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

Chapter 408 Is an imperial edict less effective than a teaching from the Prince of Qin?
Consort Yin stroked the cat in her arms, her brows furrowing slightly.

"The Prince of Huai'an was ordered to pacify Shandong, but he lost cities and territories, and was eventually captured by Dou Jiande. Shandong was completely lost. What merit did he have?"

Li Yi also felt that Li Shentong had not made any significant contributions, but he was, after all, the emperor's cousin and had a relatively good relationship with Li Shimin. Before the fall of Zheng in Luoyang, the emperor had taken him back through peace talks, so he could be considered to have caught up with the tail end of the Battle of Luoyang.

Of course, Li Shentong was ultimately granted land, which was also Li Shimin's way of showing generosity to the court and taking the opportunity to win over Li Shentong.

Consort Zhang interjected, "I remember the Prince of Huai'an was only granted thirty qing of land, wasn't he?"

“Yes, Consort Jieyu has a good memory. It is indeed thirty qing of land. However, the Prince of Huai’an bought some more land before, so he now has fifty qing of land along the Gu River.”

This was also due to the quick action of the meritorious officials, who had the advantage of being close to the source. After capturing Luoyang, they were rewarded here and bought land there. The first to act got the most.

Yin Ashu was most satisfied with the land by the valley. It was close to Luoyang City, and irrigation was convenient. It was also easy to manage, and the land was large enough to establish a manor. Workshops could also be built there. Its economic value was far greater than those dozens of pieces of land scattered across various prefectures.

"Sikong, I've taken a liking to this piece of land. Could you please switch it up?"

Li Yi thought to himself that Yin Ashu really had a big face, saying whatever came to mind.

"Lord Yin, the land has now been transferred and the land ownership confirmed. The Prince of Huai'an holds the land deed, and the Luozhou General Administration has no right to transfer it."

If Lord Yin truly desires these fifty acres of land, why not speak privately with the Prince of Huai'an? An exchange or a sale would be acceptable; it's all negotiable.”

Yin Ashu questioned, "I have His Majesty's imperial edict granting the land. Is His Majesty's edict less effective than the teachings of the Prince of Qin?"

“Lord Yin, you wouldn’t dare to speak recklessly. Of course, the imperial edict is supreme, but His Majesty’s decree granted each of the Yin and Zhang families fifty qing of land in Henan. It did not say that the land granted was the land belonging to the Prince of Huai’an.” Li Yi retorted.

Consort Yin felt very embarrassed, and Consort Zhang's expression was also unpleasant. Even Consort Yin's daughter, who was of the highest rank, couldn't get a good piece of land. She was just a Consort, so she couldn't possibly get a good piece of land for her father and brothers.

If Yin Ashu could seize Li Shentong's five thousand acres of land, she could naturally also seize a good piece of land from other meritorious officials for her father and brothers.

"Is Sikong not going to give us any face at all?"

“Actually, all the land in Luoyang already has owners, but it can be bought, sold, and exchanged. If the Prince of Huai’an is unwilling to exchange it, he can find other people. There are quite a few people who own a lot of land in Luoyang,” Li Yi could only remind them.

Li Shentong is a prince of the Tang Dynasty, the emperor's cousin. He might not give you, Yin Ashu, any face, but others might not dare to confront him so directly. Especially those nobles from the Luoyang court; they probably wouldn't agree to be forcibly taken, but if it were an exchange, with some extra money, they might be willing.

But Yin Ashu wouldn't have it and insisted on having Li Shentong's land.

Li Yi smiled and didn't bother with it anymore.

Seeing that Li Yi was not willing to budge, Consort Yin changed the subject to other matters.

He wanted Li Yi to help arrange official positions for his father and brothers, "and the Emperor agreed when we came."

Zhang and Yin's fathers originally held minor, sinecure positions in the palace. Their purpose in coming to Luoyang was to obtain a position with real power, preferably with a promotion.

Yin Ashu said to Li Yi, "Sikong is currently pacifying Henan and Hebei. I don't need you to appoint a general manager; just appoint a prefect for me."

Li Yi looked at him; he didn't seem to be joking.

"Lord Yin, the imperial court is currently abolishing most of the general administration offices in Henan and merging many prefectures and counties. Suddenly, many general administrations and governors have lost their posts. At this time, there are no vacancies to appoint a governor."

"If there are no vacancies, just remove a prefect, and a vacancy will be created, right?"

Li Yi asked Consort Yin, "Has His Majesty instructed that Lord Yin be appointed as a prefect?"

Consort Yin dared not speak recklessly. After all, Li Yi was deeply trusted by the Emperor and was someone highly regarded by the Crown Prince. She smiled and said, "I ask the Minister of Works to help with my father and brother's affairs and make the best arrangements."

"There is indeed no vacancy for the position of governor, but Lord Yin does not necessarily have to be the governor. The chief clerk of the general's office is also a fifth-rank official position, and he can still wear scarlet and silver and enter the ranks of the elite."

"Chief Secretary?" Yin Ashu was still a little disgusted.

Li Yi laughed and said, "The chief clerk also has considerable real power. Moreover, if the location is good, he may become the governor at any time."

Consort Yin's eyes lit up. "Which place did Sikong mention as good?"

Li Yi smiled and said, "Now Henan has abolished the general administration offices and prefectures and counties, and retained twelve general administration offices. Among them, east of the Grand Canal, there are five general administration offices: Cao, Yan, Qing, Qi and Hai. They are all middle general administration offices, and their chief clerks are all of the fifth rank.

These five chief commanders are all powerful leaders who rose up in rebellion since the Sui Dynasty's chaos. I don't need to tell you, you should all know that they will be transferred sooner or later, and it's impossible for them to stay in their posts forever.

Once they leave, the chief clerk, who will be familiar with the local area, will naturally have the best chance of being promoted to governor or even chief administrator.

Yin Ashu grinned upon hearing this, already fantasizing about becoming a governor, or even a chief administrator.

"Which governor's office will the Minister of Works assign me to serve as chief clerk?"

"Caozhou, I suppose. The governor of Caozhou is Meng Haigong. Caozhou is close to both the Grand Canal and the Yellow River, so Meng Haigong will definitely be the first one to be transferred away in the future."

Yin Ashu said excitedly, "Okay, then I will go to the Caozhou General Administration Office as the Chief Secretary. But I have a request: I must bring my Yin family members with me. You also need to arrange some military advisors, county magistrates, and other official positions for me."

Li Yi smiled and agreed, "I certainly can't be assigned to the six departments of the General's Office immediately. I'll start with positions like County Commandant or State Military Advisor. Once there's a position, I can take over immediately."

When Consort Zhang saw that Consort Yin's father had obtained the official position of Chief Secretary of the Caozhou Prefecture, a fifth-rank official, she immediately sought official positions for her own father and brothers.

"Why don't you go to the Yanzhou General's Office and become the Chief Secretary?"

Zhang Jieyu smiled and agreed to her father's request.

In Chang'an, he only held a sinecure of the seventh rank, but upon arriving in Henan, Li Yi immediately arranged for him to hold a substantive fifth-rank position, which naturally pleased him. The previous unpleasantness over the land dispute was now forgotten by the Zhang and Yin families, who were both urging Li Yi to issue the official decree and grant them official positions as soon as possible.

Li Yi didn't mince words; he immediately bestowed official titles upon Yin Ashu and Zhang Xuan with the special authority granted to him as the pacification ambassador. Yin Ashu was appointed as the Chief Secretary of the Caozhou General Administration Office, and Zhang Xuan was appointed as the Chief Secretary of the Yanzhou General Administration Office.
The two families had more than a dozen sons, who were also appointed as military advisors and county lieutenants under the Cao and Yan governors' offices, respectively.

The two families held the official documents stamped by Li Yi, laughing with delight.

They even insisted on hosting a banquet for Li Yi.

Li Yi excused himself, saying he had official business to attend to.

"Why is Ah Lang so good to the Yin and Zhang families? Is it because he's afraid the two concubines will whisper in his ear?" Liu Heizi couldn't help but ask on the way.

Li Yi smiled and said, "You don't understand, you don't understand anything."

He possessed a highly skilled martial art.

It's called "killing with praise".

Yin Ashu was too arrogant and didn't take Li Yi seriously at all, so Li Yi didn't need to be polite to him.

The so-called arrangement for the fathers of Consorts Yin and Zhang to serve as the chief clerks of the General Administration of Cao and Yan Provinces seems to be a smooth rise from the seventh rank to the upper fifth rank, a rapid advancement.

In reality, Meng Haigong, the governor of Caozhou, commanded 30,000 troops. He was among the first to rise up against the Sui Dynasty, along with Zhai Rang and others. Over the years, he had allied himself with Li Mi, Dou Jiande, and the Tang Dynasty, making him a complete opportunist and, to put it bluntly, a regional warlord.

Xu Yuanlang from Yanzhou was the same.

Although the Cao and Yan general administrations were retained this time, Li Yuan's arrangement was actually quite clear: to prick and squeeze out these abscesses in eastern Henan before engaging in battle with Dou Jiande.

The Tang army had defeated Wang Shichong and had already advanced to the Grand Canal. Of course, they could no longer allow these people to establish their own independent regimes.

They either had to submit obediently, hand over their military power, and enter the court, or be transferred elsewhere, or they would be attacked by the court and would be destroyed if they failed.

This is the trend.

But Yin Ashu and his ilk were short-sighted and couldn't see any of this; all they knew was that the Chief Steward of the General Manager's Office was a fifth-rank official.

Once in office, as an official sent by the imperial court, one can seize benefits from those local tyrants, or even replace them.

Liu Heizi turned to Chen Lingjiao and asked, "Is Alang afraid of these relatives of the empress?"

Chen Lingjiao chuckled, "Nonsense, Alang is a dignified Attendant-in-Ordinary, Minister of Works, and Ambassador of Henan and Hebei, a pillar of the nation and a meritorious official, why would he be afraid of them?"

"Then why did you give them fifth-rank officials, Ah Lang?"

"What, you also want to be a fifth-rank official?"

"Is this a bad official position?"

"Hehe." Chen Lingjiao saw through the trick, but she couldn't say it out loud.

Duke Jin was naturally concerned because Consorts Zhang and Yin were the emperor's favorite women, which is why he was forced to give them official positions. If anything happened in the future, it would be their own problem and had nothing to do with Duke Jin.

Or to put it another way,

The five general commands, including those of Cao and Yan, are not yet truly under the control of the imperial court. It is necessary to send officials to these posts to strengthen oversight.

These are all operations without any problems.

For Li Yi, sending both families to Cao Yan, far away from his immediate surroundings, was like getting rid of two burdens and avoiding a lot of trouble.

Killing several birds with one stone.

The Zhang and Yin families, however, still had to express their deepest gratitude to the Chamberlain.

This is what a master is.

Killing without a knife.

Li Yi listened to their conversation with a slight smile. They didn't actually understand things fully. Li Yi then sent Zhang and Yin to Cao Yan.
There is a deeper meaning behind it.

That is, knowing full well that the Yin and Shu families, as relatives of the emperor, were arrogant and domineering, they deliberately arranged for them to go to Cao Yan, a region controlled by separatist forces.
They are still wavering and holding onto their military power.
The emperor's intention was clear: to burst these festering sores ahead of time. Li Yi's dispatch of Zhang Yin was intended to exacerbate the conflict between the local warlords in Cao and Yan and the imperial court.
Provoke them to prematurely announce the news.

Yin Ashu and Zhang Xuan are just tools.

The two were very suitable to be the tools. If Zhang Yin hadn't been so arrogant and domineering, Li Yi wouldn't have chosen them.

Meng Haigong of Caozhou and Xu Yuanlang of Yanzhou will definitely rebel.

They each commanded tens of thousands of troops and had been in separatist regimes for several years. Although they had always been dependent on others, it was all just a superficial dependence.

When the Tang Dynasty is serious about taking action, about incorporating their troops, and about taking away their core interests, they will definitely resist.

This is different from Wang Xiong, Wang Xian, and others, who did not have the strength or courage to resist and could only obey the court's arrangements.

But with 30,000 men under his command, how could Meng Haigong not put up a fight?
Li Yi despised Yin Ashu, thinking him nothing more than a fool who deserved to die. Consort Yin and Consort Zhang were also fools; though beautiful, they were nothing more than pretty vases.

(End of this chapter)