A few days later, another group of Mengjin water lords were arrested in the Luoyang government. But this time they did not come to surrender on their own initiative, but someone reported that they had looted official salt on the water near Luoyang.

Luoyang ordered Wei Yuanzhong to deploy operations immediately after receiving the news, and personally led his officials and officials and bad people to arrest them. He also entrusts Xue Shao's relationship, and with the assistance of the field garrison of the right guard general Dang Jinbi outside Luoyang City, he cracked the case in one fell swoop and captured more than 100 people on the spot.

This operation dealt a huge blow to the Mengjin water lords, because more than half of their backbone forces were arrested on the spot. And they confessed that their real leader was Li Xiantong.

It turned out that although Li Xiantong had been an official for many years, he had always had a very close relationship with the green forest. Many years ago, he had secretly become a member of the Mengjin Water Lords, and he was responsible for inquiring about the movements of the court and the government for this gang of thieves and was responsible for ventilating and reporting information, and his status within the organization has always been not low. In the past two years, he has become the supreme leader of the Mengjin Water Lord, with more than 1,000 minions under his command, large and small, including many martial arts masters who are well-known in the underworld, and a group of retired veterans who have fought and seen blood.

In today's peaceful and prosperous era, such a "black gang" as the Mengjin water lord has been arrogant for so many years in the Grand Canal Valley, which is related to the economic fate of the empire, and even dared to rob the official ship that paid the national tax, which alarmed the imperial court several times. Therefore, this time Wei Yuanzhong broke the Mengjin water lord, which caused a big shock in Luoyang.

The only pity is that he failed to catch Li Xiantong on the spot, and let him escape again.

There are also some undisclosed internal information that shows that Li Xiantong's reappearance this time seems very mysterious, he rarely appears in person, and occasionally appears in front of some core members, and he is also covered by a black-clothed cloak that he can't see a trace of skin, and there are a few bearded and blue-eyed bodyguards with scimitars around him.

All indications indicate that Li Xiantong is very likely to have taken refuge in the Turks, and it is more likely that he has taken refuge in Yuanzhen. Also, once they all dared to assassinate Xue Shao in Luoyang City, then there was nothing they didn't dare to do. In this case, the Mengjin water lord is no longer as simple as a "public security issue", but a major and important case that may have a bearing on the security of the country.

Therefore, Wu Zetian issued a public order above the court, asking Wei Yuanzhong to handle the case of Mengjin Water Owl, and he must eradicate the roots. In addition, in private, Wu Zetian summoned Xue Shao and Wei Yuanzhong at the same time to ask some internal reasons. Of course, Xue Shao would not say anything about himself and Helian Guchuan, but Wei Yuanzhong revealed the tip of the iceberg, saying that now that the Mengjin water lord is caught in the battle of the rivers and lakes, there is another powerful force that is rising up and fighting with the Mengjin water lord. Then now, it is a good time to eliminate the Mengjin water lords.

Wu Zetian asked, what is the origin of the other force? Will they replace the Mengjin water lord and become a new cancer that threatens the fortune of the divine capital?

Wei Yuanzhong said that now it seems that they are not the same as Mengjin water lords. Although they also took some green forest roads, they did have their own fleets and legitimate business, and they did not infringe on the people or plunder official ships to threaten Cao Yun. In fact, they also have special personnel who are responsible for escorting official ships carrying national taxes along the way. By the way, they have a very loud name, called - Hongmen!

"Hongmen?" Wu Zetian thought about it for a long time.

Wu Zetian herself, who grew up and rose from the tragic battle in the harem, knows that there are still many corners of the world that the sun can't shine on. There, the general royal law and secular rules were ineffective, and it had its own set of latent rules that all those who inhabited the corners had to follow.

"In all dynasties, there is no shortage of a group of rangers who have been active. They can not only become chivalrous heroes who advocate justice and benefit the country and the people, but also become troublesome horse bandits, and even do things that bring disaster to the country and the people, such as the Mengjin water lord. Wu Zetian said, "For this kind of people, the government is not good at dealing directly with them, just like well water does not interfere with river water." But as long as they violate the royal law, endanger the people, and cause chaos to the society, then they must not be reckless. ”

"What the Queen Mother said is very true." Xue Shao and Wei Yuanzhong agreed to the promise together, and they could hear what Wu Zetian meant-the people on the official face should not get too close to Hongmen, but it does not mean that the government officials just let Hongmen go unchecked. This is undoubtedly a statement on the Hongmen matter, and it does not support or oppose it. But the bottom line is that Hongmen can't bring disaster to the country and the people like Mengjin Water Lord!

At the end of the conversation, Xue Shao and Wei Yuanzhong left the imperial study together.

Wei Yuanzhong looked full of emotion, and Xue Shao asked, "What is Wei Mingfu thinking?" ”

"Xue Shangshu, it is absolutely a miracle that such a small Green Forest Gang as Hongmen would actually alarm the imperial court." Wei Yuanzhong said, "However, what surprised Xia Guan even more was that just now the Queen Mother actually took the initiative to give a promise to acquiesce in the existence of Hongmen, which is incredible!" ”

Xue Shao smiled and said, "The Queen Mother is the best at judging the situation and weighing the pros and cons. It is not surprising that she made such a statement. ”

"How so?"

Xue Shao said: "Where there is sunshine, there will be shadows. Whether we admit it or not, the green forest always exists, and has their own set of internal rules, right? ”

"Of course."

Xue Shao said: "Since we can't eradicate the green forest, then we can only guide it to my use." Rather than letting a cancer like Mengjin Water Owl go around to abuse the country and the people, it is better to let the more righteous Hongmen replace it and reformulate the rules. In this way, even if there is not much benefit, it can at least reduce the harm of the green forest. ”

"The Queen Mother, she really has a foresight!" Wei Yuanzhong said, "No wonder her old man would acquiesce to the existence of Hongmen. It is precisely because of such a tacit consent she gave that in the future, Hongmen may grow when he sees the wind, and he will be out of control! ”

"Who knows?" Xue Shao smiled.

Wei Yuanzhong just smiled, and the two of them tacitly agreed.

In the blink of an eye, it was Laba, and the weather finally turned cold, and there was a scattered light snowfall.

The Laba Festival in the Tang Dynasty is called "Laba Day" and is a very important festival. On this day, the imperial court and the local government, as well as the people themselves, hold grand ceremonies to worship ancestors and gods, ward off diseases and pestilences, and pray for a good harvest and good fortune in the coming year. Laba porridge is now called "Qibao Five-Flavor Porridge", which is derived from the same food in Tianzhu that is closely related to Buddhist beliefs.

Wu Zetian believes in Buddhism, so on the day of the Laba Festival, he gave the Minister of Civil and Military Affairs seven treasures and five-flavor porridge, which can be regarded as sending an auspicious blessing.

Early in the morning, Xue Shao and hundreds of civil and military officials stepped into the palace in the snow. First, there was a half-day sacrifice, and then porridge was given in the Qide Palace, and the civil and military officials wrote poems or expressed thanks, and everything was carried out in an orderly manner. However, after the luncheon, the matter was not over, Wu Zetian and the emperor appeared in the Hanyuan Hall together, and all the civil and military officials came.

The emperor who has lived in the side hall for a long time actually appeared in the political palace, obviously there is something important.

Sure enough, the current titular "First and Auxiliary Prime Minister" Neishi Ling Cen Changqian solemnly announced that the imperial court was about to establish a new official and academic institution similar to Guozijian, which was specially used to cultivate the talents of generals.

The name of the central institution of the Tang Dynasty is customarily called "Gefu Temple Taijian", and there is a Guozijian in the text, so the official and academic institutions that cultivate military talents are called - Shangwutai!

The supreme person in charge of the Guozijian is the "Guozijian Sacrificial Wine", which is a dignitary from the three products. Originally, it was used to refer to the virtuous and respected elder who was in charge of the deacon's sacrifice to the gods during the feast, and later became an official name, to the effect that it was the highest rank among the officials of its kind. For example, the military advisor sacrificial wine is the one with the highest status among all the military advisors, which is equivalent to the chief of staff.

The highest official of Shangwutai is called "Shangwu Sacrificial Wine". It is the same as the level of the national festival wine, from the third grade.

The candidate for the first martial arts wine is very concerned by everyone in the court, and it can be said that the political hall is fighting for this candidate every day, and even the queen mother herself is a little wavering.

"The imperial court decided that Xue Shao, the official of Xia, would temporarily serve as the official Shangshu and inspect the martial arts."

There was a small and small exclamation from the court.

Whoever the flowers are, the truth is finally revealed. Both expected and unexpected.

"Minister, thank you." Xue Shao went out of the class and promised, and stood back after he was done.

Countless pairs of eyes stared at him, some red, some jealous, some indifferent, and some resentful.

Xue Shao treated it indifferently, and only said in his heart: None of you want to fight for this position, even if Wu Zetian wants her good nephew to take the position, it is not easy to do - the military academy began with entrepreneurship, can you do it? Let me be subordinate to others as a deputy, that is even more impossible. Even Wu Zetian will feel embarrassed!

A major event that has been entangled in the political hall for a long time has finally settled. Next, Cen Changqian also announced the election of many Shangwutai officials in the court. There are also four "Cheng" as deputies below the martial arts sacrificial wine, and there are dozens of official positions such as doctors, priests, and sect heads, all of which are newly added official positions. Judging from the official name, Shangwutai largely imitated Guozijian. Xue Shao only proposed a change to one of the official positions, that is, "Zhijiao" became "Jiaotou", which was a teacher who taught personal martial arts such as mounted archery, boxing, swords and guns, and fighting.

Cen Changqian said for a long time.

The civil and military officials thought that this was probably the case today. Unexpectedly, Cen Changqian just finished speaking and left, and Wu Zetian spoke.

"The palace decided not to supervise the state and weigh the system, and immediately returned to the harem and returned to His Majesty the Emperor. From now on, it will be changed to His Majesty's personal government. I hope that all of you will do your best to assist in serving the community. ”

Just such a sentence can be described as earth-shattering, and all the ministers were stunned.

Emperor Li Dan obviously knew about this a long time ago, otherwise he would not have appeared in this Hanyuan Hall today. But he still behaved very panicked, he left the dragon chair and walked under the court, and together with the civil and military officials, he forcibly retained Wu Zetian to continue to govern the country, and he was also stubborn and refused to govern himself.

Xue Shao felt that the scene in front of him could not be a show, Wu Zetian would never give up the power in his hands, and Li Dan would not be able to really come to power and pro-government. But why did Wu Zetian play such a play? Could it be that she was also under a lot of pressure to do this?