Tang Dynasty: A Guide to Avoiding Pitfalls for Li Er at the Start

Chapter 238 It was I who made you suffer.

"Old man, His Majesty is here. Please speak freely."

Wen He knew that drinking soldiers' blood was something that no dynasty could avoid.

But to everyone's surprise, these people even dared to withhold the soldiers' pensions.

"I understand this matter. His Majesty needs to deal with the Turks, so there must be shortages everywhere. I went to the General's Office to inquire, and they said that the Ministry of War has not yet issued the orders."

The old man said he didn't care, but his hand holding his grandson's hand visibly trembled.

"Actually, it's nothing. This old man can still do things. It's pitiful for those orphans and widows, sigh."

The old man sighed again as he thought of the widows and orphans in the village.

The boy beside him suddenly mustered his courage and looked at Li Shimin, saying, "After Zhang Gou's father died, his mother was bullied by the village head and hanged herself at the village entrance the next day."

"And there's Heizi, Erhe, Sangou..."

The boy's legs were trembling, but he still mustered up the courage to say the names one by one.

Li Shimin clenched his fists, and his brows furrowed even deeper.

He didn't interrupt the boy, but listened to him finish speaking before asking in a cold voice, "Has anyone from the Ministry of War come today?"

"The minister is here."

Lu Chengqing bowed and stepped forward with a stiff upper lip.

When Wen He asked about this matter, he knew he was in trouble.

"On the day the army returned, I issued an edict to reward the soldiers who went to war and to reward them according to their merits. Now, explain to me why these loyal and brave men are still suffering so much."

"Your Majesty, I have only recently arrived at the Ministry of War and am not well aware of the previous events. However, the list of meritorious soldiers and those to be rewarded in the Battle of Huizhou has already been distributed to various departments. The Ministry of War can attest to this."

Tears dripped down Lu Chengqing's forehead.

"Your Majesty, I am aware of this matter. The Ministry of War has indeed been approved, and the Ministry of Revenue has been instructed to transport the funds and provisions. However, it seems that the Ministry of Revenue is facing some difficulties."

Xiao Yu had no choice but to step forward. As the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, it was his responsibility to take charge since the Ministry of Personnel had been mentioned.

He finished speaking and glanced at Changsun Wuji.

Li Shimin's gaze suddenly fell on him.

'Auxiliary machine, do not disappoint me!'

Wen He, standing behind him, also glanced at Changsun Wuji discreetly.

He felt the latter didn't have that kind of guts.

Although this person is cunning and petty, he would never dare to embezzle the rewards given to the army.

Li Shimin was able to seize military power so quickly after the Xuanwu Gate Incident precisely because of his prestige in the army.
Changsun Wuji must have been aware of this, so he would never have destroyed Li Shimin's foundation.

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue has already sent the money and provisions to the military commands in various regions and recorded the names of meritorious soldiers to exempt them from labor service."

“What this official said is true. My old man is indeed exempt from labor service for the next three years, but the people from the military command only gave our family two bushels of wheat.”

As the old man spoke, tears began to fall from his eyes.

That wheat was earned with the lives of his two grandsons.

Li Shimin's anger was about to erupt.

He felt as if someone had stabbed him in the heart.

"Investigate! Send the hundred cavalry to investigate, starting from the military commander's residence here!"

Li Shimin suppressed his anger and then pointed at Wen He: "You go yourself. I grant you the authority to act as you see fit, and you may execute first and report later!"

"Your Majesty, you mustn't!" Changsun Wuji was startled and quickly came out to stop him.

But before he could finish speaking, he heard someone behind him snort: "Why not? I think this is the right thing to do!"

The speaker was none other than Wei Zheng. After speaking, he turned to Wen He and continued, "Young master, just go ahead. If anyone dares to stop you, I and the Censorate will stand up for you."

Changsun Wuji's face turned pale and then purple.

This old man!
He knew that this was something that a small military command would never dare to do.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs did distribute money and grain, but it is still unknown whether this money and grain were delivered to the Commander-in-Chief's Office.

The city of Chang'an is probably about to experience an earthquake.

Changsun Wuji sighed inwardly.

Turning around, he saw that Wei Zheng had actually winked at Wen He.

This Wei Zheng...

Wen He shook his head with a chuckle, accepted the imperial decree from Li Shimin, and was about to leave.

Suddenly he thought of something and shook his sleeves.

Li Shimin and the others were puzzled as to what he was going to do. They then saw him take out five or six brocade pouches from his sleeve.

He took the brocade pouch and stuffed it into the boy's arms.

"Go buy a cow, and use the rest of the money to buy books. Then take the imperial examinations, become an official, and kill those corrupt officials."

Wen He wanted to buy peace of mind.

The Battle of Huizhou, no matter how you look at it, was started because of him.

This money is not worth two lives, but Wen He didn't know what to do for the grandfather and grandson.

However, his words made many people present feel awkward, and they turned their heads away with strange expressions.

Some people were still resentful.

The imperial examinations were not something that commoners like us could participate in.

No one recommended him... wait, Wen He seems to be qualified to recommend him!

"Thank you, thank you so much."

The old man quickly thanked her and tried to make his grandson kowtow to Wen He.

But then they saw Li Shimin help them up.

“This is his heartfelt gesture. He is my son-in-law, and this is what he should do.”

"So you are the Imperial Son-in-Law. No wonder you are so valiant. Your Majesty is truly blessed. Thank you for your great kindness and virtue."

The old man was so excited that he wanted to bow again, but Li Shimin had to calm him down for a while.

Wen He rolled her eyes speechlessly. He was clearly doing a good deed, yet Li Er was eager to ask for a favor.

So shameless.

But now is not the time to concern himself with such things. He wanted to see just how bold the local military commanders really were!
"Send someone back to report that Old Xu should summon the entire Hundred Cavalry Squadron," Wen He ordered.

A hundred riders stepped forward to receive the order, mounted their horses, and headed towards Chang'an.

Wen He mounted another hundred riders and led his men toward the commander's mansion.

"Your Majesty has left with a hundred cavalrymen. Are you safe?" Changsun Wuji asked with some concern.

"These are all soldiers of the Great Tang Dynasty. Who would dare to cause trouble?"

Li Shimin snorted and said to the old man, "Those who fight alongside me are all brothers. How about I call you 'brother'?"

The old man was dumbfounded and hurriedly tried to refuse, but Li Shimin forced him to be addressed as "brother".

"Would you be willing to take me to your home for a visit?"

"I would be willing, but my family is poor and I'm afraid I might offend Your Majesty." The old man was both expectant and fearful, afraid of slighting Li Shimin.

The latter laughed dismissively, "It is I who have wronged you, it is you who have suffered."

"His Majesty!"

The old man suddenly let out a wail, unable to contain the grievances in his heart any longer.

Li Shimin comforted him for a while and even gave him his own horse to ride, leaving the old man feeling extremely apprehensive.

Seeing him pick up his grandson again, he was so frightened he almost fell off his horse.

"I originally intended to go to Gejiazhuang to inquire about this year's autumn harvest, expecting to see a vibrant scene, but I never expected it to be like this."

Li Shimin's words left the assembled officials speechless for a moment.

They don't know either.

If I had known, I wouldn't have come today.

Lu Chengqing, in particular, felt that he had suffered an undeserved calamity.

He had only been in office as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of War for two months and was completely unaware of the previous rewards.

Not to mention him, even Li Jing and Jing Junhong hadn't expected that the Ministry of War hadn't issued any pensions for so long.

"I recall that after the Duke of Yun passed away, it was Pharmacist Li who took over the position of Minister of War, right?"

Yuwen Shiji, who was standing next to Xiao Yu, asked in a low voice.

"Li Yaoshi only served as the chief physician for half a month. After the retired emperor abolished the position, he was transferred to the post of inspector of the Yangzhou Grand General's Office. Later, it was taken over by one of Li Jiancheng's men. I remember what his name was again."

Xiao Yu thought for a long time before he remembered that person's name.

"This person has already passed away, hasn't he?" Upon hearing Xiao Yu mention the person's name, Yuwen Shiji also remembered him.

"What's done is done, but the rewards at that time were not flawed; at most, they were just given less. But this time, we've run into His Majesty's blade."

Xiao Yu also had a headache.

His Majesty has only been on the throne for less than half a year, and after his first great victory, this has happened.

He only hoped that the only place where something went wrong was the Commander's Office.

Otherwise, who knows how many people would have lost their heads.

Moreover, the person who organized this event was Wen He.

Everyone in and around Chang'an knows the temper of this man from Gaoyang County; he hates evil as if it were his enemy.

"drive!"

After meeting up with Xu Jingzong, Wen He led a squad of fifty cavalrymen straight to the Commander's Mansion.

He originally intended to take the initiative first.

Unfortunately, he didn't know the direction of the local military headquarters.

"Jiaying, the Commander-in-Chief of the Capital Garrison is the cousin of Duke Huo. Don't act rashly later."

Looking at Wen He's furious expression, Xu Jingzong couldn't help but feel a little worried.

"Duke Huo, who is that?"

Wen He had some recollection of the person, but couldn't quite place who it was.

But who cares about that Duke? It doesn't matter who comes today.

“Princess Pingyang Zhao’s husband is Chai Shao,” Xu Jingzong said helplessly.

"Old Xu, you are a hundred riders."

Wen He looked at him with unusual seriousness.

This is a reminder for him.

The role of the Hundred Riders was to serve as a weapon for Li Shimin.

This knife should be fearless.

Xu Jingzong was taken aback, then couldn't help but smile with a bitter expression.

Wen He's words were telling him that no matter if that person was Chai Shao's cousin or even if he himself came, it wouldn't make any difference.

Outside the Jingzhao Military Commander's Office.

Several ragged people were blocking the entrance.

“My brother died in battle in Huizhou. His men can testify to that. Why do you call him a deserter!”

A middle-aged man with half an arm missing was seen pointing angrily at the person behind the door, his eyes red and his voice hoarse.

His companions were filled with righteous indignation.

"We were promised ten strings of cash as compensation, so why are we only left with one hundred coins? We are not satisfied! We are not satisfied!"

They shouted, gripped their swords, and were about to charge in.

But then a group of soldiers suddenly rushed out from behind the gate, holding spears and confronting them.

"Are you all planning a rebellion?!"

A middle-aged man in bright armor walked out with a frown. He drew his sword and pointed it at the group of people.

"If you dare to take another step forward, kill without mercy!"

Just as the middle-aged man finished speaking, a sudden, loud hoofbeats came from not far away.

As everyone present was still in shock, a horse suddenly appeared in front of the guards, its hooves raised high.

Then a cold shout rang out: "Let's see who dares!"

(End of this chapter)