[Wu Zetian] Queen's Road

Chapter 24 Queen 05

Xu Jingzong has been an official for most of his life, and he has never seen what kind of master, but he is particularly afraid of the father and son Li Zhi and Li Xian.

The former obviously always had a gentle and benevolent appearance, but Xu Jingzong always couldn't figure out how deep the other party's water was.

The latter always looks indifferent, but his eyes seem to be able to read people's hearts, so Xu Jingzong always dare not look at him.

Even though His Royal Highness is still so young, there are traces to follow in some ways of handling things, but Xu Jingzong did not dare to be negligent at all, and he did not dare to think about the other party's wishes at will...

Therefore, Li Xian did not speak, and Xu Jingzong did not dare to speak hastily, but just sat aside silently, waiting for His Royal Highness to inquire.

His Royal Highness put on four or five books one after another, and finally paused.

The accompanying palace attendants hurriedly put on hot tea and snacks.

Another two young palace servants brought hot water to wash His Highness the Prince's hands.

After Li Xianjing finished his hands, he waved away all the servants in the hall.

When Xu Jingzong saw this, he couldn't help but cheer up, and secretly said: "The meat is here."

Li Xian didn't go around in circles with Xu Jingzong, and went straight to the point: "I have already seen the begging bones presented by Prime Minister Xu last time..."

"I just thought that Xu Xiang has served the Emperor and Empress for many years, and he has made great contributions... But, it's a pity..."

As soon as His Royal Highness said the word 'regret', Xu Jingzong's heart beat wildly...

He has been desperately climbing up all his life, even if he danced to survive in front of killing his father and enemies, even after sitting on the bench in Hongwen Museum for more than 30 years, he never gave up...

God is so pitiful, every time he chooses the right master, but every time he wants to go further, he will fall into the clouds without warning...

Now, he has tasted the taste of being a prime minister and a prime minister—this taste does not seem to be as good as he imagined, but it also makes him feel why power can make people so crazy...

Xu Jingzong is a smart man. After so many years of ups and downs in the officialdom, he has experienced more hardships than anyone else in the dynasty. Therefore, he is also ruthless, and when his power reaches the top, he retreats bravely!

British Duke Li Ji is a good example. Xu Jingzong feels that he has worked hard for His Majesty Li Xiaojiu for so many years, and his treatment after retirement should not be too far behind Li Ji.

The only regret is that several of his sons failed to live up to expectations. Mrs. Xu... I am afraid that after him, he will decline!

Therefore, today, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince suddenly mentioned regret, and Xu Jingzong's heart couldn't help but move.

If the unworthy sons of his family can get the care of the prince, then the Xu family may continue to prosper...

"The old minister is dull. If you have any orders from the crown prince, you may as well speak up." Xu Jingzong bowed to Li Xian very respectfully, expressing that he was willing to obey the orders of His Highness the crown prince.

Li Xian stood up, walked slowly to Xu Jingzong, and gave Xu Jingzong a little help.

"I don't know if Xu Xiang is willing to lend a helping hand?"

"But according to the prince's orders."

Li Xian didn't say what he wanted Xu Jingzong to do, he just returned to the couch and handed Xu Jingzong the slightly dry ink on the table.

Xu Jingzong hurriedly took it with both hands, and looked at the piece carefully.

"What does the crown prince mean... let the old minister take the lead?" Xu Jingzong was shocked in his heart, but there was no surprise on his face.

Sure enough, there is no need for a heavy hammer to beat the drum, and it saves effort to talk to wise people.

Li Xian rarely showed a look of satisfaction, and said lightly: "As a child, you should understand the heart of your parents and do your best to be filial..."

As a human being in two lifetimes, Father has worked hard to secure his position, so how could he not reciprocate?

Although he didn't care about this seat, but Saburo Shiro and the others are still so young, if he doesn't use snacks, their life will be difficult in the future...

Besides, it's not easy for brother to be able to live freely. As a younger brother, he must let brother have no worries!

"The prince is so benevolent and filial, the emperor must be pleased..." Xu Jingzong is a master at observing words and expressions. Seeing that the prince's expression is not in line and his thoughts are wandering, he knows that he should resign, so he said: "Old minister, I will go back and draw up a copy." Play the table, then contact your peers, and play the emperor soon..."

"Then there's something about Lao Xu..."

Xu Jingzong saw His Highness the crown prince's expression was indifferent again, Gu Zi flipped through the papers just sent up by the Academy of Sciences, but he didn't dare to stay any longer, said 'resignation, old minister', and hurriedly left the Golden Luan Hall.

In July of the ninth year of Xianqing, the emperor was seriously ill, and all major military and political affairs were entrusted to the queen for ruling.

That month, Shangguanyi, the servant of Xitai, was relegated to the governor of Laizhou for the crime of "leaking the forbidden Chinese language". He was sent to Donghai County and the old place of Tubo as the governor.

Li Yiyan, the right concubine of the Eastern Palace, was originally among those who were demoted, but the crown prince Li Xian defended him to the Queen of Heaven, so that he was only deposed from his official position and stayed in the Eastern Palace as a servant.

Although the incident of "abolishing the empress" was not publicized on a large scale, more than [-]% of the officials in Chang'an and Luoyang were involved, and the impact was very bad.

Tian Hou was very angry, and the consequences were serious.

Although the group of people who jumped out to force the emperor to abolish the empress had already been dealt with, the queen's wife still couldn't calm down, so she simply drove back to Chang'an and watched the Dali Temple to investigate the matter in person.

At this time, the right minister Xu Jingzong made a petition, praising the Queen of Heaven for her uprightness, and complaining that the current atmosphere in the court is not correct, and imploring the Queen of Heaven to eliminate the atmosphere in the officialdom.

After finishing this seal, Xu Xianggong simply resigned and quit, leaving a pool of muddy water and retreating.

Xu Jingzong's exhortation is simply a pillow sent by sleepy, Wu Xu can get rid of dissidents openly and aboveboard without any excuses.

Not long after Xu Xianggong retired in a low-key manner, Tianhou issued several orders in succession, expressing that he would launch a "rectification campaign" in the officialdom of the Tang Dynasty, and encourage subjects from all over the country to report corrupt officials and bullies with their real names.

As soon as Wu Xu made this decree, the government and the public immediately exploded.

Times in Chang'an, Luoyang, Taiyuan, and Guangling all expressed their support for Tianhou's decision, and decided to follow up and report the whole process of this "rectification movement".

The news from the Western Capital was a little bit behind, but after learning that all subjects of the Tang Dynasty could report corrupt officials and other lawbreakers with their real names without worrying about being retaliated against, all the people in the middle of Sichuan rejoiced and encouraged them, and they were the first to act He reported on the Meng family, the number one powerful family in central Sichuan.

As long as the aristocratic family has continued for a hundred years, it is inevitable that there will be unworthy people in the future generations, just like the blood of political opponents is always on the hands of an official and a minister.

The misdeeds of the Meng family were exposed almost overnight. No matter how well-informed the owner of the family is, he is still powerless to restore the collapsed building...

It took only three days for the trial, ransacking of the house, and delisting.

By the time the aristocratic family with the same spirit as the Meng family responded to rescue, the Meng family in central Sichuan had already become history.

At this moment, all the court officials finally knew that Tianhou lady was not joking.

Almost all the Xianggongs in the Zhengshitang were demoted and fined for various reasons. Among them, Xu Yushi, Xu Xianggong, was the most unlucky one. The incident of his youngest son's hunting and wounding was revealed again, which made him have to take the blame and resign.

In addition, the descendants of the Gao family, the uncle of Empress Changsun, the Li family of Zhaojun, the Xue family of Hedong, and the Wei family of Jingzhao were often demoted because of their families.

The disgraced families wanted to fight back at first, so they went to grab Wu's pigtails one after another.

In the end, looking at the current miserable situation of the Wu family, they only had the opportunity to be full of faces.

The Wu family was turned into a blank slate by the queen more than ten years ago.

Tianhou's two elder brothers died in office for no apparent reason, and the family members were exiled in Lingnan for so many years, and they were just called back this year.

The whole family is all in white clothes, and they live in fear, so what braids are there for them?

As for the Wu family, even though the biggest one is only a fifth-rank state official, they have all been wiped as a blank slate in this official storm...

Lady Tianhou didn't show mercy at all just because their surname was Wu, okay!

The only exception is Zhou Guogong Wu Minzhi.

In this investigation of the officialdom, almost all the civil servants were demoted, and the generals were basically not affected in any way.

Wu Minzhi now bears the title of General of the Twelve Guards and is training the navy in Nandu. Even the Emperor cannot touch him easily.

Besides, he started his career with a real military test, and has very little contact with noble families, and has no bad deeds to find at all!

Who would die, dare to choke with this general who has tens of thousands of soldiers in his hands? !

Think you can't die fast enough?

There is no gap to be found from Tianhou's side, some people put their ideas on the emperor and the prince in an attempt to save the country.

But the emperor had announced long ago that he would rest and rest, and no one would be seen when he came.

If there is something wrong, then find the Queen of Heaven!

As for the prince...

Feel sorry!

The prince is a filial child, and he can only fully support the Queen's decision.

What?Foreign relatives meddling in politics?

None of the members of the Wu family have the title of being a political adviser, right?

Where did the foreign relatives interfere in politics? !

The riot did not subside until May of the following year. During this period, most of the officials who came from aristocratic families and were promoted through scientific examinations were relegated to the grassroots.Officials who were not over [-] years old were directly forced to retire by Tianhou.

For this reason, Wu Xu also promulgated the first "Labor Law" of the Tang Dynasty, stipulating that no matter whether an official or a craftsman, he must retire after sixty years of age. Welfare.

This is something.

However, since Wu Xu ordered to clean up the cancer in the officialdom, the arrogance of many aristocratic families has been severely frustrated, and they have begun to hide their strengths and bide their time, not daring to act rashly.

As the descendants of the ruling families of the major aristocratic families fell one after another, everyone understood what Tianhou was targeting.

For example, the Lu family and the Fan family, the big families that had no one in the court for a long time, felt relaxed on the contrary.

Going against the Queen of Heaven is tantamount to asking for death.

If you want the family to continue to prosper, it is better to study and take the imperial examination honestly!

Lu's, Fan's and other aristocratic families' self-discipline won the favor of the Queen of Heaven. When other aristocratic families were in panic, the children of these two families were praised by the Queen of Heaven, and were allowed to study in the Imperial University without examination.

With the role models of the Lu and Fan families in front, many aristocratic families that were secretly against the queen turned their backs.

The 21st Niang, 22nd Niang, and even Zhou Guogong's mansion received countless invitations every day. The purpose of these visitors was only one: We surrendered to the Queen of Heaven, please let me go! !

Wu Xu is not a person who is easy to soften her heart, but she also knows the truth that too much is too much.

Xu Jingzong, an old fox, handed her a ladder to tidy up the family, and she didn't let it go.

Now the biggest aristocratic families have been tormented by her and are left to linger, and they will pass if they are beaten to death.And the Cui family, Lu family, and Fan family she newly favored are not easy to get along with. If they are favored, they will go back to the old way. It's better to let her take advantage of the current situation of these few companies fighting for hegemony!

As soon as Tianhou's wife was about to end the "rectification movement", good news came from Zhou Guogong's mansion: Mrs. Yang, the Duke's wife, gave birth to a young man.

Wu Xu couldn't help being overjoyed, and ordered the Ministry of War to send a letter to Wu Dalang who was training in the southern capital.

As soon as Tianhou's wife was in a good mood, she said happily that the cleansing of the officialdom was over.

It's a great joy!

For this reason, the newly born Mr. Wu Lang is almost worshiped by others.

The author has something to say: What is the name of the little bun...