The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 116 With sinister intentions
In Jingzhao Prefecture, Li Daozon was holding the letter from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and looking at Xu Jingzong who was standing and bowing.

"Xu Jingzong, I trust you so much. Now all the counties are criticizing you. Where has your usual shrewdness gone? I tell you, if you can't solve this problem, go back to Jingyang County for me, build a tent next to the karez as soon as possible, and live there for the rest of your life."

After reading it, Li Dao Zong said again: "That's all."

Xu Jingzong bowed deeply towards the East Palace and said in a loud voice: "I obey your command."

Li Dao Zong clicked his tongue and said, "You are not really going to build a shack next to the karez, are you?"

"Of course I won't do that."

Li Daozong looked at the thick stack of impeachment memorials and said, "I still think it is better to dismiss you, Xu Jingzong, so that the counties can calm down their anger and praise the prince's wisdom."

Hearing this, Xu Jingzong stood there with sweat dripping down his forehead.

Li Dao Zong smiled and said, "It seems that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince still values ​​talent. Let me read the letter to you."

Xu Jingzong said quickly: "Don't worry, Prefect, I will definitely handle this matter and will not bring any trouble to Your Highness and the Prefect."

Li Dao Zong said: "Then what are you still standing here for?"

"I'll go right away." Xu Jingzong responded loudly and walked out of Jingzhao Prefecture quickly.

Li Daozon sat in the yamen, admiring the impeachment memorials.

A clerk at the side said, "If Xu Jingzong is not in Jingzhao Prefecture, it will be very difficult for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to handle this matter."

Li Dao Zong smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. Even if he is gone, I am still here to help the Crown Prince. Who do you think the Crown Prince is? Can't he prepare for a rainy day?"

"The lower official is stupid."

"Everyone knows that Xu Jingzong is the second-in-command appointed by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in Jingzhao Prefecture, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is now in charge of agricultural affairs in the counties of Guanzhong. The Crown Prince is such a shrewd person, how could he not see Xu Jingzong's intentions?"

The clerk was completely confused.

Xu Jingzong wanted to become the right-hand man of the Eastern Palace, and he had been working towards this goal. If he could deal with the county magistrates in various counties, then he, Xu Jingzong, would be the right-hand man of the Eastern Palace in the future.

If he can't settle the matter, he will be the county magistrate in Jingyang for the rest of his life.

Li Daozon had a gratified smile on his face. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was mature and experienced. He only reprimanded Xu Jingzong instead of choosing to dismiss Xu Jingzong to please the counties amid the impeachment.

Instead of accommodating the counties, he just sent letters of reprimand. It was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who gave Xu Jingzong the opportunity.

There was no loss for the prince.

That evening, news came that Xu Jingzong, along with Wei Chang and a group of militiamen, broke into the Lantian County government office and beat up the county magistrate and county lieutenant.

Then he tied up the county magistrate and county lieutenant of Lantian and went to Sanyuan County.

The county magistrate of Sanyuan County saw the county magistrate who was kidnapped by Xu Jingzong, and heard that the county magistrate of Lantian was beaten badly.

No one knows what Xu Jingzong talked about with the county magistrate of Sanyuan County. All we know is that afterwards, the county magistrate of Sanyuan County personally took Xu Jingzong to Gaoling County again.

The next day, after Li Chengqian got up early and finished his morning exercises, Chengtian Gate had just opened.

General Li Ji is not here these days, so I can only practice archery by myself.

He drew the longbow, aimed at the target in the distance, and shot an arrow.

The arrow landed precisely in the center of the target, and the metal arrowhead penetrated half an inch into the target, which was terrifying to see.

Li Chengqian wiped the sweat from his forehead and shot another arrow.

Before the morning court session, Li Daozon was seen walking towards the Chongwen Hall.

Li Chengqian continued to draw the bow and shoot another arrow. The arrow hit the bull's eye again with a shrill whistling sound.

Li Dao Zong looked at the target a hundred steps away and said with emotion: "Your Highness the Crown Prince has excellent archery skills."

"I have only practiced for a year, I don't deserve the praise from the Emperor's uncle."

"My archery skills have never been good, and Your Majesty often scolded me when I was young."

Li Chengqian picked up another arrow and asked, "Uncle, you came really early today. It will take some time before we can have breakfast. Why don't you sit down for a while?"

Li Daozong bowed and said, "I have something important to report."

"explain."

Seeing that His Highness was still concentrating on practicing archery, Li Dao Zong saluted and said, "It's Xu Jing Zong's business."

Li Chengqian shot another arrow, and the arrow once again penetrated the target half an inch.

"Last night, Xu Jingzong's militiamen from Jingyang stormed into the Lantian County government office and beat up their county magistrate. They also tied him up and marched him around the counties."

"And after that?"

"Early this morning, Xu Jingzong brought the county magistrate of Lantian County to confess his crime in front of the Jingzhao Prefecture. He said that he had rammed the Lantian County government office and injured their county magistrate and county lieutenant. However..."

Changing the subject, Li Dao Zong whispered, "The county magistrate of Lantian County is willing to reconcile with Xu Jing Zong."

"Reconciled?"

"Of the ten counties that impeached Xu Jingzong, six are willing to reconcile with Xu Jingzong and promise to stand together with Jingyang County in the future."

Li Chengqian relaxed his shoulders and frowned, "So, there are still four counties that want to continue to impeach him?"

Li Daozong continued, "Not only that, if the other four counties want to impeach Xu Jingzong, the other six counties will definitely bite back. Because Xu Jingzong does not need to deal with all the ten counties that impeached him, he only needs to convince five of them, and the matter can be exposed. From now on, there will only be internal fighting among the counties, and no one will impeach Xu Jingzong again."

Li Chengqian laughed instead and asked, "What means did he use to make the counties change their minds?"

Li Daozong replied: "It's not a very clever idea, but Xu Jingzong promised to plant grapes in these counties next year."

"Did Guo Siqing agree as well?"

Hearing this, Li Daozong handed over another memorial and said, "This was submitted by Guo Siqing after he went around the counties. It was delivered to Jingzhao Prefecture two days ago. The counties that Xu Jingzong persuaded were originally suitable for growing grapes, and it's all recorded."

Li Chengqian glanced at the memorial, then drew his longbow and asked, "Uncle, how do you think I should deal with this matter?"

Li Daozong replied: "Although Lantian County is willing to reconcile, Xu Jingzong did hit a county magistrate after all, so he should still be punished."

"How to punish?"

"One year's salary will be deducted, and no promotion will be allowed for three years."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "Then let's do as the emperor's uncle wishes."

Li Dao Zong bowed and said, "Yes."

Seeing that the uncle was about to leave, Li Chengqian asked again: "Aren't you going to stay for dinner?"

Li Daozong hurriedly said, "Xu Jingzong is still kneeling outside Chengtian Gate. I will hurry to drag him away to avoid losing face for the Eastern Palace."

"Haha, this Xu Jingzong." Li Chengqian shot another arrow, but this time the arrow was much more powerful.

Outside Chengtian Gate, Li Dao Zong walked up quickly and saw the man kneeling on the ground with his head bowed, looking very respectful. He whispered, "No need to kneel. Your Highness the Crown Prince doesn't mind."

Xu Jingzong said loudly: "I have brought trouble upon Your Highness, and I deserve death."

Li Dao Zong smiled and said, "His Highness has said that you will be fined one year's salary, but you will be retained in Jingzhao Prefecture for three years for your meritorious service in managing Jingyang, and you will not be promoted."

"Thank you, Your Highness the Crown Prince!"

Xu Jingzong said loudly again.

Li Daozon helped the man up, thinking that even if he said that, the prince would not be able to hear him.

Standing up with difficulty, Xu Jingzong whispered, "I am ashamed to let the prefect walk around for me."

While the civil and military officials had not yet arrived for the court session, Li Daozon lifted Xu Jingzon with one hand and whispered, "You have been busy all day and all night and haven't closed your eyes. Go back and have a good sleep. We will have to count on you for the important matters of the counties in Guanzhong in the future."

Xu Jingzong hurriedly said: "Don't say that, Prefect."

"I am not good at handling county affairs on weekdays. With you in Jingzhao Prefecture, I can at least feel more at ease." "I will definitely live up to the trust of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the prefect."

Li Dao Zong nodded with satisfaction.

When the two men walked out of the Suzaku Gate, it was the time when all the civil and military officials came to attend court.

Li Chengqian ate a bowl of cold noodles and a pancake in the East Palace, then went to the Taiji Hall to attend court.

As usual, the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace walked into the hall when all the ministers arrived.

Walking into the Taiji Hall from between the civil and military officials, and standing in front of everyone, the prince looked at the court and said, "I thought about this for a long time yesterday."

Inside the palace, the words of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince were echoing.

Li Chengqian put his hands in his pockets and asked, "Is the Supervisory Censor Ma Zhou here?"

Hearing this, Ma Zhou stood out from the court and said, "I am here."

"All trade documents must be reviewed by the Censorate before they can be issued, and the Censorate still has the power to supervise the trade."

Upon hearing this, Ma Zhou said in a clear voice, "Yes."

Li Chengqian looked at the court and asked, "Is the Minister of Justice Zhang Xingcheng here?"

Zhang Xingcheng stood out from the court and said, "I am here."

Li Chengqian said in a clear voice: "The Censorate only has the power of supervision and is not allowed to exercise the power of arrest. From now on, the Censorate will investigate. If there is corruption, the Ministry of Justice will arrest the suspects if the complaint is true."

Zhang Xingcheng said loudly: "Yes."

"The Minister of War, Hou Junji."

"Chen is here!"

Li Chengqian continued to instruct: "The Ministry of War will arrange for the military to escort the documents, and the Censorate will send officials to accompany them on the spot."

Hou Junji said loudly: "Yes."

"From now on, the Censorate, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of War will all have the power to supervise each other, and they can also inspect each other, and all will be reviewed by the Secretariat."

Looking at everyone, Li Chengqian said again: "Does the court have any objections?"

The Taiji Hall was very quiet. The prince's words were echoing. Many people looked thoughtful, but no one stood up to object.

Monitoring, arrest, and escort are all the responsibility of the various departments.

It is also reviewed by the Secretariat.

In this way, a situation of mutual supervision and checks and balances will be established.

Seeing that no one objected, Li Chengqian said, "Since no one has any objections, then the morning court will continue according to the rules, and the teacher can preside over it."

Fang Xuanling stepped out of the court and began to preside over state affairs.

The prince stepped aside and stood silently with his hands in his pockets.

Changsun Wuji stood at the front of the court with his eyes closed, thinking carefully about the prince's strategy.

The news was sent out before the morning court was over.

Li Shimin sat by the Taiye Lake, watching the sun rise from the east and be reflected on the surface of the lake.

Li Zhi liked to lie on the lake, motionless, enjoying the cool moment at this time. Li Zhi would take a bath several times a day.

This child likes to play in the water, but these children have developed good swimming skills in the water, and even Dongyang and Gaoyang can go into the water to catch fish.

It is also because children like to play in water and catch fish.

As a result, the fish in the Taiye Lake are now much smarter. Li Shimin raised his fishing rod, and fishing is becoming more and more difficult.

The old eunuch came hurriedly, handed over a scroll of documents, and whispered, "Your Majesty, this is the news from Taiji Palace."

Li Shimin put down his fishing rod, took the document and started reading it.

The document recorded what had just happened between Xu Jingzong and Gang in Taiji Hall.

Li Shimin was eating cakes and was surprised: "How could the impeachment of Xu Jingzong by the counties be resolved like this?"

The old eunuch whispered, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince fined Xu Jingzong one year's salary and ordered him to stay in Jingzhao Prefecture for three years."

"Haha, what do you mean by staying for three years? It's because this guy thinks highly of Xu Jingzong."

“Although this matter has had some bumps along the way, it’s going pretty smoothly.”

Li Lizhi walked to the side carrying a wooden basin and was washing her clothes. Because the younger brothers and sisters in the Eastern Palace had to wash their own clothes and bathe themselves, they all developed this habit.

Li Lizhi deliberately sat on the plank road next to her father and listened to the conversation between His Majesty and the eunuch.

From the conversation, I can learn about what the emperor's brother has been doing recently.

During these days that my father has been away from the summer heat, he has been paying close attention to my brother and asking about everything to see how he is doing.

If my brother had failed to accomplish his mission, my father would actually be worried, and he even asked General Yuchi to prepare in advance.

But my father would never say these things or these words in front of my brother.

Instead, he was waiting for his royal brother to come to his father for help.

The emperor's greatest ability is not his patience to read all the files within half a month, but his ability to analyze problems.

This is like solving a word problem. You need to understand the problem and list the conditions.

Reduce a complex word problem into simple operations.

This is because of this kind of training, when the emperor encounters a problem, he can often find the key to the problem.

This is also the skill that my younger brothers and sisters have been pursuing while studying in the Eastern Palace.

The emperor has always wanted to teach this skill to his younger brothers and sisters, because this skill requires long-term training. Only after several years of doing exercises can one develop a clear-minded way of solving problems.

For example, my brother has always insisted on the issue of mutual trade, and the most fundamental issue is actually the issue of trust.

When marching and fighting, victory or defeat is never a simple question of the number of soldiers and horses. Just like in chess, a single endgame can be used to defeat the enemy even when the opponent is at a disadvantage.

These are the skills and insights that Li Lizhi learned in the Eastern Palace, by her brother's side.

Li Lizhi was washing her clothes while listening to the conversation between her father and the old eunuch.

Li Shimin looked at the strategy recorded in the document and wondered, "Why didn't anyone stand up and raise objections?"

The old eunuch replied: "Your Highness the Crown Prince is able to share Your Majesty's worries. This old servant congratulates Your Majesty."

"This son is always like this. He keeps everything to himself and doesn't want to tell me."

"Father is father, and brother is brother." Li Lizhi finally spoke up. She wrung out her clothes with her tender little hands and added, "Brother has his own plans."

Li Shimin looked at his daughter and asked, "Am I meddling in other people's affairs?"

Li Lizhi said: "It's not that the emperor is meddling, but that he is worrying too much."

Li Shimin stroked his beard and thought, I was so worried about this prince that I didn't sleep well all night. He said in a deep voice, "You let the various departments in the court monitor each other. Your brother has sinister intentions."

Sorry for being late...

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Yeah.

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(End of this chapter)