The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 351 Missing
In September of the eighteenth year of the Zhenguan reign, a historian recorded: Following the order of the crown prince, officials from the Dali Temple, the Ministry of Justice, and the Censorate entered Hebei, investigated various prefectures and cities, arrested more than 800 Hebei nobles and more than 5,000 local evildoers, and escorted them all to Luoyang.

He returned 50,000 hectares of farmland to the villagers, returned their houses, freed countless servants, and restored their household registrations.

The number of households that returned to their registered permanent residence in various prefectures and cities in Hebei Province increased by 156,000, and more than 300,000 people were allocated land.

At that time, Emperor Taizong issued an edict: All those who were wandering around without a registered residence in the country must return to China by the end of next year.

When the decree was issued, there was little response from various places. Now that the prince has implemented it, the population of Hebei Province has increased by more than 400,000.

The troops of various prefectures and cities did not move, and the garrison generals in various places would rather tie themselves up than move their troops rashly.

The prince said: Anyone who does evil must be investigated and punished.

In front of Luoyang City, people were escorted to the city one by one, and Li Chengqian looked at Ma Zhou's report.

"Your Highness, the charges have been proven. If you want to investigate, you can look through the files at any time to find every witness and every piece of evidence."

"You've been busy for half a year. Thank you for your hard work."

During the past six months, Ma Zhou and other people from the Censorate have read through massive amounts of files, contracts, accounts, and questioned countless people.

So, doing evil is only a temporary thing, but doing justice requires more effort and a stronger will.

Zhang Xingcheng asked, "Your Highness, should we execute Wei Ting?"

Li Chengqian said: "Send them to the Western Regions to plant trees. As for the Jingzhao Wei family, we will settle the accounts slowly."

"Here."

"The rest...you will follow the law."

"Here!"

Di Zhixun read out loud the names of the criminals who were to be beheaded.

After the names of more than a hundred people were read out, the sword was swung and heads fell to the ground one by one.

They chopped off heads one after another until the whole night. There was silence in Luoyang City and no one dared to speak loudly.

Someone said: "The blood in front of Luoyang City cannot be washed away."

The next day, more than 4,000 criminals were escorted to the Western Regions to plant trees.

There are still gentry in Hebei, but the remaining gentry have become honest and no one will dare to do evil for a long time in the future.

Perhaps many years later, when Li Yifu once again inspects various places in the Central Plains and comes to Hebei, he will remember what he said back then: you cannot use propriety, righteousness, integrity and shame to deal with them, you must use knives and fire.

Half a month later, rumors spread out of Luoyang, and the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace took charge of state affairs and launched an investigation. It lasted for a long time, the laws were strict, and the number of people killed was so large that it is difficult to record in history books.

"This is of course a rumor." Gu Nalu said to Zhang Da'an while sitting in Chongwenguan.

"Really?" Zhang Da'an was a little dazed.

Gu Nalu stroked his beard and said, "The prince did not exterminate the noble families, nor did he kill all the noble families in the world. He killed only the evildoers and the leaders of the evildoers. Moreover, he only killed more than a thousand people in front of Luoyang City."

Zhang Daan nodded and said, "More than a thousand people."

"Yes, there are only more than a thousand people. Is that a lot? You have to know that even if the emperors of all dynasties exterminated their clans, the death toll would exceed tens of thousands. The prince was still very wise. He killed those who deserved to be killed and exiled those who deserved to be exiled."

Zhang Da'an once again changed his perception of this great scholar. Could it be that this great scholar was a fake?

Zhang Daan said: "Yes, the court has never said that it will exterminate the noble families. It is just doing justice and demonstrating the law."

Gu Nalu nodded with satisfaction and said, "Since the reign of Emperor Wu of Wei, the world's rituals and education have collapsed several times. The world needs to be re-educated. The so-called education can be like cooking oil with a raging fire, or it can be slowly educated with classics. This is what we need to practice in this life."

Murder requires a reason and evidence, and this evidence must be confirmed so that later people can investigate. Even if one wants to overturn the verdict, it cannot be done.

Regardless of whether the evildoers are from the royal family of Li Tang, or from aristocratic families or noble clans, they will be treated equally even if they have a hundred years of reputation.

Many people did not sleep well that night.

When the daylight brightened again, someone was digging the ground with a shovel in front of Luoyang City. The ground could no longer be washed clean, and blood had seeped into the soil, a foot deep.

All we can do is dig out all the black and red soil and fill it with new soil.

An eunuch ordered: "Fill it all in and compact it. Don't leave even a speck of dirt behind. If the prince finds out, who knows how many people will be fed to the fish."

Upon hearing this, a group of craftsmen dug the soil even harder with shovels.

After the soil here was replaced, the area in front of the city was finally clean, Luoyang City returned to normal order, and people began normal production and life.

After learning that the prince had killed so many people, Su Tan came to Luoyang from Guanzhong to visit the prince.

After entering Luoyang City, he was led by the guards to a house.

The guard said, "I will go and inform the prince right away."

Su Tan hurriedly stopped him and said, "Just wait here, no need to report to the Crown Prince."

The guard nodded and left.

Su Tan wiped the sweat off his face again, looked towards the heavily guarded mansion, and stood there uneasily.

Inside the courtyard, Li Chengqian sat in front of his uncle and grandfather and said, "My grandson's reputation as a murderer will probably be spread for a long time."

Li Yuan said: "You killed those who deserved to be killed."

Gao Shilian said: "You still killed too few people. How could the emperors of all dynasties kill so many people like you?"

Li Chengqian poured him some tea and said, "Uncle is right. I am ashamed."

Gao Shilian took the tea bowl and said seriously, "Look at how many people Emperor Wen of Sui killed after he ascended the throne, and how many people Yang Guang killed after he ascended the throne. What about your grandfather and your father?"

Li Yuan cleared his throat to show his presence.

Gao Shilian blew on his tea and said leisurely, "To be an emperor, you have to kill more people. Emperors of all dynasties have always imposed millions of corvées for construction. You want to let these people plant trees in the northwest? You really have no ambition."

Li Chengqian smiled with shame again.

Gao Shilian continued, "As an emperor, if you are too kind, you will be bound by kindness, and if you are too tyrannical, you will be criticized. You must have both thunderous actions and gentle strategies. In fact, your father is a good person."

"Also, you asked the courtiers to raise their hands in the hall again? This is not good. Don't do this again in the future. Just let a few courtiers speak for you and let the courtiers do it for you."

"My grandson will remember your teachings."

"Besides, a monarch or an emperor must be shrewd and not smile all the time. He must be dignified. Hmm..." Gao Shilian said, "Look, you are smiling again. When you smile, the ministers will be scared. How can they work wholeheartedly for the country in the future? They are all trembling with fear for making mistakes."

Li Yuan waved the palm-leaf fan in his hand with an unhappy look on his face. The old man beside him was teaching his grandson to nag endlessly.

This old guy doesn't usually talk so much. From the time he came to Luoyang until now, he has said more today than in the past six months.

The eunuch came to report: "Your Highness, Su Jiancheng is here."

Li Chengqian poured more tea into his uncle's teacup and said, "Grandson, go meet your father-in-law."

Gao Shilian nodded and said, "Go and take care of state affairs. Don't come here. I get annoyed just by seeing you."

Li Yuan was very unhappy. The old man threatened to drive his grandson away. Gao Shilian still had a proud look on his face and couldn't hide his smile.

When Su Tan saw the prince, he immediately bowed and said, "Your Highness."

After not seeing the prince for nearly a year, Su Tan looked at him again and felt that he had grown a lot taller.

Li Chengqian returned the greeting, "Father-in-law."

Su Tan lowered his posture even lower and asked hurriedly, "How is your highness the crown prince these days?"

Li Chengqian walked all the way to the palace and replied, "Very good."

"is it?"

"Is your father-in-law not doing well lately?"

"Oh..." Su Tan hurriedly said, "I'm fine. I eat well and sleep well." "I just went to see my uncle. He is teaching me again."

"Gao Shilian's teaching of the prince is truly a blessing to the country."

As they were about to reach the palace gate, Su Tan could not stop. He took out a piece of paper and handed it over, "Your Highness, this is a letter jointly written by prominent families from all over Guanzhong. The Wugong Su family, the Jingzhao Du family, the Huayin Yang family, the Jingzhao..."

"Okay, let me take a look myself." Li Chengqian interrupted him.

"Yes..." Su Tan wiped the sweat from his forehead again.

This is a joint letter from the nobles in Guanzhong, and the content of the letter is a promise to treat the villagers well in the future and never do evil.

Li Chengqian finished reading the letter and said, "Thank you for your help, father-in-law."

Su Tan bowed and said, "This matter was not originally proposed by the Wugong Su family. It was proposed by the nobles from all over Guanzhong. When they knew that my daughter was marrying into the Eastern Palace, they nominated the Wugong Su family to be the leader and asked me to deliver this letter to Your Highness."

Li Chengqian said: "In this case, the Wugong Su family is now the leader of the aristocratic families in Guanzhong."

"Your Majesty...Your Majesty...Your Majesty..." Su Tan said with a stammer, "Your Majesty, I dare not accept it."

Li Chengqian continued, "I have accepted this letter. If the children of the noble families in various places say or do anything inappropriate in the future, I will still take out this letter."

"this is necessary."

"In fact, if the Wugong Su family can make friends with the villagers and not harm them, it won't matter if you become the leader of the Guanzhong nobles."

"I dare not accept it."

Hearing my father-in-law saying the same thing, I sighed.

Li Chengqian said, "Father-in-law, please go with me to see the child and Wan'er."

"No need for that, my daughter actually sent me a letter before I came."

"Really?"

Su Tan said, "I have urgent business to attend to, so I won't stay any longer."

Li Chengqian bowed and said goodbye.

Su Tan bowed deeply again and was about to leave.

"How about we have a meal together?"

Su Tan stopped walking after hearing this, and then replied, "I obey your command."

Li Chengqian led his father-in-law into the palace, where Su Wan and Ning'er were trying clothes on their two children.

When Su Wan saw that it was her father, she hurried forward and asked, "Why are you in Luoyang?"

When Su Tan saw his daughter, he smiled and said, "His Highness said we should have a meal before leaving."

He saw a child who was struggling to climb down from the table. The child put one foot on the table and the other foot tentatively on a chair before climbing down with great effort.

"The child is already this big."

Su Wan said: "Yu Tu!"

Hearing the sound, the child ran over quickly and said, "Mom!"

"This is your grandpa."

Little Yutu blinked his big eyes, frowned, looked at the smiling middle-aged man in front of him, and whispered, "Grandpa?"

Su Tan nodded and said, "Hey!"

Xiao Yutu said again: "Grandpa!"

"Hey!"

The child found it quite amusing and started shouting.

Su Tan smiled. When he saw the child, he felt that it was worth sacrificing his life for the prince.

Li Chengqian brought the food and said, "Father-in-law, the food is a bit simple, I hope..."

"It's okay." Su Tan said hurriedly. He took the grandson from his daughter's arms and said, "This child is really heavy."

Little Yu Tu pouted and said, "Yu Tu is not heavy, Grandpa can even hold me."

Su Tan's face was full of smiles, and he said, "Well, it's not sinking."

When the meal was ready, the Donggong family sat down to eat, and Li Chengqian listened to Su Tan talk a lot about the Guanzhong gentry.

Although he was not nominally the head of the Guanzhong gentry, the gentry from all over the country recommended him as such, so even if Su Tan did not want such a title, he had no choice.

After the incident in Hebei, the gentry in Guanzhong were the first to respond.

In the past few years, the gentry in Guanzhong have been very obedient and would do whatever the Jingzhao Prefecture asked them to do.

Now they hope to survive by relying on the connection between the Su family and the Eastern Palace through martial arts.

When they were backed into a corner, all they asked for was survival.

Only in this way would the nobles not dare to take action.

After seeing Su Tan off, Li Chengqian looked at the letters sent from Shandong. After the incident in Hebei, the aristocratic families in Henan and Shandong were all inquiring about the news, and they were all worried that they would end up like Hebei.

In fact, Li Yifu had already been working in Bozhou, Shandong, and everything was going well.

The investigation should be thorough and it is best to catch everything in one fell swoop.

Now that all parts of Shandong are on guard, it has caused trouble for Bozhou.

Li Chengqian opened Shangguan Yi's letter again. When he was investigating in Bozhou, he did find several cases. However, after the incident in Hebei, several witnesses that Li Yifu wanted to find were inexplicably killed.

The other party took defensive actions, trying to cut off clues and destroy evidence.

What happened in Hebei is their best lesson.

But as long as a murder occurred, Li Yifu would have a reason to investigate the case, be able to stay in Shandong, and have a better excuse to interrogate the county magistrates of various counties.

Looking at Zhinu's letter again and seeing what he said in the letter, Li Chengqian vaguely felt that the situation in Shandong was more difficult than that in Hebei.

In addition, Li Jingheng and Cheng Chumo sent news that Cui Renshi is now in Bohai, mourning for Cui, and he is very sad.

It was this Cui Renshi who helped to deal with Lu's case, but there has been no result so far.

"Your Highness, it's getting late."

Hearing this, Li Chengqian looked up and saw Ning'er, then looked out the window. The bright moon was hanging high in the night sky, and before he knew it, it was already late at night.

The night wind blew in, causing a corner of the letter paper on the table to rise and fall from time to time.

The bedroom was very quiet. The two children were sleeping quietly in their small beds. Li Chengqian tightened their bedding.

After the fall, the nights in Luoyang are very cool.

Ning Er asked, "Your Highness, is there something on your mind?"

"My uncle said that I could also be a king like Jie and Zhou."

"Your Highness is not Jie or Zhou. Your Highness is the kindest person in the world."

"I'm afraid the people who record history books won't say that."

Su Wan said: "In the past, some people said that Emperor Wu of Han conquered the Xiongnu and was an emperor who established great achievements. Later, some people also said that Emperor Wu of Han conquered the Xiongnu several times, which led to the decline of people's livelihood. In various places, only one in ten households survived, and there was quite a lot of criticism for this."

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(End of this chapter)