"Marquis Zhulu, please stay."

"Duke Wei, please stay."

The court discussion became Li Mu's one-man show, and the others could only listen and could not refute it, so it was almost done. After Li Mu finished speaking, there was basically no one talking. A court discussion "opened high and left low", ending with Li Mu's great victory. When he retired, Li Mu was left behind by Li Shimin. Unexpectedly, Wei Zheng was also left behind. The court officials took a look, then withdrew their gaze, and discussed the matters today's court discussion in groups, and went back to their respective yamen.

Tai Chi Hall.

Li Shimin gave him a seat, and both Li Mu and Wei Zheng sat down. Wei Zheng had no expression on his face. He was ready to accept the ridicule. Although he was not convinced, he had to admit that a new generation of people was no longer a match for Li Mu. He wanted to do something, but he was also helpless. Wei Zheng, who was talking about the confusing many scholars back then, has become one of the "confusing many scholars". Faced with Li Mu's wisdom and tricks, he was almost powerless.

"Li Mu!"

Li Shimin suddenly slapped the table, scared Li Mu so much that he jumped up and stood up quickly: "Your Majesty, what's wrong? Why are you still angry?"

"You bastard!" Li Shimin shouted angrily: "Did you plot against me? Why don't you even say hello to me? Do you take me seriously?"

"Uh..." Li Mu laughed and said, "Your Majesty, I... I really don't understand what Your Majesty means. I didn't say it just now, this is in despair..."

"I still think I am a three-year-old child? If Cheng Yaojin had not agreed with you, I would walk backwards when I walk!"

"That's too troublesome. How dare I let Your Majesty go backwards?" Li Mu glanced at Wei Zheng, and admitted shamelessly, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, look, isn't this just acting? You have to give the loser a step of convincing conscience, otherwise you can't bear to face."

Wei Zheng had no expression on his face and said, "Marquis Zhulu doesn't need to retort with him. He is not as good as others. He is willing to give up the disadvantage, but if you mock me, you would be too shameless."

"Look, curse again." Li Mu came to Wei Zheng and said with a smile: "Old Wei, I just paid you half a year's salary, and promoted your daughter to an official. Do you know how much money is he willing to pay if an ordinary person wants to be an official in the Ministry of Internal Affairs? Some people spend 100,000 yuan to buy a ninth rank chief and the position of the sixth rank director, at least 500,000 yuan? Old Wei, your family is about to make a fortune, it's all because of me. It's okay if you don't thank me. What's the matter with gratitude and revenge? Why are you so unscrupulous?"

"This is all your trick, I will not accept your affection!"

"Ha!" Li Mu said angrily: "Your Majesty, have you heard it? Is this still what people say? I will give him money and I will help his daughter. I am a bad person! Those Shandong gentry use him and plot against him. He regards those people as good people. Lao Wei, your thoughts are very problematic!"

Wei Zheng knew that he could not tell Li Mu, so he kept silent. Li Shimin also said, "Li Mu, stop at this time. I see that you are arrogant now, so it's time to regulate you! I left you and Aiqing Wei, just because I don't want the disagreement between you to turn into hatred. You are the ministers of the same court, so don't make knots."

"Your Majesty, I am about to say it." Li Mu suddenly became serious and said, "Your Majesty, I want to ask for leave from Your Majesty."

"What?" Li Shimin frowned and said, "The new policy has just come to an end. You are going to ask for leave? What leave are you asking for? How many things are waiting for you to do?"

"Your Majesty, I have sufficient reasons."

Li Shimin smiled angrily and said, "What's the reason?"

"I want to prepare for the imperial examination!"

Li Mu looked so serious that Li Shimin was stunned for a moment. He glanced at Li Mu, then looked at Wei Zheng, frowned, and said, "Li Mu, what do you think? Is the top scorer that is so important to you? The top scorer is only awarded a sixth-rank official, and may not be able to achieve the fourth-rank official for three or five years. You are already in the third-rank official now. Do you think you are a high-rank official? I have said the bet between you and Wei Aiqing long ago, it is a joke and you can't count it. Don't mess around!"

"Your Majesty, I am a person who will always be convinced. Although it is very difficult to get the top scorer in the two top scorers, since I have said it, I must try it. This is one, and secondly, I am definitely not a joke mentality to treat this imperial examination. I am very serious. Because I want to prove to the world that my power and status are obtained by my ability, and I am indeed the top scorer. Thirdly…”

Li Shimin interrupted unhappily and said, "You have the third one? Is it over?"

"Your Majesty, the last one. I have done such a big thing for Your Majesty. Please give me some benefits."

Li Shimin was happy and said, "Okay, what do you want." Suddenly he paused and said, "Don't mention any more about being a king. Since I ascended the throne, I have always advocated the removal of titles against royal relatives. My brothers, last year, I was demoted to the title of prince by me, and for this reason, my father even rebuked me. If I give you a title of king, both the clan and the government will not be able to submit. However, I can give you a promise that when I return to heaven, I will leave a photo of my descendants and let the crown prince grant you a title of prince. How about it?"

Li Shimin spoke very seriously, not like a joke. But when Wei Zheng heard it, he felt like thunder exploded, and was so surprised that he couldn't speak.

Wei Zheng knew about the removal of titles by Li Shimin. Because this was his advice, the system of the Tang Dynasty, the royal titles were granted by the country. The so-called feudal state was to draw a place where the people's livelihood and the country in this place were all managed by the royal titles. This was also a way to consolidate the imperial power, which was passed down from the Han Dynasty. The emperor's country was thousands of miles, but the government orders could not reach ten thousand miles, so the feudal state was granted.

But there is another problem in the Tang Dynasty, that is, Li Yuan had too many sons. In addition to Li Shimin's three legitimate brothers, Li Shimin also had about twenty brothers from the illegitimate family. According to the rules, they all wanted to be crowned kings. Moreover, there is another difference between the Tang Dynasty and the previous dynasty. Now there is a difference between the two emperors now. In other words, if Li Shimin's brothers were to be crowned kings, Li Shimin's sons also wanted to be crowned kings. Li Shimin was in his prime in the spring and autumn and was only in his thirties. According to Li Yuan's example, at least a dozen sons would have to have. If they were all sealed, the entire Tang Dynasty would not be sealed enough.

Moreover, according to historical records, no matter which dynasty the princes are, there are basically no wise and loving the people. This is easy to understand. As a prince, he must be a prince if he can't be an emperor. He must be a prince. After holding his anger, he is away from Beijing and the mountains are high and the emperor is far away. Naturally, no one can control it. From another perspective, the emperor does not like the "virtuous king". You are a virtuous king. Should you be an emperor next? Which emperor dares to keep such brothers and sons?

Therefore, when the prince was granted a title, the lightest thing was to plunder the people's wealth and ointment for pleasure. This added a burden to the people, so Wei Zheng advised Li Shimin and let Li Shimin get his title first. After that, the title was reduced to Duke, the Duke became a count, and so on. This advice hit it off with Li Shimin's thoughts and was officially implemented in the second year of Li Shimin's ascension to the throne. Wei Zheng also became a thorn in the side of the royal family. When Zongzheng Temple was fine, the royal relative complained, and Li Shimin was also untiring.

Against this background, Li Shimin actually promised Li Mu that he would leave a will to be named king after his death. How special is this! If Wei Zheng hadn't known Li Mu's background, he would have doubted whether Li Mu was Li Shimin's illegitimate son!

The instinct of the censor made Wei Zheng unable to sit still, and he hurriedly stood up and said, "Your Majesty, you should not speak nonsense. No matter how great the Marquis Zhulu has made, he is not a blood relative of the royal family after all, this."

"Old Wei, you always ruin my good things." Li Mu snorted, then laughed again, and said, "Your Majesty, but this time, I want to go together. I am just a joke about the title of king. I am a person who regards money, fame and fortune as clouds. I do things just to repay Your Majesty's grace. Others are trivial matters. I would rather never be a king, but I hope that Your Majesty can enjoy immortal blessings forever and live with the heavens."

Wei Zheng felt disgusted and thought to himself that I couldn't think of such words. Look, His Majesty is so happy that he is about to be happy!

Li Shimin was happy and embarrassed, and said, "I still know myself. The affairs of gods are illusory, so it's better not to talk about them. Li Mu, haven't you said what reward you want? To be honest, I don't know what I can reward you."

"Yes, after all, I am young and rich, and I look handsome." Li Mu's eyes were circling, thinking, "Why would you take this opportunity to get a gold medal to avoid death? This is not a delusion, because the Duke of Ju, Tang Tangjian, had one in his family. This was in the first year of Wude. Although the Tang Dynasty established a country, it did not complete unification. Tang Jian and Yong'an King Li Xiaoji and others were captured by Liu Wuzhou. In prison, they learned from Yuan Junshi that Dugu Huaien was going to rebel. Dugu Huaien was stationed in Puzhou, and Tang Jian sent someone to expose it. Otherwise, the Tang Dynasty would not have a surname that was not Li today. If such great contributions were made, Tang Jian was granted the title of Duke of Ju and was specially granted to be exempted from death. This was a precedent.

If Li Mu wants it now, Li Shimin probably won’t give it to me either. But Li Mu thought about it again and said, “I can’t. If I want it, Wang Ou’s matter will be posted tomorrow. Li Shimin will think, good boy, you not only put a hat on me, but also plot against me from the beginning! These new and old hatreds are superimposed together, and it is probably a tough gold medal to avoid death.

If the emperor wants to kill someone, wouldn’t he just be accused of it? What’s the use of avoiding death at one time? Unless it’s a hundred times to avoid death or ten thousand times to avoid death. But which emperor would give the kind of gold medal of avoiding death? Li Shimin is not a fool.

Forget it, let’s take a look one step at a time and follow the established plan.

Thinking of this, Li Mu spoke and said, "Your Majesty, the reward I want is actually nothing. I just want it. After all, I am a talented person. Isn't it a handful to win the top scorer? But this is very unfair to the students who take the exam. Originally, if I didn't participate in the imperial examination, they would still have the chance to be the top scorer."

Li Shimin's face turned dark and said, "Li Mu, if you want me to reward you and brag about yourself in front of me, I can't reward you!"

"No, no!" Li Mu hurriedly said, "I am telling the truth. I just want Your Majesty to reward me. If I take the top scorer, I can allow me to give up the top scorer. Who will be allowed to give up the top scorer? But in the first place, if I give up the top scorer, it cannot be considered as losing the bet between me and Lao Wei. This is the reward I want."

"This is new!" Li Shimin couldn't help but smile and said, "Li Mu, are you so confident in yourself? You never thought that if you fail the top scorer in the exam, how many people will laugh at you?"

Li Mu shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, I am an optimistic person. Before doing things, I never consider failure, but focus on doing it. Just like this time, I have never thought about failure. If I want to do it, I have to do it. It doesn't matter if I lose. I will try my best and keep it up when I am joked. Anyway, the joke will not die. I am thick-skinned."

Li Shimin smiled helplessly and said, "I don't care, but this matter is related to Wei Aiqing, so I have to ask Wei Aiqing's opinion."

Wei Zheng snorted and said, "If you can really win the top scorer in the exam, I will be your apprentice. Master is destined. Do you dare not abide by it? However, everything will be said to you when you pass the exam. If you only pass one, it will not count!"

"Okay, that's all!" Li Mu stretched out his little finger, hooked it for a moment, and said, "Let's hook it."

Wei Zheng didn't understand, so he looked at Li Mu strangely and said, "What does it mean? It's strange in shape!"

"It means to be determined!" Li Mu grabbed Wei Zheng's hand, hooked him up, and said, "This action is equivalent to, if you violate this oath, you will be punished by heaven and earth. Don't disbelief, it's very effective!"

"Nothing!"

Wei Zheng threw his hand away, stood up and saluted, "If your Majesty has nothing else, please give up."

"Go," Li Shimin waved his hand, Wei Zheng turned around and said leave, and Li Mu wanted to slip away, but was stopped by Li Shimin, so he had to come back obediently.

There are only two kings and ministers left in Liangyi Palace, and Li Shimin doesn't have to hold on anymore. He can finally sigh: "Li Mu, I really didn't expect that you can really do this. You are really unexpected."

"Your Majesty is too modest. I am just talking nonsense. Your Majesty really makes this happen."

"No!" Li Shimin waved his hand and said, "I am not the emperor who competed for merit with his ministers. Maybe you really think so, but I understand it in my heart. The difficulty lies in my mouth. It has been like this throughout the ages. I send troops to fight and have a reputation for being famous. I issue decrees and pay attention to understanding the righteousness. How many emperors have constrained? The words you play with have won me great justice, so that I can let go. Now that the truth is with me, I don't have to worry about it. Be happy, be happy!"

"But..." Li Shimin suddenly looked at Li Mu and said, "In this way, you will become a thorn in their eyes. Don't underestimate the clans. Although they can't compare to you in verbal disputes, if they force them into a hurry, like the last assassination, there may not be a next time. Your safety is a big problem."

Li Mu thought for a while and said with a smile: "I will pay attention."
Chapter completed!