The morning court on September 28th of the first year of Qianfeng finally arrived under the different expectations of all parties. Li Xian got up early in the morning, and as soon as he finished practicing martial arts, he hurriedly ate two pancakes for breakfast. In a hurry, they arrived at the small square outside Chengtian Gate. As soon as they got off the carriage, they immediately felt the intense and almost substantial atmosphere of tension in the square. The courtiers who were usually divided into countless small circles were faintly divided into five large groups - -The prince's family headed by Yan Liben, Le Yanwei and other high officials is one group, the Luwang family headed by Li Xian is another group, the rear party members headed by Xu Jingzong is another group, as for Dai Zhi There is another group of courtiers who hold the same moral standards, and the remaining group is the ministers close to Li Xian'an's court. There is a clear distinction between the parties, and there is a strong tendency to fight against etiquette. Once this kind of posture comes out, there is still He looked so tense that Li Xian couldn't help but frown slightly, but he didn't say anything. After a brief pause, he raised his feet and walked towards the square.
"Your Highness, morning."
"Your Highness, you are here."
…
In the past few years, Li Xian has repeatedly performed well in the court, and the courtiers have noticed it, and they dare not despise Li Xian because of his youth. When they saw Li Xian approaching, they all raised their hands and said hello.
"Good morning, gentlemen."
There was a big meeting in the court today, and even though Li Xian had made full preparations, he still felt uneasy in his heart. He really had no intention of chatting with the courtiers at the moment, but he couldn't make any mistakes in terms of etiquette, so he could only He steeled himself, responded with a smile, and then walked slowly to Li Xian's side, nodded with a smile, and said hello, but Li Xian obviously had no intention of using those false gifts, and nodded in the same way, Even though they returned the gift, the two brothers only exchanged a knowing glance and then stood side by side.
"What's going on? It's almost midnight. Don't you have to go to court early today?"
"I don't know. I haven't seen the imperial edict announced. Alas, let's just wait."
"Tsk, what time has it been? You're still waiting, ugh..."
…
Time passed quickly while waiting. The Mao hour that was supposed to start the court had already passed. It was almost time to see the official sign at Chen hour, but the Chengtian Gate was still tightly closed. There was no sound from the Drum Tower, let alone any sight. When the eunuch came to announce the decree, the courtiers waiting in the small square were all dumbfounded. They didn't know whether to go to court today or not, and the voices of private discussions immediately became noisy.
"Seventh brother, I'm afraid something strange is going to happen this morning."
Not only were the courtiers waiting impatiently, but King Lu Li Xian was also a little impatient. He turned his head to look at Li Xian, who had always remained calm, and said a tentative sentence in a deep voice.
Is something fishy? It looks like something is fishy. There is something wrong with this smell. Could it be that there is trouble in the palace again? Li Xian looks calm on the surface, but he is actually murmuring in his heart. Although he doesn't know what the problem is, he can A bad premonition surged uncontrollably from the bottom of his heart, but this was not the time to say goodbye. Li Xian could only nod his head and said: "Brother Six, just wait and see." ."
"Um."
In fact, Li Xian also knew that asking about this matter was in vain, he was just asking for peace of mind. At this moment, after hearing what Li Xian said, he couldn't say any more. After snorting, he could only endure it. The temper then goes down and waits.
"Dong, dong, dong..."
While the courtiers were anxiously waiting, the big drum on the corner tower of Chengtian Gate was finally beaten. Immediately, the heavy Chengtian Gate was slowly pushed open from the inside. At the same time, the eunuchs shouted for court. It was also spread from the deep palace that the morning dynasty had finally begun. The courtiers did not dare to neglect, and they lined up in ranks according to rank, marched into Chengtian Gate, and trotted all the way to Taiji Hall. However, as soon as they entered the Taiji Hall, all the courtiers were immediately dumbfounded, and the sounds of gasps of surprise could be heard one after another.
According to the system of the Tang Dynasty, the courtiers should have been waiting for the emperor's arrival in the early dynasty. However, now Gaozong and his son have arrived at the main hall first. One is sitting high on the dragon bed and the other is sitting under the front porch. This situation is unexpected. Becoming an emperor and other ministers is obviously inconsistent with the system, but it is not a big deal. After all, it is already Chenshi, and it has passed the time when the morning court should have started. As an emperor, when you are late, Waiting for the ministers, there is nothing wrong. What really shocked the courtiers was that a bead curtain was hung behind the dragon bed. A person could be vaguely seen sitting behind the bead curtain. Although his face could not be seen clearly, everyone knew it. The only person who could sit on the front porch was Empress Wu herself. The ominous term "listening to politics behind the curtain" immediately popped up in the minds of all the courtiers. For a time, all the civil and military officials in the court were shocked and dumbfounded.
Father, Father, can you be any more cowardly? A good emperor is actually regarded as such a virtuous person by you! When everyone was surprised, Li Xian was the first to come back to his senses and quickly said Glancing at the situation in the palace, one could see that Gaozong's face was full of exhaustion and embarrassment, while Prince Li Hong's face was full of grievances and anger. How could Li Xian not guess the reason for the delay in the early court meeting? Most likely, it was because Empress Wu insisted on listening to politics behind the curtain, but the prince firmly opposed it, and they argued with each other, which caused the delay in the early court. Obviously, Gaozong finally supported Empress Wu, and in this matter, the prince was completely defeated!
"I'm going to pay homage to Your Majesty!"
After the courtiers were in a panic and commotion for a while, they all quickly came to their senses. No matter what mood they were in, the necessary rituals were unavoidable, so they knelt down on the ground and paid homage. He started to speak, but his voice was quite messy and completely lost the solemnity of the past.
"Everyone loves you, please be safe."
The courtiers' greetings were feeble, and Gaozong's voice was also full of fatigue. It could even be said to be perfunctory, and it was obvious that his interest was extremely low.
"I thank the Lord for your kindness. Long live my emperor, long live, long live!"
Hearing Gaozong's voice was dim and hoarse, the hearts of the courtiers immediately tightened. However, no one dared to ask questions at this time, so they could only thank him as usual and stood up. After that, everyone took their places according to rank. For a while, no one dared to stand up and read this chapter, and the court became strangely quiet.
"Ahem." Gaozong waited for a long time. Seeing that no one came forward to say anything, he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed, so he pretended to cough twice and said: "My dear friends, do you have anything to report? "
Dead silence is still the dead silence of a faction. Even though Emperor Gaozong has spoken, the courtiers still dare not say anything. It is not that there is really nothing to do. In fact, during this period of time, the affairs of the court have been very complicated. The Liaodong War was in full swing, and the reform of imperial examinations in the DPRK and China and even river engineering matters were also in full swing. There were countless various problems among them. It is not an exaggeration to say that they were full of contradictions, let alone Speaking of the palace scandal that just happened a few days ago, all the ministers and ministers have different opinions on so many court affairs. They should have raised them one by one on this occasion of the great dynasty, but the current situation is too It was so strange that no one was willing to stand up and take the lead when the situation was unclear. Therefore, all the civil and military ministers in the palace pretended to be wooden figures, and the hall became as quiet as a ghostland.
Everyone else could bear it, but Li Hong couldn't bear it anymore. Regarding He Lanmin, he had been slapped hard by Empress Wu. It would not be an exaggeration to say that it hurt his heart and lungs. I wanted to He was planning to make a surprise attack this morning and turn things around in one fell swoop. However, before going to court, Empress Wu unexpectedly appeared with Gaozong and stated that he would listen to the government behind the curtain. This made Li Hong intolerable. He did not care about any ethics or unethical behavior. He expressed his extreme dissatisfaction and had a fierce conflict with Empress Wu, trying to fight hard. However, Gaozong could not stand up to Empress Wu's lust/power and actually persuaded Li Hong to accept such an unprecedented strange thing. Poor Li Hong Despite his complacent anger, he could only reluctantly accept such an extremely humiliating ending. However, he did not want to and was unwilling to give in. It was just that in this morning court occasion, as the prince, he could not take the lead. Standing up to report the matter, he had no choice but to suppress the impulse in his heart and gave Xiao Ming, the supervisory censor, a suggestive look.
"Your Majesty, I will give you a memorial!"
Xiao Ming was Li Hong's absolute confidant. He had already received Li Hong's secret order and was ready to attack at any time. When he saw Li Hong giving the "action" signal, he did not dare to neglect and stepped out from the end of the queue of civil servants. , walked quickly to the palace, bowed to Emperor Gaozong, and loudly reported the report.
"If you have a copy, please just play it and I will listen."
After waiting for such a long time, someone finally came to the book. The embarrassment in Gaozong's heart was relieved a little. But when he saw that it was Xiao Ming, a confidant of the prince, who wanted to go to the book, Gaozong couldn't help but feel anxious. He felt a little panicked, but at this moment, he had to let Xiao Ming speak. After thinking about it for a while, he still reluctantly agreed to Xiao Ming's request.
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness." Xiao Ming thanked you meticulously, and then did not open the memorial in his hand. He said proudly: "I want to impeach the minister of Dali Temple, Duan Baoxuan, for being a vegetarian. Ignoring political affairs, the Dali Temple was in disrepair. Moreover, Yuan Gongyu and Hou Shanye, the young ministers of the Dali Temple, worked in collusion and acted in vain. They failed to repay the divine grace and caused the Dali Temple to accumulate more than 3,000 cases. What's worse, these two thieves He colluded with Qiu Shenfu and other subordinates, bribed people's lives, took bribes and violated the law. His crimes are unforgivable. I sincerely request your Majesty to issue an edict to severely punish this group of evil thieves and restore the purity of my court!"
"boom……"
As soon as Xiao Ming's impassioned words came out, the civil and military officials in the court were shocked. No one could have imagined that the prince's move would lead to a life-or-death encounter with Empress Wu. Not only the neutral courtiers were surprised, but Empress Wu*** As a result, Xiao Ming's memorial was not the script arranged by Empress Wu in advance. As for the courtiers who were close to the prince, they were also shocked because the secret order they originally received was Concentrating their firepower to prepare for the impeachment of He Lan Minzhi, they never expected that Xiao Ming's move would be such an astonishing move. Everyone was shocked and turned into a commotion. The whole hall was in an uproar and was noisy. Just like a vegetable market...