Tang Qi looked at Tang Zhao and asked in a deep voice: "Do you know Zhang Bin?"
"Zhang Bin?" Tang Zhao was startled when he heard this, and after thinking about it, he said: "It sounds a bit familiar..."
Tang Qi said sternly: "Do you know me or not?"
Tang Zhao trembled and said, "It seemed that I had such a person under my command before, but I haven't had any contact with him for at least two years..."
Tang Qi stared at him and asked: "In other words, he was indeed under your command before?"
"like!"
"Don't act like it!"
…
Tang Zhao trembled again with fright and said hurriedly: "I'm sure, I'm sure, I'm sure, Zhang Bin was indeed under my command before..."
Tang Qi's body trembled, he held the door and closed his eyes in despair.
Even the Tang family can find out. Zhang Bin used to be Tang Zhao's subordinate. How could the court not find out, and how could His Majesty not find out?
Your Majesty is gentle and gentle with Prince Duan because Prince Duan is his son. This gentle breeze and gentle rain will most likely turn into a violent storm when it comes to the Tang family.
Tang Zhao looked at the two people with extremely ugly expressions and asked tentatively: "Dad, uncle, what happened?"
"When the imperial edict arrives, the Minister of Rites, Tang Huai, will receive it."
After Tang Zhao finished speaking, a eunuch's high-pitched and thin voice sounded outside the door.
Tang Huai and Tang Qi looked at each other and walked out slowly. Tang Huai looked at the eunuch in front of him, calmly adjusted his clothes, knelt down and said: "I accept the order."
Wei Jian stepped forward, unfolded the imperial edict in his hand, and read: "The imperial edict says: I inherited my unique knowledge from the Hundred Saints, and explored the details in the six books. I will rise in elegance, and cherish the memory of my old man. Although I punish him with rituals
Don’t look at each other, you can ask for the simple policy..., the Minister of Rites of the Tang Dynasty and Huai River, in addition to the position of the Minister of Rites, I specially give it to the prince’s young master, I’m so grateful.”
This imperial edict is very long, but most of the content is a ceremonial official document.
The only ones that are really useful are the last few sentences. The Minister of Rites, Tang Huai, in addition to the position of Minister of Rites, is a special gift to the Prince's Young Master.
Prince's Young Master, as the name suggests, only the Prince's teacher can receive such an honor. The Crown Prince's Young Master's official position is the second rank. Any official position with real power in Beijing can only be the second rank.
Those with a higher rank than the Prince's Young Master, such as the Grand Tutor and the Grand Master, are all vacated positions, of course, including the Prince's Young Master.
This position was usually reserved for highly qualified officials who were given posthumous gifts by the court after becoming official or on their deathbed. Tang Huai's qualifications did not reach this level.
Without the previous sentence "except for the position of minister", this would be a great honor for the Tang family. With this sentence added, the meaning is completely different.
Although he was given a false position as a second-rank official, he was kicked out of the Ministry of Etiquette. One was a real position, and the other was a false title. There is no need to say which one is more important.
This was His Majesty's punishment for the Tang family. From then on, the Tang family itself had only a negligible influence on the court, less than one-tenth of what it was during its heyday three years ago.
Wei Jian glanced at Tang Huai who was kneeling on the ground, sighed softly, and said, "Master Tang, please accept the order."
Tang Huai raised his hands and said solemnly: "My lord, thank you for your kindness!"
Wei Jian nodded and said: "The imperial edict has been delivered, and we have to return to the palace to resume our lives."
Tang Huai stood up and said with a smile: "Send Eunuch Wei off."
"No need to bother." Wei Jian waved his hand and turned to leave.
Tang Huai held the imperial edict tightly, and Tang Zhao got up from the ground and said happily: "Uncle has been granted the title of Crown Prince and Young Master. Why is cousin Duan Prince granted the title of Crown Prince?"
"Shut up!" Tang Qi glared at him sternly and asked, "When was the last time Zhang Bin contacted you?"
Tang Zhao touched his head inexplicably and said, "That was two years ago, what happened?"
Tang Huai put the imperial edict away and sighed: "What a good plan."
Tang Qi clenched his fists unwillingly. After today, the Tang family had passively withdrawn from the court, and could only rely on Prince Duan.
He looked at Tang Huai and asked, "Is it King Kang, King Huai, or Tang Ning?"
"It's not important anymore." Tang Huai shook his head and said, "Some people don't want His Highness to successfully enter the East Palace, but they have forgotten that the Tang family is not their opponent, Your Majesty is."
Tang Qi said: "But His Majesty still regards the Tang family as his opponent."
In the past few years, His Majesty's suppression of the Tang family has been witnessed by everyone in the capital. This time, as long as the Tang family is investigated carefully, the Tang family can be cleared of suspicion, but he directly issued an imperial edict and completely knocked the Tang family into the clouds.
Tang Huai waved his hand and said: "The process is not important, the result is important..."
Although Tang Qi felt unwilling, there was nothing he could do about it.
If this was His Majesty's deliberate move, it would be in vain for the Tang family to do too much. Only when King Duan comes to power can the Tang family have a chance to rise again.
No matter what conspiracies and tricks those young people behind the scenes use, the fact that King Duan ascended the throne is an unchangeable fact. If anyone wants to change, they must face the emperor directly.
Thinking of this, Tang Qi suddenly hoped that those people would take action again.
Tang Zhao looked at him in confusion and asked, "Dad, what happened to King Kang, what happened to King Huai, and what happened to Tang Ning?"
"Shut up." Tang Qi glanced at him and said, "Go to the ancestral hall and kneel on your own..."
"..." Tang Zhao looked at him and was immediately speechless.
He said with some confusion: "Dad, can I ask, where did I go wrong this time?"
Tang Qi glared at him and said, "Kneel down if I ask you to, so hurry up and go!"
"I won't go!" Tang Zhao stared at him and said angrily: "I didn't do anything, and you made me kneel down. What a broken family leader. Whoever wants to be the leader of the family will be the leader in the future. I won't do it anymore. I want to go to Jiangnan...
"
Tang Qi said angrily: "Whose father are you?"
"I am my own father, can't I?" Tang Zhao said angrily as he walked out of the house: "I will leave if you let me go, and I will come back if you let me come back. Whatever happens is your fault."
I don’t want to serve you anymore..."
…
Royal Palace.
Emperor Chen did not review memorials in the imperial study, nor rest in the palace of his beloved concubine. Instead, he walked alone in the imperial garden.
Wei Jian walked over from behind and followed him slowly. Emperor Chen asked calmly: "Has the imperial edict been delivered?"
Wei Jian nodded and said, "Delivered."
Chen Huang asked: "What did he say?"
Wei Jian smiled and said: "Master Tang said, thank you for your grace."
"It's good to be an emperor." Emperor Chen smiled and said, "Thank them for rewards and thank them for punishments. No wonder there are so many people vying to be emperor."
He shook his head and added: "We all see the benefits of being an emperor, but we don't see how much blood is shed and how many people die each time in order to fight for this position?"
He smiled with some disdain and said: "The things they are playing have been ruined by my royal brothers, so can't they come up with some new tricks?"
Wei Jian followed him, smiling and saying nothing.
He walked in the imperial garden and said calmly: "Let the spies keep an eye on it. Whether someone is plotting to kill King Kang or someone is plotting against King Duan, as long as they take action again, they will definitely reveal their flaws..."
Wei Jian bowed and whispered: "I obey the order."
…
In Tang Huai, the position of Minister of Rites was removed and a prince was granted the title of Young Master.
Although the official position of Prince's Young Master is respected, it is usually given to the dead. I don't know if Emperor Chen has any deep meaning in it.
Tangning didn't know this.
From the third grade to the second grade, people who don't know the inside story may think that this is Emperor Chen's commendation to the Tang family, but people with a little common sense will know that Tang Huai has been ignored.
The Ministry of Rites is the nominal head of the six departments. The position of the Minister of Rites is already respected and he still holds real power. The position of the Minister of Rites was removed and he was given a prince and young master who was of little use. If the Tang family had not made any major mistakes
, it is impossible for Emperor Chen to treat him like this.
Someone with a quick mind has connected this matter with the assassination of King Kang, strung it into a story, and deduced many versions, which spread in the capital...
Regardless of whether these rumors and stories are true or false, there is one fact that everyone agrees on.
The once prosperous and extremely prominent Tang family has fallen into decline.
No matter whether the Tang family will make a comeback after King Duan comes to power, at least for now, the decline of the Tang family is a fact...
