When the news of Wu Zetian¡¯s death came out, the court was shaken, the imperial city was shaken, the gods were shaken, and the world was shaken.
This woman who had been in power since the reign of Emperor Gaozong of the previous dynasty and then initiated the Zhou Wu Revolution and ascended the throne actually dominated the entire world for nearly forty years. In some rural areas at that time, she was enough to make a baby grow. Becoming a child's grandfather, for many people in the world, they have long been accustomed to Wu Zetian's existence, just like they are used to the sun rising in the east and setting in the west. When talking about the emperor, they naturally think of Wu Zetian, and they have become accustomed to it.
But now Wu Zetian is dead. This sudden news shocked many people, and at the same time, they naturally became unaccustomed to it. As a result, shock, commotion, and even a swarm of discussions arose from all directions, and naturally caused many people to panic. Come
Although Wu Zetian is dead, the impact of her unexpected death on the court and the world has just begun to appear
The biggest snowfall in the city this winter has started to cover the sky. Standing in the official room at the end of Shangshu Province after entering the small courtyard, Tang Song stood with his hands behind his hands and looked quietly at the falling snowflakes on the sky outside the window.
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????: ?????????????????????????????????????????: The distant ding of Sanya bells in the imperial city could be heard. At this moment, the door to the official office was pushed open from the outside.
Tang Song was quite surprised by the sound of pushing the door open. It had been a few days since the death of the former Holy Emperor. In these days, with the passage of time, many things that happened in the inner court that night have been spread. He led five thousand soldiers with Princess Taiping. Naturally, the situation of Ma entering the palace and killing Wu Sansi in public was also reported, and accordingly many versions with different details were attached.
Now that the emperor has just ascended the throne, he is still busy with many other things, and the reward has not yet been decided. But since the news about King Qin's execution of Wu spread throughout the imperial city, the yamen of the imperial city, especially the people in the Shangshu Province, faced Tang Song. The attitude is completely different from before.
It is said that the poor live in the busy city and no one knows them, the rich live in the mountains and have distant relatives. People in the world are like the sea, but it is human nature to like the icing on the cake, especially in this officialdom, which has a tradition of favoring the popular and suppressing the evil. Seeing Tang Song establish the title of King Qin The praises and smiling faces for his unparalleled work suddenly came flooding in. Although some people inevitably said a lot of sour things behind his back, the smiling faces in front of him were warmer than the spring breeze in March.
In the past few days, Tang Song still went to the Yamen on time every day under the guise of being the Minister of Finance, but no one treated him as a seventh-rank official. At least, the concierge of the Ministry of Finance gave him all the things the Minister gave him every day. No matter how much Tang Song refused to accept the treatment that only the Prime Minister could enjoy, the chief officials at the concierge would never give up.
Whether you can accept it or not is a matter of your posture. Whether I give it to you or not is another matter. Needless to say, the concierge is like this. In the provincial government office, it goes without saying that familiar faces and unfamiliar faces are all coming here like a whirlwind these days. After greeting each other, even Mr. Liu, who had unabashedly rejected him twice in the past, went to his office in person with an embarrassed look on his face, and said some things that he really couldn't say without being embarrassed.
The last drama in the province of Shangshu was last night. The ministers and left and right ministers, who were second only to the left and right servants in the province and were actually in charge of the detailed affairs of the province, actually hosted a banquet for him at the Wanfu Wanshou Tower.
The Shangshu Province governs six ministries and is known as the "small court". As the person in charge here, the status of the Shangshu Zuocheng should not be underestimated. After staying in this position for a period of time, the one who wants to be stable is one The observation envoy must be a real frontier official in the main roads of Hedong, Hebei or Jiangnan. If it is not released to the outside world and is used in the imperial city in the capital, it must be the chief official of the temple supervisors of various ministries.
Just like this, two ministers who are comparable to the six ministers and local ministers actually jointly entertained a seventh-rank minister. Since the three provinces and six ministers system was established, this is indeed unprecedented. The attitude of these two people is a mirror, that is, During the banquet last night, Tang Song really felt what Shangguan Wan'er said to him that night.
That night, after forcing Taiping to lead troops into the palace to serve the king, and taking huge risks, the scene is indeed different now.
Not to mention that he laments that the world is changing too fast. The most popular fighting game in Shangshu Province today is fighting. What kind of reward can he get in this case? The most outrageous theory is to make him a king. The more radical ones say he will make a prince and get the most. What people recognize is saying that you can make a marquis
The titles of the imperial court are generally divided into six levels, including king, duke, marquis, uncle, son, and male. There are many subdivisions below. For example, the king is divided into prince, heir, prince, etc.
The reason why I think that Tang Song will be crowned king is unreliable is because at this time, the Tang Dynasty still basically continued to use the rule set by Liu Bang's "White Horse Alliance" that "if you are not Liu, you will not be king, and if you have merit, you will not be a lord" , which means that non-royal clan members cannot be crowned kings. The twenty-fourth founding hero of the Tang Dynasty who drew Lingyan Pavilion was only crowned Duke.
According to this convention, Tang Song was crowned kingIt is obviously unreliable. Even the title of Duke is not favored. After all, there are examples of the titles of the founding heroes. No matter how great the contribution of King Qin is, can he still compare with the founding of the country?
However, after all, King Qin is a merit after all. If you do n¡¯t have to seal the junior, you will not only hurt the court.
As a result, everyone speculates that this is not regarded as a sealing of Princess Taiping. I am afraid that Ten Ten ** is to be sealed.
After reaching a basic consensus on this speculation, the next speculation that can arouse everyone's interest is that if he is granted the title of Marquis, will there be a real estate in addition to the title?
But it is difficult to have a definite answer to this speculation. If it is the attitude of the imperial court to reward meritorious service and make a marquis, then whether or not to grant a household title, and how much to give, all depends on the emperor's attitude towards Tang Song.
Whenever the discussion comes to this point, people from different corners of the yamen in Shangshu Province and even the imperial city can't help but sigh in admiration, thinking that Tang Song is only twenty-two or three years old this year, and others can enter the field at this age. The imperial city is already very good, but he is about to become a marquis
If we leave aside the royal family members and relatives, this Karamatsu is the most rising young dignitary in the imperial court. If, in addition to the title of nobility, the emperor rewards him with a ministerial officer corresponding to the rank of a marquis, then it will be They have become a powerful force. This person is really annoying to compare with others.
The more I think about it, the more envious I become, and the more I think about it, the more sad I feel. It¡¯s inevitable that someone will pick out Tang Songbai¡¯s resume since he entered Beijing.
He kicked the emperor's list and led the Gongsheng riot, even though he was not afraid of swords and spears, and thus triggered a great change in the way of scientific examination; he founded the Tongke Hall and fought against the four generations of families, which turned the world upside down. Although he was defeated in the end, the reputation of the four generations of families was low, and now they are in a state of collapse; As a seventh-rank official, he followed Princess Taiping and set up an army to serve the king; in addition, he pioneered and promulgated the standard of rhymed poetry and advocated the creation of tunes and lyrics in a high-profile manner, which stirred up the scholarly world and led the revolution in today's poetry style.
Each of these are major events, and they are all struggles in the whirlpool to make a living. After counting and laying out these, although Karamatsu's age will not change, many people who feel sad when compared with him will finally feel better. There are many, and there are many fewer strange stories.
Karamatsu was able to get to where he is today because he really risked his life. If he hadn't been so lucky, he would have died ten or eight times earlier. Although he is young, these achievements are truly waterless. Facing such a freak who has been unable to produce a child for many years, it is really impossible to refuse to accept it.
Although the final reward has not yet come out, everyone now knows that Karamatsu¡¯s identity is different, so the office room he still uses now becomes special, and there is no longer a situation where he can enter directly without knocking on the door.
That's why Karamatsu was surprised when someone walked in without knocking. When he turned around and saw the two people who came in, he immediately smiled, "Yuanzhi, Brother Guangping, when did you come back? It's time to leave the office, let's go, let's go to the old place to have a good time, warm up a few cups of Jiannan Chunjian, drink and talk at the same time."
The visitors were none other than Yao Chong and Song Jing. They had not moved to Luoyang because some old materials needed to be used were stored in Xijing, so they made a trip to Chang'an. Now they happened to be in time for this heavy snowstorm. I'm lucky to have come back before
"After a small farewell, the world turned upside down." Song Jing sighed, but Yao Chong had a bold personality and said with a smile: "The world has returned to Li Tang Zhengshuo. This is a good thing, but Mr. Tang, you are here at noon today." A big host must be indispensable.¡±
"What the hell, Mr. Yuanzhi, you are just disrespecting your brother by making fun of me." Tang Song smiled and hugged the two of them and walked out.
The three of them walked out of the gate of Shangshu Province and saw Du Shenyan, the former Prime Minister of Jingzhao Mansion, coming out of the courtyard of Zhengshitang not far away. He did not avoid such a heavy wind and snow. He walked very slowly, with a look on his face. sad look
Both of them have been working in Beijing for a long time, and Yao Chong and Du Shenyan have similar grades. They have been old acquaintances for many years, and they often stop to say hello.
Du Shenyan wasn't interested in Yao Chong's pleasantries at all, but when he looked up and saw Tang Song beside him, his eyes lit up and he trotted over.
Hearing that the three of them did not want to eat the lukewarm rice that was usually served in the yamen, Du Shenyan immediately made preparations for a treat, and his words and demeanor were very enthusiastic.
This person ranks first among the "Four Friends of Articles", and his arrogance has long been known to officials and scholars. It is rare to take the initiative to make friends with others and treat guests like this. Because he is rare, once he opens his mouth, his face will be lost. Yao Chong, who looked extraordinarily surprised, agreed while teasing.
Because he is the oldest and has a bold personality, Yao Chong has always been the first to choose the place when dining and drinking together among Yao, Song and Tang. Since he agreed, even though Tang Song didn't like Du Fu's grandfather very much, it was hard to say anything.
Now the four of them got together, wrapped in wind cloaks, and left the imperial city. They found a nearby wine shop and entered because there was a fire cage and it was warm.In the spring-like Accord, after having a few glasses of hot wine, I sat down and talked comfortably.
Yao Chong opened his mouth and asked about what happened that night. Tang Song was already prepared for this, so he picked out all the things he could tell in detail.
When Tang Song spoke, the three of them held their breath and concentrated. After finishing speaking, the three of them picked up the wine bottles in front of them and drank it all in one gulp.
Yao Chong put down the wine bottle and laughed loudly and said: "As the saying goes: The dark room is full of shame, the eyes of the gods are like lightning, and the world is whispering. God heard that Lei Lei is sincere and his words are ridiculous. Then Wu Sansi thought about it and finally ended up like this. You killed Karamatsu." Good, it can serve as a warning to future generations of rebellious ministers and traitors."
After finishing his words, he poured himself into a large bottle and drank a large bottle, letting some of the wine drip on his long beard under his chin without wiping it off, "That night before King Qin's soldiers and horses entered the palace, the inner court was under the control of this guy. After all the calculations, I predict that Wu Yanji must have died in his hands. He first killed his brother, then his king, and then his nephew as well. By doing such a heart-wrenching thing, which outraged both men and gods, he not only ended the Wu family's The road to succession also blocked the mouth of the Wu family and the martial arts party in the DPRK, and also made the Wu family laugh at the world. If you think about it this way, Wu Sansi, this traitor, was actually the one who returned to the Li Tang Dynasty. The first contributor to the mission, the mystery of destiny, how amazing it is."
Tang Song held the cup and refilled the wine for the three of them, but smiled at Yao Chong's long exclamation without saying a word.
After Yao Chong finished speaking, Song Jing was not as excited as him. He sipped the hot wine and said in a leisurely voice: "The Emperor of the Holy Spirit died in the hands of such a despicable and rebellious minister, and this person was his most beloved. My dear nephew, the mystery of destiny is indeed so strange and lamentable."
"If it hadn't been for Wu Sansi, how could others have killed the king if they wanted to?" Du Shenyan, who was sitting at the same table, also joined in. "The ancestor of Qin, in the troubled times of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, was fighting for hegemony. The twelfth generation of Jiang Taigong Lu Shang and his grandson Qi Huan Gong appointed the virtuous Guan Zhong Internally, he implemented the system of integrating military and political affairs, integrating soldiers and civilians. Externally, he adopted the policy of respecting the king and repelling the barbarians. He attacked the mountain warriors in the north, attacked the powerful Chu in the south, and allied with the princes. He was the first overlord in the Spring and Autumn Period. Who could have imagined that such heroes would eventually become Will he die of hunger and thirst? Once he dies, no one will bury the body and bury it for sixty-seven days, so that the maggots crawl out of the room and the stench fills the palace."
After Du Shenyan finished speaking, all four of them sighed. Even Tang Song put down the wine pot in his hand and sighed softly: "Why did the Emperor Shengshen die at the hands of Wu Sansi? She was too confident."
Du Shenyan took a sip of wine and said, "If he wasn't overconfident, how could Qin Shihuang's great talent die at the hands of Zhao Gaoyi's eunuch?"
There have always been two theories about the cause of Qin Shihuang's death. One is that he died of illness, and the other is that he died of Zhao Gao. Tang Song didn't say anything about this. There are too many examples in Chinese history of emperors being killed by their closest followers, which is really unfair. strange
After talking about what happened that night, sighing, and having drunk for a while, Yao Chong invited Du Shenyan for a drink and said with a smile: "Brother Bijian has spent what he should have spent. Is there anything you want to say to Tang Du?" That¡¯s it¡±
Yao Chong is a typical example of being thick on the outside and subtle on the inside. When the four of them met outside Shangshu Province, Du Shenyan¡¯s abnormality was not missed at all.
Hearing this, Du Shenyan put down his wine bottle and handed over to Tang Songgong, then said something with a wry smile.
Wu Zetian has passed away, and the arrangements for her posthumous affairs have naturally become a major event in the current dynasty. As Du Shenyan is recognized as the number one writer in the world, he naturally took on the task of drafting the inscription.
Originally, this was not difficult. So many emperors had died throughout the ages. The pattern of the inscriptions and even the choice of words had long been established. With Du Shenyan's literary talent, it was just a piece of cake to follow the example of a cat and a tiger. But who knew it when he took over? After completing this errand, word came out from the inner court that the inscription could not be drafted according to the standards of the founding emperor of Wuzhou, but must be drafted according to the status of Empress Li and Tang.
At this moment, Du Shenyan was immediately confused. It was easy to draw it up according to the emperor's standards. Evaluating an emperor's lifetime achievements was just four words: "civilian governance and martial arts." But if you want to base it on the status of the queen
As a queen, she should be the mother of the world. According to this standard, it is really unreasonable to set an example for the six palaces.
When a queen became an emperor in front of her, she even changed her husband¡¯s royal title. Has there ever been such a queen throughout the ages?
When the queen was born, she killed two of her four biological sons and exiled one. The remaining one was almost imprisoned. As for the other clan members, they were killed and their blood flowed like rivers. Has there ever been such a queen throughout the ages?
¡°A queen blatantly kept a male favorite, and there were more than one, and this matter was made known to both the government and the public. Has there ever been such a queen throughout the ages?
Wu Zetian¡¯s life deeds were completely different from the standards of a virtuous empress. They were completely in the opposite direction. Now, as Empress Li Tang, she was asked to draw up an inscription for her. How could someone write it? But all these things about her are known to the world, and even if she wants to use all kinds of Spring and Autumn writing techniques, she can't do it.
Even though it is said to be the best article in the world, it is just a draft.??Du Shenyan is still like a tiger swallowing the sky - he has nowhere to bite
As the days passed by, he couldn't finish a word in his draft. How could Du Shenyan not be anxious? He went to the political hall and asked to see all the ministers. He met them one by one, but no one could give him a solution. Now he became anxious and angry.
Rather than "literary talent", he valued Tangmatsu's ability to deal with difficult problems in reforming the scientific examination regulations and publishing the standards of rhyme and poetry. He hoped that Tangmatsu could show his magic again and help him solve this problem, which in his opinion had no solution at all. problem
After Du Shenyan finished speaking, Song Jing shook his head and said: "It's difficult, it's difficult, it's difficult."
Yao Chong also shook his head, "More than just a difficulty, just as Brother Bijian said, this matter is simply a dead end and cannot be solved."
Song Jing said something to Yao Chong, which made Du Shenyan feel cold. But after waiting for a while and not seeing Tang Song speak, he suddenly felt a lot of hope in his heart. He didn't say anything, but looked at Tang Song eagerly.
This is his errand. It¡¯s okay for others to say it¡¯s difficult, but he has to report it to the imperial court.
Song Jing and Yao Chong also noticed it. They looked over in surprise, "Tang Song, do you really have something to do about this matter?"
Tang Song stroked the wine bottle with his hand and smiled lightly, "I do have a solution that is not a solution."
Du Shenyan stood up suddenly, picked up the wine pot and poured wine for Tang Song, "Please tell me everything."
"Since it is an unsolvable knot, why do we need to solve it? Since it is difficult to leave out a word, then just leave it at all."
The three of them were stunned when they heard this. After a moment, Yao Chong and Song Jing said in unison: "You mean the monument without words?"
Du Shenyan suddenly realized, but the facial features on his face were tightly squeezed together
Tang Song nodded, "Since the founding of Hongmeng, there has only been one empress who lives up to her name. The life experience and achievements of the Holy God Emperor are legendary. How can we judge such a peerless genius? Since how If you can¡¯t even write about it, then just leave it to history and let future generations comment on it without writing anything about the merits and demerits.¡±
Having said this, Tang Song glanced at Du Shenyan and said, "Brother Bijian, although he doesn't have a single word, there are thousands of words in it."
"It's a good idea, it's all in the words"
"It's good not to say a word, but to be romantic"
Yao Chong and Song Jing clasped their hands and looked at each other in admiration, then looked at Tang Song with eyes full of admiration. This kind of heartfelt appreciation was rare to appear in the eyes of these two first-rate figures in the world at the same time.
Du Shenyan hesitated and said, "Is this strategy really feasible?"
"If anyone says it won't work, just let him write it." Tang Song smiled and then said seriously: "Brother Bi Jian, you might as well give it a try. Maybe you'll get the job just yet."
After saying this, the wine was almost over. Seeing that it was time to go to the Yamen in the afternoon, all four of them stood up and left their seats.
Perhaps to express his gratitude, Du Shenyan deliberately stayed a step behind and walked side by side with Tang Song. As he walked out, he whispered: "When I met Du Shi just now, he came out of the Political Affairs Hall Di Xiang, where I met the former Political Affairs Hall Prime Minister Cui, he seems to have a letter written by Prime Minister Lu in his hand, and it seems to be a vague statement about matters arranged by the official of the Tang Dynasty."
"Oh? Brother Bi Jian, did you hear anything else?"
"Where is that place?" Du Shenyan shook his head, "This is because Di Xiang was too busy. After seeing me, he invited Cui Xiang to speak before I went out, and then he vaguely heard something like this."
Tang Song nodded, "Thank you so much, Brother Bijian."
Du Shenyan shook his head, "Young Brother Tang has made a great contribution to the King of Qin this time. The court has its own rules for ennoblement. There is no need to worry about anything. It's just that there is too much room for fluctuation in the arrangement of ministerial officers. Young Brother still needs to be careful. "
The feud between Tang Song and Cui Yuanzong is no longer a secret in the imperial city, or even in the entire city of God. Tang Song doesn¡¯t need to hide anything. He nods and thanks again.
Then Tang Song asked about the rewriting. This was Wu Zetian's personal decision to seal the fourth family and even the old tribes in the North with one sword. Tang Song really didn't want the change of monarchy to affect this matter. All major events in the Tang Dynasty were beneficial and harmless.
In this regard, Du Shenyan, who is responsible for leading the matter, only said that his team is still in operation. As for the next step, it depends on the wishes of the Political Affairs Hall and even the emperor.
"This is destined to be a long-term job, and it won't be completed in two or three years. As long as you don't stop, it won't be a big problem. After asking, Karamatsu felt relieved and didn't say anything more.
After returning to the minister's office in the province, Tang Song really calmed down and thought about the civil servants. At that time, officials were officials, and titles were titles. There was no inevitable equivalence between titles and civil servants. This was just like the officialdom of later generations. HallThe treatment is not necessarily linked to the actual power at the department level. There are many civil servants who enjoy the treatment at the department level but do not have the actual power at the department level.
For example, Qin Qiong and Qin Shubao, one of the founding heroes of the former Tang Dynasty, were granted the title of Duke of the second rank, but were actually awarded the rank of ministerial officer of the third rank. If he were to be granted the title of marquis as hotly discussed in the imperial city, then the rank would be from the third rank, but It is not known what grade the official who holds the actual power is.
Thinking of this, two questions naturally arise in Tang Song's mind. First, if his ministerial officers are moved to several higher ranks during the reward this time, will he be able to take charge of a department when he is really asked to do so? ? After all, his time in office was too short, and now he suddenly moved to a high position in full view of the public. If he really failed to do a good job, he would lose too much to his reputation. It seemed that the gain was not worth the loss.
This is not because he values ??reputation too much. In fact, according to the rules of this world, a good reputation can play an unexpected role, whether in official circles or scholars. A good reputation can sometimes be a banner, a source of appeal and influence. If your reputation is damaged because of your strength, you may be a laughing stock for the rest of your life. It will be extremely difficult to make up for it.
Second, if he wants to try his hand at being a minister, how should he do it? How to get around the biggest and most criticized shortcomings of age and seniority?
To fight or not to fight? Advance or retreat? Tang Song sat quietly in the office room and kept thinking about this tangled issue, but it was difficult to make a decision for a while.
"It's a pity that Lu Yuanfang had to go home to rest in bed half a month ago due to health reasons, and Shangguan Wan'er was not able to leave the palace for a while, so Tang Song couldn't find someone he could trust for advice.
Amidst this entanglement, someone from the Ministry of Rites came and asked him to go to the Ministry of Rites to perform rituals for three days starting from tomorrow, in preparation for attending the imperial meeting four days later.
This is the first major meeting of the DPRK, and many things should be settled (to be continued)
Chapter 203 of Hidden Phase: Dead knots and entanglements
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