who are well-dressed and well-fed. It's not surprising."

The young man was busy chatting and laughing with his followers when he suddenly saw a man on horseback wearing a conical hat pass by him from behind, passing by the young man and almost knocking down a servant.

"Excuse me." He said these two words and rode away quickly.

The servant who was hit started to curse and tried to chase him away. The young man laughed and said, "Forget it. He has already apologized."

Di Renjie suddenly stepped sideways and stood in front of the man in the bamboo hat.

The man in the bamboo hat hurriedly pulled the reins and cursed, "Don't you have eyes?"

Di Renjie stepped forward, pulled him off his horse, and grasped one of his hands. He pried it open, revealing a piece of warm, emerald jade in the palm. Di Renjie said to the young man, "Young Master, is this jade pendant yours?"

The young man's face changed slightly. He patted his belt and found that the jade pendant was gone. He dismounted, walked over quickly, took the jade pendant, and bowed to Di Renjie, saying, "Thank you, my lord."

The servants were all furious and shouted that they wanted to teach the man in the bamboo hat a lesson.

Di Renjie stretched out his hand to stop him and said in a deep voice, "Send him to Wannian County."

The young man nodded in agreement and ordered his followers to send the man in the bamboo hat to the authorities. He also insisted on taking Di Renjie to a teahouse and offered him tea to express his gratitude.

After the two drank a few cups of tea, the young man saw that Di Renjie was imposing and had extraordinary conversation, so he asked his name.

Di Renjie told the young man his name, and he smiled and said, "My name is Zheng Mingyu. I wonder where Brother Di lives? I'd like to visit him someday."

Di Renjie hesitated for a moment without answering.

A servant nearby thought he looked down on his young master, so he raised his head and said, "My young master is from the Zheng family of Xingyang, the younger brother of the imperial concubine in the palace."

Di Shun snorted, unwilling to be outdone, and said, "My Alang is the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple!"

Di Renjie glared at Di Shun, then bowed to Zheng Mingyu and said, "It's not that I don't want to tell you, but I've just arrived in the capital and haven't bought a house yet."

When Zheng Mingyu heard that he was the Junior Minister of the Dali Temple, not only did he not warm up to him, but his expression turned a bit colder. He bowed and said, "That's all."

The two exchanged a few more polite words. Di Renjie noticed that Zheng Mingyu's attitude had changed, so he stood up and said goodbye.

Around 3:00 p.m., Di Renjie arrived outside Yan's residence. After informing the family, he was invited in by the servants of Yan's residence.

Along the way, the servant who led the way was seen trembling with fear, which was quite strange.

When I arrived at the study, there were two people in the room. One was Yan Liben, and the other was a young man as gentle as jade.

Di Renjie saluted Yan Liben and was just wondering about the young man's identity when the young man bowed and said with a smile, "Sir Di, I've long heard of your great name."

Di Renjie returned the salute and looked at Yan Liben, hoping he could help introduce them.

Unexpectedly, Yan Liben had a strange expression on his face and said nothing.

The young man smiled and said, "I've heard that Shaoqing Di is quite capable of solving cases. I wonder if you can guess my identity?"

Di Renjie stared at him for a while, his expression changing several times. He knelt on the ground and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, Di Renjie, pays homage to His Majesty!"

The young man was Li Zhi. He heard that Yan Lide was seriously ill, so he came to Yan's house to visit him, but unexpectedly met Di Renjie.

Li Zhi smiled slightly and raised his hand, saying, "No need to be so polite. I wonder how Lord Di could have figured out my identity?"

Di Renjie said, "Your Majesty, you have calluses on your fingers, which must indicate you've been holding a pen for a long time. However, your demeanor and manner don't seem like someone who has entered the government. That's why I'm making this daring guess."

The real reason was that Li Zhi had pale skin and looked sick, and it was obvious that he had lived in the deep palace for a long time. Combined with the strange attitudes of Yan Liben and the servant, this was the correct guess.

Li Zhi smiled and said, "Indeed, he is extraordinary. You are here to see Yan Qing, right? I will not disturb you two as you reminisce about the past."

He knew that with him here, the two of them would be very restrained, not to mention that they had other things to do in the palace, so he said goodbye and left.

After Li Zhi returned to Ganlu Hall, he continued to deal with official documents. Suddenly, he remembered something and asked Wang Fusheng, "How many days has it been since Xue Qing left?"

Wang Fusheng said, "He left on the seventh day, so it must have been nine days."

Li Zhi asked again, "How many days does it take to get from Chang'an to Songzhou?"

Wang Fusheng thought for a moment and said, "At least half a month, at most a month."

Songzhou is located in Shu. During the Tang Dynasty, entering Shu was very dangerous. Many officials even fell off the plank road and died on the way to Shu.

There is even a saying among the people.

If any official angered the emperor, he would not kill him, but would transfer him to Shu and set a strict time for him to take up his post.

In order to arrive at his post on time, the official had no choice but to take the risk and rush, with a high probability of dying on the way.

Li Zhi nodded and said, "There's no need to rush. Dubu won't be returning to Tubo too soon. He still needs to mobilize troops and food supplies, so he won't attack Tuyuhun right away."

Wang Fusheng said, "Everyone is right. However, Songzhou Governor Yuan Xiuye ​​is an official from an aristocratic family and is arrogant. I'm afraid there will be trouble."

Yuan Xiuye ​​is one of the Eight Pillars of the Guanlong Group. He is a descendant of Yuan Xin and one of the few military generals in the Guanlong Group.

He had previously been in charge of the imperial guards in Chang'an.

During the period of deposing Wang Liwu, he offended Emperor Gaozong of Tang and was transferred out of the capital. He did not return to the capital for this year's grand court meeting, which shows that he was dissatisfied.

Li Zhi glanced at Wang Fusheng and asked, "Are you worried that Yuan Xiuye ​​will disobey the order?"

Wang Fusheng said, "I don't think he has the guts to do that, but he will definitely make things difficult for General Xue."

Li Zhi waved his hand and said, "That's fine. As long as he doesn't openly disobey my order, Xue Rengui, with his bravery and wit, can handle it."

(End of this chapter)