Chapter 73 Section 17

On May 25th, the emperor saved a book-making process through Zhongshu, and Wei Zhigu, a servant and third-ranker of Tongzhongshu, was demoted to the least influential minister of the Ministry of Industry among the six.There is another vacancy in the political hall. Of course, the people of Chang'an, who are extremely sensitive to political affairs, also recognized the situation through this incident, and Yao Chong's position was indestructible.But Yao Chong didn't feel any relief in his heart. After all, a friend who had been with him for many years betrayed him like this, which made him very sad.At this time, those blind officials came to Yao Chong to flatter them, intending to gain something, but Yao Chong demoted them out of the capital one by one.

The good news is that the Great Tang Dynasty finally showed signs of prosperity and prosperity. The government of the Ming Dynasty was gradually cleared up. The arrogant soldiers of the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion finally bowed their heads to the flexible central government. On the second day of June in the second year of Kaiyuan in the Tang Dynasty, the emperor appointed his four brothers as governors of Dazhou, and they came out of Beijing immediately.Every season, two people can come to Beijing to meet the emperor, so as to relieve the emperor's pain of missing his brother.Since then, this complicated and headache-inducing matter has finally been satisfactorily resolved.

Unfortunately, in July, Datang encountered another disaster. The reconstruction of Yingzhou that was decided not long ago went wrong.Xue Na led an army of 60,000 troops out of Tanzhou to attack Khitan, but was ambushed by Khitan soldiers in the Luanshui Mountain Gorge and cut the Tang army into several sections, nine out of ten of them died. Yao Chong felt indescribably sad about this great defeat of losing troops and generals.When he first came to Beijing, he asked the emperor to promise not to invite side meritorious service within 30 years in a way that was almost threatening.However, he himself went against his original intention and failed to try his best to dissuade the emperor's plan to reset Yingzhou.

Yao Chong often thought about Qi Huan's words in his heart, that he was really just a saver, and it was just a matter of urgency to save Datang. Two years passed in a blink of an eye, and it was November of the fourth year of Kaiyuan. "I'm old, and I won't live for a few more days." Lu Huaishen, like everyone else in Chang'an, tabooed the word death, but this time he was really seriously ill. "Teacher, don't worry, you will get better soon." Lu Congyuan is one of Lu Huaishen's most admired students. He just came from out of state to visit his seriously ill teacher.

Song Jing, who had just been recalled back to the capital from the demolition office, also came, but knelt and sat by the dilapidated door, never saying a word.Song Jing and Lu Huaishen were old acquaintances, and they were also his juniors. Although Song Jing's position was once much higher than that of Lu Huaishen, he was also encouraged and promoted by this senior.Similarly, how many loyal ministers in the court today have not received the care of this poor prime minister?But Song Jing's sadness didn't show on his face. "Song Jing, come here." Lu Huaishen's speech was already exhausted. "Li Jie and Li Chaoyin are not in the capital, tell him what I said in the future."

Song Jing, Lu Congyuan, Li Jie, and Li Chaoyin are the four juniors that Lu Huaishen admires the most. "Listen to me, the Tang Dynasty has finally settled down now, but there are some things that I'm still worried about." Lu Huaishen's complexion was blue and yellow at this time, and the forehead lines were already scattered. "The emperor is a good emperor, but he is too young. Even after another twenty years, he may still have the heart of a young man. This is not easy to change. What you have to do is to choose very, very carefully to be by the emperor's side." You can't let treacherous people lead him astray. After Mr. Yao and I go, everything depends on you."

As he spoke, Lu Huaishen stretched out his bony hand and grabbed Song Jing's sleeve. "Don't be too blunt, this emperor can't stand a weak minister. Think big in everything, as long as it is beneficial to the family and the country, don't worry about whether you can enter the biography of the sages. When necessary, it doesn't matter if you use some tricks." "You have taught me a lesson." Two years ago, Song Jing was exiled from the capital by the emperor just because he was not strict enough to supervise the officials who were ineffective in handling affairs in front of the palace.In fact, it was because the emperor couldn't stand Song Jing's Wei Zheng-style admonition.

"How is Mr. Yao?" "The letter has already been delivered, and it is said to be here." Lu Congyuan said. Just last month, people had just buried the Supreme Emperor who died in June, and the whole country was still in mourning.At this time, Yao Chong was also recuperating in Wangning Temple because of his serious illness.Said it was a rest, the emperor still sent someone to seek his opinion on any major event in the court. Yao Chong's chariots, horses and dazzling ceremonies could never enter the back alley where Lu Huaishen lived. He could only walk into this muddy and dilapidated alley with the support of his family.

"Brother Lu, why are you so self-sufficient!" The scene in front of him made Yao Chong burst into tears. The weather in Chang'an in November is already freezing cold.But Lu Huaishen, the current prime minister who was seriously ill, did not have a dog skin worth tens of pennies under his body, only a piece of rotten cotton wool.He was covered with a coarsely sewn quilt, which had long since been torn, revealing several large pieces of gray-black cotton. "How is your illness?" Lu Huaishen asked the old man who was with him to help him sit up. "I know you are seriously ill, but I'm afraid I have to take a step first. I have a few words to say to you."

At this time, Lu Huaishen unexpectedly waved to Song Jing and the others. "You guys wait outside for a while." Only Lu Huaishen and Yao Chong were left in the shabby house.A gust of cold wind hit, and heavy snow fell in the sky. The broken thatched cottage full of holes couldn't stop the sudden snowstorm. Lu Huaishen struggled to pull a tattered rush mat from behind, and said to Yao Chong, "Take it, just block it for a while. In Chang'an, the hardest thing to endure is winter." Yao Chong held the mat, not knowing what to say. "Let's get down to business." Lu Huaishen fumbled for a long time from his bosom, and took out a memorial. "This is my last memorial, please trouble Yuanzhi to perform it."

"I will definitely do it." Yao Chong put the memorial carefully into his sleeve.At this moment, he just woke up from the shock. "Although I haven't done any major things in my life, it's worth my life to work with you in the Political Affairs Hall. It's just that the rest of the work will be a labor of love for you." "Brother Lu, don't worry." "I recommended the four of Song Jing and the others in the memorial, which I have discussed with you before. If possible, please join me in the memorial." "This is exactly what I want, and I would like to be attached to the tail." "I don't have anything to worry about about government matters. However, there is one thing I've always wanted to ask you." Lu Huaishen's gaze rested on Yao Chong's face inquiringly. Yao Chong was waiting for the next sentence, without interjecting. "Brother Yao, have you ever regretted your three prime ministers?" Yao Chong pondered for a while, then firmly replied: "No, there is nothing to regret." "However, as a prime minister, a small mistake may ruin the livelihood of tens of millions of people. The most frightening thing is that sometimes you can't even notice when you make a mistake." Lu Huaishen's voice was full of sentimentality. There were two tears in his eyes. "The past is the past, but I hope that any retribution will be on me, and don't make trouble for my children and grandchildren." "I'm not as lucky as brother Lu. My children and grandchildren are all useless." Yao Chong could only smile wryly at this moment. While the two were talking, the old man came in with a food plate, on which were two steaming earthen bowls, and inside were steamed black beans.This is Lu Huaishen's dinner. "Taste it, please." Yao Chong picked up a few pills with his hands and put them in his mouth.At his mansion it was the food of his dozen fine horses. "Put a little salt on it for flavor. If you have a spoonful of lard poured on it, it's delicious." Finally, Lu Huaishen failed to finish the last bowl of beans, and when the bowl tilted, he passed away. This historical event can be regarded as a paragraph at this point.Although Tang Minghuang was not guaranteed at the end of the year, he was indeed an enlightened monarch when he ascended the throne. He, Yao Chong, Lu Huaishen, Song Jing and others laid a solid foundation for the so-called "Kaiyuan and Tianbao prosperity" by later generations. Not long after Lu Huaishen passed away, the ill Yao Chong returned home, and the government was handed over to Song Jing, Li Chaoyin and others. Later, the emperor slowly won the authority he deserved, and had the opportunity to show his natural love of beautiful things.However, from an institutional point of view, the emperor in the feudal dynasty should not have human characteristics, because no matter what he likes, it is dangerous.The love of beautiful things is of course inseparable from treasures, splendor, beauty and entertainment. It is an inevitable result to lead the country to luxury and weakness. As for the later events, everyone who loves history knows that it is the terrible "Anshi Rebellion", but that is another historical event, and Tang Minghuang at that time is not the emperor at this time.