Tang Dynasty: A Guide to Avoiding Pitfalls for Li Er at the Start

Chapter 190 Is His Majesty planning to wipe them all out in one fell swoop?

The man cupped his hands in greeting and introduced himself.

"My surname is Lu, my given name is Xuan, my courtesy name is Xiaozhi, and I am currently serving as a Supervising Secretary in the Secretariat."

Lu Xuan?

Wen He racked her brains for a while, but couldn't find any historical records about this person.

But he still politely returned the greeting: "So it's you, Censor Lu. My apologies."

No wonder this person is not recorded in history.

Although the position of "Geishizhong" was a fifth-rank official position, it did not have fixed authority in the Tang Dynasty. Moreover, the title "Zhi" was added before the official title, which meant that it was a temporary position.

Those who are close to the emperor and are given important positions generally serve the emperor, are in charge of the affairs of the Secretariat, return or reject improper memorials and edicts, and review the Three Departments.

Or it could be handling and appealing cases of injustice, reviewing the appointment of officials below the sixth rank, or serving as an invigilator for the imperial examinations.

If they are not in use, they are usually responsible for reviewing the issuance of post station vouchers and supervising the affairs of the Hongwen Hall.

I remember it was during the Ming Dynasty that Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang established the authority of the Censor-in-Chief. However, at that time, the Censor-in-Chief was also demoted from the fifth rank to the seventh rank.

"No, no, I wouldn't dare. I wonder if you have the time, sir? I've arranged a banquet at Chunyan Tower and would like to invite you to join me. How about we go together?"

His smile was gentle and refined, like a spring breeze.

However, it seemed that he didn't mean to ask Wen He to refuse.

But he underestimated Wen He.

They dared not go against Li Shimin because the entire Tang Dynasty belonged to him.

The rest are nobody.

"I'm sorry, something urgent happened at home. Please excuse me."

Wen He smiled and then walked past Lu Xuan.

Upon hearing this, the latter's smile faded slightly, and he spoke in a more serious tone.

"This is a representative of the Lu family from Wen County!"

"I also represent the Wen family!"

Wen He didn't turn her head, but raised her hand and waved.

If you're so capable, why don't you try blocking the road like Dugu Chen, or come knocking on our door like Yin Hongzhi?

The aristocratic families were truly remarkable.

You should try to gain the upper hand over Guanzhong first.

In the past, powerful families were indeed not to be trifled with. They had private armies, money, and grain, and each family built a fortified village comparable to a county town.

But now the powerful families are being suffocated by the pressure from Guanzhong.

They can only rely on their ancestors' reputation.
If it weren't for Li Zhi and Wu Zetian's efforts to suppress the Guanzhong region, they would have perished long ago.

Watching Wen He leave, Lu Xuan's refined demeanor could no longer be maintained.

He flicked his sleeve hard and muttered angrily under his breath, "You country bumpkin!"

Shortly after.

Inside the Li Zheng Hall.

"The Lu family is losing their composure?" Li Shimin smiled amiably.

Seeing this, Xiao Yu below could no longer sit still. He bowed to Li Shimin and said, "Your Majesty, these aristocratic people are probably trying to win over Wen County Magistrate. We must be wary of this."

"Xiao Qing is overthinking it. Jia Ying is a sensible child. Look, he politely declined. But how did Lu Xuan, Fang Qing, get into officialdom?"

Li Shimin turned his gaze to Fang Xuanling.

Upon hearing this, the latter replied, "Lu Xuan entered officialdom in the sixth year of the Wude era by passing the Mingjing examination."

It was not uncommon for members of the gentry to enter officialdom through the imperial examinations, and the Mingjing examination only tested knowledge of Confucian classics such as the Book of Rites and the Zuo Zhuan.

The exam is conducted in the form of a sutra reading test, and candidates must fill in six of the ten blanks in the sutra to pass.

Compared to the Jinshi and Xiucai examinations, it was insignificant.

It was just a back door that Li Yuan opened for the sons of aristocratic families back then.

"Xisha Island is short of a chief clerk, let him go."

"this."

Fang Xuanling looked at Li Shimin with surprise, pondered for a moment, and then offered his advice.

“Your Majesty, Lu Xuan does have some literary talent, and he was merely someone the Lu family put forward in this matter. To exile him like this is far too frivolous.”

"I'm afraid that everyone will be in danger in the future."

Fang Xuanling wanted to remind Li Shimin that there were many officials from aristocratic families in the court.

If it arouses public outrage, it may affect the operation of the imperial court.

"Exile? When did I say exile? This is a trial. If he does well, I will definitely recall him to Chang'an and give him an important position in the future."

Li Shimin spoke casually, but everyone present knew that if Lu Xuan went to Xisha Prefecture, he would surely be abandoned by the Lu family.

Return to Chang'an?
Perhaps it was only possible that he led his troops to the Turkic camp and killed Jieli.

Fang Xuanling wanted to persuade him further, but Li Shimin said coldly, "There is no need to discuss this matter any further."

Li Shimin didn't need to target Lu Xuan; he was making an example of him to warn others.

Your aristocratic families want to secretly contact Wen He and obtain papermaking and other technologies from him; that is tantamount to undermining my cause.

How could I tolerate this!

However, Lu Xuan also made Li Shimin realize a problem.

Imperial examination.

This examination system, which originated in the Han Dynasty and was improved by Emperor Yang of Sui, eventually became the current system for selecting officials.

It remains a ceremonial procession for members of the gentry and those from the Guanzhong region when they entered officialdom.

"Wen He is right. I should focus on the common people. But if those commoners become officials in the future, will they become another kind of aristocratic class?"

Li Shimin squinted, thinking of the word "balance".

To maintain imperial power, he balanced the various factions.

But the hardest thing in the world is balance.

'I wonder if future generations will be able to do this?'

He couldn't help but think of Wen He.

But he quickly shook his head.

'That brat may seem to know about the future, but he's completely ignorant about such things. That lazy brat is probably home sleeping right now.'

'We can't let that brat continue to be so lazy.'

He pondered for a moment and then said, “Minister Xiao, Minister Fang, Minister Du, I need to meet with some people tomorrow. I would like to trouble the three of you to inform them for me.”

The three people below were all taken aback when they heard who Li Shimin wanted to see.

He secretly wondered, 'Does His Majesty intend to wipe them all out in one fell swoop?'

After Li Shimin finished speaking, he ignored their shocked expressions.

His gaze shifted to the mountain of documents piled up on his desk, and Li Shimin felt a pang of envy for Wen He.

Previously, the 100 cavalry had raided the homes of some corrupt officials, and the money they obtained was barely enough to cover the construction of water conservancy projects in various counties within the pass.

But it's not enough.

Yan Lide was extremely busy at the Ministry of Works.

Now he can't even take care of things at the paper mill, and can only let Zhao Kai accompany Wen He every day.

After making his usual rounds of inspection of the paper mill, Wen He went home to teach the three little ones.

The next day after court.

Wen He tried to sneak home again, but Gao Yue stopped her.

“Wenxianzi, His Majesty summons you to the Lizheng Hall.”

"High-ranking official, my stomach hurts, I need to pee." Wen He pretended to be in pain, rubbing her stomach.

Gao Yue smiled and said, "There are imperial physicians in the palace."

"Uh, I suddenly feel much better, let's go."

Seeing that she couldn't keep up the act any longer, Wen He could only manage a couple of dry laughs.

Although he didn't know why Li Er had suddenly asked him to do something.

But he knew that it would be another deprivation of his precious rest time.

Being an official is really boring.

I'd rather go home and play with my three little ones.

On the way to Lizheng Hall, Wen He was accompanied by quite a few people.

One of them was an acquaintance I'd only met once.

When Wen He saw him, his gaze fell upon her.

After exchanging a smile, the latter walked over.

"Wenxianzi, it's been a long time."

"Minister Lu."

Indeed, this person was none other than Lu Chengqing, the Vice Minister of War who had met Wen He once before.

I met someone surnamed Lu yesterday, and another one came today.

He seems to have a special connection with the Lu family.

"I originally planned to seek out County Magistrate Wen after the court session to apologize for yesterday's incident, but I never expected to see him here."

Lu Chengqing bowed and said with a smile.

Wen He returned the greeting with a smile, saying, "It should be my fault for being impolite. I was in a hurry yesterday, so I couldn't keep our appointment. Please don't take offense."

"Yesterday's events were not the intention of the main branch of the Lu family. Lu Xuan was merely a member of a collateral branch, eager to make a name for himself, which is why he offended the magistrate of Wen County."

Lu Chengqing looked like he had come to apologize genuinely.

Wen He couldn't figure out what these people were thinking for a while.

In officialdom, you have to break down a single sentence and analyze it thoroughly to truly understand it.

Yesterday they suddenly sent someone to approach me.

Another one came today, saying he was here to apologize.

Wen He didn't believe for a second that there was no trickery involved in such a rapid change of mind.

Lu Chengqing seemed to see through Wen He's thoughts and chuckled, "My cousin has been transferred to Xishazhou today and set off from Chang'an this morning."

Xisha Prefecture?
Wen He was stunned for a moment, but he quickly remembered.

This place later became Dunhuang.

If you go now, you should be able to see the Mogao Caves built during the Former Qin Dynasty.

However, it certainly wasn't as spectacular as it was in later generations.

"They wanted to compete with us for profits, but they didn't expect His Majesty's favor towards the county. Now they've fallen into trouble and are reaping what they sowed."

Lu Chengqing smiled and spoke as if he were speaking from the heart.

It's not uncommon for aristocratic families to fight amongst themselves.

Those from the collateral branches also wanted to get rid of the main branch and seize power for themselves.

Lu Xuan looked to be about the same age as Lu Chengqing, but one was already the Vice Minister of War, while the other was just a dispensable Attendant Censor.

Now that he has been demoted to Xisha Prefecture, not a single person has come forward to speak up for him.

"So I hope you won't misunderstand, Mr. Wen." Lu Chengqing added when he saw that Wen He remained silent for a long time.

Wen He finally understood.

The Lu family was worried that he would interfere and cause them to lose the opportunity to trade with Li Shimin.

Having figured this out, Wen He secretly breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, saying, "It's nothing serious."

"Yes, it's nothing."

Upon hearing this, Lu Chengqing smiled and said.

Gao Yue, who was behind them, remained silent, but silently memorized their conversation.

While the two of them were talking, they had unknowingly walked to the outside of the Lizheng Hall.

Just as they arrived.

A number of people were waiting outside the door.

The vast majority of them were wearing scarlet round-necked robes, and there were also a few elderly men in purple robes.

A purple round-necked robe indicates an official rank of at least the third grade.

They were either ministers of a certain department, heads of three provinces, or the Three Dukes.

Apart from Yuwen Shi and a few others whom she had met at the Prince of Qin's residence, Wen He did not recognize any of the others.

What puzzled Wen He even more was what so many important officials were doing gathered here.
"Is this the Magistrate of Wen County?"

Suddenly, an old man in purple robes looked at Wen He from the crowd and asked in a deep voice.

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone around him turned to look at him.

(End of this chapter)