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

Chapter 579 The faint king
Fire in July.

As the star Antares moves westward, the season transitions from midsummer to early autumn.

The Taiji Palace remained warm, but Li Yuan was very irritable. Looking at the pile of memorials on his desk, his already wrinkled face looked even more like that of an old woman.

"Nonsense."

Li Yuan threw the Crown Prince's memorial back onto the table.

"Your Majesty, the Prince of Qin is outside requesting an audience," said Lu Kuan, the Palace Attendant.

"not see."

"The King of Qin said that if His Majesty did not see him, he would wait outside, and also said that the Crown Prince had mishandled the matter in Daibei..."

"Tell him to get lost," Li Yuan roared.

Feeling dizzy, the emperor's in-law, Lu Kuan, quickly helped him sit down on the couch.

"Brother Sengnu, what do you think of these events that happened in Daibei?"

Lu Kuan helped the emperor brew tea.
Many things have happened in Daibei recently: Jieli withdrew his troops, Prince Huaiyang Yunzhong was besieged, Wang Junkuo abandoned Prince Huaiyang, Li Yi led his army to the rescue, and Li Yi led his army to a great victory at Huanghualing.

The Crown Prince personally went to the front lines.

However, this led to the Yanmen Mutiny.

The Crown Prince dismissed Li Daoxuan, the Prince of Huaiyang, from his post as the Grand General of Youzhou; dismissed Li Yi, the Chief Secretary of the Marshal's Office and the General General of the Hebei Expeditionary Force; dismissed Liu Shirang, the General General of Daizhou; and dismissed several other prefects in one fell swoop.

They've even staged a mutiny; what else could this be but utter nonsense?

Li Yuan also read the memorials submitted by Li Yi, Li Daoxuan, and even Wang Junkuo, Li Gaoqian, and Liu Shirang.

I looked at it very carefully.

Even Li Yuan, who was thousands of miles away in Chang'an, could clearly feel the chaos in Daibei.

The Grand Tutor impeached Li Yi for undermining the peace treaty and recklessly provoking border conflicts, impeached Li Daoxuan for being rash and impulsive in disobeying military orders, and impeached Liu Shirang for plotting a rebellion...
Li Daoxuan impeached Wang Junkuo for deserting his post during the battle.

From these memorials, Li Yuan was able to discern the basic facts.

Ke Jiancheng is the Crown Prince.
Li Yuan needed to maintain the reputation of the crown prince.

This was what put Li Yuan in a difficult position; he also knew why Erlang Shimin was seeking an audience outside.

On one side is the Crown Prince,

On one side were members of the imperial family, meritorious officials, and border generals.

Li Yuan was also caught in a dilemma.

Lu Tong, the palace attendant, remained silent, quietly preparing tea for the emperor. As a close advisor to the emperor, he was naturally aware of the series of events that had occurred in Daibei.

Regardless of how the parties argue, any person with a brain can think for themselves and see through appearances to the essence of things.

No one would believe that Liu Shirang plotted a rebellion or mutiny.

"Guards, summon Supervisor Pei."

Outside the palace,

Lu Kuan walked toward Li Shimin.

"Your Majesty, His Majesty requests that you return to your residence."

Li Shimin stood there, refusing to leave. "So many things have happened in Daibei. If the court doesn't handle them properly, it will be destroying its own Great Wall."

"Lord Lu, I wish to see the Sage in person and speak my mind."

Lu Kuan shook his head. "Your Majesty, His Majesty is in a bad mood right now. He just sent someone to summon Pei Jian. There are still matters to discuss later. Please return."

Lu Kuan left.

Li Shimin stood there stubbornly.

His hands were clenched into fists inside his sleeves.

Inside the hall,

Li Yuan asked Pei Ji how to handle the matter in Daibei.

Minister of Works, Left Minister of Works, Duke of Wei, Pei Ji, held a teacup in his hand and said, "The Yanmen Mutiny must be dealt with severely, otherwise, once a precedent is set, there will be endless troubles in the future."

The many chaotic situations in Daibei were actually caused by border generals disobeying orders.

Prince Huaiyang, Daoxuan, disobeyed orders and launched an attack on Yunzhong without authorization. Li Yi also disregarded the peace treaty, first refusing to withdraw his troops from Yingzhou, then sending troops to Yunzhong, then instigating Gao Manzheng of Mayi to rebel, and finally ambushing the Turks at Huanghualing.
This is all disobeying orders.

Li Yuan sipped his tea and let Pei Ji continue.

"In my opinion, while King Wu'an certainly had military merits, his actions after Jieli withdrew his troops were highly inappropriate."
The imperial court went to great lengths to reach a peace agreement with Jieli. Even if he had different opinions, he couldn't go against the imperial court.

The defection of Gao Manzheng in Mayi and the ambush of 50,000 Turkic troops at Huanghualing were not good things. The Turks had already sent an envoy, Cao Banduo, to Taiyuan to warn the crown prince.
If our Great Tang fails to severely punish the generals Li Daoxuan, Li Yi, and Liu Shirang who have recklessly provoked border conflicts, then Khan Jieli will immediately assemble at least 400,000 cavalry and march south.

Li Yuan remained silent.

The court officials now believe that the victory at Huanghualing and Gao Manzheng's surrender at Mayi will inevitably trigger Jieli's retaliation.
The Khalids are about to launch another major invasion.

The last time the Turks invaded from both the east and west, the Tang Dynasty suffered greatly. In the eastern route alone, thirty-nine cities fell in Xindai, and countless people were taken captive.

Ultimately, it was through a marriage alliance and gifts that Jieli was persuaded to retreat.

Now that Jieli has found a reason to invade again, what should the court do?
Few advocated for fighting.

Only Qin King Li Shimin shouted for battle.

But Li Yuan didn't want to fight, and neither did the court officials.

Firstly, this place had just fought against the Turks, and apart from Li Yi winning a few battles, no one else had won.

Moreover, the rebellion of Fu Gongshi and Zhang Shan'an in the south is currently being quelled by the generals Li Xiaogong, Li Jing, Li Shiji, and Li Daliang.

Li Yuan did not want to fight a battle he was not confident of winning.

Li Yi dared to fight, and Li Shimin wanted to fight.
But Li Yuan had to consider the consequences of failure.
Consider defeat before victory.

"Those border generals are too arrogant. We need to curb their arrogance, otherwise they'll be showing no respect for the court, and that will be unacceptable."

"Your Majesty, please think of Gao Kaidao, and Fu Gongshi and others."

Li Yuan put down his teacup. "What does Supervisor Pei think should be done?"

"Kill one to warn a hundred," Pei Ji said.

July 15th, Jiawu year.

On the eve of the Lunar New Year, all civil and military officials of the ninth rank and above in the capital attended the grand court assembly.

Compared to the usual court sessions, there were many more officials at today's assembly, with even the square outside the palace filled with them.

The emperor becomes emperor,

The officials shouted "Long live the Emperor!" and danced.

The emperor sat high on his throne, but his face remained expressionless.

Something big is happening today.

But no one expected the event to be this big. "Liu Shirang, the governor of Daizhou, conspired with the Turkic Khan to rebel."

"According to the law, he should be executed. Therefore, Liu Shirang was beheaded, his head was sent to the border, and his family's property was confiscated!"

Liu Shirang, the Duke of Hongnong, the Governor-General of Daizhou, and the Prefect of Daizhou, was executed rather suddenly. Some people had vaguely heard rumors of a mutiny at Yanmen Pass, but most knew nothing about it at all.
How did they suddenly become secretly colluding with the Turks to rebel?

Many people instinctively felt that there was something wrong with this, after all, when Jieli Khan besieged Yanmen for half a year, Liu Shirang defended Yanmen to the death and fought to the bitter end without surrendering.

Liu Shirang has now defended Yanmen Pass and has just followed Li Yi out of the pass to annihilate 50,000 Turkic troops at Huanghualing, achieving a great feat.
But they rebelled?

This doesn't make sense.

"Your Majesty, I have a question!"

In the hall, one person stepped forward.

It was Wei Zheng, also known as Wei Xuancheng, who wore a scarlet robe and served as the Right Vice Minister of the Grand Secretariat of Shaanxi East Circuit, Secretary of the Tian Ce Mansion, and Academician of the Literary Academy of the Qin Prince's Mansion.

"Your Majesty, Liu Shirang, the governor of Daizhou, stationed himself at Yanmen after the New Year and held the city for over a hundred days. Facing the siege of the city by Jieli's 200,000 troops, he never colluded with the enemy or surrendered."

Li Sikong led the Daibei army in an ambush at Huanghualing, annihilating 50,000 enemy troops. Liu Shirang accompanied the expedition, but he did not collude with the enemy or plot a rebellion.

Why, now that they have returned in triumph and just arrived back at Yanmen, do they collude with the enemy and plot a rebellion?

This doesn't make any sense. If he wanted to collude with the enemy and rebel, he wouldn't have needed to defend Yanmen City or fight a major battle against the enemy at Huanghualing.

Your Majesty, I believe this is a divisive tactic by the Turks. I urge you to investigate carefully and not fall for their tricks!

Wei Zheng's words

This is also what many people are thinking at this moment.

Liu Shirang had no reason to collude with the enemy and rebel at this time; it was more likely a ploy by the enemy to sow discord.

But the emperor on the throne,
He ignored Wei Zheng's words.

"Liu Shirang colluded with the enemy and launched a mutiny at Yanmen Pass. The evidence is conclusive."

The interpreter then brought out a sandalwood box, opened it, and took out an imperial edict.

Li Daoxuan, the Grand General of Youzhou, disobeyed military orders, underestimated the enemy, and suffered a defeat. He was dismissed from his post as Grand General of Youzhou and recalled to the capital.

Li Yi, the Grand Administrator of Dingzhou, was summoned back to the capital after being accused of colluding with the enemy and plotting a rebellion by Liu Shirang.

Then he took out a sandalwood box.

Li Gaoqian, the Right Martial General and Duke of Jiangxia, was appointed as the Governor of Daizhou for his meritorious service in defeating the enemy.

Prince Li Yi of Yan County was appointed as the Grand General of Dingzhou.

Li Yuan, the Prince of Lujiang, was reinstated as the Grand General of Youzhou.

Gao Manzheng was appointed Governor-General and Prefect of Shuozhou, and granted the title of Duke of Ningguo.

Wang Junkuo was transferred to serve as the prefect of Xinzhou.

Wei Zheng stepped forward again.

They believed that the emperor's handling of Liu Shirang was too hasty and that a thorough investigation should be conducted before making a decision.

The emperor was displeased.

In the hall, Wei Zheng was dismissed from his positions as Secretary of the Tiance Mansion and Right Vice Minister of the Shaanxi East Circuit, and demoted to the fifth-rank Secretary Assistant, and was directly expelled from the hall.

The morning court session on the fifteenth of July,
Some of them were earth-shattering.

Liu Shirang, the governor of Daizhou, was convicted of treason, executed, his entire family confiscated, his wife and children enslaved, and his property confiscated by the government.

Li Yi, the Grand General of Dingzhou and Prince of Wu'an, and Li Daoxuan, the Grand General of Youzhou and Prince of Huaiyang, were both relieved of their posts and summoned back to the capital.

Prince Qin, Li Shimin, did not attend the morning court session today.
Although the emperor had issued a special decree yesterday that he was exempt from attending court today, he still came, but was stopped at the palace gate.

Unable to attend the morning assembly

After learning the results of the court assembly,

Li Shimin's face turned red with anger, and he tried to break through the palace gates again, but was stopped once more.

Helpless, they returned to Hongyi Palace.

Li Shimin was so angry that he cursed loudly.

"Dark Lord!"

"In order to favor the crown prince, they have abandoned all sense of shame and disregarded the country."

Princess Consort Zhangsun rushed over, rarely seeing her husband so angry. She quickly pulled him to sit down and massaged his head until he calmed down a bit.
So he boiled water and made tea for him.

She neither asked her husband why he was angry nor offered any words of advice.

Li Shimin's chest heaved violently, his anger barely contained.

"The Crown Prince is acting recklessly at the border, and His Majesty not only fails to correct him but also shows such favoritism. Liu Shirang is a meritorious official of the state; even with a siege of 200,000 troops by Jieli for half a year, they could not defeat him, yet now he is to die because of the Crown Prince's false accusations."
What's most infuriating is that the emperor couldn't possibly be unaware that the crown prince was making false accusations, yet he still unjustly executed Liu Shirang.
Although Dao Xuan was young and somewhat reckless, he hadn't made any major mistakes, yet they still wanted to recall him.

Especially Li Yi. The reason Daibei was able to repel the enemy this time wasn't due to the marriage alliance with a princess and the bestowal of gold and silk; the main credit went to Li Yi. If Li Yi hadn't seized the mountain pass, defeated Gao Kaidao, and fought his way to Yanmen Pass, would Jieli have retreated?

"Dark Lord!"

Li Shimin couldn't help but curse again.

Princess Changsun of Qin brewed tea and then massaged her husband's head.

As Li Shimin continued to curse, he couldn't help but shed tears.

"Guanyinbi, how could this happen?"

Wei Zheng merely spoke a few words of fairness, yet the emperor demoted him.

"The Sage wasn't like this before, but now he won't even see me. Does he only have eyes for the Crown Prince? If the Crown Prince makes a mistake, is he willing to make it even worse to protect him?"

Li Shimin is now very confused, even desperate.

Although he holds a long list of official titles, he can only stay in Hongyi Palace to study and practice archery. He is the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat and concurrently the Minister of the Central Secretariat, but he cannot enter the Hall of State Affairs, nor can he go to the Ministry of State Affairs and the Central Secretariat to work.

Even as the Grand General of the Heavenly Strategy and the Grand Chancellor of the Shaanxi-Eastern Circuit, he could not return to Luoyang to take charge.

As for the titles of Governor of Yongzhou, General of the Twelve Guards, Grand Commandant and Minister of Works, these were merely honorary titles without any actual authority.

He was completely sidelined by the emperor.

They didn't even have the right to participate in government affairs.

Now even those who were on good terms with him, such as Wu Yi, Dao Xuan, and Liu Shirang, are being suppressed, and Liu Shirang has even lost his life.

He, however, didn't even have the chance to say a good word for them to the emperor.

He was only twenty-three years old.

I was truly unwilling to accept this.

Is he destined to be trapped in this small Hongyi Palace for the next few decades, forced to watch helplessly as they wreak havoc?

"Someone, go and invite Xuanling, Keming, and Fuji here." Li Shimin's eyes were full of resentment.

(End of this chapter)