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

Chapter 476 Zhangsun Wuji: Who is setting up a trap against me? (Part )
Li Chengqian sat on the imperial couch, looking calmly into the hall.

Yu Zhining, the Minister of the Court, stood to the upper left of the courtiers, holding the imperial edict in his hand and speaking in a loud voice: "To establish the three principles and uphold justice is a great undertaking. Therefore, to uphold the rule of all nations, it must be up to Yuanliang to assist me and return him as the heir.

In the hot summer of May, I and the Supreme Emperor led the ministers on an eastern tour to Luoyang.

Therefore, the crown prince regent.

Si Tu Fang Xuanling was appointed as the governor of Chang'an, while Zhong Shu Shilang Ma Zhou and Yongzhou Governor Qiu Xinggong were appointed as deputy governors of Chang'an, in charge of meeting with officials and deciding miscellaneous affairs.

Admire this! "

All the ministers knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Your Majesty, may you live forever."

"Stand up." Li Chengqian raised his hand slightly.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" The ministers then stood up.

Li Chengqian looked at the ministers and said, "This time I am going to the Eastern Capital. In addition to supervising the various states' farming, canals, and criminal law, I am also accompanying the Emperor to relax and enjoy his remaining years.

"I have ordered Master Pan of Songshan to meet you at Ziwei Palace on the fourteenth day of the first lunar month."

Li Baiyao, the Minister of Zongzheng Temple, stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, I accept your command."

Li Chengqian breathed a sigh of relief, then said, "What else do you have to say, gentlemen?"

"Your Majesty!" Supervisory Censor Wei Renyue stepped forward, bowed, and solemnly said, "Your Majesty, I impeach the Minister of the Central Secretariat, Chu Suiliang, for buying the land of the Central Secretariat's translator. Your Majesty, please investigate."

Wei Renyue's voice was loud, and especially after he said the words impeaching the Minister of the Central Secretariat Chu Suiliang, the entire hall fell silent in an instant.

Impeached Zhongshu Ling Chu Suiliang.

Impeach the prime minister.

Although this is not uncommon in this dynasty, it is the first time since Li Chengqian ascended the throne.

The ministers' breathing suddenly became much lighter.

Chu Suiliang's face couldn't help but turn pale.

Changsun Wuji, who was standing in front of him, immediately looked gloomy.

……

Li Chengqian saw everything and couldn't help but frown.

Today's impeachment of Wei Renyue was not arranged by him.

I don't think it could be arranged by Changsun Wuji.

So this incident was seen by the Censor Wei Renyue, who then directly impeached him.

Li Chengqian raised his hand slightly.

Dou Zhijie immediately walked down from one side, took the memorial from Wei Renyue's hand, then turned around and placed the memorial on the table in front of Li Chengqian.

The Zhongshu Yiyu Ren was a translator in the Zhongshu Province.

The Tang Dynasty had the Honglu Temple to receive foreign envoys, but many of the imperial edicts to the outside world also needed to be drafted by someone in the Secretariat.

This is the origin of the Zhongshu translator.

The Zhongshu Translator was an official of the sixth rank or above in the Zhongshu Province.

Li Chengqian opened the memorial.

Wei Renyue recorded all the ins and outs of the matter in detail in the memorial.

The translator of Zhongshu was Shi Hedan, who was 67 years old.

Shi Hedan, just by looking at the name, Li Chengqian knew that he was a Turk.

Of course, the Turks are now also Tang people, and this is recorded in the household registers.

Chu Suiliang bought his land.

Chu Suiliang bought Shi Hedan's house at an amount significantly lower than the market price.

It is not easy to live in Chang'an.

Chu Suiliang had a house in Chang'an, but it was an official residence granted by the court.

As long as Chu Suiliang is alive, the house will belong to him forever.

But once he died, the house would be taken back by the court.

Of course, if the emperor bestows it on his descendants, that is another matter.

However, the salary given by the court to the Minister of the Secretariat was definitely not low, not to mention that Chu Suiliang was the Duke of Henan County.

With his official position and title, he could certainly afford to buy a house in Chang'an City, but he just couldn't afford a private house in a particularly good location.

In addition, Chu Suiliang was the Minister of the Secretariat, and Shi Hedan, the translator of the Secretariat, was equivalent to his subordinate.

If Shi Hedan was not already 67 years old, Li Chengqian would definitely think that there was a transaction of power and money involved in buying the house at a low price, but at this age, this is oppression.

Sure enough, it was clearly written in Wei Renyue’s memorial that the reason he knew about this matter was because of Shi Hedan’s accusation.

Forced buying and selling, buying houses at low prices.

Workplace bullying.

Or bullying a 67-year-old man in the workplace.

Li Chengqian lowered his head and looked at the pale-faced Chu Suiliang, his eyes full of disappointment.

He raised his head, his eyes passed over the heads of the ministers, looked outside the palace, and said calmly: "Grand Censor."

Imperial Censor Sun Fujia stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty is here."

"You will investigate this case." Li Chengqian took a deep breath and said, "Work with the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple to thoroughly investigate this matter from beginning to end. I want to know all the ins and outs."

"I obey your order." Sun Fujia bowed his head.

"Okay, let's adjourn the court." Li Chengqian stood up directly.

All the ministers bowed their heads and said, "We respectfully bid farewell to Your Majesty!"

Li Chengqian walked down the steps and paused for a moment. Then he looked at Chu Suiliang deeply, turned around and strode out of the Taiji Hall.

……

After the emperor left, the ministers stood up.

Everyone's eyes were on Wei Renyue and Chu Suiliang.

At this time, Sun Fujia walked down from the front, came to Wei Renyue, nodded calmly and said: "You come."

"Yes!" Wei Renyue bowed, then followed Sun Fujia out of the hall.

At the same time, all the officials of the Censorate followed Sun Fujia and Wei Renyue out together, all of them holding their heads high and looking excited.

After the emperor ascended the throne, the Censorate finally did something practical: impeaching the prime minister.

Changsun Wuji turned around slowly and stared straight at Chu Suiliang.

Chu Suiliang bowed to Changsun Wuji with a bitter expression.

"Hmph!" Changsun Wuji snorted coldly, then strode out of the hall.

At this time, the ministers dispersed in groups of three or two.

Only Chu Suiliang was left standing in the hall, looking helpless.

After a moment, he finally sighed and walked out of the hall.

The sky above is clear, but there seems to be endless noise ringing in my ears.

Before I knew it, it was dark.

At the Suzaku Gate, a team of Jinwu Guards escorted a purple-canopied carriage out of the palace.

Changsun Wuji sat upright in the carriage, and the overall investigation of the Chu Suiliang case by the Censorate emerged in his mind.

Yes, Chu Suiliang bought Shi Hedan at a low price, but the person who came forward was not Chu Suiliang, but his eldest son Chu Yanfu.

During the interrogation by the Censorate, the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple, Shi Hedan insisted that he was bullied by Chu Yanfu using Chu Suiliang's power.

Later, when he was in the Secretariat, someone came to warn him not to say too much.

However, this matter is not as simple as it seems.

Shi Hedan was a Turkic. His house in Chang'an was built in the early years when a large number of Eastern Turkic nobles surrendered to the Tang Dynasty. They brought with them a large amount of gold and silver treasures and settled in Chang'an. At the same time, the court also granted them official positions.

It seems that Chu Suiliang forced Shi Hedan to buy his house at a low price, but based on Zhangsun Wuji's understanding of Chu Suiliang and his political skills, this matter should have been handled more smoothly.

If you buy someone else's house at a low price, you have to give them benefits in other ways.

Shi Hedan was already sixty-seven years old. All he wanted was either the care of his descendants or to make further progress before retiring.

Either get an official position or a title.

No matter what, it's worth the effort.

How could Chu Suiliang not understand such a thing?

Therefore, either Chu Suiliang was plotted against, or Chu Suiliang did not know about this matter at the beginning, and when he found out it was too late.

If it is the former, then someone is plotting against Chu Suiliang.

But who?

First, exclude the emperor.

The emperor has a lot of things to do now, and Chu Suiliang is very cooperative with the emperor, and the emperor uses him a lot.

As for the emperor's goal of targeting him, Changsun Wuji, by bypassing Chu Suiliang, Changsun Wuji also felt that it was impossible.

Very few people in the court knew the true condition of the retired emperor's health, so the emperor needed Zhangsun Wuji.

If the tomb of the retired emperor collapses, Changsun Wuji is the only one who can help Li Chengqian stabilize the world.

So, not the emperor.

That is the enemy from other aspects.

Everyone in the court knew that Chu Suiliang was his man.

The impeachment of Chu Suiliang was targeting his eldest son, Zhangsun Wuji.

However, Wei Renyue, who impeached Chu Suiliang, was born in the Xiaoxiaoyao branch of the Jingzhao Wei family. He passed the imperial examination in his early years and was appointed magistrate of Yingcheng County. Later, he was promoted by Gao Jifu, the Secretary of the Central Secretariat, and transferred to the position of Censor.

Gao Jifu was born into the Gao family of Bohai and was the nephew of Gao Shilian.

Gao Ji Fu did not belong to any faction. He was a minister of remonstration and was famous for his sharp advice during the Zhenguan period. He suggested that the emperor promote and employ upright and honest officials, reduce corvee labor for the people, curb the extravagance of princes and nobles, increase the salaries and benefits of local officials, and so on.

The retired emperor once praised his words as being like medicine and specially rewarded him with a gold-backed mirror to commend his good judgment.

It is also in line with the emperor's political philosophy.

This man has no faction.

If there is a faction, he is from Wei Zheng's faction.

He shared the same interests as Yu Zhining, Zhang Xuansu, Ma Zhou, Sun Fujia, Yin Jun and others, but they were not considered to be in the same party.

So no matter how you look at it, it was Chu Suiliang himself who had the problem.

Of course not Chu Suiliang himself.

Changsun Wuji asserted that if it was not a frame-up, then this matter was the work of Chu Suiliang's incompetent eldest son Chu Yanfu.

Changsun Wuji closed his eyes gently.

Now that things have come to this, the key is what to do next?
Although the emperor did not say a word when the court was dismissed today, Changsun Wuji could truly feel the emperor's disappointment from the bottom of his heart.

The emperor is the one who is best at making plans, but he also likes to nip problems in the bud.

The emperor could not easily let go of the matter of Chu Suiliang, otherwise the whole court would learn from him, and how could he continue the prosperous Zhenguan era?

Chu Suiliang.

No matter what, the emperor must know the truth, so that he will consider it more carefully when dealing with it.

The most important thing is that the emperor cannot truly lose hope in Chu Suiliang in his heart, otherwise Chu Suiliang will be really finished.

……

The fifth day of May is Dragon Boat Festival.

Nanhai Lake in the back garden, outside Wangyun Pavilion.

Li Shimin, wearing a black robe with gold threads, walked towards Wangyun Pavilion with full spirit.

Li Chengqian followed behind him, with his hands ready to reach out to support Li Shimin at any time.

Until he walked to the pavilion and sat down, Li Shimin was fine.

"Don't worry, I've used all the Buddhist elixirs. I'm fine, and I look even better." Li Shimin patted the stone bench, motioning Li Chengqian to sit down, and then said, "Buddhism still has some great things. Maybe I can really live a few more years."

"Of course, my son hopes so." Li Chengqian bowed slightly and his expression relaxed.

Li Shimin raised his head and looked into the distance. The empress was chatting and laughing with the emperor's concubines, his concubines, and the families of princes and nobles.

Li Shimin withdrew his gaze and turned to look at Li Chengqian. He asked calmly, "So, how is the investigation into Chu Qing's case going? How do you plan to deal with it, Your Majesty?"

(End of this chapter)