Li Ji, as the prime minister and the British prince, will never lie, so Li Hong did not go to the military department to inquire about the situation again, but went home. He believes in the strength of the Empress Wu, since the Empress Wu has made a move, he really doesn't know what to do, so he can only compromise, is he going to snatch people from the hands of the young man in the afternoon, this is a blatant break with the Empress Wu, Li Hong doesn't want to develop things to this point, he fights with the Empress Wu This is an indisputable fact, but their fight has not yet been shown on the surface, the two sides are still deliberately maintaining a seemingly peaceful illusion, Li Hong also needs such an illusion, if it is now once the Empress Wu breaks with the Queen, the Empress Wu is unwilling to do it before, Or the impossible move will be made, which is really not good for him.

In fact, what Li Hong wanted to know more at this time was, how did Empress Wu persuade Xue Rengui? Could it be that he was tempted by his official position, or by money, or by giving Xue Rengui great benefits? But no matter what, the Empress Wu could not give Xue Rengui as much as she gave him, why was Xue Rengui driven back to Liaodong by Empress Wu so easily?

Li Hong returned to his residence a little annoyed, and refused to see the guest, he was ready to rest and rest, the failure of Xue Rengui made him understand a truth, that is, the current power of the Empress Wu has been so great that he is discouraged, the only thing he can do is to eat away at the strength of the Empress Wu little by little, instead of openly breaking with the Empress Wu, and let the Empress Wu openly regard him as her enemy.

"Chen Gong, do you know the situation of the White Horse Temple?" Early the next morning, Li Hong got up and finished exercising, just like Chen Gong asked.

Empress Wu built the White Horse Temple in Luoyang, intending to counter his state religion in Chang'an, and Li Hong wanted to know some of the situation of the White Horse Temple. If you don't break openly with the Empress Wu, then it's the same from the aspect of luck. There are many means of political and political struggle, and it is not necessary to go head-to-head, but it is also possible to take a roundabout battle.

In addition to being a guard general, Chen Gong also has a part of the intelligence work, which is to pass on the intelligence and news that Yu Linwei wants to convey to Li Hong, so he has paid attention to this aspect, and when he saw the prince asking, he opened his mouth and said, "Your Highness, the White Horse Temple is located in the east of Luoyang City, and it has only just begun to be built, and it will probably take two years to complete the construction." ”

"Two years?" Li Hong smiled, it really takes two years, he is really not afraid of the White Horse Temple of the Empress Wu, his state religion is about to be completed, and then it is to recruit and spread the teachings. Now the White Horse Temple in Luoyang has only been built, and two years later, the priests of his state religion are all over the states and counties of the Tang Dynasty.

This is the reason why Empress Wu and Li Hong lost in the battle in terms of luck, because she moved east to Luoyang, and her luck was a little decayed, so this situation occurred.

Li Hong's state religion was not established early, but it was much faster than the White Horse Temple after Wuhou, because the time and place were favorable.

The materials for the construction of the state church and the college are ready-made, that is, the materials located in the temple in Chang'an City, the demolition of the temple in Chang'an City, the construction of the state church and college is more than enough, and the two major temples in Chang'an City are very good in location, and the area is very large, and it is very suitable to build the state church and church on their basis, so as to shorten the construction period, to put it bluntly, Li Hong wants to rebuild on the basis of the original two major temples, and rebuild the two major temples into the city of the state church and college, Naturally, it is much easier to rebuild than to build.

The Great Solemn Temple, the Great Ci'en Temple, these are the famous temples in Chang'an City, covering a wide area, the luxurious style of construction, the two temples are transformed into the city of the State Church and the State Religious College, it is indeed the best way.

If Li Hong did not have the foundation of these two monasteries, he would have had the money, and it would also take two or three years to build the Anglican college and church.

"Then leave it alone." Li Hong said very firmly, "You go down, if you have nothing to do these days, don't let people disturb Lone, Lone should have a good rest." ”

"No!" Chen Gong received the order and left in a hurry.

Li Hong waited until Chen Gong left, and began to read.

To be honest, he did want to take a good rest and read a book again. Since he changed his fate and changed the fate of the people around him, and when he found that the battle with the martial arts queen was moving in his favor step by step, his person has also changed, becoming a lot more cheerful and a lot more optimistic.

Now he is not as focused on thinking as he used to, and he wants to rest at the right time.

In fact, he wants to rest for a few days, this is just Li Hong's excuse to the outside world, his real reason is that he wants to be quiet alone, he wants to think about the things about the martial queen, and he wants to take a look at what he knows about the martial arts queen, so as to make targeted deployments.

In his memory, there are many things that Empress Wu will do in the future, and he wants to write them out one by one and analyze them again, so that he can come up with better countermeasures, and he does not dare to take Empress Wu lightly at all.

In addition to building the White Horse Temple in Luoyang, what Li Hong wants to do now is to follow Li Zhi's Fengzen Mount Tai.

Because Mount Tai sealed Zen was the attention of the Empress Wu, she tried her best to persuade Li Zhi to seal Mount Tai. Mount Tai Feng Zen, mainly to worship the God of Haotian when the emperor deserves to enjoy, sacrifice to the emperor when the queen mother deserves. When the Zen was sealed, the emperor first offered it, and the secretary of state was the second offering. That is to say, there is no queen's business after all, and the idea of the Empress Wu should be to seal Zen as a ritual to sacrifice the earth, which will be enjoyed by the queen mother to highlight the virtue of the earth. What he meant was that he couldn't let the ministers come to the sacrifice. Therefore, she wanted to make herself a Yaxian so that she could honor her mother-in-law, and Gaozong agreed. Therefore, on the first day of the first month of the third year of Linde, Empress Wu and Li Zhi sealed Mount Tai together, acting as a sub-offering, and also gave hundreds of officials a knighthood, so that the hundred officials were grateful to her.

The first thing Li Hong did was that the attack on Tubo should be smooth, and he would strive to capture Tubo before October, so that he could rush to Mount Tai before sealing Chan, so that he could prevent Empress Wu from making a sub-offering, and not let her give a knighthood to a hundred officials, and not let her use this method to buy a hundred officials.

This point is the top priority, as long as the idea of the Empress Wu is stopped, at least in terms of momentum, he can hit the Empress Wu, and without this performance, I am afraid that the position in the hearts of the hundred officials will be greatly discounted than the powerful.

As long as her status is not as high as said in history, then Li Hong has the confidence to strike at the Empress Wu one step further, making her fall into the mortal dust step by step.

The mistake that Empress Wu had to take after Taishan sealed Zen was that he wanted to suggest that Gaozong be called the emperor, and she wanted to be called the queen of heaven, her reason was to avoid the title of the first emperor and the succession, in fact, she wanted to get an honorific title for herself.

In other words, no matter how the queen listens, there is no queen who listens to dignity.

After that, she will give twelve suggestions: First, persuade farmers and mulberries, and give them a thin fortune. Second, to restore the three auxiliary lands (exempt from forced labor in Chang'an and its vicinity). Third, stop the army and moralize the world. Fourth, the south and north are still (government handicraft workshops) are forbidden to be fancy. Fifth, save work and labor. Sixth, the road of wide speech. Seventh, Du slander. Eighth, the prince and the prince all practiced "Lao Tzu". Nine, the father is serving the mother for three years (in the past it was one year). 10. Those who have been given a certificate of appointment by the former commander of the Shangyuan "Year Name" will not be retrospective. 11. Beijing officials above the eighth grade, benefit from the endowment (increase salary). Twelve, hundreds of officials have been in office for a long time, and those who are in high positions have to be advanced (promoted) to apply for delay.

Many of these measures are used to buy people's hearts, such as the second point, which is to exempt Chang'an and its nearby areas from forced labor, which is a naked bribe to the people of Guanlong, so that they can support her in the future, rather than supporting the Li royal family, because she exempts them from the heavy task of forced labor.

Secondly, it is to put an end to the spread of slander, so that many of the things she does cannot be spread, and it cannot be widely known by the people, which is good for her in everything she does.

There is also the need for Beijing officials to be more than eight grades, and the benefits are entered. It is to increase the income and salary of hundreds of officials. This is also buying people's hearts, coupled with the addition of knighthood when Feng Chan, the martial queen not only promoted everyone but also gave everyone a salary increase, it would be strange if there were officials who were not bought by her.

And since Li Hong wants to prevent Empress Wu from sealing Taishan and preventing him from giving knights to hundreds of officials, then his second step is to play Gaozong and change the twelve suggestions of Empress Wu to his own, he wants to advocate the exemption from forced labor, increase the salary of hundreds of officials, and he wants to make the method used by Empress Wu to buy hundreds of officials his own.

Since he can't fight the Empress Wu in some aspects, just like Xue Rengui, he can only take other means, that is, to use his prophetic conditions to do it first and later, and to gather the forces of the Empress Wu step by step.

In the second year of the Shangyuan Dynasty, Gaozong's wind dizziness became even worse, so he consulted with the ministers and prepared to make Wu Zetian regent. At this time, Gaozong had no choice, because in the first year of Shangyuan, Empress Wu had just poisoned his son, Li Hong, the prince of the Tang Dynasty who was personally selected by Gaozong. Therefore, Gaozong's decision is actually a compromise with Empress Wu, that is, let her stop poisoning her children for rights, and he is willing to give Empress Wu rights. And Prime Minister Hao Chujun admonished: "Your Majesty, why should you entrust the world of Gaozu and Taizong to the queen of heaven instead of passing it on to your descendants!" ”

As a result, Gojong temporarily suspended the discussion.

After learning of this matter again, Empress Wu convened a large number of scholars and scholars, revised a large number of books, and successively wrote "Xuanlan", "Ancient and Modern Inner Fan", "Qinggong Minutes", "Shaoyang Zhengfan", "Weicheng Classics", "Zishu Yaolu", "Fenglou New Commandment", "Filial Piety Biography", "Lienu Biography", "Neifan Yaolu", "Music Book Yaolu", "Hundred Bureaucratic New Commandments", "Zhaoren Benye", "Chenlu" and other books. and secretly ordered this group of scholars to participate in the court recital to divide the power of the prime minister, and was called "Beimen Bachelor" by the people at the time.

This year, just after the death of the crown prince Li Hong, Gaozong renamed his second son Li Xian and Empress Wu as the crown prince.

In the second year of the confession, Li Xian was deposed as a concubine for the crime of treason and exiled to Bazhou. Gaozong also appointed his third son, Li Xian, as the crown prince. In fact, if smart people know that the exile of the prince this time is the meaning of the Empress Wu, at this time, the Empress Wu has already grasped the real power of the Tang Empire, and Gaozong has absolutely no choice but to help her.

In the second year of Yongchun, Gaozong's car drove to Fengtian Palace, and at that time, Empress Wu got a lot of benefits from Feng Taishan, so he persuaded Gaozong to seal Zen Zhongyue.

And Gojong was terminated due to illness.

Gaozong was suffering from a headache and couldn't bear it, and the doctor Qin Minghe said: "The prickly head is slightly bleeding, and it can be cured." ”

Empress Wu said in the tent: "This doctor can be beheaded, do you want to prick blood on the emperor's head!" Gaozong said, "I suffer from headaches, and bleeding may not be bad!" ”

The doctor pricked Baihui with a needle, and Gao Zong said, "My eyes have seen it." ”

Soon, the imperial crown prince Li Xian was ordered to act as the state minister, and Pei Yan, Liu Qixian, Guo Zhengyi and others served as Tongping Zhangshi in the East Palace. And Gaozong returned to the Eastern Capital from Fengtian Palace, and he was very ill, and the ministers below the prime minister could not be promoted.

In December of the same year, Li Zhi died, and his deathbed edict: Prince Li Xian ascended the throne in front of the coffin, and if there is a major military affairs that cannot be adjudicated, it will be decided by the Queen of Heaven. Four days later, Li Xian ascended the throne as Tang Zhongzong, and respected Wu Zetian as the empress dowager.

At this time, the martial queen is actually not far from her ascension to the throne.

And what Li Hong has to do is to pull the Empress Wu down of her dream of power before his life and death, instead of thinking about what will happen later, because he has changed history now, Empress Wu is no longer the Empress Wu in history, and he is not the him in history.

In fact, Li Hong knew very well that Empress Wu was very talented, and Empress Wu had made great achievements in many aspects.

For example, the development of the imperial weightlifting is a cold door, and the martial arts queen has done a very good job in this regard.

Empress Wu appointed a lot of virtuous ministers to govern the world, known in history for knowing people and being good at taking office, after Empress Wu ascended the throne, he was known as the "Gentleman Manchu Dynasty", Lou Shide, Di Renjie and other famous virtuous ministers were among them, and the later "Kaiyuan Virtuous Minister" Yao Chong and Song Jing were also promoted in the post-Wu period. Empress Wu's good at employing people is also reflected in her reform and innovation in the employment system, she reformed the imperial examination and improved the status of Jinshike; holding the temple examination; Created a variety of systems such as martial arts, bootstrapping, and trial officials, so that a large number of children from poor families had the opportunity to show their talents. Remember in the first year of Zaichu), the Empress Wu in the Luocheng Hall to the Gongshi personally asked, sent the "Cun Fu Envoy" ten people to patrol the Dao, recommend talents, a year later a total of more than 100 people, the Empress Wu did not ask about the background, all to be received, the amount of appointment, or for the trial of the Fengge (Zhongshu Province) people, to the matter, or for the test of the outside Lang, the imperial history, the Que, the legacy, the school book Lang, the trial officer system since then, the people have "make up the Que even the car, pick up the amount of the flat bucket, put the push to serve the imperial history, the wrist off the school Shulang" words. Although Empress Wu used his official position to buy people's hearts, he would also depose incompetent people; Knowing and deciding, the people at that time were also willing to serve the military queen.

Li Hong also appreciates this aspect, just like when Taishan Feng Chan and the twelve things were suggested, Empress Wu did make a move to buy hundreds of officials, but there were no mediocre talents among the people around him, even cool officials like Zhou Xing and Lai Junchen were capable people.

Of course, Li Hong also knew very well that Empress Wu appointed cool officials to brutalize the loyal ministers of the Tang Dynasty and the children of the Li royal family, and after the Empress Wu's rule was stabilized, she began to use cool officials. In order to consolidate her rule, Empress Wu used harsh methods. In order to control the power of the country, she poisoned her own son Li Hong, who had become the crown prince. In the second year of becoming emperor, he used Lai Junchen, one of the two cool officials, to kill another cool official, Zhou Xing; It wasn't until the second year of Banzai Tongtian that she killed Lai Junchen, and the use of cool officials by the Empress Wu ended, and she also ended the politics of cool officials.

In terms of economy, Empress Wu also had no small achievements. In her twelve suggestions, she suggested "persuading farmers and mulberries and enforcing laborers". After she took power, she compiled the "Zhaoren Benye Ji" and issued it to the prefecture and county, as a reference for the state and county officials to persuade farmers. Moreover, she also paid attention to the administration of local officials and strengthened supervision over landlords and officials. A more tolerant policy was also adopted with regard to land annexation and the fleeing peasants. Therefore, during the reign of Empress Wu, the society was quite stable, agriculture, handicrafts and commerce had made great progress, and the number of households increased from 3.8 million in the third year of Yonghui (652) to 6.15 million in the first year of Shenlong (705) of Zhongzong of Tang Dynasty, with an average annual growth rate of 0.721%. This was a very high growth rate in ancient China, and it was also an objective data reflecting the economic development of the post-Wu period.

At this time, the uniform land system began to disintegrate, and the phenomenon of household flight began to be widespread, and the Empress Wu adopted a relatively tolerant policy to promote the development of productive forces; However, the exodus of households has also caused a loss of government tax revenue, which has increased social instability. In order to claim the emperor's respect for Buddhism, Empress Wu overhauled temples and built large-scale Ming Hall and Heaven, which also increased the burden on the people.

Li Hong very much agreed with the economic achievements of Empress Wu, but for the sake of her luck, she built temples and established Hongda's famous hall, which was indeed not acceptable to Li Hong.

That's why he attacked Buddhism so hard.

It is because Buddhism is too brutal in the Tang Dynasty and has been supported and courteous by the rulers, but they don't know how to restrain themselves, they are lazy and do well, and they also oppress the people and constantly ask the court for money.

This kind of behavior made Li Hong very dissatisfied.

As for Empress Wu's achievements in military affairs, in fact, Li Hong doesn't want to think about it anymore, because with him, Datang will only be stronger and stronger in military affairs than before, and will not decline more than before.

Indeed, in the military aspect, the territory and status of the Tang Dynasty were basically maintained during the period of the Martial Queen, but because the Empress Wu called the emperor before and after killing a large number of generals and marshals who were accustomed to war, and because of the gradual collapse of the Juntian system, the government soldiers were reduced, and the national defense force was weak. Anbei has never recovered. She almost gave up all the Anbei and Anxi that Taizong and Gaozong had worked hard for, but with the stability of her rule, she gradually recovered her decline.

So in Li Hong's heart, the Tang Dynasty in Li Hong's period was no longer as strong as the previous Tang Dynasty, and the only thing that could be strong was that the Tang Dynasty at that time was richer than before.

Therefore, Li Hong easily put down the pen and reviewed what he had recorded on the paper again, and he found that in fact, dealing with Empress Wu was not as complicated as he thought.

The reason why Empress Wu's power was so great before was because since the eradication of the eldest grandson Wuji, no one had to do anything with him anymore, even if there was another Shangguan Yi later, but he was killed by Empress Wu because of his ability? The second is because no one stopped Empress Wu, so that Empress Wu could unscrupulously encroach on the power in Gaozong's hands step by step, and Li Hong before couldn't. Now it's different, Li Hong has gained the trust of Gaozong, he has the capital to confront Empress Wu and prevent Empress Wu from encroaching on Gaozong's rights, which prevents the development of Empress Wu, at least slows down the encroachment of Empress Wu in terms of rights, and Li Hong can also use this to develop his own strength.

Therefore, in Li Hong's view, he and Empress Wu are always on the same starting line, and he has an advantage over Empress Wu, which is justified.

Li Hong smiled, because he found that although he was inferior in the matter of Xue Rengui and was taken advantage of by Empress Wu, in terms of overall strength, he was better than Empress Wu......

If that's the case, why should you worry about it?