The Tang Dynasty: Wu Zetian made me her imperial tutor

Shangguan Wan'er was dressed as a scholar, in a light red robe with gold ribbons, her hands behind her back, her composed demeanor like that of a prince or nobleman.

Her hair was styled in a cloud-like bun, her eyebrows and eyes were like a painting, and a plum blossom was painted on her forehead, making her look even more graceful and refined.

"Shangshu Lang, how is the list of officials to be appointed coming through?"

"No ruling has been made yet... The proposed regulations require the Left Prime Minister's signature, but the Left Prime Minister seems to have objections to the list."

Li Zhiyuan was just worried about how to move this matter forward, and now that the Empress Dowager had sent an envoy, he could take advantage of the situation!

The so-called supplementary label is one part of the selection process.

The process of appointing and dismissing officials in the Tang Dynasty was called Quanxuan. Officials outside the official system were called Xiaoquan, which was handled by the Tianguansi Langzhong and formed its own system. Officials within the official system were very complicated and went through multiple layers.

The first step was selection. Due to the shortage of officials and the large number of people, Pei Xingjian established a long list of names in the second year of the Zongzhang era, making this process public.

The selection process for appointing officials through the imperial examination system did not involve screening, so it could be skipped and the process could proceed directly to the drafting stage.

This process is further divided into five steps—

The Southern Official of the Heavenly Court reviews candidate information.

The Heavenly Officials Office abolished and dismissed officials and their duties.

The Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel drafted the roster.

Wenchang's left and right signatures

Imperial review stamp.

The Southern Office and the abolishment/replacement were both under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, and were managed by two assistant directors. Li Zhiyuan was in charge of the abolishment/replacement, so he was the one who initially drafted the proposal.

The Left and Right Ministers of Wenchang were the former Left and Right Assistant Ministers of the Ministry of Personnel, namely Wu Chengsi and Cen Changqian.

These two should have only needed to sign one document, but the former was in charge of the Heavenly Officials at the time, which blocked the process.

Li Zhiyuan guessed that the Empress Dowager must be anxious, which was why he sent Shangguan Wan'er. He decided to explain the whole story to her.

Wan'er smiled slightly: "I just asked the Duke of Zhou, and he said they are waiting for the Minister of Personnel to make adjustments as appropriate."

"Wait for me?" Li Zhiyuan's anger flared.

I really want to send my regards to Wu Chengsi's entire family...

They were also afraid that the Empress Dowager would disagree.

He immediately exposed the truth: "I submitted two versions last month, and another one today. They have been reviewed and approved by the Vice Minister, but both have been rejected by the Left Chancellor without any explanation..."

"This is a matter of official business for ministers, and I have no right to interfere, nor will the Empress Dowager interfere," Wan'er immediately interrupted.

She reached her right hand out from behind her back, offering a rolled-up piece of paper, a smile playing on her lips:

"I came here after hearing a good poem. Mr. Li comes from a distinguished family, so I suppose he also enjoys poetry and literature."

Li Zhiyuan unfolded it and took a look...

It was that poem, "Appreciating Peonies".

The paper rolls faintly exuded a fragrance. It was said that Lady Shangguan was an avid book collector, and she would soak all her favorite poems and essays in flower juice to keep them from being eaten by bookworms all year round.

But she was an imperial concubine; she wouldn't send a poem without a reason. It was clearly hinting at something…

"I also have a poem, please take a look..." Li Zhiyuan handed over the list of names to be annotated.

Wan'er didn't say anything, but took the list. Her bright eyes lit up, and her lips pursed slightly.

The Empress Dowager has always refrained from interfering in the affairs of her ministers as a sign of respect, so this must be expressed in a subtle way.

Dengdengdeng-

At this moment, a clerk entered the hall and announced, "Minister Shangshu, the Left Chancellor has sent someone here."

Li Zhiyuan immediately understood that Shangguan Cairen had gone to ask Wu Chengsi first, and he was also anxious...

Wan'er put down the register and said calmly, "Minister Shang, I have never been here."

She glanced around, then strode quickly toward the screen on one side of the hall, her figure graceful and her movements extremely light.

The man sent by Wu Chengsi was in his thirties, burly and looking like a servant, but he was wearing a Shu brocade blue robe. He must have been a powerful retainer of the prime minister who had obtained his position through connections.

He gave only a slight bow, speaking very rudely: "Minister, please dismiss your subordinates!"

Once everyone has cleared out, let's get straight to the point:

"The Left Chancellor ordered me to convey a message: the Minister of Personnel is in charge of selecting officials, which carries great power and responsibility. He should adhere to the duties of a subject and maintain impartiality."

"Although this year's top scholar is highly talented, the official rank he is granted must still be in accordance with regulations, and should not be disregarded because of his personal qualities."

"Furthermore, there may be talented individuals who are not listed here. The Minister should not only look at the top of the list and ignore the rest."

As he spoke, he took out a piece of paper from his pocket and slowly unfolded it in front of Li Zhiyuan.

It's a list of names—

Wang Gou, Wen Tui, Huo Zi...

Li Zhiyuan had barely glanced at the paper before he wanted to look at it a second time, but it was immediately put away and tucked into the servant's arms.

"The message has been delivered. It is the duty of the Minister to revise the list as soon as possible, so as not to delay the Empress Dowager's appointment of personnel."

The servant came and went in a hurry, casually clasped his hands in a bow, and then turned and left.

Li Zhiyuan watched his retreating figure and smiled happily.

…………

Half an hour later, at Huiyou Hall.

Today is the first day of the lunar month. The Empress Dowager first held court in the Zhenguan Hall in the central court, and then returned to the inner court to summon the ministers.

These past two days, she has especially enjoyed coming here because there is a pond in front of the hall, with golden chrysanthemums and lotus flowers growing in the water, and peonies planted along the edge of the pond, and the peonies are in full bloom.

The Great Cloud Sutra was examined by Xue Huaiyi and his team, and it was verified to be correct. This sutra was too obscure and had been overlooked before.

Before he could even be rewarded for his great achievement, he wrote another excellent poem, seemingly intentionally or unintentionally building up his own reputation...

Chu Yu is truly loyal!

He is both highly talented and trustworthy.

Such a person was stuck in the selection process...

"Only the peony is truly a national beauty; when it blooms, it stirs the capital..." Fengxian, what do you think of this poem?

Fengxian was the courtesy name of Wu Chengsi. Wu Zetian would call him that when she was unhappy.

When he's happy, he calls him "Da Lang".

Wu Chengsi suddenly straightened up, swallowed hard, his throat bobbed, and a little sweat beaded on his neck.

"His poems are very well written, so I have also given him ten thousand coins to hire people to buy paper and copy his poems, so as to help him become famous."

Wu Zetian smiled faintly: "Then what do you think of Lu Chuyu's talent and learning?"

Wu Chengsi replied, "During the palace examination, I discussed history and politics with the prime minister, which was quite remarkable and deserves my top ranking."

"If that's the case, why did you deliberately make things difficult for him during the court hearing the other day?" Wu Zetian's tone remained calm.

The sharp edge in his words gradually became apparent.

The matter of questioning Lu Jun's genealogy the day before yesterday was noticed by many people, and naturally could not be hidden from the Empress Dowager.

Wu Chengsi could only reply, "After the Lu family of Wu Commandery entered the Tang Dynasty, only the Taiwei branch under Lu Jianzhi and the Dantu branch under Lu Dunxin obtained people. I was just curious..."

"If you're curious, shouldn't you listen to him finish? Why did you interrupt him again?" Wu Zetian's voice turned cold.

Wu Chengsi was about to argue when he saw a cold glint in his eyes...

It felt like an ice pick piercing through!

Wu Zetian descended the steps and immediately demanded, "What personal grudge do you have against Lu Chuyu? Speak!"

"I have no personal grudge against him. I simply invited him to a banquet out of goodwill, but he rudely refused..." Wu Chengsi chose to be honest.

He knew very well that with his aunt's abilities, there was nothing she couldn't find out if she wanted to know.

"Hmph! Did he insult you or mock you? You invited him, and he didn't go. What kind of rudeness is that?"

Wu Zetian's gaze was sharp and intense, like a mountain pressing down on him, giving Wu Chengsi no chance to speak.

"Do you even know what the duties of a prime minister are?!"

"They are here to assist me in handling state affairs, to recruit talented individuals for me, and to coordinate the relationships among the officials!"

"Since you know Lu Chuyu is talented, why publicly suppress him over such a trivial matter?"

"Which truly talented person doesn't have a temper? Which member of the aristocratic class doesn't have pride?"

"Even when I speak to my ministers, I have to save face for them so that they will be truly loyal to me."

"With your limited capacity for understanding, if you weren't my nephew, do you think you could have become prime minister?"

"Are you deliberately defying my will by insisting on keeping Lu Chuyu's rank, or are you trying to make me unpopular?"

"That's utterly absurd!"

What happened to leaving some face for others...?

Wu Chengsi was sweating profusely from the scolding and didn't dare to lift his head, afraid of being scorched by his aunt's burning gaze.

When Shangguan Wan'er saw the Empress Dowager angrily rebuking her own nephew, she waved to the eunuchs and maids and stood far away in a corner of the hall to avoid embarrassing the prime minister.

But the Empress Dowager's voice was very loud and could be heard clearly from a distance, which was very pleasant to listen to.

Each curse is like a warm breeze, carrying the fragrance of flowers, soothing the soul.

Wu Chengsi originally thought that granting Lu Jun the rank of Senior Ninth Grade was in accordance with regulations and there would be no problem.

Only then did I realize that the Empress Dowager valued this young man highly, and that simply having Zhao Zhang was not enough.

He quickly responded, "Your Majesty, I know I was wrong. Lu Chuyu is exceptionally talented and can be promoted to... Senior Censor of the Eighth Rank."

"Hmm?" A hint of doubt flashed across Wu Zetian's face.

"As the prime minister, how can you be so lacking in judgment in appointing people? Does Lu Chuyu have the qualifications and experience to be appointed as an imperial censor? If he is appointed as an imperial censor, should I send him out to supervise?"

The three questions were like three sharp blades, each one stabbing into Wu Chengsi's face.

Wu Chengsi's face was flushed red as he bowed his head and said, "Your subject understands. Being appointed... as a remonstrator is most appropriate."

Li Zhiyuan's decision to appoint "from the eighth rank to the Left Remonstrance Official" was not merely based on rank.

The Shiyi was a court official, a regular attendant official who was required to participate in the daily court assembly and was a close advisor to the emperor.

According to his duties, he was in charge of offering advice and remonstrances, and he was aware of all the gains and losses of the court and spoke out about all the benefits and problems of the people.

If any imperial edict or government policy is inappropriate, one can offer advice in court on major matters and submit a written memorial on minor matters.

They could also accompany the emperor and recommend talented individuals.

What the Empress Dowager valued was Lu Jun's extraordinary insight, and she wanted to keep him by her side to consult and discuss state affairs.

Therefore, Shangguan Wan'er was pleased to see Li Zhiyuan's name on the list, but Wu Chengsi was not.

Only now did I fully realize...

Wu Zetian waved her long sleeves and said, "Enough! Get to work! As both the prime minister and the head of the Wenchang Terrace, you must diligently study government affairs and not be inferior to your subordinates!"

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will do my utmost to govern with all my might," Wu Chengsi replied through gritted teeth.

Just as I was about to get up and take my leave, I was called back.

"Wait, are you just going to leave like this? Aren't you going to tell me how to handle the other matters?" Wu Zetian's cold eyes flashed again.

Wu Chengsi was taken aback: "As for other matters... I will personally go to the Wenchang Terrace to complete the drafting and present the list."

"Hmph!" Wu Zetian shook her head.

Listen carefully, three things!

"First, your followers openly solicited favors from the ministers, interfering in the selection of officials. Go back and have them flogged forty times!"

"The imperial court has its own rules. When did it become the place of a mere servant to order around ministers? If this happens again, he will be beaten to death!"

"Secondly, your retainers are not up to par. They will be suspended from the selection process for a year, and their appointments will be reassessed next year."

"I have asked you to recommend talented individuals, but if the recommended person is both incompetent and immoral, I will show no mercy!"

"Thirdly, Li Zhiyuan upheld integrity and principles, and after completing this matter, he was promoted to the position of Director of the Ministry of Personnel."

Go!