Zhao Ziliang said: "Liang Guogong is the secretary of the ministry, what is the current situation of the Tang Dynasty officials, presumably Liang Guogong should know in his heart, why the Tang Dynasty has become the current situation, and the successive officials and ministers do not have a certain responsibility?" The Ministry of Officials is the first of the six Shangshu, for the imperial court to take materials and talents, in charge of the appointment and dismissal of officials across the country, examinations, promotion, transfer, awards and other affairs, heavy responsibility, look at the current officials around the country and the officials of the imperial court Yamen of the virtue of it, Liang Guogong believes that if the officials appointed by the Ministry of Officials in the future are still like these officials now, what future does Datang have? To put it mildly, this country has always belonged to your Li family, and it's about us people with foreign surnames? And what are we still thinking about here? If the Li family itself doesn't think about the country's society, do they still expect outsiders to sacrifice their lives for righteousness? Since this king has found Liang Guogong today, he simply said to Liang Guogong straight to the point, the ministry must be the ministry of the imperial court, not the ministry of a certain person, the responsibility of the ministry is to select materials for the court, not to cultivate cronies for a certain person, this king said so, Liang Guogong should understand, right? If the officials continue to cultivate cronies for someone, if Liang Guogong ignores the Tang Dynasty for his own selfish interests, he will not be able to ask Liang Guogong to go home for retirement! ”

The rich expression on Li Xian's face shows that he is extremely uneasy in his heart, once upon a time he was also an upright person, a minister who dared to give direct advice to the emperor, but now he has become Yuan Zai's minion, but Yuan Zai is too favored in front of the emperor, the emperor can not listen to anyone's words, but he can definitely listen to Yuan Zai's words, in order to maintain the power and honor of the family, he has to submit to Yuan Zai. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

After a long time, Li Xian stood up tremblingly and bowed to Zhao Ziliang and cried bitterly: "Regent, the old minister is guilty, guilty!" ”

Zhao Ziliang sighed: "When King Ling Zun Xin'an was alive, he never formed a party, he was outstanding but never arrogant, honest and selfless, and strong and soft, and had the highest prestige among the ministers of the clan, and often spoke bluntly in front of the emperor about the evil deeds of Li Linfu and others, although Li Linfu and others hated it, but they couldn't help it. Evil is rampant, but it never prevails over the right path! Liang Guogong, this king can understand your thoughts and concerns, but if the ship of the Tang Dynasty sinks, how can your family be spared? Under the nest, how can there be eggs? Don't you even understand this simple truth? ”

Li Xian kowtowed again and again: "The older the minister is, the more confused he becomes, the older he gets, the less courageous he becomes, it's really lard!" The old minister is guilty, the old minister has disgraced his father and ancestors, and the old minister deserves death! ”

"Knowing that mistakes can be corrected, how good is it? It's too late to change now! Zhao Ziliang said and got up and helped Li Xian up.

Li Xian sat down trembling again, like a child who had made a mistake, and did not dare to move.

Zhao Ziliang said: "Liang Guogong, since the mistakes caused in the past have become bitter fruits, you have to make up for it yourself, the officials can no longer have problems, and they can no longer become a yamen for a certain person to cultivate cronies, from now on, Liang Guogong must be strictly controlled!" ”

Li Xian hurriedly said: "The old minister understands that as long as the old minister is still the secretary of the ministry, from now on, he will never let those who are not right-minded, talentless, virtuous, treacherous, speculative, have a bad official reputation, flattery, and welcome the horse to be promoted and appointed!" ”

Zhao Ziliang waved his hand and said with a smile: "Liang Guogong said this is too extreme, if you are not a treacherous person, a speculator, a bad official reputation, a sycophant, and a person who welcomes the horse, you can't be an official!" To be an official and get promoted, several conditions must be met: first, you must be absolutely loyal to Datang, when your personal interests conflict with the interests of Datang, you must be able to give up your own interests to fulfill the interests of Datang, this is the overall situation! Second, if you have the ability to do things for officials, how can incompetent people be officials and do things? As long as he is talented, whether he is a traitor, or a speculator, or a flattering person, he can be an official, everyone has his usefulness, how to use him, this is the matter of the superior! Such a person is useful, but he cannot be a prime minister or a minister; Third, virtue is also an important indicator for examining officials! ”

Li Xian arched his hand and said: "The old minister understands what the king means!" ”

Next, Li Xian intermittently revealed the internal secrets of the prime minister's faction to Zhao Ziliang, and Zhao Ziliang had a deeper understanding of Yuan Zai. Yuan Zai has the ability to do this, but this person is too greedy and cronyistic, even if it is someone in his family, if it is not for his party, he will not make friends or associate with him. As the prime minister, he allowed him to add and tamper with the merits and mistakes of the court officials at will when he drafted them, and when appointing officials below the sixth grade, he also played the emperor's edict without review, and some court officials secretly reported to the court, and after he knew about it, he killed him with a court rod, and since then the officials and the people dare not speak out against him, and no one dares to talk about his bad deeds.

After Zhao Ziliang heard Li Xian tell the secret matter of the prime minister's faction, he thought for a long time and said to Li Xian: "The selection test of the Ministry of Officials will be held in two days, right?" When the time comes, the king will personally go to conduct the final assessment of all the candidates on the list, and you will also participate in it when the time comes! ”

Li Xian promised: "Yes, the old minister will arrange it!" ”

After Li Xian left, Gao Shang came to report: "King, Brother Shuyao from Xiangyang sent someone to ask for help, this is the second time in the past half a month to ask for help!" ”

Zhao Ziliang frowned when he heard this, "It seems that the situation on Ge Shuyao's side is very critical, otherwise it would be impossible for the messenger to ask for help to come so often, and when the whole city is besieged, you must pay a heavy price if you want to send someone to break through!" Is there any news from Guo Ziyi? ”

Gao Shang said: "The palace has not received the news in this regard, Weichen has already sent someone to Zhongshu Province to inquire, and they have not received the news, in fact, Weichen is too anxious, if there is news in Zhongshu Province, it will definitely send someone to send it immediately, they cannot detain the news of this kind of military affairs, once the delay causes huge consequences, no one can afford this responsibility!" ”

Zhao Ziliang walked back and forth in the lobby of the main hall with his hands behind his back, stopped and asked, "Where is the person sent by Ge Shuyao?" ”

"The king wants to see him? Wechen immediately ordered someone to bring him in! After Gao Shang finished speaking, he immediately turned around and left.

In less than a cup of tea, Gao Shang walked in with a bloodstained soldier who had dried up and down.

"King, this is the messenger sent by Ge Shuyao!"

The soldier immediately bowed down and said, "The villain greets the king!" ”

"Get up! What about Ge Shuyao's letter for help? ”

"Here!" The soldier took a crumpled letter from his bosom and handed it over.

Zhao Ziliang took it apart and looked at it, Ge Shuyao said that the situation in Xiangyang was very bad in the letter for help, there were less than 10,000 soldiers in the city, because the siege had been as long as two months, the food in the city was almost exhausted, in order to prolong the defense time as much as possible, he had to order the collection of all the food in the city, everyone only ate one meal a day, and they could only eat half full, many people were very hungry, scraped off the bark of all the trees in the city and boiled and eaten, and the livestock were slaughtered.

After reading the letter, Zhao Ziliang said: "The situation in Xiangyang City is indeed more serious than we imagined, but it is much better than when Zhang patrolled Yongqiu and Suiyang, you must know that Yongqiu and Suiyang were guarded for more than a year, and a mouse was sold for tens of thousands of dollars!" But the current situation can not be compared with that year, when the An Lushan rebellion had just begun, the prestige of the imperial court was still there, such as today's war for a long time, the prestige of the imperial court fell sharply, the military and civilians in Xiangyang City may not have the confidence and endurance to hold for more than a year, we must find a way as soon as possible! ”

Gao Shang nodded and said, "Yes, you don't have to be back then!" Weichen thinks that he doesn't have to care about the gains and losses of one city and one place, he can give an order to Ge Shuyao, let him act when he sees the opportunity, if he can hold on, hold on, wait for reinforcements to arrive, if he can't hold on, break through, save the living force, and after breaking through with the reinforcements, and then wait for the opportunity to recapture Xiangyang! ”

Zhao Ziliang thought for a long time, and when he came back to his senses, he saw that the soldier who delivered the letter was still standing in place, so he shouted outside: "Come on, bring the messenger down to rest, arrange food and lodging, and wait for the siege of Xiangyang to lift, give him some entanglement, let him go back to Ge Shuyao!" ”

"Yes!"

After sending away the soldier who sent the letter, Gao Shang asked: "King, Weichen has always been unclear, there is not no army around Xiangyang, if it is from Jiangling, Ezhou and other places, it is possible to draw some troops, as long as another general is appointed to lead the army, it is possible to quickly go north to contact the surroundings of Xiangyang, why does the king have to send troops from the Chang'an court to rescue?" ”

Zhao Ziliang asked rhetorically: "Transfer troops from around Xiangyang?" Is there another knotty envoy appointed? Once this kind of position is appointed, it is difficult to remove it, and now the local government and feudal towns will never think that the military power is too heavy, as long as there is an opportunity, they will do everything possible to seize the military power in their hands! ”

Zhao Ziliang's meaning is very clear, if you want to draw troops from the surrounding areas of Xiangyang to organize a large army, then the grain, grass, ordnance and all war materials must be requisitioned from the local area, and if the commander wants to fight the war wholeheartedly and has no logistical concerns, he must control the surrounding states and counties.

Now that Zhao Ziliang is planning to reduce the rights of generals in various places, separate political power, financial power and military power, and prevent the creation of more feudal towns, how can he continue to appoint such an official position as a jiedu envoy?

Gao Shang understood Zhao Ziliang's thoughts, and he said: "Weichen understands the king's concerns, but in this way, the regent palace is a little constrained in many cases!" ”

Zhao Ziliang said: "This is also a matter of no choice, the mess left by several emperors can only be borne and cleaned up by us pretentious guys!" ”