Li Chengqian of the Tang Dynasty: Please say long live His Majesty

Chapter 113: Rebellion, What a Fascinating Word (Part )

Luoyang, Ziwei Palace, Qianyang Hall.

Li Shimin handed the memorial to Zhangsun Wuji with a cold face, and said angrily, "Gwangzhou Governor, what a great Governor! The Yifeng Qi family, it turns out they are the ones who are causing trouble. I hereby issue an order to immediately dismiss the Governor of Guangzhou from all his posts and hand him over to the officials for strict investigation."

"Your Majesty, calm down." Changsun Wuji read the memorial and finally shook his head. "The Crown Prince's approach is correct. Playing the long game is the key to catching a big fish. Although Qi Yu is the Governor of Guangzhou, he's just a pawn pushed to the forefront by others. Your Majesty has moved on him, and the others have only hidden themselves deeper. Now that we're still a long way from the expedition, we have time to catch them all in one fell swoop."

Li Shimin took a deep breath and gradually calmed down. He then looked at Zhangsun Wuji and said, "You are right, Wuji, and Cheng Qian is also right. Hebei and Qilu can be put aside for now, but those people in Chang'an and the palace must be found."

Li Chengqian was afraid of the relationships between those people in the palace, but Li Shimin was not.

What's more, there are people in the palace who are in contact with the outside world. Li Shimin has now realized the danger he is in.

If those people were desperate enough to persuade one or two people to poison him, he might not be able to escape.

Before the Xuanwu Gate Incident, he was poisoned by Li Yuanji more than once.

"I will investigate this matter together with the eunuch." Changsun Wuji glanced at Zhang Ananda, who immediately bowed.

Zhangsun Wuji then turned to the emperor and said, "As for Qi Yu, the Ministry of Personnel will conduct a strict examination this year and assign him a low rank. He will then be sent to a mountainous and desolate place in Minyue, where he will die quietly of illness. Your Majesty, these matters should not be made public."

Within the Tang Dynasty, someone plotted to rebel against the emperor.

Things like this should be dealt with quietly if possible.

Even if it is impossible to deal with it quietly, it is better to use other charges. If this matter becomes a big deal, it will damage the emperor's reputation.

"Conquer Goguryeo!" Li Shimin nodded slightly and said, "Go ahead and do it. Investigate everything that needs to be investigated first."

"Yes!" Zhangsun Wuji bowed, then said carefully: "Your Majesty, should he be allowed to participate in the Crown Prince's affairs as well? I think it would be good for him to participate more."

Li Shimin was slightly stunned, then nodded in understanding and said, "Okay, let's do it."

……

Chang'an, Taiji Palace, Zhaode Hall.

Li Chengqian sat behind the desk, calmly handling official documents, but his thoughts couldn't help but run to Luoyang.

Li Tai.

Lu Hu was plotting secretly. Although Fang Xuanling was in charge, the person behind it must be Li Tai.

Even Lu Hu himself understood that what he really wanted was to help Li Tai become the crown prince and then ascend the throne.

If Qi Zhixuan is related to Lu Hu, then he must also be related to Fang Xuanling and Li Tai.

We just need to continue investigating silently, and one day we will find Fang Xuanling and Li Tai.

Li Chengqian never dared to underestimate the capabilities of the Hundred Cavalry Division.

Of course, if they encountered obstacles during their investigation, that would be better because it would draw more of the emperor's attention.

Even in the future, if Qi Zhixuan and others want to make a complete comeback, the best way is to force Li Tai to rebel.

Only when Li Tai, whose interests were related to theirs, ascended the throne and became emperor, could they be completely exonerated and survive in the Tang Dynasty.

Li Tai is plotting a rebellion.

Thinking of this, Li Chengqian laughed inexplicably.

Rebellion, what a fascinating word.

Li Tai's rebellion was the scene that Li Chengqian wanted to see the most.

In particular, if Li Tai rebelled during the emperor's eastern expedition to Goguryeo, Li Chengqian could deal with him with the most severe means.

As for the rest...

A steady sound of footsteps appeared outside the hall, interrupting Li Chengqian's thoughts.

Li Chengqian looked up and saw Dai Zhide appear outside the hall.

"Come in, Dai Qing." Li Chengqian raised his head slightly.

Dai Zhide entered the hall carrying a stack of documents and bowed slightly to Li Chengqian, saying, "Your Highness."

"Please sit down." Li Chengqian nodded.

Only then did Dai Zhide sit down in front of Li Chengqian.

"Your Highness," Dai Zhide placed the documents one by one in front of Li Chengqian, and said seriously, "These are the criminal cases that the Dali Temple has recently reviewed. If Your Highness has any questions, you can ask me directly."

"Yes!" Li Chengqian nodded solemnly.

The criminal cases of the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple were what Li Chengqian paid most attention to, besides the tax files of the Ministry of Revenue.

Through these things, Li Chengqian was able to gain an in-depth understanding of how many talents there were in the Tang Dynasty's criminal investigation system.

You know, Di Renjie, Zhang Wenguan, and Dai Zhide are all outstanding among them.

These people are capable of judging cases and governing the country, and they are not ordinary people.

If he could recruit more people like him, then as long as he didn't make any mistakes, no one would be able to shake Li Chengqian's position. ...

"Huh?" Li Chengqian frowned slightly. He looked up at Dai Zhide and asked, "Dai Qing, I've read so many copies. Why is it that most of the criminals here were eventually exiled to Gaochang?"

"Your Highness," Dai Zhide bowed slightly, then said, "At the beginning of the year, Your Majesty and Prime Minister Fang discussed and decided that within the next few years, all criminals who can be punished with exile will be exiled and sent to Gaochang in the Western Regions to serve."

The service here does not mean that these criminals will be recruited as soldiers in Gaochang, but that they will be forced to do hard labor.

The current situation in the Western Regions is not stable. The Western Turks are constantly eyeing Gaochang, trying to take Gaochang away from the Tang Dynasty and completely cut off the Silk Road.

Therefore, there are a large number of soldiers stationed at the top level today, and at the same time, there are also quite a number of auxiliary troops.

However, compared with the regular soldiers, the treatment of auxiliary soldiers is much worse.

This resulted in very few auxiliary soldiers willing to go to Gaochang and cross two thousand miles of desert to do labor.

Some people were even willing to pay bribes to avoid going to Gaochang.

This is very troublesome.

So in the end, after discussion, the emperor and the prime ministers decided to send all the criminals who had reached a certain level of punishment in recent years to Gaochang in the Western Regions for exile.

"This is a temporary solution," Li Chengqian said, looking at Dai Zhide. "Using criminals to fill the border may solve the problem temporarily, but what will happen in the future? The border residents of Gaochang can't just rely on being filled with criminals year after year."

"Your Highness!" Dai Zhide looked at Li Chengqian and asked, "Does Your Highness have any ideas?"

"Do you remember the land grant in Gaochang that I proposed last year?" Li Chengqian smiled and said, "It was the idea that Father criticized as unrealistic."

"Your Highness, do you want to grant land to the criminals exiled to Gaochang?" Dai Zhide couldn't help but frowned.

"I'm not that stupid." Li Chengqian waved his hand and said, "I want to give each newly born child in Gaochang a hundred acres of land."

"Children, naturally, can't farm, so their parents are needed to do it." Dai Zhide looked up and said, "But if you do that, it's easy for someone to just use the children and then defraud the land."

"Won't Gaochang investigate? My father's background, my mother's background. Since I'm a citizen of the Great Tang, I'll investigate everything thoroughly. And..." After a brief pause, Li Chengqian said, "I remember there were quite a few survivors of the Sui Dynasty in the Western Regions. I don't know the exact number, but it should be quite a lot. During the reign of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, the population of the Sui Dynasty was nearly 60 million. Later, many people drifted to the Western Regions."

"I understand your Highness's intention. Your Highness wants to use the offer of land to lure these survivors back to you."

"That's right, but we also have to be careful in identifying them. There are bound to be people with ulterior motives among them." Li Chengqian added.

"It's feasible." Dai Zhide nodded seriously.

"Well, you can draft a memorial for me now and send it to Luoyang for my father to make the decision." Li Chengqian breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yes!" Dai Zhide immediately bowed, then went to the desk and wrote a memorial.

At this moment, a burst of hurried footsteps sounded outside the palace. Li Chengqian looked up in surprise and saw Yu Zhining, Zhang Xuansu, Li Anyan, Changsun Xiang, Dugu Dabao, Linghu Defen, Xiao Jun, Pei Xuanji, Zhang Daxiang, Zhao Hongzhi and other officials of the Eastern Palace coming together.

"Greetings to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!" All the ministers in the Eastern Palace bowed in greeting.

"Is there something wrong?" Li Chengqian looked serious.

Yu Zhining stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Your Highness, I, as a minister, mourn my mother for one year."

Li Chengqian was stunned. How could he have forgotten about this? Yu Zhining's mother passed away this year, but in his previous life, he was reinstated after observing mourning for forty-nine days.

"Chief Secretary?" Li Chengqian nodded slowly with a solemn expression, saying, "Chief Secretary, please accept my condolences. I... I really can't bear to leave you."

"Your Highness, can you please ask His Majesty to issue an order to take away the love?" Li Anyan hurriedly bowed on the side.

Yu Zhining holds a very important position in the Eastern Palace, even above Li Anyan. Especially in the past year, Li Chengqian has listened to him very much. Now that he is leaving for a year, the impact on the Eastern Palace will be huge.

"No need." Yu Zhining waved his hand, then looked at Li Chengqian and said seriously, "When my mother passed away, I was not by her side. This was already my fault. Now if I can't even observe mourning, it would be even more unfilial."

Yu Zhining shut everyone up with just one word: "unfilial".

"As for Your Highness," Yu Zhining shook his head slightly and said, "Now in Chang'an, Prime Minister Wei treats Your Highness with great respect. If I leave, Prime Minister Wei may try to persuade Your Highness more. If Your Highness has any questions, you can also consult Prime Minister Wei."

Taking advantage of the time he was away, Yu Zhining hoped that Li Chengqian could deepen his relationship with Wei Zheng.

"Okay!" Li Chengqian sighed and said, "I really want the Chief Secretary to stay by my side, but filial piety to one's parents is the fundamental principle of human ethics. What we do today may have consequences in the future, so we should proceed according to the rules."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Yu Zhining smiled, then turned to look at Zhang Xuansu and said, "Your Highness is now wise and virtuous. It is sufficient for the Junior Secretary to oversee the affairs of the Eastern Palace, both internally and externally. The others will just need to assist. I have already explained everything else. Your Highness has agreed, and I have also submitted a memorial to His Majesty. Now I will return to my hometown in Gaoling to observe mourning."

After a brief pause, Yu Zhining smiled and said, "It's only fifty miles away. If Your Highness needs anything, you can write directly and I will return the same day."

"Yes, it's Gaoling County, only fifty miles away." Li Chengqian finally breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It's so isolated..."

"Your Highness, there is no need to go." Yu Zhining shook his head and looked at Li Anyan and said, "After seven days, it will be enough to have the housekeeper go on Your Highness' behalf."

After saying this, Yu Zhining bowed solemnly and said, "Your Highness, take care. I am leaving now!"

……

In front of Chengtian Gate, Li Chengqian looked at Yu Zhining's leaving back, sighed deeply, and lowered his head slightly.

At this moment, a horse rushed in directly from the Suzaku Gate: "Your Majesty has an order!"

(End of this chapter)