"Appointments by selection can serve as a stopgap, a measure taken in urgent times."
Li Shimin offered only a brief comment on such methods.
Setting aside his position as Emperor of the Tang, the core principle of central governance was simple: orders must come from a single source. Only when commands were unified could the court remain stable. Only when the court was stable could all forces be brought together, entrenched abuses cut away, chronic ailments removed, and the people finally be allowed to recover and breathe.
Wu Zetian, however, because of her identity, her accession, and her change of the state's name, was fated never to be fully accepted by the court.
With the foundations of authority in constant turmoil, factions fought to the death, and in the end, the situation before them emerged as it did.
Li Shimin did not feel much regret over it. After watching the projection for two full years, he had gradually come to understand that surveying a thousand years of gains and losses was entirely different from focusing only on what lay directly before one's eyes.
"Those who live in the moment often see only confusion. Only those who look back from afar can judge clearly."
"Years ago, I took pride in having gathered the finest talents under Heaven. I never imagined the imperial examinations could ultimately achieve such results."
The others all cupped their hands in agreement and joined Li Shimin in closely studying the changes in the number of officials who entered government through the examinations.
Du Ruhui was the first to notice the imperial titles listed beneath the chart.
"So throughout our Tang dynasty, there were only a bit more than twenty emperors?"
Fang Xuanling was equally unsurprised.
"After Wu Zetian and before Xuanzong, there truly were two emperors, and moreover…"
As he spoke, Fang Xuanling copied down a later historian's commentary, his expression turning subtle.
"This Xiaohé should be Li Xian's posthumous title. Princess Taiping was Wu Zetian's own daughter. Wu Sansi rose to power through Li Xian and brought disaster in his wake."
"But who is this 'rebellious commoner'?"
To be drawn into calamities at this level could not involve an ordinary figure. Most likely, it was someone who had been stripped of rank and reduced to commoner status, with the additional label of rebellion appended as a final humiliation. Fang Xuanling found himself curious about what kind of earth shaking offense this person had committed.
Li Shimin stood there with a calm heart. Having already learned of the An Lushan Rebellion, and then of the Wu Zhou replacing Tang, Li Er, second son of the Li family, felt that little could truly shake him anymore.
Even the projection's remark that emperors across history were busy "showing the lower limits" only earned a faint laugh.
"A ruler whose capital fell six times, whose sons and grandsons fled nine times, who abandoned his officials and ran alone, leaving his people to pay tribute to the enemy. His virtue falls short even of a village elder."
Wei Zheng could not help but admire him. Look at His Majesty's breadth of mind, his composure.
Empress Zhangsun pressed her lips together and smiled helplessly. His words sounded relaxed, but the hands hidden in his sleeves were likely clenched tight. Still, she did not expose him. Like the others, she voiced her agreement, planning to ask him about it in detail later that evening.
…
Zhao Pu rubbed the back of his neck. Staring upward for so long had left it aching.
Taking advantage of the pause, he stood up to stretch, then walked behind the young eunuch who was carefully copying the charts. He looked at the graph of examination graduates and nodded.
"It seems that after Your Majesty, our Song dynasty shifted to holding the examinations once every two or three years."
"That is not a bad method."
The chart itself was simple. Combining it with what he already knew, and seeing how the number of successful candidates per examination after the founding emperor far exceeded the annual intake, the conclusion was obvious.
After his recent demotion, Zhao Pu had gained a deeper appreciation of how troublesome travel could be.
Rather than forcing scholars to rush back and forth every year, until they were driven to buy houses in the capital just to sit the exams, it truly was better to open them once every three years. Both sides could catch their breath.
With Zhao Pu's explanation, Zhao Guangyi also understood. He began to feel a restless stirring in his heart. If the Song Taizong could be a capable ruler, then knowing this, he too could surely do it.
When Zhao Kuangyin saw the name Huizong at the end of the chart, he snorted heavily. Thinking again of Zhenzong, mocked by later generations for his Fengshan sacrifices, his mood darkened further. He immediately changed the subject.
"At least figures like Wu Zetian do not appear in our Song."
After all, later generations had said it more than once. An emperor ruling in her own name, as a woman, there had been only Wu Zetian.
Zhao Guangyi kept his head raised, not daring to meet his elder brother's eyes, and spoke only the plain truth.
"Yet looking at the affairs of earlier dynasties, the matter of an empress dowager ruling from behind the curtain may still be unavoidable."
Zhao Kuangyin glanced at his brother, who would not look back at him, and said calmly,
"Let her rule behind the curtain if she must. With Wu Zetian as a precedent, and with ministers restraining the court, there will ultimately still be a return of power."
Zhao Pu merely smiled at the side, saying nothing.
[Lightscreen]
[After the Shenlong Coup succeeded and the Tang was restored, the entire court rejoiced. Only Yao Chong wept until his voice gave out, an especially jarring sight.
We mentioned Yao Chong earlier. Among the Five Princes of the Shenlong Coup, two had been recommended by him. After Zhang Jianzhi succeeded, he even went out of his way to inform Yao Chong.
This crying unsettled Zhang Jianzhi. He asked how, on such a joyous day, Yao Chong dared to behave so inappropriately, and whether he was not afraid of punishment.
Yao Chong replied with firm conviction. No matter what, he had been Wu Zetian's minister. To grieve for her was an emotion born of sincerity. Even if he were punished for it, he would accept it willingly.
These words displeased Li Xian, who had just returned to the throne. He simply granted Yao Chong his wish, stripping him of the chancellorship and demoting him to prefect of Bozhou.
Zhang Jianzhi and the other princes sighed, believing the old gentleman had merely lost his wits and spoken nonsense. Later, they could simply lend him a hand in private.
But in truth, Yao Chong was one of the great chancellors of the mid Tang, ranked alongside Zhang Jiuling and Song Jing. Among the people, he was known as a worthy minister. His grasp of the political situation surpassed Zhang Jianzhi's by an unknown number of Fang Xuanlings.
Yao Chong went to Bozhou, spent his days riding horses and fishing, and lived quite comfortably. Meanwhile, the Five Princes who remained in the capital were successively demoted within a year, and none met a good end.
In fact, after the Shenlong Coup, no one could truly understand the court's political currents.
For example, Li Xian did not avoid suspicion at all. He openly imitated the dual rule of Emperor Gaozong and Wu Zetian, inviting Empress Wei to attend court and interfere in governance.
For example, after visiting Wu Zetian once, Li Xian rapidly reinstated members of the Wu clan. Wu Sansi became Minister of Works, Wu Youji Minister of Education. The Wu family's power grew even greater than it had been during Wu Zetian's reign.
Throughout this, the Five Princes of Shenlong firmly opposed these moves. Yet to Li Xian, their opposition only confirmed that they stood with his younger brother. He trusted them even less.
Allowing the inner palace to meddle in politics, and again empowering the Wu clan, Li Xian still felt insecure. After discussing matters with Wu Sansi, Wu Sansi patted his chest and took responsibility. The very next day, he opened a path through Shangguan Wan'er.
In modern terms, Shangguan Wan'er's position was roughly equivalent to a chief secretary.
Before Li Zhi died, Shangguan Wan'er had already been summoned into the palace by Wu Zetian to manage imperial edicts as her personal secretary. After Wu Zetian took the throne, even draft decrees were entrusted to her. Her administrative ability was so formidable that even when she later committed a capital crime, she was merely tattooed on the face, without even a reduction in office.
By 696, Wu Zetian, already in her seventies, went further and handed all memorials from the ministries to Shangguan Wan'er for decision. One person alone controlled military and civil strategy, and in the process cultivated a substantial personal faction.
Such talent was exactly what Li Xian, whose own wings were not yet full, desperately needed. Through Wu Sansi's matchmaking, Shangguan Wan'er entered Li Xian's harem, was appointed Zhaorong, and continued to control the drafting of edicts.
This alliance was one of mutual benefit, though Li Xian had to endure a certain amount of pressure on his headgear.
Wu Sansi's method for winning over Shangguan Wan'er, a woman in her forties with a tattooed face, was to sell his own body. After Shangguan Wan'er entered Li Xian's harem, the relationship was barely concealed. The histories describe it bluntly as licentious.
You think Wu Sansi endured humiliation for the sake of the Wu clan? Too small a view. He was after the whole forest.
Persuaded by Wu Sansi, Li Xian agreed that all palace consorts could establish residences outside Chang'an and enter and exit the palace without reporting. This did allow him to cultivate a wide network of supporters in a short time, though the form it took was not particularly pretty.
"Members of the Shangguan clan and favored palace women came and went without restraint. Corrupt court officials waited upon them, indulged in debauchery, and begged for ranks and offices, even the most important ones."
Within a year of Li Xian's restoration, watching loyal forces rapidly expand, he may well have felt quite satisfied.
Although the court had turned a bit green, it was nothing serious.]
The people of Han era Chang'an were dumbfounded.
Zhang Fei slapped his fist into his palm in sudden understanding.
"I get it. This Li Xian exists purely to demonstrate the lower limit of being an emperor."
"That way, the female emperor looks downright respectable by comparison. A fine display of filial devotion!"
Pang Tong was shaken by the Third General's interpretation. Turning to Lu Su, he sighed,
"This Li Xian knows how to bend and endure. He has something of Sun Quan's style."
Lu Su shot him a sideways glance and snorted.
"Sun Quan was no fool."