After Empress Wei closed the curtain to preside over the government, she would only sit behind the curtain every time she attended court, as silent as Xu Shu entering the Cao camp. Gradually, Zhang Jianzhi and the others relaxed their vigilance toward her. In their view, if this empress could continue doing her duty, then it was no big deal for her to close the curtain and preside over the government.
Zhang Jianzhi and the others were not unaware of Li Xian's pardoning of Tian Guidao's crimes, appointing him as a grand servant, and issuing an order to the world to change 'Zhongxing Temple' to 'Longxing Temple'. However, they knew that the Emperor was extremely dissatisfied with their monopolizing of power and did not wish to completely fall out with the Emperor. These small matters were not worth mentioning. It was fine to let the Emperor vent his anger, so they did not react excessively.
However, Li Xian's series of small actions were just a test. When Li Xian discovered that Zhang Jianzhi and the others did not react excessively, he suddenly realized that these people were not as powerful as he had imagined. Moreover, cracks had already appeared in the coup organization. They absolutely did not have the ability to launch another mutiny and threaten his throne.
Thus, Li Xian's courage gradually grew. On the sixteenth day of the second month, the twentieth day of Li Xian's ascension to the throne, Li Xian suddenly announced that he would worship Wu Sansi as the Great Minister of Public Works, one of the lower three ranks of the Hall of Governmental Affairs. After Wu Chengsi, Wu Sansi became the second person in the Wu Clan to hold the position of Prime Minister.
Li Xian had not discussed this appointment with the group of meritorious ministers and Prime Ministers. He had directly announced it in court, catching Zhang Jianzhi and the others off guard.
At the same time that Li Xian worshipped Wu Sansi as Prime Minister and bestowed the title of Great Minister of Public Works, he also announced that Princess Taiping's husband, Wu Youji, would be promoted to Prince Ding. Wu Youji had originally been Prince Ding. Although there was only a difference of one character, the two characters were the names of the commandery while the one character was the name of the country. With this, Wu Youji was promoted from a commandery prince to a prince.
Wu Youji's promotion to prince also meant that Princess Taiping's eldest son would inherit the title of prince. Thus, no matter how poor Princess Taiping's relationship with her husband was, she would gladly accept it.
At the same time, Li Xian also announced that the guards of honor and the security of the State Protector Princess Taiping and the State Protector Prince of Xiang would be increased. It was decreed that the guards of the Prince of Xiang and Princess Taiping's residences would be similar to those of the Emperor. They would be accompanied by guards day and night, and there would be a sentry every ten steps in the residences. Li Xian followed the method that Empress Wei had taught him and used the method of dividing and attacking. As expected, this method was effective.
The Prince of Xiang and Princess Taiping were both major contributors to the Divine Dragon Coup. Comparatively speaking, Zhang Jianzhi and the others had only taken the lead, putting some effort into planning and strategizing. In the end, they had monopolized power and excluded dissidents, causing the Prince of Xiang and Princess Taiping to be greatly dissatisfied. Now, with the Emperor's grand reception, they naturally chose to support the Emperor.
Once the Emperor hardened his heart and insisted on his own ideas, Zhang Jianzhi and the others would not dare to easily resist. After all, the foundation of their power was loyalty to the Emperor. Moreover, although they were in the limelight for the time being, in terms of political resources, they could not compare to the Wu clan, the Prince of Xiang, or Princess Taiping.
Now that the Emperor insisted on his own view and the Xiang Wang Faction, Taiping Faction, and Liang Wang Faction fully supported him, Zhang Jianzhi and the others were powerless to reverse the situation. They could only watch helplessly as the Wu clan, which had been unable to interfere in politics even when Wu Zetian was still in power, charged into the Hall of Politics and occupied the position of Prime Minister.
Although Zhang Jianzhi and the others were extremely dissatisfied with the Emperor's recent actions, they were still caught up in the situation and did not sense the approaching danger. They still held great power, the Emperor still accepted most of their requests, and they still had so many people at their side who flattered and curried favor with them. All of this had numbed their senses.
But there was no lack of clear-headed people among the spectators. Chief Historian of Luo Province, Xue Jichang, was a clear-headed spectator. Xue Jichang felt deeply uneasy about the Emperor's actions. When he was drinking with his good friend, the Commandant of the Imperial Court, Liu Youqiu, he had mentioned his worries. To his surprise, Liu Youqiu had the same opinion. The two of them hit it off and decided to take advantage of their drunkenness to request an audience with Zhang Jianzhi.
Zhang Jianzhi, Huan Yanfan, and the other four Prime Ministers could be said to be the most united and harmonious group of Prime Ministers in the history of the Tang dynasty. Usually, they would gather together to discuss world affairs and discuss policies and government decrees. They would not adhere to the custom of "the king does not see the king" in the officialdom. When Xue Jichang and Liu Youqiu arrived at the Political Affairs Hall, Huan Yanfan, Jing Hui, and the other two were gathered at Zhang Jianzhi's place, talking loudly.
Xue Jichang and Liu Youqiu were also friends of Zhang Jianzhi and the others. When they heard that they were requesting an audience, they immediately sent someone to invite them in. After the greetings, Zhang Jianzhi invited the two to take a seat. When he asked for the purpose of their visit, Xue Jichang said bluntly, "Master Zhang, the Wu family has a strong military force. Now that they are in power, there will be no end of trouble. I have come today to advise you to come up with a countermeasure as soon as possible. "
When Zhang Jianzhi heard that it was for this matter, he was very disapproving. He said proudly, "Among the Prime Ministers, Wu Sansi only has a place. When Master Wei returns to the court, our power will be even stronger. The general situation has been set. Wu Sansi is a piece of meat on the chopping board. If we want to get rid of him, it will be as easy as snapping our fingers. What is there to guard against? We have just come into power, it is not suitable for us to increase the number of killings. "
Liu Youqiu advised, "Dear Masters, we must nip the problem in the bud. In the past, when Cao Mengde appointed Cao Pi as the Crown Prince, he immediately and decisively suppressed Cao Zhi's power. He killed Yang Xiu and the others, clipping Cao Zhi's wings and ensuring the smooth succession of power. However, after the Heavenly Emperor appointed the Present Emperor as the Crown Prince, he allowed the Wu family and the two Zhangs to form alliances and expand their power. If it were not for all of you, the ancestral temple of the Tang dynasty would have been difficult to protect. Now that the two Zhangs have been eliminated, Wu Sansi is still here. Dear Masters, you must act quickly to ensure your safety. "
Jing Hui was moved by what he heard and nodded his head while stroking his beard. He was just about to say something in agreement and persuade Zhang Jianzhi when Huan Yanfan burst into laughter and waved his hand, saying, "You two don't need to be alarmist. Times are different from the past. The court is in the hands of us loyal officials, and the Emperor was personally elected by us loyal officials. How can Wu Sansi touch us?
In terms of military power, the Prince of Xiang has already taken control of the Southern Office, which is enough to keep the Northern Office in check. What's more, there are loyal generals like Li Duozuo in the Northern Office to control the key points, and there are countless other generals who come to join us. Under such circumstances, if the Wu family makes any moves, we can destroy them effortlessly. Why do we have to kill them without teaching them and be blamed by others? "
These two were already the heads of the five Prime Ministers. Seeing that they were of the same opinion, Jing Hui found it difficult to speak. In front of Xue Jichang and Liu Youqiu, he had to maintain a high degree of agreement among the five of them and not disagree.
Since Jing Hui had this thought, Yuan Shuji and Cui Xuanhui also had the same idea. Although Xue Jichang and Liu Youqiu bitterly complained and tried to persuade the five Prime Ministers over and over again, the five Prime Ministers did not take it seriously. The two of them were greatly disappointed and had no choice but to take their leave unhappily.
As the two walked out of the Political Affairs Hall, Liu Youqiu dejectedly said to Xue Jichang, "The five Masters are simply ignoring our warnings. What should we do?"
Xue Jichang had an extremely unsightly expression. He gave a deep sigh and worriedly said, "If anything happens, you and I will die without a grave!"
… …
Due to his disgust towards Wu Zetian's actions during her reign, the fact that Mrs. Blacktooth Chang Zhi had given birth to a child by caesarean section, and Di Renjie's dying words, Yang Fan became more and more determined to support Li Futang. However, even though he had achieved his goal, he did not see any hope for the empire's resurgence.
Yang Fan couldn't help but be at a loss. Even a natural-born saint did not have eyes that could see through the future. He did not know where this empire that was brewing new turmoil would go, nor did he know what role he could play in it. The only thing he could do now was to protect himself before the situation became clear and quietly watch the clouds move.
The biggest asset that Yang Fan could rely on to maintain his position in the officialdom and the Xianzong Family's advantage was the thousand horsemen. Once the thousand horsemen became ten thousand, he could radiate more power in the political arena and create more convenient conditions for the Xianzong Family to infiltrate the political arena. After analyzing the current situation and making the decision to lie low, Yang Fan began to concentrate on managing his own faction.
The fact that Jing Hui, Cui Xuanhui, and Yuan Shuji had switched sides, turned their backs on Princess Taiping and the Prince of Xiang, and formed their own faction to oppose the old master made Yang Fan deeply understand a principle: profit was the foundation of everything. One could not ask a politician to be pure, flawless, and loyal.
Upon entering the officialdom, every person had to constantly study, judge, choose, give up, and obtain. As they struggled along the way, those foolish, naive, and blind people had long since been eliminated in the cruel competition. Those who could climb up, if they had the right to establish their own faction, would would continue to serve under one?
Once the thousand horsemen became ten thousand, he would not be able to directly control such a massive force. He would need a group of capable subordinates, and once he had many subordinates, it would be very difficult to guarantee the loyalty of all of them. Thus, he had no choice but to use methods such as balancing and restraining each other to ensure his control.
In order to accomplish this, the most important problem he faced was the appointment of his generals. And once the thousand horsemen became ten thousand, they would have the ability to accomplish important missions on their own. It would be different from the thousand-some people in the past who were only responsible for guarding an important place. The Emperor would not completely give him control over such a force.
This was the instinct of an emperor. Wu Zetian had such trust in Wu Youyi, but had she not divided the Imperial Guard into three and given it to Wu Youyi, Li Duozuo, and him to control? Now that the thousand horsemen had become ten thousand, the Emperor would assuredly try to wedge a nail in. If he wanted to maintain control over this army, it would be even more difficult.
For this reason, Yang Fan gave the Heaven Observation Department information on the family backgrounds of the generals and how close they were to him. He had his advisors assist him in formulating an even more perfect adjustment plan. Thus, in this period of time, Yang Fan paid less attention to the open and covert struggles between the various factions.
In the spring of spring, peaches and plums vied with each other, and the Imperial Court had completely changed …
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