Tibet

In the afternoon, Pei Zunqing returned to the mansion. He sat in the study for a while, then walked to the door and said to the tea boy: "Go and find the third young master quickly!"

The tea boy rushed away, and not long after, Pei Zunqing's third son, Pei Li, hurried over.

Pei Zunqing has three sons. The eldest son and the second son are both serving as officials outside. Among them, the eldest son Pei Jian is appointed as the governor of Bianzhou. The second son Pei Yao has just been promoted to the governor of Qingzhou. The third son Pei Li is currently taking care of the family business and taking care of his father.

"Father is looking for me?"

Pei Zunqing nodded, "Sit down!"

Pei Li sat on the floor opposite his father. Pei Zunqing asked slowly: "How many slaves do our Pei family have in Chang'an now?"

"About one hundred and forty people!"

"Where is it inside Fangzhou Manor?"

"There are more than three hundred people in Fangzhou Manor!"

Pei Zunqing nodded, "Starting tomorrow, all slaves will be released within ten days and converted to civilians."

"Ah! Father, the loss will be great."

Pei Zunqing's face sank, "Didn't I know there would be losses?"

Pei Li was so frightened that he quickly lowered his head, "I know I'm wrong, kid!"

Pei Zunqing glared at his son fiercely and ordered: "Tomorrow, free all the slaves in Chang'an. Then you can rush to the manor to free the slaves. After they become civilians, sign a new contract with them and pay wages according to the market price. Don't be mean to them." ,Do you understand?"

"My child will make arrangements tomorrow!"

Pei Zunqing then calmed down and said: "The imperial court is about to implement the abolition of slavery. Instead of being passive, it is better to take the initiative to abolish slavery and make a high-profile gesture. But this is top secret news. Even the court ministers don't know it. You are not allowed to tell it to me." !”

"My child understands!"

Pei Zunqing nodded and said: "I will also write a letter to the Hedong family to ask the Hedong Pei family to start abolition of slavery. The Wei family has already taken the lead. The Pei family cannot be an afterthought!"

The third son Pei Li left, and Pei Zunqing paced back and forth in the study with his hands behind his hands. He had an intuition that once the regent came to the throne, the first person to deal with would be Li Xian. The regent's current tolerance was just to give the royal family the last bit of support. dignity.

Pei Zunqing has also been immersed in officialdom for decades. How could he not understand the general trend? Li Xian constantly criticized Li Ye's improper position in front of him, thinking that he was not qualified to be the heir to the throne of the Tang Dynasty, and even hinted that Li Ye had usurped the throne and wanted to remove him. Get into Li Yu's support list.

Although Pei Zunqing had a good personal relationship with Li Xian, he would never be vague when it came to matters of principle. At the critical moment, Pei Zunqing visited Li Dai and revealed Li Yu's intentions, and Li Dai was able to remind Li Yu in Weinan County of returning from Youzhou. son.

Although Pei Zunqing is the princess's grandfather, he has never used this relationship. Firstly, the princess does not accept him as a grandfather. Secondly, he feels that Li Ye is still a little afraid of his relatives and allows the Dugu family to go overseas to establish a country. To a certain extent, In fact, it is weakening the Dugu family. Even if some members of the Dugu family will remain in the Tang Dynasty in the future, their strength will be greatly weakened, and the same will be true for other Guanlong families.

Because the Guanlong nobles had made great contributions to the Helong Army, it was difficult to seize them openly. Using this method of transferring wealth not only satisfied the Guanlong nobles' dream of founding a country, but also greatly weakened the Guanlong army. The influence of the nobles in the Tang Dynasty made room for the support of new nobles, which could be said to kill two birds with one stone.

Pei Zunqing had to admire Li Ye's skill in quietly weakening the Guanlong nobles who had dominated the Northern Zhou, Sui and Tang Dynasties for nearly two hundred years.

This is actually a clear plan. The Guanlong nobles know that this is a big pit that weakens their strength, and they are willing to jump down. It is really the temptation of Jianguo that they cannot resist.

What about yourself?

Pei Zunqing had to consider his own official career. The reason why he could enter the political affairs hall was that on the one hand he was the prime minister during the late emperor's time, and on the other hand, he represented the Hedong family. The regent needed to balance it, just like using Li Xian who represented the royal family to enter Same as the pavilion.

But once the regent ascends the throne, this balance is no longer important, and the political hall will inevitably adjust.

There is no doubt that Li Xian will be eliminated. He ranks first among Li Yu's supporters. It is not easy for the regent to tolerate him until now.

Secondly, Wei Jiansu is likely to retire from office. Wei Jiansu is old and in poor health. Moreover, he has completed his mission and promoted the regent to the throne, so he can retire with success.

What Pei Zunqing is concerned about is that after Wei Jiansu retires from the official position, one of the seven of them will definitely take over, excluding Li Xian and Wei Jiansu.

Zhang Li is unlikely. He is not qualified enough. It is only because of Empress Dowager Zhang that he can get the position of left prime minister. This is his peak. It is estimated that he can last for another term. The regent will not be so obvious, but he will be the right prime minister. It's definitely not his turn.

It is impossible for Dugu Lie, who is not capable enough, and can only maintain the position of Minister of the Ministry of War for one more term at most. It is also impossible for Duan Xiushi, who also has insufficient qualifications.

Liu Yan has always been ranked behind Li Mi, and the regent will not mess up this order.

The last three remaining are himself, Li Mi and Xiao Hua. All three are possible. Who knows who the regent will promote to replace Wei Jiansu in the end?

Pei Zunqing was worried and paced back and forth. He didn't know if he could seize this opportunity.

Li Ye returned to Xingqing Palace in the evening. In three days, on the first day of December, they would move to Daming Palace, a month in advance.

Moving into the Daming Palace, first of all, there will be a lot more maids, and a lot more female guards, and then there will be eunuchs as the managers of the inner palace. Of course, it will not be as exaggerated as Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, but there will definitely be more people than now.

As for whether the number of concubines will be increased, Li Ye hasn't thought much about it, maybe it will be, maybe not.

But they certainly won't live far apart like other emperors. They will still be concentrated in a relatively concentrated area.

Li Ye returned to his study and sat down, and his wife Dugu Xinyue walked in with a tea cup.

"Today we are going to the Daming Palace!" Dugu Xinyue put down the tea cup and said with a smile.

"How about it, do you have a choice?"

Dugu Xinyue nodded, "I am relatively familiar with the Daming Palace. After all, I have lived in the palace for ten years. I must have chosen Longshouyuan, which is south of Taiye Pond. I also lived there before."

Li Ye nodded happily. He also meant the same. The whole family lived on Longshouyuan.

"Is Yuhuan depressed?" Li Ye asked again.

Dugu Xinyue laughed, "That husband underestimated her. She came out a long time ago. She is very happy today. She also guided Qingyu along the way and told her about the various layouts of the palace. She chose the Bath Hall. , I choose Penglai Palace.”

Li Ye pondered for a moment and then asked: "Is there anyone in the palace who knows her?"

Dugu Xinyue shook her head, "Today's palace maids and eunuchs all come from Luoyang. In the past, all the palace maids and eunuchs from Chang'an ran away when Anlu Mountain came to kill them. And the people around us are all now, including Wu Guan's mother-in-law. In the past, when I was the deputy director of the inner palace, Aunt Gongsun and her disciples lived in Mingde Temple. I wanted to persuade Agu to live in Sanqing Temple. "

Li Ye nodded, "You don't have to force her, she can come and go freely. She can go wherever she wants?"

At this time, Dugu Xinyue hesitated and said: "In the afternoon, my stepmother Wang came to see me."

"Did your father ask her to come?"

Dugu Xinyue's pretty face blushed slightly, "How do you know, husband?"

Li Ye smiled and said: "Today the political affairs hall discussed the abolition of slavery. I guess your father is under a lot of pressure."

"She didn't talk about the abolition of slavery. She just said that her father was confused about the future development direction of the Dugu family."

"Then what do you say?"

Dugu Xinyue said noncommittally: "I told her that this is not something she should consider. I know she is here to bring a message, but I don't want to pay attention to it."

Li Ye knew his wife. She still cared about the future of the Dugu family. If she really didn't want to ignore this matter, she wouldn't tell him.

In fact, it doesn't matter. It is human nature to care about one's parents and family.

Li Ye pondered for a moment and asked, "Is Taiwei's mother still in the house?"

"Still here, I'll probably leave tomorrow."

Li Ye smiled slightly and said: "Ask Taiwei to tell her mother that I will treat her father to tea at Wude Restaurant at noon the day after tomorrow!" "

Li Ye didn't want to talk to Dugu Lie, but he was willing to talk to Dugu Ming.