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

Chapter 803 Sleepless
"Wake up."

"Wu Yi, wake up quickly."

Early in the morning, Li Yi was fast asleep on the warm kang (a heated brick bed) when the emperor slapped his face repeatedly.

He opened his sleepy eyes and saw the emperor looking anxious.

"His Majesty?"

The emperor's eyes were bloodshot, like a rabbit's.

"Didn't Your Majesty sleep last night?"

"I listened to what you said yesterday and thought about it all night without sleeping. Get up and come with me."

"Where?"

"Go to the Yellow River beach to dig for locusts."

Li Yi sat up from his warm bed and realized that it was still dark outside.

"Your Majesty, it's not dawn yet."

The emperor told him that it was now the hour of Yin (寅正).

Upon hearing this, Li Yi realized it was only four in the morning.

The emperor had already gotten up and dressed on his own, so Li Yi had no choice but to call the maidservants waiting in the outer room to serve him.

It's already past midnight, which is quite late.

Officials would typically rise at dawn (around 3 AM) and then rush to the palace gates to wait for the morning court session.
At five o'clock in the morning, the morning court session would begin.

In winter, it gets light late; it's at least 6:30 in the morning.

Change clothes, wash up, and eat breakfast.

The emperor plans to skip the morning court session today and go directly to the Yellow River beach to dig up locust eggs.

"Your Majesty, there's no rush. Let's attend the morning court session first."

The emperor, who hadn't slept all night, was in high spirits despite his bloodshot eyes.

For breakfast, I ate two yellow steamed buns with cross-shaped cracks, two steamed buns with fresh meat filling, two boiled eggs, two tender corn kernels, and finally a bowl of mutton soup.

This impressed Li Yi greatly.

His appetite was less than half that of the emperor.

"Wu Yi, you need to eat more. Your body is still too weak. You need to practice more. Practice drawing a strong bow, wielding a long spear, and throwing stone locks."

You need to get stronger, a strong soldier needs to develop a belly.
You're so thin now, you look like a scholar.

You are the invincible and ever-victorious General Wang! Look at those generals in the court, which one of them doesn't have a waistline of seven or eight feet, or even ten feet, and be covered in fat?

On this battlefield, if you don't have some muscle, you won't last two hours.

Li Yi smiled. What the emperor said made a lot of sense in the era of cold weapons; fat covering the muscles was the best approach.

Those battlefield warriors were all tall and strong, as solid as mountains, capable of both fighting and enduring, even able to withstand being hit or stabbed a few times.

Li Yi actually has quite a bit of muscle, but his body fat percentage isn't high. He intentionally maintains a slim figure, especially not wanting to develop a potbelly.

However, in the emperor's eyes, his healthy and good physique was too thin.

The twenty-four-year-old emperor
He also had a potbelly, a very strong and robust physique, and with his carefully maintained beard, he certainly looked very imposing when he sat down, though he appeared somewhat mature, looking to be over thirty.

The emperor ate breakfast very quickly.

They ate quickly and left after finishing their meal.

It was still dark at this time.
They pulled Li Yi into the carriage and returned to the palace.

It was quite a distance from Tongjifang in the south of the city to Luoyang Palace, so Li Yi let the emperor take a nap in the carriage.

"Alright, there's a morning court session later. Wake me up when it's time."

The emperor closed his eyes and soon fell asleep.

It seems even the emperor wasn't immune to fatigue.

Li Yi carefully instructed the coachman to slow down. There was still some time before the palace gates opened, so let the emperor sleep in the carriage for half an hour.

Seeing the emperor's haggard face, I felt sorry for him. The emperor of all time was still a bit green and even lacked confidence.

He tried very hard to achieve something to prove that he was suitable to be the emperor.

The initial success—with the surrender of the Turks and the internal annihilation of Liang Shidu—was already a very good start, but now a great calamity is about to strike.
Warm winter, spring drought, summer locusts

famine,

These words poured cold water on the emperor's enthusiasm.

It even made him occasionally doubt himself, wondering if he had truly gained his position illegitimately and if Heaven was not on his side.

The carriage moved slowly.

The guards' torches flickered in the wind.

Just before dawn, the sky was still shrouded in the darkness of night.

The carriage crossed the Tianjin Bridge over the Luo River and arrived at the Imperial City.

Officials who were going to the morning court had already arrived at the palace gate. Their carriages were parked on one side, while they waited by the fire in the waiting courtyard on the side of the palace gate.

"arrive?"

The emperor had already woken up as soon as the carriage stopped.

"The palace gates are not yet open; Your Majesty may sleep a little longer."

There's a stove and blankets in the carriage, so there's no need to worry about catching a cold.

Li Shimin stretched and said, "Never mind, I have to attend the morning court session later."

In reality, the morning court session was just a routine meeting, more of a formality and ceremony.

It is said that important matters are discussed in small meetings, while large meetings are not used for deliberation.

This kind of morning court session was actually quite tiring. The emperor and the officials who regularly attended to the emperor had to get up before dawn and it would take about two hours to finish.

The result was just a brief meeting and greetings; there was no real discussion whatsoever.

But Li Shimin never neglected the morning court sessions.
A foolish ruler begins by neglecting to hold court in the morning.

Even if the morning court session is just a routine ceremony, the emperor cannot be negligent.

When Ma Zhou saw that Li Yi's carriage had arrived but he hadn't gotten off, he came over to greet him. Unexpectedly, the emperor was also in the carriage.

"Come up and sit for a while," Li Shimin invited him. Ma Zhou was currently the Imperial Censor, the second-in-command of the Censorate, and the emperor greatly appreciated him.

"Last time, Xiao Yu submitted a memorial attacking Wu Yi, falsely accusing him of forming cliques and plotting a rebellion, and he also listed you as one of Wu Yi's cliques," the emperor said.

Upon hearing this, Ma Zhou was not afraid, but rather said with a hint of unease, "Everyone in the court knows that I was originally a commoner, born into poverty. At the beginning of the Wude era, I served as an assistant instructor in Bozhou, a minor official."

When Li Situ was pacifying Henan and Hebei, he was specially summoned to serve in the military headquarters.

I served as a scribe under Minister Li, who took a liking to me and promoted me step by step, eventually recommending me to His Majesty.

Your Majesty has given me an exceptional promotion, and I have now risen to the rank of Fifth-Rank Imperial Censor.

Your Majesty, I am grateful for the kindness of Minister Li and even more grateful for your appreciation.

However, both Minister Li and I are devoted to public service and loyal to the king. To say that Minister Li and I formed a faction for personal gain is pure slander.

The emperor smiled.

“I trust Wu Yi, and I also trust you. Therefore, I have stripped Xiao Yu of his title of Duke of Song and demoted him to the position of Prefect of Shangzhou.”

He paused, "But during this period, many officials have criticized my decision to lead the officials to Luoyang, and also criticized Wu Yi for leading the rectification of the Buddhist community and eliminating illegal activities."

The Grand Censor Cui Junsu also seems to favor Xiao Yu, Yang Gongren, and others, given the recent performance of the Censorate.

This greatly displeases me.

Cui Junsu failed to maintain his proper stance at a crucial moment, and I believe he is no longer suitable for this important position.

I have already decided to send Cui Junsu to serve as the governor and prefect of Xiangzhou.

"You will be in charge of the Censorate for the time being."

Ma Zhou quickly replied, "Your Majesty, Lord Cui has served as an official for decades. He is experienced and very steady. With him in charge of the Censorate, things are even more secure."

"Stop speaking up for him. I know he has suppressed you a lot before. You don't need to retaliate with your own words."

Cui Junsu served as the Chief Secretary of the Prince of Qin's Palace and also as a Gentleman Attendant at the Palace Gate in the imperial court; he is indeed capable. However, this man rose through the ranks from tutor to the Prince of Dao in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, serving under several dynasties including the Zhou, Sui, and Tang, and even holding the positions of prime minister under Yuwen Huaji and Dou Jiande.
This person gets more and more confused as he gets older; he's not a responsible person.

Let him go to Xiangzhou as the governor.

What the emperor needs most right now are officials who share his views and stand firmly by his side.

Ability, on the other hand, ranks second.

Especially now, we need steadfast people.

Cui Junsu is a seasoned veteran; his stance is not firm, so we cannot let him continue to hold such an important position as the Censorate.

"Wu Yi, do you think it would be better to appoint Sun Fujia, the governor of Shanzhou, as the Grand Censor, or to appoint the prime minister Wei Zheng concurrently as the Grand Censor?" the emperor asked Li Yi.

"Your Majesty, the position of Imperial Censor is of great importance. I believe that it would be better to convene a court meeting, have Your Majesty propose candidates, and then have the prime ministers discuss the matter together."

Sun Fujia and Wei Zheng were both Li Yi's senior brothers.

Although he felt that both of them were indeed good candidates for the Censorate, he was not suitable to help the emperor make the selection here.

The time has come.
The morning drum sounds,

The gatekeeper took out the key and opened the palace gate.

The palace guards slowly opened the city gate.

Li Yi got out of the carriage.
Then Ma Zhou also came down.

The officials queuing to enter the palace cast curious glances at the two men, who had just been impeached for forming a faction, and now they were so unconcerned about appearances.
The next moment, the emperor also stepped down from Li Yi's carriage.
Many people were secretly surprised.

Why did the Emperor come from outside the palace? And why did he get off Li Yi's carriage? Did he spend the night at Li Yi's residence last night?

Li Yi just returned to Luoyang yesterday.

The emperor spent the night at his residence.
The relationship between the ruler and his minister must be incredibly good.

When the officials came to pay their respects, Li Shimin waved his hand, saying, "No need for formalities."

The emperor led Li Yi through the palace gates first.

Not the new moon and full moon,
Since there weren't many officials in the regular court sessions, the procedures were simpler and didn't take much time; the morning court session ended quickly.

The officials returned to their respective offices to work.

The emperor ordered the prime ministers of the State Council to remain behind for a court discussion.

The emperor went to change his clothes.
When the prime ministers arrived at the council hall, they all greeted Li Yi, whom they hadn't seen for a long time.

Wei Zheng smiled and said, "The whole of Luoyang is saying that Minister Li used the Five Thunderbolts Orthodox Method in front of the Buddha statue in the Great Hall of Shaolin Temple on Mount Song. His eyes shot out two beams of lightning, which rendered General Tanzong, the leader of the Shaolin monks, unable to move."
Then, with fingers pointing like a sword,

A bolt of lightning pierced through.
The eight-foot-tall giant, Tan Zong, the head of the Shaolin monks, was instantly knocked down by a single finger strike, his body stiffening and convulsing as he collapsed.

The rumors are incredibly exaggerated.

"Wu Yi, your Five Thunder Orthodox Technique is truly remarkable! When will you demonstrate it?"

Wei Zheng had been a Taoist priest for many years and had studied the Five Thunder Orthodox Method. He could also perform finger-counting and incantations, but he didn't possess such supernatural power.

Li Yi chuckled.

He offered to brew tea for everyone.

Du Ruhui had long known of Li Yi's Five Thunder Orthodox Technique, and although he had never witnessed its power firsthand, he estimated it to be indeed very formidable.

"Wu Yi's trip to Luoyang to clear the way made our journey much easier; everything along the way was arranged perfectly."

Luoyang, in particular, was well-prepared long ago. Upon our arrival, not only was the imperial palace ready.

The officials and soldiers were also provided with housing and barracks, and supplies of food, meat, and vegetables were plentiful.

Fang Xuanling said, "Nearly 100,000 people have suddenly flooded into Luoyang, yet supplies are still plentiful, and prices throughout Luoyang haven't risen much."

This is truly remarkable.

Wen Yanbo said, "As soon as Minister Li arrived in Luoyang, he beheaded thirty-six guild leaders. Which merchant would dare to raise prices now?"

I think it's wrong for merchants to take advantage of the situation to raise prices arbitrarily, but it's not something that warrants being beheaded.

Li Situ could have reprimanded them first and then ordered rectification. They should have been given a chance to correct their mistakes, rather than having their heads chopped off directly.

Moreover, price fluctuations are all based on market supply and demand...

Li Yi chuckled and did not refute Wen Yanbo's appointment as Inspector of the Secretariat.

Du Ruhui spoke up for Li Yi, saying, "Time is tight and the mission is urgent. Wu Yi's swift and decisive action is a military tactic, and it is just right for this situation. Without that thunderous power, how could we quickly deter those cunning merchants?"

"Have some tea, have some tea," Li Yi said, serving tea to everyone.

(End of this chapter)