Thief Emperor

Chapter 1026 Reappearance on the Battlefield
Originally, Li Yun wanted to promote Zhuo Zhong to the position of Assistant Minister of Personnel.

In this way, Zhuo Zhong can do things for him effectively.

However, the Zhuo family of Wu County was first suppressed by him, and Zhuo Guangrui was stripped of his title and dismissed from his post. At this time, it would seem a bit unfair to use Zhuo Zhong in this way, so Li Yun abandoned this approach.

As for the selection of the Director of the Personnel Department, there is no particular rush, because the court first needs to carefully analyze the situation. The process of analyzing the situation mainly involves the Censorate proposing the candidates, and then the three judicial departments handling the matter.

Of the three judicial departments, the Censorate was headed by Xu Ang, the Court of Judicial Review by Xu Kun, and the only troublesome one was the Ministry of Justice, whose Minister of Justice, Fei Xuan, was also a relatively stubborn figure.

Fortunately, although the Ministry of Justice is responsible for criminal cases throughout the country, the affairs of officials are mostly handled by the Court of Judicial Review. The Ministry of Justice will at most send someone to participate, so Minister Fei will not be a major obstacle.

In this way, it would be reasonable for Jin Zhuo to be reinstated as Vice Minister of Works, at least to appease An Guangrui and prevent this old minister from completely losing interest.

In the future, it's highly likely that Li Yun will still need to use him.

After arranging Zhuo Zhong's affairs, Emperor Li took the list of officials he had finalized and personally went to the Secretariat to confirm the list of replacements with several of the Secretariat's prime ministers.

This round of replacements included officials who had entered the court through the "new learning" imperial examinations, accounting for 60-70% of the new vacancies.

Although they were still politically young and it was a bit daring to use them, Emperor Li had no one else of use at this time.

After arranging things for these people, it was already noon. Li Yun simply had someone send lunch to the Secretariat, where he and several prime ministers had a working meal together.

After finishing the meal, Prime Minister Tao Wenyuan hesitated for a moment, then bowed to Li Yun and said, "Your Majesty, I...I am old and frail, and no longer fit to be of great use."

"Your Majesty, I request to resign from my official post and return home to care for my parents. I humbly request your permission."

Li Yun looked up at him, then looked down at the document again, and replied indifferently, "No."

Tao Wenyuan was taken aback, but was about to continue his advice.

"His Majesty."

Emperor Li looked up at him seriously.

“Mr. Tao, I have indeed tempered my temper over the years.”

"I also want to speak to everyone politely and get things done."

At this point, Emperor Li's face turned cold: "But actually, I don't have a good temper."

These words terrified Tao Wenyuan, who knelt on the ground, bowed his head, and kowtowed, trembling with fear: "Your subject... Your subject deserves death."

In the Secretariat, the other three prime ministers were also so frightened by the emperor's sudden outburst that they knelt down.

Being an official in the imperial court is not like working for a company where you can quit whenever you want.

On the shore of the land, could it be the king's ministers?

If you retire and return to your hometown, the emperor might be in a good mood, or he might genuinely think you're too old, and might let you go back.

But if the emperor wants to use you, you can't escape; you'll die in office.

Even returning home to observe mourning can result in being "reinstated despite the mourning period."

Tao Wenyuan was a typical "old-fashioned" official. He was once one of the leading figures in the literary world of Chang'an, the capital of the old Zhou Dynasty, and the headmaster of the largest academy in Chang'an.

He entered officialdom through "traditional learning".

At this critical juncture, due to the previous cheating scandal, the emperor has punished a group of people and added another group to the ranks, making the transition between the old and new schools quite evident.

At this time, Tao Wenyuan, who had just been punished, submitted a letter to resign from his official post, which was somewhat suspected of being a "tantrum." Moreover, he did this to show goodwill to people of traditional learning and to demonstrate his attitude.

It means, look, I, Tao, would rather not be the prime minister than associate with them.

Li Yun was certainly not willing to accept this attitude, and he would not let him go so easily.

Otherwise, wouldn't it make Emperor Li look stupid and unable to see anything?

Moreover, keeping him in the court and continuing to serve as prime minister would also demonstrate the new dynasty's inclusive attitude.

Tao Wenyuan knelt on the ground, trembling with fear.

Emperor Li glanced at him and said indifferently, "I think Mr. Tao is in very good health. He should serve as an official in the court and not have any other thoughts."

"Only in this way can we have a good beginning and a good end."

At this point, Tao Wenyuan could not leave the court. If he still wanted to rebel against Li Yun, then there was only one way left.

That means dying in office.

No matter how he dies, as long as he dies in office, it will be very embarrassing for Emperor Li.

Li Yun's words were also a warning to him, whether intentionally or unintentionally, not to have any wicked thoughts.

If he were to die inexplicably while serving as prime minister, Emperor Li would be furious, and the entire Tao family would be implicated.

After saying this, Li Yun put his hands behind his back and strode away from the Secretariat.

Du Xiangong chased after Li Yun, exchanged a few words with him, and then returned to the Secretariat. When he returned to the Secretariat, Yao Xiangong was talking to Tao Wenyuan.

Xu Ang, the Minister of Rites, was already preparing to leave. Before leaving, he cupped his hands to Du Qian and said, "Minister Du, I have some matters to attend to at the Censorate."

Du Qian nodded silently, bowed to him in farewell, and then returned to the Secretariat. Looking at Tao Wenyuan, who was already seated, he sighed, "Why bother?"

“Our Emperor sees everything clearly.” Tao Wenyuan sat in his chair, remained silent for a long time, and then said with a wry smile, “I am truly getting old.”

"I'm not up to the task anymore."

He is indeed the oldest among the Grand Secretaries, already in his sixties this year.

Looking at Tao Wenyuan, Yao Xiangong sighed, "If you hadn't said those words today, it would have been fine, but you did say them to His Majesty."

"From now on, you'll need to take good care of yourself."

Yao Xiangong looked at Du Qian and said with a wry smile, "The longer you live, the better."

Du returned to his seat and lowered his head to drink tea.

"Sir, please stay in the court for a few more years. Even if you do nothing, it would be good to see more of the place."

“Look at the reason for today’s dispute.”

Du Xiangong murmured, "In the future... who will be right and who will be wrong?"

…………

Yingzhou, the main camp of the Tang army.

It was already the middle of the ninth year of Zhangwu, and spring had already been going on for several months.

Over the course of several months, the Khitan tribes outside the Great Wall made frequent moves, forcing Meng Qing to send men to join forces with the Wugu tribe to fight against the Khitans outside the Great Wall.

Meanwhile, the remnants of the Khitan forces inside the pass were also constantly active. Fortunately, Meng Qing had a large number of troops at his disposal. Although he was fighting on two fronts, he had enough troops to avoid being overwhelmed.

But it's just maintaining the status quo; there's been no significant progress on either side.

Just then, Minister Zhao, who had been riding a fast horse to the front line, finally arrived in Yingzhou. With the help of the Nine Departments, he arrived at the central army camp where Meng Qing was located as quickly as possible.

When he entered the central command tent, Meng Qing was giving instructions to some mid-level officers. Upon seeing Zhao Cheng enter, Meng Qing paused, then immediately stepped forward, cupped his hands in salute, and said, "General..."

Before he could even utter the word "general," Zhao Cheng helped him up.

Zhao Cheng returned the greeting with clasped hands and said solemnly, "Commander Meng."

Meng Qing's face changed, and he said with a wry smile, "General, isn't this an insult?"

As he spoke, he looked behind him and said in a deep voice, "This is the Minister of War of the Imperial Court, Duke Zhao of Liang!"

In the early years of the founding of the dynasty, Zhao Cheng was granted the title of Duke for his merits. At that time, because he was from Yuezhou, he was initially granted the title of Duke of Yue.

Later, when the second prince, Li Zheng, came of age, Emperor Li, remembering the past when he rose to power in Yuezhou, bestowed upon his second prince the title of Prince of Yue.

It was not appropriate to enfeoff two people in the same place, so Li Yun changed Zhao Cheng's title to Duke of Liang, a title he still holds to this day.

At this time, some of the generals under Zhao Cheng's command were his former subordinates. After recognizing Zhao Cheng, they immediately stepped forward, knelt down, clasped their hands in salute, and addressed him as "General."

Those who did not recognize Zhao Cheng bowed their heads, clasped their hands, and addressed him as "Lord Zhao."

Zhao Cheng looked at these military generals and felt a sense of kinship. He clasped his hands in return to them and said solemnly, "You are all too kind."

"There are no ministers in the army, Duke, since I have come to the army."

"If you all think highly of me, please continue to call me General!"

The crowd was overjoyed and stepped forward to address him as General.

After catching up with a few of his former subordinates, Zhao Cheng turned to Meng Qing and said slowly, "Commander Meng, we need to discuss the important matters of Youyan privately."

Meng Qing nodded hurriedly, waved his hand to dismiss these subordinates, and even chased away the servants in the main tent. Soon, only the two of them remained in the main tent. Meng Qing had wine and dishes prepared, and he personally poured wine for Zhao Cheng, saying with a wry smile, "I've been fighting a truly ugly battle here in Youyan."

"It's also because I'm not good enough."

He sighed and said, "Now that you've arrived, General, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. I entrust the affairs of the army to you."

Zhao Cheng took a sip of wine, then looked up at Meng Qing and said in a daze, "Don't give me that, kid."

"With the Nine Departments' information network being so efficient, I don't believe you don't know why I've come here."

Meng Qing smiled wryly and said, "I know that, but I have indeed written to His Majesty, requesting that His Majesty allow the general to take over the position of commander-in-chief."

"Bullshit."

Zhao Cheng shook his head and said, "We...we Tang army, have no precedent for changing generals in the midst of battle?"

As he spoke, he recalled the past. He smiled bitterly and said, "Except for me."

Minister Zhao shook his head, putting the matter of that year out of his mind, and continued speaking.

“This time, you will handle external affairs, and I will handle internal affairs.”

“I will handle the Khitans inside the pass; you will be mainly responsible for the Khitan tribes outside the pass.”

Zhao Cheng looked at Meng Qing and asked.

"how?"

(End of this chapter)