Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 147 The Queen's Comfort

On the third day after Zhaoling surrendered, Li Zhi convened an emergency court meeting.

After the court meeting ended, the ministers walked out of the Liangyi Hall.

The generals all seemed very happy, gathering in groups of three or four and chatting happily.

He seemed very satisfied with the outcome of this court meeting.

The civil officials all had worried and solemn expressions, and many of them glared at Li Jingxuan who was walking side by side with Li Yifu.

Chang Sun Chong watched coldly and took it all in.

Recently, he did not express any opinions when attending court, and he went to and left the office on time.

Do your job well and don't let others find fault with you.

Don't get involved in anything that is not your responsibility.

They will not work overtime, and all they pursue is a "normal" life.

This was the method Zhangsun Wuji taught him, and it has proven to be effective in practice recently.

The various disturbances in the court had basically nothing to do with him.

After he returned to Zongzheng Temple, he began to work.

The Zongzheng Temple was responsible for royal affairs and often had to deal with members of the royal family.

It is leisurely, but it can be troublesome sometimes.

Of course, those troubles had nothing to do with Chang Sun Chong.

He had a special status and Changsun Wuji's prestige was still there, so most of the royal family members were quite polite to him.

Chang Sun Chong only took half an hour to finish some trivial matters.

Then, I began to appreciate a piece of calligraphy by Yu Shinan that I had just acquired recently.

The hall outside the public housing complex was very noisy, with many officials discussing what had just happened at the court meeting.

Someone else came in and invited him out to discuss, but Chang Sun Chong declined.

When the noon drum sounded, Chang Sun Chong put down his books, packed up his things, and prepared to leave the yamen and go home.

After leaving the palace, Changsun Chong did not return to his own residence, but went straight to the Duke of Zhao's mansion.

He was also filled with confusion and puzzlement at the court meeting just now. He disdained to discuss with others and only wanted to hear the opinion of his father, Changsun Wuji.

When they arrived at Duke Zhao's mansion and entered the study, Changsun Wuji was not in the room.

After asking the housekeeper, I learned that Changsun Wuji was discussing academic matters with some old scholars in the back garden.

Recently, Changsun Wuji seems to have adapted to this leisurely life, which makes Changsun Chong very worried.

He was worried that his father was getting older, his ambition would be worn away, and he would gradually become content with peace and quiet.

In this way, when the fifth prince was made the crown prince, Empress Wu's power became increasingly stable, and the Changsun clan would be at her mercy.

Changsun Chong often came to see Changsun Wuji and told him about the affairs of the court, just to let his father focus his energy on the court again.

It's a pity that it has little effect.

After waiting for two quarters of an hour, Changsun Wuji finally entered the study.

"What's the matter today that makes you disturb my leisure?" Changsun Wuji walked in, waving a fan.

"Father, did you know that the day before yesterday, His Majesty was offering sacrifices at Zhaoling Mausoleum and Su Dingfang surrendered?" Chang Sun Chong went straight to the point.

Changsun Wuji sat down behind the desk and closed his folding fan in his hand.

"know."

Chang Sun Chong said, "Your Majesty convened a court meeting today and mentioned the drawbacks of the control system and wanted to amend it. Did you know?"

Changsun Wuji said, "I haven't been to court yet, so how can I know?"

Chang Sun Chong took a few steps closer and said, "Your Majesty has begun to revise the system left by our ancestors. Don't you intend to intervene?"

Changsun Wuji remained silent.

Chang Sun Chong said, "The control system was implemented very well during the reign of the previous emperor. Rebellions were rare in various places, and the Tang Dynasty gained a great deal of territory. The Helu rebellion was caused by Your Majesty's recent accession to the throne, yet Your Majesty attributes it to the control system. Isn't this putting the cart before the horse?"

"Your Majesty is eager to make progress and disdains the things left by the late emperor. What can I do?"

There was a hint of helplessness in Changsun Wuji's voice.

Chang Sun Chong said, "Although Your Majesty has used Helu's arrogant speech at Zhaoling as an excuse, there is still strong opposition in the court. Why don't you take this opportunity to unite the court officials and put pressure on Your Majesty?"

Changsun Wuji glanced at him.

"I just came down from the fire. Are you trying to carry your old father back again?"

Chang Sun Chong said anxiously, "If you don't find an opportunity to take action now, His Majesty may not re-employ you."

Changsun Wuji waved his hand and said, "Be patient and wait, there may still be a chance. If you act too hastily, you will end up ruining your own life!"

Chang Sun Chong sighed and said, "If we wait any longer, I don't think we'll have another chance."

Zhang Sun Wuji suddenly asked, "What policies did His Majesty change in the court today?"

Chang Sun Chong said, "From now on, officials in vassal states and counties can inherit the title, but this requires approval from the imperial court and a thorough review and evaluation. Wouldn't this force those vassal states to rebel?"

Changsun Wuji remained noncommittal and asked, "Anything else?"

"Your Majesty also requires that the vassal states pay a certain amount of taxes and undertake a small amount of military service and corvee labor."

Zhang Sun Wuji was surprised and asked, "Didn't the ministers object?"

"Of course they objected! But His Majesty said these new policies would only apply to the Mengchi Protectorate and would not affect other areas for the time being. Later, a group of military generals and Li Jingxuan also voiced their support, and it was finally passed."

Zhang Sun Wuji pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "The Turks have just been pacified. Even if they rebel again, there is nothing to fear. It seems that Your Majesty still has some considerations."

Chang Sun Chong shook his head and said, "If this system is implemented, the Turks will definitely resent the court and will definitely rebel again in the future." Chang Sun Wuji said slowly, "If we don't change the policy, do you think they will not rebel?"

Chang Sun Chong was slightly startled and asked, "Father, do you support His Majesty's reforms?"

"No, I've recently been communicating with great scholars and have discovered that I was too narrow-minded and arbitrary in my previous actions. Whether Your Majesty is right or wrong, perhaps only time will tell."

Chang Sun Chong said anxiously, "Father, please don't be influenced by those old scholars! They don't serve in the court, so what do they know?"

Changsun Wuji shook his head and said, "Because I'm not involved, I can see it more clearly."

Chang Sun Chong said, "People from the mountains and wilds are only good at talking big. Isn't that what you said before?"

Changsun Wuji did not give a direct answer, but just waved his hand.

"Now that you've said everything you wanted to say, go back and don't come to me again."

Turn around and leave.

……

The new policy of the Tang Dynasty was quickly issued by the Ministry of War and sent to all the major protectorates and military governorates.

The vassal prefectures and counties of the Tang Dynasty were all under the jurisdiction of the local protectorates and military governorates.

After receiving the official letter, the governors and governors of various places immediately ordered people to forward the draft policy letter to the local vassal states and counties.

Jiannan Road, Kangzhou.

After Dongnu returned to the Tang Dynasty, the Dongnu Kingdom area was divided into four states by the Tang Dynasty, and the Queen of Dongnu was appointed as the Deputy Protector-General, who was specifically responsible for governing these four states.

This arrangement is actually the same as the Tang Dynasty's resettlement of the Khitans.

However, Dongnu was smaller than Khitan, so the queen was only appointed as deputy protector general, and the governors of four states were all held by the chiefs of various Dongnu tribes.

When the Tang Dynasty's decree was issued, all the chiefs came to the palace of Kanghezhou where the Queen of Dongnu lived to discuss the matter.

Queen Binjiu received everyone in the hall.

She had just returned to the Tang Dynasty and was still loyal to it, so she tried her best to appease everyone.

"The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty said that we can still inherit the title of chieftain. It's just a little more troublesome than before. This is actually good for us."

One chief asked, "What's the benefit?"

The Queen of the Eastern Women said, "In the past, the provincial governors and chiefs of each region nominated themselves and reported to the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, our status is not protected by the Tang Dynasty."

When everyone thought about it, it seemed to make sense.

In the past, even if a traitor seized the throne or became a chief, he would report it to the Tang Dynasty. As long as he did not rebel against the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty would still confer the title on him without interfering with the internal affairs.

In the future, the Tang Dynasty will need to assess and certify them. If the subordinates want to seize the position of chief, they will have to think twice about whether they will be recognized by the Tang Dynasty.

In addition, even if they were overthrown by the lower class, the Tang Dynasty might send troops to help them regain their status.

Having said that, compared with the previous freedom, this new process assessment is definitely a little worse.

But on second thought, if it weren't for the protection of the Tang Dynasty, they would have been annexed by Tubo long ago.

Now that he can still serve as a chief and lead the people, why should he go against the policies of the Tang Dynasty and bring disaster upon himself?
After being appeased by Queen Binjiu, the chiefs all accepted the conditions.

Although the chiefs of other vassal states and counties were slightly dissatisfied, they all accepted the new policies of the Tang Dynasty.

Only the situation of the nine Tiele clans was slightly different.

The Tiele followed the Xueyantuo in a rebellion, which was suppressed by the Tang Dynasty.

The Tang Dynasty established six prefectures and seven states in the area of ​​the nine Tiele tribes, which were managed by the Yanran Protectorate, with Runpo as the deputy protector.

Although Runpo also summoned the chiefs and tried to appease them.

However, his influence in the Tiele tribe was far less than that of Queen Binjiu.

Moreover, the chiefs of the Tiele tribes had long wanted to rebel against the Tang Dynasty. After learning the news, the six major chiefs found Bilidu and instigated him to rebel against the Tang Dynasty immediately.

At the foot of the Tianshan Mountains, in a Uighur camp, after hearing the instigation of others, Bilidu glanced at the six people one by one.

"Do you all agree to rebel against the Tang Dynasty now?"

Fu Kun shouted, "The Tang people are going too far. We need their approval to lead our own tribe and become chiefs? How can this be justified?"

Bi Li Du said: "Have you thought about how to act?"

Fu Kun said, "Kill Runpo first, then attack the Yanran Protectorate. There are only 20,000 soldiers defending the Yanran Protectorate. If we attack together and take them by surprise, we will surely succeed!"

Bi Li Du said, "Then have you considered that the Tang Dynasty has left 30,000 elite troops in Anxi, and the new Anxi Protector General Yuan Shouli has a close relationship with Runpo. What if he leads his army to support us?"

"This……"

It was Yuan Shouli who led 10,000 Tang troops to defeat the rebellious Tiele people and supported Runpo to become the leader.

The Tiele people were all very afraid of him.

What's more, the 30,000 Anxi troops had just defeated the Western Turks and beheaded more than 100,000 people. They were a truly fierce army.

No one wants to fight such an enemy.

Another chief said, "Do you mean to accept the Tang people's orders?"

Bi Li Du said calmly, "Why are you panicking? The Tang people's decrees have no impact on your generation of leaders. The succession of leaders after you will require the Tang people's approval."

Fu Kun was stunned for a moment: "That's true."

Bi Lidu stroked the lynx's ears on his shoulder and said in a deep voice, "We are definitely not the only ones dissatisfied with the Tang Dynasty's policy. Let's wait until other vassal states and counties start to make trouble, and then we will act accordingly."

Everyone looked at each other for a while, then said in unison, "That's right, let others take the lead, we won't suffer the consequences."

It’s a pity that the Tang Dynasty’s military power is at its peak right now, and no one dares to be the first to step forward.

Li Zhi's first policy of control and reform was successfully implemented.

(End of this chapter)