The atmosphere in Ganlu Hall was slightly heavy.
Even though none of these things had actually happened yet, the very name of Great Tang had already been abolished in the future.
That was outright usurpation.
But if one looked more closely, the identity of the usurper became rather… delicate. She had served two generations of Tang emperors.
Was this a matter of state?
A family affair?
Or something that concerned the whole realm?
The ministers of Zhenguan felt stifled and, at the same time, oddly lost.
After all, that Wu clan girl was currently only a little over ten years old, still ignorant and confused. How could one really blame her?
Li Shimin was no longer feeling smug either. The light screen spoke casually, but in his eyes it was a nonstop clash of blades and shadows.
The royal families of the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties were the best examples. Whenever a dynasty changed its name and the imperial house shifted, what followed was inevitably a massive slaughter of the former royal clan.
Employing cruel officials, supporting members of the Wu clan. Di Renjie started his career already wearing a "rebellion" label. One could easily imagine what the court looked like at that time.
With a light sigh, Li Shimin suddenly felt that a saying often lamented by later generations was becoming more and more fitting.
"This really can be called children selling their grandfather's land without feeling any pain."
Seeing that her husband and the ministers were all in low spirits, especially her own elder brother, whose once round face had wrinkled up like a tangerine and was impossible to ignore, Empress Zhangsun suddenly realized something.
In the past, her husband would often, every few months, enthusiastically share what he had seen with her.
Changes over a thousand years, the rise and fall of descendants across generations, occasionally mixed with playful jokes about things like ten thousand Jiangdong emperors.
But most of all, it was heartfelt delight toward the generals of Zhenguan.
Li Jing, Su Dingfang, Liu Rengui, Wang Xuance. These names had all been quietly remembered by Empress Zhangsun.
The endings of the senior ministers had also reached her ears without her noticing. She rejoiced that Du Ruhui escaped death, and smiled bitterly at Hou Junji and Li Chengqian's failed rebellion.
But strangely, she had never heard her husband speak about her elder brother, Zhangsun Wuji.
Empress Zhangsun did not believe her brother could remain obscure forever. According to later accounts, she would pass away in the tenth year of Zhenguan, and after her favor faded, her husband, who valued old bonds, would almost certainly bring Zhangsun Wuji back.
Yet now, listening to this… younger generation's mockery, it seemed anything but kind.
Zhinu joining forces with a Wu clan girl to oppose her brother. Could it be…
Relying only on her husband's deliberate silence and her brother's expression, Empress Zhangsun had already guessed most of the truth.
She sighed inwardly. This was something to discuss later, over a meal in the palace with her brother.
For now, she smiled and said,
"This Di Renjie seems to be someone flexible and capable, and he is also from Taiyuan. Your Majesty could look for him on that basis."
Li Shimin laughed helplessly.
"He is probably still just a child. Forget it, I will have someone look into it later."
"As for this admitting rebellion matter…"
After pondering for a moment, recalling how later generations joked about the similarities between Tang and Han, he realized that even the methods of cruel officials were alike.
But then he thought about how the Wu clan ultimately held power through his own son and even went to Mount Tai for the Fengshan ceremony. His mood darkened again.
"If he did not admit to rebellion, he would most likely die in prison."
"In that case, it is better to accept it first, then find a way to have someone seek out that Wu clan girl to appeal the injustice."
"And if that Wu clan woman does not want cruel officials and maternal relatives to monopolize the court, she will certainly protect Di Renjie."
Li Shimin was not disdainful of power struggles and manipulative schemes because he did not understand them. He simply disdained using them.
At this point, however, he felt some resentment toward his son's lack of diligence.
"That the Court of Judicial Review could accumulate over seventeen thousand cases shows negligence in governance!"
Clearing seventeen thousand cases in one year without a single wrongful judgment left Li Shimin with only two possibilities. Either Di Renjie was truly a genius at judging cases, or most of those backlogged cases were not particularly complex.
Judging by reality, it was probably both.
Glimpsing his son's methods of rule through this, Li Shimin could only say he was not very satisfied.
Meanwhile, Yan Lide, standing to the side, tugged at his younger brother's sleeve with a sly smile.
Handpicking a famous minister, you know.
Yan Liben did not even glance sideways and focused on his painting.
Time waited for no one. What he wanted now was to become Great Tang's supreme master of painting, a trusted Zhenguan courtier. He had no interest in grinding away for twenty years waiting for his career to show results.
So what if his official path improved later? Who knew what state his body would be in by then. Better to strive during Zhenguan.
If His Majesty became an eternal emperor, and he himself became the Mount Tai of meticulous painting, would that not be a hundred times better than being some so called Censorial Commissioner?
[Lightscreen]
[The one who ordered Di Renjie's arrest was the famous cruel official of the Wu Zhou period, Lai Junchen.
Wu Zetian's reign could truly be called an era of "politics by cruel officials", and Lai Junchen was the sharpest blade among them.
Born a street thug, he survived prison by being skilled at framing and informing. Eventually his name reached Wu Zetian's ears, and he was exceptionally appointed as an imperial censor despite having no official background.
When handling cases, he excelled at clan extermination, collective punishment, and wiping out entire families. Even Ming dynasty secret police would have saluted him as Eunuch Lord.
When he died, all of Luoyang celebrated. After being beheaded in the marketplace, his corpse was carved up and eaten by the people until only white bones remained. That was Lai Junchen.
Thus, falling into his hands, Di Renjie immediately and cheerfully confessed to all charges.
Yes. I, this old man, really did rebel. I just could not stand that woman any longer.
So Lai Junchen did not bother with further coercion. He produced a "Thankful Death Memorial" for Di Renjie to sign, then smoothly followed procedure. Execution after the autumn assizes was set the same day. Torture was not even necessary.
Di Renjie was already a dead man. Lai Junchen casually went back to party with the Wu clan youths.
So much for divine case solving and caring for the people. Turns out he was spineless. Easy to handle.
Seeing his death sentence sealed and the guards relaxed, Di Renjie played the pitiful card. Since he was going to die anyway, could his son bring him some summer clothes and bedding?
There was no reason to refuse a condemned man. So Di Renjie's son, Di Yuanguang, came to the prison once and also took away the winter quilt he had previously delivered.
After returning home, Di Yuanguang wasted no words and ripped the quilt apart. As expected, inside was a handwritten letter of grievance.
This was written by Old Di after much effort, borrowing brush and ink from a guard, written on torn clothing lining, then sewn back into the quilt to be smuggled out.
Little Di was decisive. Holding his father's letter, he rushed straight to the palace to cry injustice before Wu Zetian.
Only then did the Sage Empress sense something amiss. After much thought, the old lady finally stirred and issued an order to personally review the case.
The imperial hearing was very simple.
Wu Zhao: You rebelled?
Old Di: I did not say that.
Wu Zhao: You signed and confessed.
Old Di: Absolute nonsense. I do not admit it.
Wu Zetian understood immediately. After all, Lai Junchen was personally promoted by her. She knew his methods very well.
But Wu Zhou had just changed its dynastic name less than a year ago. Even if Lai Junchen was a jackal, to Wu Zetian he was still a useful dog for tearing apart the bones and flesh of Li Tang loyalists.
In the end, Di Renjie was openly demoted but secretly protected. His death sentence was waived, and he was exiled as Magistrate of Pengze.
Thus Old Di successfully escaped the great vortex of Luoyang and temporarily left the capital to enjoy some freedom.
However, the aftermath of this incident did not subside so easily. Or rather, the ten years Wu Zetian spent building momentum to seize the throne had begun to show backlash.
Seven people in total were falsely accused alongside Old Di. Old Di escaped, and the other six also had their death sentences commuted and were exiled.
Among them was one named Cui Xuanli. He had a useless grandnephew, Huo Xian, who imitated Lai Junchen's framing and informing, and managed to become a prefect.
Seeing his uncle released without conviction, this grandnephew, perhaps to show loyalty or perhaps to show his face before Wu Zetian for promotion, loudly declared before all civil and military officials,
"Your Majesty, if you do not convict and execute my uncle, I will smash my head to death right here!"
He immediately slammed his head into the ground, blood flowing everywhere.
Cui Xuanli was still spared death and exiled, never returning to the capital until his death in Jiangxia.
Huo Xian, of course, did not die. After all, how could one seek promotion and fortune after dying?
But for the next year, he attended court with green bandages wrapped around his head, deliberately lifting his official hat so everyone could see them.
This was the aftershock of politics by cruel officials.
On the other side, the grand momentum Wu Zetian built to proclaim herself emperor also spread among the people.
For three consecutive years after Wu Zhou was established, auspicious omens sprouted like bamboo shoots after rain.
Today, one prefecture presented a white stone with red markings, claiming the stone was loyal to the emperor.
Tomorrow, another county caught a turtle with "Ten Thousand Years to the Son of Heaven" written on its belly, proclaiming it proved Wu Zhou's eternal foundation.
Only when the Secretariat, Chancellery, and Six Ministries jointly reported financial emergency did Wu Zetian issue an order. Auspicious omens would still be accepted, but there would be no rewards.
Only then did the people stop.
At this time, Wu Zhou had cruel officials killing throughout the divine capital Luoyang, and local prefectures scrambling to select auspicious signs in hopes of overnight wealth.
But the old lady did not care at all.
After all, she had only just become emperor.
Her happiness was only beginning.]
In Ganlu Hall, Li Shimin slightly raised his head, not at all surprised that his prediction had been correct.
Previously, hearing of Early Tang achievements, Li Shimin felt Great Tang could proudly say it was founded by martial power.
But now, seeing cruel officials within and fabricated omens without, Li Shimin felt genuinely uninterested.
Because this situation suddenly reminded him of the much disliked Sima Jin of later generations.
Aristocratic clans only saw their own petty interests, tearing each other apart, and ultimately letting barbarians reap the benefits, plunging the realm into centuries of chaos.
His son squandered his inheritance. This daughter in law with a complex identity likely benefited from Zhenguan's legacy, yet ended up producing such an unsightly Wu Zhou.
Shaking his head, looking at the figures narrated on the light screen, Li Shimin sneered.
"This Huo Xian is quite the character. Not becoming a eunuch is truly a waste of his talent."
Du Ruhui fell silent, sincerely grateful that there were no palace eunuchs nearby at the moment. Otherwise, someone would surely cry injustice.
Empress Zhangsun's disdain was blunt.
"Why should everyone use such a petty villain? He only dirties the palace."
"Loyal and upright men can shine for a thousand years. Such petty people will be laughed at even after a millennium."