Chapter 20 The Shadow Emperor and the Uncrowned King

Yonghui is the first year name of Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi of Tang Dynasty after he ascended the throne. The emblem is a flag, a beautiful meaning, and also a symbol of his political ideals. The empire will last forever, and it will always maintain a prosperous scene of smooth government, harmonious people, and peace in the world. It was under the guidance of this ideal that the young Li Zhi started his career as an emperor with great ambition.And the two life-saving ministers left by Emperor Taizong-Changsun Wuji and Xiu Suiliang also performed conscientiously and conscientiously in their posts.It is said in history that they "assisted the government with one heart, and the superior (Li Zhi) also respected and respected the two, and respected himself to listen to them. Therefore, the government of Yonghui, the people in Fu'an, have the legacy of Zhenguan" (Volume 199).

Therefore, in this sense, the Yonghui era can also be called the post-Zhenguan era. At the beginning of Yonghui, everything looked beautiful.The emperor and his ministers were of the same mind, and the top and bottom were in the same place. The imperial carriages galloped straight forward on the wide avenue created in the Zhenguan era, and no one felt that there was anything wrong. There was only one thing that made Gao Zong Li Zhi's heart always shrouded in a lingering shadow. That was the Jinzhou (now Linfen, Shanxi) earthquake. Since August of the 23rd year of Zhenguan, earthquakes have occurred frequently in the Jinzhou area. For the first time alone, many houses collapsed and more than 5,000 people were killed; November of the same year and April and June of the first year of Yonghui , Jinzhou suffered another earthquake, "sounding like thunder", which puzzled Emperor Gaozong and Li Zhi.

Everyone in the world knows that Jinzhou was the place where the dragon flourished in the Tang Dynasty, and it was also the fief of the emperor Li Zhi when he was the king of Jin. Such a place where the dragon veins belonged, but earthquakes occurred one after another in less than a year. For Li Zhi, who has just come to the world, this is really an ominous sign. Most of the ancients believed in the theory of interaction between heaven and man.They believe that once a catastrophe occurs in nature, or any strange phenomenon occurs, there must be a problem with personnel, especially political problems.Therefore, when Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi asked Zhang Xingcheng, an old bureaucrat in the East Palace and the then servant Zhang Xingcheng, about this matter, the veteran Zhang Xingcheng bluntly confided his hidden worries: "The earthquake in Jinzhou today will last for ten days. Although the way of heaven is mysterious, However, the contest of personnel is a clear warning. It is up to Your Majesty to fear that women will use things, and ministers will conspire to cultivate morality and avoid disasters. Moreover, Your Majesty was originally entrusted to Jin, and Jinzhou is now in an earthquake. If there is a response, it will be in vain. I would like to think deeply and take Du Weimeng!" ("Old Tang Book·Zhang Xingcheng Biography")

The core of this blunt statement lies in eight words: women are in charge of affairs, and ministers are conspiring. If you look at it many years later, the eight characters Zhang Xingcheng said are undoubtedly amazingly accurate prophecies. Because the first four words refer to Wu Zhao, a woman who rose up after several ups and downs, and the last four words refer to the eldest grandson Wuji, a senior official who lost power for a while and finally collapsed. Of course, at that time no one knew what the future of the empire would look like, and it was even more impossible for Gaozong and Li Zhi to foresee what would happen in the future, but this did not mean that he would be indifferent to Zhang Xingcheng's blunt words.On the contrary, Li Zhi was greatly shocked, especially the words "Minister's Conspiracy" sounded like a thunderbolt in his ears.

What kind of minister is he, and what kind of conspiracy will he create? Li Zhi was worried about this, but he couldn't understand it. "Think far ahead, take Du Weimeng!" What Zhang Xingcheng said was right, Li Zhi thought, no matter how huge hidden dangers are hidden in the court, he must be prepared for danger in times of peace, guard against inevitability, and find ways to dig out the hidden dangers! The only way Li Zhi could think of was to order his ministers to remonstrate, just like Emperor Taizong did, and speak out about the gains and losses of the government.Later, Li Zhi publicly announced to the civil and military officials at the court meeting: "I have mistakenly assumed a high position, and the politics and religion are unclear, which has caused frequent shocks in Jinzhou. The good reason is that the rewards and punishments are missed, and the government is in a bad way. You and others should enter the feudal Things, talk about gains and losses, and make mistakes." ("Old Tang Book·Gaozong Benji")

As soon as the emperor issued an edict, letters from the ministers immediately flew like snowflakes. However, to Li Zhi's great disappointment, although the memorials of the officials were eloquent and brilliant, they were basically big and useless clichés.No one raised a single word about Li Zhi's real concern. Just when Li Zhi was very dissatisfied, a sudden case seemed to make him find the crux of the problem. This is an impeachment case, and the object of impeachment is Sui Liang, who was then Zhongshuling. The impeachment was initiated by Li Qianyou, the doctor of the censor, and Wei Siqian, the supervisor of the censor. They accused Sui Liang of "suppressing the purchase of land".The so-called suppression of buying means to buy forcibly at a low price; the one who was forcibly bought was a barbarian who was working as a translator in the Ministry of Education at the time and was a small staff member under Xuan Suiliang.

The nature of this case is clear at a glance, and there are only two possibilities: Either Suiliang used his power to bully others and use his power for personal gain, or he accepted bribes from his subordinates in a disguised form by "suppressing buying".Regardless of the type, Xuan Suiliang has obviously violated the law.According to the "Tang Law", officials who seek wealth by breaking the law can be sentenced to up to three years in prison, and the stolen goods will be returned; if the circumstances are particularly serious, the maximum sentence can be hanged.After the case was transferred to Dali Temple, Zhang Shanshou, the chancellor of Dali Temple, made a verdict soon after checking the facts: fine Suiliang 20 catties of copper (according to the "Law of Tang Dynasty", a fine of 20 catties of copper is equivalent to one year's imprisonment).

This judgment at least illustrates two issues: first, the facts of the case are true, and Suiliang has indeed violated the relevant laws; second, the sentencing result is a penalty instead of a punishment, which is basically a symbolic punishment. means. However, this apparently lenient sentence reached Dali Temple Shaoqing Zhang Ruichu, but it was still considered too heavy a sentence.Zhang Ruichi immediately overturned the judgment of his subordinate Zhang Shanshou, and sentenced Xuan Suiliang not guilty; the reason was that the price he bought the land was based on the state's expropriation price, and it was not considered a forced purchase. Of course, there was no question of suspected bribery. .

If Zhang Shanshou's sentence was considered an understatement, then Zhang Ruichi's revision of the sentence was a blatant protection of officials.The supervisory censor Wei Siqian was filled with righteous indignation, and immediately filed a defense.He believes: "The state's expropriation of land is a government action, and the private transactions of officials are purely personal. How can it be implemented at the state's expropriation price? Zhang Ruichi is arbitrarily distorting the law, with the purpose of flattering high-ranking officials and deceiving the emperor. He should be punished for his crime!"

After ascertaining the basic facts and listening to the opinions of both parties, Gaozong Lizhi adopted the suggestion of the chief prime minister, Sun Wuji, and made a final verdict-remove Xuan Suiliang and Zhang Ruichi together. At the end of November in the first year of Yonghui, Xuan Suiliang was released as the governor of Tongzhou (now Dali County, Shaanxi), and Zhang Ruice was released as the governor of Xunzhou (now Huizhou City, Guangdong). This is the case of Xu Suiliangyi buying land in the early years of Yonghui. The case seemed to be over so far, but Li Zhi's mood could not be calm for a long time.

First of all, Xuan Suiliang was the chancellor of the court and the Minister of Gu Ming personally appointed by Emperor Taizong, but now he violated the law and had to be demoted from the court. Li Zhi really couldn't bear it; secondly, the nature of the case itself was not Not serious, but a serious problem was exposed during the trial—judicial officials seemed to be deliberately protecting the prime minister, Sui Liang, and the bigger the officials, the more blatantly they defended him. This phenomenon immediately aroused the vigilance of the emperor Li Zhi-could there be signs of cronyism in the court?Could it be that the "Minister's Conspiracy" mentioned by Zhang Xingcheng has already revealed its clues here? In order to confirm his guess, or to dispel his doubts, Li Zhi had a meaningful conversation with the Chief Prime Minister, Sun Wuji, in the ninth month of the second year of Yonghui (AD 651). On the surface, the dialogue between the monarch and his ministers was calm, and both sides appeared to be amicable, but in fact, it was full of hidden meaning and full of overtones. The topic was first proposed by Gaozong.He said: "I speak out widely and order all the ministers to go to the shuffle, hoping to get some opinions that are beneficial to the government, so that they can be adopted. But why has there been so many shuffles, but none of them are available?" Changsun Wuji said calmly: "Since Your Majesty came to the throne, the government has been clear and clear, and the laws are complete. There are neither omissions nor omissions. Therefore, those lucky people who try to get super-promoted appointments through advice naturally have no way to speak. Because In this way, His Majesty will not see the words that are beneficial to politics and religion. Of course, in any case, it is still necessary to spread the word out, and you may occasionally hear some insights. " What Changsun Wuji said was impeccable, but Gaozong Li Zhi didn't like it very much. Everyone knows that the current state power is all in the hands of Changsun Wuji, so instead of saying that he is boasting of Gaozong's ability to govern the country, it is better to say that he is boasting of his skill in assisting the government.Talk about clear and clear politics, say that the laws are complete, and praise the government for being perfect, aren't you all praising yourself in the end? Moreover, although Li Zhi's political experience is not very rich, he is not an ignorant idiot, at least he knows that there are problems in current politics.But what made him full of doubts was, why did Changsun Wuji try his best to deny and cover up this fact?Isn't it good for everyone to find problems and solve them early?Unless the problem lies with this person who is trying to cover up the problem! Li Zhi couldn't help thinking of the case of Xuan Suiliang.In this case, it is already an indisputable fact that the ministers openly favored Xuan Suiliang, and the relationship between Xuan Suiliang and Changsun Wuji is well known.Therefore, in a sense, it may not be Xuan Suiliang that the ministers are really afraid of, but Changsun Wuji standing behind him.Furthermore, if the ministers have formed a crony in the court, then the leader of this crony must also be the chief prime minister of the current court——Changsun Wuji! Thinking about this, Li Zhi decided to continue asking questions. What he cares about now is not whether Changsun Wuji can give him the answer, but how Changsun Wuji will answer his question. Li Zhi glanced at Changsun Wuji as if nothing had happened, and said calmly: "I heard recently that when the relevant departments of the imperial court are handling their affairs, most of them pay attention to human dignity, so that selfishness harms the public. I don't know if the Taiwei has heard of it?" Changsun Wuji smiled calmly, and said without hesitation: "It is human nature to save face and talk about personal friendship. It is inevitable since ancient times, but under the guidance of sages, people's selfish desires will gradually turn into public ones. As for the fact that some people in the court dare to bend the law for personal gain , I dare to assert that there is no such thing. But..." Changsun Wuji paused for a while, and then said: "I am afraid that even His Majesty will inevitably accept small favors, not to mention that courtiers only occasionally take care of relatives. How dare you guarantee that there will never be such a thing?" ("Old Tang Book Changsun Wuji Biography": "Wuji said: 'Face and selfishness have been unavoidable since ancient times, but with the gradual sanctification, everyone is open to the public. It is said that there must be no such thing. A small collection of favors, I am afraid that your majesty will not be unavoidable, and how dare you say no to your relatives?!'") Gaozong Li Zhi never expected that Changsun Wuji would admit the rationality and legality of "receiving favors" without shame, and even teased him in a mocking tone.Does this sound like something a prime minister should say?This would be unimaginable in the Taizong era when the government was clean and honest, and everyone was self-denying and devoted to public service.Changsun Wuji neither dared to say such a thing in front of Taizong, nor dared to speak in such a tone! Now Li Zhi finally understands that in front of his uncle, minister of command, grand elder and chief prime minister of the empire Sun Wuji, he will always be a nephew who will not grow up, and a young master who is not qualified to govern independently! At that moment, a strong sense of sadness and righteous indignation surged in Li Zhi's heart. But he also felt deeply helpless. Li Zhi didn't say anything more. Because he already has the answer. He knew that today's imperial court does not have cronies, but an unprecedentedly powerful political force; if there is any "minister's conspiracy", then this minister is undoubtedly Changsun Wuji, and his conspiracy is to evade and steal The power should belong to the emperor. Li Zhi found out sadly——now he is at best a vain shadow emperor, and only Changsun Wuji is the uncrowned king of the world today!