Regarding the practice of recommending daughters as concubines proposed by many families attending the banquet today, Zhou Jun thought carefully and figured out the connection.
The Tang army regained Chang'an and the court was about to be rebuilt.
In the future, when the court is re-established, power will undergo a major reshuffle. Whoever can seize this opportunity and profit from it can ensure that the family continues to prosper.
Among them, the most crucial figure is Zhou Jun.
In the Northern Tang Dynasty, the sage Li Longji was ill in bed, and Zhou Jun had sole control of the military, political and legal powers.
No matter who it is, as long as they can get along well with the Prime Minister, it will be easy for them to rise to great heights in the future.
Moreover, Zhou Jun was originally the prince-in-law, and his first wife was Princess Wanchun. If a woman from a noble clan married him as a concubine, it would not necessarily mean that she had lost her reputation.
Of course, this move has another layer of meaning.
The nobles of the Tang Dynasty were willing to marry Zhou Jun, which was regarded as recognition of the identity and status of the Zhou family.
In other words, the gentry class began to accept the Zhou family as a member and included them among the distinguished families.
However, what the nobles present did not expect was that after Zhou Jun heard the proposal of taking a concubine, he rejected it without even hesitating.
Someone here wanted to go out and asked Zhou Jun for advice.
Wei Yang thought for a moment and then said: "The prime minister is the consort, and the issue of adding a mouth to the palace involves a lot, not to mention there are so many people, so we should consider it in the long term."
When everyone heard this, they thought about it carefully and understood.
Zhou Jun is the concubine. If he allows concubines and adds so many side rooms to the palace at once, what will Princess Wanchun think? Where will the royal family's face be put?
Regarding the matter of taking concubines, Zhou Jun did not seem to intend to argue. He just waved his hand to stop the singing and dancing of the musicians and said: "There is a banquet today. We will only talk about business."
Business?
Everyone present did not understand what Zhou Jun said.
If taking a concubine is not considered a serious matter, then what kind of thing is considered a serious matter?
Li Shao, the elder of the clan who had been silent all this time, opened his eyes and asked, "Since the Prime Minister wants to talk about business, I have something here."
Zhou Jun looked at Li Shao.
The latter said: "I heard that His Majesty is seriously ill in bed and cannot manage the government. Is this possible?"
Hearing Li Shao mention Li Longji, Wei Yang suddenly became nervous.
Zhou Jun nodded.
Li Shao suddenly raised his voice: "Since Your Majesty is ill, why has there been no decision on the candidate for the crown prince?"
Hearing this, Wei Yang heard a roar in his head and turned pale with fright.
Before going to the banquet, the noble representatives had repeatedly requested the clan not to mention His Majesty at the banquet, let alone the Liangcheng court.
After all, the fundamental reason for the outbreak of civil strife in Liangcheng was that some powerful nobles colluded with people in the palace and wanted to harm Zhou Jun, but they were later brutally suppressed.
However, as was originally agreed upon, clan member Li Shao insisted on his status and respect. Regardless of the agreement, he wanted to use the crown prince's issue to beat Zhou Jun, accusing him of taking power and exceeding the control. His fundamental purpose was to take the initiative in the Chang'an court in the future.
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As a result, everyone attending the banquet didn't know what to do for a while.
Zhou Jun looked calm and said: "When Your Majesty visited the west, the former Crown Prince Li Heng colluded with the Forbidden Army General Chen Xuanli, led troops to rebel, massacred the entire Yang family, and surrounded the official residence, which almost caused a catastrophe. This matter
Do you all know this?"
Everyone present nodded.
Li Heng launched a mutiny in Maweipo, and later went to Jiangnan and established the Southern Tang Dynasty. This matter has become known to everyone.
Zhou Jun emphasized his tone: "The prince is only one step away from the throne. Throughout the ages, there are countless people who have killed their fathers and violated ethics. In Maweipo, your majesty was still healthy and could face such a disaster. Now he is bedridden. What if?
If a prince is established, what trouble will happen in the palace?!"
After listening to Zhou Jun's words, everyone gradually understood.
Since Li Longji came to the throne, he has taken imperial power very seriously.
Time and time again, as long as someone wants to get involved in the throne, even if that person is his own son, he will kill him.
Now that His Majesty is ill in bed, it is a time when his power is weak. To establish a prince at this time is not in line with Li Longji's character, and secondly, it is likely to repeat what Li Heng did.
When Li Shao heard this, he didn't know how to refute for a moment and was stunned.
Zhou Jun: "Since I mentioned the prince, I would like to ask, everyone here should have nothing to do with the Jiangnan Puppet Dynasty, right?"
Everyone present shook their heads quickly.
Li Heng launched a military rebellion and almost killed Li Longji. After the failure, he ran to Jiankang City and became emperor.
Being involved with such a person will inevitably lead to the charge of treason.
Zhou Jun waved, and a sergeant brought a stack of books.
Picking up a book from the top, Zhou Jun said: "Li Heng killed the emperor and rebelled against the country, and took over the south of the Yangtze River. He was a treasonous and unethical person. Some people ignored the rules and regulations, secretly communicated with the pseudo-Tang Dynasty, and even used the name of the clan to accuse Li
Heng wrote a book of allegiance in the hope of destroying the lineage of the Tang Dynasty with the pseudo-dynasty orthodoxy!"
As soon as Zhou Jun finished speaking, Li Shao's face suddenly turned green.
Although Li Heng's behavior damaged the dignity of the Tang Dynasty, at the beginning of the establishment of the Southern Tang Dynasty, wars were frequent in the north, and it was still unknown who would win. Therefore, the Southern Tang Dynasty, with the Yangtze River as a natural danger, was regarded by many members of the clan as a way out for the Tang Dynasty. These people wrote letters one after another.
Contacted the Southern Tang Dynasty and discussed the intention of allegiance.
Later, when the Southern Tang Dynasty was defeated steadily in the war with the Yan State, and the Northern Tang Dynasty conquered Fan Yang and regained Chang'an, those clan members turned around again and began to show their goodwill to the Northern Tang Dynasty.
As the elder of the clan, Li Shao naturally did this.
Zhou Jun opened the book in his hand, and the letters recorded in it were letters of allegiance written by members of the clan to Li Heng.
Every time Zhou Jun reads someone, a member of the clan in the banquet hall will be kidnapped by the sergeant.
All of a sudden, the originally noble Li Tang clan gradually faded away amid bursts of crying and grievances, and finally only Li Shao was left, sitting alone at the top.
Zhou Jun glanced at Li Shao, picked up a letter from the table, and placed it directly in front of the latter.
Li Shao lowered his head, glanced briefly, then closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! He never figured out how Zhou Jun knew about the secret actions between the clans?
Wang Hong, the leader of the personal guard, came to the seat. He first bowed to Zhou Jun, then walked to Li Shao and said in a deep voice: "Please."
Li Shao said mockingly: "I thought this was a Hongmen Banquet aimed at the Prime Minister, but in the end, it was us who were pointed at by the sword."
Li Shao tried to stand up tremblingly, but his legs became weak and he couldn't stand. In the end, he was helped down by soldiers from the Tang army.
After the clan members were escorted away, the entire banquet hall was silent.
The guests who came to the banquet saw with their own eyes the members of the clan being taken away, and everyone realized that something was wrong.
Zhou Jun came to the banquet this time. From beginning to end, he didn't feel like he was here to make friends, but more like he was here to raise an army to punish someone.
Some members of the noble clan wanted to leave first with an excuse, but unexpectedly, the soldiers of the Tang Army had already surrounded the entire venue.
Zhou Jun clapped his hands, and the eunuch Fan Jinian held the brocade box, walked up to the high platform from the backcourt, and shouted loudly: "The imperial edict has arrived!"
In front of many people present, Fan Jinian opened the imperial edict and read: "Hebei was in war, Jiangnan rebelled against the party, and acted as evildoers. They were gluttonous and unruly, hurting and abusing the people."
"At that time, the royal family went against the grain, threatened to relocate the nobles, colluded with the puppet Yan Dynasty and the puppet Tang Dynasty, ignored the constitution, insulted the royal family, violated the law and discipline, and should be regarded as unforgivable evils."
"If the clan commits a crime, the surname Li will be deprived of it, and they will be demoted to common people, and they will be exiled for three thousand miles; if a noble family commits a crime, the family tree will be abolished, the culprit will destroy the three families, the family property will be confiscated, and they will be demoted to official slaves."
"Announce it to the world and help the country, and the envoys of Xian will know it."
When the holy edict was finished, there was a dead silence in the entire banquet hall.
The people at the banquet never expected that it would end like this.
His Majesty was actually not prepared to let go of anyone who had any connections with the Southern Tang Dynasty and the Yan State, no matter whether they were clan members or nobles.
Members of the clan were deprived of their surname Li and were exiled to the frontier.
It is even more miserable when a noble family shows up. The leader will be expelled from the three families, and the subordinates will have their private property confiscated, their genealogy will be abolished, and they will be demoted to official slaves.
In the huge banquet hall, no one knew who it was, and suddenly a cry broke out.
Immediately afterwards, countless people started crying.
Some people cried until they fainted, and some even became incontinent on the spot because of fright.
Fan Jinian looked at the sadness all over the place, shook his head, and said: "I am afraid that many families in Chang'an City will be crying all night tonight."
Zhou Jun glanced at the nobles who were being taken away one after another by the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty, and said in a deep voice: "It is better for these families to cry today than for the people all over the world to cry in the future."
