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

Chapter 167 Tell Li Wu to Keep an Eye on Him (Part )

In the Liangyi Hall, the emperor, dressed in a scarlet and yellow dragon robe, sat high on the imperial couch, while Li Chengqian knelt at the foot of the steps.

Zhangsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Gao Shilian, Yang Shidao, Liu Li, Cen Wenben, Li Daozon, Hou Junji, Tang Jian, Liu Dewei, Zhang Liang, Wei Ting, Lu Chengqing, Wei Cong and others knelt on both sides of the hall.

Sun Fujia, the Grand Court Judge, stood in the hall and saluted, saying, "Your Majesty, Junior Court Judge Hu Yan has reported that the Prince of Qi indeed has thirteen unregistered guards around him. Chief among them is Yan Hongxin, the brother-in-law of Yin Hongzhi, the Grand Court Judge of Qi. Yan Hongliang and others frequently accompany the Prince of Qi on hunting trips, causing him to neglect state affairs and provoking conflict."

Li Shimin looked at Sun Fujia calmly and asked, "What about the impeachment by the Prince of Qi's Chief Clerk Quan Wanji?"

"Your Majesty," Sun Fujia continued, bowing. "Quan Wanji submitted this impeachment memorial because the Prince of Qi and Yan Hongxin and the others were frequently involved in illicit activities. Furthermore, they frequently clashed with Zan Junmo and Liang Mengbiao, two of the Thirteen. Out of anger, he submitted this impeachment memorial."

"Zan Junmo, Liang Mengbiao, Yan Hongxin, Yan Hongliang, these people, just hearing their names, are extraordinary." Li Shimin stroked his beard, looked at Li Chengqian, and asked with a smile: "Prince, what do you think?"

"Since you are a brave warrior, you should naturally serve the country. Liaodong is in turmoil. Father, how about being transferred to Liaodong?" Li Chengqian bowed.

The ministers in the hall couldn't help but glance at the prince.

What a good idea.

These people often did illegal things around the King of Qi, and they must have known a lot about the King of Qi. Since this was the case, they were transferred far away. It happened that the emperor had already begun preparations for the Battle of Liaodong, so they were transferred to the Liaodong army to prepare for the conquest of Goguryeo next year.

"That's right." Li Shimin nodded in satisfaction and said, "So be it... But if that's the case, then these people are not considered death warriors, so Quan Wanji is wrong to impeach the King of Qi for keeping death warriors. Of course, although those people are not death warriors, they are not on the list of the King of Qi's guards, and they instigated and led the King of Qi to commit rebellion, so Quan Wanji's impeachment is not wrong."

"Your Majesty is wise." All the ministers bowed in unison.

"However, the problem with Qizhou doesn't lie with these people, but with the King of Qi." Li Shimin looked up, helplessly looking at his ministers and said, "I appointed him as the governor of Qizhou, not to let him hand Qizhou over to Yin Hongzhi while he slacked off and made trouble. What should we do, ministers?"

The ministers couldn't help but frown slightly. What? Does the emperor want to transfer the King of Qi away from Qizhou?
Seeing that the ministers were silent, Li Shimin turned to look at Li Chengqian and said, "Prince, you tell me, what should we do?"

Li Chengqian took a deep breath.

How come I'm used to asking this?

"Your Majesty!" Li Chengqian bowed and raised his head, saying, "Your Majesty, I believe that the Prince of Qi is still young, so education should be prioritized. As for the Qizhou issue, I believe that while the problem lies with the Prince of Qi, the key lies with the Qizhou Governor, Yin Hongzhi. With uncle and nephew serving in the same state, the Prince of Qi will become lazy without pressure. Therefore, I suggest that Yin Hongzhi be transferred from Qizhou to another state as a governor."

Isn't it because Yin Hongzhi, the chief officer of Qizhou, has a backup for Li You that he can act recklessly in Qizhou?
Moreover, all the people around Li You were recommended to him by Yin Hongzhi.

Two of them, Yan Hongxin and Yan Hongliang, are Yin Hongzhi's brother-in-law.

He has a lot of responsibility here.

It makes sense to transfer him away from Qizhou.

Li Shimin nodded, looked at Li Chengqian and asked, "Yin Hongzhi has been transferred from Qizhou. Who do you think is suitable to be transferred to the post of Chief Secretary of Qizhou?"

"Ah?" Li Chengqian was stunned for a moment. Did he have to be asked about such things?
A figure flashed through Li Chengqian's mind, and he immediately bowed and said, "I think the Secretary of the Central Secretariat, Ma Zhou, is suitable."

The emperor raised his eyes slightly, also in surprise.

Ma Zhou had only been serving as the Crown Prince's Left Praise Consort for a few days, but he had already gained the Crown Prince's trust?
No, Li Shimin came to his senses and realized that Ma Zhou was indeed a very suitable candidate.

But unfortunately, he already has somewhere else to go.

Li Shimin turned to look at Fang Xuanling and asked, "Prime Minister Fang, who do you think is suitable to be transferred to Qizhou?"

Fang Xuanling glanced at the emperor, then bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I believe that Yin Hongzhi, the Chief Clerk of Qizhou, has performed his duties fairly well and has not caused any major problems. I think it would be best if he were not transferred."

Li Chengqian looked at Fang Xuanling in surprise.

What does this old guy mean?

Suddenly, Li Chengqian understood.

Fang Xuanling was the person who knew the emperor best. If the emperor really wanted to transfer Yin Hongzhi from Qizhou and replace him with someone else, he would definitely recommend the most suitable candidate immediately. Now that he said this, it meant that the emperor actually had no intention of transferring Yin Hongzhi.

Harem, Concubine Yin.

Pillow talk!

It was not appropriate for Li You to be the governor of Qizhou at such a young age, so he appointed Yin Hongzhi as the chief officer of Qizhou to assist him in handling government affairs.

To be more precise, Yin Hongzhi was transferred from the Chief Censor to the Chief Clerk of Qizhou in order to allow him to govern the local area.

King of Qi is just a title.

Li Shimin nodded, then turned to the side and asked, "Wei Qing, what do you think?"

Imperial Censor Wei Ting stood up and saluted, saying, "Your Majesty, I believe it would be best if Qizhou Chief Clerk Yin Hongzhi were transferred from Qizhou. Then, Qi Wang Chief Clerk Quan Wanji would be transferred to Qizhou Chief Clerk. As for Qi Wang Chief Clerk, I think it would be better if Songzhou Chief Clerk Fang Yiai were transferred to Qizhou Chief Clerk."

The ministers couldn't help but look at Fang Xuanling, and Fang Xuanling also looked at Wei Ting with some surprise.

Wei Ting is Li You's father-in-law. He does not agree with Yin Hongzhi staying in Qizhou. In other words, there is also a conflict between him and Yin Hongzhi.

As for the transfer of Fang Yiai to be the Chief Secretary of the King of Qi, this actually has the meaning of binding Fang Xuanling and Li You together to some extent.

The emperor smiled amusedly, turned to look at Li Chengqian, and asked, "Prince, you tell me?"

Li Chengqian's expression turned bitter. He cupped his hands and said, "Father, I still think it's best to transfer Yin Hongzhi out of Qizhou. I recommended Ma Zhou, the Secretary of the Central Secretariat, to be transferred to Qizhou because he can govern Qizhou properly. I have no selfish motives... In addition, I think the Shangshu Zuocheng, the Yushi Zhongcheng, and others are also suitable for transfer to Qizhou. Even Hu Yan, the Junior Secretary of the Dali Temple, can be transferred to Qizhou as the Chief Clerk."

Lu Chengqing, the left chancellor, and Tang Lin, the chief censor.

Li Shimin glanced at the two of them, then looked at the ministers and said, "Tell me, my lords, what do you think?" The ministers in the court hesitated for a moment, but still spoke.

Some people agreed to let Yin Hongzhi stay, while others thought it would be better to transfer Yin Hongzhi away. Many people recommended their own candidates.

Li Shimin looked at his ministers and sighed in his heart.

Another reason why many ministers disagreed with Yin Hongzhi's continued tenure was that although Yin Hongzhi served as the Chief Secretary of Qi, his performance in recent years was only average and not outstanding.

According to the standards of the Ministry of Personnel's Department of Examination and Reward, after Yin Hongzhi's term in Qizhou expires, it would be best to transfer him to other prefectures and counties to gain more experience.

Qizhou is, after all, a little too big for Yin Hongzhi.

The emperor looked up and was about to speak when, at this moment, a burst of hurried footsteps came from outside the palace. Then, the attendant Lai Ji stood at the palace door and bowed earnestly, saying, "Your Majesty, the Chief Secretary of the Prince of Qi, Quan Wanji, has brought a letter from the Prince of Qi and is requesting an audience at Chengtian Gate."

"Hmm?" Li Shimin frowned, looked at Zhangsun Wuji below, and asked, "Did I issue an imperial decree to summon him to the capital?"

"No!" Changsun Wuji shook his head solemnly and said, "Perhaps he has something urgent to do."

Li Shimin nodded, looked at Lai Ji and said, "Announce!"

"King Xuanqi's Chief Secretary Quan Wanji is here to see you!"

……

"Your Majesty, I, the Chief Secretary of King Qi, Quan Wanji, kowtow to you." Quan Wanji entered the Liangyi Hall and kowtowed heavily to the ground.

Li Shimin frowned, looked at Quan Wanji and asked, "Why did you rush to Chang'an, Lord Quan? What happened in Qizhou?"

"Your Majesty, I have here a copy of the King of Qi's apology. Please review it." Quan Wanji pulled the copy from his sleeve and held it up, saying, "In this case, the King of Qi has recognized his mistakes and is willing to restrain himself and sincerely repent. Therefore, I invite you to come to the court to apologize. I beg Your Majesty to forgive me!"

The memorial was taken by Zhang Ananda and presented to the emperor.

Li Chengqian watched from the side, frowning slightly.

Quan Wanji came to the court this time to tell the emperor that he could persuade the King of Qi, and thus asked the emperor to reduce the punishment on the King of Qi.

King Qi, be Yin Hongzhi.

Li Chengqian sneered in his heart, thinking that Quan Wanji might have reached some tacit understanding with Yin Hongzhi.

You take care of the inside, and I'll take care of the outside.

Or somewhere else, they work together.

Li Chengqian suddenly looked up, glanced at the emperor, and then immediately lowered his head.

He was keenly aware of a problem: the emperor had little desire to mobilize Yin Hongzhi.

The root of this is undoubtedly Concubine Yin.

With her younger brother looking after her son, Yin Fei was naturally relieved. If it was someone else, Yin Fei would definitely be worried.

Yin Hongzhi has Concubine Yin as his backing, so he is naturally fearless, but Quan Wanji is also a trouble. Moreover, many people in the court, especially Li Chengqian, have proposed to transfer Yin Hongzhi away and then transfer someone else to assist Li You and at the same time check and balance Quan Wanji.

For Quan Wanji, it would be more cost-effective to replace him with a difficult opponent than to find a compromise with Yin Hongzhi.

Not to mention, there is Yin Fei behind the other party.

If Ma Zhou, Lu Chengqing and others were transferred over as Li Chengqian suggested, Quan Wanji would definitely not be able to defeat them.

In this case, it is better to compromise with Yin Hongzhi.

Of course, the prerequisite is that Li You has to admit defeat.

and so……

……

The emperor closed the memorial in his hand, nodded calmly, and said, "Since the Prince of Qi has sincerely repented, then there is no need to make any other arrangements. I hereby order that Yan Hongxin, Yan Hongliang, Zan Junmo, Liang Mengbiao, and thirteen others be transferred to serve in the front of the Yingzhou army. Qi's Chief Clerk Yin Hongzhi will be fined six months' salary, and the Prince of Qi will be confined to his home for six months."

Quan Wanji knelt on the ground, his expression changing slightly.

As for the King of Qi, he said that all punishments would be exempted...

"I transfer Wei Wenzhen, a captain of the Jinwu Guard, to command the army at the Prince of Qi's palace." Li Shimin raised his head, his eyes gently passing over Wei Ting, then looking at Quan Wanji, and said with a smile, "Your Excellency Quan has done everything right. I am even satisfied. I hereby decree that you grant me fifty taels of gold."

"I thank Your Majesty for your grace!" Quan Wanji kowtowed heavily to the ground.

……

After the court officials dispersed, Li Shimin sat on the imperial couch in the Liangyi Hall.

He turned sideways, looked at Zhang Ananda, and said, "Tell Li Wu to keep a close eye on Quan Wanji's every move in Chang'an. I want to know who he belongs to."

"Here!"

(End of this chapter)