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

Chapter 696 Executing Meritorious Officials

The commotion in the hall disturbed Li Shimin.

The emperor frowned. "What happened?"

The eunuch Wei Qingzhi stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the Duke of Wu and the Prince of Huai'an had a dispute. After the argument, the Prince of Huai'an was knocked to the ground by the Duke of Wu. His eyes seem to be badly injured, and his face is covered in blood."

Li Shimin was taken aback.

"Wei Jian, what did you say?"

Wei Qingzhi repeated it again.

Li Yi, who was closest to the emperor, also heard Wei Qingzhi's report and was indeed quite shocked. The newly appointed Duke had beaten a member of the imperial clan, a prince.

just,

Li Yi remembered that historically, Yuchi Gong should not have attacked Li Daozong, and it shouldn't have been at this particular time.

Is it because Li Daozong has made great contributions and is now a famous prince with a fief of 1,200 households, just like Daoxuan? Or is Li Shentong just unlucky, having just been reprimanded by the emperor and now being punched by Yuchi Gong?

Or perhaps,
Old Hei is too straightforward

Seeing that Li Shentong dared to jump out and oppose the list of meritorious officials, let's teach him a lesson on behalf of the emperor.

But isn't this a bit too simplistic and crude?
He didn't particularly like Li Shentong either. Li Shentong was somewhat like Li Yuan, with the airs of an old aristocrat, but he lacked Li Yuan's political acumen and skills.

Overall, he's a pragmatic guy, just a bit arrogant.

It's not necessary to beat him up in the palace banquet hall today.

The emperor stepped down from his throne,

Li Yi, Pei Ji, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and other high-ranking officials followed.

Li Shimin strode up to Li Shentong.
Yuchi Gong was unaware of the terrible trouble he had caused. He was still standing there cursing Li Shentong as an old dog, pretending to be dead, trying to extort money from him and get him to get up.

"You dare to call me a barbarian from the borderlands? You old dog, rise up and fight me!"

"Yuchi Jingde!"

Li Shimin roared angrily.

Yuchi Gong turned his head and saw the emperor glaring at him angrily with his big eyes. He quickly bowed and greeted him, "Your Majesty!"

"You bastard!" Li Shimin's hands trembled with anger.

He could just reprimand Li Shentong without any mercy, and even take the opportunity to say that he wanted to change the titles of the imperial clan.

However, Li Shentong was still a prince of the imperial clan, and was his uncle.

In terms of actual rank, he is still the Left General of the Martial Guard.

It happened again at the palace banquet on the night of his coronation.
Yuchi Gong assaulted someone and even injured them; this is outrageous.

Li Yi stepped forward and said, "Quickly summon the imperial physician to treat the Prince of Huai'an."

Li Shentong looked rather pitiful.
His face was covered in blood, and there was still a lot of blood on the floor. There was a large gash above his eyebrow, dripping with blood.

"The Prince of Huai'an?"

Li Shentong was in pain, ashamed, and shocked, and lay on the ground refusing to get up.

"Your Majesty, I... I can't see with my right eye."

Li Shimin was shocked when he heard this and quickly squatted down to examine the wound. This injury was different from blinding one eye.

There was some panic on the field.

At this point, Yuchi Gong also panicked a little. He thought Li Shentong was just shouting fiercely, but he didn't expect that this simple punch would actually blind the old dog.

"Your Majesty, I... I only punched him once. He insulted me first by calling me a barbarian, and I didn't expect him not to dodge."
He was knocked down with just one light punch.

"I truly didn't mean it..."

Therefore, whether it was intentional or not is no longer important; what's important now is that Li Shentong's eyes don't go blind.

The imperial physicians from the Imperial Pharmacy arrived very quickly.

After a thorough examination by several veteran imperial physicians,
Clean the wound of blood and dirt.
"How are the eyes of the Prince of Huai'an?" Li Shimin asked with concern.

"The Duke of Wu's punch not only injured his brow bone but also his eyeball," an old imperial physician sighed.

Another person said, "His brow bone is broken..."

"Treat him quickly, you must cure the Prince of Huai'an's eyes," Li Shimin instructed. The guards came in and carried Li Shentong out.

Yuchi Gong stood there muttering to himself, "So this is the Left Martial Guard General? He'd break with the slightest touch."

"Yuchi Gong!"

Li Shimin pointed angrily at him
The emperor was so angry that his hands were trembling.

His face turned ashen as he angrily criticized Yuchi Gong.
Only then did Lao Hei realize that he had gotten himself into serious trouble, and he quickly lowered his head and admitted his mistake.

"When I read the history of the Han Dynasty, I thought that Liu Bang indiscriminately killed his meritorious officials, and that few of the founding heroes had a good end. I thought that Liu Bang was not someone to share wealth and honor with."

But today,

Seeing what you have done, I realize that the execution of Han Xin and Peng Yue was not entirely the fault of Emperor Gaozu of Han.

The most important matters of state are reward and punishment.

Such unexpected kindness is rare; you should be careful, lest you regret it later!

These words,
This is already a very stern warning.

Take Emperor Gaozu of Han (Liu Bang) killing his meritorious officials as an example.
Yuchi Jingde was a meritorious official who had just been granted the title of Duke and a fief of 1,300 households.

No matter how great your achievements, Yuchi Gong, are they greater than those of Han Xin, the founder of the Han Dynasty?
But what became of people like Han Xin and Peng Yue, who were once enfeoffed as kings?

Were they executed because Liu Bang refused to share wealth and honor with his meritorious officials? No, it was because these people were arrogant and domineering, and disregarded the emperor and the laws of the court.

Li Shimin didn't mean to emulate Liu Bang.
This is merely a reminder to Yuchi Gong: you are indeed a meritorious official appointed by me, but if you also become arrogant and disregard the law,

Then you won't regret it later.

The palace servants were busy scrubbing the floor.

Yuchi Gong lowered his head.
Li Shimin pointed at him,
In the end, they only gave him a warning.
"Go back to your residence now and reflect on your actions!" "You'd better pray that the Prince of Huai'an's eyes are alright. If he goes blind, I will strip you of your title, revoke your fiefdom, and demote you to the Lingnan border region!"

The emperor waved his hand,

Yuchi Gong was not allowed to argue any further, and was told to leave.

Today's important and joyous palace banquet is not for him.

Li Yi was standing nearby.

It's clear that Li Shimin was actually quite good to his own people. Even after his cousin was beaten so badly, he still protected him, despite the severity of his scolding.

But in reality, it was just a closed-door introspection.
It's just that I missed one palace banquet.

Self-reflection is nothing.

He was neither demoted nor had his fief reduced, nor was he demoted in his official position.

This is an assault on a prince.

The bloodstains on the floor were quickly wiped clean.

Li Shentong was carried away for medical treatment, while Yuchi Gong was sent home to reflect on his actions.
The palace banquet continues.

With this little incident,
This has given today's palace banquet a hot topic.

Wei Zheng was very dissatisfied with the emperor's protective behavior.
"Your Majesty, a country has its laws, and a family has its rules. Even ordinary people who fight and injure others must be dealt with according to the law."

According to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, all acts of assault are punishable by imprisonment for a limited period.

If someone is injured, the government sets a deadline and orders the defendant to provide medical treatment for the injured person.

They must not only treat the injured, but also bear criminal responsibility.

Wei Zheng was very familiar with the legal provisions.
He recited the law directly in front of the emperor: "The Great Tang Code and the Law on Fighting and Litigation stipulate that anyone who fights or brawls shall be punished with forty strokes of the cane; if the injury is caused by striking someone with another object, the punishment shall be sixty strokes of the cane; if the injury is more than an inch long and involves pulling out a hair, the punishment shall be eighty strokes of the cane."

If blood comes from the ears or eyes, or if there is internal injury resulting in vomiting blood, the punishment is increased by two degrees.

Anyone who commits murder in a fight shall be hanged. Anyone who kills intentionally with a blade shall be beheaded.

"The Duke of Wu injured the Prince of Huai'an, damaging his eyes. According to the law, he should be punished with eighty strokes of the cane plus two degrees of punishment, which would amount to one year of penal servitude."

The Tang Dynasty's penal system consisted of five punishments: flogging, caning, penal servitude, exile, and death, each with five levels.

Eighty strokes of the cane plus one more stroke equals one hundred strokes of the cane. The next level up is imprisonment, with a minimum of one year and an additional six months for each subsequent level, up to a maximum of three years.

"The Duke of Wu is entitled to merit and honor, but for crimes punishable by exile or less, the punishment is usually reduced by one degree. Therefore, since the Duke of Wu injured the Prince of Huai'an in the palace, he shall be punished with one hundred strokes of the cane."

Li Shimin was very annoyed.

Today is the auspicious day of his ascension to the throne.
The list of meritorious officials to be rewarded was announced at the banquet, which was intended to appease both new and old ministers in the court.

Who would have thought these things would happen?

Now Wei Zheng is still pressing the issue.

"In my opinion, the law should not be abolished. Not only should the Duke of Wu be given one hundred strokes of the cane, but I should also impeach him for holding the real title of Duke and the real position of Grand General."

He assaulted the Prince over a trivial matter at a palace banquet.

This kind of behavior should never be tolerated.
Yuchi Gong should be stripped of his title and fiefdom, and his official rank demoted, as a warning to others and to set an example for others!

Yuchi Gong's behavior today was indeed excessive.
However, Li Shimin was also well aware that his ascension to the throne was illegitimate, relying entirely on the support of his confidants such as Yuchi Gong and Hou Junji.
He has just ascended the throne.
The position is not very stable either.

He can't afford to lose his core base at this time.

No matter how arrogant Yuchi Gong was, he was still one of his confidants. Today, he only punched Li Shentong once, not dared to disrespect the emperor.

So even though I yelled at him loudly just now, the result was just sending him home to reflect on his actions.

Li Yi, who was watching from the side, understood everything clearly.

My senior fellow apprentice, Wei Zheng, was also promoted to Marquis of Julu this time, and received a fief of several hundred households. He was also on the list of those awarded titles.
As the Secretary-General, he was a close advisor to the emperor, and offering advice was part of his duties.

But at this time,
Li Shimin indeed couldn't reward his meritorious officials on the one hand, while severely punishing his own confidants on the other.

"Wei Jian!"

He stepped in to smooth things over, saying, "We'll discuss this matter again tomorrow. Let's set it aside for now, as it's a palace banquet today."

Changsun Wuji also stood up to defend Yuchi Gong.
"That was just an accident. The Duke of Wu, a general of the court, used a bit too much force, and it just so happened to hit his brow bone..."

Within the Qin Prince's faction, Changsun Wuji didn't actually think much of Yuchi Gong. He was a nobleman from Guanzhong, while Yuchi Gong came from a blacksmith family in Daibei.
He was a former subordinate of Liu Wuzhou who joined halfway through the war, a surrendered general.

Among the military generals in the Qin King's group, Yuchi Gong's status was far lower than that of the generals from Shandong who had surrendered. People like Qin Shubao and Cheng Yaojin held positions far above Yuchi Gong.
Even the generals in the Qin Prince's mansion, such as Hou Junji, Xu Shiluo, and Qiu Xinggong, who were of lower rank but came from Guanzhong noble families, did not think much of Yuchi Gong.

Back when we attacked Luoyang,
Most of Liu Wuzhou's former subordinate generals who surrendered took the opportunity to escape, such as Xun Xiang, who surrendered with Yuchi Gong. At that time, many of Li Shimin's generals shouted that they wanted to kill Yuchi Gong.

Li Shimin gave Yuchi Gong a large box of gold and silver, saying that if he wanted to leave, he could take this money with him, as it was a token of their acquaintance. Yuchi Gong did not leave and was willing to stay. Later, he saved Li Shimin's life on several battlefields and thus became Li Shimin's confidant and personal bodyguard.

Changsun Wuji usually looked down on Lao Hei.

But now,

They were one entity, all former subordinates of the Prince of Qin's court, and all newly risen nobles who had contributed to the enthronement of the new emperor.

If we allow Old Hei to be attacked or even punished now,
That would open a bad precedent.

Then, many swords and arrows will be shot at these newly rich people in the court.

Protecting Yuchi Gong is also protecting oneself.

Even Fang Xuanling stepped forward to smooth things over.
They adopted an attitude of minimizing the problem and making it disappear.

The new emperor has just ascended the throne
They still face significant challenges.
At this time, we must unite as one.

"Wu Yi, what do you think should be done with the Duke of Wu?" Li Shimin asked.

"Your Majesty, I believe that today's events were indeed just a misunderstanding and an accident. Let the Duke of Wu reflect on his actions at home, punish him with a six-month salary deduction, and then have him personally apologize to the Prince of Huai'an."

Duke Wu was renowned for his bravery in the army and repeatedly rendered meritorious service to the imperial court.
We cannot ruin a meritorious general because of this accident. Your Majesty and the court should be more tolerant.

Your Majesty, I also believe that General Yuchi will repent and reform himself, and restrain his behavior.

Li Shimin was very satisfied with the answer and nodded repeatedly.

(End of this chapter)