Jiuxi

Chapter 789 [First Move]

The third day of the second month in the second year of Dingzheng.

As the New Year holidays came to an end, officials from various government offices in the capital returned to their busy pace.

A year's plan begins in spring. No matter whether it is a high-ranking official in the ministry or a small clerk in the warehouse, most people are working diligently and doing their best to make a good start this year.

The emperor naturally had even more busyness, as he had to review endless memorials every day. If the left prime minister Xue Nanting and the six ministers had not dealt with some of them in advance, Li Zongben suspected that he would probably be overwhelmed by the memorials.

After the morning court session ended, Li Zongben went to the imperial study in Chongzheng Hall, rested for a while, and then began to govern the country day after day.

To be fair, although this young emperor had many flaws, he inherited the previous emperor's character of diligence.

He has been on the throne for nearly two years, and he has never indulged in pleasure, nor has he taken in many beautiful women to fill his harem. On the whole, he is a qualified emperor. In addition, his widely known filial piety makes his reputation in the market not bad - if it were not for the mistake of hastily launching the Northern Expedition last year, and if it were not for the sharp contrast with Lu Chen's memorial, perhaps many subjects would think that he is an excellent successor.

Li Zongben was admiring Jing Qingshan's calligraphy while picking up a memorial from the Ministry of Revenue. Yuan Yuji, the Junior Supervisor of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, walked in from the outer hall and saluted, saying, "Your Majesty, Duke Wei requests an audience."

"Wei Guogong?"

Li Zongben had not forgotten who the Duke of Wei was, but the title was indeed a little unfamiliar to him.

He hasn't seen Li Tianrun for nearly half a year.

Originally, he was supposed to attend the New Year's Day court session, but Li Zongben took into consideration his poor health and issued an edict to dissuade him from traveling.

Suppressing the doubts in his heart, Li Zongben asked seriously: "Where is he now?"

"Wait outside the palace."

"Go and invite him in person."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Yuan Yuji left in a hurry. About an incense stick later, he was seen holding Li Tianrun's arm and slowly walking into the imperial study.

Li Zongben looked up and was surprised.

The once dignified and imposing Grand Commander of Jingzhou is now thin and gaunt, and the duke's robe is obviously too loose on him.

His face was slightly yellow, and one could tell at a glance that he was ill.

Although Li Zongben didn't want to see Li Tianrun appear in the court, he still showed necessary care for him. He would send imperial physicians to the Duke's Mansion to visit Li Tianrun every now and then, and all kinds of precious medicinal materials and supplements would be sent to him like water.

He learned from the imperial physician that Li Tianrun's health condition was indeed not very good, but hearing about it was no match for seeing it with one's own eyes.

Li Zongben stood up quickly, the shock on his face was genuine, and he said with concern: "If the Duke has anything to tell me, just send someone to submit a memorial. Why bother to make a trip with your sick body?"

"Your Majesty loves me so much, I dare not be presumptuous."

Li Tianrun stopped and was about to salute.

This time, Li Zongben did not wink at Yuan Yuji. He personally stepped forward to hold Li Tianrun's arms and said sternly, "Duke, you should take care of your health first!"

Li Tianrun was quite touched and sighed, "Your Majesty, it's okay."

Li Zongben still refused to let go. He turned to look at Yuan Yuji and said coldly, "Why are you still standing there? Give the Duke a seat and bring a chair over!"

Yuan Yuji immediately accepted the order.

There are certain rules for granting seats in the palace. First of all, there are very few ministers who can enjoy such treatment, and generally they are senior and elderly ministers. Secondly, even when Li Daoyan was in the court, the so-called seat in the imperial study was just a round stool. After all, there is a difference between the monarch and his subjects, and this is the way of etiquette.

Although Li Tianrun had been in the frontier for many years, he was not unfamiliar with these rules. Hearing this, he was even more grateful and said, "Your Majesty, I do not deserve this honor."

Li Zongben said earnestly: "It's just a chair. Compared with the contribution of the Duke to Da Qi, it is not worth mentioning at all."

Seeing this, Li Tianrun no longer insisted.

The emperor and his minister sat down, and Li Tianrun got straight to the point and said, "I came to the palace to ask for an audience today because I want your Majesty's approval for two things."

Li Zongben said: "Your Excellency, please feel free to speak."

Li Tianrun coughed lightly and said slowly: "First of all, I shouldn't bother Your Majesty, but after repeated consideration, I think Your Majesty should be informed of this matter in advance, otherwise it would be against the will of a minister."

Hearing him speak so seriously, Li Zongben became a little nervous subconsciously, and hurriedly urged: "Please speak frankly, Duke."

Li Tianrun smiled bitterly and continued, "Your Majesty, my daughter Li Bingxue will be twenty-three in two months, but she is still unmarried."

Li Zongben suddenly realized, and at the same time had a vague guess in his mind, and tentatively said: "I wonder if the Duke has any young talents he likes? If he has his eyes on a young man, I can issue an imperial decree to grant him a marriage." Li Tianrun hesitated for a moment and sighed: "Your Majesty, my daughter is stubborn, and even I can't change her decision. In her early years, she fought side by side with the Duke of Shanyang in Guangling, and later they joined hands to fight the enemy many times. Unknowingly, the two of them developed a liking for each other."

Li Zongben thought to himself that it was indeed so.

In fact, he had a premonition of this matter a long time ago. When the late emperor allowed Li Tianrun to return to Beijing for recuperation and resigned from the post of Grand Commander of Jingzhou, and allowed Li Bingxue to lead the Feiyu Army to transfer to the Dingzhou Commandery, it was tantamount to tacitly approving the two equally outstanding young people to get together.

However, Li Zongben pretended to be puzzled and said, "They are indeed a good match, but Lu Qing's family already has two principal wives. I cannot accept the Duke's precious daughter as a concubine, even if that person is from Lu Qing's family."

Li Tianrun explained: "Your Majesty, the Lu family is very small this generation, and Lu Tong's two cousins ​​have no children, so maybe the title of joint succession can be used."

"That's it..."

Li Zongben pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "The Lu family and General Li love each other, so I naturally want to see lovers become a couple. As long as you, the Duke, don't object, and the Lu family agrees, I have no objection."

"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."

Li Tianrun did not ask the emperor to grant a marriage, and Li Zongben did not overdo it. To put it bluntly, this was just Li Tianrun's respect for him, otherwise there would be no need for him to go to the palace to meet the emperor.

And because of this respect, Li Zongben felt very comfortable.

Li Tianrun continued, "I'm sorry to make you laugh, Your Majesty. The second matter is still related to my children."

Li Zongben smiled and said, "Why do you say that, Duke? Parents should consider the next generation. If I am not mistaken, it must be related to Minister Li. To be honest with you, Minister Li has a calm temperament and outstanding talents. I plan to transfer him to the Ministry of Revenue to assist Minister Jing and continue to vigorously promote the Jingjie Law."

Being transferred from the Ministry of War to the Ministry of Revenue was undoubtedly a promotion.

Li Tianrun said with a sigh: "Your Majesty, I am here today to resign on behalf of my son."

Li Zongben was startled and asked in surprise, "Why did the Duke say that? Could it be that someone in the court is trying to make things difficult for Minister Li?"

"Your Majesty, please don't misunderstand. This is his own idea and has nothing to do with others."

Li Tianrun paused for a moment and said frankly, "Your Majesty, my sick body is getting worse and worse. The reason I have been holding on is that, first, I have not seen our army recapture the old capital, and I am still worried about my daughter. If not for this, I am afraid I would have passed away long ago and would not have to suffer from this pain day and night."

Li Zongben felt mixed emotions and his expression became increasingly heavy.

Li Tianrun continued, "My son has no other strengths, but he has a pure heart of filial piety, so he has long wanted to resign and return home to serve me wholeheartedly. However, he has always been unable to make a decision, fearing that it would cause unnecessary misunderstandings in the court and the public. Moreover, he was entrusted with an important task by His Majesty at such a young age, and resigning rashly would be a betrayal of His Majesty's grace, so he was very conflicted. Seeing that he was uneasy, I thought of asking His Majesty for an imperial decree to allow my son to resign."

This is not an excessive request, after all, there is a ready-made example in Beijing.

When Han Lingfu returned home to recuperate due to old age and frailty, Han Zhongjie directly resigned from his prominent military post as commander-in-chief of the Beijing camp and devoted himself to serving his old father. The late emperor appreciated this very much and did not put any obstruction in place.

Li Zongben glanced at Li Tianrun's skinny palm and sighed, "I really don't want Minister Li to leave the court, but his filial piety is rare. Please wait for a moment, Duke."

He turned to look at Yuan Yuji and said, "Call the Minister of War to the palace immediately."

Yuan Yuji took the order and left.

The emperor and his minister continued to chat in the imperial study. Although Li Tianrun was ill, his vision was not inferior to that of the prime minister, especially when it came to matters related to the border defense of Jingzhou, a few words from him could often give Li Zongben great inspiration.

After an unknown amount of time, Ding Hui, the Minister of War, hurried over. He first saluted the emperor, and then said to Li Tianrun, "Greetings, Duke."

Li Tianrun greeted with a smile.

Li Zongben informed Ding Hui of the reason why Li Liangyu wanted to resign, and then asked: "Minister Ding, Li Shilang is your subordinate, what do you think about this matter?"

Ding Hui's face was filled with surprise and reluctance, and his heart was filled with turmoil.

He never expected that Li Liangyu, who had not even worked as the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War for a full year, would resign so decisively and even ask Li Tianrun to enter the palace to plead with the Emperor!
If only he and Li Shizhi knew about the matter, and he had not yet started to make arrangements, he would definitely suspect that he had leaked the news while talking in his sleep. Otherwise, how could such a coincidence happen?
Ding Hui tried his best to remain calm, bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, Minister Li is upright and diligent in his work. He has never made any mistakes in the past year. This shows that he is smart and capable. He is worthy of being the talent personally trained by Duke Wei. From a personal point of view, of course I hope that such a person can continue to serve Da Qi, but loyalty and filial piety are the foundation of being a person. Now Minister Li is filial and resigns to serve the Duke. I have nothing but admiration in my heart."

He spoke more and more fluently as he went on, and his expression became extremely sincere.

Li Zongben pondered in silence.

Ding Hui took the opportunity to look to the side and met Li Tianrun's gaze.

The other person had a faint smile on his face, and he seemed to admire Ding Hui's vision very much. However, at this moment Ding Hui suddenly felt a chill in his heart.

For some reason, he felt that the other person's gentle gaze seemed to be able to penetrate his heart, and the secrets hidden deep in his heart were almost visible under the gaze of these eyes.

At the same time, the emperor's voice rang in Ding Hui's ears.

"Duke, please ask Minister Li to make the report."

(End of this chapter)