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

Chapter 655: After the Hongnong Yang Family, Investigating the Jingzhao Du Family (Part )
In the early morning light, the palace is quiet.

In the Manna Palace.

Li Chengqian gently opened his eyes on the bed and let out a long sigh.

Turning sideways, he looked at the sleeping Du Ni.

His fingers gently stroked across her smooth jade back.

"Your Majesty!" Du Ni narrowed his eyes and responded softly, leaning back and leaning into Li Chengqian's arms as usual.

"Hmm!" Li Chengqian reached out, embraced Du Ni, and asked softly in her ear, "Are you happy being with me these days?"

Du Ni rubbed against Li Chengqian's arm like a kitten, closed her eyes and said, "Happy."

During these few days, the emperor did not call anyone else, but just favored her blindly.

For several days, she was the only one accompanying the emperor, touring the palace and sleeping with him in Ganlu Palace, which made her very happy.

Of course, it would be even better if you could get pregnant.

"That's good." Li Chengqian hugged Du Ni and whispered, "Sleep a little longer."

"Hmm!" Du Ni leaned back again, then closed his eyes completely.

Li Chengqian looked towards the hall, where the morning light had already fallen on the floor.

The light and shadow are wrong.

……

In the Taiji Hall, Zhangsun Wuji, Li Ji, Tang Jian, Yu Zhining, Liu Dewei, Qiu Xinggong, Sun Fujia, Qiu Shenji and others were all in the hall.

Qiu Xinggong stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, this has been thoroughly investigated."

"Speak now." Li Chengqian raised his head and said indifferently, "Who on earth has such audacity and ability to privately mint counterfeit coins on the outskirts of Chang'an?"

According to Tang law, anyone who privately mints bad coins will be exiled, along with his followers, and his entire family will be implicated.

"Your Majesty, according to the confessions of the captured guards, the person in charge of them was the steward of the former Guanglu Shaoqing Du Jingtong's household. Although this steward was expelled from the Du Mansion several years ago, based on the flow of the contaminated money, it can be concluded that the person responsible is the former Guanglu Shaoqing Du Jingtong." Qiu Xinggong finished speaking, and Li Chengqian suddenly looked up: "Who?"

"Du Jingtong, the second son of former Prime Minister Du Yan!" Qiu Xinggong bowed solemnly.

"Hmph!" Changsun Wuji on the side couldn't help but snort coldly.

Du Yan was Du Ruhui's uncle. At the end of the Sui Dynasty, Du Yan was an official under Wang Shichong. Because of his discord with Du Ruhui, Du Ruhui's brother was killed.

Later, when the Tang Dynasty pacified Wang Shichong, Du Yan was sentenced to death. It was Du Ruhui's younger brother Du Chuke who desperately pleaded for mercy in front of Du Ruhui, and finally forced Du Ruhui to use his military merits in exchange for Du Yan's life.

Du Ruhui's later death was also related to this incident.

Therefore, the brothers Du He and Du Gou hated Du Yan and Du Chuke deeply.

But this is the business of brothers Du He and Du Gou.

Li Chengqian glanced at Changsun Wuji. He knew that Changsun Wuji hated Du Yan for another reason.

When he was in the Palace of the Prince of Qin, Du Yan was not valued at first and wanted to defect to Li Jian several times. It was Fang Xuanling's suggestion that the late emperor promote Du Yan to the position of military officer of the Tian Ce Palace and scholar of the Academy of Literature. Unfortunately, Yang Wengang's mutiny later led to Du Yan being implicated and exiled to Yizhou.

After the Xuanwu Gate Incident, Du Yan was recalled to the court and appointed as the Imperial Censor, Minister of Personnel, and Councillor of State Affairs, and eventually became the Prime Minister. However, at that time, a rumor spread.

Before the Xuanwu Gate Incident, Du Yan secretly colluded with the Eastern Palace and became the Eastern Palace's spy in the Prince of Qin's Mansion.

Unfortunately, it's just a rumor and there is no evidence.

In addition, Du Yan died of illness shortly after the rumor started, so the matter was never verified or investigated again.

But at that time, Changsun Wuji kept a close eye on Du Yan and carefully examined his every move.

Many faults were found in Du Yan, the most important of which was that he was not honest.

Although he was the Minister of Personnel, he was very greedy for money.

In other words, he died suddenly, otherwise Changsun Wuji would have impeached him to death.

Now Du Yan's second son actually dared to privately build a coin mint in Mount Zhongnan outside Chang'an City. He was as greedy for money as his father.

"Your Majesty!" Zhangsun Wuji stood up and bowed, gritting his teeth and saying, "I request that this person be arrested immediately and subjected to a rigorous trial."

Li Chengqian glanced at Zhangsun Wuji, nodded, and said, "They should be arrested, but the Duke of Tianshui should not go. Send an order to have Du He go to Duqu to arrest the men. All of Du Jing and his brothers should be arrested and imprisoned."

"Yes!" Changsun Wuji couldn't help but smile and bow.

The brothers Du Gou and Du He had serious conflicts with Du Yan and Du Jing, so they were the most suitable people to arrest the people.

……

Li Chengqian sat on the imperial couch, looking at Du He standing in the hall with his hands clasped in the air, and asked directly, "Was this incident the work of Du Jingtong's lineage alone, or was the entire Jingzhao Du clan involved?"

Du He's mouth twitched slightly, but he still bowed honestly and said, "Your Majesty, this is probably part of everything the Du family does. There are people who serve as officials, people who are responsible for purchasing goods, people who are responsible for selling goods through trade routes, and people who are responsible for minting counterfeit coins to reduce costs."

"Aristocratic family, they really won't let go of even the last penny." Li Chengqian sneered softly and said, "Du Jingtong will be beheaded, and all of his lineage will be demoted to commoners. Everyone involved, both inside and outside, will be enslaved by the Ministry of Finance. All their land, caravans, houses, and other property will be confiscated and stored in the treasury."

"Yes!" Du He bowed solemnly. He knew that this was just the beginning and the emperor's actions would not end so easily.

"Qiu Shenji found an account book in the valley. It records that 13,000 strings of illegal coins have been paid out there over the years." Li Chengqian looked up and said, "Tell Du Qu to produce 13,000 strings of new coins. This will settle the penalty on paper."

"Here!" Du He lowered his head.

"And one more thing," Li Chengqian continued, "In this matter, all officials of the Jingzhao Du family whose names are implicated will have their assessments increased by one level within five years. This would be the real punishment if I hadn't copied the entire Du Qu."

With a loud bang, Li Chengqian slammed his palm heavily on the imperial desk. Du He bowed and said, "I obey your order."

Du He felt nothing about the emperor's punishment.

In this case, the Jingzhao Du family must be severely punished, but this has little to do with their lineage.

The brothers Du He and Du Gou have never had a good impression of Du Jingtong's lineage.

It's just that this lineage of theirs is good at dealing with people and has a good relationship with the elders of the Du family. In fact, a few years ago, with the support of the Du family, Du Jingtong even achieved the position of Guanglu Shaoqing.

In fact, it was only because Du Jingtong, the former Shaoqing of Guanglu, came forward in the name of the Jingzhao Du family that the Jingzhao Prefecture had not been able to get to the bottom of this matter all these years.

Li Chengqian waved his hand slightly and said, "Go ahead and handle this matter properly."

"I obey your command." Du He bowed and then left the hall.

Li Chengqian looked at Du He's back and his expression calmed down.

Suddenly, he sneered softly. It turned out that it was still difficult to completely deal with the Jingzhao Du family in this case!

The Du family was a prominent clan in Jingzhao, and together with the Wei family, there was a saying that "Wei and Du in the south of the city are five feet away from the sky".

In other words, Weiqu and Duqu in the south of the city are only one foot and five inches high from the sky.

It's not just because they have a large amount of land near Chang'an, and not just because there are caravans traveling between the north and the south, but also because the East Market and the West Market are actually controlled by the Wei and Du families.

Of course, the East Market and the West Market are controlled by the Wei and Du families on behalf of the emperor.

Most of the underground profits from the East Market and West Market went into the emperor's private treasury.

Li Chengqian looked up at Li Yifu, who was taking notes, and asked, "Mr. Li, how is the memorial I asked you to prepare last year going?"

"Your Majesty, it's basically complete." Li Yifu bowed and asked, "Does Your Majesty want it now?"

Li Chengqian thought for a moment and said, "After Prince Yong's wedding, I will go to the Hot Spring Palace in Mount Li. Please give it to me when I return from Mount Li."

"Yes!" Li Yifu bowed solemnly.

"Also, tell Duke Zhao to lead the investigation into the private minting of Kaiyuan Tongbao coins throughout the country. Once caught, they will be severely punished." Li Chengqian narrowed his eyes.

"Yes!" Li Yifu couldn't help but lower his head.

"Alright, that's it for today." Li Chengqian looked out of the hall and said, "Du He will handle Du Qu's matter. You go and keep an eye on it."

"I obey your order." Li Yifu bowed seriously.

Li Chengqian stood up and walked out of the hall.

Looking at the emperor's back, Li Yifu, who had been feeling the atmosphere was somewhat oppressive, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Yifu, who has always been by the emperor's side, actually sees many things more clearly.

From the Hongnong Yang family two years ago to the Jingzhao Du family today, the emperor has gradually begun to no longer tolerate some of the presumptuous actions of the Guanzhong clans.

Of course, the emperor's move was very clever.

Cleverly, no one knew that all this was related to the emperor.

Even Li Yifu was just guessing.

But that's enough.

No?
……

In Ganlu Palace, Li Chengqian looked at the empty inner hall.

Du Ni didn't know when she had returned to her own palace.

Zhang Ananda stood aside, bowing solemnly.

"Send a message to An Yan." Li Chengqian raised his head slightly and said, "Have him lead the Hundred Cavalry Division to sweep through Zhongnan Mountain and Beiheng Mountain. I know there are many secret activities going on there. Let's take this opportunity to clean it up thoroughly."

"Yes!" Zhang Ananda bowed solemnly.

Li Chengqian thought for a moment and said, "There's also Mangshan. I've been there for the past two years. I'm afraid someone might have noticed my intention to go there more often in the future and send people there to clean things up. Let the Duke of Tongan do it directly. When I'm in Chang'an, fewer people in Luoyang will pay attention to me."

"Yes!" Zhang Ananda bowed and quietly left the Ganlu Hall.

Li Chengqian walked to the couch and sat down, with the six words Wei Pei Xue Liu Yang Du flashing through his mind.

Both the Yang family and the Du family have been dealt with.

The Pei and Xue families focus more on the military.

The Liu family is very cautious.

Only the Wei family is left. Like the Du family, the Wei family is a wealthy family in Jingzhao.

But it’s not advisable to move now.

After what happened with the Du family, the Wei family should immediately become cautious.

Li Chengqian smiled softly, then raised his head and said, "Issue the decree that Concubine Liu sleep with you tonight."

"Here!"

(End of this chapter)