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

Chapter 633 urging the emperor to ascend the throne
"What a beautiful picture of spring plowing!"

Outside Yanmen Pass, Li Yi accompanied Li Shimin on a walk in the fields along the Sanggan River. In early spring, February, the soldiers and civilians were busy with spring plowing.

Soldiers stationed outside the pass, local people, and Han Chinese brought back from outside the pass all helped to restore the previously barren land to cultivation.

There were also many Turks in the fields.

These Turks were divided into two groups. One group consisted of defeated prisoners of war. Li Yi suggested that these prisoners should not be released directly, but should serve the Tang Dynasty for a year before being released. This could be considered a small punishment.

The other part consists of able-bodied men conscripted from the newly established Kyushu village. They are vassal soldiers and are now assisting in land reclamation.

Nine thousand conscripted Turkic men and more than thirty thousand prisoners are now being settled in the ten prefectures of Daibei to cultivate land.

Three or four thousand people per state isn't a lot.

"Do these people know how to farm?" Changsun Wuji asked with a smile, rubbing his large belly.

"Farming isn't that difficult, it's just hard work. But with a farmer to teach you, you can just follow along."

These tens of thousands of Turks were quite useful, farming during busy seasons, herding livestock during slack seasons, and serving as vassals and assistants in times of war. More importantly, the fact that so many Turkic able-bodied men could be drawn out at once also weakened the strength of the Turks.

"With these tens of thousands of Turkic strongmen settling in for farming and grazing, we will have hundreds of thousands of acres of new farmland in Daibei this year."

These Turks settled down to farm and graze their livestock, which was enough to satisfy their own food needs, and they even had surplus reserves for military rations.

"When will Tuli be back?" Li Yi asked.

"It may take some more time."

Now, both Tuli and his nephew Jieli are in Chang'an.

Li Yi and Li Shimin submitted a memorial to the court, suggesting that Khagan Jieli be kept in the capital, that Tuli be appointed as the new Great Khan of the Turks, that Simo be made the Left Wise King of the Turks, and that Jieli's younger brother Bulishe be made the Right Wise King.

Of the other candidates, those who are pragmatic can be chosen to be appointed as Lesser Khans.
How wonderful it would be to give Jieli the honorary title of Grand General and make him the number one dancer in the Tang Dynasty court.

But for some reason,
Jieli has been in the capital for some time now, but the court has not yet decided on how to deal with the Turks.

Changsun Wuji said disdainfully, "Those old fogies in the Council of State Affairs are all muddleheads. We fought so well on the front lines, capturing the Turkic Khan alive, breaking through the Turkic Khanate, and forcing the various Turkic tribes to surrender."

They still don't know how to handle this?

Is there anything to hesitate about?

Yuchi Gong, standing to the side, said, "If you ask me, the court should press its advantage and drive all the Turkic tribes in the south of the Gobi Desert back to the north."

His words drew support from several military generals, including Cheng Yaojin.

But neither Li Shimin nor Li Yi took it seriously. This victory was somewhat risky. Although they won, they were not yet capable of swallowing up all the tribes in southern Mongolia in one fell swoop.

It would be quite an achievement if they could force all the tribes to surrender.

The weather has warmed up.

Last year's heavy snowfall resulted in good soil moisture this year, and most of the insect eggs were frozen to death.

At noon, everyone sat on the ground in the open air.
Lay out a blanket and have a picnic.

Li Shimin seemed somewhat distracted.

After eating a little something, Li Shimin stood up and said, "Wuyi, accompany me for a walk."

The two strolled through the fields, keeping their entourage far away.

"I received news that the old scoundrel Pei Ji is advocating with the Crown Prince to release Jieli and have him swear a blood oath in Chang'an facing the Wei River and the South Mountain, promising never to offend Tang again, so that he can return."

Jieli returned the two prefectures of Daibei and Yunshuo, and the two prefectures of Hetao and Fengsheng to the Tang Dynasty, ceasing to protect Liang Shidu. The Tang Dynasty also intended to remarry Princess Changping to Jieli.

At this point, Li Shimin's voice was low, unable to conceal his anger.

Li Yi guessed that this news was from Feng Deyi again. He was used to Pei Ji and the Crown Prince's disastrous actions as teammates.

Previously, it was understandable that the Crown Prince and Pei Ji had always advocated for peace talks, but now that they still want to negotiate, that's just plain bad.

They came for Li Shimin.

"Wu Yi, I plan to return to Chang'an. I'm leaving everything here to you."

Li Yi thought for a moment, "Does Your Highness intend to return to court to stop the Crown Prince and his allies from advocating for peace?"

Li Shimin nodded, "The battle is over. Although our Great Tang Dynasty is not yet capable of directly annihilating the Turks, we now hold such a great advantage and, with the momentum of our great victory, we can force the Turks to submit, detain Jieli, and install a new Khan loyal to the Great Tang."

At least twenty years of peace on the border will be secured.

What's the point of talking about peace now? If we let Jieli go back, then this war will have been fought for nothing. Jieli will definitely sweep across the land again, and then the border will never have peace.

"Jiali must not be released."

"The blood of our soldiers cannot be shed in vain, and this opportunity will not come again."

"Your Majesty is right."

Li Shimin turned to look at Li Yi, "I regard you as a confidant, and there are some things I will not hide from you. This time, upon returning to the capital, I hope to use this great victory to persuade His Majesty to make me the Crown Prince."

I know this won't be easy, but as long as there's a glimmer of hope, I have to try.

Li Yi immediately poured cold water on him.
"Although Your Majesty has rendered great service this time, it is virtually impossible for His Majesty to directly change the heir apparent."

Li Shimin sighed, "I know, but we have to try, what else can we do?"

There were some things that Li Yi was not suited to say, and might even leave a bad impression if he did, but after thinking about it, he still spoke up: "Does Your Majesty intend to follow the path of Yang Guang's usurpation of the throne in the previous dynasty?"

Yang Guang's succession to the throne was primarily due to his status as the second son of the legitimate wife, his cultivated image as a wise and virtuous prince over the years, his efforts to win over powerful figures in the court such as Yang Su, his attempts to smear the crown prince, and even his bribery of officials in the crown prince's palace, such as Ji Wei, to frame Yang Yong.

In the end, he did indeed succeed in seizing the position of crown prince.

However, this path was not easy for Li Shimin to replicate. He was also the second son of the emperor, a wise prince, and had greater military achievements.

But the key issue is not whether he is virtuous or not, but rather the Crown Prince Li Jiancheng. Even though Li Jiancheng has performed poorly in leading troops several times, he has performed quite well in other aspects.

Most importantly, the forces supporting the crown prince were considerable, including prominent families from Guandong such as the Zheng family of Xingyang and the Cui family of Qinghe, as well as Guanlong gentry such as the Wei family of Jingzhao and the Pei family of Hedong.

Moreover, Li Yi had long realized that Li Yuan was very protective of Li Jiancheng.

Yang Guang's success in seizing the throne was due to the great favor and support of Empress Dugu. Yang Yong had many concubines, including Lady Yun, and had ten sons with them. This angered Empress Dugu, who cursed them as pigs and dogs. She personally chose Lady Yuan as the crown prince's consort, but the crown prince did not have any children with her and died suddenly. Empress Dugu believed that Yang Yong's concubines had murdered him.

Yang Guang was able to gain the support of the Empress, and even Yang Jian gradually disliked Crown Prince Yang Yong.

However, Li Shimin does not have such conditions now. On the contrary, Crown Prince Jiancheng has a good relationship with the emperor's favorite concubines, such as Consort Zhang and Consort Yin. The two concubines often speak ill of Li Shimin in front of the emperor.

“Your Majesty, I am worried that upon your return to the capital, the Crown Prince might plot against you. It could be an assassin, poisoning, or even slander and frame you before the Emperor by Consorts Pei Ji and Zhang Yin.”

“I also have some supporters in the court, and several prime ministers in the Council of State Affairs also support me,” Li Shimin said.

Li Yi shook his head, "The three prime ministers, Xiao Yu, Chen Shuda, and Yang Gongren, are His Majesty's men. Although Feng Deyi has passed on secrets to His Majesty many times, he is also His Majesty's man."

None of the prime ministers truly risked their lives for the king.

"It's easy to dodge a spear in the open, but hard to guard against an arrow in the dark, Your Majesty. If Your Majesty wishes to follow the path of Yang Guang in the previous dynasty, which involved seizing the throne, I'm afraid it will be very difficult."
"Your Majesty's foundation lies in the army; the newly risen military elites are your true and most powerful supporters."

Li Shimin's pupils suddenly dilated.

He looked at Li Yi with some disbelief.

He understood the implied meaning in those words.

Is this an attempt to persuade him to stage a palace coup and seize the throne?
(End of this chapter)