In October of the first year of Guangzhai, after Zhongshu ordered Pei Yan to be imprisoned, Lang sent Jiang Sizong to Chang'an to observe the attitude and movements of the crown prince and Liu Renliang, who stayed in Xijing, towards the imperial court.

Liu Renliang warmly received Jiang Sizong and asked him about the recent events in the Eastern Capital, and Jiang Sizong replied: "Heizong has felt that Pei Yan is different from usual for a long time!" ”

Liu Renliang was taken aback, and secretly thought: Jiang Sizong knew that others were rebelling but didn't report it, either because he was stuffy, or because the city government was very deep, he definitely wouldn't say what he thought of me, and he wouldn't report it if he did, so wouldn't I be very dangerous? It's better to start first.

Thinking of this, Liu Renliang asked rhetorically, "Is this really the feeling of the envoy?" Jiang Sizong said without hesitation: "Yes!" ”

Liu Renliang suddenly realized that Jiang Sizong had no city government, but he was just a stuffy drum and a rectum, since this is the case, then there is no need to be polite, for his own safety, he has to borrow your head to show loyalty to the Empress Wu!

Liu Renliang smiled and arched his hand, and said: "Renliang has a performance seal, and he is willing to hand it over to the envoy to take to Luoyang to play." Jiang Sizong agreed without hesitation: "Okay! ”

Tomorrow, Jiang Sizong accepted Liu Renliang's seal, said goodbye, returned to Luoyang, and reported to the Empress Wu. Empress Wu opened the watch seal and took a look, and what was written on it was: Hei Zong knows that Pei Yan is silent!

Empress Wu was overjoyed, but it turned out that these eight short words conveyed the result she hoped for the most.

At that time, Empress Wu accepted Pei Yan in prison and was ready to send a large army to recruit Li Jingye, the only worry was the attitude of Xijing, who had heavy troops, to stay behind Liu Renliang, and sent Wu Chengsi to bring "Yu Liu Ren's Rail Seal Book" half a year ago to appease him, so that he could temporarily feel at ease, I don't know if he will be ready to move this time?

Now that these eight words have solved all the problems, Liu Renliang clearly admitted that Pei Yan had rebelled, saying that he was not Pei Yan's gang, on the other hand, Jiang Sizong knew that Pei Yan had rebelled but did not report it, would he falsely accuse me Liu Renliang? Please take a clear look at the Empress Wu.

Empress Wu immediately made a decision, and ordered the left and right guards to take down Jiang Sizong and escort him to Duting to be strangled!

Jiang Sizong was very happy to see that Empress Wu read the watch, and was about to receive the reward, but unexpectedly, the style of painting changed abruptly, his face was confused, and he struggled and shouted: "Wronged, Your Majesty, wronged!" What is the sin of the minister? I don't blink my eyes to death! ”

Of course, the Empress Wu will not pay attention to him, borrowing his head to stabilize the entire rear, he has completed his mission brilliantly, and it is worth the money! Subsequently, Empress Wu relieved himself to dispatch troops to recruit Li Jingye.

In the first month of the first year of the vertical arch, the internal history was guarded with the taste of Zuo Su Zheng Dafu. Qian Wei was promoted because of his merit in interrogating Pei Yan, but he made a mistake after only three months in the prime minister's position.

What mistakes were made? Some of the reprimanded courtiers were not convinced, and came to the government hall to complain to the prime ministers. Qian Wei said: "This is the punishment of the Queen Mother, you can't blame me." ”

Liu Yizhi said: "No, you were implicated in changing the official, and this matter was requested by the ministers and approved by the Queen Mother." The courtiers had no choice but to leave.

After Empress Wu learned of the discussion in the political hall, she said to the courtiers: "The taste of Qian is not right, the monarch and the minister are the same body, and they should be coordinated, how can they attribute the evil to the king and lead the good to themselves?" ”

In April, Nei Shi Qianwei was awarded the Qingzhou Thorn History because of the evil to the king, and Liu Yuanzhi added Taizhong Doctor, and appointed Li Hong's father-in-law Pei Judao as the internal history.

In January of the first year of Ruyi, Wu Cao met with the officials recommended by the envoy at the Vientiane Shrine, and all of them were promoted and used, regardless of the virtuous and foolish.

The people of the time jokingly said: "Make up for the car, pick up the amount of flat buckets; Push the imperial history, and the bowl is off the school book. ”

Shen Quanjiao continued to write two sentences: "Paste your heart and soothe the envoy, squint at the Holy Spirit Emperor." ”

The prophet of Yu Shiji felt that these two sentences were a great crime of disrespect, and arrested Shen Quanjiao, impeached him for slandering the government, and asked him to be scolded in the court, and then punished.

Wu Cao used to study hard every day, and assisted Li Zhi to this day, and he has to review a large number of recitals from all over the country every day, and his big bright eyes are tired into a slit, so he often squints, which is the truth.

Wu Cao watched Shen Quanjiao write two sentences, and said with a smile: "But if the envoys and others do not abuse their powers, stand up straight and act rightly, why worry about what the people of the world say?" He should be released! ”

Ji Xianxian lowered his head, very ashamed, and immediately released Shen Quanjiao after retreating.

In May, Wu Cao issued an order prohibiting the slaughter of livestock and the fishing of fish and shrimp in the world, and to worship the Buddha and keep the commandments with devotion to the Buddha.

Zhang Dexi, the right widow, was happy to have a noble son, invited his colleagues, and committed suicide to hold a wedding banquet. Du Su was also invited, and after he went to the banquet, he secretly hid a piece of mutton and went home, and then reported to Wu Cao.

The next day, Wu Cao said to Zhang De: "I heard that Qing has a son, I am very happy!" "Zhang De thanked him. Wu Cao said again: "Why do you kill sheep? Zhang De was stunned for a moment, and quickly kowtowed to apologize.

Wu Cao said: "I prohibit slaughter, but there is no restriction on red and white things. However, if you have a treat in the future, you have to recognize someone! After speaking, he showed Du Su's secret table to Zhang De.

Du Su was ashamed in front of the officials, and was despised by the officials of the court.

Through this incident, the courtiers saw that Wu Cao was tired of informing, so they raised a group to exhort and expose the various illegal acts of the cool officials who harmed people.

Wu Cao arranged for the palace people ** tanuki cat and parrot to eat in a food bowl in the palace, and sent Yu Shi Peng Xianjue to supervise, the purpose of this is to show that his benevolence benefits the birds and beasts, and can make the two hostile sides live in harmony.

On May 1, the civil and military officials and the envoys of the world gathered to worship the female emperor in the Vientiane Shrine, and Wu Cao ordered the imperial Shi Peng Xianjue to propose a cage containing a raccoon cat and a parrot for the hundred officials to see.

The crowd was amazed and discussed, "It turns out that the two hostile sides can really live in harmony!" So, should the whistleblower faction and the Li Tang old minister faction also get along? ”

The hateful tanuki suddenly became hungry, jumped up and pounced on the parrot, and bit it to death and ate it. Everyone was shocked, and it was too late to stop it, Wu Cao lowered his head, very ashamed.

Wu Cao likes all kinds of auspicious rui, some people imitate Tang Tongtai, and also fished out a white stone from Luoshui, with a red dot in the middle, and then sent it to the palace to offer.

Li Zhaode, the middle of the imperial history, asked him what was strange about this white stone, and the man replied: "This white stone is a red heart!" This means that this is a stone of loyalty.

Li Zhaode shouted angrily: "This stone is bare-hearted, do other stones have to rebel?" "Everyone on the left and right burst into laughter! The man walked away in embarrassment.

There is a Xiangzhou man Hu Qing also wants to gain fame and fortune by offering auspicious rui, and carved a few words "Son of Heaven for ten thousand years" on the abdomen of a big turtle, painted it with Dan lacquer, and then went to the palace to dedicate it.

Li Zhaode saw that it was obviously artificially engraved and not naturally formed, so he scraped the tortoise's abdomen with a knife, and the handwriting fell off, so he asked Hu Qing to be punished for the crime of bullying the king.

Wu Cao ordered Hu Qing to be released, saying: "Although Hu Qing is fake, his heart is not evil!" ”

In January of the second year of longevity, Lou Shide, the Xia official servant, was promoted to Tongping Zhangshi. Soon, his younger brother Lou Shiren was promoted to the position of Acting Prefecture Assassin, Lou Shide went to see him off, and said to Lou Shiren: "I am the prime minister, you are back to the state pastor, the family is too prosperous, it will cause jealousy among others, what are you going to do to avoid disaster?" ”

Lou Shiren knelt on the dragon beard seat and replied: "From now on, even if someone spits on someone's face, it will only be wiped off, so that my brother will not worry!" ”

Lou Shide was displeased, sighed and said, "Hey, this is exactly what I am worried about!" When others spit in your face, they hate you, and if you wipe it off, you will go against the will of others, and it will deepen their hatred! When someone spits in your face, you don't wipe it off and let it dry on its own, and accept his criticism with a smile is the right thing to do! ”

Since then, there is an idiom in the Chinese dictionary: spit on your own face! Irony is overly tolerant.

During the Double Ninth Festival, Wu Cao met with the prime ministers at the Vientiane Shrine, took out a pear blossom to show everyone, and said, "What auspiciousness does this mean?" ”

Most of the people said happily: "Your Majesty is virtuous and grassy, so you can make the autumn trees bloom again, and Zhou Wen Wang De and reeds are nothing more than that!" ”

Only Du Jingjian, the waiter of Fengge, expressed a different opinion, saying: "I would like to follow the "Biography of the Five Elements of Hong Fan": Yin and Yang are not compatible, and blasphemy is a disaster. and "Spring and Autumn" clouds: there is no sorrow in winter, no shadow in summer, no bleak wind in spring, and no bitter rain in autumn. ”

"Today is already late autumn, the grass and trees are yellow, but suddenly pear blossoms are born, this is the harmony of yin and yang! The ministers were worried that His Majesty's preaching and giving orders would be a loss of etiquette. It is the sin of the ministers to be ministers and help heaven and reason, and reason is not in harmony. ”

After Du Jingjian finished speaking, he apologized again, and Wu Cao sighed: "Qing is the real prime minister!"

Anping King Wu Youxu is another among the kings of the Wu clan, he is the grandson of the warrior Jean, few ambitions, quiet and lacking desires, once in Chang'an divination to make a living, after earning money are given to the poor. At the time of the Wu Zhou Revolution, Wu Youxu did not persecute the Li Tang clan and was not involved in any political struggle.

In October of the first year of Long Live Tongtian, Wu Youxuhu, who was the general of the right Qianniuwei, returned from Wu Cao Feng Zen Zhongyue, and missed the feng shui of Songshan very much, and asked to abandon the official and live in seclusion at the southern foot of Songshan.

Wu Cao suspected that Wu Youxu was cheating, agreed to his request, and secretly sent people to monitor his words and deeds. After Wu Youxu returned to the Song Mountain, he traveled to the rock gully every day, lived in Maojiao in winter, and lived in the stone room in summer, just like a hermit in the mountains and forests.

The fox fur coat and jewelry that the female emperor and the princes and ministers rewarded him with, Wu Youxu kept them in the closet and put them aside, and the dust on the fox fur coat and jewelry accumulated for a long time.

During the reign of Wu Cao, Wu Youxu did not take a step out of Songshan, lived in seclusion with peace of mind, and studied Lao Zhuang and the Book of Changes. Li Xian and Li Longji respected him very much, and in the later political struggle, Wu Youxu survived and died peacefully.

As soon as the Tongtian Palace was completed, the envoy of the Great Food Country of the Western Regions wanted to offer the fierce beast lion that was not in the Central Plains to the female emperor. Your Majesty has no eagle dogs, and fishing and hunting have stopped, how can you tighten the belts of your subjects and treat wild beasts favorably? ”

Wu Cao thought that raising a lion would require feeding a lot of meat and killing, so he refused to pay tribute to the lion.

In June of the first year of the holy calendar, Wu Cao ordered Wu Chenghei's youngest son, Huaiyang King Wu Yanxiu, to go down to the Turks, and Namersi's daughter was the princess.

Zhang Khan Zhi, a member of the Fengge House, admonished: "Since ancient times, there has been no precedent for a Chinese prince to marry the daughter of Yidi. Wu Cao thought that he didn't know the general situation, and released Zhang Khan as the history of Hezhou Thorn.

In August, Wu Cao ordered the prime ministers to recommend Shang Shulang alone, and Nayan Di Renjie recommended his son Sifu Cheng Di Guanghei, a local official Wailang.

After Di Guangsi took office, he strictly abided by the law and discipline, acted according to the procedures, and did his job very competently!

Wu Cao happily said to Di Renjie: "During the Spring and Autumn Period, Qi Xi, the doctor of the Jin Dynasty, did not avoid hatred externally, and did not avoid relatives internally, which became a beautiful talk through the ages, and Qing carried forward the virtues of Qi Xi's recommendation!" ”

In February of the second year of the holy calendar, Wu Cao went to Songshan to play, passed through the Wushi Mountain, and visited the temple of the prince of Shengxian. Write the inscription of the prince of Shengxian and erect the monument in front of the temple. The next day, Wu Cao suddenly felt unwell, thinking that he had neglected the mountain god, and sent it to Yan Chaoyin to sacrifice to Shaomu Mountain.

After Yan Chaoyin came to Shaomuro Mountain, he shaved off his hair, turned himself into a bald head, then fasted, bathed, and then lay naked on the altar, treating himself as a sacrifice and praying sincerely for Wu Cao.

It was the spring equinox, and the weather was still a bit cold. A few days later, Wu Cao's illness improved, and I heard that Yan Chaoyin risked a cold to pray for her blessings and reward Yan Chaoyin generously.

Di Renjie was regarded as Qi Xi's second, and recommended a lot of usable materials to Wu Cao, such as Yao Yuanchong, the Xia official servant, the superintendent Yu Shi Huan Yanfan, and dozens of other people, all of whom were very competent.

In the first year of Jiushi, Wu Cao asked Di Renjie again: "I want to ask for a good appointment, who can?" ”

Di Renjie asked rhetorically: "I don't know which position Your Majesty wants to appoint him to?" ”

Wu Cao replied: "I want to use it as a general!" ”

Di Renjie said: "Literary restraint, Su Wei and Li Qiao are suitable candidates. must be an outstanding genius, then there is Jingzhou Governor Shi Zhang Khanzhi, although he is old, but he is indeed the talent of the prime minister! ”

Wu Cao promoted Zhang Cambodia to Luozhou Sima, and a few days later, he asked Di Renjie who could be the prime minister, and Di Renjie replied: "I recommended Zhang Cambodia before, but I haven't used it yet!" ”

Wu Cao said: "I have been promoted. Di Renjie replied: "The person recommended by the minister can be the prime minister, not the Sima." Wu Cao had no choice but to promote Zhang Khan to be the autumn official waiter.

The reason why Wu Cao hesitated was because Zhang Cambodia had offended her several times, which impressed her.

On October 10 of the first year of Jiushi, Wu Cao ordered the summer calendar to be used again, changing January to the first month, still thinking that the first year was the first month, and the first month was still November. The Zhou calendar was only in use for ten years before it was abolished.

Two months later, on the third day of the first lunar month, officials in Chengdu reported that they had found Buddhist relics.

What are the Buddha relics? The Buddha is the footprints left by Sakyamuni stepping on the stone, the original is in Tianzhu country, Xuanzang Dade used rice paper to make rubbings and bring them back to the Tang Dynasty when Xuanzang Dade traveled west to Tianzhu, and then asked the stonemason Li Tianzhao to rub the stone of Yuhua Temple in Fangzhou according to the rubbing.

The Buddha relics spread from the Yuhua Temple, the five floors of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda also display a piece of Buddha footprint tablet, now Chengdu also found the Buddha traces, Wu Cao was very happy, announced the change of the Yuan Dazu.

After another two months, what was supposed to be a warm spring was snowing heavily. Feng Pavilion Squire Su Wei thought that this was Rui Xue, and immediately led hundreds of officials into the palace to congratulate. The palace attendant, King Shi, begged to stop him and said: "If the March snow is considered Ruixue, then is the Layue Thunder considered Ruilei?" ”

There was thunder in the wax moon, and the ministers did not go to Chaohe, so it is not appropriate to go to Chaohe now! Su Wei understood what this meant, but he had already summoned hundreds of officials, so he couldn't help but go.

After entering the palace, the civil and military officials congratulated Wu Cao on the snow in March, only the king asked for a gift and did not congratulate, and said: "Today is the spring of March, the spring girl should spread warmth, so that the grass and trees sprout, but there is a cold snow disaster, how can it be considered that it is snow?" The congratulators are all sycophants! Wu Cao put away his smile and announced the boycott.

The next day, someone went to the palace to offer a three-legged cow, Wu Cao came to watch, Su Wei congratulated again, saying that it was an auspicious cow!

Wang Qiuli threatened: "If something goes wrong, there must be a demon, this three-legged cow is a deformed cow, and it is the appearance of inaccessibility of politics and religion!" Wu Cao also felt that this cow was deformed and ugly, and he was unhappy.

Seventy-seven-year-old Wu Cao is getting older, and he also deeply understands the pain of Li Zhi's physical weakness, one day, Wu Cao suddenly remembered Li Zhi's last words: "If the gods of heaven and earth prolong my life for a month or two, I have to return to Chang'an, and I will die without hatred." She also wants to go back to Chang'an for the rest of her life, and return to her roots.

On October 3, the female emperor drove westward into Hangu Pass, and on the 22nd, she arrived at Chang'an, Beijing, and stayed in Hanyuan Palace, announcing an amnesty for the world, changing Chang'an, and changing Hanyuan Palace to Daming Palace.

Cui Xuanwei, a member of the Fengge House, was born in the Boling Cui family, was very filial, followed the admonitions of his mother Lu Yindi, and was known for his honesty and prudence. In the first year of Chang'an, Cui Xuanwei worshiped the heavenly officials, was in charge of the assessment and promotion of officials, kept to himself every day, and put an end to private entrustment, so he was jealous of the powerful and was reappointed as Wenchang Zuocheng.

A month later, Wu Cao summoned him and said to him: "Since the change of the secretary, the election of the secretary has been a great sin. Recently, I heard that Ling Shi actually set up a fast to celebrate himself, this is to be greedy! Today, I want to reinstate my old office to curb corrupt officials! ”

He worshiped Cui Xuanwei again as a heavenly official and gave seventy paragraphs of miscellaneous colors as a reward. Corrupt officials near and far were very depressed when they learned that Cui Xuanwei had been reinstated.

Zhang Xunxian, the servant of the imperial history, served as the envoy of Hedong, and when he encountered difficult matters, he could not decide, so he was in a dilemma, and asked his staff: "Is there a talented person near here who can discuss major matters?" The staff said that Zhang Jiazhen, the county governor of Pingxiang, had a genius.

Zhang Xunxian summoned him to consult on difficult matters; Zhang Jiazhen analyzed the gains and losses for him, which was methodical and very clear. Zhang Xunxian was overjoyed, and wrote and played according to his words, and was praised by Wu Cao.

After Zhang Xunxian returned to the court, he visited Wu Cao and strongly recommended Zhang Jiazhen to be of great use, and was willing to give up his official position to Zhang Jiazhen. Wu Cao smiled and said, "Am I reluctant to take an official position and become a talent?" ”

So he summoned Zhang Jiazhen, Zhang Jiazhen coped with it freely, Wu Cao was also very happy, worshiped him on the spot as the supervisor of the imperial history, and promoted Zhang Xunxian to Si Xun Langzhong, commending him for recommending talents to the imperial court!

In April of the fourth year of Chang'an, Wu Cao went to Wan'an Mountain Xingtai Palace to recuperate, and felt that he had not been irradiated by the Buddha's light for a long time, and his holy wisdom was gradually dimming, so he wanted to build a Buddha statue of the Buddha with immeasurable light in Baisimaban, Yuxian County, Shanxi! Ordered the Chunguan Shangshu Wu Youning to supervise and collect taxes from monks and nuns all over the world.

Li Qiao, the internal historian, said: "There are many poor and weak people in the world, and it takes 170,000 yuan to build a Buddha statue, and if you give this money out, each person will give 1,000 copper coins, which can help 170,000 households!" Rescuing the evils of hunger and cold, saving the diligence of labor, obeying the compassionate heart of the Buddhas, and touching the meaning of the holy monarch's pavilion education, people and gods will be happy, which is immeasurable merit. After the creation of karma, where can it compare to the present karma? ”

Zhang Tingjue, the superintendent of the imperial history, wrote the article "The Great Statue of the White Sima Ban Camp", which believed: "In terms of current affairs, the ministers should first border, store the treasury, and raise manpower; In terms of interpretation, we should save suffering, destroy all appearances, and worship inaction! I wish Your Majesty the foolishness of the ministers, do the Buddha's will, be reasonable, and don't talk nonsense! ”

After reviewing Li Qiao's discussion and Zhang Tingqi's statement, Wu Cao ordered the resignation, and also summoned Zhang Tingqi, expressed his agreement with his opinion, and praised him.