After the middle hour, the prime ministers arrived at the Zichen Hall one after another, and the emperor had not yet come, so everyone stood or sat and talked and laughed, and the hall gradually became lively. At this time, no one is talking about business, they are all picking some trivial things in life and having fun, and only at this time can I feel that the ministers are actually ordinary people, living ordinary lives on weekdays. The most talked about is naturally the things before and after the Lantern Festival, last night Xue Chongxun and Zhang said that they were together, and they happened to have a common topic, from composing poems to drinking, picking out interesting little things and saying, Xue Chongxun also laughed at Prime Minister Zhang Cheng's lack of alcohol, and fell asleep on the table.

After chatting for a while, the eunuch at the door shouted, reminding everyone that the emperor was coming. The hall soon fell silent, and the ministers stood in two rows on either side.

At this time, I saw Brother Fen and Queen Gao coming in from the main gate together, and the palace maids and eunuchs who followed them stopped at the gate, and only let the two of them go north from the middle. Brother Fen walked in front, and Empress Gao on the side was slightly behind him, and could not walk side by side with the emperor.

Brother Fen has been an emperor for nearly two years, and he has practiced his walking posture and movements, holding his hands on his waist, and walking straight with slow strides. Helplessly, his back was a little arched, his neck was stretched forward, and he couldn't stand up straight even if he tried to straighten his chest, so he didn't have any momentum, but was a little obscene.

In contrast, Queen Gao has a more atmospheric and noble temperament, with high sideburns and phoenix crowns, looking ahead, and a cold expression that does not allow for blasphemy, and the elegance and calmness between the feet are also very good.

The two walked up the steps slowly, Brother Fen went to the back of the stage and sat down, the palace maids holding fans on both sides stood behind the seats, and the eunuch Yu Liben on duty bowed and stood aside. Empress Gao's seat was like that of the Emperor with her, located at the back of the side, and a beaded curtain was placed in front of it.

After such a pretense, the ministers knelt down and shouted: "Your Majesty has no borders." ”

Brother Fen only said two words, "Pingshen", and did not say a word for a long time after that, allowing the ministers to speak in turn below.

The year's political strategy and budget and other major events cannot be talked about today, and everyone is talking about the current arrangements for the beginning of the year. The central government and the local government and yamen have all opened their offices, and according to the custom of previous years, they have to issue edicts from the palace exhorting their subjects to be honest and honest. Brother Fen only needs to nod, and someone else will write the five-color edict on his behalf.

Then Zhang Shuo, the secretary of the Ministry of War, said that he really asked Xue Chongxun something about counterinsurgency, and the relationship between the two was already good, so Zhang said that he would naturally not deliberately ask some questions that were difficult to answer. For example, he slaughtered hundreds of members of Cuimen's family without the order of the imperial court, although it was expedient to act when someone rebelled. The problem is not very big, but if it is really asked, Xue Chongxun is not easy to push clean...... Fortunately, Zhang said that he didn't ask about it at all.

At this moment, he suddenly saw the emperor yawn, and he hurriedly raised his sleeves to cover it, and his face was a little embarrassed. The ministers were not surprised, and even the imperial history was too lazy to speak out and advise.

Brother Fen continued to sit expressionlessly, but as time passed, he inevitably made more small movements under his boredom. There was a royal historian who finally couldn't help but stand up and salute: "Your Majesty is the son of today, the king of a country, every move is related to the face of the country, please be cautious." ”

Brother Fen has advantages, others say that he is not to his face, and he is not angry, but only says: "I know." ”

In the past, when he was doing assassination in Youzhou, his official Pan Dabeard advised him not to go out to hunt when he was busy with farming, but he actually lay on the road to block the way...... If you encounter a tyrant, it is not impossible to step on people and let the horse's hooves trample people to death, but Fen Ge's approach is just to turn around and go back. He is a kind and honest person, and it is also a virtue.

At this time, everyone finally finished talking about those trivial matters, and Zuo Xiang Lu Xiangxian said: "Your Majesty has been in the third year of his reign, please focus on the long-term development of the society and establish the crown prince as soon as possible." ”

When Brother Fen heard someone ask him, he looked left and right at the ministers, and everyone bowed their heads and said nothing, and the hall was much quieter all of a sudden. Brother Fen asked, "Do you think you should make a prince?" "In the past, when such a thing happened, he only needed to let Princess Taiping decide, but now no one can decide, so he has to ask the minister.

Since it was the emperor's question, it would be disrespectful not to answer the courtesy, and everyone echoed the desire to establish the crown prince. No one dares to object to this kind of thing, why does the emperor have a son and not let people make a prince, it doesn't make sense at all...... Only Xue Chongxun didn't say anything, because he was really not qualified to take care of this matter. It is related to the country, the emperor's family can be said, the prime minister and other important ministers of the country can be said, and it is really difficult to interfere with any relatives and the like.

Seeing this, Brother Fen asked again: "Who is it good to erect?" ”

The affairs of the family and the country and the emperor's family, the prime minister can say without scruples, which is normal. Lu Xiangxian said without hesitation: "The young and the old are orderly, and they will grow naturally." ”

At the beginning, Emperor Ruizong abolished the elder and established the young, and let the third Li Longji be the crown prince, which was based on merit; Now none of the sons of Brother Fen Li Shouli have merit, so what else is there to discuss? Of course, it is necessary to have a firstborn. Therefore, there is a saying among the people that "the emperor loves the eldest son, and the people love the eldest son".

Brother Fen muttered, "My eldest son......" he thought for a moment before continuing, "Li Chenghong! Do you want him to be the crown prince? ”

Lu Xiang hurriedly said: "It's better for the ministers to just make a statement, and the will has to be decided by His Majesty." ”

Brother Fen suddenly said angrily: "Last time, the person who played the military drama could speak well, and I wanted to reward him for being an official, but you said that I didn't count, and now I said that who should be the prince may be counted?" ”

Everyone immediately looked at each other, and Lu Xiang first relied on his temperament and said: "The official position of the country is related to the livelihood of thousands of people. That's why the courtiers will persuade His Majesty. Now that His Majesty has set up a prince according to the ancestral system, the ministers cannot oppose it at will. ”

Brother Fen hesitated for a moment, and everyone raised their hearts when they saw this, for fear that he would have to abolish Chang Liyu in order to test his power...... In this case, I have to use my tongue to persuade again. However, Brother Fen was silent for a moment and still said in a proper manner: "Then make the eldest son Li Chenghong the crown prince." ”

The ministers were relieved when they heard this, and Lu Xiangxian hurriedly put forward a request for the division of power, and persuaded him with good words: "On weekdays, the government affairs of the imperial court are cumbersome, so it is better to let the prince learn to govern as soon as possible, and also share the burden for His Majesty." ”

Xue Chongxun sighed in his heart when he heard this, and said in his heart: Many people want to grasp as much power as possible as much as possible as the prime minister, especially when the emperor doesn't care about anything, the prime minister of the whole world can have the final say, and the uncrowned king generally does what he wants (Li Linfu in history did it)...... Lu Xiangxian was good and took the initiative to propose that the prince supervise the country, this matter seems to be divided from the emperor, but in fact it is from the hands of their prime minister, Lu Xiangxian's temperament is indeed indifferent.

Brother Fen opened his mouth and was about to say something like "You guys look at it", but at this moment, Queen Gao suddenly coughed lightly. Yu Liben in front of the emperor was also deaf and clear-sighted, and immediately whispered very cooperatively: "This matter is complicated, and your majesty will have to discuss it for a long time as soon as you answer, and you can talk about it later." ”

Brother Fen was already sitting impatiently, and hurriedly said, "Rong Zhen thinks about it." ”

There is actually a long distance between this side of the throne and the position where the ministers are standing under the stage, and they have to speak loudly to hear each other clearly, and the ministers below can't always look up at the emperor according to etiquette...... So everyone naturally doesn't know about the small actions made by the above.

Lu Xiangxian was not good at pestering the emperor on such a matter as dividing the imperial power, so he had to bow back to the side.

Seeing this, Brother Fen hurriedly said: "Then this is the end of today, and the details of all things will be discussed and done." ”

Yu Liben immediately shouted loudly: "Retreat." ”

So everyone knelt down and dispersed, after the morning court meeting, it was still early, people had their own things, Xue Chongxun hurried to Chengxiang Hall to see his mother, Brother Fen was busy riding horses, and the prime ministers went to the political hall. Only Queen Gao went straight back to the dormitory, and specially asked Yu Liben to go together.

Yu Li was originally an internal eunuch who waited for the emperor, but now he almost does not wait for the emperor and often follows the queen.

After Queen Gao returned to her bedroom in Penglai Palace, she retreated and praised Yu Liben: "If it weren't for Father-in-law Yu's timely reminder, I'm afraid I would have to give up the power in a daze." ”

Yu Liben hurriedly said: "I already felt that something was wrong, and I wanted to remind Your Majesty, but I knew that I was not qualified to interfere in the affairs of the imperial court, so I hesitated." It happened that the mother coughed and gave me courage, and I suddenly figured out that this was not me interfering in the government affairs, but doing an errand for the mother, and I said it all at once without worries...... If I didn't have a mother, I wouldn't dare to talk too much. ”

Empress Gao smiled faintly when she heard this, and after a while, her brows furrowed slightly, and she muttered: "Zuo Xianggong Lu Xianggong is also a person promoted by His Royal Highness Taiping?" ”

"Yes, but the ministers of the foreign court are different from the people in our palace. In Daming Palace, we used to listen to His Royal Highness (Princess Taiping), but now His Royal Highness can't speak, so we are more willing to listen to His Highness's closest person Xue Lang, Xue Lang won't harm us, right? And Niangniang and Xue Lang are people on one side, so we all support Niangniang in our hearts; The ministers of the foreign dynasty are not like this, they used to listen to His Highness, that is because His Highness holds the power of the state, and His Highness can no longer speak, they will remember their identity as officials of the Tang Dynasty, and they are worried about the national society...... Lu Xianggong is even more of an indifferent person, he wants to divide power, but also out of public intentions, we can't stop it. ”

Empress Gao said in a low voice: "Regardless of whether the prince agrees to supervise the country today, once Li Chenghong is named in the East Palace, I am afraid that many ministers will want to vote for him." ”

Yu Liben shook his head lightly and said: "It's hard to say now, the ministers are open-minded on their faces, but who doesn't have a little heart?" If everyone thinks that the prince is difficult to become a big deal, isn't it a joke about the future of his own net worth by sticking it to the past? Didn't Niangniang think about it early when she saw Dou Xianggong, and often came over and walked around? ”G