Pei Yaoqing actually became the prime minister with Zhang Jiuling, which greatly surprised the officials of the Tang Dynasty.

Of course, whether it is from the ability or from the resume, no one will question Pei Yaoqing, after all, this person served as the Chang'an Order in the second year of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, and in the years of Chang'an Order, he has quite a lot of political achievements, and the people of Chang'an still mention him, and they are still full of praise for his actions when he was in office. And in the following ten years of official career, he has served in many places, each of which can leave some political achievements, and once armed the army, calculating to earn Khitan, which can be called Yunwen Yunwu.

Therefore, in terms of ability, he is fully capable of serving as prime minister.

However, his qualifications are a little worse.

From beginning to end, although Pei Yaoqing has held important positions in various places, he has a very obvious flaw, that is, he does not have the slightest experience as an official in the central government.

Therefore, when the choice of prime minister was pending at the beginning, although many people considered that he might also become one of several candidates, just as Wei Ji despised him, most people would exclude Pei Yaoqing from the list because of his fatal flaw in qualifications.

You must know that no matter what time it is, no matter where it is, seniority is a hurdle that no one can jump over, and this is especially important in officialdom. There are so many people lined up in front of you, many of them used to be your old bosses, you say that you are capable, people can go that far, is your ability worse than yours?

But, then again, if the right person is selected in a complete hierarchy, whoever has more seniority will be on the throne, and the others will continue to line up, so what else does the emperor do?

Although Emperor Xuanzong is getting old, but in the spring of the twenty-second year of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, this Tang Xuanzong has not yet become the rare and confused old emperor, at this time, he is big in the world, small to the court, the details are in his heart, and he has always been good at employing people, how can he be stuck by the so-called discussion of seniority?

As soon as the decree was announced, the dust settled on the question of the choice of the new prime minister for more than a month.

At this time, after all, it was in the court, even if many officials were surprised when they heard this result, but at most it could only be a few exchanges of glances between three or two friends, except for the gasp at the beginning because of surprise, the scene was only slightly confused, and then immediately returned to calm.

Emperor Xuanzong's control over the court was several times stronger than that of his grandmother Wu Zetian, not to mention Emperor Taizong, who was once constrained by the power of the Guan Sergeant clan.

It can be said that Emperor Taizong wanted to appoint a new prime minister during the period, and even had to obtain the approval of the Guan sergeant clan before it could be formally appointed, and in the post-martial period, one was because of the decisive killing of the Empress Wu, and the vigorous suppression of the Guan sergeant clan, and the second was that the continuous development of the imperial examination system impacted the gate valve system and injected a lot of fresh blood into the officialdom, so she had much greater control over the court, but even so, what decree she wants to implement, there will still be many ministers who dare to openly jump out and obstruct it, which you can't kill cleanly.

But in the Xuanzong period, after 20 years of control, even the previous prime ministers with great reputation and strong control, such as Zhang Jiazhen, Yao Chong, Song Jing, and Zhang Shuo, could not compete with Emperor Xuanzong in the court at all.

For now, even more so. Although Emperor Xuanzong also hesitated for a while for the question of the new prime minister, it was only because he lacked an excuse, and once this excuse was found, his decree was promulgated, and even those who dared to stand up and provoke thorns were not served.

Pei Yaoqing is not qualified enough? But Emperor Xuanzong appointed him as prime minister! The hundred officials will have some behind-the-scenes discussions, but after the holy decree is read, without the slightest hesitation, the hundred officials will praise it.

In the crowd, the bitterness on Wei Ji's face couldn't be hidden.

Turning his head to look at the crown prince Li Hong, who was standing in front of him in the first row of royal figures, he was lowering his head at this time, presumably, he should also be quite bitter in his heart, right?

The strong man broke his wrist, and even his own son said that he would throw it away, who would have thought that he would be picked by Pei Yaoqing.

At this time, it is impossible to say that he does not hate Pei Yaoqing in his heart, but he is a smart person after all, and when the holy decree was read out and everyone saluted together, he straightened out his heart a little, but he immediately understood:

How could His Majesty appoint Pei Yaoqing as prime minister just because he captured his son? It must have been before that he had become the prime minister in His Majesty's mind. How could His Majesty skip appointing Pei Yaoqing because of his son's unbearableness? Mainly because from the beginning, he was not ready to let himself go up at all.

Thinking about it this way, Pei Yaoqing was at best a coincidence, but it may not be intentional.

And the most important thing is that the appointment of the prime minister this time made him suddenly smell something very wrong.

In terms of ability, prestige, and qualifications, even if he is slightly inferior to Zhang Jiuling, he is stable and stable over Pei Yaoqing, but he will lose so without suspense, what is the reason?

The answer is that His Majesty the Emperor does not like that he has too much power.

So, what is there in himself that can make His Majesty the Emperor too scruple or even jealous?

Looking up at the crown prince Li Hong not far in front of him again, Wei Ji seemed to suddenly understand something, and a trace of helplessness and loss flashed in his heart inexplicably.

However, when the chess is in the middle game, how can it be recovered?

Now I can only hope that maybe after Pei Yaoqing's jump this time, he will have some scruples, and his son may be able to escape?

Thinking that the Xu family had lost weight rapidly these days because of the tea and rice and crying, Wei Ji could only sigh softly, and comforted himself again and again in his heart: Maybe only when His Royal Highness the Crown Prince ascends the throne can he ask about the phase! But will you be able to survive that time?

In other words, it depends on His Majesty's jealousy of himself, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, can he survive that time?

Being among the hundreds of officials, Li Xi couldn't help but be full of excitement.

Of course, he is not Pei Yaoqing's descendant, so it is said that Pei Yaoqing will not follow one step to the sky when he comes to power, and on the contrary, although in terms of identity, as the only disciple of Zhang Jiuling's son-in-law Zhou Qiong, he should be regarded as Zhang Jiuling's descendant, but Zhang Jiuling doesn't seem to treat him very much, so these two people join hands on the stage to worship the prime minister, in fact, they don't have any light at all, and there is nothing to be excited about.

But the problem is, no matter who these two people are, they have a good reason not to suppress themselves!

Zhang Jiuling doesn't need to say it, even if he doesn't like his share of the cantata, and doesn't like himself because of it, or maybe even feels that it's a bit strange for him to come up with such a presumptuous remark about state affairs at such a young age, but at least, even if it's just for the sake of the teacher Zhou Qiong, even if he doesn't take care of himself, he won't embarrass himself.

As for Pei Yaoqing, he just accepted a favor from himself, not to mention how much this favor played a role in his ability to successfully take the stage to pay homage to the prime minister, but at least, he will remember it in his heart. Moreover, although Li Xi has not been in a relationship with him for a long time and has only met a few times, they have left an excellent impression on both sides, and it can be seen that unlike many people in the current court and central government who do not treat him well, he admires himself very much, and he has always strongly supported the affairs of Cao Yun in charge of him.

Compared to the other most likely candidates for prime minister, is there anything more advantageous than two people like these to take the stage to worship themselves?

As long as the political hall presided over by the two of them is at ease with everything and handles big and small matters impartially, or, in order to repay the favor, Pei Yaoqing may occasionally be more relaxed with himself, plus there is the personal support of Emperor Xuanzong above...... It's really difficult for this official to think about it!

After the hundred officials finished congratulating, for the vast majority of the petty officials - Li Xi, who was naturally among the six grades - was basically already accountable for official affairs, just waiting for the noon banquet to be completed, and then he could go home to continue the New Year, while the officials above the third rank in the court still had to continue to be busy, especially the officials of the Ministry of Rites, this was almost the most concentrated opportunity for them to show their faces in a year, and all kinds of sacrificial activities in Chang'an City were inseparable from them. In particular, Emperor Xuanzong wanted to lead the high-ranking officials in the court to worship heaven and earth and worship the ancestors and ancestors, which was even more within their responsibility.

Under the guidance of several officials of the Ministry of Rites, the hundred officials who were not qualified to participate in those activities slowly withdrew and went to the small square in front of the main building of the diligent government affairs to wait for the noon banquet.

For Wei Yue and others, Pei Yaoqing, as the official of the Jianghuai Transit Envoy, was able to serve as the prime minister at this time, which can naturally greatly enhance the voice of this yamen in the court, and also greatly enhance their status, and what to do in the future is naturally much more convenient than before. So to say surprise, it's really not too much.

And the surprise on Liu Rong and Li Yifeng's faces is likely to be similar to what Li Xi thought in his heart, and they all know that Zhang Jiuling and Pei Yaoqing join hands to pay homage to the prime minister, whether it is for the Jianghuai transfer envoys led by themselves, or for Zhou Qiong and Liu Bo in Shuzhou at this time, it is a great thing.

Even, Liu Rong may have thought of what he promised him a few years ago: once Zhou Qiong leaves the position of Shuzhou Assassin, then he will help the Liu family to do his best in the court, and strive to help Liu Bo move up, even if the position of the assassin cannot be touched, get a long history, don't drive, etc., there is still a lot of hope.

In this regard, Li Xi handed him a "you can rest assured" look, and then the two of them smiled heartily, and everything was silent.

Aside from the fact that Li Xi's operations in Shuzhou are all in urgent need of a hard-core figure in the officialdom to support, I don't want the officials who came later to find fault with them, not to mention, even if it is for Wan'er, this favor is also Li Xi must help.

Besides, he still expects Liu Rong to be able to help him share some things in the future, how can he not be dedicated to his Lao Tzu's affairs?

"Starving, starving, what about the Jingnu? Lianlian, hurry up and get something to eat! ”

As soon as he returned home, Li Xi shouted.

The palace banquet, of course, is a good thing, and the cooking for the emperor does not need to think about it, the cooking skills must be very good, but the problem is, more than 10,000 people give a banquet at the same time, if so many women also have to enter the palace to congratulate, they will also give a banquet, how many cooks can there be in Xingqing Palace? Ready-made, how can it be in time?

Therefore, it is said that it has been prepared for several days since the beginning of the year, anyway, in winter, the dishes can't be broken, but when they are served, there are many dishes that are still with ice slag, let alone taste, chopsticks can't be clipped, how to eat?

So along the way, Li Xi, who was still participating in this kind of court banquet for the first time, laughed with Liu Rong and Li Yifeng, and several people exchanged regrets.

Not to mention anything else, the roasted mutton in front of Li Xi was frozen, looking tender and golden in color, but they couldn't eat it at all, and Li Xi and they got up in the middle of the night to enter the palace, and they just had time to mess around with something to pad their stomachs, and by noon, they were already hungry.

It's just that there is no way to do it, so I have to make it a long experience.

After the banquet was completed, the ministers stood in line again, and went together to thank His Majesty the Emperor for the banquet, and when they got here, they were considered to have completed the ceremony, and then Yuguan withdrew from Xingqing Palace, Li Xi and a few people got on the horse, and urged the horse along the way, and when they returned home, they were not in a hurry to do anything else, and the first thing they did was to order someone to get food, not only the three of them went to court, but even Yang Zhao and Geng Xin, who were watching the horses in the periphery, were already hungry and weak.

It just so happened that Yang Zhao knew Li Xi's appetite, and a few years ago he specially bought dozens of catties of good dog meat and handed it over to the kitchen, and Jing Nu specially cooked some dog meat for Li Xi to stew some dog meat to satisfy his cravings, this year is the first day of the Lunar New Year, as usual to have a family banquet, although dog meat can not be on the table, but his family sits up to eat the table, of course, there is no need for so many scruples, so Jing Nu packed up more than a dozen catties of dog meat on the stove, at this time the heat is just right, plus a variety of spices to get it up, and the steaming dog meat can smell hungry to death, Just let Li Xi and the others feast happily and eat happily.

After filling his stomach, Li Xi had the heart to discuss with Liu Rong and them about the impact that Zhang Jiuling and Pei Yaoqing would bring on their side and the adjustment of their style of behavior after that, but the tea had just boiled, and before a few people sat down to discuss it slowly, Xingqing Palace had already sent someone to pass on the decree: summon Li Xi to go to Xingqing Palace for a banquet on the third day of the first lunar month.

(To be continued)