Court Meeting, Zhangsun Wuji Begins His Performance!
Time went back to five days ago.
Chang 'an, the capital of the Tang Empire.
Imperial Palace, Purple Imperial Hall.
The Purple Palace Hall was the place where the Emperor and the ministers discussed matters. At this moment, Li Shi Min was sitting on the main seat in the Purple Palace Hall. There was a memorial on the table. In the hall, there were three people standing there!
The three of them were Wei Zheng, Minister of Personnel Zhangsun Wuji, and Prime Minister Fang Xuanling.
At this moment, Zhangsun Wuji was bowing and reporting. He said," Your Majesty, the King of Shu has only been in Yizhou for a dozen days, but he has actually replaced more than 50 officials of Yizhou. He has even killed Yizhou's prefect, Yang Yuan, and the commander of the Yizhou army, Chen Feng, for no reason. This has caused a huge commotion in the officialdom!”
"I know that Your Highness the King of Shu has a noble status and should not offend his superiors. However, as the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, I am in charge of all officials in the world. What Your Highness the King of Shu has done has already exceeded the authority of the Ministry of Personnel and caused the dissatisfaction of all officials.”
When Fang Xuanling and Wei Zheng heard Zhangsun Wuji's words, they only frowned slightly. However, the two of them did not say anything and continued to stand there as if they had not heard anything.
Li Shiming looked at Zhangsun Wuji and pondered for a moment before saying,""Assistant Minister, Yizhou is Ke 'er's fief. Moreover, I have officially conferred him the title of Yizhou's Grand Governor. He is in charge of all military matters in Yizhou and has made it convenient for him to do so. Although his actions are indeed a little big, I don't think he has crossed the line, right?”
He then looked at Wei Zheng and said,"Xuancheng, you're a remonstrant doctor. What do you think?"”
Wei Zheng stood up when he heard Li Shiming's words.
He bowed and said seriously,"The Governor of Yizhou is the leader of the local military and government. Moreover, His Majesty has specially granted the King of Shu the right to act first and report later. Therefore, although the news from Yizhou is rather shocking, it has not gone overboard!”
"Moreover, His Highness the King of Shu is famous for his virtue and has always done things with reason and evidence. I think there might be some reason for him to go to war with the officialdom of Yizhou this time! Although I am a remonstrant doctor and head of the Yushitai, I dare not say more about right and wrong before I have confirmed the news of His Highness the King of Shu!”
Wei Zheng's words made Zhangsun Wuji's expression turn ugly.
Who was Wei Zheng? That was a famous troll!
However, even Wei Zheng, this big troll, thought that Li Ke was a virtuous king and would not do things recklessly. You, a person who did not even have the reputation of being clean, why did you have to say anything in front of His Majesty?
Talking about people behind their backs was a bad thing!
Officials had to have a rich inner world to figure out the Holy Decree. Therefore, even if Wei Zheng did not say it explicitly, Zhangsun Wuji could still hear the meaning behind Wei Zheng's words. This made his eyes turn gloomy.
He pursed his lips and immediately said,"Your Majesty may not know, but I am in charge of the Ministry of Personnel. Every year, I will review the officials in various places to determine their promotion and demotion.”
"That Yizhou Prefecture Magistrate Yang is one of the rare good officials. He is an honest official, diligent in government affairs, and loves the people. Yizhou is in dire straits. Every year, the people can't afford to pay taxes. This point was publicly acknowledged in the Yizhou officialdom. This official would receive countless memorials praising Member Yang almost every year at the end of the year!“
"From this, it can be seen that Member Yang is an absolutely good official. However, such a good official was killed by His Highness the King of Shu without any reason.”
Zhangsun Wuji didn't finish his sentence, but the more ambiguous it was, the more it would cause people to daydream.
More importantly, the King of Shu, Li Ke, was the son of Concubine Yang of the previous dynasty. His background had cast a shadow of suspicion over him.
As such, when Zhangsun Wuji said those words, Li Shiming's expression did not change, but Wei Zheng and Fang Xuanling frowned.
Fang Xuanling looked deeply at Zhangsun Wuji, a glimmer of light flashing in the depths of his eyes. However, after thinking about it, he still did not step forward.
Wei Zheng asked,"Your Majesty, does His Highness the King of Shu have a memorial?"”
Li Shi Min shook his head and tapped his fingers on the table. From his expression, it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. He said,"Not yet."
"Your Majesty!"
Zhangsun Wuji continued," It's not that I, as his uncle, am criticizing His Highness the King of Shu. It's just that His Highness the King of Shu has been in office for many days, but he hasn't even submitted a single memorial. Is he too busy with government affairs and forgot to submit the memorial…Or is he aware that he is in the wrong and doesn't know how to submit it, or…"
Zhangsun Wuji lowered his head, not daring to look into Li Shiming's eyes.""Or perhaps he suddenly ran to a faraway place, where his power and status were concentrated, and he forgot the difference between monarch and minister and His Majesty?”
Zhangsun Wuji lowered his head and his eyes were filled with pride. If he wanted to find trouble with Li Ke in front of Li Shiming, there were really ten thousand ways.
Moreover, what he said was really a little harsh.
If he was busy with government affairs and forgot to report, it was understandable.
But if it was the latter two reasons, then it would be…a great sin!
Even if Li Ke was a prince, Li Shimin was a strict ruler, so he wouldn't let him off easily!
As expected, when he heard Zhangsun Wuji's words, Li Shiming's expression turned ugly.
Zhangsun Wuji was the head of the twenty-four meritorious officials of Lingyan Pavilion, and also his brother-in-law. Li Shiming trusted him very much, so even if Zhangsun Wuji's words were a little overboard, Li Shiming would not blame him.
And he would think about whether things would really be as Zhangsun Wuji said.
At this moment, Zhangsun Wuji said,"But what about the Crown Prince?" The moment the Crown Prince arrived in Yangzhou, he devoted himself to the work in Yangzhou. He did not forget to send memorials every day. He was concerned about the Emperor's well-being and also reported everything he had done to the Emperor so that the Emperor would know what he had done in Yangzhou! This was what a vassal king should do!”
"So…this subject knows that these words are a bit out of line, but I still want to say that it is the Great Tang's fortune to have a successor like the Crown Prince!”
He then bowed deeply to Li Shi Min, his words filled with sincerity.
Li Shi Min nodded and said," Speaking of wisdom, he does make me feel at ease. Yangzhou is governed in an orderly manner and he is indeed quite capable. However, Ke 'er…"
Li Shi Min's expression was slightly unsettled as he said," Assistant, how about this? Your Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs will send some officials to Yizhou to investigate…"
"Your Majesty!"
At this moment, the cabinet director suddenly walked in with a memorial in his hands and said to Li Shimin,""Your Majesty, the memorial from His Highness the King of Shu of Yizhou has been sent urgently!”
"Ke 'er's memorial?"
Li Shi Min looked at Zhangsun Wuji and said,""Hand it over!"
He took the memorial and opened it without thinking. After reading it carefully, he saw that Li Shiming's calm face suddenly turned ugly.
And it was getting uglier and uglier.
When Zhangsun Wuji saw this, he was instantly delighted. He originally thought that Li Ke's memorial would render his slander useless.
But now, it seemed that there was something wrong with Li Ke's memorial, which caused Li Shiming trouble.
If that was the case…Li Ke's impression of Li Shi Min would be even worse, and the Crown Prince's position would be even more secure!
Zhangsun Wuji was overjoyed!
Bang!
However, at this moment, he heard a loud bang on the table. He looked up and saw Li Shiming staring at him with a gloomy face.
This made Zhangsun Wuji's heart tighten for no reason.
Then, Li Shiming's voice rang out,"" You said that Member Yang is a good official?!"
…………
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