Li Longji's mentality, a certain Cheng dù is similar to Mingshenzong (but not so strict), so he will feel dissatisfied, which is very reasonable at this time. In addition, I think he has another mentality, that is, the fear of Yao Chong's ability and power. As mentioned earlier, Yao Chong has become an indispensable person, and Li Longji feels very relieved to hand over everything to him, but is it really that relieved? If Yao Chong is selfish, if Yao Chong is ambitious, will he be threatened? So Li Longji decided to use Zhao Xu's case to test Yao Chong to see if he was really selfish and wanted to form a party. Unexpectedly, such a smart person as Yao Chong made a big mistake at this time and came to the rescue.

This ending is already obvious, if Yao Chong does not take the initiative to step down, the end will only be more ugly, fortunately, he retreated bravely, taking into account the overall situation, so far the monarch and the ministers understand each other, and a crisis ends peacefully.

Yao Chong proposed to the emperor to resign from the position of prime minister at the same time, but also made preparations, this preparation is mainly for the recommendation of the successor, if this person is not recommended properly, not only affect the political situation of the Tang Empire, but also affect Yao Chong's personal safety and reputation, there are many cases in history of the successor beating the previous rake, so Yao Chong can not be cautious, after a few thoughts, he decided to recommend Song Jing.

Song Jing and Yao Chong are both veterans of the Three Dynasties and have worked together for a long time; In particular, the two offended Princess Taiping in the Ruizong era, and were relegated to the local state assassination history together, which can be regarded as an experience with revolutionary feelings. Moreover, Song Jing is honest and trustworthy, if he leads the political situation and believes in the direction he has planned, there will not be much change.

For Li Longji, Song Jing is a good choice. In addition, although Li Longji wants to adjust personnel, he is not dissatisfied with Yao Chong's administration, but mainly because of some emotional factors and the fear of losing power, Yao Chong is willing to take the initiative to resign, and Li Longji also hopes that everyone will maintain a good relationship. Just accept Yao Chong's mention yì.

On the second day of the first month of the fifth year of Kaiyuan (717 AD), a strange thing happened in the capital Chang'an, the four sacrifices in the temple collapsed, but fortunately no one was injured. The ministers discussed a lot, and they all thought it was a warning from heaven, and in response, Li Longji changed to plain clothes and presided over the court meeting in the side hall. It is used to resolve the dissatisfaction of the Divine.

At this time, in addition to Song Jing recommended by Yao Chong, the prime minister duo also transferred the original second-in-command Yuan Yaoqian from his post (Li Longji probably asked the deputy to go down with him in order to cover up the embarrassment of transferring Yao Chong), the new deputy prime minister is Su Ying, and in terms of specific positions, Song Jing is the secretary of the Ministry and the Huangmen Supervisor (the governor of the province), and Su Jing is the Ziwei squire.

Originally, according to the plan, Li Longji was going to Luoyang, the eastern capital, next, but after the collapse of the Taimiao, Song Jing and Su Ying came forward to advise the emperor not to go. It says:

"The first emperor (Ruizong Li Dan) died last year, and the three-year mourning of His Majesty has not yet expired, which is not in line with the system, and God has shown a vision to warn His Majesty a while ago, so we think that His Majesty should follow the will of Heaven and stay in Chang'an."

(2nd update today)

Li Longji actually didn't want to stay in Chang'an, and after listening to the words of the two prime ministers, he was not very happy, so he asked Yao Chong's opinion, and Yao Chong said:

"The building materials used in the temple. It is the wood left over from the period of the former Qin Fujian (338-385 AD, more than 300 years ago), and the wood is naturally rotten after such a long time. Therefore, it is a natural situation to collapse, and it is not a special disaster; Because the harvest in the Guanzhong area (Gyeonggi) is not good, so I went to Dongdu, and the preparation for the trip has been completed, so I should naturally go according to the plan. You can't miss an appointment. As for the collapse of the Taimiao, you can move the tablet of the god to the Taiji Hall first, and then send someone to repair the Taimiao. “

Li Longji was very happy when he heard Yao Chong's suggestion, and not only did he follow Yao Chong's suggestion, but he also immediately rewarded Yao Chong with 200 silk horses, and he went to court once every five days, and would consult Yao Chong's opinion when there was a big matter.

After Song Jing heard Yao Chong's construction of Li Longji, he had some doubts in his heart, and after the next court, he asked Yao Chong in private:

"Yao Gong, I have always respected you as a person, but today's words to the emperor that the building materials of the Taimiao Temple were left over from the pre-Qin period seem to be inconsistent with the truth."

Yao Chong smiled and said: "Guangping (Song Jingzi), you don't know about this, the emperor has made up his mind to go to the Eastern Capital!" And Guanzhong's harvest this year is not good, if we let the emperor stay in Chang'an, firstly, it will cause prices in Guanzhong to rise, which is not good for the people, and secondly, the emperor is not in a bad mood, which is not a blessing for the community. You know that I have always sought truth from facts and do not believe in disasters and differences, so I deliberately said this so that the emperor can step down, so that the emperor is satisfied, and the people are also exempt from the pain of soaring prices, isn't it the best of both worlds? “

Song Jing listened, although he felt that Yao Chong's approach was a little too scheming, but after all, it was out of goodwill, so he accepted it and no longer dwelled on this matter. But there are still people in the court who can't stand it, and Chu Wuliang, the regular servant of the right scattered horseman, is very angry and slammed:

"Emperor Wen of Sui was rich all over the world (the Taimiao Temple of the Tang Dynasty was built during the Sui Dynasty), how could he use the building materials of the Fu Jian period? Yao Chongfeng's intention to welcome the emperor is to be a flattering minister, and he should be punished, and I hope that the emperor can abide by God's admonition, stay away from flattering ministers, and accept advice. “

It is conceivable that Li Longji completely ignored such remarks and began to prepare to go to Luoyang, the eastern capital.

When the convoy marched mightily to the Kungu Valley (between Sanmenxia and Luoyang, about 100 kilometers away from Luoyang), Li Longji found that on the narrow road, because of the disrepair, the mountain road was overgrown with weeds and rocks blocking the way, making it very difficult to walk. According to historical records, this trip started from Chang'an on the tenth day of the first month of the fifth year of the Kaiyuan Dynasty and arrived at the eastern capital Luoyang on February 3, and walked for 24 days, about 20 kilometers a day. Originally, this speed was not very slow in ancient times, but one of the main tasks of Li Longji with a large group of people to Luoyang was to eat, as the saying goes: "Eating is bigger than the emperor", and now there are people who make the emperor unable to eat, and he has already walked three-quarters of the way, of course, he should be angry, so he ordered Henan Yin (the head of the Eastern Capital) Li Chaoyin and Zhidun Wang Yi (the head of the travel escort) to be removed from their official positions. Song Jing accompanied him at this time, so he dissuaded him:

"His Majesty is now on patrol outside (saying that eating is patrolling, there is a level!) If the two of them are punished for this matter today, I am afraid that in the future, local officials will use the people's power to build roads for His Majesty in order to cater to His Majesty, and even further extravagant and wasteful behavior, so that the common people will suffer a lot. “

When Li Longji heard it, he was reasonable! So he immediately ordered the release of the two. Unexpectedly, Song Jing said again: "Your Majesty has already ordered punishment, and now I am pardoning the two because of my construction, and it is me who accepts their kindness on behalf of Your Majesty, in public and private." It shouldn't be like that. “

Li Longji said angrily: "I was going to punish them just now, but you said that they shouldn't be punished; Now I want to pardon them, and you say you shouldn't forgive, so what am I going to do to be satisfied? “

Song Jing hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, Weichen really built that the two should be pardoned. But this favor should come from His Majesty, and it would be more appropriate to let them go to the Eastern Capital to deal with their crimes first, and then pardon them when the emperor arrives. Li Longji thought about it, this Song Jing was still very thoughtful, so he implemented it according to Song Jing's proposal.

Song Jing gained the trust of the emperor, and another prime minister, Su Ying, also cooperated with him, and Song Jing himself commented on Su Ying as follows: "I have served in the central government with two generations of the Su family, Su Huan (Su Ying's father), magnanimous and generous, is an important pillar of the empire; But when it comes to decision-making and administrative matters, it is skilful. Su's ability is above that of his father. ”

In this case, Song Jing has become another Yao Chong, with great power, so many speculators want to curry favor with him in order to have the opportunity to become an official.

It is said that Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty (Emperor Qianlong) once asked his minister Sun Jiagan (those who have seen the Yongzheng Dynasty should remember this person): "How many people are there in the world?" Sun Jiagan replied: "The minister thinks that there are only two kinds of people in the world, one is for fame and the other is for profit. Qianlong asked again: "Then Sun Aiqing, what kind of person are you?" Sun Jiagan replied: "Ministers don't love money." Obviously, Sun Jiagan, who is very incorruptible, also admits that he loves his name.

But Song Jing was not only not greedy for money, but at the beginning of the sixth year of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, the local people in Guangzhou were grateful for Song Jing's help to the people when he was the governor of Guangzhou. planned to build a bereaved monument in the local area, but Song Jing sternly rejected this matter, which shows that he doesn't seem to love his name either, so how to deal with him?

(Serial Update)

"Thousands of wears. Sycophants don't wear it", Fan Zhixuan, a famous hermit at that time, thought so. In his opinion, the reason why the previous people couldn't impress Song Jing was because their sycophants were too rough, as long as the means were clever enough, they were patted in the heart, and there was no trace of the shot. It will definitely have an effect. Because everyone has a love for fame, Fan Zhixuan thinks so deeply.

So Fan Zhixuan put in a lot of effort and wrote an article called "Theory of Good Rulers", the content of which is mainly about what kind of talent is a good prime minister, and after writing it, Fan Hermit asked someone to present it to Song Jing.

After Song Jing saw it, he initially appreciated the argument of this article, thinking that this hermit was really a talent, and he should be promoted to be an official to serve the people. But after looking at it for a while, he faintly felt that something was wrong, so he looked at it carefully, and this time, Song Jing saw Fan Zhixuan's intentions. It turned out that although this "Theory of Good Rulers" did not name names, it seemed to be just a general discussion, but after reading it carefully, I found that it was talking about Song Jing himself, and the prime minister like Song Jing who did not trace the horse was the real representative of the virtuous prime minister.

Song Jing remained silent and said to his family, you will find the person who presents this article tomorrow.

The next day, the person who helped Fan Zhixuan present the article arrived in a hurry. He thought that this article must have won the favor of Lord Song, so he found me so quickly, and when the time comes, not only Fan Zhixuan will have a chance to rise from the ground, but I can also follow him. Just when he was thinking nonsense, Song Jing arrived and said very strictly:

"You remember my words clearly, go back and tell Fan Zhixuan well. Since ancient times, hermits should be high-spirited, and if they have anything, they should also be beneficial to the people of society. But now he is writing this article with the obvious intention of flattering me, which is not the behavior of a hermit, and I feel deeply despised for him! Please tell him that since the article is well written, he should follow the regular channels to participate in the scientific examination and the selection of officials, and do not use this kind of side-by-side trick to obtain an official position. “

So the man had no choice but to go back in disgrace.

Of course, in addition to Song Jing, there are still a lot of people who can be entrusted, but Song Jing strictly abides by the rules and blocks the people who don't match one by one.

The people who were blocked were: Wang Renchen, the old subordinate of Qishan County who the emperor himself wanted to make an exception and promote, Song Renchao, the alternate official of Song Jing's self-proclaimed uncle (actually cousin's uncle), and Xue Sixian, the alternate official who wanted to be promoted by Li Xian, the king of Ning (that is, Li Chengqi, Li Longji's eldest brother), and others.

With Song Jing's continuous efforts, the situation of asking for help has almost completely been eliminated. According to historical records, it turned out that local officials would send special envoys to Beijing in the autumn to pay tribute (Beijing Office), and they would bring a large amount of gold, silver and jewelry to find their way. Local officials are usually promoted before returning to their places in the spring; However, since the seventh year of Kaiyuan, this phenomenon has been greatly reduced, which shows that the rule of officials has been further improved. (Now the government says that it will stop the provincial and municipal offices in Beijing, and there is no score after talking for a long time, which is really not as good as the past!) ）

Yao Chong/Song Jing were the heads of the Kaiyuan courtiers, and the two helped Li Longji correct the gradually chaotic government and government rule since Gaozong, but Li Longji's ambition was not only to be a monarch who loved the people like Emperor Wen of Han, but after the country gradually stabilized, he began to want more and be more ambitious. In addition, Li Longji gradually matured, and instead of entrusting power in the hands of a prime minister, he began to change his style of work, and found prime ministers of different backgrounds and factions to check and balance them himself, so that he could hold great power. At this time, Yao Chong and Song Jing were old on the one hand, and on the other hand, their ideas were inconsistent with the emperor, so they gradually withdrew from the first-line stage of politics, and in the Kaiyuan period, they moved to a new stage.

Proven in the world

In the eighth year of Kaiyuan (720 AD), Song Jing's stubbornness reached the extreme, which also began to cause problems for him!

According to Tang law, after the verdict is completed, the trial officer is required to publicly read the verdict on the crime to the offender and his family. If the perpetrator is not satisfied with the sentence, he or she may appeal.

According to such a rule, it is normal for many people to appeal even if the evidence of the crime is conclusive, in order to have a chance of commutation or exoneration.

But Song Jing has an endless appeal to those who are already clearly guilty (there may be some doubts here, according to Tang Law, there is a standard procedure for appeals, and it is unlikely that there will be endless appeals, but Zizhi Tongjian does record this, doubtful!) He was very disgusted, so he handed these people over to the Imperial Historical Observatory for justice, and instructed Li Jindu, the middle of the Imperial History, to say: "If you obey the judgment, you will no longer be detained, and you will be released directly after serving your sentence; Those who persist in appealing are detained until they submit to the verdict. "In total, more than 300 people have been detained for this. (To be continued.) )