Thousand-year-old family: its rise began with Shang Yang’s reforms

Chapter 451 The Emperor’s Mental Technique
Yang Jian's expression changed slightly, as if this was indeed the truth.

Li Erlang's talents have been shown in this war. If he is left in Duke Tang's mansion, he will be the biggest threat.

As it is now, separating him from the "Duke of Tang's Mansion" can, on the one hand, demonstrate his benevolence and magnanimity. Even a person of the rank of Duke of Tang, who should have no more titles to offer, can continue to be rewarded, playing the role of "buying a horse's bones for a thousand gold coins". On the other hand, it can also serve as a guard against Li Yuan.

After all, he himself started out as a rebel, and he could not forget that bloody night, so he also could not let go of people who were similar to him back then.

He will be afraid and terrified.

This is also the reason why he has been trying so hard to suppress the Dugu family over the years.

How similar is Dugu Xin now to how he was back then?
Even Dugu Xin doesn’t need the support of another big family, he himself is a big family!

He nodded: "Given their contributions, it is worthwhile to reward them with a duke."

After all, it was a war of annihilation. Even though the destruction of a country this time was not too great, it was still a war of annihilation. Since ancient times, "annihilation of a country" has been the greatest military achievement. Except for the Tang Dynasty when the national strength reached a certain level, the rewards for the war of annihilation have always been great.

"only."

Yang Jian hesitated again, he was thinking about this problem.

He originally planned to keep Li Erlang and then cause chaos in Li Yuan's mansion. After all, there was only one position of Duke, so who should be given the position of "Duke"? Should it be given to Li Erlang or Li Dalang? Or to any other child?
Logically speaking, it should be given to Li Dalang, after all, Li Dalang is the eldest son.

But that's just "logically speaking".

At that time, all it would take is a little provocation, and Li Yuan's two or even three children would start fighting among themselves, and Li Yuan would no longer be a threat.

Now if Li Erlang is given the position of "Duke", wouldn't that be...
Dugu Jialuo, who was standing by, understood Yang Jian's concerns after a brief thought and immediately whispered, "Your Majesty, is the position of Duke inappropriate?"

She looked very tender and contented: "I feel that Erlang's father is the Duke of the State. Our Nine Provinces have always been governed by benevolence and filial piety. If the son's title is higher than his father's, or even the same as his father's, is this against filial piety?"

Yang Jian's expression suddenly softened. The reason why he had been able to maintain his relationship with Dugu over the years was because he had the intelligent Dugu Jialuo around, who always made him feel softer towards Dugu.

"So what do you think should be done?"

Dugu Jialuo smiled and said, "Your Majesty, I am just a woman, how can I know this?"

"But I heard that there was a title called 'Jun Hou' in the past? The top military commanders and the ones with the highest military achievements in the past were Wei, Huo and Chen. Among the three, Huo Qubing was the 'Guan Guan Hou' and Chen Qulu was the 'Lin' Hou', which was the highest achievement among young military commanders."

"Your Majesty, why don't you follow the example of Emperor Wu of Han and confer titles of nobility upon these two while they are still young?"

“This is already an honorable thing.”

"After all, it is a bit too much to be awarded the title of Duke for the merit of destroying a country. Even if Your Majesty is merciful, such a rule cannot be broken."

While massaging Yang Jian's shoulders, she said her solution: "Qi Lang's title can be directly the same as that of General Chen Qulu, and he can be called "Lin'an Marquis" or "Lin'an Lord"; and Er Lang's title... I don't think it's appropriate to directly use the title of Guanjun Hou."

"What do you think, Your Majesty?"

She leaned against Yang Jian's back, and the massage made Yang Jian very happy. He closed his eyes and thought for a while, then said, "Why not give him the title of 'Tian Ce'?"

Tiance?

Dugu Jialuo nodded slightly: "Ben Ben of the Quail, Tian Ce Yin Yin, Tian Ce is not only the nickname of Fu Yuexing, but also the wise minister who assisted Wu Ding in building the Shang Dynasty. Your Majesty gave him this name, which is really appropriate. Erlang will surely be able to assist Your Majesty in promoting the Sui Dynasty to a peak state."

Yang Jian also smiled somewhat smugly.

When he was thinking about the title just now, this name popped into his mind, and after thinking about it carefully, this name was indeed suitable.

He wrote with a flourish.

The two titles of "Marquis of Tiance" and "Marquis of Lin'an" were decided.

In the winter of the fifteenth year of Kaihuang.

When the army returned, the emperor rewarded many meritorious officials. Among them, the most rewarded were two young men.

Chen Lin'an was given the title of "Marquis of Lin'an" and was allowed to inherit the title of "Chen Qulu", a famous general in the Han Dynasty Emperor Wu of Han, to restore the glory of the Chen ancestors. He was allowed to open another mansion, the "Mansion of Marquis of Lin'an", and was promoted to the rank of "Mighty General", a third-rank official.

Li Shimin was given the title of "Hou Tian Ce". Because it was a marquis title, and because Li Shimin's father also had the title of Duke, he was allowed to remain unaffected. If he inherited the title of "Duke of Tang" in the future, he would be allowed to change "Duke of Tang" to "Duke Tian Ce", or he could continue to retain the title of Duke of Tang - if he did not inherit the title of Duke, then his title of "Hou Tian Ce" would be allowed to be hereditary.

In addition, he was also appointed as "General Tiance", which was the third rank.

This series of rewards made everyone in the court look strange. If Chen Linan's reward was still "within their expectations", then this person's reward was indeed beyond everyone's expectations.

Among the crowd, Li Yuan's expression was especially uglier.

The emperor was almost making it clear that he wanted to sow discord between his two children. He subconsciously looked at his second son who was standing there receiving the reward. When he saw that Li Shimin still had a happy expression on his face, he sighed tiredly and helplessly.

Erlang is indeed too young, so it is normal that he cannot understand the twists and turns in this.

After returning, explain to him the pros and cons of this matter and ask him to write a letter to give up this matter.

He thought so in his heart.

In the winter of the fifteenth year of Kaihuang.

This was the last heavy snow in the 15th year of Kaihuang and the first heavy snow in the 16th year of Kaihuang.

White snowflakes were flying around on the ground, and Li Shimin was walking in the snow in a panic. He walked step by step in a daze, his face was covered with snowflakes, his complexion was a little cold and blue, and his eyes were filled with confusion.

He knew nothing and could not see anything. He only knew to move forward step by step.

A figure appeared in front of him, with an anxious look on his face: "Erlang? It's really you."

The man took off his cloak and put it on Li Shimin, sighed, and pulled him towards the mansion: "Just now, the servant said that he saw a person walking on the street without knowing the cold weather. He looked like you. I didn't believe it at first, but now I see it, I didn't expect it to be you."

"Why are you walking outside in such cold weather wearing so little?"

"What do you think about all day, kid?"

He took Li Shimin into the mansion. The plaque of the mansion was quietly covered by ice and snow in the heavy snow. Everything was so ordinary.

A gust of wind blew, blowing down countless winter snow.

The three large characters on the plaque glowed slightly against the heavy snow.

"Prince Jin's Mansion"

Fuchu
Yang Guang asked the people around him to light up all the earthenware dragons and other things, and asked people to prepare ginger soup to ward off the cold. After the ginger soup arrived, he handed it to Li Shimin, and then sat there without asking anything, but just asked people to prepare food and good wine again.

Li Shimin looked at Yang Guang and asked in a hoarse voice: "Uncle, why don't you ask me why I am walking in the snow?" Yang Guang laughed when he heard it. He shook his head and sighed: "You kids always have some troubles. What's wrong with walking in the snow?"

"That year, I was caught in a heavy rain, and I didn't eat or drink for three days and three nights. Finally, I had a high fever. When I was on the verge of death, I realized that everything in this world can be summed up in four words in the end."

Four words?
Li Shimin became interested: "What word?"

Yang Guang chuckled and took a sip from the wine glass in front of him: "Of course I'll just make do with my life."

A mouthful of hot wine dispelled the chill from before. He smacked his lips, feeling the wine flowing through his body, and leaned back: "It's better to live a miserable life than to die a good death. I'll live one day at a time."

"What's this about?"

He yawned, and without asking what happened to Li Shimin, he pointed at the maid who was serving food in the distance and said, "This is the cook I asked my mother for. The cooking skills of the imperial chefs in the palace are hard to come by outside."

"Taste it?"

Li Shimin did not hesitate. He was a free and easy person by nature. He immediately sat there and enjoyed the food with Yang Guang.

On the way, he finally told the reason why he was so distraught.

"At the morning court today, I was awarded the title of 'Tian Ce Hou', and His Majesty said that if I inherit the title of 'Tang Guo Gong' in the future, I can change my title to 'Tian Ce Gong'. After the morning court, His Majesty summoned me and told me the meaning of the word 'Tian Ce', hoping that I could be like 'Fu Yue' during the Wu Ding period, and assist him, or even the next emperor, to build the Sui Dynasty into a prosperous era."

"I was also very moved after hearing this. When I got home, I excitedly told my father about this. However, my father did not even listen to the content of my words. He just interrupted me and told me to write a letter to ask His Majesty to cancel the privilege of changing the title after "inheriting the title of Duke of Tang". He said that the title of Duke has always been inherited by the eldest son. If I ask for this right, it will make my eldest brother think too much."

Li Shimin raised his head and tried his best to force a smile, but failed in the end.

He looked at Yang Guang and said, "In fact, I have never thought about inheriting the position of Duke of Tang. I also know that this position belongs to my eldest brother."

Li Shimin drank the wine in the cup and whispered, "Second uncle, do you know why I joined the army?"

Yang Guang was a qualified listener. While pouring wine for Li Shimin, he asked, "Why?"

Li Shimin smiled bitterly: "Because I heard the conversation between father and elder brother. Father wanted me to serve as an official in the court, while elder brother asked father whether he wanted me to inherit the title of Duke and whether he liked me more."

"My eldest brother even said that it would be better to send me back to my hometown in Taiyuan, where I would have no worries about food and drink for the rest of my life."

He wanted to smile, but he couldn't. "My father asked my eldest brother if he had spoiled me so much since I was a child just to make me useless."

"My eldest brother admitted it. Not only did he admit it, he also said maliciously that he was the one who caused me to fall off the horse. Why didn't he kill me or cripple me? This would save trouble."

Li Shimin raised his head, tears streaming down his face.

"For the past ten years, I have always been immersed in the kindness my eldest brother has shown me, but now that I suddenly know everything, I can't accept it, so I ran away."

"I joined the army to make merit for myself and tell my father and elder brother that I can earn the title with my own ability and there is no need to rob him of his things. I even had a malicious thought. If I could die on the battlefield, would my father and elder brother feel more at ease?"

"After this great achievement, I thought they could finally rest assured."

"But father——"

He choked up a little and said, "How could my father be so biased?"

Yes.

Li Shimin was not crying because his father did not allow him to inherit the position of Duke. He was just crying because how could his father be so biased.

He knew that his father was also in a dilemma, but why did his father always choose to stand by his eldest brother?

It was like this back then, and it is like this today.

Isn't his father worried about his brother's sadness? Is he only worried about his elder brother thinking too much?

Yang Guang drank in silence, with a look of unrelieved sadness on his face: "Erlang, sometimes, people's hearts are just born to be biased."

"I have learned horse riding and archery since I was young, and I have countless strategies in my mind."

"But my mother advised me to be a playboy, and my father would only frown when he saw my academic performance. They both felt that I was overshadowing my brother's brilliant brilliance."

Yang Guang looked at Li Shimin and said, "But, if my brother is brilliant enough, how can I hide his brilliance?"

"It's not our fault, so don't blame ourselves."

He looked at Li Shimin and said with a smile: "Write a letter to His Majesty, tell him that you do not need this privilege, and also use this action to tell the Duke of Tang and the Duke of Tang's son that you have no intention of competing for these."

"After that, he submitted another memorial, saying that he wanted to open a government."

He smiled like a brilliant flower.

"The title of Marquis is enough for you to set up a government. You are supposed to set up a government anyway."

"After we opened the mansion, we became two families."

Spring, the sixteenth year of Kaihuang.

The Lantern Festival holiday had just ended when the newly promoted court celebrity, Tian Ce Hou, submitted a letter. The letter was written in a flowery or brilliant style, and it was obvious that someone had asked someone to write it for him.

But that's not the point.

The key point is what is being requested.

First, he requested His Majesty to revoke his privileges. He was not the eldest son and had no right to inherit the title of Duke of Tang. He also said that Duke of Tang had said that this would make the prince think too much.

Second, request to establish a government.

Among them, the two titles are more important.

It's Duke Tang, not my father.

He is the prince, not the elder brother.

Yang Jian was sitting on the dragon throne on the stage, the twelve-tasseled crown on his head swaying slightly, obscuring his smile.

He just kindly explained that he didn't mean that and apologized.

Finally, Yang Jian said softly.

"allow."

(End of this chapter)