The court meeting became Li Mu's talk. Others could only listen and could not refute, so it went by quickly. After Li Mu finished speaking, almost no one spoke, and the court meeting was "high and low"
, ended with Li Mu's great victory. When he retreated from the court, as expected, Li Mu was left behind by Li Shimin. Unexpectedly, Wei Zheng was also left behind. The courtiers took one look and
They withdrew their gaze, and gathered in small groups to discuss the matters discussed in court today, and then went back to their respective offices.
Tai Chi Hall.
Li Shimin offered a seat, and both Li Mu and Wei Zheng sat down. Wei Zheng's face was expressionless, and he was ready to accept the ridicule. Although he was not convinced, he had to admit that a new generation had replaced the old one, and now he was no longer Li Mu's opponent.
, he wanted to do something, but he had the intention but was unable to do so. Wei Zheng, who used to argue with the Confucian scholars, has now become one of the "Confucian scholars". Faced with Li Mu's many clever tricks, he has little power to resist.
"Li Mu!"
Li Shimin suddenly slapped the table, making Li Mu jump in fright and quickly stood up: "Your Majesty, what's wrong? Why are you still angry?"
"You bastard!" Li Shimin shouted angrily: "Did you count me in this? Why didn't you even say hello to me? Do you take me seriously?"
"Uh..." Li Mu chuckled and said, "Your Majesty, I... I really don't understand what your Majesty means. Didn't I just say that this was out of urgency..."
"You still think that I am a three-year-old child? If Cheng Yaojin hadn't discussed this with you, I would have walked backwards from now on!"
"That's too troublesome. How dare I ask your Majesty to walk backwards?" Li Mu glanced at Wei Zheng and admitted shamelessly. He said with a smile: "Your Majesty, look, isn't this just a show? You have to give the loser a heartfelt victory.
Under the steps, why don't you lose face?"
Wei Zheng said expressionlessly: "Zhuluhou, there is no need to use words to ridicule me. I am not as skilled as others, so I am willing to be inferior. But if you ridicule me, it would be too shameless."
"Look, he's swearing again." Li Mu approached Wei Zheng and said with a smile: "Old Wei, I just paid you half a year's salary, and promoted your daughter to become an official. Do you know that ordinary people want to do internal affairs?
How much money is he willing to pay to be an official in the government? Someone spends 100,000 guan to buy the position of a ninth-grade chief or a sixth-grade bureau chief, at least 500,000 guan, right? Old Wei, your family is about to become prosperous.
This is all because of me. It’s fine if you’re not grateful to me. What’s the point of repaying kindness with hatred? Why are you so heartless!”
"This is all your treacherous plan, I don't accept your love!"
"Ha!" Li Mu said angrily: "Your Majesty, have you heard this? Is this still what people say? I gave him money, I helped his daughter, I am a bad person! Those Shandong nobles used him and plotted against him, but he
Those people are supposed to be good people, Old Wei, you have a very problematic thinking!"
Wei Zheng knew that he could not defeat Li Mu, so he kept silent. Li Shimin also said: "Li Mu, enough is enough. I see that you are arrogant now, and it's time to behave yourself! I kept you and Wei Aiqing because I don't want you to get along with each other."
The political differences between us have turned into hatred. You are ministers of the same court, so it is better not to get into knots."
"Your Majesty, I was just about to say something." Li Mu suddenly became serious and said, "Your Majesty, I would like to ask for a leave of absence from your Majesty."
"What?" Li Shimin frowned and said, "The New Deal has just come to an end, and you are going to ask for leave? What kind of leave are you asking for? How many things are waiting for you to do?"
"Your Majesty, I have good reasons."
Li Shimin laughed angrily and said, "Tell me, what's the reason?"
"I want to prepare for the imperial examination!"
Li Mu's look was so serious that Li Shimin was stunned for a moment. He glanced at Li Mu and then at Wei Zheng, frowning and said: "Li Mu, what do you think? To you, the number one scholar is important."
Is it so important? The number one scholar can only be awarded to a sixth-rank official at the highest. After three years and five years, you may not be able to reach the fourth rank. You are already from the third rank. Do you think your official position is too high? The one between you and Wei Aiqing
I have already said that the bet is a joke and cannot be counted, so stop being ridiculous!"
"Your Majesty, I am a person who sticks to his word. Although it is very difficult to get the double first prize, since I said it, I must try it. This is one, and the other is that I do not treat it with a joking mentality.
I am taking this imperial examination very seriously, because I want to prove to the world that my current power and status are obtained by my ability, and that I am indeed the number one scholar. Third..."
Li Shimin interrupted displeasedly and said: "Do you have another third one? Are you done with it?"
"Your Majesty, the last one. I have done such a big thing for your Majesty, please give me some benefits."
Li Shimin was happy and said: "Okay, what do you want?" Suddenly he paused and said: "Don't mention the matter of being crowned king. Since I came to the throne, I have always advocated reducing titles to royal relatives. Several of my
Brother, last year and the year before last, I just demoted you to the title of king. For this reason, my father even reprimanded me. If I were to grant you the title of king, neither the clan nor the government would be able to accept it. However, I can give you a promise until my death.
On that day, I will leave a legacy photo and let the prince confer you a royal title, how about that?"
Li Shimin said it very seriously, and it didn't sound like a joke. But when Wei Zheng heard it, it was like thunder in his ears, and he was so surprised that he couldn't speak.
Wei Zheng knew what Li Shimin said about reducing the nobility. Because this was his advice. In the system of the Tang Dynasty, the kings had feudal states. The so-called feudal state meant to draw a place, where the people's livelihood and the country were all
It was under the management of this king. This was also a way to consolidate the imperial power and was passed down from the Han Dynasty. The emperor's country is thousands of miles away, but the government orders cannot go out thousands of miles, so there are feudal states.
But there was another problem in the Tang Dynasty, that is, Li Yuan had too many sons. In addition to Li Shimin's three direct brothers, Li Shimin also had about twenty brothers who were concubines. According to the rules, these were all required to be crowned kings. And
Another difference between the Tang Dynasty and the previous dynasty is that now both emperors are alive. In other words, if the rules are followed, Li Shimin's brother will be crowned king, and Li Shimin's son will also be crowned king. Li Shimin was at his peak in the Spring and Autumn Period.
He is only in his thirties. According to Li Yuan's example, he will have at least a dozen sons. If all of them are sealed, the entire Tang Dynasty will not be enough to seal them.
Moreover, according to historical records, no matter which dynasty the prince belongs to, basically no prince is wise and loving to the people. This is also easy to understand. Prince, if you don’t want to be an emperor before you become a prince, you must be holding your breath. After holding your breath, you leave the capital again.
The mountain is high and the emperor is far away, so of course no one can control it. From another perspective, the emperor does not like the 'good king' either. You are already a good king. Should you become the emperor next? Which emperor would dare to keep such a brother and son?
Where are you?
Therefore, when the prince came to the feudal country, the lightest thing he had to do was to plunder the people's wealth for his enjoyment. This would increase the burden on the people, so Wei Zheng advised Li Shimin to reduce his title to a higher rank. That is, the prince's title was reduced to a duke, and the duke became a duke.
Earl, and so on. This advice coincided with Li Shimin's ideas, and it was officially implemented in the second year after Li Shimin ascended the throne. Wei Zheng also became a thorn in the side of the royal family. Zongzheng Temple would complain to the emperor whenever there was nothing wrong, and Li Shimin also took the trouble
.
In this context, Li Shimin actually promised Li Mu that he would leave a will to crown him king after his death. How special this is! If Wei Zheng hadn't known Li Mu's true identity, he would have doubted whether Li Mu was Li Shimin's illegitimate son!
The censor's instinct made Wei Zheng unable to sit still, and he stood up in a hurry and said: "Your Majesty, this is not nonsense. No matter how great the merits of Zhuluhou, he is not a blood relative of the royal family after all. This"
"Old Wei, you always ruin my good deeds." Li Mu snorted, then smiled again and said: "Your Majesty, but this time, I and Old Wei want to go together. The prince is something like that, I just
I'm just joking. I regard money and fame as floating clouds. I only do things to repay His Majesty's grace. Everything else is trivial. I would rather never be crowned king, and I also hope that Your Majesty can enjoy eternal blessings and live as long as heaven."
Wei Zheng felt sick in his heart, and thought to himself: Why can't I think of such words? Look at how happy His Majesty is, he's almost bursting with joy!
Li Shimin was happy but also embarrassed at the same time, saying: "I am still self-aware. Things about gods are illusory, so it's okay not to talk about them. Li Mu, you haven't said what reward you want? To be honest, I don't know either.
What can I reward you with?"
"That's true. After all, I am young and rich, but I still look handsome." Li Mu's eyes rolled around, thinking, why not take this opportunity to get a gold medal for immunity from death? This is not a delusion, because Tang Tang Jian, the Duke of Ju Kingdom, has one at home.
This was in the first year of Wude, when the Tang Dynasty was founded but had not yet completed its unification. Tang Jian, King Yong'an Li Xiaoji and others were captured by Liu Wuzhou. In prison, they learned from Yuan Jun that Dugu Huaien was planning to rebel. Dugu Huaien was stationed in Pu
State, Tang Jian sent people to expose him, otherwise it would still be different today if the Tang Dynasty's surname was not Li. For such great achievements, Tang Jian was granted the title of Duke of Ju, and was granted a special exemption from death penalty. This is a precedent.
If Li Mu wants it now, Li Shimin probably won't refuse to give it to him. But Li Mu then thinks about it and says he can't take it. If he wants it, and the incident about Wang Ou comes out in the future, Li Shimin will think, "Good boy, you not only put a hat on me, but also give it to me."
You've been plotting against me from the very beginning! All these new and old grudges are added together, and a gold medal for immunity from death is probably enough.
If the emperor wanted to kill someone, wouldn't the charges be just random? There is no use in avoiding death once, unless it is to avoid death a hundred times, or to avoid death ten thousand times. But which emperor would give that kind of immunity from death gold medal? Li Shimin again
Not a fool.
Forget it, let’s take it one step at a time and follow the established plan.
Thinking of this, Li Mu opened his mouth and said: "Your Majesty, the reward I want is actually nothing. I just think, after all, I am gifted with talents. Isn't it a handful to win the number one prize, but it is for the examination.
It's very unfair to the students. Originally, if I didn't take part in the imperial examination, they would still have a chance to become the number one scholar."
Li Shimin's face darkened and he said: "Li Mu, if you want me to reward you for bragging in front of me, I can't reward you!"
"No, no!" Li Mu said hurriedly: "What I said is all the truth. I just want your Majesty to reward me. If I get the number one scholar, I am allowed to let the number one scholar go. I will decide who to give it to. But here's the thing.
"First of all, I gave up the No. 1 Scholarship, so it can't be considered that I lost the bet with Old Wei. This is the reward I want."
"This is quite new!" Li Shimin couldn't help but laugh: "Li Mu, are you so confident in yourself? Have you never thought about how many people will laugh at you if you fail to win the first prize?"
Li Mu shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, I am an optimistic person. Before doing something, I never consider failure, but focus on getting it done. Just like this time, I never thought about failure. If you want to do something, you have to do it.
"Succeed, it doesn't matter if you lose. I tried my best and stood up for being laughed at. The joke won't die anyway. I have a thick skin."
Li Shimin smiled helplessly and said: "I don't care, but this matter is related to Wei Aiqing, so I have to ask Wei Aiqing for his opinion."
Wei Zheng snorted and said: "If you can really get the top two exams, I will be your apprentice. The master has an order, how dare the apprentice not abide by it? However, everything will wait until you pass the exam. If you only get one, it will be the same."
It can’t be counted!”
"Okay, that's it!" Li Mu stretched out his little finger, twitched it, and said, "Let's do it."
Wei Zheng didn't understand. He looked at Li Mu strangely and said, "What do you mean? It's weird!"
"It's a promise!" Li Mu grabbed Wei Zheng's hand, pulled a hook with him, and said, "This action is equivalent to if you violate this oath, you will be punished by heaven and earth. Don't believe it, it's very effective!"
"Nonsense!"
Wei Zheng threw away his hand, stood up and saluted: "Your Majesty, if you have nothing else to do, please leave."
"Go," Li Shimin waved his hand. Wei Zheng turned around and left. Li Mu also wanted to follow him, but Li Shimin stopped him and had to come back.
There were only two monarchs and ministers left in the Liangyi Hall. Li Shimin no longer had to hold the position, and he could finally express his emotions: "Li Mu, I really didn't expect that you could really accomplish this. You are so surprised."
It’s really unexpected.”
"Your Majesty is too modest. I am just talking. Your Majesty is the one who really made this happen."
"No!" Li Shimin waved his hand and said: "I am not an emperor who competes with his ministers for credit. Maybe you really think so, but I know it in my heart. The difficulty in this matter lies in words. This has been the case throughout the ages.
. When sending troops to fight, pay attention to the reputation of teachers. When issuing political orders, pay attention to profound righteousness. How many emperors have been restrained by the word righteousness? The talk you played has won me great righteousness. Only in this way can I let go and do things. Now the truth lies with me.
Here, I don’t have to worry about much. Have fun, have fun!”
"But..." Li Shimin suddenly looked at Li Mu and said, "In this way, you will become a thorn in their side. Don't underestimate the powerful families. Although they can't compare with you in their verbal quarrels, if you push them into a hurry,
Things like the last assassination may not happen again. Your safety is a big issue."
Li Mu thought for a while and said with a smile: "I will pay attention to it."
"Just paying attention is not enough." Li Shimin pondered for a moment and said: "I will ask the garrison to send out a battalion of troops and station them in the valley to ensure your safety."