Li Shimin stayed behind the case, watching people come in one by one, and waved to Eunuch Gao to lead the palace guests down.
Tang Jian bowed and saluted, but before he could speak, Li Shimin said: "I don't want to discuss trivial matters today. I called you here to discuss the mineral deposits. I'll put all other matters aside for the time being!"
Tang Jian had no choice but to stand back.
Li Shimin looked at Li Mu again and gave her a warning look. Li Mu just looked down at the ground without saying a word or responding to him. Li Shimin was so angry that he even looked at me, you bastard. What a shame.
…
But in front of so many important ministers, Li Shimin couldn't say anything. He could only pretend not to see it, cleared his throat, and said: "I am very angry today! The day before yesterday, I talked to my prime ministers and the six ministries respectively.
The ministers discussed the resource law, what did you say? One said it was good, the other said it would support it, so why didn’t anyone say a word today? What on earth do you mean?!"
This is forcing me to take a stand.
The three prime ministers lowered their heads and remained silent. The six ministers looked at me and I looked at you. Finally, the king of Jiangxia, Li Daozong, was the first to speak. He was the minister of Zongzheng Temple and now also serves as the minister of punishment.
"Your Majesty, as a member of the royal family, I support your Majesty."
Tang Jian was still hesitant about this matter, but something like this happened in Liangyi Palace today. Tang Jian had to give Li Mu an explanation, and also said: "Your Majesty, collecting mineral deposits and returning them to the imperial court will fill the national treasury.
It has been decided at the beginning that all wastes are waiting to be revitalized, and it is time to spend money. I am the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and support Your Majesty."
The third person to stand up was Li Daliang, Minister of the Ministry of Industry. Li Shimin had already discussed with him that Li Mu was in charge of matters concerning the Ministry of Industry. Now this plan was proposed by Li Mu. Since Li Shimin had brought it up for discussion, he must have supported it in his heart.
What else could Da Liang choose? Naturally, he would vote in favor.
Three of the six ministers have expressed their opinions, and Li Shimin has set his sights on Li Jing, minister of the Ministry of War. Since Li Jing returned to the court from his duties as a division commander, unless Li Shimin summoned him, he would not go to court unless Li Shimin summoned him. Li Shimin specially called him here today, but Li Jing
He still looked lifeless, as if he hadn't woken up. Feeling Li Shimin's gaze, Li Jing opened his eyes and said leisurely: "Your Majesty, the matter of mineral deposits has very little to do with the Ministry of War. I am the Minister of the Ministry of War, and I have nothing to do with it.
Please comment.”
Whatever the implication is, it comes true.
Li Shimin was not surprised and looked at Yu Shinan, the Minister of Rites.
"Your Majesty..." Yu Shinan sighed and said, "If your Majesty asks me what I really think about this matter, I think... it still needs discussion."
"Okay." Li Shimin took a deep look at Yu Shinan, turned his gaze to Changsun Wuji, and said, "Auxiliary machine, you haven't spoken much in the past two days. Do you also think that there is still room for discussion?"
Changsun Wuji saluted and said: "Your Majesty, I support you. As the Duke of Ju said, the national treasury is empty now and money is needed everywhere, so I support any move to replenish the national treasury. I have said little these days.
It's because I'm thinking about how to implement it. This matter is very involved, and if it's not done carefully, the impact will be very big. I apologize that my strategy is shallow, and I haven't thought of a good strategy yet."
Changsun Wuji's words are more clever. I support it, but I don't know how to do it. In fact, I still don't support it. But if you want to say that he doesn't support it, he has already said that he supports it. It can be said that there is enough progress and retreat, but it is actually nonsense.
Li Shimin did not expect that Changsun Wuji would be shaken at the critical moment. He was so unhappy that his eyes did not stay on him, but looked at the three prime ministers closest to him.
In the imperial court of the Tang Dynasty, the only people who could be called "prime ministers" were the chiefs of the three provinces. The senior officials under the sect, Shi Zhong, Wang, Zhongshu senior officials, Zhongshu Ling, and Cen Wenwen. Originally, there was a Shangshu Ling.
However, because Li Shimin once served as Shangshu Ling, the Shangshu Ling was abolished in the Zhenguan Dynasty and replaced by two servants. The left servant of Shangshu led the officials, etiquette, and civil affairs, while the right servant of Shangshu led the troops, punishment, and
The affairs of the three ministries of work. The left and right servants can all be called "prime ministers". Now Du Ruhui, the right servant of the minister, is seriously ill in bed. All the affairs of the minister's province are handled by Fang Xuanling alone. Therefore, there are three prime ministers participating in the court meeting today.
people.
Among the three, in terms of speaking power, Shangshu Zuopushe Fang Xuanling had the most authority, followed by Wang, and Cen Wenwen last. Now that Li Shimin asked the prime minister to express his position, the one who took the lead was naturally Fang Xuanling.
Seeing that Li Shimin was forcing him to express his position, Fang Xuanling thought for a moment and said, "I have the same idea as Duke Zhao Guogong."
After saying this, he fell silent.
Next comes the king. From a standpoint, Wang is a typical representative of a wealthy family. If the imperial court takes back the mineral deposits, the wealthy family will bear the brunt. He should express his opposition. But from the day before yesterday until now, Wang's attitude has been very vague.
.Because after the benefits of coal and stone gradually became clear, the Wang family of Taiyuan would not only not lose their interests during this turmoil, but would actually become rich as a result.
After all, Wang is the representative of the clan, and he is embarrassed to jump out and support it, but he really doesn't want to oppose it. He deliberately tried to fool around with it, but now he can't do it without taking a stand. Wang gritted his teeth, stood up and said: "Your Majesty, I support you."
"Huh?" Li Shimin was surprised. He thought that Wang was determined to oppose it. Among all the people present, there was no more pure representative of the clan than Wang, but he actually agreed... After thinking about it, Li Shimin understood.
It turned out to be for money. After thinking about this, Li Shimin felt very disdainful. He also gained some understanding of what Li Mu said that day. Sure enough, no covenant is reliable in the face of interests.
Wei Zheng stood at the end, and when he heard Wang express his approval, he suddenly showed anger. Li Mu stood next to him and glanced at him, feeling even more disdainful.
"Xiang Cen, what do you think?"
"Your Majesty, I think... it's better to choose a place and try it. If you suddenly retreat from the world, something might happen."
Cen Wenwen was a pure minister in the court and never expressed his opinions at will. However, if Li Shimin asked him, he would answer truthfully, discuss matters based on the facts, and never favor any side. Li Shimin also trusted him very much.
He put forward a point of view that was different from others. His heart moved and he thought it was feasible. Just as he was about to speak, Wei Zheng couldn't help it anymore. He stepped out from the crowd and said loudly: "Your Majesty, this is not allowed!"
Wei Zheng is thin, but has a loud voice and a clear accent. When he speaks, it is as if he has a halo of justice, as if he is always looking down from the moral high ground. Those who have evil thoughts or timidity will not be able to hear his voice.
Arguing has already weakened the momentum.
What bothered Li Shimin the most was this voice. After he summoned Wei Zheng into the court, Wei Zheng had to contradict him more than ten times a month on average. Basically, he wouldn't let you do whatever you wanted to do, and would specifically say things that made you uncomfortable.
.If two people are arguing, it doesn't matter if you say something to me or not, but the tone and attitude of Wei Zheng's words always have the feeling of educating others. As an emperor, how could Li Shimin like to be educated?
However, Wei Zheng was well-known and had great prestige among the big families in Shandong. After the Xuanwumen Incident, the big families in Shandong once said that Li Shimin had killed his brother and his brother, and that the throne was not upright. As long as he was the king, the Shandong gentry would never become a scholar. Tang Dynasty
The dynasty defined Shandong, not the Shandong of later generations. It refers to all the areas east of Mount Wei or Huashan, which includes the three great clans of Fanyang Lu, Boling Cui, and Xingyang Zheng, as well as more than thirty large and small families.
The small gentry clan accounted for about half of the gentry clan in the Tang Dynasty.
During the Wude period, Li Jiancheng pacified the Shandong tycoons and rescued the Shandong gentry, so he won the support of the Shandong gentry. At that time, Wei Zheng was his adviser. As the prince, Li Jiancheng could not personally do everything. Therefore, the Shandong gentry mostly contacted Li Jiancheng through Wei Zheng.
contact.
Li Shimin was afraid of changes and in order to stabilize the court, he appointed Wei Zheng. However, he did not dare to put Wei Zheng in an important position, so he only gave him the position of Secretary Supervisor, similar to the secretariat of later generations, and concurrently as the Minister of the Left.
Cheng, the fourth grade.
But because of the huge power behind him, Wei Zheng's words in the court were also very important. All the officials privately called him Prime Minister of Wei. Because Du Ruhui, the right servant of Shangshu, was seriously ill and was about to die, there were rumors among the government and the public that Wei Zheng was definitely
He is the next Shangshu Youpuse. But Li Shimin has never made such a promise. He knows that Wei Zheng is a representative of a large family in Shandong. How can he easily grant such an important position to Shangshu Youpuse.
Li Shimin had already thought that the biggest obstacle to the passage of the Datang Resources Law was Wei Zheng. Therefore, he did not call Wei Zheng for the first two discussions. Today, officials of fifth rank and above are participating in the court meeting. According to the rules, the secretary
The supervisor was taking notes, but Wei Zheng came uninvited, and this was the scene in the Liangyi Palace.
Hearing Wei Zheng speak at this time, Li Shimin had to respond to him and said: "Xuancheng, why do you think it's impossible?"
"Your Majesty, when Marquis Zhulu spoke in the Liangyi Palace just now, I already wanted to say something. Marquis Zhulu is loyal to the emperor and patriotic, and his idea is very good, but he thinks things too simply. A well-off family with a high family name, why?
Inherited for thousands of years? There is a reason for this."
When Wei Zheng spoke, he didn't even look at Li Mu, as if he didn't take him into consideration at all. He said to Li Shimin: "The Marquis of Zhulu gave two examples, one is disaster years, and the other is floods. In disaster years, refugees are displaced.
What's wrong with having a high-ranking family close their homes? Refugees don't know benevolence, righteousness, and etiquette. Should we allow the refugees to rush into the house, burn, kill, and loot? During the disaster years, the high-ranking family has sheltered many people. If we can spare the effort,
It is naturally good to help the court, but if there is no such spare effort, the court should not be blamed for it."
"In the year of the flood, when the world was first settled, the people in the seven cities on both sides of the Yellow River were suffering, but how could there be any surplus in the world? The queen of the people donated one hundred thousand yuan. This move is certainly worthy of admiration, but the people who donated the money also did not
You are not guilty, Zhuluhou put all the responsibilities on the high-ranking family, I think it is biased!"