"Seventh brother, if you don't want to be at home studying essays this early in the morning, why do you go to your brother's place to do it?"
Prince Zhou's Mansion and Prince Lu's Mansion are actually not far apart, just one street apart, but the two brothers have very little contact with each other. Generally speaking, during the holidays, Li Xian, the younger brother, comes to visit most of the time to say hello. As for the
Li Xian never went to Prince Zhou's Mansion. Today happened to be Xun holiday. Li Xian originally planned to invite a group of young talents to his home, but he didn't expect that the door of the mansion would just open and Li Xian arrived. Li Xian
Although he had to greet him, he felt a little angry in his heart. Without waiting for Li Xian to come forward and salute, he shouted and asked angrily.
This guy is so rude! Li Xian was about to step forward to say hello with a smile on his face, but unexpectedly he was shouted at by Li Xian in this way. Even though he knew that Li Xian was like this, he was still unhappy with the boss in his heart.
It's just that Li Xian had ulterior motives for coming today, but he didn't intend to pay attention to such trivial matters. He walked forward with an unchanging smile, bowed and cupped his hands and said, "Sixth brother taught you the lesson, and the younger brother came here."
I'm taking the liberty to ask Sixth Brother not to blame you."
"Well, now that we're here, let's talk in the room."
In the past, Li Xian would always reprimand Li Xian, but Li Xian would always refute him. After a few debates, Li Xian would always end up crying. But today, Li Xian not only did not defend himself, but was very polite and respectful, which made Li Xian a little surprised and confused.
Li Xian glanced at him, but he was not in a hurry to issue an eviction order. He waved his hand in a deep voice, took a small step back to the side, and casually made a "please" gesture.
"Brother Six, please come first."
Li Xian didn't care about Li Xian's casual attitude at all. He cupped his hands with a smile, walked up the steps in front of the palace, walked to Li Xian's side, and walked side by side through the palace gate.
, all the way into the second hall in silence, the guests and hosts took their seats respectively, and a group of servants rushed to serve freshly brewed fragrant tea and various snacks.
"Seventh brother, please tell me what you are doing here. I can't bear to talk in circles."
Although Li Xian was a little surprised by Li Xian's unusual performance today, his disdain for Li Xian didn't change much in his heart. After the servants who brought tea and water left, he didn't invite Li Xian first.
While drinking tea, he tilted his head and glanced at Li Xian, and asked directly about Li Xian's purpose.
"That's a good question, Sixth Brother. I just heard that Sixth Brother is going to Qizhou after the spring. I'm worried that I won't be able to see him off in a hurry, so I came here in advance to talk to my brother." Li Xian came prepared, so he would not be fooled by Li Xian.
Moved by Xian's impatience and rudeness, he answered with a look of reluctance.
"snort!"
As soon as Li Xian opened his mouth and mentioned the subject of vassalage, Li Xian became very angry. He snorted coldly and stared at Li Xian with burning eyes. His expression changed for a long time, but he remained the same.
He didn't say a word - he couldn't blame Li Xian for being angry. Although it was a custom of the Tang Dynasty for kings to seek vassal status, it was actually not the case. If they were concubines, they would generally join the vassal race.
Living in a feudal land is not so strict for legitimate sons. Starting from the time of Emperor Gaozu, Li Shimin himself did not pass the feudal status when he was the prince, and Gaozong Li Zhi also did not pass the feudal status when he was the king of Jin.
, his biological brother Wei Wang Li Tai was also forced to surrender to the vassal after the failure to seize the direct line. In this dynasty, the concubines were the mourning king Li Xiao (the mother's mother is Zheng's family), Ze Wang Li Shangjin (the mother's palace was Yang's), Xu Wang Li Sujie
His mother, Concubine Xiao Shu, was all driven to join the feudal clan when they were less than ten years old. As for Li Xian and other legitimate sons, although they have all been crowned kings, they have never joined the feudal clan. They only served as the governor from a distance. After all,
This time Li Xian's request for Phan Ke seemed a little more dazzling.
According to the system of the Tang Dynasty, the princes and vassals were all conferred by the governor of the above state. They governed the territory of a state and managed 30,000 households. For those who had no aspirations for a big position, they might be considered a comfortable place, but for those who aspired to great treasures, they were granted vassal status.
It is the same concept as Liupei. Take Qizhou, where Li Xian is about to take office, as an example. The state is Shangzhou, which is not far from the capital. If you ride a fast horse, you can get there in a day and a half. However, it is far away from the political center.
But it's far away. Once you become a vassal, as a rule, you can't participate in the government affairs. This is really a fatal thing for Li Xian, who is determined to have an arm-wrestling with Prince Li Hong. Now, although the imperial edict to become a vassal has not yet been issued, Li Xian can
However, Xian got wind of the news early and knew that this matter was handled by Empress Wu alone, and it was almost impossible to change it. In the past few days, Li Xian was very angry about this matter, and now he was torn apart by Li Xian in front of him.
One can imagine the scars and the anger in his heart.
"Seventh brother is here to humiliate his elder brother, huh?"
The children of the Tian family are all precocious, and Li Xian is the best among them. Although he was so angry at Li Xian's words, Li Xian did not get angry and explode. Instead, after being silent for a long time, he grew
He asked with a dark tone and a cold voice.
"Sixth Brother has misunderstood. How dare I do this? I'm here, but I have a few words that may help Sixth Brother a little."
Facing Li Xian's cold eyes, Li Xian calmly shook his head and slowly explained, his childish little face full of solemnity.
"Oh?" Although Li Xian is only two years older than Li Xian, his reputation in both the government and the public is many times higher than that of Li Xian. Li Xian, who is known for his extraordinary intelligence, naturally looks down on Li Xian's mediocrity. In the past,
He often scolded Li Xian for his incompetence. Now he suddenly heard Li Xian say that he could help him. He couldn't help but froze. He let out a light sigh and looked at Li Xian with a surprised look on his face. His eyes were extremely complicated.
, there were both surprises, doubts, and a bit of confusion and embarrassment. After pondering for a long time, he squeezed out one word from his teeth: "Speak!"
Well, another person who has become suspicious! Li Xian had already expected Li Xian's suspicion, but he was not surprised. Originally, a mediocre person suddenly became articulate, how could he not arouse
Others were suspicious. Not to mention someone as intelligent as Li Xian, even the maids in Li Xian's room had noticed something was wrong with Li Xian.
If possible, Li Xian was unwilling to make such a drastic change. However, under the pressure of the situation, Li Xian had to change even if he didn't want to, because if he couldn't use Li Xian's power to stop Shangguan Yi.
After his sudden death, it was the turn of the so-called "Two Saints" to come to court - Li Xian remembered clearly that on the ninth day of the first lunar month of the second year of Delin, he forced Gaozong to issue an edict to allow him to come to court to administer the government. The next day, after the New Year,
During the first court meeting, Wu Meiniang ignored the fact that her confinement had not yet been completed, and took the prestige of Shangguan Yiman's family to deal with the affairs of the court. She and Gaozong were jointly called the "Two Saints" in a grand manner. From then on, all matters of the court were gradually under her control.
This period of political experience laid a solid foundation for his future usurpation of the throne. Therefore, as long as Li Xian did not want to continue his tragic fate in the future, he must make a strong counterattack on Shangguan Yi. Firstly, it would disrupt Wu Meiniang's overall layout.
, Secondly, it is also to find a support point for Gaozong to counterattack. As for whether this matter can succeed, the big key lies in Li Xian, and this is the reason why Li Xian came here to lobby Li Xian.
Of course, you should talk about it carefully, but these words are all confidential matters, how can you say them openly in front of the people? Li Xian looked around and hinted for a moment, but Li Xian never reacted and made a fuss.
Li Xian was so depressed that he had no choice but to interrupt with a smile: "Sixth brother, everyone in your house has been trained well, tsk tsk, all of them are so powerful that they make me jealous to the point of death.
Alas, those idiots in my little brother's house can't teach me no matter how hard I teach them. They are just a bunch of mud that can't stand up to the wall. I'm ashamed, I'm ashamed."
"Oh? Hahaha, the seventh brother is joking again, but I really like this joke. Well, you all heard it. Since His Highness King Zhou praised you, Guke became extremely stingy and went to the accounting room.
Receive the reward, five hundred coins each, and take half a day off." Li Xian is intelligent by nature. When he heard Li Xian talking about other things, he immediately reacted and clapped his hands with laughter.
In the name of reward, all the servants serving in the hall were sent out.
Although five hundred coins at this time is not comparable to the purchasing power of the early Tang Dynasty, it is not a small number. A group of servants may not be able to save so much money after working hard for a year. How can this be such a generous reward?
Extremely excited, they hurriedly thanked the two princes one by one, and hurriedly ran to the accounting room. The huge hall suddenly became quiet, except for the two younger brothers sitting opposite each other.
"Seventh brother, if you have anything to say, just say it openly. Brother, just listen." After all the servants left, Li Xian narrowed his eyes and looked at Li Xian, and then spoke in a calm tone.
He urged.
"It's easy to say, Sixth Brother is well-read in history books, and I have always admired him very much, but I wonder if Sixth Brother knows the allusion of Lu Pheasant?" Li Xian smiled slightly, but he didn't pretend to be any more, and just asked a question with a calm face.
"You..." Li Xian has been studying since childhood and is very proficient in history books. How could he not know the historical facts of Empress Lu's chaos in the early Han Dynasty? When Li Xian mentioned this matter, his face turned ugly instantly and he pointed his finger.
He looked at Li Xian, as if he wanted to scold him, but when the words came to his lips, he suppressed them. He just stared at Li Xian with a dark face, and was about to burst into anger. After a long time, he gritted his teeth and said,
He said coldly: "Seventh brother is so brave. He dares to compare his mother to Lu Pheasant. Aren't he afraid of standing up for his brother, eh?"
"Sixth brother, do you know how?" Facing Li Xian's black face, Li Xian just shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and asked back. Without waiting for Li Xian's answer, he continued to say: "It seems like this is so harmful to others."
Even if you are as stupid as your younger brother, you will not bother to do your own business, let alone someone as wise as your sixth brother."
As soon as Li Xian said this, Li Xian fell silent again, but his face became more and more ugly. It kept changing from black to red, and there was a gleam in his eyes from time to time, with a worried look.
There is hardly any cover-up - Li Xian has been favored by Emperor Gaozong for his intelligence since childhood. However, he has never been favored by Empress Wu. Moreover, there are often rumors in the palace that Li Xian is the son of Empress Wu's sister, the Korean lady Wu Shun.
, Li Xian, who was less than ten years old at the time, was so angry that he went to blame Empress Wu. As a result, he was deeply hated by Empress Wu. In the past, he often scolded Li Xian over trivial matters. The relationship between mother and son could be said to be extremely indifferent. This time Li Xian
Xian was about to be driven away to join the vassal, and the manipulator behind it was Empress Wu. With all these knots in his mind, Li Xian would not have the slightest fondness for Empress Wu, his mother, but before he understood Li Xian's purpose of coming,
, but Li Xian was unwilling to express his attitude, so silence became his best choice in desperation.