Chapter Eighteen: The First Court Debate

  The open-air temporary morning assembly in the inner court was already noisy and quarrelsome, with debates about future directions being fiercely argued. The ministers' dirty and tattered robes and hats, as well as their solemn and stern expressions, formed a huge contrast that was quite comical.

  I was attending this kind of court gathering for the first time, with a more curious mindset. Anyway, since the old emperor had already granted everyone permission not to stand and present their cases, I found a corner to sit down in, and before long, I slightly figured out some clues. The two hundred or so people standing or sitting in the courtyard, although seemingly chaotic at first glance, were actually divided into several factions and more than ten groups based on their expressions and words.

  Factional struggleI am not unfamiliar with the palace drama in film and television. Sometimes, this is also one of the necessary conditions for the emperor's highly centralized governance of the country. To govern a vast territory, people are needed, and when there are people, there will be expectations and ambitions, which will inevitably lead to differences and conflicts in their existence and stance. People with talents often do so, so factional struggle is a unique product of ancient political life. The parties and factions of the past dynasties have always been present, it's not something new, I've seen some things while accompanying the old emperor these days, and also learned about them from other people and channels (including Xiaoyu, probably because she has lived in the palace for a long time and has been influenced by what she hears and sees, she has unexpected insight into certain things, which surprises me). With my own historical knowledge, I can roughly distinguish that there are:

  Continuing from the Northern and Southern Dynasties' struggle between scholars and commoners, in the early Tang Dynasty, there was a partisan struggle between the aristocratic clan represented by Longsun Wuji, who was of Xianbei noble birth from the Northern Wei and Northern Zhou dynasties, and the commoner clan represented by Li Ji, who rose to prominence through his military achievements.

  Reaching its peak in the era of Wu Zetian, the so-called imperial party and queen's party struggle between the royal family and the outer relatives' families, marked by the political struggle between the Li surname group led by Princess Taiping and the Wu surname group led by Wu Sansi.

  Then there is the inner-party struggle between the inner court eunuchs and outer court officials in the imperial court, represented by the event of Gao Lishi, who had been a loyal servant of Emperor Xuanzong since he was a prince, dying to remonstrate with him, and the event of Yang Guozhong, the Minister of War and concurrent Assistant Director of the Imperial Secretariat.

  There are also disputes between the speech officials of the Yu Shi and Qing Li, the promotion of the scholars' clean flow and the scattered officials through other channels. The origin of the official career has also produced different factions due to various reasons such as imperial examination, hereditary, inheritance, promotion, accumulation of merits, and purchase of offices. As for those loose political groups formed by local relationships, there are more than a dozen factions, divided into several major categories, with intense political competition among them. For example, the Jiangnan faction has the most extensive connections and produces the most famous scholars, while the Xibei faction has produced many famous generals in recent years and has the greatest influence in the military.

  Originally, if it was a formal court meeting, there would be at least over a thousand people, but the actual situation is: due to the haste of fleeing, including the old emperor's trusted prime minister Chen Xiliang, Zhang Jun, Zhang Zi, Wang Weizhuo Guangyi and other high-ranking officials were trapped in Chang'an. Adding those who got lost on the way, Yang Party was killed in the military coup, and those who were injured by the disaster of the fish pool, less than two-tenths of the officials attended the court meeting. The central government's three courts, six ministries, nine temples, five supervisory offices, 16 guards, and various departments, halls, offices, and bureaus, due to many lacking main officials, resulting in political affairs being stalled. Therefore, this court meeting is a new round of power replacement and personnel adjustment for the temporary imperial court in exile. It is also a general award and posthumous title for the survivors and the dead, obviously with the intention of stabilizing people's hearts and boosting morale.

  Those officials who survived the disaster, for the power vacuum left by the downfall of Yang's party, conducted a re-allocation of rights and positions, apparently with psychological preparation. With humble and friendly smiles, they congratulated each other, perhaps previously they were sworn political enemies. The charm of power is really terrifying, even in exile, it hasn't changed at all. Before escaping danger, everyone was busy uniting the party and gathering the masses, for common interests or necessary concessions, calculating their future prospects with all their might, under various expressions of loyalty to the emperor, demonstrating sincerity, is everyone's desire for a glorious and wealthy future.

  That Wei Jian old man is clearly the big winner, his eldest son Wei E was promoted to Left Censor-in-Chief and Grand Master of the Palace, his second son Wei Tiao was promoted to Right Lieutenant Colonel of the Imperial Guard and Dragon Warrior, several other relatives were also granted the same honors as a Jinshi scholar, it can be said that their family is prominent. Others have also been promoted. Even I was granted double salary (although now not even one child can get it) and appointed as a Gentleman of the Household.

  And I also noticed that the Minister of War, Wei Jian and his newly appointed Censor-in-Chief's eldest son, Wei E, have formed a small clique. They are obviously some of the people who were entrusted with power after the military coup. Perhaps they are the ones the current emperor trusts the most.