Chang'an, Taiji Palace.

In February, it was warm and cold, and those who had just lost their clothes for a few days, and in the blink of an eye, they had to put on fur furs.

The pear blossoms in front of the palace are like frost and snow, and the snow road is also colorful overnight, and the ground is covered in silver.

"Your Majesty, it's cold, add an extra piece of clothing, don't catch a cold."

Wu held his bulging belly and held a peacock fur made by himself to drape it for the emperor.

"On such a cold day, Concubine Ai is not resting in the palace, why did she come here, the wind outside is like a knife." Li Zhi held Wu's hand and found that her hands were cold and full of love.

"The concubine was bored when she stayed alone, so she came to see Your Majesty, sent the freshly made fur clothes, and made a bowl of hot soup by the way."

"It's so nice to love the concubine." Li Zhi said with a smile. Although Wu was several years older than him and was once a talented person of his father, he had secretly admired her since the time of Zhenguan. Later, Taizong became seriously ill, and as the crown prince, he often accompanied the bedside, and often came into contact with the Wu family, who took care of Taizong, and slowly the two became connected.

Until now, Li Zhi has been as merciful as ever for the Wu family.

Compared with Queen Wang, Concubine Xiao Shufei and others in his harem, Li Zhi is the only one who loves the Wu family. Perhaps, this has something to do with the fact that the Wu family is what he really likes and accepts into the palace, and the other women are just married by his father and the emperor for him.

"It would be nice if some people could be as considerate as their concubines." Li Zhi sighed.

Wu glanced at the recitals in front of the emperor's case, and quickly swept them over, and from the familiar handwriting, it can be seen that these recitals were written by the prime minister's eldest grandson Wuji, Chu Suiliang, Yu Zhining and others.

"Is Uncle Guo still dissatisfied with His Majesty's pardon of Li Ke and leaving Yuwen Festival?"

"Well, I don't give up, especially for me to leave Yuwen Festival and let him be reappointed as the Imperial Doctor, I am resolutely opposed. Seven or eight concerts in a row, and even pulled Chu Suiliang, Yu Zhining and other ministers together. ”

The eldest grandson Wuji is not only the uncle of the country, but also the prime minister, especially the minister left by Taizong back then, and he is also the representative of the nobles of Guanlong.

His attitude is very important to the government.

If it weren't for this uncle, Prince Li Zhi would not have been able to be the emperor, let alone the emperor.

But after a few years in power, Li Zhi has become more and more dissatisfied with this uncle, he has always regarded himself as a child, and he has to make decisions for him.

Li Zhi originally wanted to envelop this uncle, but the two had more and more differences.

"Your Majesty, Uncle Guo has always been like this, didn't Your Majesty already know?" The Wu family is also very dissatisfied with the eldest grandson Wuji, although the Guy Wu family is favored, he is just a Zhaoyi in the palace.

Although Zhaoyi is the head of the nine concubines, there are four concubines and the queen on it, she is not even a concubine, just a concubine. The emperor liked the Wu family and wanted to make her a concubine, but this matter was resolutely opposed by the eldest grandson Wuji.

When Wu was born, although her father was the founder of the Tang Dynasty, the first hero of Taiyuan, the prince of the country, once served as the secretary of the Ministry of Industry in the middle of the court, and also served as the local governor, her mother was the royal family of the Sui Dynasty and the daughter of the prince.

But the eldest grandson Wuji and others have always thought that the martial arts family is just an upstart.

Wu's father was just a merchant from the Shu clan back then, and he made a lot of money by befriending officials and providing timber for many projects such as the Sui Emperor's construction of the Eastern Capital. Then he bribed off the Taiyuan officials and obtained the post of the head of the guard.

Later, he befriended Li Yuan, who stayed in Taiyuan, provided Li Yuan with a lot of money, followed his rebellion, and because of his management talent, he entered the high position of the court step by step. At the same time, he continued to marry the daughter of the royal family of the Sui Dynasty, which greatly improved the status of the family.

But in the eyes of veteran Guanlong nobles like the eldest grandson Wuji, the martial arts family is not on the table. Especially the Wu family used to be a talented person in Taizong, and the talented person was also the emperor's harem woman.

When Li Zhi took the Wu family who was a monk in Ganye Temple back to the palace, the eldest grandson was very dissatisfied, which violated the code of ethics.

Now that he has done Zhaoyi, he has already given face to the emperor.

still wants to make her a concubine, how is this possible.

"I explained a lot to Uncle Guo, but he just wouldn't agree." Li Zhi was very helpless, he became more and more dissatisfied with the eldest grandson Wuji, but on the other hand, he was very jealous.

The eldest grandson is not only his maternal uncle, but also the prime minister of the central government, in charge of the government, and behind him stands a powerful Guanlong aristocratic group.

No one dares to underestimate the strength of this group.

In the later period of the Northern Dynasties, that is, the Western Wei Dynasty and the Northern Zhou Dynasty, a group with the military aristocrats of the Guanzhong Longyou region as the core was formed, and the royal families of the Northern Zhou, Sui and Tang dynasties and the royal families were all from this group, the famous Eight Pillars State, of which the Li Tang Imperial Family was one of the Eight Pillars Country.

The Tang Dynasty inherited the Sui Dynasty, but the Sui Dynasty was passed on from the Northern Zhou Dynasty and the Western Wei Dynasty, from the Western Wei Dynasty, the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the Sui Dynasty, to the Tang Dynasty, whether it was the royal family or the meritorious officials in the court, they all came from such a group.

They occupy the position of prime minister in the court, and hold important positions such as assassins in the local area, especially throughout the army.

Li Zhi didn't dare to offend such a force, but the more it was like this, the more he felt aggrieved.

is a dignified son of heaven, but he is constrained by others everywhere.

"If I really drive Yuwenjie out of the court and exile him to Bianzhou, then this court will be even more of a word of the eldest grandson Wuji in the future!"

"Since Your Majesty has already thought about it, why should you hesitate any longer, and when you keep making decisions, you will suffer from it." Wu persuaded as he spoke.

"······"

Li Zhi couldn't speak halfway through his words, the eldest grandson had too much power, and even had the ability to abolish the establishment, so he didn't dare to move lightly.

He was supported by the eldest grandson, once he turned against the eldest grandson, who could guarantee that his throne would still be kept.

"Your Majesty, now is not the time to open the country, now today, the Shandong Shi clan has collapsed, and the Guanlong Group has also weakened, and it is no longer as strong as it was back then. The power of the country is no longer based on the lords and the aristocracy, His Majesty is the Son of Heaven, the Son of Heaven of the people of the world. ”

Since the Eastern Han Dynasty, emperors have always married the most powerful and influential clans or nobles of the time, and the nobles are not only nobles, they can also influence the situation of the court.

But Wu's vision is very keen, since the Sui Dynasty, in fact, several generations of emperors of the Sui and Tang dynasties have been constantly weakening the huge aristocratic group of Guanlong Group. At that time, Yang Guang was too anxious, which led to the collapse and demise of the Sui Dynasty.

The Li family's methods are much gentler, although the Tang inherited the Sui system, but there have been reforms in many places, and these reforms have actually been constantly reducing the influence of the Guanlong group.

The eldest grandson Wuji is indeed the representative of the Guanlong Group, but the Guanlong Group is no longer as strong as it used to be.

"Your Majesty, don't forget, in addition to the Guanlong group in the DPRK and China, the Shandong Shi clan also has a force to be reckoned with, if Your Majesty can get its help, it may not be impossible to balance the Guanlong group."

"Concubine Ai is talking about the Jiangnan Chinese?"

"No, if the Kwantung clan collapsed, then the Jiangnan Chinese clan would have withered long ago, although in recent years, the imperial examination has flourished, and the scholar clan has re-emerged, but their strength is still insufficient to compete with the Guanlong group. Another force that cannot be ignored by the concubine actually refers to Shandong Haojie Group. ”

The so-called Shandong Haojie Group actually refers to the military upstarts from Shandong at the beginning of the founding of the Tang Dynasty.

These humanities include Fang Xuanling, Wei Zheng, Wu Li Ji, Qin Qiong, etc., who have made great contributions in the founding of the Tang Dynasty, especially in the Zhenguan Dynasty, which are deeply used.

Although many famous generals in Shandong have passed away now, such as Fang Xuanling and Wei Zheng, and other famous ministers have also left, there are still many important figures in this faction.

For example, Li Ji, who is also the prime minister of the DPRK and China, and the old handsome Cheng Biting Jin.

Another characteristic of them is that they have a deep influence in military circles. This is just different from the eldest grandson Wuji's strong influence in the court.

The eldest grandson Wuji's influence in the court is much worse, but it is much worse in the military world.

In the past, the Guanlong group was a group that started in the military, and they had a super strong control over the military circles, but now, the military is precisely their weakness, although a large number of Guanlong's children are in the army, but among the top generals in the DPRK, there are not many of them.

A large number of generals from the Guanlong Group have been constantly falling into the previous infighting after the founding of the Tang Dynasty.

Now the chief representative of the DPRK and Chinese military is Li Ji.

British Gong Li Ji, the same Zhongshu Sect Sanpin, this is Emperor Taizong specially left for Li Zhi's general.

"Li Ji, I can't understand it." Li Zhidao, when Taizong left Li Ji in Taiyuan to guard, he stayed for more than ten years, but Li Ji had no complaints. Later, when he became the crown prince, Taizong deliberately demoted Li Ji out of Beijing, saying that it was to see Li Ji's attitude, and if Li Ji's attitude was good and he did not complain, then after the prince succeeded to the throne, he would reward Li Ji and transfer him back to the central position in the court.

After Li Ji became the prime minister, he has always been cautious and said little, and basically rarely opposed the eldest grandson Wuji.

wants Li Ji to stand up and support him, but I'm afraid that things are not so simple.

"The concubine believes that Li Ji is a smart person, and in the past, His Majesty obeyed the arrangement of the uncle everywhere, so Li Ji will naturally not disagree with the uncle, but if Li Ji is to be asked to make a choice between His Majesty and the uncle, the concubine believes that Li Ji knows how to choose!"

"The key point is that Your Majesty has to show his attitude first. If His Majesty's attitude is unclear, how can he let a courtier like Li Ji choose? ”

Li Zhi frowned.

It was easier said than done to take this step, although he had wanted to take it for a long time.

"What am I going to do?"

"Your Majesty can let the Zhongshu Sect order Yuwenjie to be the imperial historian."

"The subordinates of Zhongshu can refuse the draft edict, without the consent of the prime ministers, Yuwenjie can't be the imperial doctor." Under the system of three provinces and six ministries, the Zhongshu Province drafted the edict, and the Ministry of the Door deliberated and refuted, and now the center is the Zhongshu Gate, and the Zhongshu Gate is controlled by the eldest grandson Wuji, if his edict is not approved by them, it is the decree of the seal, and the ministers can refuse to implement it.

This is also where he has been troubled, the dignified son of heaven, the edict is not allowed.