In Emperor Wu's view, in order to achieve great things in the world, this kind of price and payment is inevitable and justified, and it must be faced directly when there is no room for maneuver. Now, when 60,000 subjects persuaded to change Tang to Zhou and become emperor as he wished, Emperor Wu was soberly aware that a dynasty established with the authority of the head of the inner palace, although on the surface it has been widely recognized by the people of the world, people will not doubt her ability to rule the world, which has been taught by the ministers and the world in the whole process of assisting the first emperor and governing for her children.

However, the empress came to power, which was a miracle that had not been seen since ancient times, and directly broke secular ethics and subverted the social order with subversive revolution and shocking innovation.

For those who are deeply influenced by secular ethics, those who are related to the preservation of their own reputation or interests, they are undoubtedly considered to be the Chicken Sichen, and the resistance and antipathy lurking in their hearts may not retreat lightly, and it will be difficult for them to walk hand in hand with themselves at critical times. Therefore, the prelude to Wu Zhou has just begun, and the competition of the palace will continue, or even more intense.

For the sake of the Wu Zhou world, she needs to reorganize the dynasty and establish the Wu Zhou order; It takes greater courage and more superb wisdom to face all kinds of challenges and contingencies from the government and the opposition; And to convince the courtiers and even the world, it is more necessary to rely on their extraordinary achievements and influence. Maybe it's thinking of today's hard-won qiē, maybe it's thinking that the road in the future is longer and farther, in this moment when the whole country celebrates and hundreds of officials congratulate, Emperor Wu is not only happy, but also full of thoughts. Have mixed feelings about.

"Xiao Shao is ninety, and the phoenix is coming." The grand ceremony after Dayu's water control shows the style of three generations. Today's scene is as bright as it was back then.

Now, the golden phoenix fairy from above the nine heavens. After experiencing countless lustful rebirths since ancient times, he has already cultivated an iron and golden body. "The phoenix is flying, its feathers are also in the sky. …… The phoenix is singing, and it is in the high post. The sycamore is born, and the sun rises in the sun. ”

Emperor Wu, who was deeply influenced and influenced by poetry, remembered reciting the "Book of Songs" with his mother when he was a child, and was always fascinated by the grace and beauty of the phoenix, and he was vague in his dreams. There have also been many longings and yearnings. Now, according to his own will and orientation, this arrogant phoenix hovers over Mingtang, carrying the blue sky and white clouds, and has the potential of the sun and the moon in the sky.

Emperor Wu was very satisfied with his initiative, believing that this was his incarnation, and it was also the totem in his mind. It entrusts all the ideals and self-confidence of the Martial Emperor, and also experiences all the pain and beauty behind the rebirth of lust. This is a phoenix that integrates yin and yang, and at the same time makes a helpless choice while standing tall to show perfection.

A masculine society. Negative can only be the attachment of the masculine, from the ritual system to the general ethics, all of them are maintaining such a bloody world called Jiangshan Sheji. It wants to shake off the shackles of the world and spread its wings high. Fighting in the sky, we have to make choices between the ideal and the real world.

And so, the wings that were about to spread were so heavy. The feathers around the body were also as hard as scales, and the claws were too sharp. All that's left is a little bit of a charming crest! This is a real struggle, a life-and-death struggle that is not equal. It's not just the walls that break through. When this golden phoenix that "comes out of the country of oriental gentlemen, soars beyond the four seas, passes through Kunlun, drinks the pillars, is weak in the water, Mosu Fengxue, and the world is peaceful when he sees it", when he stands proudly above the Ming Hall, today's Emperor Wu wants to show the world: "In the new city, make me the old Zhou." The light house has four tables, and the power system is six. ”

Prime Minister Pei Yan failed to see Emperor Wu ascend to the pole, this minister who knew the righteousness of the Spring and Autumn Period, had left this world in the first year of Guangzhai, and it was only six short years before Wu Zhou's reign.

Pei Yan was born in a famous family, devoted himself to ten years, entered the official career with the Ming Jing and the first, and experienced the military department's waiter, Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi, Shizhong, and Zhongshu Order. Gaozong revealed that he entered the phase in the second year, and was the third product under the door of the same book, and in the second year of Yonglong, he moved from the Huangmen Shilang to serve in the middle of the department, and was in charge of the province. In Gaozong's later years, he assisted the crown prince Li Xian with Liu Renliang and Xue Yuanchao, who were also prime ministers; Gaozong fell ill and ordered the crown prince to supervise the country, and he, along with Liu Qixian, the squire of the Yellow Gate, and Guo Zhengyi, the squire of the Chinese book, were appointed to assist the prince in handling daily government affairs at the same time. When Gaozong was riddled with illness and neglected the government affairs, he actively supported Empress Wu in handling state affairs. Zhongzong Li Xian ascended the throne, and Pei Yan moved to the middle of the book. When Zhongzong Li Xian ignored the legal system and insisted on going his own way, trying to promote Wei Xuanzhen, the father of Empress Wei, from the assassination history to the servant, and was about to promote the son of his nursing mother to the five-rank official position, Pei Yan stubbornly argued, thinking that it was impossible, Zhongzong was angry and said: "Even if I intend to give the country to Wei Xuanzhen, what can't I do?" Why should you be stingy with this position?" In Pei Yan's opinion, a monarch who can even give hands to the country, what else can't be done! The persuasion was fruitless, and Pei Yan reported the emperor's absurd behavior to the Empress Wu in time. Empress Wu, who regarded imperial power as heavier than life, did not expect her son to be so rash and not cherish her monarchical status, so with her consistent style of acting decisively, she immediately summoned hundreds of officials to the Yuan Palace, and ordered Pei Yan and Liu Yizhi, the general of Yulin, Cheng Wuting, and Zhang Yu to enter the palace, and announced the order of the Empress Dowager to abolish Zhongzong as the king of Luling. Pei Yan made meritorious decisions and was knighted as the Marquis of Hedong County.

Ruizong Li Dan ascended the throne, and the courtiers were very pleased. However, it was still not the emperor but the queen mother who was in charge of the government, which greatly surprised the courtiers and even the world. Originally, the Empress Wu was not today's move, in the first emperor Gaozong Lin De years after the 20 years, almost all of his government were under the control of the Empress Wu, and the courtiers called the "two saints", but at that time Gaozong was ill, she only appeared as an assistant to Gaozong, and did not directly replace the emperor in form, although her actions have also caused the courtiers to criticize, by his son Li Hong, Li Xian two princes of the boycott and opposition, caused some setbacks, but still in the courtiers acceptable category, did not appear much turmoil. More importantly, in such a specific environment, Wu Houtong's own actions gathered talents for Datang from one side and a larger space, and also opened up contacts for herself, accumulating experience in governing the country, and courtiers learned her talent and demeanor. In the face of the fait accompli, he more or less accepted the political pattern of the time. A group of ministers, including Pei Yan, appeared who were subdued by her. Today's Empress Wu is not assisting the emperor behind the scenes. Instead, the queen mother stepped forward to replace the emperor. This abnormal move directly deprived the emperor of his power, interrupted the legal dependence between the courtiers and the emperor, and intensified the political pattern of the entire Tang Dynasty royal family, causing the courtiers to be uneasy; For Pei Yan, the minister who helped Li Dan to come to power, and who regarded himself as a hero of "abolishing the faint and establishing the Ming", he poured cold water on him. Pei Yan and his ministers abandoned Li Xian, originally to allow Li Dan to govern independently and be a justifiable emperor; They fully believed in Li Dan. I think that the Empress Wu should also fully believe that it is. However, where would the courtiers have thought that due to Zhongzong Li Xian's unruly behavior, and also because of Pei Yan's ministers' actions of "abolishing the faint and establishing the Ming", Empress Wu's distrust of the emperor and ministers was stricter than before.

A generation of important ministers, Pei Yan is loyal to the Tang royal family, and he does his best to assist the royal family. In the second year of the dew, as a waiter of the Yellow Gate, he was ordered to assist Empress Wu to abolish the prince of Zhanghuai, Li Xian, with Xue Yuanchao, the waiter of the Zhongshu Chamberlain, and Gao Zhizhou, the imperial historian. High hopes are placed on the new crown prince Li Xian.

Like many ministers, he regarded assisting the crown prince as an important part of the royal family, and therefore cherished this sacred duty. During Gaozong and Empress Wu's eastern tour of Luoyang, he stayed in Chang'an with his ministers Liu Renliang and Xue Yuanchao. Carefully assist the prince in handling the affairs of the court, so that the prince can familiarize himself with the court and improve his ability to govern. From time to time, he also used the way of sages to spur and Kuang Zheng's behavior, which can be described as painstaking.

However. The crown prince Li Xian did not buy his account, nor did he buy the account of the queen mother; Especially after ascending to the throne. The ignorance and arrogance that bordered on madness, as well as the eagerness to get rid of the constraints and do things on their own, disappointed Pei Yan's group of ministers, and also made the Empress Wu very dissatisfied. Li Xian is not the Tang Mingjun in their minds, and it is difficult to inherit the ancestral business of the Tang Dynasty. When Zhongzong Li Xian couldn't tolerate them, Pei Yan and the others did not hesitate to abandon the emperor who also could not tolerate the queen mother.

Ruizong Li Dan succeeded to the throne and rekindled Pei Yan'anbang's hope of governing the country. He knew that this was a weak emperor, and his momentum and talent were far from being comparable to his mother, let alone his ancestors, but his character was far superior to that of Zhongzong Li Xian. Pei Yan values Li Dan's character, and thinks that as a gentleman who keeps his success, the emperor's character and demeanor are better than the emperor's deeds.

Pei Yan adheres to the way of being a minister, and cares very much about the status of a legitimate minister under the emperor's command. He knew that Li Dan was an emperor who was difficult to judge and achieve, but the weakness of the emperor was a rare opportunity for him to display his talents, realize his ambitions, and leave a name in history. Seeking fame is the goal he diligently pursues when he enters the official career, and it is also his ultimate spiritual destination.

He has this kind of self-confidence, and he is not lacking in eloquence. It is with this self-confidence and extraordinary talent that he can be at the top of the group, dare to act, and earn the prestige and dignity he deserves. He can cooperate with Empress Wu to assist the emperor together, but he is unwilling to see a capable mother who can make a difference to take charge of the government instead of her son.

Prior to this, Pei Yan has always respected Empress Wu, very much admired Empress Wu's talent and deeds, during the period when Empress Wu actually held the imperial power, his cooperation with Empress Wu was sincere, and it was also very effective, and thus won the full trust of Empress Wu, but what he did at that time was carried out in the name of assisting Emperor Gaozong and maintaining the Tang Dynasty. He is well aware of the way of the monarch and the minister, believes that the power of the Son of Heaven is given by God, and is willing to bow down in front of the emperor, but he cannot understand what the Empress Wu is doing now.

Like all orthodox ministers, he abides by the code of conduct that a minister should abide by, what he wants to maintain is the imperial power as the main purpose and authority, and what he wants to keep is the dignity of the minister of the court;

When Empress Wu was in charge of the dynasty and the power of the emperor was deprived, he felt that the position he held was gradually lost, and the title and dignity of the ministers under the court of the Son of Heaven were invisibly distorted and deprived, and a sense of humiliation of being fooled and abandoned arose spontaneously.

He began to get tired of cooperating with Empress Wu, and although he did not express direct confrontation, he criticized and even criticized Empress Wu's behavior from time to time.

Empress Wu's nephew Wu Chenghei asked for permission to set up the seven temples of the Wu family and chase the king's father, and the Empress Wu wanted to ask for permission, so he came forward to intervene: "The queen mother is the mother of the world, and she should show the world with holy virtue and the heart of the public." It is not advisable to pursue the king's own father and ancestor partially. ”

Seeing that Wu Hou was unimpressed, he came in and said. "Doesn't the Queen Mother know how Empress Lu failed? I am afraid that the descendants of the ministers will look at today, just like they look at the Empress Lu of the past today. "That's a disrespectful attitude. is clearly venting his dissatisfaction with the Queen Mother, and he is also deliberately resisting the Queen Mother's behavior.

Originally, it was the duty of the minister to speak out and advise, if Pei Yan didn't say what Empress Lu said in the past, Empress Wu seemed to be acceptable; Once he said it, it shocked and even angered Empress Wu. Empress Wu retorted: "Empress Lu failed to divide her living relatives; I am only honoring my deceased ancestors, how can I say the same? Pei Yan insisted: "Things should be prevented from happening, and they should not be long-lasting." ”

Empress Wu no longer argued with him. The establishment of the temple and the posthumous sealing of the father's ancestors were realized by the edict of Emperor Li Dan. From here, Empress Wu also saw Pei Yan's thoughts to some extent, and the estrangement between them arose, and the resentment between each other began. An unexpected event finally led to a complete break between Pei Yan and Empress Wu.

The incident occurred in the Yangzhou Mutiny in the first year of the light house. This is a rebellion initiated by Li Jingye, the former Meizhou Assassin and Duke of Ying, with his younger brother Li Jingyou, the former Zhou Zhi County Commander, and Tang Zhiqi in the former matter, Luo Bin Wang, the former chief secretary of Chang'an, and Du Qiuren, the former prince of Zhan Shifu. They gathered 100,000 people in ten days, and the spearhead was directed at the Empress Wu. Its momentum is formidable and powerful.

The cause of the incident was that Li Jingye and others were accused by the imperial court of resentment against Empress Wu for venting their strong dissatisfaction with Empress Wu's control of imperial power and the reuse of his children with the surname Wu. Li Jingye was demoted to Liuzhou Sima; Tang Zhiqi was demoted to Kuo Cangling; Luo Bingwang was demoted to Linhai Order; Du Qiuren was demoted to Huang County; Li Jingyou was also implicated and demoted.

At that time, they all lived in Yangzhou. Because everyone is angry about the punishment they have received. He was also indignant at the power of Empress Wu, so he coincidentally called for the restoration of Li Xian, the king of Luling, and plotted to launch a mutiny.

They first fabricated the conspiracy of Chen Jingzhi, the governor of Yangzhou, to rebel. colluded and pretended to report to his fellow party in the imperial court, Yu Shi Xue Zhang, and Tong Guò Yu Shi Xue Zhang quickly pursued Chen Jingzhi and sent him to prison; After completing a series of deployments. Li Jingye also pretended to be ordered by the emperor to kill Chen Jingzhi.

In front of the Yangzhou government, Li Jingye claimed that the new Yangzhou Sima came to work as an errand. It is also said that according to the secret order of the Queen Mother, the troops were dispatched to crusade against Feng Ziyou, the chief of the barbarian tribe in Gaozhou, and on this ground, the treasury was opened; ordered Li Zongchen, who joined the army, to release hundreds of prisoners and laborers, and to issue them weapons; Zai objected to their record and joined the army, and Sun Chu made a show of public authority. Immediately afterwards, in Yangzhou opened Kuang Fu Mansion, Ying Gong Mansion, Yangzhou Metropolitan Governor's Mansion, Li Jingye himself to Kuang Fu Mansion General and Yangzhou Metropolitan Governor of self-style, Ren Tang Zhiqi for the left long history, Du Qiuren for the right long history, Li Zongchen for the left Sima, Xue Zhang for the right Sima, Jiangdu Ling Wei Zhizhi for the British Mansion Governor, Luo Bin Wang for the art and culture of the Ling, the former imperial history Wei Siwen for the military division.

As soon as the preparations for the army were ready, Li Jingye tore off his mask, abandoned the role he had played before, and found a person who resembled Li Xian as a stand-in, declaring that the crown prince Li Xian was not dead, and fled to Yangzhou, causing me to rebel.

He sent to the prefectures and counties through King Guò Luo Bin to write a letter on the rebellion against the Empress Wu and distribute it to various prefectures and counties, in an attempt to arouse the resentment of the whole country against the Empress Wu and incite the people to revolt against the Empress Wu. Soon, Sima Li Chongfu of Chuzhou led the people of the three counties under his jurisdiction to respond. Thus, an earth-shattering rebellion broke out.

Li Jingye should have been surnamed Xu. As early as the Tang Gaozu period, his grandfather Xu Shiyun was famous for his martial arts and noble character, and was appreciated by the ancestor Li Yuan, and was given the surname Li, when he was Li Shiyun.

During the Yonghui period, because of the name of Taizong Li Shimin, he changed his name to Li Tao, called Li Tao, and in the second year of Qianfeng, this meritorious and prestigious hero died, and was posthumously awarded Taiwei, the governor of Yangzhou. Li Jingye inherited his grandfather's surname Li and was granted a knighthood according to the practice of the imperial court.

Empress Wu asked Prime Minister Pei Yan for advice in order to gain his support.

Pei Yan didn't think so, but blamed Empress Wu and said: "The Son of Heaven is old, and he has not been in charge of the government, and he even has a smooth speech. Claimed, "If the Queen Mother returns to politics, the thief will not be solved." The so-called "Zhislippery and Vertical Words" is actually to accuse Empress Wu of not returning power to the emperor, and let Li Jingye and these boys give him a tongue.

At this critical moment, a minister with deep experience and decisive importance not only could not give advice to the Empress Wu, but exonerated Li Jingye and blamed Li Jingye for their rebellion.

Even outsiders are not difficult to see that when Li Jingye rebelled under the banner of "supporting Zhongzong and supporting the Tang Dynasty", Pei Yan responded to Empress Wu with indifference and toughness, although he did not directly respond to Li Jingye, nor did he approve or support Li Jingye to force Empress Wu to step down in a rebellious way, but it was a vent of his strong dissatisfaction with Empress Wu's delay in returning power to the emperor with the savings he had accumulated for many days.

In the final analysis, his desire for Empress Wu to return to power to the emperor is urgent, and their sympathy for Li Jingye is also obvious.

In Pei Yan's view, as long as the Empress Wu is still in power with the emperor, he can turn the war into a jade silk. Of course, Empress Wu would not understand it this way, Pei Yan could not clearly oppose Li Jingye's rebellion, which was tantamount to supporting or acquiescing in Li Jingye's rebellion, and later found out that Pei Yan's relative Xue Zhang, who rebelled with Li Jingye. (To be continued......)