Chapter 469: Subtle Signal

Time flies, and time gradually moves to March of the eighth year of the Great Emperor. At the beginning of this month, the Tang Dynasty was about to hold an unprecedented dynasty. This New Year's dynasty was different from the previous officials with only four ranks or above. The tone had been set a month ago. Almost all officials knew the importance of this New Year's dynasty. His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty will officially enthrone the crown prince in this March, but it has not been stated clearly who the crown prince was enthroned, but there has been information in the palace that the crown prince must be Li Qi.

The establishment of a crown prince is a major event that concerns the foundation of the country for all dynasties, and it is also crucial to today's Tang Dynasty. Since Zhang Huan first ascended the throne seven years ago, calls for the establishment of a crown prince have been continuously launched. However, Zhang Huan was slow to establish a crown prince on the grounds that the prince was young. The ministers also knew that he did not want to make this major decision easily. However, Zhang Huan was nearly forty years old at this time. His two eldest sons, Yong Wangqi, were sixteen years old and Zhao Wanggui, were both at the age of wise things. If they were not determined, if the dispute between the crown prince was triggered, it would be a tragedy that no one wanted to see. Therefore, after nearly seven years of thinking and observation, Zhang Huan finally made up his mind.

At night, as soon as the night fell, Cui Xian, the head of the Cui family, came to Cui Yu, the oldest Cui family. Cui Xian had recovered from the incident of his son leaving home. From the fact that he finally reached the decision with Fang Zongyan to marry Fang Min, it can be seen that Cui Xian had made concessions to his son. In fact, he has always regretted driving his son out of the house, but what's the use? Cui Yao was in Baghdad, thousands of miles away, and he had little reputation. He only got some news from the mouth of Agush, the special envoy of the Great Food that came to the Tang Dynasty last May. His son was very busy in Baghdad. He had nearly 10,000 students, studying Chinese and learning the history of the East.

Cui Xian was speechless, which meant that the eldest son might never inherit the Cui family's foundation again. He fell into extreme depression, regret and pain. It was not until half a year later that he gradually walked out of the pain of self-blame.

Today, Cui Xian received an urgent message from Cui Yu. After going to court, he came directly to Cui Yu's mansion. Since Cui Yuan's death, Cui Yu has taken on the important task of the spiritual leader of the Cui family. He is one of the seven prime ministers of the Tang Dynasty, with deep qualifications and extensive connections in the court, but he has always been very low-key. In the era of Cui Yuan, he seemed to be Cui Yuan's shadow. In the short years as head of the family, he always kept the Cui family in a low-key style like him. Until he gave the head of the family to Cui Xian, Cui Yu still maintained his shadow style, but this shadow suddenly magnified several times after Cui Yuan's death.

Cui Yu's mansion is located in Pingkangfang, which is the old house where Li Linfu made a ghost. He lived in this house for six years, but never encountered anything strange. At this moment, Cui Yu was writing something in the study. Suddenly, a housekeeper reported: "Master, the head of the family is here."

"Let him come in." Cui Yu hurriedly wrote the last two words and flipped over what he wrote. He didn't want Cui Xian to see what he was writing for the time being.

After a moment, Cui Xian quickly walked into the study, stepped forward and bowed, "See the second uncle."

"You don't have to be polite to your family, please sit down quickly."

A concubine laid a soft cushion for Cui Xian and brought him a cup of tea. After the concubine left, Cui Yu glanced at Cui Xian and smiled and said, "Do you know what it is that I urgently called you here today?"

Cui Xian picked up the teacup and pondered for a while and said, "But the appointment of the prince for the next day?"

"This is also a matter!" Cui Yu smiled, but did not continue to talk about the second thing, but stopped at the matter of enthroning the prince. "Who do you think this prince will be? Li Qi or Li Gui?"

When it comes to the enthronement of the crown prince, Cui Xian's frustration was fully revealed, "Does this still need to be asked? Our Yuan Concubine cannot compete for the Empress of the Pei family, so the Pei family will naturally win the position of the crown prince."

As the head of the family, Cui Xian also attaches great importance to the prosperity of the family. The situation in the court is no longer the same as that of Cui and Pei families many years ago. In fact, the seven major families of that year have declined. The decline of the Pei family is due to the division of Pei Jun's sons, which has led to the dispersion of the Pei family. The capable Pei Mingyuan has been an official in Changzhou and is out of reach for family affairs. Pei You has no courage and cannot reunite the hearts of the Pei family. As for the Cui family, Cui Xian never thinks it is his responsibility. He always believes that Cui Qinggong's betrayal has led to the complete decline of the Cui family. Of course, the most important reason is the emperor's suppression of the aristocratic family back then. From the imperial examination, it can be seen that there are fewer and fewer children of the aristocratic family have been admitted in recent years. No one of the Cui family has even been able to pass the list for two consecutive years, and the same is true for the Pei family.

Although the aristocratic family has declined, the Cui family, like the Pei family, are unwilling to accept their hopes. They put their hopes on the next emperor, so the dispute between the two families has never stopped. The Cui family has always put their hopes on Cui Ning's son Li Gui. Until yesterday, news came out in the palace that Zhang Huan was already asking someone to teach Li Qi etiquette. Cui Xian completely gave up. The Cui family was eventually defeated by the Pei family. He sighed: "Thirty years later, the Pei family will have the opportunity to revive, and our Cui family has been declining from then on."

"Why should the head of the family be so pessimistic?" Cui Yu smiled faintly and said, "In my opinion, the Cui family will not sink, and the Pei family will not rise again."

Choi Hyun heard something from his uncle's words, and he quickly asked, "Why is this?"

"This is the second thing I called you today. Some subtle changes in the power structure of the court are about to take place." Speaking of this, Cui Xian turned the letter written on the table again, and said with a little desolate expression: "This time the dynasty is not only as simple as enthroning the crown prince, but the emperor may have to change his face again."

"Share change?" Cui Xian was very surprised. In January, Zhang Potian officially retired from office, and then in February, Chu Xingshui retired and returned home. It was only a long time before he had to change his appearance again, which really surprised Cui Xian. He asked quickly, "Who is stepping down this time?"

"The emperor did not say it clearly. He was just inspired. He hoped that the prime minister would be the official in his fifties." Cui Yu sighed slightly, "This is actually to tell me and Pei You. He wanted us to resign from the position of prime minister ourselves."

Cui Xian pondered for a moment and said, "Maybe this is just the emperor's unintentional words, but it actually does not mean to change faces?"

Cui Yu shook his head and sighed with emotion: "Jun Wuwu jokes. I have worked with him for so many years. Don't you understand him? This is something he has planned for a long time. He will continue to be a minister step by step. First, it is Zhang Potian and then Chu Xingshui. These two people have a deep personal relationship with him. It is natural for the Pei two prime ministers to be replaced first, and then Cui. However, we have been prime ministers for almost eight years, and there are indeed fewer ones."

Cui Xian was silent. He thought of himself. Zhang Potian retired from office and the emperor appointed Hu Yong as the Minister of War. This was to promote the direct descendant of the Dragon Sect, and Chu Xingshui retreated to the Prime Minister and recommended Fang Zongyan as the Minister of Rites. This was another continuation of the Chu Xingshui faction. Judging from the succession of these two people, they were all to balance the power of the court. Then the second uncle should have taken over the position of the Prime Minister. In terms of qualifications, Cui Xian had served as the governor of Shu County, the governor of Hanzhong, the prime minister, and now he was the minister of Guanglu Temple. He was more than enough to serve as the prime minister.

Thinking of this, Cui Xian's eyes became more enthusiastic. How could Cui Yu not understand his nephew's thoughts? He sighed secretly. Who said that dragons give birth to dragons and phoenixes? How scheming is his elder brother, but his son is so stupid. Can't he see that the establishment of a prince and the exchange of appearance are actually the same thing? Why did it take eight years to change the appearance, and it was not until now that the establishment of a prince? Think about it again, Zhang, Chu, Cui, and Pei have changed one after another. Isn't this the complete destruction of the four major families? His nephew actually dreams of taking over the appearance of himself. It's stupid!

Of course, Zhang Huan did not explicitly say that he wanted Cui Yu and Pei You to resign, and there was no limit on time. That was just that he didn't want to tear his face. If they were not tactful and did not know the truth, then Zhang Huan would definitely launch another cheating incident to clean up the officialdom.

The fifty-year-old prime minister is just a subtle signal.

In the imperial study room of Zichen Pavilion in the Daming Palace, Zhang Huan was reading a latest report on the situation of the Uighurs. In January last year, there was a serious internal strife inside the Uighurs, which revealed the food crisis of the Uighurs. In March, Jiegan Gas sent 30,000 troops to attack the Dong Uighurs, and Yaoluo Geling fought with 40,000 people. The two armies fought fiercely on the grassland on the south bank of the Krulun River, and finally ended with the tragic victory of the Dong Uighurs. More than 50,000 people were killed in the battle, which greatly damaged the vitality of the East Uighurs.

A year later, there were signs of transferring troops in Hanerduobali. According to the report of the spies in Hanerduobali, this time, Jiegangas transferred troops to no less than 50,000 troops and 50,000 troops, which was almost Jiegangas' last capital.

Zhang Huan found another memorial on the table. This was written by Yao Luo Ge Ling two months ago. It was a memorial to beg the Tang Dynasty for the assistance of military supplies. In this memorial, there was a detail that the number of herders who depended on Kedun City increased by 300,000 this winter. It seems that this is the fundamental reason why Jiegangas was about to spread his troops. One thing went up and the other was too late. If he did not destroy the Eastern Uighurs, there would be no place for him Jiegangas to stand on the grassland.

Zhang Huan walked slowly to the window with his hands behind his back, looking at the spring scenery outside the window. In a flash, he was almost forty years old this year. He was in charge of the Tang Dynasty and entered his eighth year. In the past eight years, the national strength of the Tang Dynasty has developed greatly. Land reform has entered the normal track. The official warehouse and official warehouse have sufficient money and grain, and the rice price has dropped to 25 cents per bucket. If the price factors are removed, this has actually reached the level of the early years of Tianbao. The country is rich and the people are strong. Although the population is still insufficient, the population breeding has not accumulated by two generations, and it cannot be restored to the level of 50 million at its peak. Two generations will be at least thirty or fifty years later. I can't wait for so long. Zhang Huan suddenly felt like time is out of reach. He is almost middle-aged. Do you have to wait for another ten years?

Besides, after eight years of national strength recovery, financial and material resources have a certain foundation. He has the military power. Now it is time to finally liquidate the aristocratic families. There are also the Uighurs. After two years of siege and internal strife, the wife has become weak and can also take action.

Thinking of this, Zhang Huan resolutely returned to the table, picked up a pen and wrote a handwriting, and ordered: "Let Du Mei send someone to send this handwriting to the Kias Department quickly."

After dealing with the Uighur affairs, Zhang Huan had lunch, took a short nap, and started the afternoon court again. At this time, a eunuch came to report: "Li Hanlin and His Highness Yong asked to see Your Majesty."

"Let them come in." Zhang Huan put down his pen and waited for the arrival of Li Mi and his son Li Qi with a smile. As the court said, Zhang Huan's final decision was to make the eldest son the crown prince. This is what everyone hoped for. Li Qi is kind and filial, gentle and respectful, and movement must be polite. The second son Li Gui is powerful, strong and tough and independent, and is quite similar to him. He likes Li Gui more in personal feelings, but how can the country change based on his personal preferences? What he wants is definitely not a person who is determined to reform.

After decades of his great rule, Zhang Huan needed a benevolent monarch who could inherit other national policies and could continue his national policy of supporting the country, until the Tang Dynasty finally reached its prosperity. At the same time, what he wanted was a benevolent and kind king who could follow the Confucian principle of governing the country with benevolence and etiquette, treat the people of the world well, treat civil and military ministers well, and treat his brothers and sisters well. The eldest son Qi met this condition, which was also the result of repeated discussions with the prime minister.

After a moment, Li Mi and Li Qi walked in quickly. Li Mi was in a very good mood these days. The emperor finally decided to make King Yong the crown prince. He was very convinced of this decision. His ideas were consistent with Zhang Huan. He also strongly advocated that Zhang Huan's successors should implement the governing strategy of Xiao Gui Caosui, and should not easily change various national policies. At most, just fine-tune them to improve them. In this way, after the continuation of two generations of monarchs, the principle of checks and balances of the Tang Dynasty and the checks and balances of the three provinces can be truly established correctly, forming a moral and ethical belief deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and maintaining vigorous vitality after hundreds of years. This is actually the essence of the three provinces and six ministries.

"My minister Li Mi sees His Majesty the Emperor."

"Sons meet with the father."

Seeing that his son was full of energy and calm demeanor, Zhang Huan felt very comforted. He ordered the eunuch to sit down and asked with a smile: "The emperor will start facing the people of the world in the future. Have you ever been nervous?"

Li Qi bowed slightly and replied to his father: "My son faces it with a normal mind, does not be happy with glory, does not be proud of promotion, and strictly restrains himself and his subordinates, so naturally there will be no tension."

Zhang Huan nodded, his son's answer was quite satisfying. The key to being a prince is to cultivate virtue and conquer people with virtue. It seems that he realized this. Zhang Huan pondered for a while and said, "Although it is still early, my father still wants to tell you in advance that the father will go to Thunder Ye for inspection in October, and meet with the Dashi Caliph in Tuozhe City and officially sign a peace treaty between the two countries. It may be out of Chang'an for half a year. At that time, my father will temporarily hand over the country to you for supervision, and then I will order the prime ministers to assist you, so the father will take some state affairs for you in the past few months."

Zhang Huan said these words very plainly, but Li Mi, who was beside him, felt like thunder rolling in his heart, and his face suddenly changed. He suddenly realized that the emperor was far-reaching and decided to go to the Western Regions to meet with the King of Dashi in two years ago. Doesn’t this mean that he had decided to change his face this year and enthrone the crown prince?

If the exchange of appearance is the beginning of re-arrangement of the power structure of the Tang Dynasty, then the crown prince sounded the clarion call for attacking the aristocratic families, then what deeper intentions did the emperor hide when he left Beijing to inspect the Western Regions at this time?

Li Mi's face changed drastically and Zhang Huan noticed it. He glanced at Li Mi quickly and smiled at his son without saying a word, "Since the father has decided to officially enthrone you as the crown prince the next day, you should also move to the East Palace to live. You have been learning etiquette these days, and the father thinks there is no need for it, so you can relax tomorrow, go to the East Palace first to have a good tour in the morning, and take your younger brother and sister, Aunt Heping, to Xi Neiyuan to ride horses and shoot archery. Do you know?"

Li Qi quickly stood up and bowed deeply to his father, "My son is obeying the order of his father."

"Go!" Zhang Huan smiled and waved his hand, "Your mother misses you these days, so go and visit her and make her happy for you."

As he said that, he shook Li Mi again and signaled him to stay. After Li Qi left, Zhang Huan said to Li Mi: "This time Qier entered the East Palace, will he be willing to serve as the position of Prince Zhan?"

The Crown Prince Zhan Shi was the chief of all officials of the Eastern Palace. Although he had no real power during his reign, he would often be promoted to the prime minister of a country after the crown prince ascended the throne. The position was very important. However, Zhang Huan made drastic reforms to the official system two years ago and had already sacked all the officials of the royal palace. Most of the casual officials in the Eastern Palace were also sacked, and only honorary positions such as the Third Tai and Third Young Master, as well as some important auxiliary officials. The Crown Prince Zhan Shi was also one of the retained official positions, with the third rank.

Li Mi immediately shook his head, "Thank you for your kindness, but I am nearly seventy years old this year. Even if I become the prince's secretary, wouldn't it be criticized? So after thinking about it, I decided to assist the prince until he was eighteen years old, and I will officially retire and ask Your Majesty to fulfill his wish."

Zhang Huan smiled again, "What about the prince who has been the prince for two years? When the prince's son turns 18, I promise to retire."

Li Mi pondered for a moment and suddenly asked, "I want to ask, if I am the Crown Prince Secretary, who is the Crown Prince's Young Secretary?"

The Prince Shaoshen is the first official to take over the Prince Zhan, and in fact he is the future candidate for the prime minister. Since Zhang Huan only allows himself to be the Prince Zhan for two years, then the official who serves as the Prince Shaoshen is extremely important.

Zhang Huan nodded secretly. Li Mi was indeed amazing. He saw through his true intention of letting him be the crown prince secretary for two years. He did not hide it, so he told him frankly, "I have decided to let the Crown Prince Secretary Han Yu serve as the Minister of the Secretariat, Han Yu, and I do not hide it. Han Yu has a little bit of qualifications. It is not appropriate to promote the Crown Prince Secretary Zhan to the Crown Prince Zhan in one step, so I want to let him be the Crown Prince Shao Zheng for two years as the promotion ladder. I have discussed this matter with the Prime Minister Han who was the governor this month yesterday and obtained his consent."

Speaking of this, Zhang Huan changed his topic and returned to the main topic he called him today. "I invited Mr. Today, mainly to inform Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr.

Zhang Huan made this decision, and Li Mi's heart sank into the abyss, indicating that his guess just now was correct. The emperor really wanted to take action against the aristocratic families. The so-called real-name system of land seemed to be implemented across the country, but in fact, when ordinary people gave land, it was a real-name system. Although ordinary small and medium-sized landlords occupied more land than gave land, they could get the honorary officials through military merits, assistance in running schools, and assisting the widows. As long as it was not too much, most of them could be able to pass. In fact, to put it bluntly, this so-called real-name system of land is the most severe method for major aristocratic families. In disguise, confiscated their land in disguise. For example, the Cui family owned 10,000 hectares of land. Taking Cui Yuanzhang as an example, his Yongye field was 60 hectares. , plus the twelve hectares of land, only 72 hectares. So how should the real-name method be made by the Cui family's ten thousand hectares of land be given to the head of Cui Xian? Of course he wanted it, but can he afford the qualification of the ten thousand hectares of land? Even if it was divided equally between the Cui family, most of the Cui family's children were civilians without official positions, and the standard of 30 acres of each person was far from 10,000 hectares of land. At the height of the sky, only about 1,000 acres of land should be taken back, or they would be forced to return it with heavy taxes. Therefore, the law of real-name land was issued, which was actually a nationwide clearance of land encroachment. When Zhang Huan ascended the throne, the throne was unstable and did not move. He endured it for nearly eight years before finally waiting for the time to ripen now.

Depriving the land of the aristocratic families means taking away the foundation on which the aristocratic families depend for their survival. The aristocratic families are not far from falling apart, but what makes Li Mi feel frightened is not the real-name land system itself, but Zhang Huan will leave Beijing in the Western Regions to meet with the Dashi Caliph in three months. Is this really a coincidence in time? Li Mi knew that the real-name land system will inevitably arouse a strong backlash from major aristocratic families. He looked at Zhang Huan's firm face and suddenly felt a little inexplicable fear in his heart.

On March 5, 2018, the eighth year of Dazhi, Zhang Huan officially enthroned the eldest son Qi as the crown prince of the Eastern Palace in March. The crown prince of the Tang Dynasty was established. In the same dynasty, Han Huan unexpectedly announced that the real-name land system would be implemented nationwide, and that the subjects of the world should register the area of ​​land to clarify the land without a border."
Chapter completed!