In the Liangyi Palace, the twenty-six-year-old Li Zhi was listening carefully to the reports of the ministers below, and one by one the government affairs were given by the court to deal with them, and different officials were in charge, and the more important government affairs were temporarily placed on his desk, and the results of the handling would not be given until he thought about it carefully, and even now some important ministers and the Chamber of Commerce would give the results.

Originally, Li Zhi was in the Mingde Hall of the East Palace to handle government affairs, but later Li Shimin knew that his time was short, so he let go of all government affairs and handed them over to Li Zhi to deal with, and he also personally ordered Li Zhi to summon the ministers to the Liangyi Hall to deal with government affairs, and the dragon chair in the Liangyi Hall was only allowed by the emperor, so Li Shimin's order was almost a disguised transfer of the throne to Li Zhi.

One by one government affairs were handled by Li Zhi, according to the unwritten rules, the most important government affairs will be handed over by the eldest grandson Wuji, who is the prime minister, but looking at the appearance of the eldest grandson Wuji, it seems that there is nothing important, generally speaking, the court meeting should end at this time.

But what everyone didn't expect was that a slightly chubby minister wearing a four-grade official uniform walked out, and then saluted Li Zhi's body and said, "Your Majesty, the minister has something to report!" ”

"Oh? What is the important matter of Xu Shilang? Li Zhi saw the minister who came out of the ranks, and said with a smile on his face.

The minister who stood up was Xu Jingzong, who had just been transferred back to the Tang Dynasty from Daqi, and at the same time, Li Yifu and others, who had gone to Daqi with him, were all transferred back. And as soon as they returned to the Tang Dynasty, these people were immediately entrusted with important tasks by Li Zhi, among which Xu Jingzong is currently the Huangmen Shilang, and is the second governor of Menxia Province, and Menxia Province has the function of sealing and refuting the minister's folding, so Xu Jingzong's position as Huangmen Shilang has great real power.

"Your Majesty. In the cotton textile industrial bases of Youzhou, Yizhou, Cangzhou and other places, hundreds of large factory owners jointly signed a letter. He denounced some wealthy families for hoarding cotton and driving up cotton prices. So since this year's New Year, the value of cotton has risen several times, many factories because of the lack of raw materials and can not open, workers have to go home on vacation, naturally can not get wages to support their families, which has made many workers live in poverty, if this continues, I am afraid it will cause more serious consequences, please Your Majesty! ”

Xu Jingzong and the others just came back. was immediately entrusted with a heavy task, which naturally caused the dissatisfaction of many courtiers, but everyone did not expect that Xu Jingzong would not be able to make a sound, and he would directly play such an important event, and he also pointed the finger directly at Changsun Wuji, who among the ministers present did not know that the Changsun clan had a large cotton field in the Western Regions. It controls a considerable share of cotton production, and the first of those wealthy families who raise the price of cotton mentioned in Xu Jingzong's words is the Changsun family.

It was Xu Jingzong's amazing performance that made the courtiers can't help but talk about each other. At the same time, almost everyone's eyes looked at the eldest grandson Wuji, planning to see how the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty should take over?

But what everyone didn't expect was that the eldest grandson Wuji not only did not fight back immediately. On the contrary, he was very calm on the surface, as if what Xu Jingzong said had nothing to do with him. For him this reaction. Some insiders secretly sneered, ready to see the joke of the eldest grandson Wuji. Those who don't know are full of doubts, and are ready to visit their friends at the retreat meeting to inquire about the reason.

In fact, although the eldest grandson Wuji looks calm on the surface, he is helpless and a little sad in his heart. The political structure of the early Tang Dynasty was a system of three provinces and six ministries, of which the three provinces of Zhongshu, Menxia and Shangshu held the core power of the imperial court, and the current official position of the eldest grandson Wuji was 'Tongzhongshu Menxia Sanpin', in fact, it was to integrate the post of the highest governor of the three provinces into one, that is, the post of prime minister, the power was smaller than that of the prime minister Wang An under Li Su, but it was also under one person and above ten thousand people.

It can be said that after Fang Xuanling's death, the eldest grandson Wuji was appointed as the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, and he also has quite a lot of supporters in the court. However, this situation began to change after Li Shimin became seriously ill and Li Zhi took over the handling of government affairs.

At the beginning, Li Zhi was quite obedient to the eldest grandson Wuji, but occasionally expressed some of his own opinions on some matters, which made the eldest grandson Wuji find that his seemingly cowardly nephew actually had his own opinions.

Later, with the return of Xu Jingzong and Li Yifu, Li Zhi immediately revealed his ambitions, he ignored the opposition of the officials, and promoted Xu Jingzong to the Huangmen Shilang of Menxia Province, and Li Yifu served as the Zuo Shilang of Shangshu Province, Shangguanyi was exceptionally promoted to Zhongshusheren, and other people who returned from Daqi or were originally Li Zhi's cronies were also promoted differently, although most of the people's official positions were not high, but they held great real power in their hands.

It was also Li Zhi's large-scale promotion of officials this time, so that all of the six departments and twenty-four divisions of the three provinces were placed by him, and the eldest grandson Wuji now feels a little constrained in his actions. And as Xu Jingzong became familiar with political peace, he had to face the fact that above the court, a new political enemy was growing rapidly.

It is also clear that he knows the above, so the eldest grandson Wuji did not feel particularly surprised by Xu Jingzong's sudden attack, as for the price hike that Xu Jingzong said, it is indeed true, and this year is not the first time to raise the price of cotton, but in the past few years, because he pressed on it, let alone those textile factory owners, even some nobles involved in the textile industry did not dare to say anything.

But now that Xu Jingzong has just returned, and his prime minister has not yet fallen, those textile factory owners have jointly signed a letter, which is too bold. So the eldest grandson Wuji doesn't have to guess at all, there must be someone behind these people to support, as for who has the ability to organize those scattered textile factory owners? Except for His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Qi, there is no second person to think of.

Considering that there is the shadow of Li Su behind this matter, Xu Jingzong and Li Yifu and others also have an inextricable relationship with Li Su, coupled with Li Zhi's secret support, these forces are united, if the eldest grandson Wuji takes the initiative to resist again, it will inevitably be a little too self-sufficient.

After listening to Xu Jingzong's invitation, Li Zhi on the dragon chair first glanced at the calm eldest grandson Wuji, and then suddenly said, "Lord Sikong, how do you think this matter should be handled?" ”

Hearing Li Zhi's opinion, the eldest grandson Wuji first sighed in his heart, stepped forward and bowed down and replied: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, the cotton textile industry has surpassed the silk industry, and cotton cloth has also become one of the most important export goods of my Tang Dynasty, the cotton textile base in Youzhou and other places, the cotton cloth produced accounts for one-third of the total cotton cloth in the market, so there must be no chaos there, the old minister believes that the illegal profiteers who raise the price of cotton should be resolutely cracked down!" ”

For the eldest grandson Wuji's self-defeating words, Li Zhi finally showed a victorious smile, for today's attack, he secretly planned with Xu Jingzong and others for a long time, and even asked the sixth brother Li Su for help, and as a result, the three forces were united, and he really overwhelmed his powerful uncle at once.

However, Li Zhi still had some regrets in his heart, originally he thought that the eldest grandson Wuji would immediately jump out and argue with him when facing Xu Jingzong's attack, but he didn't expect the other party's eyes to be so sharp, and he saw through the balance of power between the two sides at once, so he chose to retreat very wisely, which made the eldest grandson Wuji lose not so ugly.

Seeing that the eldest grandson Wuji chose to admit defeat so easily, this made many courtiers very shocked, especially those courtiers who were attached to the eldest grandson Wuji, and they were even more panicked for a while.

"Okay, since even Lord Sikong said so, then this matter is settled!" Li Zhi said with a laugh, with an excited smile on his face, and then he turned his gaze to Li Yifu and said: "Lord Li's new Zuo Shilangzhong is responsible for implementing the imperial court decrees, and this time the matter of cracking down on Haoqiang and stabilizing the price of cotton will be hosted by you, and the six departments will assist in the implementation, and no one shall interfere or obstruct it!" ”

When Li Zhi said the last few words, he couldn't help revealing a bit of imperial majesty, which made everyone feel an irresistible feeling in their hearts. Even the eldest grandson Wuji felt a trance, as if it was Li Shimin in his youth sitting in front of him.

Next, there was nothing to discuss in the court, and Li Zhi immediately announced his retirement from the court, and then took the lead in leaving the Liangyi Palace. At the moment when he just left, the courtiers immediately divided into several small groups and began to discuss what happened today, several of which were already at odds with the eldest grandson Wuji, when they looked at the eldest grandson Wuji in the front, their faces showed gloating expressions, and at the same time, they also began to approach the location of Xu Jingzong, Li Yifu and others.

Eldest Sun Wuji also gathered a group of ministers around him, but most of them had a little frustration on their faces, and even a few of them looked away, and they didn't know what they were thinking about. Among them, Chu Suiliang, whose identity is second only to the eldest grandson Wuji, seemed to want to say something, but the eldest grandson Wuji interrupted him with a wave of his hand, and then said with a little dejection: "Don't say anything, disperse!" ”

After the eldest grandson Wuji finished speaking, he strode out of the crowd, and then left the Liangyi Hall without looking back, leaving Chu Suiliang and the others You look at me, I look at you, and finally they all sighed, and then they all dispersed.

The eldest grandson Wuji, who left the Liangyi Palace, did not stay in the palace, but passed directly through the Chengtian Gate, ready to get into his own carriage and go home, although he was mentally prepared for today's events, but after all, it was still too sudden, and he had to explain some things to his family, so as not to be caught by Li Yifu and others, and he himself also needed to think calmly, where to go in the future?

However, just when the eldest grandson Wuji was about to board his family's carriage, a clear voice suddenly said: "Lord eldest grandson, are you interested in talking to someone?" (To be continued......)