Zhenguan Tianzi's concern for the affairs of the world was seen by the people of the world, from the first year of Zhenguan officially began, in less than six months, there were thirteen edicts, more than 40 edicts issued from the three provinces.

In the second half of the first year of Zhenguan, the Son of Heaven and the prime minister did not implement any more major policies, but began to test the implementation of the edicts and edicts in the prefectures and counties in the first half of the year.

This is an extremely complicated work, Li Shimin and the prime minister are all waiting for it, as early as when the edict was issued, Li Shimin said solemnly in the political hall, "Now that the edict is issued, it is impossible to let the lower-level officials obey it, and all the secretaries must cheer up. ”

Li Shimin and the prime ministers' predictions were completely correct.

During the period from Wude to Zhenguan, the regime changed, and there were too many people who wanted to play in it, and there was never a shortage of people in this world who figured out their intentions.

Saying one thing and doing another has happened too much in these hundreds of years.

Not to mention the things that are too far away to count.

Let's talk about Datang.

Wang Shichong was exiled, and then killed on the road, the person who killed Wang Shichong was briefly demoted, and soon recovered, who didn't know what Li Yuan meant.

A lesson from the past, a teacher for the future!

"Those of us who are courtiers must take the initiative to share the worries for Your Majesty, Your Majesty is wise and martial, naturally we can't do these dirty work, if we are not sensible, and really let these thieves, sinners who have tried to kill Your Majesty, and your Majesty's enemies go, and let them get away, then Your Majesty can only be framed there, then this is our fault!"

Some assistants hesitated: "But didn't Your Majesty clearly say that he wants to reconcile?" Isn't it good for us to speculate like this? ”

"What king in history didn't say that? But in the end, which king did not liquidate his political enemies?

First reconcile on the surface, don't lead out of the big mess, lead the snake out of the hole by the way, and then make a high offering, wait until the situation is stable, then deprive yourself of power, and finally find the crime and mistake, catch it all, righteous and stern, and kill them all.

You should read more, it's not just happened once or twice, it's ten times in history! ”

Let's ask, Li Shimin was almost killed, how many people will really believe that he will forgive his enemies, since ancient times, how many people can have this kind of real magnanimity.

It's not all superficial magnanimity, looking for opportunities to kill behind the scenes!

Just like Li Yuan's attitude towards Du Fuwei before, there are too many people in the prefectures and counties, especially in Shandong, who hold this attitude.

These people can't even be said to be mere traitors.

Because most kings, even those who are very good, are used to playing these tricks, then the bureaucrats will naturally use power tricks to figure out the king, which eventually leads to this situation.

It's a pity that they met a real living Saint King, and it was a Saint King who walked that kind of majestic road, Li Shimin!

Especially the current Li Shimin, who has just become the emperor, has only endless pride in his heart, he just wants to treat people with sincerity, and he still disdains those imperial techniques.

……

June of the first year of Zhenguan.

The dusty messenger galloped all the way to Chang'an from Youzhou, Yizhou, and Yangzhou, looking very haggard and with dirty faces, but no one dared to stop and despise them, because they all carried urgent military orders.

These envoys from the governor's offices in various places entered the yamen of the military department unimpeded, and the matter was quickly presented to the political affairs hall, and the prime ministers looked at it, their faces were ugly, it was not a simple case of rebellion, involving the emperor's relatives and relatives.

This question must be brought to the attention of the Son of Heaven immediately, and the group hurried into the palace.

Li Shimin's face was very ugly, Li Ai, the governor of Youzhou, the king of Lujiang, had rebelled and had been killed by Shi Wangjunkuo, the governor of the governor's mansion.

But Li Shimin was not happy at all!

Li Ai is the person who stands in line with Li Jiancheng in the clan, and Li Shimin is very aware of this.

But it is precisely because of this that it is very exemplary to kill Li Ai or not, because there are really many people in the clan who stand in line.

Wang Junkuo killed Li Ai without saying a word, in his opinion, this was a blatant disobedience to his orders and a contradiction to the major policies of the imperial court.

According to Li Shimin's thoughts, even if Li Ai really rebelled, Wang Junkuo should not be killed directly, because from the first year of Zhenguan to the third year of Zhenguan, there was no rebellion in Datang!

Wang Junkuo didn't even give the court a chance to appease, this is a typical want to invite merit!

As for the matter of Yizhou, it is not so serious, but it is also a relative who is purging dissidents with the help of the fall of Prince Jiancheng, and the person who does the work is still a relative of the Dou family.

No wonder the prime minister handed these things directly to himself, they really couldn't deal with these things, they could only give advice, not make decisions.

Li Shimin forcibly suppressed his anger and calmed himself down, the so-called king should not be angry and rejuvenated, in the same way, the king cannot govern the country in a state of anger, Li Shimin, who is still young, is a sage and wise and terrible.

He was expressionless, and asked in a cold voice: "Zhuqing, what do you think, and how to deal with this matter, let's talk about it." ”

How to deal with it?

This is not one question, but two, first of all, the first question, what to deal with?

It was Wang Junkuo who killed Li Ai.

Or deal with Wang Junkuo?

If you don't understand this, you won't be able to grasp the scale of the subsequent processing.

Li Shimin saw that no one spoke, so he stretched out his hand and said, "Fang Xuanling, you have always been resourceful, you come here." ”

Fang Xuanling said: "Your Majesty, the squire of the Criminal Department of the inspection school is here, and he should ask the opinion of the squire of the Criminal Department." ”

The squire of the Criminal Department of the inspection school is Wei Zheng, and Li Shimin promoted him to an official.

Although Wei Zheng is the prime minister, the rank of the official is too low, Li Shimin promoted him to the level, he does not have to go to the criminal department to sit in the court, and he still works in the political hall as a minister.

Wei Zheng didn't have anything to say because this matter involved Li Jiancheng's old affairs, he walked out of his seat, stood in the hall, and stood in the hall after arching his hand and talked eloquently: "Since the minister is the servant of the criminal department, the minister will make a statement to His Majesty with the law of chastity.

His Majesty's edict was passed by the government hall by collegiality, and then the seal of the Zhongshu Gate was handed over to the Shangshu Province for execution, and its effect was equal to, or even overridden, the law of Zhenguan.

As early as January this year, His Majesty had already issued an edict not to accept the case of rebellion for three years, and Datang canceled the case of rebellion for three years.

The actions of Shi Wangjunkuo, the governor of Youzhou Governor's Mansion, and the left servant of Yizhou Daoxingtai who shot Dou Rail are nothing more than based on the Zhenguan Law, where there is evidence of rebellion, and if the rebel tries to resist, he can be killed in the old place.

The edict is in the law, and the law is invalid, so the law on which the two rely does not exist, and the two are suspected of killing the court officials for no reason and should be executed, this is the minister's opinion on this matter. ”

Tut.

As soon as he came up, he lifted the table with a reason.

Luo Xuanchen only felt a little amused when he heard this, this Wei Zheng was really a very wonderful person, and put forward a difficult to achieve handling opinion.

Wei Zheng Shi Ran returned to his seat and sat down, which stumped Li Shimin.

He naturally doesn't care about Wang Junkuo's life, but politically different.

Li Shimin can't really kill the people who are loyal to him, because this kind of thing is going to happen, but the plan of reconciliation cannot be destroyed, so there must be other solutions.

Li Shimin asked again quietly: "What do you think of Wei Zheng's thoughts?" ”

Now Fang Xuanling knew that he couldn't pretend to be dead anymore, so he said slowly: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that this matter cannot be rewarded, and must be punished.

The reconciliation with the hidden prince Chu Er Wang is related to the major affairs of the national dynasty.

But Wei Shilang said that killing him directly is indeed a bit too extreme.

Now what is being discussed is how to punish him, and the minister thinks that he can issue an order to reprimand him, ignore the edict, and then punish him and confine him, and show your attitude to the people of the world. ”

"Your Majesty, it's too light!"

As soon as Fang Xuanling finished speaking, Luo Xuanchen immediately stepped out and said in a straight voice: "Your Majesty, the punishment is too light, so light that people will think that this is what you instructed, and some people will speculate that when this matter passes, you will reinstate him and even be promoted, and then more people will take risks to do this kind of thing."

If you want to be punished, you must look for a typical, the long history of a governor's mansion is a very typical person, a feudal official, who has a high position and authority in the local area, which can be used as a warning object.

And Your Majesty, the third brother of the minister is in Youzhou, and once mentioned Li Ai and Wang Junkuo.

The minister also dominates the rule of the world, I have heard people mention, this Wang Junkuo, and the old Lujiang King Li Ai, the relationship is very good, Li Ai has no military talent, so in Youzhou to Wang Junkuo, obedient to his words, and even wants to form a family with Wang Junkuo.

From this point of view, although Li Ai is incompetent, she is clear about how many catties and taels she has.

Why would he rebel directly, and dare to rebel against Your Majesty, he doesn't even understand the command of the troops, this is unreasonable.

Now Wang Junkuo directly beheaded Li Ai, and then said conclusively that Li Ai rebelled, is there any hidden meaning in this? ”

Li Shimin sat up straight when he heard this, and the others also looked over with a look of surprise, Luo Xuanchen's words were very reasonable, and Li Shimin asked directly: "Ji Chen, what do you say is the secret?" ”

Luo Xuanchen said straightforwardly: "The minister is just guessing, and there is no guarantee that he will be right, but in the biography of Sang Hong Yang in the Han Book, it was once recorded, 'The blood of the king of Jiaodong, the blood of the king of Jiaodong, the blood of the king of Hong Yang is noble', and the Sang Hong sheep uses the blood of the king of Jiaodong to make himself noble."

Now the blood of King Lujiang can probably make Wang Junkuo noble, is there really no such thought in his heart?

Your Majesty can go and check to see if he is a loyal minister of His Majesty and the Tang Dynasty, or a speculative villain. ”

Words are the sword that kills, especially from the mouths of some people with a good reputation, and they are even more powerful.

Smart people even heard some off-string sounds from Luo Xuanchen's words that only said Wang Junkuo and did not talk about Dou Rail, it seems that Luo Xuanchen does know something about Wang Junkuo, and these words are not like simple speculation.

This can't help but remind everyone of the third brother Luo Xuanchen just said, another sister-in-law of the Luo family, Luo Xuanxing, after Luo Su came to Chang'an, Luo Xuanxing has been staying near Youzhou.

Most of the eighteen tribes with the surname given by Luo Xuanxing at the beginning were in Youzhou and Liaodong, which was close to Youzhou, and the warriors under Luo Xuanxing's command were also here.

So far, these people and the Tang Dynasty belong to the well water, not the river water, and the Tang court has not yet figured out how to deal with the relationship with these people.

Because in the northeast, there is also an agricultural power, that is, the Liaodong Kingdom, which has never surrendered to the Tang Dynasty.

Some people were thoughtful, it seemed that Luo Xuanxing said something, so Luo Xuanchen had some understanding of Wang Junkuo, who was thousands of miles away.

Li Shimin's expression was a little unsightly, as a powerful monarch, he naturally couldn't tolerate it, he became a tool for his subordinates to fight for power and profit, and used the Xuanwumen incident to seek benefits for himself.

He groaned for a moment, and then said murderously: "I think what Wei Zheng and Luo Xuanchen just said is very reasonable, this matter is related to the great cause of the country, and everyone in the world must see my determination to reconcile."

issued an edict to severely reprimand Wang Junkuo, deprive Wang Junkuo of his lordship, remove him from the post of governor of Youzhou, exile him to Lingnan, and set off immediately without delay.

He issued an order to severely reprimand Dou Liang, deprive him of the lord, remove him from his official position as the left servant of the stage, and exile him to the southwest of Guizhou, and set off immediately without delay.

He appointed the Hebei Provincial Envoy and the Yizhou Provincial Envoy to explain the imperial court's edict again, and express the court's wishes to the people of the world.

Appoint the Hebei Provincial Supervision Envoy to investigate the case of Li Ai, the king of Lujiang, to see if there is any hidden secret, whether there is someone in it, making trouble for personal gain, deceiving the court, and if Wang Junkuo is really involved in this case, kill him.

If you still have any objections, if not, you will follow this. ”

The Son of Heaven will decide the life and death of a person with a word, and the prime minister's words can change the attitude of the Son of Heaven, which is where the power of the court center lies.

The reason why Li Shimin likes to call all the prime ministers of the political hall to a meeting together is very simple, call these people to a meeting together, and after the meeting, a common resolution is formed, and then the process of the three provinces is really just a process.

Otherwise, he gave an order here, and the result was rejected by the door, so it would be too troublesome to go back and forth, so it would be better to discuss it with the emperor directly.

Regarding the matter of Wang Junkuo and Dou Rail, the prime ministers were dissatisfied from the beginning, thinking that these two people were making trouble, and there was indeed a rebellion in this world, but how could Li Ai and a mere Xingtai Shangshu dare to rebel?

The Son of Heaven has such a hot hand, if it is normal, it should be admonished, but now that these two people are looking for death, it is no wonder that they are ruthless.

"There is no objection from the ministers, and the reconciliation of the world is the foundation of the dynasty, and Wang Junkuo and Dou Liang should be severely punished."

"No objection to the ministers!"

Several prime ministers expressed their attitudes, and Li Shimin nodded with satisfaction, this is the best situation, the prime ministers have the same idea as themselves, and even Wei Zheng, the old bar, did not raise the bar with him.

If only it could be like this all the time.

After the prime ministers left one after another, Li Shimin walked out of the hall and felt a pressure coming, this is only the first year, he encountered such a tricky thing, and then the new policy does not know how much pressure it will encounter.

The holy decree was quickly sent out through the three provinces, and the newly appointed Hebei Provincial Propaganda Envoy was Tang Jian, who was also an old minister of the Qin Governor's Mansion, and as he set off, Chang'an began to gradually spread the news that Li Ai, the governor of Youzhou, the king of Lujiang, rebelled and was pacified by the governor of Youzhou.

The messenger from Youzhou came to report the news, and the moment the news came out, it immediately spread all over the streets and alleys of Chang'an officialdom, causing an uproar almost instantly.

Immediately afterwards, the news from the palace and the three provinces began to reassure people.

Hearing that the Son of Heaven directly swept the two of them to the end, and exiled them to those miasma-ridden wild places, instead of places like Luling, everyone knew that His Majesty was not just putting on a show, but was really angry.

Especially later, I heard that the Son of Heaven thought that someone was framed by this, so he had sent an inspector to investigate thoroughly.

"Your Majesty said that he does not believe that under the amnesty, there are still people who will risk their lives to rebel, he believes that everyone will unite under the Zhenguan New Deal, those so-called rebellions are framed, and he will return the innocence of those framed."

"Your Majesty is really a holy king in the world, just like a king like Your Majesty, a king who cares so much about his subordinates, I am afraid it is rare in ancient times, how lucky are we to be born in the world of Zhenguan?"

"I said a long time ago, Your Majesty said amnesty, that is the real amnesty, when Your Majesty was still the King of Qin, there were many talents recruited from other forces in the palace, Your Majesty is tolerant of all rivers, has an incomparably broad mind, and is just a hidden prince and an old man, what is it?"

Countless such remarks have spread in the streets and alleys, which represents a kind of popular will now, reconciliation is indeed the trend of the times, and only by letting go of disputes and hatred as soon as possible can everyone focus on building a new policy for Zhenguan.

Wang Junkuo, who was far away in the Youzhou Governor's Mansion, thought that he was about to usher in an increase in official ranks, but he didn't expect to usher in a holy decree of reprimand, as well as a holy decree that took away all his power.

When the holy decree was read, he still asked in disbelief: "Messenger, is it a mistake, I am the hero of the rebellion of the king of Pingdingzong, how can I treat the hero like this?" ”

Tang Jian sneered and said viciously: "Where is the rebellion of the king of the sect?

I Datang also didn't have the crime of rebellion against King Zong, you killed King Zong without authorization, and you didn't kill you directly, this is already based on the merits you have made, leaving you a dignity.

According to the holy decree, you must immediately set off for Lingnan, let's go, Wang Changshi, no, Shuren Wang Junkuo! ”

Tang Jian came to Youzhou not only to read the holy decree, but also to find out what happened to Li Ai's rebellion.

It's really a tree falling apart.

As soon as Wang Junkuo fell, many of those subordinates in his mansion immediately betrayed him directly.

It's really feng shui in turn, and today it's Wang Junkuo's turn to be unlucky.

After Tang Jian found out the affairs here, he hurried back to Chang'an.

Entered the palace and reported: "Your Majesty, this Wang Junkuo is indeed involved in the rebellion of the king of Lujiang, according to Wang Junkuo's subordinates, the rebellion of Li Ai, the king of Lujiang, was instigated by Wang Junkuo.

It was Wang Junkuo who said to Li Ai that His Majesty could not let him go, and he had to make plans in advance, and also hinted that Li Ai said that he would help Li Ai, Li Ai believed that he detained the envoy of the imperial court in fear.

As a result, Wang Junkuo deceived him at all, turned around and led his soldiers to surround Li Ai's mansion, and then directly killed Li Ai.

It is said that before he died, Li Ai also said, 'Wang Junkuo, you despicable villain, this king is waiting for you under the Yellow Spring', it is conceivable how much resentment Li Ai has against Wang Junkuo. ”

When Li Shimin heard this, he walked a few steps briskly in the hall, exhaled a few deeply, and said hatefully: "This Wang Junkuo really deserves to die, let him die in Lingnan and never come back." ”

Tang Jian was a little dumbfounded when he heard this, did he kill him directly?

Before he could advise, Li Shimin himself realized his mistake, and instead said: "I can't destroy the law of the imperial court because of such a despicable villain, and go to the criminal department to publicize the results of your investigation, and then go to the three provinces to find the prime minister to make an order, in accordance with the system and laws of the imperial court."

Kill him and give some warning to the others who are about to move, that there are some things that cannot be done. ”

Tang Jian breathed a sigh of relief, His Majesty still knows the severity, as Li Shimin said, because a king will corrupt the country's law, it is really not worth it.

He took the order and left in a hurry, the expression on Li Shimin's face was very complicated, naturally mixed with anger and sadness, but there was some relief, at least he didn't really kill his heroes, which is also a great thing.

The result of this matter was quickly announced, which was a result that no one expected, Li Ai, the king of Lujiang, was really stimulated to rebel.

This time, Li Shimin's previous actions were even more popular, making the ministers shout that Shengming was not wrong.

The biggest thing in the first year of Zhenguan came to an end, in the states of the Tang Dynasty, there were many people who were ready to move, but after seeing Wang Junkuo's fate, these people who were ready to move stopped their operations almost instantly.

The attitude of the Son of Heaven is too obvious, even if there is really a rebellion, as long as you dare to denounce it, the person who denounces it will be punished.

In other words, even if there is a local rebellion during these three years, the local officials will not be punished, which is a good thing.

In the face of the drastic reduction in conflicts and the accusation of rebellion, Li Shimin and the prime ministers knew that after this incident, the matter of the hidden princelings and the Chu Er Wang party was really going to pass.

The sincerity of the Son of Heaven will never be doubted anymore!

This judgment was quickly verified, and some officials of the East Palace, who had been on the run at the beginning, appeared in Shandong one after another and took the initiative to take refuge in the government, and Li Shimin once again reaffirmed the amnesty decree with a stroke of his pen.

"The subordinates of the original East Palace and the subordinates of the King of Chu do not have to surrender, they can report to the Ministry of Officials according to their original official positions and reassess."

Not only did he save his life, but even his official body was still there, which was really beyond most people's expectations.

Li Shimin's popularity has risen sharply in this incident, and the effect of commuting the government and leniency of his sentence is also very good.

During the period of recuperation, the best way to govern was the government's non-interference, and under the operation of the prime ministers, almost all major projects were stopped, except for the repair of water conservancy, which greatly reduced the number of conscripts.

In addition, the defensive strategy pursued by the Tang Dynasty did not take the initiative to attack the Turks, but fought some small-scale wars with the Turks on the border, which did not require a large number of auxiliaries, and the requirements for military service were extremely low.

Under this general policy, the recovery speed of the Tang Dynasty was extremely fast, and the population was originally very large, although it was much less than when the Sui Dynasty was at its peak.

But because Li Tang unified the world very quickly, the population of 30 million was still very strong.

You must know that at its peak, the Central Plains had a population of less than 60 million, plus the Western Regions and other foreign domains, that is, a population of more than 60 million, and now the Central Plains has a population of 30 million, which is basically enough to support almost all internal and external strategies.

……

In August of the first year of Zhenguan, a major event occurred, that is, Li Shimin's eldest son, Li Chengqian, was canonized as the crown prince and officially entered the East Palace, which was a long-awaited thing.

At this time, there is one person whose status instantly becomes a little different.

It can even be said that all the eyes of the court have been cast, and he is Luo Xuanye.

Luo Xuanye's status in the current Tang Dynasty is very different, because his status is too high, and since the first year of Zhenguan, Luo Xuanye has never held any practical positions that can make meritorious contributions.

Because he has a little bit of nothing to rise, and there is nothing to seal.

The most common thing he did was to go into the palace to drink with Li Shimin, which was similar to Pei Lin beside Li Yuan at the beginning.

After Li Chengqian was made the crown prince, after Li Chengqian worshiped Li Shimin and Empress Changsun, he came to see Luo Xuanye.

Because Luo Xuanye is the prince and the prince!

These two official positions are the highest in the current Datang, because there is no non-prince in the current Datang who serves as the third prince and the third division of Zhengyipin.

So his official position from the first grade is already the top.

Now that Luo Xuanye is serving as the crown prince and the crown prince, he is destined to have a certain relationship with the prince, and in this case, a new appointment will soon come down.

Luo Xuanye's eldest son, Luo Juncheng, entered the East Palace to accompany the crown prince Li Chengqian to study.

Luo Juncheng must be the prince's team in the future, there is no doubt about it, and Luo Xuanye escorts, coupled with the status of the eldest grandson empress, and the trust of Li Shimin and the eldest grandson Wuji.

Li Chengqian's position as the crown prince is much more secure than that of his eldest uncle.

————

When the curtain falls on the first year of Zhenguan, we may not be able to make a conclusion based on just one year of government, but the fact is that in the first year of Zhenguan, Li Shimin and his prime minister have almost handed over a perfect answer to the various challenges they faced.

During this year, the Tang Dynasty not only determined the major policies for the next few years, but also promulgated the imperial examination system, a far-reaching system for electing officials.

The people who had been war-torn for a long time, in the fifth year after the unification of the world, finally felt the blessing and rain from the central court, in a certain fact, until the first year of Zhenguan, the Tang Dynasty finally began to assume the responsibility that a unified dynasty should bear.

This situation began to end until the third year of Zhenguan, which is the content of the next section. ——"The History of the Rise and Fall of the Tang Empire"

(End of chapter)