The Lone Star of the Tang Dynasty

"Retreat!" Li Er snorted coldly, flicked his sleeves and turned around, and the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty immediately bowed their heads to thank him, and after a while, there was only silence left in the Ganlu Palace.

At noon, the sun had not yet faded, but as the ministers dispersed, the light in the hall seemed much darker, reflecting Li Erlong's face and iron, and his anger had not disappeared.

Last night, Ge'er's shop was attacked for no reason, and this fire was like a dry firewood fire, burning in Li Er's heart. He was furious, and an edict was directed at Cui Zhengde, the eighth son of the Cui family in Qinghe, and wanted to severely punish his crime by thunderous means - the shop opened by the dignified prince was smashed down, not to mention that he was just an idle king who faded out of the center of power, if he didn't even give this little face to the royal family, how arrogant would the family magnates be?

In Li Er's view, such provocations are almost a naked challenge to the emperor's authority, if it weren't for the fact that it has not yet reached the point of punishing the nine clans, I am afraid that the culprit would have been divided long ago.

Although Wei Zheng and others tried their best to dissuade and explain the stakes, Li Er insisted on going his own way and insisted on executing Cui Zhengde's decision.

Although, deep in his heart, Li Er understood that what Wei Zheng said was extremely true, and it was not a wise move to kill Cui Zhengde at this moment.

After all, a series of backlashes triggered by the edict on the reform of the imperial examination system in recent days have made the situation in the entire imperial court particularly tense. Those ministers, who usually had nothing to do and only knew how to use their power for personal gain, suddenly seemed to have a collective transformation, and turned into loyal and courageous ministers, and every day they would gather on the Jinluan Treasure Palace, claiming to praise Dan's heart and asking for the revocation of their fate.

In the face of these so-called "Wei trolls", Li Er's inner ridicule was overflowing: "Where did you get your heart, isn't it for your own selfishness and family interests?".

However, even so, he knew that the most urgent task at the moment was how to resolve this conflict with the Maison.

The think tank team of Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui has already made up their minds about this: although all-out confrontation is a long-term goal, what is urgently needed at present is to learn from Qin Shi Huang's strategy of breaking through the vertical and horizontal, and win over some of the big families whose positions can still be shaken. In this group of profit-seeking families, the Qinghe Cui family, which holds the lifeblood of the paper industry, is undoubtedly the most influential choice. The paper produced by Qinghe Cuishi is of excellent quality and the price is far higher than that of other similar products, but even so, it is still in short supply. It can be said that once the Cui family nods, the rise and fall of the price of paper books across the country and even whether the Tianxia Academy can operate smoothly are all under its control, and the power is staggering.

Li Er's unthoughtful order had already sent the young master of the Cui family to the guillotine.

In retrospect, this move undoubtedly exacerbated the already complex and delicate situation.

Li Er's face was so gloomy that he could drip ink.

Wei Zheng, Du Ruhui and others also looked at each other, and it was difficult to find a way to deal with it.

"Alas...... Everyone, let's think about what to do. Li Er sighed, although his heart was angry, he was not angry with Du Ruhui, Fang Xuanling and other ministers. He was well aware that the opposition of Manchu officials was the pressure he had to face and bear in order to carry out the reform of the imperial examination.

It is important to unite the Qinghe Cui clan, but isn't it worth mentioning the majesty of being the king of a country and the dignity of a father?

Li Er has always been known for leading troops to fight, and his life creed has always been firm: he is willing to pay whatever it takes to preserve the peace and happiness of those who have made great contributions to the country.

I think that at the beginning, he launched the Xuanwumen Change, and the purpose behind it was to protect the brothers who had fought side by side in Wagangzhai, and for this reason, he did not hesitate to kill each other and imprison his father Tang Gaozu Li Yuan.

Now, in his heart, the status of the prince Li Changge is no less than Wei Zheng's former comrades-in-arms, and even surpasses it.

However, at this moment, the situation in the imperial court is extremely critical.

Ministers, who are usually brilliant and intelligent, are helpless in the face of such unprecedented challenges.

The

crux of the matter is not how strong the opposition of the countless families is, but that they not only unite against the imperial power, but also seem to be secretly linked, vaguely establishing a separate court. Especially because of the death of Cui Zhengde, the cohesion of the major families has been unprecedentedly high, and the original "Lianheng" strategy seems pale and powerless under this situation, and it has almost become empty talk.

In this solemn and silent atmosphere, Wei Zheng took the lead in breaking the deadlock, and the words were loud: "Your Majesty, the best policy is no longer feasible, the middle strategy has missed the opportunity, and there is only one difficult next policy - Your Majesty can personally lead the Xuanjia elite horse, and wipe out all the families with five surnames and seven wangs in one fell swoop, if there is any resistance, it should be suppressed with the power of thunder!" Wei Zheng's words are not a joke, he is notoriously serious, and it is not groundless to put forward this suggestion. After all, in terms of strength, the army under Li Er's command and his own superior military talent were more than enough to deal with these rebellious family forces.

No matter how violently the five surnames and Qiwang rebounded, at most they would rise up, but if they really dared to rebel openly, Li Er was not afraid of a head-to-head confrontation. You must know that Li Er, a genius general, is never afraid of swords and swords on the battlefield, and his name is enough to make the enemy fearful.

But ......

As soon as Wei Zheng's voice fell, Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui, the two important ministers, did not immediately express their position, neither explicitly supported nor openly opposed.

They just smiled bitterly, because they knew that even if Li Er had such a strong strength, this plan would undoubtedly quench his thirst, which would greatly shake the foundation of the Tang Dynasty and may even cause greater turmoil ......

This iron-blooded and tender monarch has always been difficult to give up his deep care for the people when dealing with state affairs. He has never been fearless in the face of war, but the current Tang Dynasty has just experienced a short period of tranquility for more than ten years, and most of the people of Li have struggled out of the smoke of the beacon fire for many years, longing for the continuation of the peaceful and prosperous era. At this moment, if the war is set off again in order to eradicate the traitors and rectify the dynasty, although it seems to be a righteous move, it has caused a ripple in Li Er's heart.

Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui, the two auxiliary ministers, knew that although Li Er won the hearts of the people, even if a direct admonition like Wei Zheng and the general public supported him to deal with those families that threatened the imperial power with thunderous means, it was unbearable pain for Li Er to easily raise the butcher's knife, restart the war, and sacrifice countless innocent lives.

When Wei Zheng put forward the shocking strategy, not only Fang and Du fell into silence, but Li Er also fell into a long period of contemplation, and in the end, the day's court discussion ended hastily in a depressing atmosphere.

......