Changsun Wuji was taciturn most of the time when he was in the court. Because of his status, he could speak up when he helped Li Shimin read the memorial, without taking risks in front of all the officials. If he spoke
, being rejected by the emperor was detrimental to his prestige. Because of this, Changsun Wuji gave people the illusion that he would have the final say if he didn't speak or if he spoke.
But today, Changsun Wuji did not get angry with Li Shimin. So after he finished speaking, he regretted for a while, but even if he regretted, he had to say these words. If he didn't say them, what if Li Shimin agreed?
But the golden words cannot be changed. Even if Li Shimin can be persuaded by then, nothing will be changed. Do we want the emperor to take back what he said? Where is the emperor's dignity?
So he had to say it, even at the risk of offending the emperor's brother-in-law!
There was silence in the Liangyi Palace, and all eyes were cast on the relationship between Li Shimin and Changsun Wuji. Li Shimin looked at Changsun Wuji, and Changsun Wuji also looked at Li Shimin. For a long time, the corners of Li Shimin's mouth curved, if there was any deep meaning.
He smiled, then withdrew his gaze and said: "What the auxiliary machine said makes sense. It is not appropriate to rush into this matter. I am exhausted today. We will discuss it tomorrow. If you have any opinions on this, please write down a note when you get back.
Alright."
After that, Li Shimin waved his hand and left.
Eunuch Gao shouted in a high voice to disperse the court, and all the officials exited the hall one by one.
Changsun Wuji was sweating like rain. He noticed Li Shimin's smile. Others might not know what it meant, but Changsun Wuji grew up with Li Shimin. He knew very well the meaning of Li Shimin's every move. Only when he was really angry
Li Shimin would smile like that only when the time comes. Moreover, this smile also means that he has made up his mind. The fact that he did not issue an order on the spot today is to give him a face, but this matter has probably been settled!
Changsun Wuji looked back at Li Mu. He thought Li Mu would be proud, but Li Mu didn't look proud at all. He was pouting and provoking the people at Yushitai. He usually looks like this, and he still looks like this today.
Changsun Wuji couldn't help but wonder, was it really not Li Mu who was in charge of this matter? Was this matter his Majesty's idea?
Just when he was confused, Wang stood beside him at some point. Changsun Wuji looked back at him and frowned: "What are you doing? Are you looking at my joke?"
"Uncle Guo, what time is this? Let's stop arguing! Let's think about what to do. I'm hosting a banquet in the mansion tonight. Uncle Guo...can you honor me?"
Due to different factions, Changsun Wuji never went to banquets at the palace, and the king rarely invited him. But this time it was different. Li Mu, or the emperor's butcher's knife had been placed on their necks, no matter who it was.
Factions must unite to compete with the imperial power.
Changsun Wuji hesitated for a moment and said, "Okay."
The king took a deep breath and said, "Thank you so much, uncle!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Eunuch Gao left and came back, saying: "Hou Zhulu, stay here, Your Majesty summons you!"
Everyone who had not yet walked out of the hall looked at Li Mu. Li Mu was stunned for a moment and said with a smile: "Oh, why did your Majesty summon me again? Didn't you just meet me yesterday? It's really... Oh, I can't even breathe.
!”
Everyone listened with their ears pricked up, and they suddenly had countless daydreams.
What do you mean by this? We only met yesterday? Did your Majesty give you an instruction? Yes, it must be!
Many people's expressions changed drastically! If Li Mu was against the clan, with the clan's energy, they would unite and be confident that they could defeat Li Mu this time. But if it was Li Shimin's will and the imperial power was overwhelming, the clan would not be able to fight.
After all, the world's surname is Li, and the million-strong army of the Tang Dynasty is also surnamed Li!
Wang and Changsun Wuji also heard clearly, and their faces became even more ugly. Especially Changsun Wuji, he had a hunch that he seemed to have made a wrong and outrageous decision this time. Everything about the Changsun family came from the Holy Spirit.
Family. Without the Holy Family, the Changsun family is nothing. And if today's incident is not handled well, it will cause a rift in the relationship between him and Li Shimin. Once the rift occurs, even if it is made up for later, it will always exist.
Changsun Wuji took a deep breath and said to the king: "I'm sorry, I suddenly feel dizzy. I'm sorry I can't attend tonight's banquet."
Wang suddenly became anxious: "Uncle, you promised me well just now, why..."
Changsun Wuji waved his hand, stopped listening to the king's words, and strode out of the palace. The king looked at his back, sighed helplessly, and had no hope for tonight's banquet.
…
Tai Chi Hall.
Arriving outside the palace door, Eunuch Gao stopped and motioned to Li Mu to open the door and go in. Li Mu glanced at Eunuch Gao, who avoided his sight, and Li Mu knew that Li Shimin must be in a bad mood now.
At this time, Li Mu really didn't want to see Li Shimin, so he grinned and said: "Eunuch Gao, can we do this? Just say that I have a stomachache, I, I..."
"Get me in here!"
Eunuch Gao shrugged his shoulders, looking helpless.
Li Mu sighed, pushed open the palace door, and walked in bravely.
There were porcelain pieces scattered on the ground. Li Mu took a sneak peek and saw that the two huge porcelain vases placed next to the table had been shattered into pieces. Li Mu couldn't help but feel a little distressed. If there was a chance to travel back in time, these two porcelain vases from the Zhenguan period would...
It must be worth tens of millions to say the least. It is such a pity that it was broken into pieces like this.
"What kind of expression do you have!" Li Shimin was so angry that he had nowhere to vent his anger. He was worried and couldn't find an outlet. When he saw Li Mu's strange expression, he immediately rushed towards him and said angrily: "Are you laughing at me? You are laughing at me.
All the civil and military officials in this dynasty want to go against me, making fun of me for not being able to control my ministers, and even my brother-in-law is not of the same mind as me? Tell me, do you think so?!"
"Oh," Li Mu saluted and said, "Your Majesty has unjustly accused me of death. Everyone may think so, but I don't."
"Ha, are you saying that you are more loyal than them all? What proof is there!"
Li Mu resisted and refused to look at Li Shimin like a fool. He spread his hands and said, "Your Majesty, there is no need to say this. It is my idea. If I am not loyal, how can I try to weaken the family for your Majesty?"
What? Is your Majesty just confused?"
Li Shimin was stunned for a moment, and suddenly felt that he was a little stupid, and looked a little embarrassed. After a long while, he sighed, pointed to the chair originally prepared for Changsun Wuji to read the memorial, and motioned for Li Mu to sit down.
Li Mu was not polite and sat down directly. It didn't matter whose seat it was, as long as he could sit on it. It was so tiring to stand.
Li Shimin sighed and said: "I am angry, can I not be angry? Changsun Wuji! He and I..." Suddenly paused, Li Shimin gritted his teeth and sighed again, "That's all, what can I say? I just feel cold.
That's it. This person has changed, he has changed!" Li Shimin looked at Li Mu and repeated: "He has changed, can you understand what I mean?"
Li Mu nodded fiercely and said: "I understand that your majesty feels betrayed. However, I also advise your majesty that this is normal. Think about it, uncle Guo is not alone. There are thousands of people in the Changsun family.
Human, right? Even if the uncle is wholeheartedly loyal to Your Majesty, as the head of the family, he has to think about his family. This is understandable. After all, a minister like me, who has no selfish motives and only shines for Your Majesty, is really
There aren’t many left.”
Li Shimin automatically filtered out Li Mu's boasting and said to himself: "You are right. He is thinking about the family. I don't blame him. What really makes me angry is... alas."
Li Shimin organized his words and continued: "Even if the interests of the Changsun family are lost this time, he should understand that everything the Changsun family has comes from me! He is loyal to me, will I still lose him? Here
Whatever he loses, he will be replenished there. But he was the first to stand up against me and ruin my things! He has changed! He has really changed!"
"..." Li Mu didn't know how to answer this. With Empress Changsun here, as long as Changsun Wuji doesn't rebel, no matter what happens, Li Shimin will definitely forgive him in the end. So Li Mu can't give him eye drops.
, otherwise he will definitely be a human being inside and out, and will offend Empress Changsun. He will never do such a stupid thing.
Li Mu thought for a while and decided to change the topic, otherwise it would continue like this forever.
"Your Majesty, let's talk about business. What do you think of your immature suggestion?"
"I'm just going to tell you." Li Shimin is not a foolish king after all. Although he is angry in his heart, it will not affect the business: "You really don't know, or you are just pretending to be confused. There are no idle fertile fields. Although those fields are not in the accounts, they are still there.
In fact, they are all cultivated by wealthy families. Otherwise, where would those grain merchants get so much grain?"
Li Mu smiled and said: "Your Majesty, how could I not know this? Of course I am pretending to be confused. If I had not pretended to be confused, could I have led them into my trap and put them in a dilemma?"
"Don't be complacent." Li Shimin said sternly: "Wifeing with words will not solve the problem. If we push them into a hurry and let those fields become barren, the world will really be short of food. Do you have a complete solution?"
"Your Majesty, don't worry. I don't want to take back the fields. I just want them to pay taxes according to the actual amount."
"Pay taxes?" Li Shimin laughed and said, "How is this possible? They will never admit it!"
Li Mu pretended to be puzzled and said: "Why won't you admit it?"
"If they admit it, they have violated the imperial decree and given me an excuse. Are they stupid?"
"Well..." Li Mu did not refute or explain, but asked: "Your Majesty, if I have a way to collect all the taxes and increase the world's arable land by 10%, would your Majesty be willing to hand over this matter with full authority?"
Yu Chen will do it?"
Li Shimin frowned and said: "You are boasting, this is impossible."
"Your Majesty, if you don't give it a try, how do you know it's impossible? If Your Majesty is not at ease, otherwise, you don't come forward and let me do the hard work. If the hard work is done, say it was His Majesty's instruction. If the hard work doesn't work, just say it's your Majesty's instruction.
It is said that the minister is trying to figure out the emperor's heart. It is not a big deal to punish the minister, but he is willing to be punished."
Li Shimin seemed a little tempted, thought for a while, and said: "I will not compete with you for the credit. If the matter succeeds, it will be recorded on your head. But if it does not succeed, in the eyes of outsiders, you have treated me and all the officials."
You are playing with applause. Even if I don’t want to punish you, I will still punish you. Have you thought about it?”
Li Mu was full of confidence and said: "I want to give it a try!"
"Okay!" Li Shimin was very happy to see Li Mu's confidence and said, "How do you need my cooperation?"
Li Mu thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty will only need to report his illness for three days. Oh, there is also a decree, which is to ask the ministers to calculate the royal property, and that's it."
Li Shimin said suspiciously: "Is it that simple?"
Li Mu nodded and said: "It's that simple, but there is one thing that requires special attention. Since Your Majesty claims to be sick, just pretend to be a bit more serious and don't see anyone, including your uncle. How about this, Your Majesty and the Queen come here
Staying in Chen’s Valley for three days? It’s just the right time to cultivate one’s health and relax.”
Li Shimin secretly thought that it would be good if he could see Li Mu every day and keep abreast of the progress of the matter. However, he did not agree readily because he had not discussed it with Empress Changsun yet, so he said: "This matter is not urgent, you go first
Go and do something, I will ask the Queen and send someone to inform you."
"promise."
Li Mu excused himself and left. Li Shimin looked at the porcelain shards all over the floor and felt even worse. Just when he was about to ask the eunuch to come in and clean up the floor, Eunuch Gao came in again and whispered: "Your Majesty, I would like to see you."
"Call him." Li Shimin was about to say, "Call him in." He suddenly remembered Li Mu's words and changed his words: "If you want him to go back, just tell him that I am ill. Also, inform all officials that I am ill and need urgent treatment."
Three days in the morning."
"Going to court? This..." Eunuch Gao was startled, but when the words came to his lips, he did not dare to say them. He was afraid of being known as a eunuch who interfered with politics. He pursed his lips, swallowed the words, turned around and left.
Li Shimin picked up the pen, wrote a decree with his own hand, and asked the young eunuch to send it to Zhongshu Province. Soon after, he left the Taiji Hall and went to the Lizheng Hall to discuss the matter of going to the valley with Queen Changsun.
After listening to Eunuch Gao's words, Changsun Wuji looked a little stiff.
In his memory, this was the first time he was rejected by Li Shimin. It was like a basin of cold water poured on his head, which made him sober up a lot.
It took a long time before Changsun Wuji came to his senses. He took out a silver ingot from his sleeve, stuffed it into Eunuch Gao's hand, and asked, "How is your majesty's health? What did the imperial doctor say?"
"This..." They are all discerning people, and Eunuch Gao didn't want to act, so he squeezed out a smile and said: "Uncle Guo understands in his heart that our family will not say those prevarications. This time, Uncle Guo did something wrong.
, His Majesty Long Yan was furious. No matter how much he said, it would be inconvenient for our family to say anything. We only have a kind word to remind you."
Changsun Wuji hurriedly said: "Please speak."
"This matter falls on Zhuluhou, why don't I go to him to discuss it?"