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

Chapter 435 Imperial Edict Granting Marriage
"The Duke of Jin has led his army across the river and entered Weizhou territory!"

"Dou Jiande's magistrate of Pule County, Mingzhou, Cheng Mingzhen, voluntarily surrendered to the Duke of Jin!"

On the Dragon Boat Festival, in Chang'an, Emperor Li Yuan received an urgent report delivered by fast horse from Hebei.

On an inauspicious day of an unlucky month, the emperor watched the imperial guards' dragon boat races at Qujiang, accompanied by civil and military officials, nobles, and relatives of the emperor.
The banks of the Qujiang River were also filled with ladies, dressed in flowing robes, their silver hairpins gleaming in the sunlight.

The musicians of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices played a musical piece.

"Who is this Cheng Mingzhen from?" the emperor asked.

Qian Jiulong replied: "Cheng Mingzhen is from Ping'en County, Mingzhou. He once joined the bandit gang at Gaojibo and was later appointed magistrate of Pule County by Dou Jiande."
This Pule County was separated from Jize County in Mingzhou. During his tenure as magistrate, this man was renowned for his outstanding achievements, and thieves dared not enter the county.

Li Yuan exclaimed in surprise, "I never imagined that there could be such a person among the bandits. He is truly a remarkable man."

Qian Jiulong also said, "As soon as the Duke of Jin entered Weizhou, he took the initiative to lead more than a thousand people south to join him. This man is very pragmatic."

The emperor asked, "The Prince of Qin has been in Hebei for over a month now. Why didn't Cheng Mingzhen join him? Instead, he went to join Li Yi as soon as he entered Hebei."

Qian Jiulong didn't know how to answer, "Perhaps it's because the situation is clear."

"Hahaha!" the emperor laughed. "Has Li Yi recommended this person?"

"The Duke of Jin recommended Cheng Mingzhen to be the Chief Administrator of Weizhou."

"I originally intended to appoint Cheng Mingzhen as the magistrate of Yongnian County, which is attached to the city of Guo, but since Wu Yi appreciates him so much, I will appoint Cheng Mingzhen as the chief administrator of Weizhou." Li Yuan said with a light laugh.

In a good mood, the emperor summoned his old friend Pei Ji.

"Supervisor Pei, how has your discussion gone regarding Li Yi's plea for Sheng Yanshi?"

Pei Ji had already guessed the emperor's thoughts, and immediately said, "Sheng Yanshi has seriously neglected his duties in the matter of Li Yiman, causing extremely bad consequences. Execution is not an exaggeration."

The Duke of Jin submitted a lengthy memorial pleading for his life, explaining that he remained loyal and unyielding after being captured, and that he had indeed rendered meritorious service by helping the Duke of Jin capture Rencheng and capturing and killing over ten thousand of Xu Yuanlang's soldiers.

He can atone for his sins by performing good deeds and thus avoid death.

Your subject, along with Chancellor Xiao and Chancellor Chen, has deliberated and determined that Sheng Yanshi can be spared death, but stripped of his official rank and titles, and allowed to serve in the army of the Duke of Jin in plain clothes.

The emperor watched as more than a dozen dragon boats raced on the Qujiang River. The drummers on the boats beat their drums with great enthusiasm, and the paddlers shouted in unison.
That scene was truly exhilarating to watch.

“Then let Sheng Yanshi resign from his positions as Governor-General of Bozhou and General of the Right Guard, but keep his title of Duke of Ge and let him serve in Li Yi’s army in Hebei.”

The emperor's word

Sheng Yanshi finally escaped a calamity.

"Li Yi's memorial to the throne recommended many merits for Liu Lancheng. This man was originally a clerk, but he was brave and fierce. So Liu Lancheng was granted the title of Pillar of State and Duke of Pingyuan County."

Since he's such a capable fighter, then transfer him to Shuofang to fight Liang Shidu. Previously, Liang Li, the governor of Fuzhou, died in battle, and the Ji Hu people in Fuzhou have rebelled.
Liu Lan was then appointed Prefect of Fuzhou and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Yanzhou Road Army, to join Duan Decao in attacking Liang Shidu.

"Jiang Shanhe, the prefect of Yunzhou, was reassigned as the prefect of Fuzhou in Longyou."

"Pei Jian, Li Yi has made great contributions in suppressing the rebellion in Henan this time. He quelled the rebellion in twenty-three prefectures in just over a month and recruited more than 100,000 soldiers.

However, he submitted a memorial to the court requesting to resign from his positions as Inspector General of Works, Inspector General of the Palace Attendants, Minister of War, Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince, and Commander of the Left Guard of the Crown Prince.

"Your Majesty, the Duke of Jin is a member of the imperial family. Although young, he is exceptionally talented and has made great contributions. I believe that the title 'Inspector' is unnecessary."
He could serve as both Minister of Works and Attendant-in-Ordinary.

Now that Henan has been pacified and the Grand Secretariat of Shaanxi East Circuit has moved to Luoyang, the General Administration of Luozhou can be abolished, and Luozhou, Ruzhou, Zhengzhou, and other prefectures can be directly under the Grand Secretariat.

Dragon boats raced across the Qujiang River, while countless people on the banks cheered and shouted encouragement.

Pei Ji then took the opportunity to discuss with the emperor the abolition of the Luozhou General Administration Office.
They even redefined the jurisdiction of the Shaanxi East Circuit Grand Secretariat to extend from Shanzhou in the west to Dengzhou and the sea in the east, with the Yellow River as the main boundary in the north, and the Huai River and Funiu Mountains in the south to the Henan region.

This was also the ten general administrations and twenty-seven prefectures that Li Yi had previously integrated when he served as the pacification commissioner of Henan Province.

"Both Hedong and Henan have been pacified."
Now that the campaign against Hebei is in full swing, I believe that we can establish the Shandong Circuit Office in Hebei to better facilitate the pacification and governance of the Hebei region after the war.

Li Yi is young and promising, and his outstanding performance in pacifying and calming Henan makes him a suitable candidate for the position of Left Vice Minister of the Shandong Circuit.

Furthermore, Zheng Shanguo, the Hebei Pacification Commissioner, was appointed as the Right Vice Minister of the Provisional Government; Lu Chisong as the Left Vice Minister of the Provisional Government; and Cui Mingan as the Minister of Personnel of the Provisional Government…

The scope of the Shaanxi East Circuit Grand Administration was reduced, and a new Shandong Circuit Administration was established.

The main officials of the Shandong Circuit were all officials of the Eastern Palace, and nominally they all held official positions in the Eastern Palace.

Pei Ji's proposal was clearly aimed at reducing the power of the King of Qin.

The Yizhou Xingtai (administrative headquarters) and the Xianzhou Xingtai (administrative headquarters) were abolished.
The Xiangzhou Xingtai was also known as the Shannan Xingtai. The Prince of Qi concurrently served as the Xingtai Shangshu Ling (Minister of the Imperial Secretariat), Li Xiaogong was the Left Minister of Works, and Qu Tutong was the Right Minister of Works.

The newly established Shandong Circuit Administration, also known as the Hebei Circuit Administration, has appointed Li Yi, the Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince, as its Left Vice Minister, and Zheng Shanguo, the Left Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince and Acting Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, as its Right Vice Minister.

The Grand Secretariat of Shaanxi East Circuit was limited to Henan Circuit.

This arrangement certainly suited the emperor's wishes.

After Hebei is pacified, it would be best to recall the King of Qin back to Chang'an, and then abolish the Grand Secretariat of Shaanxi East Circuit. This would prevent the King of Qin's power from growing too strong and threatening the Crown Prince's position.

Although Li Yuan believed that his second son was indeed performing increasingly well, especially in commanding troops and conquering battles, far surpassing his eldest son, the emperor had no intention of changing the primogeniture system.

In other respects, it's actually quite good.

More importantly, the practice of deposing the eldest son in favor of the youngest has always been a path to chaos.

It is only natural and rightful for Jiancheng to become the crown prince. As long as Erlang is suppressed, everything will be fine.

However, Jiancheng would never agree to make Shimin the crown prince, and many people in the court would also disagree. There would certainly be some ambitious people who would support the crown prince in starting conflicts or even wars.

and,

Although Shimin was a good fighter,

But while the empire can be seized quickly, its governance cannot be done so immediately. Conquering the empire is different from ruling it.
He has higher hopes for the Crown Prince's ability to govern in the future.

"What do you think of Li Yi recommending Su Wei to replace him as Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince?"

"Su Wei is eighty years old, too old. Moreover, compared to Li Gang, although Su Wei is talented and experienced, he is not loyal enough."

His reputation can be used to assist the Crown Prince, but he should not be allowed to manage the affairs of the Eastern Palace. He can be summoned to Chang'an and given lectures to the Crown Prince at the Eastern Palace every three to five days.

The next day,

The emperor convened a court meeting.

He issued several decrees, instructing the Grand Secretary Feng Deyi to draft them.

"Qi Wang Yuanji was promoted to Grand Minister of Works and concurrently served as Attendant-in-Ordinary. He was also transferred to General of the Left Guard and was granted two additional coin-casting furnaces, bringing the total to three. His positions as Minister of the Xiangzhou Circuit and Governor of Jizhou remained unchanged."

"Duke Pei Ji of Wei was promoted to Minister of Works, then to Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and was granted a furnace to mint coins himself."

She was to betrothed to Pei Ji's daughter by the sixth prince, Prince Zhao, Yuan Jing!

"Li Yi, the Duke of Jin, was promoted to Minister of Works and concurrently served as Attendant-in-Ordinary. He was then transferred to Left Vice Minister of the Shandong Circuit and later to General of the Right Guard. He was also granted an additional coin-casting furnace, which was equivalent to the previous two furnaces. His positions as Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince, concurrently serving as Left Guard Commander to the Crown Prince, and General of the Banner of Wannian Road remained unchanged."

"The daughters of Zheng Shanguo and Cui Shishu were granted the title of concubines to the Duke of Jin."

“Ping An, the eldest son of the Duke of Jin and the Duke of Yan, was granted the title of Chaosan Dafu.”

Feng Deyi's calligraphy is vigorous and flowing.
He wrote several imperial edicts in one go.

The emperor was very satisfied after reviewing it and handed it directly to Chen Shuda, saying, "Please have Chen Shuda review and approve the use of the seal, and then hand it over to Pei Jian, the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, for execution."

The Shandong Circuit Administration was newly established, and the Luozhou General Administration was abolished.

Li Yi was relieved of his posts as Minister of War, Pacification Commissioner of Henan Circuit, Governor-General of Luozhou, Prefect of Luozhou, and Left Vice Minister of the Grand Secretariat of Shaanxi East Circuit.

He was reassigned to govern Hebei.

Although Hebei has not yet been captured,

However, the emperor had already established the Shandong Circuit Office in advance, and set up eight general administration offices, namely the Weizhou General Administration Office, Xiangzhou General Administration Office, Dingzhou General Administration Office, Youzhou General Administration Office, Jizhou General Administration Office, Dezhou General Administration Office, Yingzhou General Administration Office, and Huaizhou General Administration Office.

The Shandong Circuit Office will be located in Mingzhou, the capital of Dou Jiande's Xia Kingdom.

Huai Prefecture, which previously belonged to Henan, was also assigned to the Shandong Circuit.

Chen Shuda approved the emperor's edict by signing and affixing his seal, without objecting or rejecting it.

Li Yi rose rapidly through the ranks, but his achievements were genuine.

However, Qi Wang Yuanji and Pei Ji suffered a major defeat on the Hedong battlefield two years ago. One fled 600 li in one go, and the other abandoned Taiyuan City and fled.

Now, without having achieved any merit, one has been promoted to Minister of Works and concurrently Attendant-in-Ordinary, while the other has been promoted to Minister of Works and then to Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

But Chen Shuda still did not object.

He knew that opposing was useless; no matter how incompetent Pei Ji was, the emperor still trusted him unconditionally.

The King of Qin was leading his troops in battle at the front lines.
Those people in the back, on the other hand, were promoted and given higher ranks.

Shengyefang
The Duke of Jin's Mansion.

The emperor specially dispatched Consort Yuwen with several other concubines, followed by several cartloads of gifts.

Besides gold, silver, money, and silk,

The emperor also bestowed upon Li Yi's family colorful silk threads, as well as rice dumplings and realgar wine.

The Li family certainly had no shortage of zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) and realgar wine; for the Dragon Boat Festival, various villages around them sent many gifts in advance.

Zongzi filled with various fillings,

There are also salted duck eggs made from eggs laid by ducks raised in the village itself.
The villagers started making tea eggs and spiced braised eggs last night.
Other traditional foods, such as garlic, have also been prepared in advance.

The servants of the Li family also received Dragon Boat Festival rewards: four zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), one tea egg, one spiced egg, two salted duck eggs, four fried rice cakes, and thirty copper coins each.

There are also additional nannies, wet nurses, and personal maids.

Everyone, from top to bottom, was very happy to celebrate the holiday.
The sudden arrival of Consort Yuwen and her entourage caused some chaos in the Li residence, breaking the previous cheerful atmosphere and making everyone feel somewhat restrained.

"His Majesty is thinking of these grand-nephews and grand-nieces. He said that Wuyi is fighting in Hebei and cannot come home for the festival, so he specially sent us to deliver some festival gifts,"

As he spoke, he gave each of Li Yi's second son and third daughter a longevity lock, gold coins, and a Hetian jade pendant.

Du Shiniang is still observing mourning for her father. She lives in Du Yan's old residence in Wubenfang to observe mourning, eats vegetarian food and chants scriptures. The affairs of the Li family are all handed over to Ji Lingyi, Luo Sanniang and others.

They do manage the household very well.

Ping An and Ru Yi are almost a year and a half old. They're not as chubby as before, but they've become even cuter. Now, Little Chili Li Shu teaches them to speak every day. Their conversations are quite interesting. The teacher can't explain it clearly, and the students can't express it either. It's like talking to a brick wall, all chattering away.

Taiping and Anlan are almost 100 days old and are still in the stage of eating and sleeping all day long. Luo Sanniang and Shuying personally feed the children and walk with their backs very straight in the mansion.

Du Shiniang was focused on mourning at Wubenfang and had no interest in managing household affairs. Otherwise, according to tradition, Taiping, born to Luo Sanniang, and Anlan, born to Shuying, would have been raised in Shiniang's room instead of being raised by them personally.

"I wonder when my husband will return. He went to war last June, and now it's almost Dragon Boat Festival, almost a year has passed." Concubine Jin Yushu's words were tinged with sorrow as she looked at Ji Lingyi, Luo Sanniang, and Du Shuying, all of whom now had their own children.

She was the first to enter the family, but she could only bring her adopted daughter, Li Shu. She always hoped that Li Yi would come back so that he could also have a child.

"The war in Hebei has only just begun, how can he come back so soon?" Ji Lingyi said. She now has a son and a daughter, and her life is very fulfilling. Her husband won't be back for a while, but she's not too worried about that.

“The battle is over, but Ah Lang has been appointed as the Left Vice Minister of the Shandong Circuit, and he still has to pacify and guard the area,” Jin Yushu said, mustering her courage. “Ah Lang has no one to serve him there. How about I take Reba and Nazha, the two Hu women, to Hebei to serve Ah Lang?”

(End of this chapter)