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

Chapter 135: The Tacit Understanding between the Crown Prince and the Emperor (Part )
On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, the weather was extremely cold.

At six o'clock in the morning, it was still dark.

The prince came out of the East Palace on a sedan chair, escorted by more than ten thousand oxen on both sides.

Li Chengqian sat on the sedan chair with his eyes slightly lowered.

Li Anyan walked over and whispered a few words in his ear, and Li Chengqian nodded slightly.

Soon, a group of people arrived at Chengtian Sect.

At this moment, all officials arrived at Chengtian Gate at the same time.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince is here to pay his respects to you." Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Gao Shilian, Wei Zheng and others bowed to Li Chengqian at the same time.

"Gentlemen, please stand." Li Chengqian nodded slightly in return, then looked at Wei Zheng, whose face was still a little pale, with concern: "Why did Prime Minister Wei come here today? Are you feeling well?"

"I am well. Thank you for your concern, Your Highness." Wei Zheng bowed and said, "Today is the last court meeting of the 15th year of the Zhenguan reign. I should come no matter what."

"So that's how it is." Li Chengqian nodded, but his eyes involuntarily looked towards Su Liangsi behind the ministers.

Today, the most important issue is the corruption case of Guangzhou Governor Dang Renhong.

Su Liangsi was sent to Guangzhou by Li Chengqian to investigate a case. The outcome of this case will greatly determine Su Liangsi's future prospects.

He has been the Censor for several years. Whether he will make further progress or continue to waste time depends on today.

Li Yifu is in the same situation. He avoided the credit last year, but he wants to seize the credit this year.

Only when Su Liangsi and Li Yifu take further steps at the same time can they best consolidate the power of Li Chengqian's side.

……

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. May your Majesty live forever."

In the solemn Liangyi Hall, all the ministers bowed their hands and stood solemnly holding their tablets.

Li Shimin, dressed in a scarlet and yellow dragon robe, sat on the imperial couch. He looked at his ministers and nodded calmly, saying, "All of you, please stand."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." The ministers then stood up and stood in the hall.

Li Shimin turned his head and looked at Li Chengqian who was standing beside him. He was wearing a light yellow dragon robe, holding a jade sceptre, and had a solemn expression.

A flicker of hesitation flashed in his eyes. The emperor turned to his ministers and said, "My Lords, today is the final court meeting of the fifteenth year of the Zhenguan reign. All matters have been dealt with before now, except for one matter: the corruption case of Guangzhou Governor Dang Renhong... Lord Su, please tell us about the case."

"Yes!" Su Liangsi stepped out from behind the courtiers, holding a memorial to the emperor. "Your Majesty, in April I was ordered to travel south to Guangzhou to investigate the Guangzhou Governor's corruption case. Upon arriving in Guangzhou in early June, I encountered a murder attempt by the Governor's men to silence a witness. I immediately ordered the Qianniu Guards to capture the man. Since then, we've been able to follow the clues and have finally uncovered the truth."

"Be more specific." Li Shimin waved his hand.

Su Liangsi bowed earnestly and said, "According to investigations, Guangzhou Governor Dang Renhong, after taking office, indulged in pleasure, bought and sold official positions, exploited the people, and committed arson, murder, and looting. All of this has been verified. Among them, his corruption is that over the past few years, he has embezzled 1.2 million strings of cash while in office in Guangzhou. He transported over 400,000 strings of cash back to Tongzhou, and over 700,000 strings of cash were deposited in the Guangzhou Governor's Office."

Su Liangsi raised his head slightly and said solemnly, "The stolen goods have been sent to the Ministry of Revenue for verification. Your Majesty, please review them."

The eunuch Zhang Ananda immediately stepped down from the throne, took the memorial, and quickly placed it in front of the emperor.

Although Li Shimin had already read it once, he opened it again and read it carefully.

……

On the third step above the Danbi, Li Chengqian held his tablet and bowed.

The sound of the emperor flipping through the memorials was in his ears, and in front of him was the white glaze and gilded tablet. Li Chengqian, with his head lowered, was thinking about the case.

There is no doubt that Dang Renhong embezzled millions, bought and sold official positions, exploited the people, and burned, killed, and looted. However, many people have overlooked the details.

The embezzled money was 1.2 million strings of cash, of which more than 400,000 strings were shipped back to Tongzhou and more than 700,000 strings were kept in the Guangzhou Military Governor's Office. All the stolen goods have been sent to the Ministry of Revenue for verification.

The 1.2 million strings of cash remained untouched.

really interesting.

But the bigger question is why more than 400,000 were transported back to Tongzhou, while the rest remained in the Guangzhou Military Governor's Office.

Is it too late to transport it, or do we not dare to transport it.

Li Chengqian's eyes immediately became serious. No matter what mystery was behind this case, the most important thing at the moment was that Dang Renhong had embezzled millions.

This is the case with the largest amount of corruption that has been verified since the founding of the Tang Dynasty.

Countless people inside and outside the court were watching, and everyone in the Censorate was sharpening their knives to send Dang Renhong to the guillotine.

To serve as a warning to others.

The Ministry of Justice, the Dali Temple, and the Ministry of Palace Affairs, everyone is ready to provide full assistance at the critical moment.

Even the seriously ill Wei Zheng rushed over.

When Emperor Gaozu Li Yuan rebelled against the Sui Dynasty, Dang Renhong personally led more than 2,000 people to surrender to the Tang Dynasty. Later, the emperor launched an eastern expedition against Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande, and Dang Renhong did his utmost to support them with food and grass. Later, he was also one of the participants in the Xuanwu Gate Incident. He can be said to be a founding hero of the Qin Palace.

Since the Zhenguan period, he has served as the governor of Nanning, Rong and Guangzhou for fifteen years. He is a man of great talent and has made great achievements and gained reputation wherever he goes.

The emperor valued him very much.

However, such a person gradually became greedy during his many years in office, and even his greed exploded, causing him to embezzle a huge amount of millions of strings of cash in one go. This was the first time such a thing had happened in the many years since the founding of the Tang Dynasty.

However, under the watchful eyes of his ministers, the emperor wanted to save Dang Renhong.

In the previous life, the emperor forced his ministers to compromise by offering three days of sacrifice to apologize to Haotian.

Of course, in the end, the emperor only changed Dang Renhong's crime to dismissal from office, demotion to a commoner, and exile to Qinzhou on the grounds of issuing a self-criticism edict.

Many people said that the emperor was caring about his old ministers, while others said that the emperor was trying to win over the hearts of the old ministers of the Qin Palace by letting Dang Renhong go. Li Chengqian also believed this in his previous life, but after being reborn, he had a different view on the matter.

He was the emperor, the Heavenly Khan Li Shimin, the Emperor Taizong respected by everyone in the world. He did not need to use such means to win over the hearts of the people.

So there must be something mysterious here.

Li Chengqian has now gradually figured it out.

……

The emperor closed the memorial, then looked at the Imperial Censor Wei Ting and asked, "What does the Imperial Censorate say?"

"Your Majesty," Wei Ting said, standing up with his hut in hand. "Dang Renhong's corruption is unprecedented in the world. He is also guilty of buying and selling official positions and exploiting Guangzhou. Therefore, I request that he be beheaded."

Li Shimin paused for a moment, then sighed deeply and asked, "What does the Dali Temple say?"

Sun Fujia, the Minister of Justice, stepped forward with his hands clasped, and then respectfully said, "Your Majesty, according to the law, he should be beheaded."

The emperor knocked lightly on the table, then looked aside and asked, "What does the Ministry of Personnel say?"

Liu Li, the Imperial Court Minister, stepped forward with his hands clasped in a bow and said earnestly, "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Personnel requests that he be executed as a warning to the world!"

The emperor looked at the Minister of the Central Secretariat, Yang Shidao. Just as Yang Shidao was about to speak, the emperor suddenly looked at Li Chengqian and asked, "Prince, what do you say?"

Yang Shidao was slightly stunned, and the half foot he stretched out was retracted.

Li Chengqian stood on the third step of the Danbi and hurriedly bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, the Dali Temple, the Censorate, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Personnel are unanimous in their opinion. Dang Renhong's crime is punishable by death according to the law. This is beyond doubt. However, Dang Renhong has made many contributions over the years, and the law also stipulates that meritorious service should be discussed. Therefore, I believe that his sentence should be reduced to hanging."

Beheading, with one knife, the body is separated.

Even if you are hanged and your body is left intact, you will still die.

There were one or two commotions among the ministers, and then everyone fell silent.

Dang Renhong is an old minister of the Prince of Qin's Palace and has made many contributions. Even if the prince does not say anything about his merits, someone else will.

Now it is just from beheading to hanging, which all officials can accept.

Moreover, the prince only proposed to discuss merits, and the emperor could have completely refused to accept it, but...

"Your Highness is right." Li Shimin nodded gently, then looked at the ministers and said, "Dang Renhong has served the country for many years. Now that all the embezzled money has been recovered, please consider whether you can reduce his rank to a lower level and dismiss him from office."

"Your Majesty, he should be executed." Yang Shidao stood up and bowed seriously.

"Hang him." Gao Shilian stood up and agreed with Li Chengqian's opinion.

Li Shimin couldn't help but frown and looked at Fang Xuanling and Changsun Wuji.

Fang Xuanling stood up and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, you must be hanged."

The emperor looked at Zhangsun Wuji, who frowned and said, "Your Majesty, according to the law, he should be beheaded, and according to the law, he can also be hanged."

Changsun Wuji knew what the emperor was thinking, but it was difficult to ease the situation openly.

"Come, call Dang Renhong." The emperor raised his head and looked outside the hall. Two strong guards in red clothes and golden armor had already strode down the golden steps.

……

Dang Renhong, with his footsteps untidy and his hair graying, looked significantly older. He was escorted into the palace by two guards. Without even looking up, he kowtowed solemnly and said, "Your humble servant, Dang Renhong, pays homage to Your Majesty."

"You disappoint me." The emperor looked at Dang Renhong with a complicated expression.

"I am guilty." Dang Renhong kowtowed to the ground with a face full of shame.

"Why is this happening?" Li Shimin looked at Dang Renhong, gritted his teeth, and said sadly, "Since Taiyuan, countless people have died on the battlefield. It's because of the tyranny of the former Sui Dynasty that the people suffered. Now we need to reform the world. Look at what you are doing now. How is it different from the tyranny of the Sui Dynasty back then?"

"Your Majesty!" Dang Renhong knelt on the ground and suddenly cried out in pain, "Your Majesty, I came from a humble family. Although I am now the governor of Guangzhou, my annual salary is not as much as that of a merchant family in Guangzhou. That is why I am so greedy.

I am guilty, Your Majesty, and I ask you to punish me according to the law."

Li Shimin clenched his fists tightly, his face filled with anger. After a long moment, he spoke with difficulty, "I wanted to spare your life because of your contributions back then, but you've taken far too much. One million strings of cash, far too much. Even if I gave you all your contributions, you still wouldn't be able to escape being strangled."

"I plead guilty!" Dang Renhong slammed his head against the ground, saying in pain, "I have failed Your Majesty's expectations. I have committed corruption and neglect of duty. Your Majesty, please sentence me to death!"

The emperor sat on the imperial couch, his face pale.

"Father!" Li Chengqian bowed and said to the emperor on the imperial couch, "Dang Renhong is guilty and should be executed or hanged, but the other sentences should be decided after the new year. It would be unlucky to sentence him to death at the end of the year."

Li Shimin turned around with a somewhat numb expression and looked at Li Chengqian: "What did the prince say?"

"It's the end of the year now, and sentencing him to death is unlucky." Li Chengqian bowed again solemnly.

The emperor shook his head slightly, completely sobering up. "The Crown Prince is wrong. Even at the end of the year, those who deserve the death penalty must still be sentenced to death. I hereby order that the Guangzhou Governor, Dang Renhong, be beheaded for corruption, abuse of power, buying and selling official positions, exploiting the people, and arson, murder, and looting. However, due to meritorious service, his sentence can be reduced to hanging. The rest of the people will be sentenced by the Dali Temple according to the law."

After a brief pause, Li Shimin turned to look at Yang Shidao and said, "The Secretariat will immediately draft a report and send it to all prefectures, counties, and districts across the country to warn officials that if anyone commits corruption or abuses their power again, they will be dealt with according to the law."

"We obey your order." All the ministers in the hall bowed.

They could hear that the emperor still did not want to punish Dang Renhong, but the prince's words made the emperor change his mind.

But Dang Renhong was severely punished in the end.

However, not many people noticed that Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling breathed a sigh of relief, but Wei Zheng, who was standing beside them, couldn't help but frowned.

"The Crown Prince, the Duke of Zhao, the Duke of Liang, and the Duke of Zheng remain. The rest of you may withdraw."

"I will take your orders."

(End of this chapter)