It has been more than a month since the new emperor ascended the throne, and the weather has gradually warmed up, although there is still some cold spring, but there is a little more warmth of spring. Li Yu's body gradually began to improve, and he could walk around outside the Taihe Hall with Li Zhongyan's support.

But the crown prince is still in prison. The courtiers were accustomed to the fact that the dragon chair was always empty in the early dynasty, and the crown prince Li Chun added another chair next to it to act as the government official. They have almost forgotten that on the day they ascended the throne, they met the holy face.

In the early days of this day, all the ministers were in the main hall of the Zichen Hall on time, with a solemn appearance, and from time to time a few ministers were talking about the things that might be mentioned in today's court meeting.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has arrived—"

This is the voice of the Liufu, which is different from other inner prisons, although it is also slender, but it is extraordinarily round, as if a soft and slender iron wire has been thrown into the air, but it still pulls out a sharp point at the highest point, turns a few corners, and finally falls leisurely to a distant place.

Hearing this, all the people stopped their mouths, retreated to their positions as fast as they could, and stood respectfully with their heads bowed and hands down. The hall was silent for a while, so quiet that only the footsteps of His Royal Highness the Prince's court boots walking on the white marble steps could be heard, and the sound of clothes rubbing against each other in the wind.

The crown prince Li Chun strode across the red carpet spread in the center of the hall, walked up to the high platform, took off his robe, and sat down on the rosewood chair next to the dragon chair. Liufu opened his throat as usual and preached: "His Majesty the Emperor is not in good health, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is in charge of the country's deliberations-"

So all the courtiers knelt down and kowtowed together: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Chitose Chitose Chitose!" ”

Wang Shuwen, a scholar from Hanlin, stepped forward and said: "The minister has the intention to play - Runzhou Thorn History, Western Zhejiang Observation Envoy, and Salt and Iron Transit Envoy Li Qiang, who is pampered and power-grabbing, arrogant and lawless. The first emperor was generous and benevolent, and entrusted him with important tasks, but Li Jian privately increased taxes, frantically accumulated, and the profits of salt and iron were accumulated in private rooms, making the people in charge of the land miserable, and the people complained, which damaged the prestige of the first emperor. The minister thinks that it should be re-issued! ”

Li Chun frowned invisibly and asked, "Your excerpt has already been seen in the main hall, but Runzhou is hundreds of miles away from Chang'an, how did Qing know that Li Jian had privately increased taxes and frantically gathered people to be true?" ”

Wang Shuwen paused, and Fang bowed his head and replied: "As early as half a month ago, the Holy Lord received a secret report, preparing to say that Li Jian had deceived the monarch, and the words were conclusive. The minister has been ordered by the Holy Lord, and sent an observer to investigate. Yesterday, I got an urgent secret letter of 600 miles, and Li Kuang's arrogance and lawlessness are indeed true! ”

As soon as these words came out, some people didn't come back to their senses for a long time. What he meant was that the Holy God ordered him to investigate, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince didn't know about it at all, and now that the results had been found out, did he inform the Prince?

The previous dynasty has always been supervised by the crown prince, but the saint did not go through the prince at all, and directly issued an order to the Hanlin bachelor?

Does the Holy Lord mean that he intends to take back the power of the crown prince and pro-government?

For a while, many people didn't understand why and looked at each other.

Li Chun's gaze at Wang Shuwen slowly became complicated, his father's "illness" seemed to be almost "cured", and he actually made trouble in public in the court?

It is true that the local expropriation and tyranny endanger the people, but his father's hand is inevitably stretched farther. If it is decided today, the first thing to bear the brunt of the rectification of the court and the interior of the three provinces and six ministries, first sit firmly on this dragon chair and then say, the so-called outside must first be settled inside, how can there be such a roar to deal with foreign ministers and magistrates?

Such an act will inevitably make people despise in their hearts, and they really think that they are the emperor of the peaceful and prosperous era who has successfully ascended the throne!

His face changed a few times, and he asked in a deep voice: "What Wang Hanlin just said, asking for a heavier punishment for Li Kuan, is it also the will of the Holy Lord?" ”

If it is also the will of the Holy Lord, then it is good to perform it directly, and it is a few meanings to take it to the court and play it again for him, is it necessary to explicitly say that the will of the Holy One requires the consent of His Royal Highness the Prison State?

Wang Shuwen didn't dare to bear such a charge, so he had to bow his head: "The saint has not yet issued an order, and it is the ministers who are arguing in vain." ”

Li Chun glanced at him deeply, and said slowly: "The Holy Lord has first ascended to the great treasure, and there are still many affairs to be dealt with inside and outside the imperial court. Li Jian is my Tang clan, and his father Li Guozhen is a graceful person, innocent and law-abiding, and he sacrificed his life for the country, and he is a good general of the Tang Dynasty. The world was initially decided, and it was not appropriate to make a big move against local foreign ministers at this time. ”

When Wang Shuwen heard these words, his face was a little difficult to look at, he had already said that the Holy God ordered him to investigate, no matter how old the prince was, His Majesty ordered him to supervise the country, but he wanted to disobey His Majesty's will?

He wanted to speak, but Li Chun's gaze always fell on his face, cold and soaking, and he was furious for a while, and forced his words back into his throat.

Li Chun paused and said: "Draft, the waste salt and iron envoy is envy, in addition to the position of Li Kuang's salt and iron transfer envoy, he will be promoted to the envoy of Zhenhai Festival!" ”

Wang Shuwen suddenly choked. He mentioned this matter in front of the civil and military officials in the court today, just to challenge the prince on behalf of the saint.

If Li Chun allowed his performance and set a precedent, His Majesty could naturally continue to interfere in the government affairs after the second and third decrees, and slowly empty his power as a prisoner.

If Li Chun directly rejects His Majesty's intentions, it will be to let the ministers see that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is not subservient, even if His Majesty has made great contributions to the throne, but it can still be called his heart to be punished.

Unexpectedly, Li Chun quickly made a third choice.

Since Wang Shuwen also said that it was His Majesty's intention to verify Li Kuo's wanton expropriation, but it was his own intention to punish him severely, the crown prince gave Li Kuo's official position a clear promotion and secret demotion, which not only took back the power of salt and iron transshipment, solved the problem, and complied with His Majesty's wishes, but also quietly rejected Wang Shuwen's excerpt.

In this way, it is as if Wang Shuwen is sandwiched between His Majesty and the crown prince.

Li Chun thought for a while, and then said: "Wang Hanlin has worked hard to handle this matter. He also serves as the deputy envoy for salt and iron transshipment and supervises this matter! ”

The officials in the palace said that "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is wise", but there are still many people who have little Jiujiu in their hearts. Since Wang Hanlin has already revealed his identity and said that the saint asked him to investigate, then the implication of his words is that he came under the banner of the saint.

In fact, it should be said that the excerpt is not for the prince, but for the saint. However, although the crown prince dealt with the problem, he was straightforward and rejected his excerpt in front of the ministers.

It is clear that the crown prince is full-fledged, even if the saint recovers from his illness, I am afraid that these two may not be of the same mind......

Loyalty to the court is something that every courtier must do conscientiously. However, who should be loyal to in the court? The emperor is the emperor, so he must be loyal; But now the emperor is frail and sickly, and the prince is young. Except for the prince in front of him, the rest of the princes are really not up to the task.

The crown prince is the future emperor, if one accidentally stands on the wrong line, won't he bury his career?

The Holy One's body seems to have definitely improved, and gradually some decrees have come out. It is said that these decrees were personally given by His Majesty to the favorite concubine Niu, who served by his side, and then Niu told Li Zhongyan, the deputy head of the internal supervision, and Li Zhongyan passed them on to Wang Shuwen and others. Sometimes, the edict of the saint is also written directly on the white linen cloth, which is handed to Wang Hanlin by Li Zhongyan, and it is called "the inner life of white linen" outside.

There are more and more decrees issued by the "white hemp inner order", and Wang Shuwen and others have successively made dozens of excerpts, going through the disadvantages of the times, and carrying out changes and innovations.

The first thing is the five square envoys of Miyagi. This matter had been raised as early as the past when Nian Yun first entered the East Palace and Chen Ming East Palace accumulated shortcomings, and Li Yu and Li Chun were very clear.

It's just that Li Yu has always been obscure in the East Palace at that time, and he was afraid that the first emperor would think that the prince was buying people's hearts everywhere, so he has not been able to show it to the first emperor.

At that time, Nianyun made a rule in the East Palace, prohibiting the East Palace from buying and oppressing the people, and it was not allowed to falsely report the value. Because the rules of the East Palace are strict and the rewards and punishments are very clear, it has been maintained extremely well for more than ten years.

Now that the saint has ascended the throne, Li Chun has monopolized the power of the country, and the removal of the Wufang envoy is naturally in accordance with the old rules of the East Palace, strictly prohibiting the internal supervision of the fish and meat people.

Then came the enshrinement.

According to the rules established by the first emperor, except for the salt and iron transport envoys, the local officials of all prefectures and counties had to pay tribute to the emperor every year, that is, to privately pay tribute to the emperor such as goods, gold, silver, and jewelry. Most of them enter the service once a month, called the monthly advance, and the state assassin history, local staff and others heard about it, and in order to please the first emperor, they also entered the service every month or every six months.

What's more, there is a daily enshrinement, which is called the daily advancement. The first emperor received about 300,000 jin every year, and the maximum time could reach 500,000 yuan. This is a lot of wealth, but the monthly income of the local officials and even the envoys of the festival is not high, but it is just barely enough to maintain the middle and upper class life of the family.

This wealth is naturally also the people's fat and people's ointment. With this system, all policies for tax reduction and recuperation will become a dead letter. It was the emperor's request, and there was no other legitimate source, so it was inevitable to oppress the people and accept bribes, and the corruption of officials could not be rectified at all.

Liu Zihou went to the table and asked to cancel the enshrinement. Li Chun drafted the decree on behalf of the saint, and stipulated that in addition to the tenant tax and taxation, no other miscellaneous taxes should be levied under any name, and no property should be donated to the imperial court in any way, and the tenant tax and levy owed by the people in the previous years and all kinds of harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes were exempted.

After the abolition of the worship service, it was announced to the whole country that the Holy One did not like corrupt officials. The officials and the Imperial Historical Observatory began to rectify the bribery and corruption of officials, and there were constantly impeachment of officials who looted the people's fat and ointment, and the prince seriously approved them one by one.

A group of petty officials were demoted because of this - naturally, there were also quite a few officials who had been close to King Shu.

In the front of the court reform, in the back of the inner palace, Li Yu also found many problems.

Li Yu ordered Wang Liangdi and Niu Zhaoxun to check the expenditure books in the palace and found that the monthly food and monthly expenses were very amazing.

There are quite a few concubines in Li Yuji, more than 20 people, but they are really not many for the emperor. Moreover, in addition to more than a dozen of them, the remaining more than ten people are just maids in the room, belonging to the identity of half concubines and half maids, even if they are canonized in the future, they will not be higher than the six-grade Baolin, and most of the main halls of the harem will be vacant.

In the East Palace, all the people were thrifty, so the maids and servants used were correspondingly smaller. Now that it has moved to the Daming Palace, there are many maids and internal supervisors in the palace, and even the uninhabited palace has arranged seven or eight people, and the personnel are redundant.

But those uninhabited palaces are cleaned once a month, and it is just a matter of sweeping up the fallen leaves and dust, and there is nothing to do on weekdays, and there is no need for so many people at all.

There are more than 1,000 women in the palace of the first emperor, although the saint first ascended the throne, the dragon body is not safe, and the prince is busy with government affairs and has no time to have fun, but those girls in the temple are holding the money every day, and they are very idle.

Li Yu then issued an edict with Bai Ma Nei, ordering the reduction of redundant personnel in the palace.

I don't want to, but this move caused an uproar in the palace.