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

Chapter 60: Unwilling to Take the Blame

"Your Majesty!" Hou Junji kowtowed again, speaking with a tone of deep grievance, "After conquering Gaochang, I did take some treasures, but only three or five, not worth much. The rest were all brought to me by the officers themselves."

Li Chengqian lowered his head slightly, a hint of sneer flashing in the depths of his eyes.

"The army is in chaos, but instead of trying to clean it up, you accepted bribes from the officers." The emperor's eyes finally turned completely cold.

"Your Majesty!" Hou Junji raised his head and said to Li Shimin in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, because Gaochang surrendered so suddenly, the soldiers' military achievements are far from enough. Although the country was destroyed, the military merit records, which are recorded in detail down to the individual soldier's achievements, are far different from what was originally expected. In this situation, if I forcibly confiscate their gold and silver, the soldiers will mutiny."

"I'm talking to you!" Li Shimin knocked heavily on the table in front of him.

Hou Junji finally breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I am guilty. I accepted the gold, silver, and jewelry because the officers said that if I didn't take it, they wouldn't be able to take it. If they didn't take it, the soldiers wouldn't be able to take it. The morale of the army would be uneasy, and I'm afraid it would be difficult for me to even return to the court."

Under the Danbi, Li Chengqian actually looked up. Why did Hou Junji's words sound so familiar?

"As for my gold and silver, I have actually packed them up and will present them to Your Majesty privately after the banquet. I will also explain everything clearly." Hou Junji lowered his head again.

Li Chengqian glanced at Hou Junji with a terrifyingly cold look in his eyes.

In his previous life, how could he be deceived by such nonsense? It was obviously Hou Junji who couldn't resist the greed for treasures, and his subordinates followed suit. He himself didn't even think about controlling them. In the end, the soldiers felt embarrassed and stopped.

All the ministers in the hall who had heard the trick sat there in silence.

Don't ask them how they could tell. Fang Xuanling, Zhangsun Wuji, Wei Zheng, and Yang Shidao all had considerable military experience. How could they not have heard it?

The spoils captured by the soldiers on the battlefield were indeed insufficient, but they could be compensated with the wealth left after Gaochang's surrender.

For this kind of thing, you just need to send an urgent memorial to Chang'an over 600 miles, and the emperor will approve it immediately.

But you, Hou Junji, don’t have it.

……

"I see." The emperor's expression relaxed, and he shook his head. Turning to look at Li Chengqian, he said calmly, "Prince, you have something to ask. Duke Chen said he simply couldn't bear to see his soldiers go to battle without gaining anything, and that their morale was unstable, so he relaxed his command a little. What do you think?"

"Your Majesty," Li Chengqian said, bowing sideways, "Your Majesty, I agree with the first half of your statement, but not the second."

"Oh!" Li Shimin was immediately surprised and looked at Li Chengqian and asked, "Tell me."

"The soldiers' gains in this battle certainly didn't meet expectations, but isn't it the same with Father? The original target of this battle was Ashina Yugu of the Western Turks. He escaped, and Gaochang surrendered. There's nothing we can do about it. So, I'd like to ask Duke Chen." Li Chengqian turned to Hou Junji and asked, "Duke Chen, under these circumstances, you chose to allow your troops to plunder. As the commander-in-chief of the army, this is understandable, but..."

Li Chengqian's voice suddenly turned cold. He stared at Hou Junji and said angrily, "But you are the Minister of Personnel, you are the Vice Minister of State Affairs, and you are the Prime Minister. In this situation, is this the only solution you have?"

Hou Junji suddenly looked up in surprise and looked at Li Chengqian. He wanted to say something, but for some reason, he couldn't say it.

Fang Xuanling, Zhangsun Wuji, Wei Zheng, Yang Shidao and others on the side couldn't help but feel a trace of disdain in their hearts when they saw Hou Junji's face.

Even with this, he still wants to be promoted from the Minister of Personnel to the Minister of the Court? It's a dream.

On the imperial couch, the emperor's voice sounded calmly again: "Prince, in this situation, what can you do?"

Li Chengqian calmly turned around, bowed slightly, and said, "Father, I think that in that situation, we can find a piece of fertile land in Gaochang and distribute it to the soldiers. After all, Gaochang will still need to be defended in the future. If we can give the soldiers some land, it will not only reward the soldiers, but also save some food and fodder for the future."

"But the land of Gaochang Kingdom is worthless." Li Shimin leaned forward slightly and looked at Li Chengqian with interest.

Li Chengqian bowed and said, "Perhaps we can let the soldiers return to Chang'an and sell the land deeds to the government after they obtain the land. The government can buy it back at the price of land in Guanzhong. In this way, the soldiers on the front line can be temporarily relieved and the crisis can be resolved." Li Chengqian came up with a tortuous and bad idea.

"Not enough." Li Shimin shook his head and said calmly, "The soldiers have marched thousands of miles, risking their lives, fighting bravely. Isn't it all about military merit and ready-made spoils? If there are not enough merits and no ready-made spoils, the morale of the army will be shaken, and disaster will soon follow."

The ministers in the hall fell silent.

"Father, the best way is for the generals in the field to report the incident to the central government immediately over a distance of 600 miles, and use the gold and silver from Gaochang's treasury to reward the soldiers." Li Chengqian bowed solemnly.

"It should be so, but why didn't he do it?" Li Shimin stared at Hou Junji coldly.

Hou Junji immediately kowtowed to the ground, not daring to say a word.

"Prince, what other solutions do you have?" Li Shimin took a deep breath and turned to look at Li Chengqian.

"Gaochang has always produced red salt and white salt, which are more valuable than gold." Li Chengqian spoke cautiously.

"The soldiers may not be willing to accept it, and it takes time to mine salt. The soldiers may not be able to wait that long." The emperor still shook his head coldly.

Li Chengqian finally raised his head, bowed, and said, "Then I will have no choice but to inconvenience Duke Chen and bear the blame myself. In my capacity as the Grand Commander of the Jiaohe Road Army, Minister of Personnel, and Vice Minister of State Affairs, I will act on behalf of the imperial court and withdraw gold and silver from the Gaochang treasury to give to the soldiers."

"It's still against the law!" Hou Junji said subconsciously.

"But it's better than letting your soldiers plunder." Li Chengqian suddenly turned around and shouted angrily, and Hou Junji's face immediately turned ugly.

Li Chengqian sneered softly, then continued, "Duke Chen, do you really think that because the soldiers didn't harvest enough, your father..." "That's enough." Li Shimin suddenly interrupted Li Chengqian, who immediately fell silent. He then bowed slightly towards the Danbi and said, "Your son is guilty."

The emperor waved his hand and said, "Now that things have come to this, Prince, if it is up to you, how should we proceed?"

"Your Majesty, in my opinion, Duke Chen is a qualified commander of a large army, but he's still lacking in governance." Li Chengqian raised his head and said seriously, "So I suggest that you remove him from his position as Minister of Personnel and Vice Minister of State Affairs, and demote him to a provincial governor. When he's more competent in governance, he can be transferred back."

Li Chengqian's last sentence was very serious. Fang Xuanling, Zhangsun Wuji, and Wei Zheng all couldn't help but frown slightly.

Only Li Jing looked at Li Chengqian in surprise, then slowly lowered his head.

……

In the hall, Li Shimin pondered for a long time before finally looking up at Hou Junji and asking, "Duke Chen, what do you think?"

"Your Majesty, your Majesty..." Hou Junji tried to speak several times, but in the end he swallowed his words back. He kowtowed heavily and said with difficulty, "Your Majesty, your Majesty..."

"Come here, come here!" The emperor suddenly flew into a rage and shouted loudly to the outside of the palace: "Come here, throw Hou Junji back to the Dali Temple and let him rot there forever."

"Your Majesty!" Hou Junji looked up in disbelief and murmured, "Your Majesty, I have made a contribution!"

"I tell you, Duke of Chen, there are many generals in this world who have made great contributions." Li Shimin stared at Hou Junji, gritted his teeth, and said word by word: "Cheng Zhijie, Yuchi Jingde, neither of them is not better than you. If you don't reflect on your mistakes, you will rot forever!"

Hou Junji lowered his face in dismay.

"Why don't you step back!" the emperor shouted coldly, and two Jinwu guards were already standing beside Hou Junji.

"Yes!" Hou Junji slowly bowed and then stepped out.

After Hou Junji had completely left, Zhangsun Wuji, who was standing beside him, finally spoke up, "Your Majesty, please calm down. Duke Chen just can't figure it out for the moment."

Li Shimin slowly leaned back, then looked at Li Chengqian and said, "Your Highness is right. Hou Junji is indeed not suitable to be the Prime Minister. I was too hasty."

"Your Majesty, how should the matter of Duke Chen be handled?" Fang Xuanling spoke, looking at the emperor.

"Let him stay in the Dali Temple for half a month first." The emperor was still furious. After a moment, he looked up and said, "Whatever the reason, Duke Chen's misappropriation of treasures and his failure to enforce military discipline cannot be undone. I will remove him from his position as Vice Minister of State Affairs."

"Yes!" All the ministers bowed in unison. This was as it should be. After such a thing happened, how could Hou Junji continue to be the prime minister?

"After half a month." Li Shimin's face became troubled. He shook his head and said, "Let him serve as the Minister of Personnel and the Chief Clerk of Yongzhou. Let him learn how to govern well. As for the Chief Clerk of Yongzhou, Yin Shan, he will be promoted to the Imperial Censor."

Imperial Censor Wei Ting immediately looked up.

Li Shimin also looked over, waved his hand, and said, "Wei Qing will be promoted to the rank of Silver and Green Guanglu Doctor, and will serve as the Yellow Gate Minister first."

"Yes!" Wei Ting immediately bowed with excitement.

Hou Junji was originally going to be promoted from the Minister of Personnel to the Palace Attendant for his military merits, but now that he has gotten into trouble, he can't even keep his position as Vice Prime Minister, let alone the Palace Attendant.

Could it be that this position would be given to the Yellow Gate Minister Liu Li?

"As for Xue Wanjun, forget it. I originally wanted to appoint him as the governor of Puzhou, but now he has been transferred to Pingzhou to serve as the governor of Pingzhou." There was obvious disgust in the emperor's eyes.

"Yes!" All the ministers bowed.

……

In front of the Dali Temple, Hou Junji walked out of the palace step by step.

Now he finally understood that his hesitation for a moment when the emperor asked him earlier had ruined everything.

The prince wanted to remove him from his posts as Minister of Personnel and Vice-Chancellor, and demote him to a local post as a governor, but it did not seem that he wanted to harm him.

Hou Junji's expression became serious when he thought of what his son-in-law Helan Chushi had told the prince.

"Father-in-law!" Hou Junji looked up and saw Helan Chushi, dressed in red and golden armor, walking quickly towards him. He supported him and asked, "How did things go today?"

Hou Junji paused for a moment and said, "Back then, the Duke of Wei was the Left Guanglu Doctor who was idle for half a year before being promoted to Shangshu You Pushe, right?"

"Yes!" Helan Chushi nodded and said, "The prince meant that father-in-law should not worry..."

"You can't do this." Suddenly a noise came from the side.

Hou Junji turned around subconsciously and saw an old man and a middle-aged man, a father and a son arguing about something at the gate of the Dali Temple.

At this moment, the corner of his eye suddenly caught sight of Helan Chushi standing beside him, and his expression had changed.

(End of this chapter)