The eunuch in front of the Emperor had just finished announcing that there was a report when Zhang Jianzhi flashed out of the ranks. Holding his scepter, he said to Li Xian, "Your Majesty, ever since Empress Wu came into power, there have been many killings and numerous unjust jails. After the Dragon God Revolution, Your Majesty has repeatedly issued amnesty, but there are still those who have been left out and have not received Your Majesty's grace.
This old subject has led the three departments of justice to investigate and discovered that there are still the following people who need Your Majesty's amnesty: First, those who have been wronged by cruel officials such as Zhou, Lai, Suo, and Qiu should be cleared of guilt. Second, those whose sons and daughters are not married should be granted freedom. Third, the descendants of officials and eunuchs who have been wronged in the past and have been cleared of guilt should be restored to their former glory (inheriting the privileges and titles of nobility that should have been passed down from their ancestors). Fourth, the families of the Mang (Empress Wang) and the Xiao (Consort Xiao Shu) should be restored to their former surnames. I ask for Your Majesty's gracious approval! "
Li Xian indifferently glanced at him. In the past, Zhang Jianzhi's words would not have aroused any special associations in him. However, when a person felt ill will toward another person, he would involuntarily try to fathom the other person's motives. Furthermore, he would not think in a noble direction.
After Zhang Jianzhi finished speaking, Li Xian thought, It has been more than a hundred days since the Dragon God Revolution. This Prime Minister, who calls himself the Duke of Zhou, has presided over the court. In terms of the national economy, the people's livelihood, foreign affairs, and military affairs, he has not made a single contribution. Every day, the reports that come before the Emperor are about who else should be rewarded and who else should be cleared of guilt. Is this something that a Prime Minister should do?
In reality, the efficiency of the country at that time had always been slow. The Dragon God Revolution had also occurred in the first month. Only a hundred days had passed, and spring had just arrived. Other than ordering the Ministry of Revenue to pay attention to the spring plowing, there really weren't any major policies or policies that needed to be formulated.
Moreover, Li Xian had not smoothly succeeded to the throne. Rather, he had used the method of a coup to forcefully ascend to the throne. Using this method to overthrow the old rulers, he should have done a good job in terms of rewards and punishments, purging the old party, establishing a new party, and stabilizing the regime. There was nothing wrong with Zhang Jianzhi paying close attention to this matter.
However, Li Xian already had a prejudice against Zhang Jianzhi, so he did not think this way. He believed that the people that Zhou Xing, Lai Junchen, and the other ruthless officials had framed were all important officials of the court. Behind Empress Wang and Consort Xiao Shu, there were the shadows of noble clans. Zhang Jianzhi's purpose in rehabilitating them was to show his kindness and rope them in for his own use, further expanding his control over the court and achieving his goal of covering the sky with one hand.
Li Xian inwardly sneered, "Today, We will take back your authority and tell you to go home and be a rich man who has nothing better to do. Even if you show kindness to them, you can forget about having them work for you."
Li Xian calmly responded, "My beloved subject's words are correct. Approved!"
Li Xian's approval of the memorial caused Zhang Jianzhi to pause.
If it was anything else, he would have expected the Emperor to agree. However, demoting the families of Empress Wang and Consort Xiao Shu to the surname Mang and Consort Xiao Xiong was the decree of Wu Zetian. Recently, the Emperor's attitude had clearly changed. He had the intention of playing down the influence of the divine dragon coup and was unwilling to overthrow the Wu and Zhou Dynasty for the sake of overthrowing.
As a result, he had carefully prepared a set of arguments, waiting for the Emperor to refuse and then say them to persuade the Emperor. However, he did not expect that Li Xian would be in a hurry to use his trump card of 'killing by flattery' and would not be in the mood to tangle with him on this issue, causing him to be at a loss as to what to do.
Zhang Jianzhi paused and could only swallow the carefully prepared set of arguments. Gloomily, he replied, "Your Majesty is benevolent!" Then he returned to his desk.
Li Xian saw that another official was about to leave his desk to make a memorial and was somewhat impatient. Without waiting for that person to speak, Li Xian coughed and said in a clear voice, "Everyone, the loyal officials who have been wronged and harmed since civilization began, as well as their families and heirs, should have long been rehabilitated. Since We ascended the throne, we have already pardoned the world three times. Why is it that there are still people who have been left out?"
Li Xian looked around at the officials. Seeing that everyone was looking at each other in shock, he smiled slightly and said, "Because the two Zhangs harbored unfathomable intentions and took advantage of our mother's serious illness to seize control of the court. We had no choice but to kill the two Zhangs. Mother's illness was serious and she was no longer able to manage the affairs of the state. In a hurry, she abdicated to us!"
Li Xian had already carefully prepared these words, so his words were sonorous and forceful. When he said the word "We", he deliberately paused. The amplification effect of the sound in the golden hall was excellent. The word "We" reverberated in everyone's ears several times.
Li Xian had sat in the court and proclaimed himself Emperor twice, but he had never been as high-spirited as he was today. Seeing that the officials were silent, he became increasingly confident. In a loud voice, he continued, "The country cannot be without a ruler for a single day. In order to share my mother's burdens, We hastily inherited the throne and were anxious to pacify the chaos caused by the two Zhangs' rebellion. As a result, the various policies of the state were not carried out carefully enough."
Wu Sansi immediately raised his jade tablet and loudly said, "Your Majesty's words are correct!"
Li Xian raised his voice again and said, "As for the officials who killed the two Zhangs, We bestowed rewards in haste. There were also many areas that were not meticulous enough. These past few days, We have repeatedly thought about it and have decided to reaward some of the officials who have made great contributions."
Hearing these words, everyone was even more shocked. From the tone of the Emperor's words, it seemed that the rewards were not enough? The major officials who had helped the Emperor ascend to the throne were now all in the ranks of Duke and Prime Minister. If they were given more titles, wouldn't there be no more titles?
Zhang Jianzhi and the others faintly had a bad feeling. They did not know what the Emperor was planning. Even in their dreams, they could not imagine that the Emperor would use the method of promoting but secretly demoting, not hesitating to throw out five titles to them, officials with different surnames, in exchange for centralizing imperial power. However, the Emperor had not communicated this matter to them at all. This was enough to raise their vigilance.
Speaking to this point, Li Xian's body leaned back in the imperial chair. His hands rested on the dragon-shaped armrests. In a clear voice, he announced, "Shangguan Zhaorong, announce the imperial edict!"
Hearing these words, there was another uproar in the hall. The Emperor had even drafted the imperial edict? To directly announce the edict, he had not gone through the Hall of Governmental Affairs at all! Ever since Li Xian had ascended to the throne, other than half-covertly granting titles to a few members of the imperial family, he had never been so dictatorial.
A beautiful and slender figure flashed out from behind the nine dragon jade screen. As soon as she appeared, she cast a concerned glance at Yang Fan, who was standing among the martial officials. Last night, Wan 'er had also stayed in the Palace and drafted the imperial edict all night. Although the imperial edict did not mention Yang Fan, Yang Fan had some connections with the faction of meritorious officials. Wan' er did not know if her langjun would be implicated and had been worried for a long time.
After Yang Fan had expressed his loyalty to Li Xian last night, he had been inseparable from Wu Sansi. There was also a group of internal guards following them like shadows. He had no chance to see Wan 'er, so he had been worried for a long time.
Seeing Yang Fan give her a reassuring gaze, Wan 'er finally relaxed. She stood in front of the Imperial Palace, followed by a palace maid carrying a yellow silk tray. Wan 'er's gaze swept over the gathered officials. She extended her hand, took an imperial edict, and slowly unfurled it.
This Shangguan Zhaorong was an official in the palace and had an estate outside the palace. She enjoyed the salary of an imperial concubine, but she held the position of minister. Just like the empress, she could be considered the only one in history. All the civil and military officials of the court knew of this Zhaorong's true identity, so they naturally had no doubts about the edict she announced.
Wan 'er's first imperial edict was directed at the Prince of Xiang's estate. The Prince of Xiang himself had already been made the Prince of Xiang of the An Kingdom. He was given ten thousand households, and his guards of honor were like the Son of Heaven. There was truly no way for him to be promoted, so Li Xian had given this reward to the Prince of Xiang's five sons.
Li Chengqi was made the Left Zanshan Official, given the title of Bright Minister of Silver and Blue Official, and given three hundred households. Li Chengyi was made the Assistant Minister of Agriculture, given the title of Bright Minister of Silver and Blue Official, and given two hundred households. Li Longji, Li Longfan, and the other two sons were given land, established a government office, established a staff, and officially became the commanders of a county.
The Prince of Xiang's eldest and second sons had not been given land because the Prince of Xiang was still alive. As a son, he needed someone to show filial piety to him, so he could not give all five sons land. However, now that three sons of the Prince of Xiang's estate were given land, they immediately controlled three counties. This was truly a substantial benefit.
When the imperial edict was announced, the gathered officials were rather baffled. Li Xian had always been on guard against this brother of his who had also been Emperor and Crown Prince. This matter could not be concealed. Now that he was suddenly bestowing a favor, could it be that the Son of Heaven had changed his personality?
After this imperial edict was announced, Shangguan Wan 'er picked up the second imperial edict. Because she was standing above the Pill Emperor, the gathered officials could not see if there was another imperial edict on the tray, so they could only patiently listen.
This second imperial edict was a favor bestowed on Princess Taiping. After marrying Xue Shao, Princess Taiping had two sons and two daughters. After marrying Wu Youji, because she had an affair with Yang Fan, she allowed Wu Youji to take as many concubines as he wanted. Wu Youji now had two sons and two daughters, all under the name of Princess Taiping. As a result, Princess Taiping now had four sons.
Of the four sons, except for one who was young, the other three were all conferred third-rank titles. The second son, Xue Chongjian, was conferred the title of Duke of Ying, the Minister of Rites, and the title of Bright Minister of Silver and Blue Official. The reason why Li Xian was so generous to Princess Taiping's second son was that Princess Taiping's eldest son was going to inherit Wu Youji's throne in the future. Conferring him the title of Duke was not a substantial benefit.
As for Princess Taiping's daughters, under the imperial edict, they were all conferred the title of County Princess. This title of County Princess was a title that only the daughters of Princes could obtain. Originally, the daughters of Princesses did not have this privilege. Clearly, the Emperor regarded Princess Taiping as an imperial Prince.
As soon as this imperial edict was announced, the original commotion in the hall immediately turned into an uproar. Titles of nobility, official positions, and fiefs were thrown out as if they were free. The Emperor suddenly became a Boy of Wealth. Was he crazy? Li Xianan sat on the throne with a slight smile, unmoving like a mountain.
As soon as the officials saw this, they knew that there was more and immediately quieted down. They saw Shangguan Wan 'er slowly pick up the third imperial edict from the yellow silk tray. Looking at the pair of soft hands gently unfolding the imperial edict, Yang Fan could not help but sigh inwardly and slowly lowered his eyes.
Last night, he had been accompanied by highly skilled internal guards. Even if he wanted to, he could not play any tricks. Moreover, the Emperor had conferred the title of Prince to the party of meritorious officials and forced them to retire. His methods could not be considered cruel. Moreover, he was not a member of the party of meritorious officials. Asking him to give up his family's life and mobilize thousands of cavalry to stake it all on one throw when the Emperor was already prepared, he could not do it.
Moreover, his original intention was to support Li Tang. Now that Li Tang's Emperor was dissatisfied with the tyranny of meritorious officials and wanted to seize back the power of the Emperor, he could not convince himself to fight for the interests of the party of meritorious officials. But seeing the dagger revealed at the end of the map, Yang Fan could not help but feel a trace of pity in his heart.
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