In the early days of the dynasty, the emperor issued an edict to King Li Tai of Wei to open a literary museum, appointed a group of distinguished celebrities from the Qing Dynasty to enter the museum, and agreed to the request of King Li Tai of Wei to compile the "Kuo Di Zhi".
expenditure.
Not only that.
Just when everyone thought that King Li Tai of Wei was extremely favored, the morning session was over.
The emperor suddenly mentioned something.
Li Shimin said that someone reported to him that officials of the third rank and above in the imperial court were not very polite to Wei King Li Tai.
Speaking of this, the emperor's face became furious,
He directly lectured the golden and purple ministers in the palace,
“During the previous dynasty of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, officials below the first rank were humiliated and manipulated by the kings. Isn’t the King of Wei my son?
I just don’t want them to be tyrannical,
But this is not the basis for your rudeness. You dare to despise them. If I indulge them, can't I humiliate you?"
This is a very serious statement,
Even with great anger,
The emperor's anger is extraordinary.
But who can become a third-rank minister in the court is no ordinary person. They all heard the emperor's anger today. He was talking about the princes. In fact, he was specifically referring to Wei King Li Tai, especially considering the exceptional favor shown to Li Tai by the emperor before.
The Crown Prince seems to have been neglected recently, but King Wei is becoming more and more favored day by day.
The emperor's actions made the ministers feel uneasy, and even made some people have bold ideas in their hearts.
The left servant shot Fang Xuanling, the right servant shot Li Jing, Zhongshu Ling Wen Yanbo, the official secretary Gao Shilian who participated in political affairs, and the censor Zhang Liang were the prime ministers.
Everyone stood up to plead guilty to the emperor,
Li Shimin looked at them, "You don't need to apologize to me. You have to apologize to the King of Wei. You must not be rude and contemptuous again in the future."
King Li Tai of Wei was also standing in the palace. The fat King Tai of Wei looked like a loyal young man.
"His Majesty!"
Suddenly, the servant Wei Zheng stood up and shouted loudly.
I saw Wei Xiangguo's expression unchanged, standing in the palace and saying: "I secretly believe that the ministers will not dare to despise the prince, let alone despise the king of Wei.
According to etiquette, ministers and princes are equal."
"Spring and Autumn" says: Even if the king of Zhou is humble, he must be ranked above the princes.
Those of the third rank and above are all ministers, and His Majesty has always treated them with respect and courtesy.
If the rules and regulations are corrupted, it is natural not to talk about it. If the sage is supreme, the king of Wei will have no reason to humiliate his ministers.
Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty pampered his sons, causing them to behave rudely, and in the end they were all killed. Is this worthy of imitation by future generations?"
Only Wei Zheng dared to rebuke the emperor so directly.
The emperor in the past was the emperor, and the emperor today is also the emperor. The emperor in the past was the emperor, and of course the emperor today is also the emperor.
But in the past, the emperor allowed the emperor to often humiliate ministers below the first rank, but the result was that the brothers killed each other, and even left the suspicion that Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty was executed in the Xianren Palace. In the end, none of Emperor Wen's five sons died a good death.
This is a shocking truth.
Li Shimin was indeed silent.
At this time Wang Gui, the minister of Huangmen, also stood up.
"According to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, officials of third rank and above do not need to dismount from their horses and salute when they encounter the emperor or clan relatives on the road. But now, all ministers have to dismount from their horses and salute when they see the princes. This behavior obviously violates the etiquette system of the court,"
"Even ministers and ministers of the third rank and above have to dismount and salute the prince. This is obviously inappropriate."
"In the entire Tang Dynasty, the emperor was the true king, the crown prince was the prince, and the rest were ministers. Even if the king of Wei is the emperor's second son and is extremely favored by his majesty, he cannot undermine the country's etiquette system."
Li Shimin's face was gloomy.
Looking at Wei Zheng, Wang Gui retorted in public, stood up and asked the ministers,
"What do you mean?
Is it wrong for my ministers to dismount and salute the prince when they see him? Do you want to elevate the status of the court ministers and belittle my sons? Do you look down on the King of Wei? You can't respect the prince as much when you salute him.
King Wei?"
The atmosphere became tense.
The emperor was really angry.
Fang Xuanling, Wen Yanbo and the others dared not say a word.
But Wei Zheng refused to bow his head and said bluntly: "The Yin Shang Dynasty valued simplicity. If the elder brother died, the younger brother could inherit his position in order of eldest and youngest.
Since the Zhou Dynasty, the crown prince must be the eldest son in the direct line. The reason for this is to prevent other princes from coveting the supreme position and to prevent brothers from being suspicious of each other and committing suicide.
Therefore, the crown prince and the prince are completely different things, and we must be very careful and distinguish them very clearly. Otherwise, everything will be messed up."
"Everyone in the world can understand His Majesty's love for the King of Wei, but if you cannot right the position of the Crown Prince and the King of Wei, you will be harming the King of Wei."
"I heard that Your Majesty intends to let King Wei move into the Wude Hall. This is absolutely not possible. The Wude Hall is within the palace, closer to the saint's palace than the East Palace. Moreover, the Wude Hall was previously occupied by the nest king Yuanji.
ah."
Li Shimin was rebuffed again and again by Wei Zheng.
He blew his beard and stared, breathing heavily.
After a long time, a sentence suddenly came, "The reason why the country appoints a prince is to prepare him to inherit the throne. Therefore, the status of a person does not depend on his age. If there is no prince, then the younger brothers of the same mother will be established in turn.
Prince."
"Based on this, how dare you despise the King of Wei?"
The emperor's words were astonishing.
Although everyone had a vague feeling that something was going on between the emperor and the prince recently, no one expected it to be serious.
But at this moment, the emperor actually said that if there is no prince, then he will be the mother and brother in turn.
Crown Prince Cheng Qian is the eldest son and the emperor's eldest son. He has been the crown prince for six years and has always performed well and has a good reputation.
Why did the emperor suddenly say such cruel words?
Even Wei Zheng was stunned and couldn't say a word for a long time.
Suppose there is no prince,
How to create a prince without a prince?
How could the prince who had been established for six years disappear?
Then there is only one possibility, it is abolished.
Or dead.
But the prince is not sick and is running around happily. He is only fourteen years old. How could he die? Therefore, there is only one possibility: to be deposed.
The whole palace was shocked.
There was silence in the palace.
Li Shimin stared wide-eyed and gasped loudly. The words he just said seemed to be an angry remark, but the emperor Jinkou Yuyan, what he said was extraordinary.
"Your Majesty, be careful what you say." Wei Zheng finally came to his senses and said
Li Shimin finally said at this time, "I'm just making assumptions."
King Li Tai of Wei knelt and sat there in a daze.
At this time, Wang Gui immediately remonstrated again, and other ministers also admonished the emperor for his inappropriate remarks and that he should not make such assumptions.
This may shake the foundation of the country.
Li Shimin glanced at the ministers, and finally his eyes swept over the dazed King Li Tai of Wei.
"From now on, when ministers of third rank and above meet princes, as long as they are not princes, they do not need to get off their horses and salute,"
Li Shimin glanced at Wei Zheng again, and then at Fang Xuanling.
"Before Zhenguan, he followed me to pacify the world and traveled through hardships and dangers. Fang Xuanling's contribution is unparalleled.
Since Zhenguan, Wei Zheng is the only one who has served me wholeheartedly, given loyal and upright advice, brought peace to the country and benefited the people, and been honest in giving advice and correcting my deviations without fear of offending my majesty."
"Wei Zheng's loyalty and uprightness are not inferior to those of famous officials in ancient times."
"Reward Wei Zheng with a hundred pieces of silk!"
"Retreat from the court."
The emperor leaves.
The ministers in the palace all had complicated expressions. The emperor had left, but today a shocking news was revealed.
Although the emperor said that in the future, ministers of the third rank and above would not have to dismount and salute the King of Wei, but given that sentence, who would dare to say that the King of Wei would not become the new crown prince without the crown prince?
It was like a sudden earthquake. For a moment, no one knew how to stand during this earthquake.
