In the Zichen Palace, Li Xuan bowed his hand to the emperor and said sincerely: "Your Majesty, although the minister has seen the two of them, but it has only been an hour and a half before and after, and there are not many acquaintances, and the minister does not dare to propose at will, and the minister's opinion is really not enough to become the basis for His Majesty to decide the matter of the champion, so please consider it carefully." ”

Li Zhi smiled faintly, waved his hand and said: "At present, these two examination papers, the prime minister and several examiners have different opinions, the prince and the queen also have different positions, and there is not much difference between them.

Say whatever you have in mind. I have my own decisions. Remember, don't deceive you. ”

Thou shalt not deceive the king.

Li Zhi's smiling words made Li Xuan's expression awe-inspired.

He couldn't help but feel a toothache, what is this, the dispute between the Hanmen and the champion of the family, the emperor will be determined as soon as he says it, who dares to say a word.

But Li Xuan knew in his heart that this matter was not so simple.

The war between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo is imminent, if it is because of the champion position, the internal troubles in the DPRK and the central government will definitely outweigh the losses.

But if he agrees, then the emperor will inevitably find someone to retaliate in the future, and Li Zhi has done this kind of thing I don't know how many times back then.

However, now Li Zhi is still looking for a way to calm the turmoil without turbulent the imperial court in the future.

Therefore, in the current battle for the champion, we have to listen to Li Xuan's opinion.

Li Xuan had to speak this time, if he had something to hide, the emperor's opinion of him would not change much.

"Obey." Li Xuan's face was embarrassed, and under the gaze of Li Zhi and the ministers, after a little thought, Li Xuan slowly spoke: "Back to Your Majesty, the minister was in the Shangqing Palace last year, and had a relationship with Cheng Xingmou and Xu He.

At that time, the main guest of the Ministry of Rites, Jiang Kai, who was also the editor of the History Museum, asked the two students to make a poem to show their talents.

In the end, Cheng Xingmou did 'Yumen three-level waves, a thunder on the ground, a generous husband's ambition, life and death, loyalty and filial piety'.

It is said that poetry is a metaphor for people, Cheng Xingmou is passionate, ambitious, and has the ambition of loyalty and filial piety. ”

"Those who are loyal and filial are the foundation of people." Li Zhi nodded, exclaimed, and at the same time looked down at Chen Xingmou's test paper on the imperial case.

Li Xuan's words paused, his expression was indifferent, and the deep eyes of the other ministers around him all fell on Li Xuan.

Li Zhi raised his head, nodded at Li Xuan, and said, "You continue." ”

"Whoa!" Li Xuan took a deep breath, directly skipped the gaze of others, and continued: "At that time, Xu He composed a poem, 'The palace is called around, and the streets are gorgeous; The sun and the moon are bright and the heavens are virtuous, the mountains and rivers are strong and the emperor dwells', the words are beautiful, and there are hills and ravines in the chest. The minister has the talent of the champion. ”

Champion talent.

Li Xuan said a word, and some people in the hall had joy in their eyes, while more people had calm faces.

Li Zhi sat behind the imperial case, glanced sideways at Empress Wu, then at Li Xian, and finally looked at Li Xuan with a smile and said: "In this way, the king of Nanchang agrees with Xu and is the champion." ”

Li Xuan took a deep breath, arched his hand, nodded, and said sincerely: "If you look at it from that day, the minister does recognize Xu He as the champion, but the minister hopes that His Majesty can put Cheng Xingmou in the middle of the court to train, his heart is the world, his ambition is loyal and pure, if he is trained effectively, he should have the hope of being a prime minister one day." ”

"Oh!" Li Zhi suddenly sat up, looked at Li Xu, and said in surprise: "It's rare that the king of Nanchang has such a vision, and he really lives up to my expectations." Xu Er's rhetoric is beautiful, full of hills and ravines, and it is indeed the same as its champion. This journey is planned, generous husband's ambition, and life and death are smiling back. Not bad, really good. ”

Li Zhi couldn't help but chant several times in a row: "Be generous to your husband, be loyal and filial to your life." ”

The words made the eyes of the ministers present suddenly flash with a trace of subtlety.

At this moment, Empress Wu, who was sitting on one side, finally spoke: "The sun and the moon are bright and the heavens are deserved, and the mountains and rivers are the residence of the emperor." This sentence is also extremely good. ”

"It's just another "Imperial Capital Chapter"." Li Zhi waved his hand slightly, then looked at the ministers, and said in a deep voice: "This kind of idea can't be said to be wrong." After all, in the prosperous era of the Tang Dynasty, when all countries come to the dynasty, there should be thousands of weather, but I feel that the emperor should be more cautious and do his best to meet the expectations of the world, how can he easily make the emperor's residence

Over the years, the matter of Luoyang has been dissuaded by the imperial history, although I have paid little attention to it, but I feel quite guilty in my heart. ”

"Your Majesty and Ascension are all upon a sudden; Empty advice, no difference. All the ministers present bowed down at the same time and shouted: "The ministers are full of admiration. ”

"Alright, stop slapping the horses." Li Zhi waved his hand, and then said: "Xu He is talented, and he is not inferior to Yang Jiong Luo Bin Wang. After the palace examination, Xu Xu entered the Hongwen Museum. But Cheng Xing is loyal and filial to life and death, and his generous husband should be an example for the world. Passed the decree, in the third year of the last century, Cheng Xingmou, the champion of the Bingzi Branch, entered the Prince Chongwen Museum, and became a straight bachelor. ”

"The ministers obey." All the ministers present gave up their hands at the same time, and no one had the slightest objection.

After Li Zhi made up his mind in a few words, he looked up at Li Xian and said in a deep voice: "Prince, being a gentleman and a villain, is the first way for the king, Cheng Xingmou is a generous husband, loyal and filial piety in life and death, you should make good use of it." ”

"Son's command." Li Xian immediately gave up his hand.

All the ministers present had a subtlety in their hearts, and there was a trace of solemnity in their eyes when they looked at Li Xian.

"Okay, let's all step down, today's things are like this, and the list will be released tomorrow." Li Zhi waved his hand arrogantly.

The ministers immediately surrendered their hands: "The ministers will retire." ”

Li Xuan blended in the crowd and slowly withdrew from the Zichen Palace.

……

Under the rain curtain, on Suzaku Street.

Li Xuan sat in Yue Weng Liu Renliang's carriage, breathed a long sigh of relief, and then carefully asked, "Yue Weng, what happened, why is there a dispute today?" ”

"Someone is messing around, someone is messing around." Liu Renliang closed his eyes slightly, and said softly: "It's nothing more than a champion, how about the poor family, how about the family, and how to compete with each other." Fortunately, with you today, things can be easily solved; If not, I'm afraid that I will wait for the prime ministers, and I will have to make a statement. ”

Today's events, although they seem to be a battle for champions, are actually a battle between the emperor and the family.

In the Zichen Palace, all the Shangshu have spoken.

Even the three provincial servants have expressed their positions, and there are only five prime ministers, and they have never spoken easily.

The emperor didn't want them to say anything, and once they expressed their position, there was no room for retraction.

After asking the queen and the prince, Li Zhi directly summoned Li Xuan back to Zichen Palace.

Fortunately, Li Xuan answered appropriately, which avoided all kinds of turmoil in the court.

Sure enough, as Li Zhi expected, everything was easily resolved.

Li Xuan's face was helpless, and he said softly: "Then the son-in-law is afraid that he has really offended people this time." ”

"It's none of your business." Liu Renliang shook his head and said calmly: "You said it, Xu has the talent of the champion, Cheng Xingmou has the hope of being the assistant, who is up and who is down, it is His Majesty's decision, what does it have to do with you." What's more, what the ministers are most concerned about now is the prince's affairs, and it is surprising that the East Palace is also involved in today's affairs. ”

Today's events, the emperor, all the Zaifu, in fact, can see this matter clearly, it is the people of the East Palace, who are stirring up the wind and rain, but they are seen through by others.

The emperor finally pointed out the words to the crown prince Li Xian, who seemed to be talking about a generous husband, loyalty and filial piety in life and death, but in fact, he was talking about being a gentleman and a villain.

This is not the prince's private matter, but there are villains in the prince's east palace.

Just as Liu Renliang was groaning, Li Xuan spoke: "Yue Weng, the founding of the Tang Dynasty, although there are not as many as sixty champions, there are also many people. Among these champions, those who can become prime ministers are less than eleven of them, and although the grandson-in-law says that Cheng Xingmou has the hope of being prime minister, it depends on the will of heaven where he can go. ”

Liu Renliang nodded and said, "In fact, in this examination, Cheng Xingmou is the first of the examinations, which is in itself His Majesty's intention. It's just that some people can't see through the intention of this, so they will disturb this temple test. ”

"Yue Weng is bad." Li Xuan shook his head and said with a slight sneer: "It's nothing more than to win over the hearts of the people of Shaanxi and Gansu, all the ministers in the court and the central government are clear people, how can they not see through it, but some people don't want to see this battle end easily, so they set restrictions everywhere."

They are acting recklessly by making others think that they cannot see through His Majesty's thoughts. Doing the opposite, deliberately, forcing the emperor to re-elect, this is a common method used by the family, and it is even a small means. ”

Liu Renliang's face suddenly became gloomy, and then, he suddenly looked up at Li Xuan: "Could it be that Your Majesty has also seen through what others think?" ”

Li Xuan nodded with a wry smile, and said in a low voice: "The things that the grandson-in-law investigated, as soon as he deserved, have all been presented to His Majesty, and nothing has been missed; Your Majesty is so clever that he is not moving now, but only fishing. ”

Liu Renliang's face was calm, and he finally spoke slowly.

……

Under the rain curtain, there was also a person sitting in the carriage and slowly returning home.

"Some people really don't know how to die." Zhou Zhi couldn't help but snort coldly, and the figure of the secretary and young eunuch Zheng Fan suddenly appeared in his heart.

During the secret meeting a few days ago, Zheng Fan said that he was dissatisfied with the children of the poor family. In particular, there are four people in the mansion of Li Xuan, the king of Nanchang.

However, the person seemed rude and careless at the time, but in fact, he was secretly spying on what the other three people were thinking.

However, whether it is Zhou Zhi or Cui Fan, they are both clear-eyed people, how can they easily intervene in such a random matter.

But unfortunately, there are still people who accidentally step into it.

The prince is a member of Hu Zai.

Hu Zai is not a child of a family, on the contrary, he was born in a poor family, but he married the daughter of the Lu family.

The daughter of the Lu family has always been barbaric, and there are many things, and where is Hu Zai in charge.

At the same time, Xingyang Zheng and Fan Yang Lu shot at the same time, and the pressure was immediately transmitted to the emperor.

Zheng Fan, Zheng Fan, his father's surname is Zheng, and his mother's surname is Lu, so it is Fan Yang's name.

It's a pity that after some operations, he was finally beaten by the emperor and directly used Li Xuan to eliminate this threat.

Zhou Zhi wouldn't think about it at all, Xingyang Zheng's family, Fanyang Lu's family, might attack the king of Nanchang.

Because if what he expected now, the emperor has already begun to take the opportunity to attack the Xingyang Zheng clan and the Fan Yang Lu clan.

The emperor will not let go of the relevant people involved in this kind of thing.

It's okay to do other things, the key is to cooperate with them this time in the Western Regions, Xingyang Zheng Clan, Fan Yang Lu Clan, also participated,

Zhou Zhi was not worried that they would talk about it, because this matter involved rebellion, and if they really wanted to speak, it would be equally difficult for them to get rid of it.

It's just that the Zheng clan and the Lu clan are inevitably going to withdraw from the Western Regions this time, so the manpower in the Western Regions will be insufficient.

Just as Zhou Zhi was thinking, the carriage suddenly slowed down, and he knew that it was home.

The moment the carriage entered the door, a secret letter with a special mark was thrown in.

Zhou Zhi's eyes lit up instantly.

Cheng Xingmou, the historical official to the imperial historian, presented to the right prime minister

(End of chapter)