Tibet

The night was already deep, and Emperor Li Heng also had difficulty sleeping, eating, and sleeping. He had not been able to sleep well for three consecutive days.

The last thing Li Heng wanted to face came. His father actually sent a special envoy Cui Yuan to Chang'an, asking him to make King Yong the crown prince. If he refused to agree, he would directly make King Yong the crown prince.

Of course Li Heng understood what his father meant. If he did not make the emperor's younger brother the emperor's brother, he would restore the throne and return Bashu to the throne.

How could Li Heng not be anxious? His throne was not officially inherited, and he launched a coup to force his father to give up the throne. If his father was by his side, he could imprison him. His father's voice could not be heard. This matter There won't be any risk anymore.

However, his father is not with him, but in Bashu, and now he has an army in his hands. Once he declares his will to the world, announces that he has ascended the throne through a coup, announces that he will be deposed, and he ascends the throne again, how will all the states in the world line up?

I'm afraid that by then, I will only be in Guanzhong.

Li Heng was anxious, but he had no idea what to do. He walked back and forth in the study room with his hands behind his back, sighing constantly.

At this time, Li Fuguo and Queen Zhang walked in one after another. Queen Zhang saluted and said, "Your Majesty, please be at ease!"

Li Heng looked at the queen, and then at Li Fuguo standing at the door, knowing that it was Li Fuguo who went to find the queen to persuade him.

Li Heng sighed and said: "I was too concerned about the rebellion of An Lushan and Shi Siming, but I didn't expect that the real poisonous arrow came from behind. The Supreme Emperor forced me to marry. The Queen said what should I do?"

Queen Zhang said calmly: "Actually, it's not impossible!"

Li Heng was stunned and asked quickly: "What can I do?"

Queen Zhang said slowly: "Just one word, drag!"

Li Heng frowned, shook his head and said, "I don't quite understand what you mean!"

Empress Zhang sighed and said: "At this point, the only option is to sacrifice the crown prince. First let the crown prince abdicate and make Prince Yong the crown prince, and then wait until the crown prince dies. At that time, His Majesty will no longer recognize the crown prince and re-establish the crown prince. What can King Yong do? He wants to establish himself as emperor, which is rebellion, because by accepting the canonization of the Crown Prince, it is tantamount to acknowledging His Majesty’s position as emperor, Your Majesty, don’t you think so?”

Li Heng felt a little more comfortable. This delaying strategy was indeed effective. He suddenly thought of something and said: "What if King Yong refuses to announce the death of the Supreme Emperor? He keeps hiding the news and creates a fake Supreme Emperor. What should we do? ?”

At this time, Li Fuguo walked in and said: "Your Majesty can plant some spies in the Chengdu Palace. Once the Supreme Emperor dies, they will know it no matter how much you conceal it. At that time, Your Majesty will announce the death of the Supreme Emperor to the world and ask the world to mourn. If King Yong brings out the fake Supreme Emperor, Your Majesty will directly expose him as a fraud and treason, and then use this as an excuse to depose his Crown Prince. After all, the Supreme Emperor is over seventy years old, so everyone will definitely believe in Your Majesty."

Li Heng nodded and sighed: "It's just a pain for the prince!"

Empress Zhang said quickly: "Your Majesty, you can tell the prince about the matter and ask him to put the overall situation first and resign the prince's position on the grounds of serious illness. Once King Yong is destroyed, he can be reestablished as the prince again."

Empress Zhang is extremely cunning. She wants to use this incident to depose the prince and destroy King Yong in the future. At that time, Li Yu will no longer be the crown prince.

Li Fuguo immediately understood Queen Zhang's intention, and he hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, the Queen is right. She asked the prince to resign on the grounds of serious illness. This created conditions for his future restoration. Ministers can also understand that if If we directly abolish him, he will have no chance in the future.”

Li Heng finally made up his mind, "I understand. I will talk to the prince."

After taking a few steps with his hands behind his back, Li Heng said again: "I have decided to remove Fang Guan from his position. Anyone who dares to contact the special envoy of the Supreme Emperor in private will not be spared by me!"

In the past few days, there have been two major events in the court. One is that Liu Yan, the special envoy of Helong Jiedushi and King Qi Li Ye, came to Chang'an to report on his work on behalf of Li Ye; the other is that Cui Yuan, the special envoy of the Supreme Emperor, came to Chang'an to win the reputation of King Yong. share.

Without Cui Yuan, Liu Yan would definitely be the focus of attention from both the government and the public. But when Cui Yuan came, he made a request that shocked the government and the public. He actually asked for the establishment of King Yong as the crown prince, which was simply unacceptable.

At this time, Liu Yan was no longer paying attention.

In the morning, Liu Yan came to Daming Palace, the capital of Shangshu Province, to visit Prime Minister Li Dai.

Li Dai is now the Prime Minister, and he previously served as the Minister of Rites. After the imperial examination, he resigned from the post of Minister of Rites and became the Minister of Zhongshu and the Minister of Rites.

There are five prime ministers in the political affairs hall. Each prime minister has his own basic base. Wei Jiansu is the right prime minister of Zhongshu Ling and the minister of the Ministry of Personnel. He usually stays in the Zhongshu Province or the Ministry of Personnel. He firmly controls the personnel power. This is also The greatest power of the Right Prime Minister.

Fang Guan was the minister under his command and the minister of the Ministry of War. He spent most of his time in the province and rarely went to the Ministry of War, which had no real power.

Pei Mian is the minister Zuopushe and the minister of the Ministry of punishment. He is the prime minister and usually stays in the Ministry of punishment.

Fifth Qi is the right servant of Shangshu and the minister of Hubu. He is the finance minister and spends most of his time in Hubu.

The Zhengshi Hall is also a large building complex, with specialized affairs officials and official rooms. Generally, only the prime minister whose turn it is to be in charge will work there.

Now it happens to be Li Dai's turn to be in charge of the political affairs, so he works in the political affairs hall.

Why did Liu Yan come to the capital of Shangshu Province to find Li Dai?

This is one of the responsibilities of the executive director. He is responsible for dealing with officials from various states who come to the memorial hall, listening to reports, and reviewing memorials sent by various states. He will directly approve ordinary matters, and only important matters will be submitted to the right minister.

However, important matters are divided into general important matters and major matters.

Generally, the right minister directly reviews and approves important matters. If the right minister thinks it is a major matter, he will convene the political hall for discussion and voting, and submit it to the emperor at the same time.

This is the second duty of the governor Bi Xiangguo. Upon receiving the request from the right prime minister, he convenes the political hall for discussion.

At this time, Li Dai was working in Dutai, Shangshu Province, and met with local officials.

Therefore, when Liu Yan came to Li Dai, he came to do business. The Helong Jiedu Mansion asked for the mining rights and the right to mint money. Of course, regardless of whether the court agreed or not, Li Ye would mine and mint money by himself, but now He gave the imperial court a face and allowed it to officially grant the authority to mine and mint money.

Li Dai asked the manager to serve tea, squinted his eyes and said with a smile: "That's great! He actually knows how to apply for the right to mint money and mining rights, and respect the imperial court."

Liu Yan also smiled slightly and said: "We also have differences internally. In the second year of Tianbao, the imperial court approved the mining rights and coin-making rights of several major Jiedu prefectures. There was no obvious time limit. We internally believed that this regulation was valid indefinitely."

Li Dai shook his head, "It's not indefinite. In the thirteenth year of Tianbao, the imperial court abolished this regulation, and at the same time agreed that except for the three towns of Fanyang, Pinglu, and Hedong, the seven Jiedushi and Jinglue Mansion had mining rights and casting rights." Regarding the power of money, later the Supreme Emperor agreed that King Yong, King Sheng, and King Huai could mine and mint money. Then the Emperor in Lingwu issued an edict to strictly prohibit the mining and minting of money by private citizens and local governments, so it was a bit confusing. In fact, the use of minting money for private purposes was There are many places, and even local officials are secretly minting money, and the court's repeated orders are of no use."

"Then what is the court's attitude towards our application?"

Li Dai smiled bitterly and said: "The imperial court does not bear the military salaries of the Longyou Army and the Hexi Army, and it does not even care about the local government's expenses and miscellaneous matters. What else can it do besides agreeing to it? I discussed this with Wei Xiangguo and Pei Xiangguo yesterday. Regarding this matter, both of them admire King Qi's attitude of respecting the court, and I think the political hall will unanimously approve it."

"But I heard that Wuqi is opposed to it?"

Li Dai shook his head, "He is Yu Chaoen's person and was recommended by Yu Chaoen to become the prime minister. His objection is just his personal attitude, but when voting in the political hall, he must reflect Yu Chaoen's attitude. Since you have put Yu Chaoen Chaoen bought it, so what are you worried about?"

Liu Yan was secretly surprised. The matter of sending money to the three eunuchs' houses last night was very secret. How could Li Dai know about it?

"Did King Qi tell Xiangguo?"

Li Dai smiled lightly and said, "The Dugu family told me. Don't worry, this matter is very hidden and the court will not know about it."

At this time, Li Dai's little tea boy ran in from outside and handed a note to Li Dai.

Li Dai looked at it and said with a smile: "Someone invites you to lunch, let's go!"