The smile on Xu Jingzong's face froze and he said to himself, "Not a word?"
Li Xiaogong's face showed some dissatisfaction, but he was also helpless."
Asking for power from the emperor and sharing power with Zhongshu is like dancing in a minefield.
"You look calm, kid." Li Xiaogong snorted coldly.
"Prince Hejian, why did we come to the Ministry of Rites in the first place? If we don't succeed, we will become benevolent."
"Good boy, our etiquette department should have such momentum. Our etiquette department has been scolded for so long and we have had enough." Li Xiaogong slapped his gum and yelled, "Old fox Changsun still wants to hold on to power! I will scold him for the rest of his life!"
"
"Why do you have to scold me all your life?" Changsun Wuji's voice appeared in the sunshine.
Standing next to Changsun Wuji were two eunuchs and three or four civil servants.
Walking into the Ministry of Rites, Changsun Wuji smiled and said, "Your Majesty has always been fair in rewards and punishments, so why be in a hurry."
Li Xiaogong snorted coldly, "Changsun Wuji, I've already been polite enough to you. Don't blame me for being rude if you go even further."
In some ways, Li Xiaogong is a jerk.
I don’t know why His Majesty allowed this guy to be the Minister of Rites. It looks like he is a civil servant.
Changsun Wuji bowed slightly to Li Xiaogong before saying, "Please listen to the decree."
The eunuch opened his mouth and read, "Li Xiaogong, the Minister of Rites, and Xu Jingzong, the Minister of Rites, have been successful in dealing with envoys from various countries and have proposed strategies to defeat the enemy. Their annual salary has been increased to four hundred stones. Li Xiaogong, the king of Hejian County, granted the right to drive horses in Chang'an City, and granted Xu Jingzong Zhizhi
As for the authority to report, the situation in the Turks is uncertain and the situation outside the customs is changeable. I also ask all your ministers to be diligent."
The meaning of this sentence about diligence is very obvious. Even Li Shimin felt that the Ministry of Rites was too idle.
Xu Jingzong now has the right to direct memorials, which means that if Xu Jingzong wants to submit memorials in the future, he does not need to go to the Zhongshu Province. He can directly tell His Majesty. This is a power that only officials in the Zhongshu Province have.
Xu Jingzong was not given a promotion but was given a small right to play direct role.
Li Xiaogong came back to his senses after hearing the order, "Where's Zhang Yang! This kid has also done a lot."
Hearing this, Zhang Yang couldn't help but feel a little moved in his heart. Prince Hejian was still very loyal.
Among the three people in the Ministry of Rites, only Zhang Yang was not mentioned in the decree.
Changsun Wuji nodded and said, "Only you, Zhang Yang, can talk to His Majesty alone."
The eunuch on the side smiled and said, "Shilang Zhang, do you want to follow this old slave to see His Majesty?"
He glanced at Changsun Wuji, who was still standing in the yamen of the Ministry of Rites, and then at Xu Jingzong and Li Xiaogong.
Zhang Yang took a deep breath and followed the eunuch out of the Ministry of Etiquette.
Walking in the sunshine, the two eunuchs were silent all the way.
Turn left and right in the palace to Xingqing Hall, where Li Shimin stood in the dim hall.
Zhang Yang watched him light a candle, and the flame jumped like a living thing.
"Come in." Li Shimin's voice came from the hall.
After gathering his thoughts, Zhang Yang walked into the palace, bowed and said, "Your Majesty."
Li Shimin looked at the candlelight, "This is the first time you and I have met."
"I'll see you every morning and every day," Zhang Yang replied.
"This is the fifth time." Li Shimin said to himself.
Don't we meet every day in Tai Chi Hall? Is he listening to himself? Zhang Yang looked confused.
No emperor in the world is easy to mess with, especially someone like Li Shimin. He will truly retaliate when you have a grudge, and he will truly heal you when you have a sword.
The vicious Sky Khan will not show mercy to his enemies.
Chasing and beating the enemy relentlessly, ruthlessly trampling on the enemy's dignity.
Whether it was the expansion of territory or the issue of the country, Li Shimin had a cold and perverted temperament.
Li Shimin sat down again, "I still remember what you said back then. If I don't agree, what should you do?"
The hall was quiet for a while, and then Zhang Yang said, "I can only curse him for being unjust, then leave the court and live a normal life from now on."
Li Shimin shook his head and sighed, "That's it? No future."
Not promising... If I want to be promising, I miss the emperor, Zhang Yang stood with his hands folded, thinking to himself.
"Tell me what you want. I never criticize meritorious officials harshly. I will keep your merits in mind."
Zhang Yang bowed and said, "Can you give me Lishan?"
Hearing this, Li Shimin was stunned for a long time, then smiled and said, "Don't even think about it."
Having known such a result for a long time, Zhang Yang could only laugh it off.
"Don't you want to fight for power for the Ministry of Rites? Tell me what power you want." Li Shimin took a sip of tea and said, "Just treat it as a conversation between father-in-law and father-in-law. You don't have to be too formal, just say it."
You, Li Shimin, must avenge you, and Jie Li's end is right in front of you.
When people express their thoughts, can they really say what they have?
Everyone who is an emperor likes to give people questions to think about or something.
Seeing that Zhang Yang was silent, Li Shimin sighed, "I have discussed Xue Yantuo's matter with Fang Xuanling and Li Jing. Now Xue Yantuo has indeed withdrawn his troops, but Datang and Xue Yantuo must have a battle. This battle may not be in the near future.
It could be several years later, or more than ten years later."
"Shocking the Mobei countries?" Zhang Yang asked in a low voice.
Li Shimin nodded slowly, "Now the Tang Dynasty needs to recuperate and recuperate, now is not the time to go to war."
"The great chaos in the world at the end of the Sui Dynasty almost destroyed the Central Plains. I need to be with the people and accumulate national strength. Some people say that the national strength of the pre-Sui Dynasty has not been restored yet. I know this is not a lie. The Tang Dynasty needs to recuperate."
"As you said, the function of the Ministry of Rites is not only to be in charge of etiquette. What I want is time to recuperate the country's strength. The Ministry of Rites can also deal with envoys from various countries. So tell me now, can I give you the power of the Ministry of Rites to allow me to recuperate?
Time for national strength.”
It's okay for an emperor to say no so bluntly. It's really a bit too pretentious and a bit too torturous for your boss to ask questions for your subordinates to think about.
It is said that it is to give power to the Ministry of Rites and to give rewards to the Ministry of Rites. You, Li Shimin, can give rewards, but in the end this reward must be used for the country and returned to you, the emperor.
"First I want people."
Li Shimin looked at Zhang Yang standing upright, looking neither humble nor arrogant, and smiled, "Who is he?"
"The three brothers from the teacher's family, Zhang Xiangxiang, Zhang Dasu, and Zhang Daan."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Zhang Xiangxiang and Zhang Dasu are fine. As for Zhang Daan who still needs to stay in the East Palace to work for the prince, I can only give you two."
In fact, Zhang Daan is not important, the important thing is Zhang Gongjin.
Li Shimin placed one of his sons in the East Palace for Zhang Gongjin to appease the hero and take care of his son.
"Do you have any other requests?" Li Shimin observed the change in Zhang Yang's expression.
"Give the Ministry of Rites more autonomy. The Ministry of Rites can decide on its own how to communicate with other countries, and the Ministry of Education can intervene, but cannot interfere too much. If cooperation between the ministries of the DPRK and China is needed, I hope the Ministry of Education can play a role in communication and let the DPRK
The various ministries of the Central Committee assist the Ministry of Rites in handling affairs."
"This is a bit troublesome, but it's not difficult to handle. I can agree to it." Li Shimin nodded.
"I have one more request that your Majesty needs to agree to."
"Tell me." Li Shimin changed his sitting position and smiled with interest.
"All our actions can be kept secret from the DPRK. The Ministry of Rites needs to keep secrets when doing things. I don't know how many people in the DPRK are Tibetan or Turkic spies. In order to prevent the information from leaking, the Ministry of Rites can keep it secret in this regard, and can refuse to accept requests from various ministries.
inquiry."
"Can."
He agreed readily.
Zhang Yang then spoke, "In order to give the Tang Dynasty time to recuperate its national strength, the Ministry of Rites may make some extraordinary moves. Your Majesty, please believe that we are all for the sake of the country."
Li Shimin laughed and said, "How outrageous?"
"Originally, the Ministry of Rites was in charge of etiquette, but in the future, it will focus on communicating with other countries, and our officials can arrange their own daily affairs."
From the beginning, I thought that Zhang Yang wanted power, but now I think about it, this guy didn't let it go without hesitation. Instead, he spoke clearly and logically, and he also had the idea of changing the Ministry of Rites into a completely new one.
Regardless of whether these ideas are correct or not, you can give them a try.
If done well and a different Ministry of Rites is cultivated, the fruits of success will still be in the court.
Even if things go wrong, it is just a matter of replacing a group of people in the etiquette department and getting it back to its original state without any loss.
Instead of maintaining a Ministry of Rites in the imperial court, it is better to let the Ministry of Rites play some role.
Zhang Yang asked tentatively, "What do you think, Your Majesty?"
"As long as it's not too outrageous, I can agree to it. If necessary, you still have to report to me in advance."
"Understood." Zhang Yang said again, "And give the Ministry of Rites the power to mobilize troops. It doesn't need to be too many. You can just arrest people in Chang'an City. If there is an accident, if it is too late to mobilize the troops, things will be delayed. The Ministry of Rites needs an army.
Manpower that can be mobilized at any time.”
Li Shimin looked outside the hall and said, "Let Li Junxian come over."
The young eunuch immediately went to report, and Li Junxian walked into the palace and saluted, "Your Majesty."
"If the Ministry of Rites needs to be mobilized, Li Junxian can cooperate. He can mobilize the leading guards of Chang'an City."
Zhang Yang glanced at Li Junxian.
Li Junxian bowed and replied, "Here."
Li Shimin added, "The leading guard has a thousand soldiers. They can cooperate with you."
Zhang Yang asked again, "Then can you catch spies for us?"
Li Shimin looked at Li Junxian, he knelt on one knee and said loudly, "If there is any order from the Ministry of Rites, the general will do his best."
Looking at his expression, Zhang Yang faced Li Shimin again. Whenever he wanted to mobilize troops and horses, he had to go to Li Junxian. He gave the Ministry of Rites the power to mobilize some troops. The power of troops and horses was still in Li Junxian's hands.
It is not in the hands of the Ministry of Rites.
This is fine, everyone can rest assured.
"What else do you want?"
"Your Majesty, please give the Ministry of Rites ten thousand guan."
Ten thousand guan! These words made Li Shimin almost spit out the tea in his mouth. He said in his heart that my life is very tight, and I still want to give you money. The first time I asked, it was 10,000 guan. Does this kid think that I am very rich?
Nowadays, the life in the palace depends entirely on the business of this boy Li Tai, and every sum of money must be calculated carefully.
"I will consider this matter." Li Shimin responded.
"Can I resign?"
"No!" The smile on Li Shimin's face disappeared and he replied with a straight face.
"Can I ask for leave, please?"
"Ask for leave?"
"Long vacation."
Obviously knowing the virtues of the Ministry of Rites, the virtues of Li Xiaogong and the people under his command are the same.
I spent the whole day either eating tea eggs or playing chess in the government office.
It's not like you're doing business at all.
"How long?" Li Shimin took another sip of tea.
"It can be as short as a few months, or as long as one or two years."
"Why?"
"Your Majesty, this is also for the sake of the country."
"Yes, I promise you."
Hearing Li Shimin's decisive reply, Zhang Yang was so surprised that he couldn't speak for a while, so he agreed?
"What else do you want?"
"No more requests."
"I will arrange everything from now on, please step back first."
Zhang Yang bowed slightly and walked out of Xingqing Hall.
After Zhang Yang and Li Junxian left, Fang Xuanling walked out from behind the bookshelf and listened to the conversation from beginning to end.
Looking outside the palace, Li Shimin smiled meaningfully, "I have already agreed to him according to the arrangement of the two of you."
Fang Xuanling bowed and said, "Your Majesty is wise."
Li Shimin wondered, "Why did you and Duke Zhao fall in love with him? Is this guy really worth it?"
Fang Xuanling replied, "Your Majesty, what I and Duke Zhao value most is his plan for Tibet and Turks."
Li Shimin smiled and said, "Sure enough, he was the one who designed the incident between Tubo and Tuyuhun. Of course, your contribution is indispensable for this matter."
Fang Xuanling said in a low voice, "If the imperial court did not contribute to this matter, if Zhang Yang had made plans alone and captured the Hexi Corridor, it would not be an exaggeration for your majesty to make him a marquis. But your majesty did not do this, right?"
Li Shimin laughed, and the laughter echoed in the hall.
The emperor and his ministers knew very well that if this Zhang Yang was really capable, he might as well make use of him. If this person was incompetent, the court would not suffer any losses. Only when he tried it would he know whether he was a good sword.
If this kid really has a rift in his heart and has outstanding talents, Li Shimin also wants to make full use of this kid's value, and then pick out the Ministry of Rites that he has cultivated with his hard work and use it as a fruit for the court.
After what happened at Xuanwu Gate, Li Shimin felt that it was safest to have everything under his control.
Fang Xuanling added, "At first no one knew that we could regain the Hexi Corridor like this. This guy looks at the Ministry of Rites differently than many people."
"I think so too."
After a while, Changsun Wuji came back.
Li Shimin looked at Changsun Wuji, "What does Xiaogong mean?"
"Back to Your Majesty, the Prince of Hejian County scolded me, and I came back in disgrace."
Li Shimin laughed, having already expected this result.
Changsun Wuji bowed and saluted, "Use Zhang Yang to cultivate the Ministry of Etiquette. Your Majesty must really want this fruit."
"It's all for Sheji." Li Shimin smiled, and this sentence seemed to be mocking Zhang Yang.
"Your Majesty, the Tibetan spies sent news a few days ago that both Songtsan Gampo and Ludongzan have noticed Zhang Yang. If Songtsan Gampo is smart enough, he should also understand that Zhang Yang is also using Ludongzan.
"
Fang Xuanling took the words and said, "Your Majesty, this is the reason why I and Duke Zhao fell in love with Zhang Yang. It was not because of how capable this boy was, but because of his ability to send a message to Tibet and let Songtsen Gampo
We know Zhang Yang is a threat to them."
"I still count on you to plan strategies." Li Shimin said with a smile on his face.