It was already the third day, but many people were not asleep yet. The dark night was so precious to the current situation. They were walking around each other.??

Sikong Mansion.

"Brother! This matter is getting more and more difficult, so we have to make a complete solution!"

Li Bi looked towards Li Jidao with some concern.

The greatest value of Li Ji's existence now is to shock Changsun Wuji. With him, Li Zhi will feel at ease. Therefore, if it is related to Changsun Wuji, Li Ji will not be able to escape.

Li Ji looked at him with a little blame and said, "You are not young anymore, why do you still believe the rumors outside?"

"This is not a rumor. Those people have already found the Taiwei Mansion."

"What does this mean?"

Li Ji waved his hand and said, "Okay! Okay! Go to bed!"

Just then, the housekeeper in the mansion walked in and said, "Master, someone is asking for a visit outside."

Li Bi was stunned and said, "Who is it so late?"

"The man didn't say that he just said he was sick and came to the master to treat him."

"Treat the disease?" Li Bi was so angry that he was so angry that he said, "Is this man crazy? Let him go to the doctor when he treats the disease."

"Let's wait!"

Li Ji raised his hand and said, "You go back to the house first. No one is allowed to come out without my instructions."

Li Bi looked at Li Ji in surprise.

Li Ji winked with him, and Li Bi immediately stood up and took the butler out.

Li Ji came to the door in person and opened the door.

I saw a handsome young man standing outside the door. He smiled slightly and said, "Sikong, don't disturb you to rest!"

Li Ji smiled and said, "I haven't rested yet, please come in."

This young man is Li Zhi.

When he arrived at the inner hall, Li Ji was about to salute, but Li Zhi quickly reached out and said, "Sikong, let's spare these, I will follow the guests."

"Yes!" Li Ji said: "Your Majesty, please sit down."

Li Zhi sat down, glanced at Li Ji, and said straight to the point: "Sikong should know why I came here, right?"

Li Ji nodded.

"Actually, I'm helpless in doing this."

Li Zhi sighed and said, "When my father was alive, he often taught me that the ruler of the country must be governed first. Although most of the ministers above the third rank and above are appointed by me personally, I can also make full decisions, but I can take all the officials under the third rank and below. Nowadays, most of the official positions are held by nobles. They are either married, either brothers or brother-in-law, and their power is mixed. They can influence the monarch and the decisions of the ministers at the top, and can block talented people from entering the Tai Chi Hall.

Moreover, they are actively introducing their relatives to the court family. Anyone over 16 years old in their family is an official in the court, with at least twenty people. But if they can work hard for the country like their father, it would be great. However, in their eyes, they only have their own interests and continue to attack those upright ministers. If this continues, I am afraid that the Tang Dynasty will be destroyed in their hands. Therefore, I am determined to clear the court and let more wise men with real abilities enter the court and become officials."

Li Ji nodded and said, "I understand Your Majesty's helplessness, and I also support Your Majesty in doing so."

"I understand your loyalty in my heart. I can only talk to you about these words." Li Zhi shook his head with a wry smile, and said again: "But now I'm in trouble."

Li Jidao: "What is the trouble your Majesty mean? Is the Grand Marshal?"

Li Zhi nodded and said, "Although my uncle is idle at home, he has been prime minister for thirty years. His influence in the court has not diminished as a result. There are still many ministers who regard his uncle Ma Shizhan."

Li Jidao: "Does Your Majesty know what the Grand Marshal think?"

Li Zhi shook his head.

Li Ji said again: "Why didn't Your Majesty ask the Grand Marshal clearly in front of you?"

He did not instigate Li Zhi to do it directly like Li Yifu and others, because he believed that if he used this matter to start working with Changsun Wuji, then Guanzhong would be in chaos. The Tang Dynasty pursued the Guanzhong-based policy. Once Guanzhong was in chaos, the whole country would be in chaos. If it came from the interests of the country, he felt that he should be more at ease and try not to mix the two things together to solve them.

Li Zhi narrowed his eyes and said, "But what if my uncle objected?"

He came to find Li Ji first, but did not look for Changsun Wuji. It was obvious that he was still a little afraid of Changsun Wuji. He had to arrange the way out first. This way out was Li Ji. Only he could compete with Changsun Wuji. Xu Jingzong, Li Yifu and others shouted that it was a pleasure, but if they really wanted to fight with Changsun Wuji, they would not be useful at all.

Li Ji was silent for a little and said, "This will of heaven cannot be disobeyed by anyone." The implication is that if Changsun Wuji wants to come out of the mountain, he will be seeking death.

After receiving Li Ji's reply, Li Zhi felt confident.

Although Li Ji was loyal to Li Zhi and was also hostile to Changsun Wuji, Li Zhi mainly purged the court this time, so he didn't know that Changsun Wuji and he pulled out. He didn't know whether Li Ji agreed or opposed the matter of purged the court. He had to ask this point clearly. If Li Ji felt that it was not good, let alone Changsun Wuji.

On the evening of the second day, Li Zhi immediately summoned Changsun Wuji, and the matter could not be delayed.

"I'm here to see Your Majesty."

"Uncle, please get up."

Li Zhi personally stepped forward to help Changsun Wuji up, helped him sit down, and sat next to him, caring and said, "Is uncle in good health?"

Changsun Wuji laughed: "Because your Majesty is concerned, I may be able to survive this old bone for a few years."

Li Zhi smiled and said, "I will feel relieved if my uncle is in good health."

After a very hypocritical greeting, Li Zhi said: "I came to my uncle today because I have something to ask about my uncle's advice."

Changsun Wuji hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, I have withdrawn from the court and I will not ask about the affairs of the court. You should ask Li Ji about this matter."

Li Zhi thought to himself that you are so humble. He said, "Sikong is from a military general, and he is not very good at this. He is the only uncle who can help me."

Changsun Wuji asked, "Why don't your Majesty want to ask about what?"

Li Zhi coughed lightly, and informed Changsun Wuji of his desire to clear the court, saying, "I don't know if my uncle agrees."

When Changsun Wuji heard this, he sighed, stroked his beard and said, "The most difficult thing in this world is this human affairs!"

Li Zhi felt a little sad and thought, would he really have to take this step?

But Changsun Wuji changed his mind and said, "But Your Majesty must do this!"

Li Zhi was slightly stunned and said, "I hope my uncle can give me some advice."

Changsun Wuji said: "This rule of the country is first governing officials. If the administration is not good, how can we talk about governing the country? When the late emperor was in power, a group of important ministers, including me, were founding meritorious deeds. The late emperor had to give them rewards. Therefore, their sons were all named officials, but a son with founding meritorious deeds ranged from two or three, at most five or six. Now there are as many as dozens of grandsons. These people have entered the court as officials with their ancestors. Your Majesty, you are only in your twenties, and you can still see their next generation. But after this family's meritorious deeds, there will be hundreds of people. Don't reward them as officials. If you can't support them, the court will not be able to support them! Moreover, if Your Majesty still can't stop them in this generation, then the next generation will be even more difficult, because their power in the court will be greater and will only be more difficult at that time.

In fact, I have considered this a few years ago, but I was a royal relative and had also followed the emperor to open up territory. Their fathers had more or less related to me. This kind of favor is inevitable. I really can't do this. But Your Majesty has no such concern, so you can let go of your hands and feet. In addition, since you have already spoken this, if your words and deeds are different, then they will use today's means to disobey Your Majesty's edict in anything.

To be honest, those people came to find Lao I these days and tried to provoke the relationship between Lao I and His Majesty. Although Lao I am old, I understand it very well. Therefore, the more they come to find Lao I, the more I hate them."

It’s not a good thing that people who have been prime ministers have analyzed it well. The most troublesome thing in this aristocratic society is that after meritorious deeds, he is also an official after meritorious deeds. For example, Cheng Chuliang is at least a fourth- and fifth-rank general. You have to take care of their sons. One raises five and five raises twenty-five. How can the court afford it?

Li Zhi still felt a little unstable. What if Changsun Wuji put a trap here and encouraged him to take the knife, as soon as he picked up the knife, Changsun Wuji quickly stood up, raised his arms and shouted. He nodded repeatedly, "Uncle is right, but the resistance below is so strong that I can't grasp it. I'd better ask my uncle to find a way for me."

Changsun Wuji pondered for a while and said, "This is very different from the Zhenguan period when the late emperor cleared the court. At that time, because the officials were too complicated, the efficiency of work was very slow. The late emperor had to use domineering to directly reduce the officials in the court from more than 10,000 to more than 600. Your Majesty's move was not an urgent task, but a long-term plan. It would be okay to do it, but I think that the domineering one can be combined with the king's way to do this."

Li Zhi frowned and said, "Overdom and kingly way?"

"good!"

Changsun Wuji said: "Like those princes and nobles, they are all relatives of Your Majesty, and these people will never be eliminated. After all, Your Majesty's future princesses will have to marry, the princes will have to marry, and the queen's family, as well as your aunts, sisters, and brothers, they will always be there, and at most they will be replaced by a group of people. What Your Majesty should guard against is the collusion between the princes and nobles and nobles and relatives with the ministers in the court. Therefore, I suggest that those princes and nobles should be punished for their kingly ways and punish them for their land. If the officials below are below, Your Majesty should act as domineering, drive them out of Chang'an, and dispatch them to other places to be free officials. In this way, the princes and nobles and nobles can protect themselves, and how can they care about the affairs of those officials, and the remaining officials in the court naturally dare not collude with the princes and nobles.

But if you want to govern officials, it is not enough to do so. You have to start from selecting officials. Your Majesty can be the main examination. However, if the nobles want to enter the court to become officials, you must personally assess it. If you are really talented, you can naturally take it and win over the hearts of people. If you are incompetent, you can also convince them."
Chapter completed!