Since the reign of Daizong Yongtai, when Zhongguan Dong Xiu took charge of the Privy Council, the inner court has set up the post of Privy Councilor, responsible for accepting memorials from courtiers and conveying the emperor's orders to Zhongshu's disciples. Later, the power of the Privy Councilor gradually increased, and he became the emperor's companion day and night.
The close ministers who planned for the emperor, after Yizong and Xizong, the privy envoys took over the affairs of obeying the emperor's instructions and acting on behalf of the emperor Zhu Pi, and became a well-known role among the internal servants. Together with the Shence Army Yamen in the Xuanwu Sect, they were collectively called the Beisi.
One is in charge of the army, the other is in charge of politics, and governs the inner court, which is in opposition to Nanya, who is under Zhongshu's sect.
Privy Councilor Song Daobi and his deputy, Privy Councilor Jing Wuxiu, received the three memorials from their subordinates and passed them to each other. Song Daobi stared at Cui Yin's comments on the three memorials without saying a word.
Wu Xiu turned his eyes around, blinked from time to time, and said "tsk" and "tsk" in admiration.
Song Daobi was upset by Jing Wuxiu's quarrel and frowned: "Old Jing, what are you making up?"
Jing Wuxiu made a sound of hey, but didn't say anything. He just shook his head in admiration.
Song Daobi raised his head and said: "The bias of these three memorials is too obvious. Cui Yin is so unscrupulous."
Jing Wuxiu spoke up and said: "Of course. He has already expelled the king from the court, so how can he bother to cover it up like before? Hehe, I'm afraid it will be your turn and my turn next."
Song Daobi sighed and said, "Well, when the king was here, he discussed everything with us. Now that he is gone, you and I have less to rely on in the court, so we really need to be more cautious."
Jing Wuxiu sneered twice: "Old Song Dynasty, I am afraid that the word 'caution' can not avoid disaster. Cui Yin, the concubine, hates the middle officials and thinks that we are the root of the decline of the government. He must get rid of the middle officials and then be happy."
, just watch, this thief is about to attack you and me. Now these three memorials are just a pretext to test your and my reactions."
Song Daobi was a little flustered by what he said. He couldn't help getting up and pacing around the room, saying: "How can this be a good thing? According to what you said, showing weakness is not okay, and being tough is not okay. Do you really want to give up?
Life is the only thing that counts. How about we go and beg everyone? Seeing how hard we serve, maybe you can spare us." As he spoke, his voice became choked, his eyes turned red, and tears were about to fall.
Already.
Jing Wuxiu said in a dark voice: "Old Song, why are you crying again? It's useless to look like a child! Do you think everyone will let us go? Have you forgotten how everyone treated Yang Guogong? In everyone's hearts, he
I always think about getting rid of us middle-ranking officials, so that the power can come from the top, will it help if you go and cry?"
Yang Guogong was Yang Fugong, who was the Privy Councilor ten years ago, the Lieutenant of the Zuo Shence Army, the Military Envoy of the Twelve Guards, and was given the title of Wei Guogong. As the first among the middle-ranking officials, Yang Fugong had the merit of following the dragon and helped the current emperor ascend the throne.
When Emperor Xizong was dying, all the civil and military officials in the dynasty wanted to make Li Bao, the king of Ji, the emperor. It was Yang Fugong's great help who single-handedly put Li Ye, the king of longevity, on the throne. His achievements were as high as the sky, but in the end, he was still imitated by Xuanzong.
The emperor, who eradicated powerful officials and flattened the vassal towns, ordered him to become an official, drove him out of Chang'an, and finally died tragically in a foreign land.
When he thought of Yang Fugong's ending, Song Daobi was even more heartbroken. He was so panicked that he couldn't control himself. He kept asking: "What should we do? What should we do?"
Jingwu Xiudao: "For the present plan, we can only rely on ourselves, anything else is just wishful thinking."
Song Daobi suddenly turned around and pointed at Jing Wuxiu: "Old Jing, could you be... absolutely not possible! Have you forgotten the pain in Huazhou three years ago?"
Throughout the whole century of the late Tang Dynasty, the main disaster in the imperial court was the fight between the central officials and the courtiers. Every time, it was bloody and out of control. No matter it was the central officials or the courtiers, there was no final winner. Looking at it from now on
, the biggest gain was in the vassal towns in various places. Not to mention the distant one, the Manlu Incident was a disaster that made everyone talk about it. The Huazhou Incident was close at hand. Due to the fight between the middle official and the prime minister Cui Shaowei, Cui Shaowei was
The angry middle-ranking officials killed Li Maozhen, the governor of Fengxiang, who invaded Chang'an. The emperor avoided it, but was kidnapped by Han Jian, the governor of Huazhou. He stayed there for three years. Therefore, no matter what the courtiers thought, relatively speaking
The middle-ranking officials with a relatively stable inheritance have already deeply understood the truth. Every time a court dispute breaks out, it will create an excuse for the vassal towns to come to Beijing to intervene. The middle-ranking officials are already afraid of being killed, and they really don't want to easily start another dispute with the courtiers.
.
It's very helpless to say that the disaster of the vassal town that the emperor wanted to eradicate has become a weapon to restrain the middle officials from doing whatever they want. Every time the middle officials want to do harm to the emperor, they must think carefully about the consequences of doing so.
.It is also for this reason that when Yang Fugong was ordered to serve as an official by the emperor, he finally agreed in humiliation and handed over all the power in his hands. However, he did not expect that the emperor he supported would actually want his own life, and even
A small request like just wanting to spend the rest of my life in wealth has become a luxury.
However, unwillingness to start another dispute does not mean to give in blindly. Regarding this, Jing Wuxiu had already understood this in his heart when Yang Fugong died tragically. He said coldly: "Old Song Dynasty, it's time for you to ask Cui Yin
It is never a good idea for a child to show weakness. If we take this step back, we will have to give in step by step from now on. Where will the retreat be the end? If Cui Yin, the child, thinks that we are easy to bully and instigate everyone to take action against us, it will really happen.
It’s a dead end!”
In this regard, Song Daobi was very hesitant: "What if the dispute is really too tense and Cui Yin encourages everyone to go against us?"
Jing Wuxiu was silent for a moment and said slowly: "If that day comes, nothing can be said... From our family's perspective, the prince is smart and has a reputation as a virtuous person..."
Although the emperor's dethronement has been at the hands of Bei Si for hundreds of years, such an understatement still made Song Daobi's heart beat fast. He looked out the window and gestured with his hands: "Old Jing, be careful what you say!"
Jing Wuxiu smiled and said solemnly: "What are you afraid of? Our emperor has a terrible big idea, but he doesn't have the ability. Hehe. Now that I think about it, Yang Gong made a mistake in supporting him..."
Although these words come from Jing Wuxiu's mouth, they actually represent the views of the entire internal ministers. Compared with the late emperors Yizong and Xizong, the senior officials did not treat the current emperor poorly. Their support was not counted as their support.
He fought two battles for the emperor in a solid manner. No matter what the purpose was, at least it could be regarded as an all-out effort to realize the emperor's ambition of wiping out the feudal vassal towns and calming Yunei. One was to "encircle and suppress" Hedong, and the other was to resist Fengxiang, although they both failed.
, but they were far more powerful than those ministers who only cared about quarrels in the court. Even in the years when Huazhou was in trouble, the middle-ranking officials always guarded the emperor and tried their best to protect the emperor's safety.
However, this emperor was obsessed with following the example of Emperor Xuanzong, and regarded the officials as snakes and scorpions. While leveling the vassal town, he also tried to kill two birds with one stone, trying to eliminate the "castration problem" at the same time. The officials learned the inside story behind the two wars.
At this moment, I can't help but feel a little sad. Are those prime ministers who can only point fingers really more loyal to you than us? Are they really more able to help the country than us?
Song Daobi looked at Jing Wuxiu blankly, shook his head, and suddenly gritted his teeth and said: "Old Jing, what do you think we should do?"
Jing Wuxiu said quietly: "For the current plan, there are only two strategies: to rectify the imperial army internally and to form alliances with vassal commanders externally."
Song Daobi thought for a while and said: "Liu Jishu and Wang Zhongxian are our own people, so there is no need to say more. What do you plan to do with these 'foreign vassal commanders'?" Liu Jishu and Wang Zhongxian were respectively appointed as the left and right lieutenants of the Shence Army, and they were at Xuanwu Gate.
The internal control of the imperial army and the guards was also Beisi's biggest basis for controlling the emperor's deposedness.
Jing Wuxiu said: "Cui Yin's son has a good relationship with the king of Dongping County. We don't need to think about Xuanwu. Since we want to make friends, we must make friends with those who dare to compete with the king of Dongping County, such as the King of Jin in Hedong, or the likes of Lulong and Liu Xiang." In fact.
The greatest threat to Chang'an is Li Maozhen, the military governor of Fengxiang, but this person is like an evil tiger that cannot be fed enough. No matter how you make friends, it will be of no avail. When you are hungry, it doesn't matter whether you are a middle official or a courtier. Even the emperor wants to devour him.
Befriending him is like seeking the skin of a tiger.
Song Daobi hesitated and said: "But the King of Jin hates us to the core. Don't forget that when he was encircling Hedong, the Shence Army was the main force..."
Jingwu Xiudao: "Then choose Lu Long and Liu Xiang!" Liu Rengong's original position is Lu Long Jiedu Envoy, but there are also envoys who are "Tong Zhongshu Menxia Ping Zhang Shi" with the title of "Tong Zhongshu Menxia Ping Zhang Shi", so the officials in Zhengshi Hall do not call him Liu Xiang.
Calling him Liu Jiedu was because he looked down upon his background as a leading soldier. Jing Wuxiu called him Prime Minister Liu, but it reminded Song Daobi that Liu Rengong had military power and was also one of the ministers. This status was enough to be used as an aid.
.
Song Daobi said: "But Lulong is too far away. I'm afraid that the water far away will not be as thirsty as the water nearby..."
Jing Wuxiu said cheerfully: "Old Song, have you forgotten where Zhang Jianjun sent the memorial?"
The words awakened the dreamer, and Song Daobi immediately realized. Zhang Juhan was the military supervisor of Lulong Jiedu Mansion, but the memorial recommending Liu Rengong was sent from Jinyang, which of course meant that he himself was in Hedong. Let's think about Hebei again.
With the chaos of war rising across the land, he immediately understood that the wars between Lu Long and Xuanwu and Hedong and Xuanwu were not simply isolated actions, but a joint effort between Lulong and Hedong to fight against Xuanwu. At this time, he supported Liu Rengong
, which means that supporting Jin Wang Li Keyong is tantamount to actively easing the tension with Li Keyong and paving the way for future cooperation.
"In this way, Cui Yin's criticism has been refuted and it has been sent back to the Zhengshitang Hall for re-drafting! But... I'm afraid that everyone will not agree."
"Recovering the homeland of Yingzhou is such a great achievement! If you don't agree, you are ignorant of the truth and don't have the magnanimity of the heavenly family. How can you live in a temple?"
Jing Wuxiu's words made Song Daobi's heart beat again. After a long while, he said: "Old Jing, it's just as you said. Wang Chuzhi temporarily stayed in the post, but the Yiwu Army refused to give him the title of military envoy; Liu Xiang returned to his homeland.
Those who have made meritorious service in Sheji will be appointed as the king of Liaodong County; the matters cited by Prime Minister Liu such as Zhou Zhiyu and Li Chengzhong are part of the system and cannot be dismissed by the court without reason." To be continued. (..),)
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