The officials hesitated and dispersed.

In a competition of force, they were all civil servants, but Gu Qing held military power in his hands. How dare he try it if his life was at stake?

Compared with the quarrel, the emperor is indeed still alive. As for the emperor who is under house arrest, the emperor never leaves the palace. The label of "house arrest" cannot be pinned on Gu Qing for the time being.

And Gu Qing hit everyone's weak point with one word.

If you don’t want to be an official, please get out of here. There are as many people as crucian carp crossing the river who can take your place.

The simple and crude words made all the officials restrain themselves.

Who would be at odds with his official position? Besides... Prince Gu's temper is indeed not very good, and he has never done anything like killing people at the slightest disagreement.

Gu Qing is not threatening these officials, he really doesn't care. The distribution of power in the court is very complicated, but it basically depends on their origin. Half of the people in the court are from a certain family, and the other half are students from poor families who entered the court with their names on the gold medal list.

, no matter what his background is, it is nothing to Gu Qing.

After being forced into the palace, the court was destined to go through a purge, and some people with hostile attitudes had to be replaced. Gu Qing needed a court that was united and united. They might not necessarily be loyal to him, but enemies could not stay, otherwise it would be a disaster.

Therefore, Gu Qing had a tough attitude towards these officials because these officials were already on his list of axers.

The imperial court needs to streamline and reduce redundancy. Many officials in the government offices are too redundant and will have to be eliminated sooner or later. Gu Qing plans to start with the elimination of officials as the first step, which can be regarded as setting a benchmark for restraining the royal children and dignitaries in the future.

Looking coldly at the hundreds of officials in front of him, Gu Qing turned around and walked into the front hall, saying as he walked: "Officials who have something to discuss can come in. If they have nothing to say, they will go back to their offices to take care of government affairs. The court does not support idlers.

"

The officials standing in the courtyard looked at each other in confusion. The courtiers headed by Li Xian hesitated for a moment. Many officials turned around and left silently, while some officials who really had something to discuss walked into the front hall.

No matter what your attitude is toward Gu Qing, a powerful official who wields all power, at least you must keep public and private affairs separate, and do not mix personal feelings when discussing political affairs.

So Li Xian Fangguan walked in first, followed by ten or twenty officials.

At the court meeting the next day, Li Heng showed up in Tai Chi Hall.

Li Heng was wearing a yellow robe, with a haggard and sick look on his face.

Sitting in the golden palace, Li Heng's eyes were a little dazed. When he looked at Gu Qing in the courtroom, his eyes were flinching and frightened. It was obvious that yesterday's rape scene had a huge psychological impact on him, and he could not recover at this moment.

And Li Heng's sick look was not pretending, but he was really scared.

The eunuch standing next to Li Heng today is no longer Yu Chaoen, but an unknown young eunuch.

Ever since Yu Chaoen falsely conveyed the imperial edict during the confrontation between the two armies and disturbed the morale of the Shuofang army, he has quietly escaped without a trace. Only Gu Qing in the world knows his whereabouts. Of course, Gu Qing has always been dissatisfied with those who have made meritorious deeds.

Stingy, Yu Chaoen is doing well at this time, and Gu Qing has promised that when big things are decided in the future, he will give Yu Chaoen a bright future.

The young eunuch stood next to Li Heng. When he saw Li Heng winking at him, he raised his fly whisk, stepped forward and said sharply: "Pass the holy edict, yesterday the remnants of the rebels sneaked into the palace with the intention of assassinating the emperor. Fortunately, the Anxi army rescued them in time.

, before it became a serious disaster, I ordered the Ministry of Household Affairs to allocate money, meat and food to the Anxi Army Camp to reward the three armies."

The expressions of the officials were blank, and many people sneered in their hearts.

Well, the king and his ministers all say the same thing, but they are trying to fool us into thinking we are fools.

Many other courtiers looked sad.

The powerful ministers were strong, and the emperor was not up to par. Listening to these consistent statements, it was obvious that the emperor had surrendered to Gu Qing. He was clearly the second Han Xiandi, and the power of the Tang Dynasty was exhausted!

Some people are sad and some are happy.

There were many courtiers in the court with happy faces. Most of them came from aristocratic families, and these courtiers had already known about the deal reached between the aristocratic families and Gu Qing.

The emperor's submission to the powerful ministers means that a new era has come, and these courtiers from aristocratic families will have further opportunities. After all, Gu Qing relied on his aristocratic family to ensure the stability of the world, and only when he forced the palace, the negative impact was reduced to

At the lowest level, the chaos has not left the palace at all. With the aristocratic family as its backer, the aristocratic family has a greater say in the court.

Amid the different expressions of the courtiers in the palace, Gu Qing walked out of the courtroom calmly and saluted Li Heng.

"On behalf of the officers and soldiers of the Anxi Army, I would like to thank Your Majesty for your generous gift."

Li Heng tried his best to twitch the corners of his mouth and force out a smile: "Gu Qing, there is no need to be polite."

After speaking, Li Heng glanced at the young eunuch again.

The young eunuch hurriedly said: "According to the imperial edict, Gu Qing, the king of Shuzhou, has made great achievements. He suppressed the rebellion, established the country, ruled the people, taught loyalty and encouraged capital, and respected him with enthusiasm. He can be promoted to the king of Guanzhong, and he can be given swords and shoes to go to the palace.

The regent supervises the administration.”

The officials in the palace were shocked.

It is not a trivial matter for a county prince to be promoted to the title of King of Guanzhong. Guanzhong is where the capital is located. Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, no one has been awarded the title of "King of Guanzhong". What's more, there are very few kings with different surnames. The title of Guanzhong

Granting the title to Gu Qing shows how high Gu Qing's power has grown.

As for the following sentence "Going to the palace with swords and shoes", it is even more of an extreme honor. And this honor has vaguely highlighted the image of powerful ministers. From ancient times to the present, most of the ministers who are allowed to go to the palace with swords and shoes are more powerful than the emperor.

The powerful minister is a treacherous person. Today, the emperor inexplicably made this decree to reward Gu Qing. It is obvious that he deliberately made Gu Qing's status reach the peak of prosperity.

After its peak, it then turned into decline.

Amidst countless whispers, Gu Qing frowned and raised his eyes to look at Li Heng in the golden palace, his eyes a bit sharp.

Li Heng was so stimulated by his gaze that he trembled all over and said with a smile: "Gu Qing has made great contributions to the country, and I really don't know how to reward him, so..."

Before he finished speaking, Gu Qing's tone became colder and said: "I would like to thank your Majesty for the generous gift. However, my qualifications are still relatively young and my merits are not enough to hold the title of king. I ask your Majesty to take back my order. I don't care about myself and have no intention of getting rich. I will just maintain the status quo."

Can."

Li Heng wanted to persuade him again, but he saw that Gu Qing's expression was getting colder and colder. Li Heng knew that Gu Qing was angry, so he had no choice but to give up in front of the palace. At the same time, he praised Gu Qing's noble character and so on in front of the entire palace.

Good words.

From the bottom of his heart, Gu Qing certainly did not want to accept this title.

There's no other reason, it's just that it's too public.

In his current position, with such great power in his hands, what kind of title can he not get? Even if he wants to be the emperor, it is just a matter of a wink from the court. Who cares what title Li Heng gives him?

Guanzhong King sounds like a fake ham sausage.

After the drastic changes in the palace, discussions abounded between the government and the public. The courtiers knew very well that such a big change occurred at the time when the old and the new were changing. Some people were destined to be eliminated by the new era, while others would take advantage of the situation.

At such a sensitive moment, Gu Qing only wants to keep a low profile and do things in a high profile, so as to change the unhealthy trend of retreat in the court. His sudden promotion by Li Heng has done more harm than good to Gu Qing and intensified the conflicts in the court. Gu Qing will have to

A lot of time was wasted dealing with the internal fights in the court, all because of Li Heng's imperial decree.

Therefore, Gu Qing must firmly resign from the promotion and does not need any rewards.

There was a brief embarrassment in the Golden Palace. After Gu Qingjian resigned, the faces of many courtiers relaxed slightly.

Finally, Gu Qing is sensible, and finally, the Tian family's dignity has not been completely lost, at least there is still a fig leaf left.

In the awkward atmosphere, Li Heng himself felt quite bored, so he changed the subject and said, "Do you have anything else to say today?"

When the ministers were silent, Gu Qing suddenly said: "I have something to report."

Li Heng unconsciously sat up straight and said kindly, "Gu Qing, if you have anything to do, just call me."

Gu Qing calmly took out a memorial from his arms, raised his hands above his head, and said: "Your Majesty, now that the rebellion in the Tang Dynasty has been put down and the world is at peace, I would like to ask you to exempt Guanzhong, Henan, Hedong, Hebei and other provinces from taxes.

In 2006, Hedong and Hebei provinces were occupied by rebels for many years, and the local people suffered terribly. I would like to ask that taxes be exempted for three years."

Li Heng smiled and said, "I will accept your request."

At this time, Li Heng was like a tool man, without any power to make decisions. This was what Gu Qing had already warned. Since Gu Qing openly proposed to waive the tax today, it means that Gu Qing had already decided on this matter, and today was just a formality.

That's all, Li Heng didn't dare to go against him.

The ministers had nothing to say. Gu Qing's memorial was a serious matter and the right thing to do. The tax reduction and exemption in the north had been discussed in the Memorial Court more than a month ago.

Then Gu Qing took out the second memorial from his pocket and said, "I have one more thing."

"Gu Qing, please tell me."

"In the twelfth year of Tianbao, I proposed to His Majesty the Supreme Emperor a strategy to pacify Tubo. In the past few years, the Anxi Protectorate supported the Tubo land with commercial profits. Now, according to reports from the scouts, more than half of the land in Tubo has been replanted.

Medicinal materials are exchanged for heavy profits, and most of their staple crops, such as highland barley, are no longer enough to support the people and soldiers in the country. The food they use can only be purchased from merchants in Jiannan Road..."

"Tubo's national power is declining day by day. I believe that now is a good opportunity to attack Tubo. I request you to cut off the food routes to Tibet, reorganize your troops and horses, and march westward to conquer Tibet. With one battle, this century-old problem can be eliminated, and Tubo will be included in the territory of the Tang Dynasty."

The monarchs and ministers in the palace were shocked again.

Since the Anshi Rebellion, most courtiers have not thought about the topic of "pacifying Tubo" because it is too far away. The war has just ended, the country is in ruins, and the people need stability. The new king has been in power for less than a year, and he needs to consolidate his power and sort out the situation.

The court forces and countless internal affairs are urgently needed to be dealt with. Who would think of sending troops to conquer Tubo at this time?

Seeing that the ministers were talking a lot, Li Heng hesitated to speak, and wanted to persuade but dared not. Gu Qing said calmly: "The war is peaceful, and people are calm. These ministers all know that it is just that Tubo's national power is declining, and the land is being used to cultivate medicinal materials." Strategies, Tubo's Zanpu and the country's dignitaries have gradually come to their senses. If this opportunity is missed, Tubo will regain its national strength. At that time, it will still be a century-old problem for our Tang Dynasty. I believe that long-term pain is worse than short-term pain. Take advantage of this opportunity to pacify Tubo, endure this temporary pain and eliminate major troubles, which will benefit the great achievements of the Tang Dynasty. I beg your majesty for your permission."

Seeing that no one from the monarch or his ministers had spoken, Gu Qing sighed and said, "I have asked for permission to send the officers and soldiers of the Anxi Army to the expedition. I will personally lead the army and put an end to this serious problem."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Heng said without hesitation: "Okay, I agree."

Gu Qing secretly sneered several times and returned to the courtroom with a calm expression.

…………

It was already afternoon when he walked out of the Tai Chi Palace. Gu Qing honestly ate the food on the porch outside the palace, and sat under the pillars outside the palace with the ministers. He ate all the cold food given by Li Heng without any special treatment.

The officials who were eating with Gu Qing looked at him with fear and curiosity.

Gu Qing is already a powerful minister, so the powerful minister should naturally enjoy special treatment. For example, this is not a sumptuous meal on the veranda. Gu Qing does not have to eat with everyone at all. He can just pat his butt and go home after the court meeting. However, Gu Qing is still with everyone.

The courtiers were sitting together in the corridor. It was really puzzling to understand what kind of powerful minister this was.

Gu Qing is not being hypocritical. What he wants most at this time is to distance himself from his ministers and create class antagonism.

After being forced into the palace, Gu Qing gained power and set out to change the world.

To change the world, we must first start from the center of power of the court. Gu Qing hopes to influence the court with his low-key words and deeds, so that the courtiers will gradually develop a pragmatic and low-key atmosphere. Officials will be pragmatic and willing to work hard, so that the people of the world can live a good life.

The hope of the day.

After eating on the verandah, Gu Qing walked out of the Tai Chi Palace and met Xie Chuanjing from the Xie family of Chen County.

Xie Chuanjing was obviously waiting for Gu Qing outside the palace gate. It looked like he had been waiting for a long time.

After seeing Gu Qing, Xie Chuanjing hurriedly saluted and said with a smile: "Congratulations to Prince Gu for eradicating the great trouble. From now on, the world is under the control of His Highness the Prince."
To be continued...