Chapter 685: Startling a Pool of Gulls and Herons

Concubine Wei, Wei Gui'er, her first husband Li Min once followed Yang Xuangan in rebellion.

When Li Min's rebellion failed and he was killed, Wei relied on the reputation of the Jingzhao Wei family to sever ties with Li Min and avoid punishment.

Later, when Li Shimin led his troops to attack Wang Shichong and captured Luoyang, he heard of Concubine Wei's fame and took her into the palace, making her one of his concubines.

Along with Wei Gui'er, her cousin Wei Nizi was also taken into the palace.

Before entering Li Shimin's palace, Wei Ni Zi had been married to someone else, the son of Li Shimin's enemy, Wang Shichong.

In other words, Li Shimin killed Wei Ni Zi's husband, then abducted Wei Ni Zi, and at the same time, he also abducted Wei Ni Zi's cousin Wei Gui'er.

No matter which sister was taken away first, in short, both sisters became widows before being taken away by Li Shimin.

Later, Li Shimin ascended the throne and became emperor. Wei Gui'er, with her beauty, her ability to serve men, and the support of the Jingzhao Wei family, became Concubine Wei, one of the four concubines in the harem.

And because of her fair skin and good looks, Wei Ni Zi was given a position among the nine concubines - Zhaorong.

The Wei cousins ​​occupied two of the four concubines and nine imperial concubines, which was not uncommon in Emperor Taizong of Tang's harem.

For example, in addition to the daughter of Emperor Yang of Sui who was canonized as Concubine Yang, there was another daughter of the Yang family of Hongnong who was canonized as Concubine Yang.

This is the advantage of being from a prominent family.

The more offspring you have, the greater the probability of having beautiful women.

For example, Zheng of Xingyang married Zheng Guanyin to Li Jiancheng, but later gave her beautiful daughter Zheng Yuerong to Li Shimin.

Zheng Yuerong and Zheng Guanyin were also cousins. Later, when Li Shimin ascended the throne, Zheng Yuerong was also named Zhaoyi, and her status was even higher than that of Wei Nizi.

Therefore, at any time, beautiful women are an important strategic resource.

this day.

Wei Guier called Wei Nizi to her palace. The two sisters sat behind the table and whispered to each other:
"Little sister, as long as I can be the most beautiful woman in the world, the harem will belong to us sisters in the future."

Wei Gui'er tried hard to paint a big picture, hoping to win over her cousin Wei Nizi and help her consolidate her position in the harem.

Since Wei Ni Zi had no children, he was not that interested in power.

No matter what, since his cousin said so, Wei Nizi could only agree:

"Don't worry, sister. I know what's going on..."

Wei Gui'er was particularly favored by the emperor because she was good at serving men.

While in the harem, Wei Ni Zi still had to rely on the support of his cousin Wei Gui'er.

The two sisters were chatting when suddenly the eunuch of Hanyuan Palace received Li Chengqian's order and hurried over to report:
"Your Majesty, His Majesty is furious and wants to send His Highness the Ninth and Tenth Princes to their fiefdoms."

"What's the situation? What's the reason? Why is Your Majesty angry?"

Wei Gui'er was two years older than Li Shimin and had experienced a lot of hardships. Although she was shocked, she remained calm when she heard the sudden news.

After the eunuch reported the situation clearly, Wei Guier also had someone reward him with a jade pendant.

After sending the eunuch away, Wei Gui'er hurriedly sent someone to find her son, asking her son Li Shen to go to Hanyuan Hall to apologize.

But she herself just continued to sit still.

When Wei Nizi saw this, he couldn't help but ask curiously:

"Sister, His Majesty wants Shen'er to go to the vassal state, why aren't you anxious?"

"Your Majesty has issued an order, what can I do?"

Wei Gui'er had some guesses in her mind, but it was inconvenient for her to tell Wei Nizi, so she could only pretend to be obedient to the will of heaven.

Wei Guier had two daughters and one son.

The eldest daughter was born to her and her ex-husband Li Min. She was named Princess of Dingxiang County and was betrothed to Ashina Zhong, Duke of Xue.

The second daughter, Princess Linchuan, whose maiden name was Li Yi and whose courtesy name was Meng Jiang, was fifteen years old this year and had been betrothed to Zhou Daowu, the Duke of Qiao.

Zhou Daowu was the son of Zhou Shaofan.

Zhou Shaofan was Li Shimin's trusted and beloved general. His relationship with Li Shimin was closer than that with Cheng Yaojin, Qin Qiong and Hei Yuchi.

Unfortunately, Zhou Shaofan died in the seventh year of Zhenguan.

After Zhou Shaofan passed away, Li Shimin brought the young Zhou Daowu to the palace to take care of him.

This treatment far exceeds that of other royal relatives and nobles.

Originally, Li Shimin planned to let Zhou Daowu marry Princess Linchuan after the mourning period was over.

Who would have thought that man proposes, God disposes.

Two or three years ago, Emperor Gaozu and Empress Zhangsun died of illness one after another.

Princess Linchuan had to observe mourning for her grandfather and stepmother, so their marriage was delayed again.

By this year, Princess Linchuan is already fifteen years old, and she has become the oldest princess in the palace.

Li Shen was Wei Gui'er's only son. He was given the title of Prince Ji and served as the Governor of Xiangzhou.

He is only eleven years old this year. Because his mother is favored in the harem, and the previous Empress Zhangsun treated other concubines and children in the harem with great care, Li Shen has never suffered any hardship since childhood. He has developed a character as gentle as jade and a character as bright as the sun, becoming a clear stream among many princes.

If it weren't for the need to maintain the system of primogeniture, Su Mingzhe would have wanted to make Li Shen the crown prince.

Today, Li Shen did not go to Hongwenguan for class. It was not because he did not want to go, but because he was dragged by several brothers and sisters to the Imperial Garden to appreciate the flowers.

It is now mid-March and the flowers are in bloom.

A group of princes, princesses, and royal family members made an appointment and gathered in the imperial garden to enjoy the flowers, drink, and play games.

When Wei Gui'er sent people over, these people were all dumbfounded when they heard that they were being "inspected".

Nearly twenty princes and royal family members, each with a pale face, ran to the entrance of Hanyuan Hall in a hurry and knelt down to apologize.

"Father!"

When Li Chengqian heard the pleas for mercy outside, he also knelt down in front of the imperial desk and wanted to open his mouth to plead for the group of people outside. "There's no need to talk about this matter anymore. If you want to plead for them, just kneel down outside too!"

Su Mingzhe finally found a reason to take advantage of the situation and discipline these disobedient little brats.

Naturally, they won't be let off so easily.

Seeing that Su Mingzhe was so "hard-hearted", Li Chengqian could only bow and then ran outside the hall to kneel down with his brothers and clan members.

At this point, everyone saw Crown Prince Li Chengqian kneeling down with them. Only then did they realize that the emperor was really angry and they no longer dared to beg for mercy.

However, these people did not dare to walk and could only kneel upright.

A group of royal family members knelt in front of the Hanyuan Hall. Such a big thing naturally could not be hidden from the ministers in the court.

However, Su Mingzhe's methods could scare these royal family members, but they could not scare these thousand-year-old foxes.

Fang Xuanling, Zhangsun Wuji, Tang Jian and others all laughed when they heard about this.

Only the fathers of the royal family members came to see the emperor and plead for mercy for their children after hearing the news.

On the other hand, when Wei Gui'er heard that her son was kneeling in front of Hanyuan Hall, she began to be unsure of what the emperor meant.

However, she herself did not dare to show up and beg for mercy.

After thinking it over, Wei Guier set her sights on her daughter, Princess Linchuan: "Yi Yi, your brother is kneeling in front of Hanyuan Palace. Your father has always loved you. Go and plead for your brother."

"I'll go right away, kid."

Princess Linchuan was very intelligent and naturally realized that her father was just trying to scare everyone.

However, his mother was too concerned and confused.

Princess Linchuan also felt sorry for her brother, so she agreed to go to Hanyuan Palace to plead for mercy.

However, before going, Linchuan did not dare to guarantee that he could achieve success alone.

So, before leaving, she turned around again, brought several sisters of similar age with her, and came to the Hanyuan Hall together, knelt down, and pleaded for everyone.

Su Mingzhe heard that his daughters also ran over and knelt down to beg for mercy, especially his beloved Sizi. Then he walked out of Hanyuan Hall and said with a gloomy face:

"Look, look, they all look listless, they really have something to show for themselves..."

Su Mingzhe scolded and cursed for a while, and finally said:
"Each of you, after you go back, must reflect on your mistakes behind closed doors, write an independent reflection paper, and then write a policy paper on governing your fiefdom. Anyone who doesn't write well will not have to attend classes or go to their fiefdom. Just keep writing until I am satisfied!"

Hearing Su Mingzhe's words.

Li Zhi, Li Shen, and other clan members were not worried at all. Instead, they kowtowed repeatedly to express their gratitude.

The reason why they don't care about writing self-reflection letters and policy essays.

The main reason, of course, is that everyone has a writer at home, and they think that when they get home, they can just find someone to write for them.

Then, Su Mingzhe spoke to Li Chengqian and Zhang Ananda, asking Li Chengqian, as well as the princes and dukes living in Chang'an City, to submit a policy paper on governing their fiefdoms.

This is the real use of the topic.

When the bigwigs from the Secretariat, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of State Affairs heard Su Mingzhe's order, their eyes lit up and the efficiency of their work suddenly increased.

There must be a demon in the abnormal situation.

In the past, both Li Shimin and Emperor Gaozu were particularly fond of the children of the royal family.

If a member of the royal family made a mistake, he would usually just be lightly reprimanded or scolded, and that would be the end of it.

If court officials made mistakes, they would be fined for minor offenses or demoted for serious offenses.

Now, Su Mingzhe has actually started to be strict with the princes and dukes. No one would believe him if he said there was no trick.

At this time, some smart ministers began to think of the recent rumors circulating inside and outside the court: the emperor was preparing to implement demotion and inheritance.

In the past, everyone was still wondering whether this matter was groundless or true.

Now it seems that the emperor has been thinking about demotion and inheritance for a long time, and it is inevitable.

The ministers' ability of association and guessing is what is called "one leaf falling, and you can tell the coming of autumn."

The Shizhong and Jiudilang Chu Suiliang recorded everything that happened that day, word for word.

Su Mingzhe felt helpless when he saw Chu Suiliang recording his every word and action.

This is the role of the historian.

Because he had an attendant by his side, the emperor had almost no privacy.

Even at night, when the emperor's work was finished, the eunuchs continued to record the emperor's actions.

Yesterday, Su Mingzhe left Wang De and prepared to go to the Ye Ting Palace alone to find Zheng Guanyin and Dai Ji.

However, before leaving, he still informed Wang De.

On the surface, Su Mingzhe told Wang De to go to Dai Ji to find him if he had any problems.

In fact, what he meant was to let Wang De remember that he would rest at Dai Ji's place tonight.

Later, when Dai Ji became pregnant, this record became evidence.

By the afternoon.

The news that the emperor was punishing the princes and clan members had begun to spread throughout Chang'an City.

The people who reacted most strongly to this incident were not the princes and dukes who lamented that they had been implicated.

Nor are they the court ministers, civil and military nobles.

But those literati and poets who lived in Chang'an City.

These people felt that their chance had come, and they all sharpened their pens, preparing to write an excellent policy paper in order to succeed in their submission and become famous in Chang'an.

(End of this chapter)