Thief Emperor

Chapter 1123 The Third and Fourth Sons of the Imperial Family

This matter really has nothing to do with the third brother.

Instead, it was the third brother who enlightened Li Yun.

Li Yun had always believed that he was quite cautious in his actions, especially in matters of national importance. He proceeded with extreme caution, and even in the early years of the founding of the dynasty, he did not undertake any major changes. Only after the country had recovered some of its strength and the new dynasty had gained widespread acceptance did he begin his series of reforms.

Even with this reform, he proceeded with extreme caution. In the eighth year of Zhangwu, he first went to Jiangdong himself, and two years later, he began the new policies in Jiangdong, which were implemented on a trial basis.

It has been seven years now.

He felt that with his careful and cautious approach, the new policy should be fine.

But in reality, given the current political system, progress will inevitably bring about various problems.

This is a problem that not only Li Yun in the present cannot solve, but also no one in the other world can solve.

After the Third Prince left, Emperor Li sat in his seat without speaking for a long time. After a while, he murmured to himself.

"The best course of action now is to sit idly by and do nothing."

Emperor Li murmured, "Turning a blind eye."

At least... it will be much, much better than last week.

Thinking of this, Emperor Li took a few deep breaths, his eyes flickering uncertainly.

After a long while, he clenched his fist and continued to mutter to himself.

"No."

"At least not in the Zhangwu Dynasty."

Emperor Li made up his mind and exhaled a breath of stale air.

Just then, the chief eunuch Gu Chang cautiously entered and bowed to Li Yun, saying, "Your Majesty, it's time for lunch."

Li Yun waved his hand: "I have no appetite, I won't eat lunch today."

Eunuch Gu hesitated for a moment before nodding in agreement, and then said, "His Highness the Crown Prince has also come and said he wishes to see you."

Li Yun looked up at Gu Chang and then said, "Let him in."

"Yes."

Gu Chang bowed his head in agreement and left Ganlu Hall. Not long after, His Highness the Crown Prince walked in and bowed to the Emperor, saying, "Father."

Li Yun was not interested and simply hummed in response.

The Crown Prince looked at Li Yun and asked, "I heard that you were angry this morning. I asked several ministers and the Third Prince, and I know some of the details."

The crown prince bowed his head and said, "As a subject, I should share the emperor's worries and relieve my father's sorrows."

He looked at Li Yun and said in a deep voice, "Some merchants in Jiangdong have lost their morals. I believe that we should immediately issue an edict to Jiangdong and the Three Departments, ordering them to arrest these people and conduct a thorough interrogation!"

The emperor pointed to a chair beside him, gesturing for the crown prince to sit down. After the crown prince was seated, the emperor looked at him and said, "Those who traffic in people and sign indenture contracts can certainly be severely punished according to the law. But how should local authorities punish those who sell people according to the rules?"

The Crown Prince looked at Li Yun and said without hesitation, "Their anger towards Father Emperor is their greatest sin."

The Crown Prince's words were not wrong.

During the imperial era, the emperor was called the Son of Heaven, but in reality, he was the one who ruled over the common people.

After all, the Heavenly Emperor cannot speak, but the Son of Heaven can.

The emperor's will supersedes the law. Simply angering the emperor can lead to immediate interrogation, and he can then pin whatever charges he desires on someone.

The emperor glanced at the crown prince, hesitated, then sighed deeply.

The Crown Prince is different from him after all. He grew up in this era, and everything he saw and was educated in was of this era.

Therefore, their understanding and perspective on the world are naturally different from Li Yun's.

Li Yun didn't blame him for this, nor did he have any fault to point out.

After a moment, he spoke, "Child."

Upon hearing those two words, the crown prince immediately stood up, walked to his father, bowed, and said, "Your son is here."

The emperor looked at him and said, "Do you know why dynasties throughout history established rules?"

The crown prince thought for a moment, then bowed his head and said, "Please enlighten me, Father."

"Rules are used to bind people under heaven."

Li Yun looked at his eldest son, paused, and continued, "You and I, or rather, our Li family clan, are among the biggest beneficiaries of this set of rules."

"Those officials in the imperial court, as well as officials at all levels, also benefited."

"Only when these people benefit will they cling to the imperial court, ensuring its long-term existence. Therefore, the rules must not be broken." "Even if you and I, father and son, have the ability to break the rules, we should try our best not to."

The crown prince thought for a moment and asked, "Can the rules be changed?"

Li Yun nodded and said, "It can be changed."

"But we cannot change policies frequently."

Li Yun said earnestly, "This is a set of rules. Everyone is within the rules and does their own thing. If someone breaks the rules, there will naturally be laws and regulations to punish them."

“If the person who made the order does not follow these rules, or changes them frequently, it will take a long time.”

"So no one will want to associate with the Li family anymore."

Li Yun looked at the Crown Prince and asked, "Can you understand?"

These few sentences represent profound rules that the supreme ruler needs to understand.

In other words, it is the art of emperors.

Li Yun never held anything back from his eldest son; whenever he could teach him, he did his best to do so.

The prince bowed his head and said, "I have remembered it."

Li Yun hummed in agreement and continued, "As for the current state of the world, I am not sure whether it is time to abolish the slave system. However, starting from Jiangdong Road, we must establish rules that prohibit household slaves from entering workshops and factories to work."

The Crown Prince looked at Li Yun and shook his head, saying, "Father, this won't do. If this rule is set, those people will probably bring the things done in the workshop into their own homes."

Li Yun said calmly, "All levels of government should re-examine the household registration. If they have the ability to evade the inspection of local government, then let them do it."

The emperor grunted, "The money spent bribing officials is probably no less than the money spent hiring workers."

"Besides, once life gets better, not many people will be willing to sell themselves into slavery."

Li Yun waved his hand and said, "This matter is settled for now. In the next few days, you will work with the people from the Secretariat to finalize the rules and send official documents to the Jiangdong and Jinling government offices."

Tell them to crack down hard on human trafficking.

"Human trafficking is a serious crime, and once it is proven, it will be a serious crime."

The emperor said coldly, "The lightest punishment is exile for three thousand miles, the heaviest is execution."

The crown prince immediately lowered his head.

"My son, I obey."

…………

While His Majesty the Emperor and the Crown Prince were discussing matters in the Ganlu Hall, in a private room on the second floor of Hongfulou, the most popular restaurant in Luoyang, Prince Zheng, Li Cang, dressed in blue brocade, was sitting across the table from a young man in green.

After the two clinked glasses, the young man in blue said with a smile, "What day is it today? Why did you suddenly decide to invite me to drink, Third Brother?"

The young man in blue was none other than Li Tong, the fourth prince who had just been granted the title of Prince Su.

Li Cang tilted his head back and drank it all in one gulp, then said with a smile, "I was on official business in the southeast during this time and missed the ceremony of Si Lang being conferred the title of king. Now that I've finally returned from the southeast, it's only natural that the two of us brothers should get together."

"and."

Li Cang said with a smile, "Everyone in Luoyang says I've made a fortune, so it's only natural for me to treat Si Lang to wine."

Among the current emperor's sons, the first three are significantly older than the later ones. His Highness the Crown Prince is already twenty-five years old, the Second Prince is twenty-three, and Prince Zheng, Li Cang, is twenty-two.

However, the fourth prince, Li Tong, was only about seventeen years old. He was born after Li Yun entered the Central Plains.

Therefore, although one of them was the third son and the other the fourth son, the fourth prince still held some respect for his third brother.

After all, there were many years between them, and he always felt that his three older brothers were mysterious and unpredictable.

He poured wine for Li Cang and drank a cup with him before smiling and saying, "I've also heard that Third Brother has made a fortune in the past few years."

The Third Prince, Li Cang, clinked glasses with him again, then looked at Li Tong and said with a smile, "In the future, Fourth Brother might be much stronger than Third Brother."

"Third Brother is making fun of me."

Li Tong smiled wryly and said, "Whether I can endure the hardships in the Northwest is another matter."

Prince Zheng shook his head: "Si Lang probably doesn't know that since Father Emperor founded the country, the trade routes in the Western Regions have increased many times over compared to before. It is for this reason that Father Emperor has asked General Chen to start opening up the Western Regions in recent years."

"Now that the Western Regions are open to trade, the Western Regions trade route will become one of the most prosperous trade routes in the Tang Dynasty."

He looked at Prince Su, Li Tong, and said with a smile.

"Fourth brother, you're about to make it big."

(End of this chapter)