The seventh year of Yuan Zhen's reign in the Tang Dynasty was ordinary.
Li Po held a banquet for hundreds of officials in the Liangyi Hall, and a banquet was also held in the palace. The Queen invited ladies from various palaces in Chang'an to the banquet as usual.
Both parties jointly announced that a selection would be held in the spring of the eighth year of Yuanzhen.
This was actually the first time that the Tang Dynasty selected beautiful women to enter the palace nationwide. It was of great symbolic significance and the courtiers naturally agreed with it. This was very beneficial to the stability of the rule of the Tang Dynasty.
At the same time, it also symbolizes that the Tang Dynasty is making great strides towards a prosperous age. Generally speaking, the prosperity of the royal family is complementary to the prosperity of the country.
For the emperor, the two words "family and country" were integrated into one. This was what later generations often referred to as "family and world".
When Li Po is well off himself, he must also take care of his ministers. It is only when everyone is good that he is truly well off, and his ministers are well aware of this.
So now many people actually really hope that the emperor can be more extravagant, build the palace more gorgeously, favor more beautiful women, not be too frugal in terms of food and clothing, etc.
Then everyone can follow suit and live a good life, right?
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On the fifth day of the first lunar month, there was a storm and snow.
Lieutenant General Yu Chigong came to the palace to meet him. It was snowing heavily and there was danger at the imperial mausoleum.
The construction period of the imperial mausoleum is ten years, and Li Po did not use a large amount of civilian labor for the construction, so the period is even longer.
The imperial tombs of the Tang Dynasty are also mountain tombs, so they need to dig mountains and open caves, so the process will be slower.
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There was an accident at the Imperial Tomb, that is, the snow fell too much, burying some places, and an underground palace collapsed. There were not many casualties, so there is no need to worry too much.
It snowed all day and night near Chang'an. Li Po summoned Jingzhao Yin Yuanlang, Chang'an Ling and others and asked them to send people down to see how the snow conditions were.
On the seventh day of the first lunar month, snow conditions were reported in all the counties in Jingzhao and Chang'an City. It was no big deal. The people's savings in the past two years were enough, so there was no need to suffer in the cold in the house.
Even if some houses collapse, the government can rescue them in time and move all the people to live in charity halls.
Li Po was very satisfied with this, so Yuen Long said some happy words such as auspicious snow heralding a good harvest, and was beaten several times by Li Po. Later, everyone had heating, food and clothing, and it was true that the snow was heavy.
It’s nothing, it’s appropriate to say that auspicious snow heralds a good harvest.
But this situation is different. If the snow falls too much, disaster is likely to occur.
Li Po thought further and ordered people to go to the north to inquire about the news and see if the snow on the grassland was heavy. The war in the Western Regions was not over yet. If there was a snowstorm on the grassland at this time, it would be very lively.
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On the eighth day of the first lunar month, the weather was fine, but the cold wind became biting after the snow.
Changsun Shunde walked on the square in front of Tai Chi Hall, taking careful steps.
It is very lively here now. The sergeant Habayashi on duty and the eunuchs in the palace are working together to remove the snow on the road.
Especially the Lingyan Pavilion on both sides of the square was half buried in the snow, so it was difficult to clean. The eunuchs who took care of the Lingyan Pavilion were even more afraid that something would go wrong. When it snowed a few days ago, they climbed onto the roof one after another.
The snow cleared as it fell, causing several people to fall and injure themselves.
Don't blame them for being busy, let alone the snow that collapsed one or two rooms of Lingyan Pavilion, even if the wind and snow affected the incense in the pavilion, it would still be useless.
Changsun Shunde walked with an expressionless face, his eyes passing by the Lingyan Pavilion on both sides. Every time he saw him in the past, he was a little envious, thinking that he should be able to hang the portrait in it if he worked hard.
But now, he is indifferent.
These days, he has trouble sleeping and eating, there are more and more gray hairs on his head, and he has lost a lot of weight. For a man in his fifties, he is visibly aging.
When the emperor ordered him to go to the palace to see the emperor, he immediately changed into court clothes and went to the palace to see the emperor without even thinking about discussing it with the palace staff.
Extending his head is a stab, and retracting his head is still a stab. He has already thought clearly over these days that if the emperor wants to cure him, he really doesn't need to spend too much effort.
Now the entire city of Chang'an is shrouded under the majesty of the emperor. This is no longer the time of chaos. At that time, his eldest grandson Shunde was not satisfied and could choose to fight to the death or turn around and run away. But now he can do nothing.
Without military power, what is the point of fighting to the death? Even if he escapes, no matter how big the world is, where can he escape to at this time? Who can he seek refuge with?
He seems to have seen his own results. After serving as an official for most of his life, he has seen countless people rise and fall to the ground. Today, it is finally his turn for his eldest grandson, Shunde.
He didn't take any chances. Lu Zongye and others had not been seen for a long time. Even if he asked, no one told him that Zheng Sheng, the regular servant of Sanqi, was assigned to escort Gai Wenyi to Lingnan in winter, and he would probably come back.
not coming.
Du Zhili was also amused, and secretly sent a message to him, saying that something was not right about the rumors from the Ministry of Rites, and that Liu Zhi was instructed by Li Gang to investigate the previous years of eucalyptus with the people who inspected the temple.
One of his nephews and two close men were involved in the Chang'an Academy incident.
Du Zhili, who had always been a quiet person from Xucheng Mansion, was obviously panicked, but he also knew that Changsun Shunde was not having a hard time, so he just sent him a secret message to see what he meant.
Changsun Shunde paid no attention to Du Zhili. How could he care about Du Zhili's life and death when a disaster was approaching?
Du Zhili was greedy for money and power. If investigated, many things could be attributed to this person, especially the case of fraud in the examination room some time ago...
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In fact, not only Du Zhili, but also the entire second half of winter was filled with bad news one after another.
Many disciples came to his house to beg for help. Chang'an Academy was implicating everyone, which made everyone in the party panic. No one knew whether they would pass the threshold of Dali Temple.
And many people are confused. They have no connection with Chang'an Academy at all, so how could they be found? It's so unfair...
Changsun Shunde was not very clear at first. There have been too many people recruited over the years, both good and bad. Who knows whether what they say is true or false?
But when the New Year was approaching, brother Changsun Anye was taken into Dali Temple. He finally understood that someone was plowing out his branches and leaves, and was getting close to his main trunk.
Nothing happened to his children yet, which only means that others haven't wanted to do anything to him yet.
Why? Isn't that obvious? Chang'an Academy has not yet been closed, and it is a good time to eliminate his gang members. When the time is almost up, it will be his eldest grandson Shunde's turn.
Who is behind the scenes...
Well, Changsun Shunde was not that stupid. By now, the situation was as clear as daylight, and he even went to the palace for a banquet on New Year's Eve.
At the banquet, the emperor smiled so happily that it made him feel sick.
He also felt the warmth and coldness of human relationships very concretely. The courtiers all had pointed noses, and the place in front of his banquet was deserted, with almost no one offering help in times of need.
Duan Lun, however, did not avoid suspicion and came to toast him, but also whispered to him to make preparations in advance, don't take any chances, and left in a hurry.
This chapter has been completed!