Thief Emperor

Chapter 1147 Fame
Inside the Zhaoming Hall.

The Duke of England led He Man to meet His Majesty the Emperor. He Man knelt on both knees and kowtowed in greeting.

The Duke of England bowed deeply and clasped his hands, saying, "Your Majesty, He Man, the Director of the Guanzhong Department, has arrived. I have brought him here to report."

The emperor grunted in acknowledgment and beckoned to Liu Bo.

Liu Bo then stepped forward and walked to the emperor's side. The emperor handed the document in his hand to Liu Bo.

"Sent by the Jingzhao Division, the Crown Prince's views on the war in the Northwest."

Liu Bo took it, but instead of looking at it directly, he asked, "What did His Highness the Crown Prince say?"

"Naturally, we should speak well of the King of Qin."

The emperor was not surprised at all and said calmly, "There are so many officials in the Eastern Palace, and there is also Yao Juzhong in the court. If he can listen to advice, he will definitely speak well of his brother right now."

The emperor glanced down at the document and continued, "What else is there to say? When the people of Luoyang heard about this, they were overjoyed and celebrated with great excitement."

Liu Bo unfolded the document, glanced at it, then put it down and said, "This should be true, after all, His Highness the Prince of Qin killed mostly Hu people."

Li Yun was silent for a moment, then continued, "The Prince of Zheng sent a letter saying that the Crown Prince instructed him to publish the events in the Northwest in the official gazette of the Tang Dynasty, which will soon be promulgated throughout the land."

Liu Bo was taken aback, then said, "Your Majesty, the Nine Departments have emergency carrier pigeons. It's hard to say about other places, but sending a message to Luoyang should not be a problem. If Your Majesty has a different idea, it can be sent to Luoyang in a day or two."

Carrier pigeons can only be used as an emergency communication method, since they are not very reliable and have strict requirements.

For example, if you want to send a message to Luoyang, you have to raise carrier pigeons in Luoyang. Once the pigeons have settled into their cages, you can take them out of Luoyang. When you need to send a message, you can tie them to their legs and release them back.

As Liu Bo said, communication in other major cities is not very reliable, but Luoyang is the capital, and the Nine Offices have been operating there for many years, so there is no problem sending messages to Luoyang.

Li Yun looked up at Liu Bo and shook his head slightly: "Let him oversee the country and govern. In Luoyang, he is acting as the emperor and can do whatever he wants."

“At this time, I can’t refuse him, otherwise it will be difficult for him to be the crown prince later.”

Liu Bo responded with a sound of agreement, but did not say anything more.

Today, the official gazette of the Tang Dynasty is quite popular and is in a monopolistic stage. In addition, this information carrier is unprecedented, with current affairs news, as well as poems and articles. At this time, each issue of the official gazette is actually not losing money.

In other words, its influence is growing day by day.

If events in the Northwest were published in the official gazette, the name of the King of Qin would likely spread throughout the land.

However, the story of the King of Qin massacring the city would likely be widely known, which would essentially eliminate any possibility of him ascending the throne.

From the Xiande era of Wu Zhou to the early Zhangwu era when the country was initially settled, there was a gap of twenty or thirty years, especially the ten years at the end of Wu Zhou, when the country was in great turmoil.

At this point, few people wanted to continue fighting.

Therefore, the second emperor of the new Tang Dynasty needed to be a benevolent ruler, preferably... a ruler who would allow the people to rest and recuperate.

The King of Qin, who was known for his frequent massacres of entire cities, might have gained a reputation among military men, but the aristocratic class was unlikely to support him.

The emperor spoke with Liu Bo for a while before looking down at He Man, who was still kneeling on the ground. He grunted and said, "Get up."

He Man got up from the ground and bowed his head, saying, "Your Majesty, this humble servant..."

The emperor glanced at him and said, "Two thousand miles, you came so quickly, I'm sure you're sincere."

"Tell me about the descendants of the King of Qin."

The emperor tapped the table and said in a deep voice, "What have you been hiding from me?"

He Man knelt on the ground once more, bowed his head and kowtowed, saying, "Your Majesty is wise."

"Back then, it was Your Majesty and the Director who promoted me. Now I have been serving in the Nine Departments for more than 20 years. Even if I had the greatest courage, I would not dare to hide anything, much less deceive the Emperor."

He knelt down and said, "After His Highness Prince Qin took up his fief in Chang'an, he did not do anything out of line. At most, he would occasionally have some conflicts with the locals when he left the palace incognito."

“Once, His Highness the Prince of Qin beat someone in the street, causing serious injury. The local government and our nine departments all went to investigate the cause and effect. In the end, we found out that this person was boasting in a tavern about the previous dynasty, saying how great Chang'an was in the past and how it is now.”

"Praising the previous dynasty while belittling our own."

"That angered His Highness, so His Highness immediately took action."

He Man knelt on the ground. Seeing that the emperor did not speak, he took a deep breath and continued, "Furthermore, I have heard several times that several people died in the Prince of Qin's mansion. Because they were servants of the mansion, the local government did not inquire about it, and naturally the Nine Departments did not dare to inquire about it either."

"If this kind of news were reported, it would be suspected of sowing discord between the emperor and his son."

He lowered his head and said, "I didn't dare report it..." The emperor frowned and asked, "How many times have you heard of it? How many times exactly?"

He Man lowered his head and said, "Four times."

Emperor Li narrowed his eyes: "He has only been in Chang'an for two or three years, which means he kills a servant in his household roughly every six months."

The emperor said angrily, "Why didn't he have such a temper when we were in Luoyang?"

He Man knelt on the ground, trembling with fear.

Emperor Li turned to look at Liu Bo and asked, "Speak."

This question was directed at Liu Bo, asking him how to deal with the person in front of him, Director He.

After careful consideration, Liu Bo said in a low voice, "How about we remove him from his post as the head of the Guanzhong Department, deduct his salary for three years, and force him to retire?"

The emperor frowned and asked, "Is there anyone in the Guanzhong Commandery who can take over?"

Liu Bo lowered his head and said, "Back then, the Nine Departments promoted people too quickly in order to take shape, which resulted in many people holding positions for more than ten years after the founding of the country remaining stagnant. Now, there are actually many people who can stand on their own."

His Majesty the Emperor was silent for a moment, then shook his head: "My son has made a mistake, and there is no reason to punish the person responsible and to take it out on others. He Man will remain as the Director of Guanzhong Division. I will give you three more years. After three years, you will be allowed to retire as a fourth-rank official and return to your hometown. Within three years, you must choose a suitable candidate for the Director of Guanzhong Division."

"To ensure the smooth operation of the Guanzhong Division in the future."

The emperor was silent for a moment before continuing, "This time, I spared you because of our long-standing relationship and the fact that you, the emperor and his son, truly dared not interfere."

"From now on, all matters concerning the Prince of Qin's residence, no matter how small, must be reported to you."

He Man knelt on the ground, his forehead touching the earth.

"Your humble servant thanks Your Majesty for your grace."

He meant it sincerely.

The Nine Offices have been established for over twenty years. In these twenty years, it is impossible for everyone to be loyal, and there will naturally be those who betray their own side.

Some of these people colluded with local officials and gentry to deceive their superiors and subordinates.

Even worse, some would use the name of the Nine Offices to commit evil deeds and oppress officials and the people in the local area.

The worst thing was that there were nine officials who colluded with foreign countries.

These people, once their identities were verified, all met tragic ends. Neither His Majesty the Emperor nor the Duke of England showed any mercy.

This time, His Majesty the Emperor was clearly lenient with He Man, only allowing him to retire from the front lines over three years.

This naturally includes He Man's more than twenty years of hard work.

But more so, it was because His Majesty the Emperor was in the wrong.

After all, it was your own son who got into trouble, so there's no reason to shift the blame onto someone else.

Moreover, Guan Zhongsi's starting point was actually to protect the "boss's" son.

That's why this matter was handled lightly.

The emperor gave Liu Bo a look, and Liu Bo walked up to He Man, helped him up, and said, "These next few days, you will stay in Jinling and tell me in detail about what has happened at the Prince of Qin's residence in the past two years."

He Man bowed his head and said, "Your subordinate obeys."

Emperor Li lowered his head and looked through the documents sent from Luoyang. After a while, he looked at Liu Bo and said quietly, "The second son even took the fourth son to the battlefield."

Liu Bo returned to the emperor's vicinity, thought for a moment, and said, "The Fourth Prince will be sent to govern the Northwest in the future. It wouldn't be a bad thing for him to learn from him."

“The future of Prince Su will definitely require ruthlessness, otherwise he won’t be able to control the people.”

Emperor Li thought for a moment, then said nothing more, only saying, "Send a letter to the Northwest, telling the Prince of Qin to return to Chang'an after the war and stay there obediently, and not to go anywhere else."

"After I finish dealing with the new policies in the southeast, I will leave Jinling around the turn of spring and summer next year. At that time, I will also go to Guanzhong with Prime Minister Du to take a look."

The emperor grunted.

"I'll take a good look at it then."

Just how bad is his temper right now?

(End of this chapter)