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

Chapter 385: Forcing the Emperor to Issue a Self-Criticism Edict (Part )
"I request that the King of Jin be executed to serve as a warning to the world." Sun Fujia's voice was solemn and passionate, echoing throughout the hall.

All the ministers in the hall looked at him in astonishment.

The emperor's intention to be lenient with Prince Jin was obvious.

Why do you, Sun Fujia, insist on standing up and asking for the execution of King Jin?

Many people subconsciously looked at Li Chengqian.

Although Li Chengqian had just said that he would be lenient with Prince Jin, Sun Fujia stood up and asked for the execution of Prince Jin.

Could it be that Sun Fujia is the prince's man? After all, Wei Zheng saved Sun Fujia's life in the past.

Is beheading the Prince of Jin the prince's true intention?
Or is Sun Fujia trying to please the prince?
Wait, he is Sun Fujia.

Everyone calmed down.

Who is Sun Fujia? They have served as ministers with him in the same palace for more than 20 years, so how could they not know?

This person not only advised the emperor to go hunting less, but also accused the emperor of being unfilial in front of all the civil and military officials in the court.

That was when the ministers asked Emperor Gaozu to move to Da'an Palace, and all the ministers remained silent.

Only Sun Fujia stood up and accused the emperor of being unfilial.

Being bold is truly bold, and being selfless is truly selfless.

At that time, some people might have thought that he was imitating Wei Zheng to seek fame and reputation, but twenty years later, from Censor, Ministry of Justice, Dali Temple, Ministry of Revenue, to the current Chief Censor, he is still the same person.

In other words, what he said today had nothing to do with the prince.

This is what the Censorate meant, and it is also fair.

He was the Imperial Censor. There were some things that other officials were not comfortable saying, but as the Imperial Censor, his words were more in line with the court system.

The ministers raised their heads slightly and looked at the emperor with upward eyes.

Li Shimin sat calmly on the imperial couch. He glanced at Sun Fujia, then at Li Chengqian: "Prince, what do you think of what the Imperial Censor said?"

After the emperor said this, all the ministers subconsciously looked at Li Chengqian.

At this time, some sensitive court officials smelled something different.

The Imperial Censor Sun Fujia requested the execution of the Prince of Jin, so why did the Emperor ask the Crown Prince's opinion?

Did the emperor want the prince to say with his own mouth that the Prince of Jin could be beheaded?

Prince Jin is the Crown Prince's younger brother. Can the Crown Prince kill Prince Jin?
At this time, some people had already understood that the emperor wanted the prince to say in person that he would not kill Prince Jin.

A deep and mysterious aura suddenly emerged from the hearts of these people.

Many people couldn't help but shiver, as if they had touched something they shouldn't have touched.

……

Li Chengqian calmly bowed and said, "Your Majesty, what the Imperial Censor said makes sense."

The emperor frowned slightly.

Li Chengqian continued, "If he is not punished, then all the kings in the world will follow the example of the King of Jin. The result in the future will inevitably be unrest in the world and the people will suffer. This statement is correct, but there are some details here that need to be considered."

"Oh!" Li Shimin leaned forward slightly, raised his hand and said, "Go on."

"Yes!" Li Chengqian's expression grew solemn as he addressed the emperor, "From ancient times to the present, there have been countless cases of rebellion by various kings, and many of them have been severely punished. The kings are all well-versed in history books, so how could they not be aware of the tragic consequences? Even our Tang Dynasty..."

Even in our Tang Dynasty, the same is true. When it comes to rebellion and chaos, the emperor himself is the leader and example.

The winner sits on the imperial couch and enjoys the worship of thousands of people.

The loser falls into the abyss, dies, and his clan is wiped out, becoming the laughing stock of the world.

When Li Zhi and Li Tai rebelled, their real reliance was just on their status as legitimate sons. When other people rebelled, Li You was actually persecuted and died without knowing his true guilt.

"The Princes of Jin and Wei are plotting rebellion, relying solely on their own staff, their close relatives, and officials in the court and the provinces." Li Chengqian bowed earnestly and said, "Therefore, I suggest that the positions of the princes and their staff be adjusted to weaken their power and prevent any rebellion."

Li Shimin's expression turned serious: "What are you going to do?"

"First, the princes will not have tutors before they leave the palace at the age of thirteen." Li Chengqian bowed and said, "An inner study will be established, with scholars from the Hongwen Academy teaching there. Before leaving the palace at the age of thirteen, a unified examination will be conducted. Those with excellent scores will be awarded the upper grade, those with average scores will be awarded the middle grade, and those with low scores will not be awarded. They will leave the palace to study at the Imperial College. Those who fail the three-year examination will never be appointed to an official position, and there will be no chief secretary or secretary in the palace."

The meaning of Li Chengqian's words was very clear. The kings would not be given the opportunity to cultivate personal confidants before they were thirteen years old.

"When serving as officials outside the capital, the Zongzheng Temple will assess each prince's personal farming, planting, watering, and harvesting every year. Officials like the Chief Secretary and the Secretary of the Royal Palace will serve for two years." Li Chengqian bowed and said, "Local Chief Secretary and the Secretary of the Royal Palace are not included in this assessment. The assessment will be based on the Ministry of Personnel."

Alienate the relationship between the kings and their officials, weaken the power of the kings, and prevent them from plotting rebellion.

"Only in this way can we fundamentally curb the kings' rebellious plots." Li Chengqian bowed slightly, and the ministers in the hall couldn't help but look at him with a flickering look.

As the power of the kings weakens, the power of the court officials and local officials will increase.

Historically, the kings served as local governors, and the chief historians of the royal palaces had a great influence on the administration of the other party. Therefore, ordinary people, unless they had special circumstances, were unwilling to serve in the places where the kings were.

But if it is really like the prince, then those places are not bad.

The emperor sat on the imperial couch, looked at the expressions of his ministers, and began to think about these things.

The appointment of kings was actually a semi-feudal system, and the kings protected the imperial power, which was a way to stabilize the imperial power.

Qin Shihuang changed the feudal system to the county system. Although it was an overall improvement, it actually weakened the imperial power.

This is also the reason why Qin II died and the Qin royal family had little resistance.

Afterwards, the Han, Jin, Sui, Tang, Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Sixteen Kingdoms all learned from this lesson.

The fall of the Sui Dynasty is another matter. The Tang Dynasty was established for thirty years. At the beginning of its establishment, it generously granted fiefs to royal families to stabilize the country.

However, when the emperor first ascended the throne, he had already imposed restrictions on the power of the kings.

What Li Chengqian needs to do now is to further restrict the power of the kings, but the changes brought about by this reform are not too big.

What he really restricted was the possibility of the kings launching an attack on the emperor's power.

Widen the power gap between the kings and the prince, so that the ambitions of the kings will be severely suppressed.

But this also impacted the power of another person...

"As for the matter of the Prince of Jin," Li Chengqian said, kneeling down and cupping his hands. "Although the Prince of Jin's plot to rebel is a crime of high treason, as his elder brother, I failed to restrain and advise him in advance, and I am also guilty. Therefore, I request that the expenses of the Eastern Palace be reduced for ten years in exchange for his death penalty. I then imprison him in the Northern Courtyard, expel him from the clan register, and allow him to live out the rest of his life in misery."

The ministers were stunned. The prince was pleading for Prince Jin, and not only did he take the responsibility, he was actually using ten years' worth of the East Palace's expenses to plead for mercy. He was really putting his heart into it.

The prince is filial and respectful!
Many people couldn't help but sigh in their hearts.

However, no one noticed that at this time, the emperor's face on the imperial couch was slightly gloomy.

At this moment, Zhangsun Wuji stepped forward, knelt down and kowtowed: "Your Majesty, I am the uncle of the King of Jin. When the King of Jin was plotting rebellion, I did not give him any advice in advance. I am also guilty. I resign my position as Minister of Works and my title as Duke of Zhao, and reduce my salary for ten years in exchange for sparing the death penalty."

When the ministers saw this situation, they all understood that not only the emperor wanted to protect Prince Jin, but the crown prince and Zhangsun Wuji also wanted to protect Prince Jin.

The ministers' eyes lightly swept over Sun Fujia. The reason why Sun Fujia asked to execute the King of Jin was because he was afraid that future generations would follow suit. Now that the prince has begun to block the way for future generations to follow suit, Sun Fujia's reason for asking to execute him is no longer valid.

For some reason, Sun Fujia looked a little strange at this time.

But at this time, Sun Fujia no longer spoke.

The Minister of Rites, Li Daozon, Prince of Jiangxia, stepped forward cautiously and kowtowed to the ground: "Your Majesty, I..."

"Forget it." The emperor waved his hand and said indifferently, "The Prince of Jin plotted rebellion, and I am the one who failed to teach him well. I issue this edict of repentance. At the end of the year, I will personally offer sacrifices to my father at the Xianling Mausoleum. At the same time, on the second day of the first lunar month of next year, I will also offer sacrifices to the heavens, asking for forgiveness from my father and the heavens, and for the Prince of Jin to be spared. That is it."

"Your Majesty!" When the ministers heard that the emperor was going to issue a self-criticism edict, they all knelt down immediately with terrified expressions.

"We will set off for Chang'an in half an hour. All the ministers may leave, and Duke Zhao will stay." The emperor waved his hand.

All the ministers bowed and said, "Yes!"

The emperor stood up and walked towards the inner hall, and Changsun Wuji followed quickly.

At this time, the eyes of all the ministers fell on Li Chengqian.

Li Chengqian stood up calmly and walked out of the hall.

The ministers on both sides bowed in unison.

Only after Li Chengqian walked out of the Changsheng Palace did the ministers follow him out.

Only then did they discover that Li Chengqian was standing in front of the south column, looking at the entire Hot Spring Palace.

The ministers subconsciously wanted to salute, but Li Chengqian waved his hand expressionlessly, and the ministers then bowed and retreated.

After leaving the Changsheng Palace and exiting the Zhaoyang Gate, the ministers finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The emperor must issue a self-criticism edict.

The Prince of Jin plotted treason, and the Emperor wanted to issue an edict of self-criticism.

No, the emperor was forced to issue a self-criticism edict.

The ministers couldn't help but look towards the direction of Changsheng Palace, where the prince stood with a calm expression.

All the ministers lowered their heads subconsciously.

……

The sound of crisp footsteps rang out in the hall, and Li Chengqian, who was standing at the door of the hall, subconsciously looked up.

Then she saw Wu Meiniang, dressed in a green skirt, walking out of the palace and bowing gently to Li Chengqian who was standing at the door: "Your Highness!"

Li Chengqian stood on the left side of the palace gate, his eyes swept over Wu Meiniang calmly, and nodded slightly, saying, "Talented Lady Wu."

"Your Highness, His Majesty has ordered that Your Highness go to see Prince Jin now." Wu Meiniang looked a little solemn.

"Where is the Prince of Jin?" Li Chengqian asked subconsciously.

After last night, Li Zhi was under the control of the emperor, and no one else knew where he was.

"It's in the Jiangsheng Temple behind." Wu Meiniang bowed slightly.

"Alright." Li Chengqian glanced at the palace and sighed softly. Then he looked at Wu Meiniang and said gently, "I already know what's going on in Consort Wu's family. There's not much I can do. I'll try not to involve her family and try not to sentence her to death."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Wu Meiniang breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't care about her brother-in-law and nephew-in-law. It was enough for her as long as her sister and nephews were not affected.

It's not difficult.

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "I will go see the Prince of Jin now, and then come back to see the emperor."

"Yes!" Wu Meiniang bowed again.

At this time, Li Chengqian had already walked towards the back of the hall.

Wu Meiniang stood at the door of the palace and watched, her expression gradually becoming solemn.

Will the prince really let Prince Jin live?

A confession of guilt!

(End of this chapter)