The eldest grandson Wuji, who was once indispensable, is now so embarrassed, before leaving, there was not even a person to see him off, so he was not as good as Chu Suiliang at the beginning.

In short, very bleak.

Hurried by the night, and by the time dawn, he had already arrived in Chang'an County.

The eldest grandson Wuji didn't even have the opportunity to look back at Chang'an, half lying in the carriage, half closing his eyes, the bumpy carriage really made it difficult for him to sleep.

Suddenly, I heard a piano sound outside.

The eldest grandson Wuji opened his eyes and asked curiously: "Who is playing the piano?" ”

Eldest Sun Yan frowned and said, "This seems to be Sun Er's favorite "Youlan". Saying that, he was stunned, hurriedly came to the window, looking for prestige, only to see a few familiar figures on the hill on the side of the road, he couldn't help but be stunned, his eyes were slightly moist, he opened his mouth, but he felt choked, shouted silently, just stared blankly at the mountain, thinking that he might never have the chance to see again in this life, and the tears fell after all.

The eldest grandson Wuji looked at the window, although he couldn't see it clearly, but he also guessed who it was, and he couldn't help but feel sad secretly, when Yan'er was only a weak crown, there were also people who had a heart to send him off, and the old man ....... Thinking of this, he thought of it again, when Chu Suiliang, Han Yuan, and Laiji left him one by one, he was melancholy in his heart.

The people on the mountain are Cui Jijian, Wang Xuandao, Yuan Liehu, and Lu Shigua.

Several of them have always wanted to see Changsun Yan, but Changsun Yan was so watched that they couldn't see it at all, but fortunately, Cui Jijian expected that Xu Jingzong might not let Chang'an where Chang'an with the beauty of Chang'an Wuji, so he came here early to wait.

Of course, the wise people of this world did not know how many of them were halfway up the hill diagonally opposite the hill, but they saw a man leaning against a big tree, with his hands in his sleeves, and on the branch above his head there was another man with a weed in his mouth, and his hands on a pillow and his back against the trunk.

These two are Yuan Eagle and Cui Pingzhong.

"That's Xiaohu on the other side." Yuan Vulture shook his head to the sound of the piano and said with half-squinted eyes.

Cui Pingzhong snorted, "It should be." ”

Yuan Vulture grinned: "The relationship between these little babies is really good. ”

Cui Pingzhong didn't make a sound, just sighed lightly.

Yuan Vulture tilted his head slightly, looked at the convoy below, and said in a sigh: "This Empress Wu is really a strange woman, since she returned to the palace from Ganye Temple, a lot of major events have happened in the court, but each of them has a great relationship with her, however, she is still staying in the palace, and the people who oppose her have been demoted from Chang'an one by one, this method is really admirable." ”

Choi just laughed.

Yuan Vulture: "You don't seem to agree? ”

Cui Pingzhong said: "On the surface, it seems that Empress Wu is making a stumbling block, but if you trace back to the source, in fact, the root of all problems lies in one person, and Empress Wu is just a chess piece in his hand." ”

Yuan Vulture frowned and said, "The only one who can use the queen as a pawn is today." ”

Cui Pingzhong nodded.

Yuan Vulture said curiously: "But Your Majesty has already been in power, and the Taiwei has been honest in the past few years, but the Taiwei is also His Majesty's own uncle, even if the merits and demerits are offset, Your Majesty does not need to kill the Taiwei, is this too ruthless." ”

"In the face of power, no one is ruthless, Your Majesty is like this, and so is Taiwei, but Your Majesty is more ruthless than Taiwei, and much more ruthless than Taiwei imagined, if not, this victory or defeat is really hard to say."

Cui Pingzhong sighed lightly and said: "Since the abolition of Wang Liwu, until now, in fact, the biggest winner has always been the son of today, compared to Gaozu and Taizong, the power in the hands of the son of today is also the greatest. Although everything is related to Empress Wu, in fact, Her Majesty is in charge, and Empress Wu is just a chess piece in His Majesty's hands. His Majesty used the queen to skillfully avoid direct confrontation with the Taiwei, and concentrated the contradictions between the ministers and the ministers, between the ministers and the queens, between the nobles and the Shu clan, so that they could kill each other, and His Majesty was to reap the benefits of the fisherman, and easily get everything he wanted.

Since the establishment of the Jiupin Zhongzheng system in the two Jin Dynasty, it has always been the monarch and the aristocracy to rule the world, however, the monarch is like flowing water, and the country has changed hands several times, the only thing that remains unchanged is those noble officials in the hall, every time the country changes hands, they have a great relationship, so the imperial power has always been limited. If you want to assert the imperial power, then you must eradicate the aristocracy, and now with the departure of the Taiwei, the court as a strong aristocratic group will be destroyed, and then the promotion must be ordinary bureaucrats, so that the distance between the minister and the emperor is getting farther and farther, and in the end, it will be the supremacy of the imperial power, and the monarch will be in charge of the world. No one dared to say anything to the emperor anymore. ”

Yuan Vulture said: "Then aren't your Shandong Shi clan in danger?" ”

Cui Pingzhong nodded, and said: "But my Shandong Shi clan is different from the Guanlong nobles, the Guanlong nobles are next to the emperor, and their main forces are also concentrated in the court, and the forces of my Shandong Shi clan are all local, although Your Majesty will never allow it, the local forces are in crisis to the imperial power, so Your Majesty will definitely strengthen the power of the bureaucracy in order to balance the power of the gentry, but this will be a long process." ”

Yuan Vultures sighed when he heard this, and said, "Hearing you say this, I'm really a little worried about my brother-in-law, this companion is like a tiger!" ”

Cui Pingzhong frowned, and said in his heart, yes, how did I ignore him, not only this, but in many battles, he seems to be completely out of the matter, compared to His Majesty, it can be said that it is even better.

....．

It's late at night.

The queen was in the house, but saw a small group of people walking quickly to a secluded hut.

"See Your Majesty."

Those who were guarding the door, when they saw anyone, immediately saluted.

"Open the door." Li Zhi said lightly.

"Yes!"

After the door was opened, Li Zhi entered the hut alone.

But seeing that there was only one person standing in the room, this person was Wang Wendu, who forged a holy decree to bite the gold during the original expedition to Ashina Helu, and Li Zhi only demoted him to a commoner at the beginning, and did not assign him.

"See Your Majesty."

Wang Wendu hugged his fists and saluted.

Li Zhi smiled: "Hurry up and be polite." ”

With that, he sat down and asked, "Uncle has already left?" ”

Wang Wendu replied: "I left Chang'an County this morning." ”

Li Zhi said: "Can someone send it off?" ”

Wang Wendu said: "There are four people who send each other, which are Cui Jijian, Wang Xuandao, Yuan Liehu, and Lu Shigua. ”

"These guys are quite smart, and they can actually anticipate Xu Jingzong's thoughts in advance. However, they didn't go to send their uncle, but to send their eldest grandson, so they didn't have to worry about them. Li Zhi shook his head with a smile, and asked again: "Presumably, the news of my uncle's departure has spread, how do you talk about this matter?" ”

Wang Wendu said: "The most popular saying in the court today is that the queen united with Xu Jingzong and others to force the Taiwei away, but many people seem to have expected it, after all, they have been fighting on both sides, anyway, it is not the Taiwei who is demoted, that is, Xu Jingzong is demoted, it is only a matter of time." ”

Li Zhidao: "Isn't there anyone talking about me?" ”

Wang Wendu said: "Never." ”

"No, it's someone who thinks so in their hearts, but they just don't say it." Li Zhi sighed and said, "I am indeed out of helplessness, their two factions are fighting, I have tried to calm the fight between them several times, but I have not succeeded, and it has caused their battle to become more and more intense. I don't hide it from you, I've always been afraid of my uncle, my uncle's methods, I know best, if he wins this battle, I'm afraid that I will suffer, and I have no choice but to do it! ”

The implication is that the previous statement is completely correct, I was forced, and the two factions have fought to the point where either you die or I die, and I just chose the queen because I was afraid of my uncle.

In fact, the whole process is exactly like this, Li Zhi has always been a good man, and the previous few actions were also to calm down this fight, including the debasement of Li Yifu. He didn't hint at anyone to create this unjust case and slander his uncle, this was indeed Wu Meiniang's idea, he just chose one of them. This is also why that statement is the most convincing, the vast majority of people believe that Li Zhi was forced, and the two sides fought to such a point, then there was always a victory, and there was no other way, and everyone could understand that Li Zhi could not let the eldest grandson Wuji return to the court, he could only choose Xu Jingzong's side.

However, in fact, the decision has always been in Li Zhi's hands, so the root cause is also in him, he wants to degrade Li Yifu, can Wu Meiniang stop it? can't stop it at all, it's just that Wu Meiniang is smart, she knows that Li Zhi is a little unhappy with Li Yifu, so she simply pushes the boat down the river and uses Li Yifu to lure Tang Lin into taking the bait.

And who is the most profitable in this case, of course, it is Li Zhi, with the depreciation of these old ministers, no one can restrain him, don't look at the eldest grandson Wuji who has been at home for a few years, but Li Zhi does not dare to do anything excessive, and he has to be cautious in everything, because the eldest grandson Wuji can still come back, he is still very powerful in the court, his reputation is also high, and there are many people who support him. In many cases, Li Zhi has to take this into account, and this is a kind of bondage.

Now he alone has the final say, Xu Jingzong is rampant now, but Li Yifu was even more rampant than him before, but Li Zhi said a word, Li Yifu rolled to Qianzhou, this is because they are too far away from the emperor, you can have today It is because of the emperor, the nobles are not, the nobles can stand on the main hall, mainly because their families are powerful, and there are marriages between families, this force can compete with the imperial power, the emperor has to use them, there is a cooperative relationship in it, There is a qualitative difference between the two.

In fact, since Emperor Wen of Sui, the emperor has been weakening the aristocracy, how can others sleep soundly on the edge of this couch, the imperial examination is the most iconic, the imperial examination is for the people, bullshit, the emperor has not such a high sentiment, Emperor Yang of Sui and Li Shimin are doing this, but when they came to Li Zhi, they gave a fatal blow.

This blow can even divide Chinese history into two parts, which is a very important turning point, because after that, the era of aristocrats and monarchs ruling the world together is basically over, and it will be replaced by bureaucracy, and the prime minister will become shorter and shorter.

Wang Wendu understood and said: "The grass people understand, but the grass people think that it is necessary for Your Majesty to let the subjects of the world know some of the reasons, as well as Your Majesty's helplessness. ”

Li Zhi glanced at him approvingly and said, "By the way, how did I do what I told you?" ”

Wang Wendu said: "The historian's record of this matter is a true record, which is very fair, and the future generations will understand His Majesty's distress when they see it." ”

The historian's record of the emperor, the emperor himself can't read it, so it can be seen that Wang Wendu is for people to peek at.

Li Zhi nodded with a smile and said: "But you must pay close attention to me in this matter, and you must not relax at all, my father spent most of his life for the Xuanwu Gate to shoot the uncle and the fourth uncle, but it has not been completely reversed, and I am afraid that there are still people who use this to slander my father, I don't want to repeat the mistakes of the past." ”

As the son of Li Shimin, he is naturally very clear about the changes in Xuanwumen, which is the biggest stain on Li Shimin, but Li Shimin had to do that at that time, he was highly meritorious, Li Jiancheng became the emperor, and he may not be able to make him the prime minister, and who doesn't want to be the emperor, only the king is defeated, but this has always been criticized, especially in Shilin.

Now that he knows, of course he learned the lesson and can't repeat the mistakes of the past, which he has always done. At the beginning of the case of Fang Yiai, he was also the biggest profiteer, and the people who threatened him at that time were all dead, including Li Ke, the king of Wu, but the matter was done by the eldest grandson Wuji, and it had nothing to do with him, he also cried bitterly at the time, and now it is the same, it is just the same, but the roles have changed, Wu Meiniang and Xu Jingzong did what the eldest grandson Wuji did at the beginning, and the eldest grandson Wuji was wronged by Li Ke back then, Li Zhi knew to cry, but he has always been the biggest winner and has never lost.

This is the highest level of the emperor's art, there are no tricks to win.

Wang Wendu said: "Your Majesty, please rest assured, the grass people will definitely keep an eye on this matter." ”

Li Zhi nodded and said with a smile: "After this matter, I will reinstate you as an official, you should prepare well." ”

Wang Wendu hurriedly saluted and said, "The grass people thank Your Majesty." ”

......

The departure of the eldest grandson Wuji does not represent the end of this case, because according to the basic process of feudal society, the next step must be the Great Purge, which is a necessary step and is needed by the system, in fact, it cannot be said to be a feudal society, it has been the case since ancient times, this process has not changed, after the struggle, it must be a Great Purge, and officialdom is always the most cruel and ruthless.

At the beginning, Xu Jingzong sued not the eldest grandson Wuji alone, but also Yu Zhining, Han Yuan, Lai Ji, Gao Cheng and others.

It's just that Xu Jingzong took two steps in this matter, the first step was to cut down the big tree, dig up the roots, and then slowly clean up the monkeys on the previous tree.

Han Yuan, Laiji, and Chu Suiliang have been demoted to other places, and it is estimated that they don't know that the eldest grandson Wuji has been demoted now, so this is not in a hurry, and the court must be cleaned immediately.

This can cause a great shock in the DPRK, the eldest grandson Wuji has been the prime minister for 30 years, and its power is intertwined in the DPRK, this big purge, who dares to say that he is fine, Xiao Rui is afraid, now the DPRK is simply a rumor, people are panicking, everyone asks God to bless every day, because this is originally an unjust case, then it will not reason with them, what do not do bad things, knock on the door in the middle of the night and do not be surprised, in the officialdom this is simply bullshit, this political liquidation, and your usual behavior has a hairy relationship, It is impossible for Xu Jingzong to investigate whether you are a good person or an evil person one by one, as long as you have played poker with the eldest grandson Wuji and prostituted something, you will have to die.

Therefore, when the ministers of the court and the central government saw Xu Jingzong, they were so frightened that their legs trembled, this is the moment when Xu Jingzong longed for the most, everyone was in awe of him, no one dared to despise him anymore, he was determined to use this matter to establish his unshakable authority, and killing was the best way.

So, he brought in all the members of the Guanlong Group headed by the eldest grandson Wuji, including their family members and relatives, of course, there are more or less some people that Xu Jingzong is not used to, but this is mainly the people who opposed the abolition of Wang Liwu at the beginning, even if they were degraded at the beginning, they did not let go, they were degraded at the beginning, and they should be killed now, simple and rude, clean and neat.

A long list was presented to Li Zhi.

"When did the counselor Xiao Jun collude with his uncle?"

Li Zhi looked at it for a while, and suddenly asked Xu Jingzong.

Xu Jingzong was stunned for a moment and said, "This --- according to the minister's investigation, the Xiao family and the eldest grandson's family have a lot of friendship. ”

Li Zhi frowned, and said: "The relationship between me and my uncle is not shallow, why don't you include me, and what evidence do you have to prove that they are colluding?" ”

There is no room for error in this.

Xu Jingzong looked embarrassed and couldn't do anything, if you want to talk about the evidence, then you should return the list to me, when I didn't say anything.

Li Zhi is not confused, this look at Xiao Jun, he knows what Xu Jingzong is thinking, because he also knows Xu Jingzong's grievances and grievances with Han Yi, but he values Han Yi very much, Han Yi is a gold medal henchman, and during this period, Han Yi is doing the right thing alone, governing the country, it is precisely because of Han Yi's unremitting efforts that the national strength is thriving, and his fame is also soaring, and the people praise him as a Ming Jun, if Han Yi is offended, then who will help him govern the country, I can't rely on you Old Man Xu, this Han Yi's character, he also understands that for Xiao Wuyi's sake, he didn't even want an official position, and said: "Okay, this list will be put here first, I have to take a closer look, and you can step down." ”

"Your Ministers obey."

Xu Jingzong said a lot, and complained fiercely about Yuan Gongyu in his heart, he didn't plan to do this, he was only concerned about dealing with the eldest grandson Wuji, and he didn't expect Han Yi, it was Yuan Gongyu who fanned the flames, so he filled Xiao Jun in.

After Xu Jingzong went out, Li Zhi shook his head helplessly and muttered: "This old man really treats me as a blind man." ”

But not long after Xu Jingzong left, someone outside reported that the head of the household asked to see him.

Li Zhi couldn't help frowning when he heard this, and said, "Is he here for Xiao Jun?" Alas... This Xu Jingzong will really cause trouble for me. ”