The fastest thing in the world is not a horse or the wind, but a rumor. I don’t know where it came from. It is said that the emperor intends to let the prince supervise the country instead of Empress Wu. The news is almost The news spread throughout the capital overnight. People and officials all over the city were discussing the matter early in the morning. The more rumors spread, the more versions there were. However, no matter which version of the rumor, the tendency was extremely obvious. Except for the diehard loyalists of the rear party, the vast majority of people supported the prince's rule. Suddenly, Li Xian's already high reputation suddenly surpassed that of the boss, so that many courtiers who thought they were unstoppable were anxious. I couldn't wait to read the chapter on persuading people to join. There were already nearly a hundred copies of this kind of booklet received at the political hall, which made all the prime ministers who were originally planning to discuss the matter very busy. In the end, they had to stop. For the rest of the matters, we will discuss this matter first.
"My lords, this matter has reached such a high level that if we don't come to a resolution quickly, I'm afraid it won't work out. I wonder if you guys have any ideas?"
As the chief minister, Pei Xingjian took the responsibility to preside over the overall situation of the discussion. He first ordered the officials of the political hall to stop delivering the papers to the discussion hall, then looked around at the colleagues who had taken their seats, and spoke in a heavy tone.
Dead silence, a dead silence. Facing Pei Xingjian's Qiyi gaze, all the ministers and ministers in the hall lowered their heads and said nothing, because everyone knew that the relationship between this matter was too important. Once they were in the wrong team, it would be very difficult. It is possible that he will face the disaster of overthrowing the nest. When the situation is unclear, it is best not to speak as much as possible, so as not to cause trouble in vain. As a result, the whole hall became so strangely quiet.
"My lords, no matter what, my political affairs office must come up with an explanation for this matter first. Otherwise, I'm afraid it won't be justified in front of Your Majesty. The current turmoil is huge. If it is not calmed down quickly, the situation in the court may be in chaos. How can you, gentlemen, endure this?"
Seeing that all his colleagues were silent for a long time, Pei Xingjian couldn't help but become a little anxious, but he couldn't get angry with his colleagues, so he could only frown slightly and patiently persuaded them.
"Whatever the people's wishes are, there is no need to discuss them. All we have to do is report them to the emperor based on the facts!"
Among the many ministers, although Hao Chujun appeared to be neutral on the surface, he was actually the one who supported Li Xian the most. He was happy to see Li Xian being able to take charge of the court. At this time, when everyone was silent, he felt a little bit. Zi couldn't help it, and was the first to express his attitude without any concealment.
"What Xiang Hao said is quite reasonable. Taizong once said: Water carries the boat, water overturns the boat. The people's will is the general trend and cannot be violated!"
Dai Zhide was also the prime minister who was leaning towards Li Xian. Hearing Hao Chujun express his position, he was happy to give him a boost and hurriedly agreed.
"What Prime Minister Hao said is wrong. This is not what the people want, but there are villains who are causing trouble. The Empress of Heaven was entrusted by Your Majesty and worked hard to achieve peace in the world. This is an unparalleled great achievement. How can we make rash remarks because of the misbehavior of children? , Ridiculous, really ridiculous!”
When he saw that the two prime ministers expressed their support for Li Xian, Jia Chaoyin, Empress Wu's best friend, couldn't keep his temper. He jumped out and objected loudly.
"Where did the villain come from to cause trouble? Does Mr. Jia have any evidence? If not, he will incriminate himself and others. I'm afraid it is not what the prime minister should do?"
As soon as he heard Jia Chaoyin's harsh words, Hao Chujun, who had a tough personality, dropped his face and scolded Jia Chaoyin unceremoniously.
"This matter must be thoroughly investigated to get to the bottom of it. Jia thinks there must be something fishy in it!"
Although Jia Chaoyin ranked second to last among the prime ministers, he relied on the full support of Empress Wu behind him, but in his heart he was not afraid of Hao Chujun, so he pushed back with a high head and a loud voice.
"A thorough investigation? What does Jia Xiang want to do? You must know that the prince is the heir apparent, the foundation of the country. When your majesty is in a state of illness, it is only natural for him to supervise the country. Today, the people are looking forward to returning home, but Jia Xiang wants to go against the general trend. And Hu Wei, what’s the point!”
Hao Chujun had always disliked Jia Chaoyin, a colleague with little ability. Now that he saw him making fallacies there, he could not look down upon him, so he scolded him bluntly.
"You two don't need to be so excited. This matter must be discussed clearly. According to Gao, whether it is the Empress of Heaven coming to court or the prince supervising the country, it is a good thing. As for what should be done, please ask Your Majesty The Holy Judgment is appropriate."
Hao Chujun's eloquence was much higher than Jia Chaoyin's. After several rounds of competition, Jia Chaoyin was so angry that he could not speak a complete sentence. Looking at the overall situation, he was about to support Li Xian and slip away. Gao Zhizhou's ranking In the end, Zaifu suddenly appeared and smoothed things over vaguely.
"Of course it is necessary to ask for His Majesty's Holy Judgment, but we should come up with some rules. Pei thinks that people's will is against the will of the people, and anyone who arbitrarily goes against the trend will be destroyed!"
Zhongshu Ling Pei Yan was the youngest among the prime ministers and had the lowest qualifications, but his status was not low. He was only ranked below Pei Xingjian, Hao Chujun and Yue Wang Li Zhen. Although he did not have much contact with Li Xian , in fact, there is no special friendship, but he has long been disgusted with Empress Wu's male chicken Si Chen. In the past, there was no chance for Empress Wu to step down. Now that she has an opportunity to take advantage of her, she doesn't want to Sitting back and watching, what's more, with the two prime ministers Hao and Dai leading the way, he was not afraid to express his position. He didn't want to let Gao Zhizhou's plan to smooth things over, so he hurriedly stood up. , clearly supported the opinions of Prime Minister Hao and Dai.
"What do His Highness the King of Yue think of this?"
Pei Xingjian originally supported Li Xian in his heart, but as the host of the discussion, he could not easily express his attitude. Now that he saw that there were three people supporting Li Xian, he felt confident. But for the sake of caution, I still consulted Li Zhen first.
"What you all said is reasonable. However, I think that the Queen Mother is entrusted by Your Majesty to manage the affairs of the court. How can we violate the sacred heart? There is order in the elders and younger ones. Although the prince's position is respected, filial piety must be observed after all. ?What does Prime Minister Pei think?"
In the past, when Li Zhen was discussing matters in the political hall, she would either remain silent or follow the crowd. She had never expressed her attitude easily on something, but this time she was uncharacteristically clear-cut and showed her support for Empress Wu.
"Yes, His Royal Highness the King of Yue has said that it is a great kindness, and filial piety should be the first priority in everything. How can we trap His Highness the Crown Prince into injustice?"
As soon as Li Zhen expressed her attitude, the ministers and ministers were a little confused. They really couldn't understand the purpose of Li Zhen's move. However, Gao Zhizhou had already received Li Zhen's suggestion and was the first to come out to agree. Got a handful.
"Good! His Royal Highness the King of Yue's eyes are as bright as a torch, and Jia Mou is impressed!"
Jia Chaoyin did not receive relevant instructions from Empress Wu this time, and did not know the overall arrangements of Empress Wu. He just acted from his own perspective and tried his best to prevent the crown prince from supervising the country in the political hall. At this moment, he unexpectedly got He was overjoyed to receive strong support from the King of Yue, and quickly gave Li Zhen a hard thumbs up.
"His Royal Highness the King of Yue's words are too far-fetched. Please forgive Hao for not agreeing with me. It has to do with the state, not filial piety! Now His Highness the Prince is old. He can secure the country with his literary skills and rule the country with his military skills. He has become a wise king. With the weather in mind and the world being at one's heart, what's the reason for entrusting state affairs to others? Could it be that His Highness the King of Yue thinks that His Highness the Crown Prince is unworthy, ignorant, and incompetent?"
Although Hao Chujun was shocked by Li Zhen's sudden statement, he quickly came to his senses, furrowed his brows, and asked a series of rhetorical questions unceremoniously.
"Prime Minister Pei, what do you mean..."
Hao Chujun was always known for his eloquence. Li Zhen asked herself that he was not his opponent, so she did not intend to argue with him to the end. She pretended not to hear Hao Chujun's rhetorical question, and raised her hand towards Pei Xingjian, who had a solemn face, and asked half of the question tentatively. Come on.
This damn old cunning guy!
Seeing that Li Zhen did not respond to Hao Chujun's challenge, but instead asked for his own opinion, Pei Xingjian couldn't help feeling a little greasy in his heart. He cursed secretly, but did not speak in a hurry, but frowned slightly. , his mind was running at high speed. It was obvious that Li Zhen's sudden move brought a big problem to Pei Xingjian. Originally, Li Zhen always followed the crowd, and when Pei Xingjian asked him, he was cautious. It was just his intention, but he did not expect that he would express his position so clearly. In this way, the situation became three votes to three, with half support and half opposition. This made it difficult for Pei Xingjian to do other government affairs. It can be postponed, or the conflict can be handed over, but what is being discussed is the important matter of who is in charge. If the political hall does not come up with a statement, it will never work, but this matter is really It was too serious. Even though Pei Xingjian loved Li Xian, he did not dare to make a statement easily. If something went wrong, the consequences would not be as serious as usual.
"Since the princes are at loggerheads, why don't you bring the information from all the officials and go together to meet the Holy Spirit? I think with your Majesty's wisdom, you will make a decision."
Pei Xingjian thought about it for a long time, but still did not dare to make a decision easily. In addition, he vaguely felt that there might be something fishy about the ministers' coming to Japan, so he planned to shamelessly make a conflict and hand it over, even if it was because of it. It is better to be reprimanded by Emperor Gaozong than to cause trouble by messing around.
"good!"
"Can!"
"Second!"
…
It was Pei Xingjian who said that he wanted to draw up the terms, and it was Pei Xingjian who said that he wanted to hand over the contradictions. Such inconsistent behavior was inevitably suspected of being a slap in the face. However, the ministers had no intention of making fun of Pei Xingjian for going back on his words at this time. They all agreed with Pei Xingjian's opinion.
"Okay, since that's the case, we'll go to see the saint together."
Seeing that all his colleagues had no objections to this move, Pei Xingjian secretly breathed a sigh of relief and did not dare to delay any more. He quickly stood up, gave instructions, and walked out of the hall. Seeing this, Zaifu didn't say anything nonsense. They each stood up and followed behind. The group of people headed straight for the inner sanctum...