Chapter 863 Hunting and Palace Fairs

There was nothing to say about that night, and it was dawn the next day.

Although it was only one night, the affairs in the palace had spread. Of course, no ministers knew about Concubine Xiao’s ghost, but the incident of General Shi in the Enlightenment Hall was burned to death.

Whether it is the important officials who participated in the court meeting or the minor officials in the various yamen, they all knew it. Although Shi Zhongchen is usually low-key, his identity is placed where it is placed. The death of a giant official in the Tang Dynasty is not a trivial matter. The so-called emperor and ministers are the same, and the eunuchs are the same. If the older generation of eunuchs are gone, there will be a new generation of substitutes. In this way, the power structure in the palace will change, and the eunuchs are people around the emperor and the important internal aid of the foreign ministers. It is necessary to take care of them in advance and condoms of friendship.

The minor officials guessed that Shi Aiguo was about to take office, and he could not think of anyone else except him. The palace was very large, and there were many eunuch leaders in it. Maybe he became the chief executive, and his qualifications were weaker than Shi Aiguo, so everyone guessed that Shi Aiguo was.

However, the ideas of the minor officials are often not reliable, because they cannot get in touch with too many eunuchs and do not know much about the things in the palace, so they often expect to be wrong.

The important officials are different. They all know that who can become the chief supervisor, who can spread the emperor's daily life and secretly report it in the future. That is not a matter of qualifications, but a matter of who the emperor likes. Therefore, no one can become the chief supervisor in the palace, just look at who stands behind the emperor and calls "Summoning the court", then who will be the chief supervisor.

Since the first emperor Qin Shihuang, eunuchs have been very important, and they are so important that they can influence the power of the court. Although Shi Zhongchen has never pointed at the government affairs, who can guarantee that his successors will not be like this? Moreover, the current emperor is so weak, in this case, it is very likely that the powerful eunuchs will be born!

Therefore, the ministers are still very concerned about who can be the chief executive. Of course, this kind of concern is based on history and has learned from the past, but no one expected that a weak emperor like Li Zhi did not have a powerful official around him, but a queen appeared. This is really a matter of man’s calculations, not as good as God!

Li Zhi did not delay today, so he went to the morning court at normal times, and the one who followed him was Shi Aiguo. Shi Aiguo looked haggard, his eyes were red, and his big dark circles showed that he had not been asleep all night!

The ministers all thought: "According to common sense, if his brother dies, he has to deal with his funeral and rest for a few days. But today he still goes to court, which means that he is the next chief executive!"

Shi Aiguo shouted loudly: "Ascend to the court!"

The ministers knelt down on the ground together, shouting long live the mountain. Li Zhi raised his hand and said, "You all have peace." The ministers immediately stood up and waited for Li Zhi to talk about it.

Li Zhi did not directly talk about Shi Zhongchen's affairs. No matter how important the chief in the palace was, it was only Li Ke's affairs. He said: "I ascend the throne for a short time and did not show my martial arts skills, so that I was rampant in all directions. There were clowns like Goguryeo and Baekje who offended my Tang vassal state. Therefore, I decided to hunt to show my martial arts skills."

Hunting in ancient times did not mean that the emperor rode out of the city, took a group of men to fight rabbits, shoot pheasants, etc., but a ritual, which was considered a military exercise and played the role of training troops. Sometimes, it was a good excuse for escape. For example, when the enemy attacked the capital, the emperor fled, he could not say that he ran away, but was said to go hunting in other places.

Of course, in the early Tang Dynasty, there was no rebellion like An Lushan, and Li Zhi was not Li Longji. He said he wanted to hunt, which was to show his martial arts skills and show the people of the world that he could be both literary and martial, not a ruler who was able to defend himself, but a majestic emperor with the ability to expand territory.

Suddenly when it comes to hunting, the ministers were all surprised. What's going on? Why did they go hunting? When they think of hunting, the ministers immediately remembered Emperor Yang of Sui. Emperor Yang of Sui likes to hunt the most and likes to hunt abroad. Unfortunately, the result is not very good every time they hunt. When they go to the Turkic hunting, they are surrounded by Turkic soldiers, and they almost become prey themselves!

Except for Changsun Wuji and Wang Ping'an, no one knew the inside story. Ma Zhou was the first to jump out. He was the prime minister of the Secretariat and was in charge of making plans. He had to do the hunting plan. He did not agree, so he naturally had to be the first to come out to oppose it.

Ma Zhou said: "Emperor, where are you going to hunt? The old minister thinks that Yingzhou has many mosquitoes, which is not suitable for hunting!" He thought that Li Zhi wanted to lead the army in person and wanted to solve Li Ke himself. There is a way to solve Li Ke's affairs, so there is no need for the emperor to take action himself.

According to normal thinking, the ministers also thought so and spoke out against it.

Li Zhi wanted to explain that he was just going out of the city and came back after the rituals in the palace were finished. He went to Yingzhou, just like a joke, and it was too far away. He did not have the kindness of Emperor Yang of Sui. He liked to wander around when he was fine, and he was always not good!

Wang Ping'an immediately came out and said, "Your Majesty, from the superficial view of me, it is better to go to the direction of Tongguan to hunt and inspect the city defenses in Tongguan."

Changsun Wuji also walked out and said, "Your Majesty, why not let the envoys from various countries accompany you. Seeing the performance of the Tang Dynasty's imperial guards, there are envoys from various countries accompany you. It seems that it is not good to go too far, and it makes the envoys too tired."

Li Zhi hurriedly nodded and said, "I originally wanted to go to Youzhou for a walk, but both my dear friends said so, then okay, let's just go to Tongguan! But, will it be a little close?"

The ministers hurriedly said, "If you don't get close, you won't get close, this is far enough."

Ma Zhouyi frowned and thought to himself: "It's great, why do you need to hunt? Is there something wrong in the palace? Well, something must have happened in the palace, otherwise how could you make the hunting look like a wild tour? The wild tour is a little far away, but the hunting seems to be closer to Tongguan!"

What happened in the palace? I asked it after a while, but it was not in a hurry. Ma Zhou said: "If you go to Tongguan, then the old minister will write a note and set all the matters. I just don't know, Your Majesty, when will you set off?"

Li Zhi said: "Well, of course, the faster this is, the better. Why not just go to the city tomorrow? Or leave the city tonight!" He didn't want to stay in the palace for too long. First, he wanted to have fun, and second, he felt that the palace was gloomy and dead, and he felt a little uncomfortable.

Ma Zhou was shocked and said, "Go out of the city tonight? This, isn't it too hasty?"

The ministers all felt a little dry and the matter was too sudden. How could they leave? No matter how far the emperor left Beijing, it was all a big deal. It would take at least three or five days to prepare. It would be normal for ten or half a month. It would be normal for him to leave on the same day, so he would leave on the same day!

All the civil and military officials in the court felt that the emperor was abnormal in these days. I don’t know who was affected by anyone, but it was abnormal anyway. If you talk about the court, it seems that no one has the ability. Even Changsun Wuji does not have the ability. Then the person who influenced the emperor must be in the palace. Who is there in the palace, Queen Wang? She is the only one left, who else can be there besides her?

The ministers couldn't think of anyone else, so they became dissatisfied with Queen Wang. This woman was such a disaster, far less than that of Queen Changsun. She remembered that she was urging the emperor to do it. It was such a disaster. The late emperor really took it a blind eye. He chose such a person as his daughter-in-law. It was a big mistake!

The ministers could not think of other reasons, and even more so that they could not think of anyone else in the palace, so they all blamed Queen Wang. If Queen Wang knew about this, she would die unjustly and the emperor would not live with her overnight. What could she affect her!

Seeing that the ministers were dissatisfied, Wang Ping'an saw Li Zhi wink at him. He hurried to see Changsun Wuji, but Changsun Wuji turned his head and pretended to see the scenery. Wang Ping'an used to do this before, but he didn't expect that Changsun Wuji would learn this.

Wang Ping'an had no choice but to harden his head and said, "It is only then that I can show that I am a heroic and powerful person, and act resolutely and according to my ministers' words, and that is the best way to leave if I don't go as far as I go."

The ministers glared at each other, what nonsense is this? Do you regard the emperor's affairs as a joke? There is no emperor who hunts, and then slapps his butts and leaves immediately. Even if ordinary people travel far away, they have to prepare in advance!

Wang Ping'an said again: "My lords, please think, if an enemy army attacks our Tang Dynasty, like the Turks used to do such things. Didn't they come when the late emperor ascended the throne? They were drinking horses on the banks of the Wei River outside Chang'an City. Isn't this because of the surprise attack? Therefore, unexpected things can always happen. Once a sudden war occurs, the emperor has to deal with it. Get the news and immediately raise an army to meet the enemy. This is an important part of the *** performance! Lord Changsun, are you talking?"

Changsun Wuji uh, and had to say, "Yes...if it's right!"

Ma Zhou was very surprised and said, "Sir Changsun, why are you right? What Wang Ping'an said is clearly a rude statement!"

Li Zhi said, "How can this be considered a rude argument? It is clearly a loyal speech! Well, this matter is decided so. I will leave the city first and take the imperial guards first to meet the emergency military situation. The army can set off later. Also, Shi Zhongchen was unfortunately born last night. I plan to let Shi Aiguo inherit his position. Do you have any objections?"

Ma Zhou glanced at the ministers in the hall and saw that the ministers were frowning, but no one said anything, so he had to speak up again.

He said: "Your Majesty, the old minister thinks that the government should discuss one by one, discuss one by one, and discuss another. Yesterday, Li Ke said that he would let Shi Zhongshi announce the imperial edict, but he died that night. So who should I send? This has not been discussed yet, but the emperor is going to hunt, and the itinerary has not been discussed well. He also said that Shi Aiguo should be the chief supervisor! There are many things, but he has no clue. National affairs cannot be discussed like this!"

Li Zhi said, "This is one thing, I know it in my heart, there is no need to discuss it anymore!" After that, he stood up, shook his sleeves, and walked down.

All the ministers had to give the sage. Wang Ping'an straightened his waist and looked at Ma Zhou, thinking to himself: "You think there are so many things just for this little thing? The emperor hasn't said that he wants to build a new palace. If he says it, you won't faint!"

Ma Zhou slowly straightened his waist. Unexpectedly, there was no look of embarrassment on his face. After being thrown by the emperor at all, as an important official, he had no embarrassment, but his face was quite happy!

This time, Wang Ping'an was surprised and thought to himself: "No, is he so confused? Why was the emperor thrown his sleeves away? Instead of getting angry, he was happy. Even if he wanted to be a loyal minister, the emperor's thunder and rain would have to be happy, so there was no need to be such a thing!"

Ma Zhou touched his beard and smiled and said, "The emperor is arbitrary today, but he looks like a late emperor!"

For an old prime minister, he had never seen any storm. Even if Li Zhi acted abnormally and made some unreasonable requests, he could accept it. Besides, Li Ke’s affairs and hunting matters could be solved, and it was not a serious matter. Ma Zhou was dissatisfied, but when Li Zhi shook his sleeves, he was immediately full, and it was very full.

Ma Zhou is not afraid of anything else. National affairs will never be handled. If this is done, there will be a next one. If this is not done well, maybe the next one will come. As a minister, isn’t it just to deal with things? But for ministers, they are not afraid of too many things, but the emperor is cowardly. Li Zhicha is also a cowardly person. If he is not cowardly, he will not be able to become emperor. But since he becomes emperor, he will not be able to become cowardly.

Li Zhi and his ministers had a good discussion. Although he looked like a wise ruler, Ma Zhou did not appreciate it very much. Generally speaking, cowardly people were like this. But when Li Zhi turned his sleeves, he immediately praised it. As an emperor, when he should be arbitrary, he should be arbitrary. This is the emperor. Li Zhi turned his sleeves and looked like a late emperor. Of course, Ma Zhou was very happy when he saw it!

Ma Zhou touched his beard, and looked like the emperor had finally grown up, and smiled and said, "No disease, the emperor is wise, there is no doubt about this. But you are a confused person. If you can't say anything, you can just say anything! What's wrong in the palace? Tell me!"

Changsun Wuji shouted and said, "He may not be able to explain it clearly, so let me say it!" He and Ma Zhou walked out shoulder to shoulder.

Wang Ping'an was a few steps behind and did not follow him. He was thinking that it was time to go to Inspiration Temple and find Master Xuanzang to let him go to the palace to do rituals. Although it was just a waste of time, he had to do what he should do.

Just as he was lowering his head and thinking about something, he suddenly heard the entrance of the palace, Ma Zhou shouted: "The palace is haunted? Nonsense, this is absolutely impossible!"

Changsun Wuji said, "This may not be possible. Let's whisper, it is indeed strange to haunt, but the people in the palace are not very reliable..." His voice became weaker, and Ma Zhou stopped talking loudly. The two of them nodded while walking, and gradually faded away.

Wang Ping'an did not leave the palace immediately, so he went to Menxia Province first. He wanted to explain the matters related to the rituals, and the emperor went out of the city to hunt, so Menxia Province also had to make some preparations.

As soon as I entered the gate, I saw someone jogging out inside, but it was Li Yi Mansion. Li Yi Mansion was a little haggard. He trotted to greet him and said, "Prince, are you back? There is something big in the court. Are you tired? I'll make tea for you!"

When Wang Ping'an saw him, he felt a little uncomfortable, and said with a giggle, "That's a good job. Well, you slept well last night. I saw that there was red silk in your eyes. This is the appearance of insomnia! Well, don't think too much about everything, as it can easily hurt your body."

He patted Li Yifu on the shoulder and said, "I prescribed a dose of calming the spirit to the Queen yesterday. When you go to the Imperial Doctor's Office, you will say what I said, and you will get a few doses for you. Just take it and you will be able to fall asleep!"

Li Yifu was grateful, at least on the surface, and repeatedly claimed to thank him. Wang Ping'an ignored him and went into the lobby.

But the officials in other houses saw everything in the yard. They didn't know the trick. Everyone was just thinking: "This Li Yi Mansion will not be favored by Wang Xiangye, but will be developed from now on!"
Chapter completed!