Northern Dynasties

Chapter 1368: The Eastern Palace is waiting to be established
After hearing this, Li Tai frowned immediately. In his impression, the Yao brothers have always been easy-going, calm and non-competitive, and seldom have any thoughts of fighting for power. But today they took the initiative to ask him for an official position, which made him feel a little surprised and a little wary.

Due to his understanding of history and his own cognition, Li Tai has always been more attentive to the group of relatives by marriage, and has both attached importance to them and been wary of them.

In the conventional political structure, relatives by marriage are a very important political force. So much so that when a king wants to obtain the assistance of this political force, he has to transform some powerful ministers into relatives by marriage and strengthen the alliance between them through marriage.

During his rise, Li Tai also gained support from his in-laws. Especially when the Wuchuan Group headed by Yuwen Tai controlled the Guanzhong regime in the past, Li Tai certainly stepped on many historical nodes and his strength developed rapidly, but what really allowed him to enter the core group and eventually succeed in the counterattack was mainly his in-law relationship with the Dugu family.

Although Dugu Xin himself was a loser in the political struggle, the position he occupied in the Western Wei regime at that time gave Li Tai room for advancement. He did not need to go to the trouble of starting a new government. After taking control of the Western Wei regime, he could quickly devote himself to the plan of unifying the world after a short rest.

Today, the general trend of the world has basically become clear, and the political environment has gradually begun to normalize. Some political arrangements that were suitable for turbulent times in the past are no longer suitable for the future.

Especially since Li Tai was a strong ruler who carried on the past and opened up the future, he did not need to specially support his foreign relatives to balance the political situation. It was not a good thing for him if his foreign relatives had too strong a presence.

After all, relatives by marriage are not ordinary ministers, and the relationship between them cannot be handled impartially in many cases. Once any disputes or conflicts arise based on power, it will be more complicated to deal with than those between the emperor and his subjects, and will also directly affect the emperor's own family relationships.

Therefore, whether it was towards Dugu's brothers-in-law, or Yao or other concubines and relatives, Li Tai maintained the same attitude, that is, he did not require these people to be smart and capable, to share the worries of the emperor, or to make contributions to the country.

Even if they really have some special talents, once the country's selection system is established, perfected and standardized, there will be talented people from all over the world available for selection and appointment, and no one can be said to be irreplaceable.

Therefore, as long as these people can abide by the law, they will naturally be able to enjoy wealth and honor for a long time. Similarly, the imperial court will also have corresponding official titles to accommodate these meritorious relatives.

So when he heard that the Yao brothers took the initiative to ask him to go out to serve as officials, and they also wanted to return to Jiangdong, Li Tai felt a little unhappy, but his expression remained calm. He just smiled and said: "Now that relatives and friends have gathered in Chang'an, they should be in harmony. Jiangdong has just been settled and the people are not at peace, but you two are eager to leave. Could it be that the soil and water in Jiangdong are really more nourishing than Guanzhong?"

"Although the water and soil in Jiangdong are pleasant, they are not as ancient and heavy as the Qinchuan Emperor's residence. However, wherever my brothers live, as long as there is a place where they can sit and sleep, they can be well cared for. It is not important for Qinchuan or Wu. Although I still miss my hometown, I am ashamed to be rewarded without any merit. I am willing to seek a suitable position to serve the country with my body!"

After hearing this, Yao Cha hurriedly bowed his head and said.

Li Tai did not rush to speak, but just pondered silently. At this time, Yao Zui on the side said anxiously: "Although Guanzhong is a bit aggressive when you first come here, it feels smooth after living here for a long time. I want to leave now, just hoping to know how to advance and retreat, and stay away from the human relationships and disputes here!"

"What do you mean? What human relations and right and wrongs forced you two to not dare to stay in the capital?"

Hearing what Yao Zui said, Li Tai's face immediately darkened, and then he looked directly at the two of them and asked in a deep voice.

Yao Zui spoke hastily, and seeing the Supreme's serious expression, he dared not speak easily. Yao Cha on the side was also a little awkward at the moment. He glanced at the Supreme's terrifying eyes and lowered his head quickly. After a short silence, he chose to speak out Wei Ding's suggestion. This was not a taboo plan, but just a consideration made by the brothers to seek peace.

After listening to Yao Cha's story, Li Tai's frown slowly relaxed again, and he couldn't help but sigh inwardly. It turned out that there is no private matter in the world, and there are always people paying attention to every aspect.

Of course, the enthronement of a crown prince is related to the foundation of the country, so it is natural that it attracts attention from the public.

In fact, Li Tai also had considerations about this point. His eldest son Jiang Lingle was also the legitimate son, so it was natural to enthrone him as the crown prince. Li Tai never intended to do anything weird about the enthronement of the crown prince. All he needed was for the country to be passed on smoothly, and it would be best if there were no fluctuations or accidents.

But the main reason why he had not appointed a crown prince was that he felt his son was still too young. It should be noted that appointing a crown prince is not just as simple as establishing a title. Once the Eastern Palace is established, a series of corresponding officials will also need to be expanded. These Eastern Palace officials will establish a small group relatively independent of the court system with the crown prince as the center, as a reserve team for the crown prince's future governance.

Li Tai didn't mind that the enthronement of the crown prince would take away some of his prestige and glory, but he felt that his son was still too young. His eldest son Jiang Lingle was now in his early teens, and neither his experience nor his brains were enough to handle overly complex interpersonal relationships.

Once the East Palace is established, all kinds of currents will flow into it, and all kinds of personalities and concepts will follow. As the core figure of the East Palace, the Crown Prince is destined to endure all kinds of collisions and blends. If he does not have a solid and stable cognition and judgment ability, it is a matter of minutes to be led astray. No matter how wise Li Tai is, he cannot keep an eye on his son's interpersonal relationships and social activities every day. If he really wants to maintain such a high level of attention, it is also a kind of oppression, which is not conducive to the development of his son's independent personality.

Although he has not appointed a crown prince, he has not confined his son to the palace. He used to study in the Imperial Academy, but under the advice of his ministers, he is now receiving education in a school set up in the Secretariat. Li Tai also lets his son attend some state ceremonies on his behalf. When he was in Luoyang before, his son Jiang Lingle presided over the ceremony of offering sacrifices to the deceased in Chang'an.

Of course, the reason why he did not appoint a crown prince right away was that he had a certain desire for control and hoped to provide his son with a more extensive education step by step.

This so-called control was not to turn his son into his puppet, but because once the crown prince was appointed, both the officials of the Eastern Palace and the ministers in the court would have certain powers to supervise and advise the crown prince on his academic progress. Even Li Tai could not rashly change the content of his son's education. Because the crown prince was the future monarch of the country, advising the crown prince was also a responsibility to the country.

Once many things are given a grand and vague meaning, they will become unrealistic. Many truths are empty talk, and accepting too much indoctrination will only make people lose the ability to think dialectically.

Just like the Western Han Emperor Xuan's lament that "the one who caused chaos in my family was the crown prince", which is often quoted to criticize Confucianism, the real point of this lament is that "I was dazzled by the name and the reality and didn't know what to stick to". To put it simply, as a ruler, one must have the attitude and ability to seek truth from facts and learn to use various means instead of believing in any theory.

Li Tai would not blindly appoint a crown prince too early for the sake of comprehensive institutional arrangements. He had his own ideas and arrangements for his son's growth and gradual entry into the world.

Not to mention that he is now in full control of the overall situation, even if he dies suddenly and travels back in time one day, the eldest son in the country will be the heir, and the order of succession will not be disrupted. Even if the situation will usher in a new turmoil, it is because he died young, not because there is no crown prince.

From Li Tai's perspective, the Yao Cha brothers were a bit too cautious in seeking external appointments to avoid the disputes in the capital. As long as they did not take the initiative to get involved in any personnel disputes, they would be able to distinguish right from wrong and even use this to strike down some restless people.

But this is from Li Tai's perspective. As for the Yao Cha brothers, since they have no such thoughts, they would naturally stay as far away from them as possible.

So after thinking for a while, Li Tai nodded and said, "Wu is a newly annexed land and the people's sentiments are still undecided. You two are from Wu. Going to govern the land can make the people happy, and the court can also use this to promote benevolence. The province has been discussing this issue recently. Since you two have this intention, you can register your names in the province and choose the right time to use them. If all goes well, you may be able to go before the New Year. You can visit your old friends in the capital first."

Although he did not say anything definite, he had basically finalized the matter, and he already had a plan in mind for Yao Cha's arrangement, which was to appoint him as the prefect of Wuxing.

The Yao family was originally from Wuxing, which was the hometown of Chen Baxian's clan. Moreover, when the Tang army marched south, many people in Wuxing were resistant. There must have been some stubborn folk sentiments that needed to be carefully sorted out. Yao Cha could return home with honor by being appointed as the shepherd of his hometown, and Li Tai would trust and feel at ease with him.

As for Yao Zui, since he was still young in service, it would be easy to arrange for him to be a provincial assistant or a county magistrate in the place where the incident occurred, and no special considerations were needed.

After finishing dinner with the Yao brothers, when Li Tai returned to his bedroom, he couldn't help but think of Wei Ding who had reminded the Yao brothers.

He had a relatively good impression of Wei Ding. At that time, Wei Ding came to Shannan as an envoy of Xiao Laoliu, the King of Shaoling of Southern Liang. As soon as they met, he showed his charlatan side and predicted that he would be endowed with the aura of a king. As a result, not long after, Hou Jing, who was in chaos in Jiangdong, wanted to make him a king in order to win him over.

However, they had little contact after that. Li Tai knew that he came to Chang'an to seek development, and he occasionally heard about him, but he had no systematic and in-depth understanding. This time, because the Yao brothers were curious about Wei Ding again, he ordered his staff to sort out Wei Ding's relevant personnel records and send them to the palace.

Relevant information was soon sent over. After reading it, Li Tai discovered that Wei Ding had actually done quite a lot and lived a comfortable life after arriving in Guanzhong. In particular, he had joined forces with a group of wealthy and powerful families in southern Beijing to divide up Qujiang Lake. This made him a little unhappy.

Although public-private joint development and construction of the new capital was a policy he had set before, Li Tai still did not want to allow private individuals to occupy a landmark such as Qujiang Lake.

After a little hesitation, he decided to appoint Wei Ding as the deputy supervisor of the Imperial Garden and the envoy of the Southern Garden, responsible for building the Southern Garden in the south of the capital. The Southern Garden was naturally a new palace garden planned with Qujiang as the center. When the palace garden was completed, Li Tai planned to allocate it to the Eastern Palace for use. The reason why he arranged Wei Ding to be the envoy of the garden was because he saw that this guy was living too comfortably, so he wanted to take back the land that he had divided up.

After the appointment was finalized, Li Tai thought about it and added a new title, the Crown Prince's Secretary. Although the Crown Prince had not yet taken office, it did not prevent him from appointing officials to the Eastern Palace first, and also gave this guy some motivation to acquire land.