At Chu Suiliang's home, Changsun Wuji came to visit, and Chu Suiliang of course welcomed him happily. Zhang Jing, Xing Feng and He Qingfeng could not catch any of Chu Suiliang's handle. That was because Chu Suiliang was really honest. He was not greedy for money and was not lustful. The only time he was punished was in the first year of Yonghui, because of the matter of buying a house.

Everyone knows that Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty, was a famous international metropolis in ancient times. The talented business travelers from all over the world, envoys and international students from all over the world gathered here. It was also the largest city with the largest population in the world at that time. Like most international metropolises throughout history, there was also a prominent problem in living in Chang'an: housing prices were too expensive.

At that time, the housing prices in Chang'an City in the Tang Dynasty were "sky-high". Officials who were not local in Chang'an generally had to go to the fifth rank (department level) or above to buy a house. Most officials either lived in the homes of friends or wealthy families, or rented houses. For example, Bai Juyi, a famous poet of the Tang Dynasty, was a "snail family" in Chang'an for nearly 20 years.

Therefore, Chang'an's housing prices were a very sensitive social problem in the Tang Dynasty. The central court also issued various legal provisions and policy measures to address housing prices. One of the laws was to prohibit high-ranking officials from buying houses at prices lower than the market with their own power. Violators would be sentenced to imprisonment. But something happened to Chu Suiliang on this issue.

In the first year of Yonghui (650), Chu Suiliang, who was the Secretary of the Central Committee at that time, forcibly bought a house under his subordinate (translator) in Chang'an at an extremely low price, but was impeached by a censor. In the end, Chu Suiliang was sentenced to pay a fine of 20 kilograms of brass (about 7,500 yuan now, less than one-tenth of the cost of Chu Suiliang's forced purchase of a house).

However, this punishment was not implemented, because Chu Suiliang was appointed as the governor of Tongzhou (now Dali County, Weinan City, Shaanxi Province) when the case was not closed. After a while, Chu Suiliang returned to the court to serve as prime minister. The first thing Chu Suiliang did after returning to Beijing was to demote the censor who had impeached him to another place to be the county magistrate.

Although the "Chu Suiliang forced a house purchase case" is not a big case, it can be clearly seen in the process of handling this case that the activities of Changsun Wuji Group have begun to override national laws and social justice. Li Zhi began to be alert to Changsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang Group because of the "housing prices" in Chang'an, which also laid the groundwork for their subsequent failures.

It is also wrong to say that Chu Suiliang is impeccable, because Chu Suiliang actually has what he wants. Some people will definitely ask, what is that...?

Two words, party struggle.

This Chu Suiliang liked power too much, and because he liked power, he did not hesitate to fight. In the 21st year of Zhenguan, Chu Suiliang's father Chu Liang passed away, and Chu Suiliang returned home to mourn for one year. In the 22nd year of Zhenguan, Chu Suiliang was revived and appointed as the Secretary of the Central Secretariat in the same year. From then on, Chu Suiliang became one of the most powerful people within the Tang Dynasty.

In the 23rd year of Zhenguan, Li Shimin passed away and Li Zhi ascended the throne. Before Li Shimin passed away, he entrusted his orphans to Changsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang. Even Li Shimin's will was written by Chu Suiliang. After Li Shimin's death, Li Zhi demoted him first and then used him. He was demoted to the governor of Tongzhou. After three years of release, he was transferred back to the capital and served as the Minister of Personnel. In the fourth year of Yonghui, he was promoted to the Right Pushe of the Shangshu, reaching the peak of power.

However, during this process, whether it was released or recalled, Chu Suiliang always adhered to his party struggle habits.

After Li Zhi ascended the throne, the old ministers led by Changsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang were undoubtedly the largest force in the court.

But in the next few years, as leaders of the old minister's party, Chu Suiliang and Changsun Wuji still refused to stop and still wanted to rely on the party to fight for more power.

The Fang Yiai case this time was actually Chu Suiliang and Changsun Wuji who wanted to clean up all the powerful factions within the family's royal family... and then their old ministers and party members dominate.

As long as this happens, the old ministers' party will be almost invincible in the court. Even Emperor Li Zhi must obey them as much as possible. The old ministers' party's political orders can be passed through the whole country without any obstacles. Chu Suiliang's political ambitions can be implemented smoothly.

Unfortunately, this group of old ministers completely forgot that their purpose of fighting for power may be just to do things better. However, their party struggles seriously threatened Li Zhi's throne.

As soon as Li You appeared, Li Zhi didn't have to think about it and turned directly to Li You, and he was determined and he did not hesitate at all. To be honest, this is the mistake of the old ministers' party. They love rights too much.

He loves power, treats the emperor as a puppet, and tries to cut off the emperor's wings. The stupidest thing is that he doesn't want to rebel yet, hehe... Then you are looking for death, either you will rebel directly or you will surrender.

It can be said that no one in power will end up in good terms.

Why did the powerful ministers not have a good ending? Is it because the powerful ministers were corrupt and abused the law? Yes! The reason for being dealt with in the end is that the powerful ministers violated the emperor's power.

There are many powerful ministers in history who become powerful ministers completely forced to do so. To ensure the effectiveness of reform and to successfully save the empire's edifice, we must avoid the drag caused by excessive dispersion of power, and in the end they will only become powerful ministers who gather power.

A minister gathers power in one place, where does the emperor put it? The emperor's decision is contrary to the reform strategy. The powerful ministers disobey or reject it in person, so how can the emperor face it!

Therefore, the retreat of Chu Suiliang and Changsun Wuji was already destined. This time, Changsun Wuji was also very depressed when he came to Chu Suiliang's home. This time, the Fang Yiai case was considered to have lost both the wife and the army.

Not only did Li You have the excuse to return to Chang'an, but also made a large number of royal families go directly to Li Zhi's side. He walked into Chu Suiliang's study. Changsun Wuji sighed in advance before he sat down.

"Dengshan...we did nothing wrong."

Chu Suiliang's name is Dengshan. Changsun Wuji called out the name Chu Suiliang to express their affection. Chu Suiliang here heard Changsun Wuji's sigh and hurriedly helped Changsun Wuji to sit down and said, "Gei Master... We are not wrong. Those people are potential threats, but Your Majesty is too young and he was deceived by His Highness the King of Qi.

Now we should not only not be discouraged, but also have to take a step forward. We must restrain His Highness the King of Qi and not let His Highness take the Tang Dynasty to the abyss.”

"Abyss...!" Changsun Wuji glanced at Chu Suiliang indifferently and said, "Dengshan, just now, news came from the palace that Wu Meiniang was interested in showing goodwill to us. Should we accept Wu Meiniang's showing goodwill...?"

Changsun Wuji looked at Chu Suiliang, but at this time, Chu Suiliang showed a playful smile.

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Chapter completed!