A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 404 Ranked Among the Three Dukes
Li Yi has been promoted again.

The fifth day of the Lunar New Year is traditionally the day for welcoming the God of Wealth.

An imperial envoy arrived from Chang'an.

"The Emperor decreed to the Minister of State:"

I have heard that military prowess is used to quell rebellions, while civil administration is used to govern the state. Therefore, ministers who serve the nation must be entrusted with important responsibilities. I hereby appoint you, Right Grand Master of the Palace, General of the Army, Right General of the Martial Guard, General of the Banner, Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince and concurrently Left Guard Commander of the Crown Prince, Left Vice Minister of the Yizhou Circuit, Left Vice Minister of the Xiangzhou Circuit, Governor of Xiangzhou, concurrently Inspector-in-Chief, Pacification Commissioner of Henan and Hebei Circuits, Grand Pillar of State, Duke of Jin, Yi.
With your assistance in the imperial strategy, you pacified the south of the mountains and displayed the might of Heaven; with your command of the elite troops, you pacified Henan and upheld the imperial authority. Having displayed your soaring ambitions, you deserve the honor of being honored in the Hall of Heroes.

He was appointed to oversee the Ministry of Works, and to serve as the military governor of Luozhou, Yizhou, and Zhengzhou, as well as the governor of Luozhou, with an additional 200 households as his fief, bringing the total to 1,200 households.

You should spread your might over the Yellow River and Luo River regions, pacify and comfort the common people, clearly define rewards and punishments to secure the Central Plains, and strengthen agriculture and warfare to consolidate the foundation of agriculture.

"I remain the same..."

Li Yi was appointed Inspector of the Ministry of Works, a position equivalent to one of the Three Dukes.

The emperor also bestowed upon Li Yi fifty hectares of fertile land each in Henan and Shannan, and one hundred catties of gold.

An incredibly generous reward.
However, Li Yi was not the only one to be rewarded this time. Prince Qin, Li Shimin, was ranked first in merit by the emperor in the Battle of Henan, along with Li Yi.

This time, Li Shimin was granted the titles of General of the Twelve Guards (left and right), Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, Grand Commandant, and Minister of Works.

Li Shimin's full official titles at this time should be: Grand Commandant and Minister of Works, Minister of the Imperial Secretariat and Chancellor, Minister of the Imperial Secretariat of Shaanxi East Circuit, Governor of Yongzhou, General of the Twelve Guards, Pillar of State, Prince of Qin, Li Shimin, with a fief of 30,000 households.

He was relieved of his posts as the governor of Liangzhou and the governor of Puzhou.

One person not only held the positions of Minister of the Imperial Secretariat and Grand Secretary, but also the positions of Grand Commandant and Minister of Works, and was also appointed as the Grand General of the Twelve Guards.

Although he has not yet been appointed as the Grand General of the Heavenly Strategy, he is already at the pinnacle of his position.

Li Yi concurrently held the positions of Grand Councilor and Grand Minister of Works, which did not make him stand out. He was relieved of his post as Governor of Xiangzhou and replaced with Governor-General of Luozhou.

Surprisingly, Li Yuanji ranked third on the list of rewards for this eastern expedition. He was promoted to Grand Minister of Works, and also appointed as Right General of the Army and Left General of the Martial Guard. He was also appointed as Attendant-in-Ordinary, Minister of the Xiangzhou Circuit, Governor of Jizhou, and Governor-General of Puzhou. He was granted 100 hectares of land and awarded 100 catties of gold.

Li Yuan was truly generous to this son.

After defeating Wang Shichong and pacifying the Zheng state, the emperor also bestowed generous rewards upon the other generals. The messenger said that the emperor had conferred the title of Duke upon a total of thirty-six generals.

The sheer number of them left Li Yi speechless.

Qin Shubao was promoted to Duke of Yi, Cheng Yaojin to Duke of Su, Fan Shixing to Duke of Ying, Qian Jiulong to Duke of Xun, Liu Hongji to Duke of Ren, Yin Kaishan to Duke of Yun, Huang Junhan to Duke of Guo, Wang Junkuo to Duke of Peng, Liu Dewei to Duke of Teng...
As for the dukes of prefectures, dukes of counties, and marquises of counties, dozens of them were granted titles in one go.

It was practically a celebration for the heroes!
There were simply too many dukes these days. Not only were the generals who fought in Luoyang granted dukedoms, but many surrendered generals from Shannan and Henan were also granted them titles. For example, Tian Zan was granted the title of Duke of Cai, Xu Yuanlang retained his title as Duke of Lu, Li Wenxiang was granted the title of Duke of Wen, Shi Derui was granted the title of Duke of Ye, Yang Qing was granted the title of Duke of Xun, Wei Lu was granted the title of Duke of Xing…
Li Yi estimated that there were at least a hundred Dukes in the Tang Dynasty now, and the titles had been overused.

These local warlords, who controlled a prefecture, were at least county dukes. If they had a few thousand men, they could be appointed as governors, generals, or county marquises.

However, these great rewards
None of these events can compare to the astonishing event of Chuluo Khan's death in Mayi, followed by his brother Mohedushe's succession as Jieli Khan.

Li Yi did not expect that Jieli Khan would take the throne at this time.

Even more unexpectedly, Chuluo Khan died at this time.

"The Turks say that Zheng Yuanzhu, the Grand Master of Ceremonies and envoy of the Great Tang, poisoned Chuluo Khan?" Li Yi thought this might actually be true, after all, although Chuluo only reigned for a year, he had already cornered the Tang Dynasty.
If Li Yuan had the chance, he would definitely have been happy to poison Chuluo Khan.

But reason told him that Zheng Yuanzhu could not possibly have had the opportunity to poison Chuluo Khan in Mayi; it was not that easy to kill him.

He thought that Chuluo either died suddenly from some kind of illness, or he died in the Turkic infighting.

But it's a bit strange that Chuluo died on the way, just as he was about to lead his army south.

Previously, Shibi Khan died on the way to launch a multi-pronged attack on the Tang Dynasty. At that time, he led his army to Xia Prefecture, preparing to launch a major attack on the Tang Dynasty, and then he died in Xia Prefecture.

Could it be that Li Yuan really possessed such abilities?
"The Turks say that Zheng Yuanzhu poisoned Chuluo Khan. Does that mean they are planning to launch a large-scale southward invasion to avenge Chuluo?" Li Yi asked.

The envoy, however, gave him a different answer: Jieli Khan accused the Tang envoy of poisoning Chuluo Khan and demanded an explanation from the Tang emperor.

Meanwhile, they had already cremated Chuluo Khan and then withdrew their troops back to the Baidaochuan Khanate.

They have even issued the Golden Wolf Command Arrow, ordering all tribes to withdraw and return to their tribes.

Li Yi stroked his short beard and couldn't help but smile.

interesting,
That's really interesting.

If Chuluo was indeed poisoned, then Jieli, who succeeded to the throne in a time of crisis, would certainly have to raise the banner of revenge and march south in order to unite the various Turkic tribes. He would also have the opportunity to attack the Tang Dynasty and establish his authority as the new Khan.

But now he is appointing a minor Khan and then hastily issuing an order to withdraw his troops.

If Jieli hadn't publicly declared that Chuluo was poisoned by Zheng Yuanzhu, Li Yi would have suspected that Zheng Yuanzhu, Jieli, and Princess Yicheng had conspired to kill Chuluo, each getting what they wanted.

With Jieli ascending to the throne, the Tang Dynasty was spared a major attack by the Turks.

It now seems highly likely that Chuluo was killed by Jieli, and Princess Yicheng was definitely involved. However, it's still unclear why they wanted to kill Chuluo, and why at this time.

But this is fantastic news.

Jieli needs to consolidate his position as Khan first, and there won't be any major invasions for a while.

The Tang army has overcome another difficult challenge.

No wonder the emperor was so generous with the rewards; the joy of such a thrilling escape was something worth sharing with his meritorious officials.

"Consort Yin and Consort Zhang are here in Luoyang to inspect the palace staff, as ordered by His Majesty."

Upon hearing this news, Li Yi frowned almost imperceptibly.

Yin and Zhang were favored concubines in Li Yuan's harem and were quite famous in history, after all, Li Shimin accused them of having illicit affairs with the Crown Prince and the Prince of Qi.

Whether it was really that big of a deal is only Li Shimin's side of the story, but it is a fact that the two had a good relationship with the Crown Prince.

The emperor was over fifty, his two consorts were young, and the prince born to Consort De was still a child. He definitely wanted to befriend the crown prince as soon as possible so that he and his mother would have a secure future. The crown prince's overtures to his father's two concubines, who were younger than him, were naturally a way of hoping they would whisper in his ear and find out more about the emperor.

In short, everyone has their own needs, but to say that the construction was carried out by Consorts Zhang and Yin would be a bit illogical and unnecessary. They weren't Turks, so they had no taboos.

In the days that followed, more and more news came in.

The Turks indeed withdrew their troops.

Zheng Yuanzhu was ordered by the Turks to poison Chuluo Khan, but instead of killing him, he was detained. The Tang emperor sent envoys to the Khan's court to offer condolences, and it is said that he also sent 100,000 bolts of silk, and held court in Chang'an for three days.

Prince Qin, Li Shimin, was in Shanzhou when he received a new imperial decree that he no longer needed to travel north to Taiyuan, but should instead return to the capital first.

It is possible that after the spring, the imperial court will reassess the situation and decide whether to launch an offensive against Hebei.

After two major battles in Hedong and Luoyang, the Tang Dynasty's treasury was empty. If Dou Jiande hadn't attacked,

The Tang Dynasty might consider taking Jiangling Xiao Xian first, so that it could go down the Yangtze River, pacify the Jianghuai region, obtain more money and grain, and accumulate strength before taking over Hebei.

Not only were there new edicts,

The imperial court abolished the Yizhou Circuit Administration and renamed the Xiangzhou Circuit Administration as the Southeast Circuit Administration.

Li Yi losing the honorary title of Left Vice Minister of the Yizhou Circuit has little impact, as he still concurrently holds the honorary title of Left Vice Minister of the Shannan Circuit.

His real official position was that of Pacification Ambassador of Henan and Hebei Circuit and Governor-General of Luozhou.

As for titles such as concurrently serving as Grand Chamberlain, Grand Minister of Works, Right General of the Martial Guard, General of the Banner, and even Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince and Left Guard Commander of the Crown Prince, they are all nominal.

Henan is his real post right now.

Yuwen Shiji was appointed as the Chief Secretary of the General Administration of Luozhou, Zhang Liang was appointed as the Chief Military Advisor of the General Administration, Dai Zhou was appointed as the Military Advisor of the Household Department, and Lu Chengqing was appointed as the Military Advisor of the Military Department.

Many officials who had surrendered from Luoyang and Henan were employed under Li Yi.

Du Ruhui arranged for Du Chuke to serve as a granary officer under Li Yi, but perhaps Du Chuke had too many lingering traumas from his years in Luoyang.

He chose to take his wife and children to the Du family manor in Songshan to live in seclusion and enjoy a peaceful and tranquil life. Du Ruhui could not dissuade him and had no choice but to go with him, asking Li Yi to take good care of him.

Du Yan's wife, Guo, returned to Guanzhong with her two widowed daughters-in-law and her only grandson.

Although the Du brothers' properties in Guanzhong were confiscated by the emperor and given to Li Yi, Guo and her daughters-in-law still had their own dowries, including houses and estates.

Although they nearly starved to death in Luoyang, they still had a considerable amount of money and property. It was just that during the siege of Luoyang, even with money, they couldn't buy food.

Before they left, Du Rui also made a special trip to pay his respects to his niece's husband, and his attitude was quite good.

Li Yi and Du Rui didn't have any personal grudges. Du Rui wanted to get an official position in Luoyang, but Li Yi refused. Now that Du Rui wanted to return to Chang'an, Li Yi naturally wouldn't stop him.

Huo Yu is now the governor of Weizhou, stationed in Liyang. She came here to report for duty, but stayed in Luoyang during the Spring Festival to spend it with Li Yi.

This special Spring Festival of the fourth year of Wude brought Li Yi a lot of warmth, so he wasn't lonely.

Luoyang and Chang'an are only a few hundred miles apart, but his wives, concubines, and children are in Chang'an, so he can only write letters to them.

Liu Heizi and the others spent the Spring Festival with Li Yi again this year, and they've gotten used to it.

We set out in June this year, away from home for half a year, but fighting in the south of the mountains and south of the river was much easier than fighting in the east of the river. We basically didn't fight any battles, and most of the time was spent on marching. Wherever we went, everyone surrendered.

Although there were few opportunities to plunder, Li Yi and the imperial court later bestowed upon them considerable rewards.

Land, silk, and even slaves and cattle.

Liu Heizi has already been promoted to General of Chariots and Cavalry, and Li Cunxiao, one of the Four Qiang Generals, has been promoted to Lang General.

"My lord, I heard that the Minister of Works is one of the Three Dukes, a first-rank official!" Liu Heizi approached Li Yi, even more excited than Li Yi himself.

He held the highest rank of official, equivalent to one of the Three Dukes.

"The inspector is the inspector-in-chief,"

The title of Attendant-in-Ordinary was concurrently held by the position of Acting Attendant-in-Ordinary, and the title of Minister of Works was also concurrently held by the position of Acting Minister of Works. To put it bluntly, it was just a nominal title.

Regardless, the concurrent appointment of the Grand Councilor is still equivalent to that of a prime minister, and the appointment of the Grand Minister of Works is also equivalent to that of one of the Three Dukes of the first rank.

Each gate halberd can be arranged in sixteen rows.

"I heard that His Majesty rewarded the King of Qin with six thousand catties of gold. Ah Lang's merits in this eastern expedition were equal to those of the King of Qin, so why was he only rewarded with a hundred catties of gold?" Liu Heizi asked in a low voice.

Li Yi ignored him.

Luo Dafu also chimed in, "They really rewarded the King of Qin with six thousand taels of gold? How much is that worth? One tael of gold is worth eight thousand copper coins, and one jin (a unit of weight) is sixteen taels, so that's 128,000 taels. And this six thousand jin..."

Luo Dafu used to help his family sell tofu and thought he was pretty good at arithmetic, but now he couldn't keep up.

“Seven hundred and sixty-eight million coins,” Li Yi told him.

"How much is seven hundred million? Ten thousand ten-thousand coins is one hundred million. Seven hundred and sixty-eight million is seventy-six thousand and eight hundred ten-thousand coins, or seven hundred and sixty-eight thousand strings of cash!"

Luo Dafu and Liu Heizi were both stunned by this astronomical figure. "Are there really so many rewards?"

"How would I know."

The emperor also rewarded him with 100 catties of gold. Not only him, but Li Yuanji and Qin Shubao were also rewarded with 100 catties of gold.

Li Yi hasn't received the hundred catties of gold yet, so he doesn't know if it's really a hundred catties of gold or a hundred catties of copper coins.

But he thought a hundred catties of copper coins was unlikely, as that would only amount to about ten strings of copper coins. If it were a hundred catties of gold, that would be 1,600 taels of gold, which would be commensurate with his status and merits.

But Li Shimin's six thousand catties was a bit too much.

Even if we include all the gold confiscated from the treasury of Luoyang Palace after the defeat of Wang Shichong, it probably wouldn't be this much.

It would be normal for Wang Shichong to find a fortune worth a million strings of cash in the imperial treasury, but he thought it was unlikely that he would find six or seven thousand catties of gold.

Perhaps it was priced in gold, but in reality it was a reward of over 700,000 strings of cash to the King of Qin?
He had accumulated only about three thousand taels of gold over several years, which was equivalent to about two hundred catties.

(End of this chapter)