The immortal of the Tang Dynasty, but the game starts at Xuanwu Gate?

When news of Li Youliang secretly raising assassins and communicating with the Turks reached Chang'an, Li Shimin raised the matter at the court meeting the next day.

"My esteemed ministers, according to reliable sources, Prince Li Youliang of Changle is raising a private army and has close ties with the Eastern Turks on the left and with the Tibetans on the right."

"This matter is...a real headache for me!"

The officials below remained silent. Those who didn't understand the intricacies of the situation had no right to speak, while those who did were perfectly aware of the situation.

What was the identity of Li Youliang, the Prince of Changle?

Royal family members.

Is it something glorious for Li Youliang to secretly raise assassins and communicate with the Turks?

Of course not.

If it's so disgraceful, why did the news spread so quickly in Chang'an yesterday?

Who would believe that Li Shimin didn't instigate this?

Besides, Li Shimin could have discussed it with his trusted ministers and sent someone to handle it immediately. Why did he have to wait until today to discuss it at the court meeting?

There is only one answer, of course.

Li Shimin wanted to kill Li Youliang and even wanted to reduce the power of the princes, but he did not want to be branded as a massacrer of the imperial clan.

What he wanted was not just to deal with the Prince of Changle, but to end the situation where "the border generals were too powerful to control". Therefore, he needed a legitimate title that could be held by the highest moral authority.

Fang Xuanling pondered and said, "I remember that during the Wude era, the Prince of Changle was publicly flogged one hundred times by the Emperor Emeritus for privately killing horse thieves. This undoubtedly shows that even members of the imperial family cannot be above the law of the land."

"Even the emperor is subject to the same laws as the common people."

"Now, the Prince of Changle is suspected of treason for colluding with foreign powers. I implore Your Majesty to immediately remove the Prince of Changle from his post as Governor of Liangzhou and appoint a replacement to stabilize the order in Liangzhou and investigate the case."

Li Shimin nodded slightly: "Xuanling is right. Members of the imperial family cannot be above the law. The emperor is subject to the same laws as commoners."

"Now that it is a fact that Prince Chang Le has been secretly colluding with foreign powers, what do you all think should be done?"

The saying "Emperor shall be subject to the same laws as commoners" is not something to be said casually under normal circumstances, but it couldn't be more appropriate to say it at this moment.

After all, even the emperor is subject to the same laws as commoners, so what right do you, a mere prince, have to interfere?

However, Li Shimin was not satisfied with this proposal. What he wanted was not just to deal with Li Youliang alone, but the entire imperial clan.

In the past, in order to consolidate his power, Emperor Emeritus Li Yuan lavishly enfeoffed members of the imperial clan. The close relatives of the Li Tang dynasty alone had dozens of princes, each with their own fiefdom, military power, and financial power. This severely depleted the national treasury and posed a great threat to imperial power.

If it weren't for various reasons, he would have already decided to weaken the power of the princes!

Du Ruhui and others were fully aware of this.

To this day, no one knows who secretly raised assassins and communicated with the Turks, or how the information became reliable.

In addition, Li Youliang himself is a person who makes people think a lot.

Because Li Youliang was Li Yuan's paternal uncle and Li Shimin's great-uncle, their relationship was already quite distant. Moreover, he was stationed in a border town, held military power, and had a long history of misdeeds.

Isn't this the lowest-cost and most legitimate target for surgery?

Li Shimin refused to talk about his own thoughts, and kept asking them how they viewed it and how they would handle it, wanting them to give a reason.

Du Ruhui cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I believe that Liangzhou is a strategically important border region and should not be taken lightly. The first thing to do now is not to hold the Prince of Changle accountable, but to send someone to Liangzhou to take charge."

"Last year, the Eastern Turks suffered a great loss in the Tang Dynasty. Now they are only in internal strife. But our Tang Dynasty has Luo Yi rebelled before, and now the Prince of Chang Le is secretly communicating with foreign countries. If this is not handled properly, it may threaten the country."

Li Shimin said calmly, "Kemin and Xuanling have similar ideas. In Kemin's opinion, who would be the most suitable to send?"

"I personally recommend Yuwen Shiji, the Grand Secretary," Du Ruhui said immediately.

"Oh?" Li Shimin smiled. "Why?"

Du Ruhui calmly replied, "I recommend the Grand Secretary for two reasons."

"Firstly, the Grand Secretary had previously served as the Governor of Liangzhou, and was familiar with the military and political situation in Hexi and the situation with the Turks, enabling him to quickly take control of the situation."

"Secondly, the Grand Secretary holds a high position and wields great power, which is enough to keep Li Youliang's arrogant and fierce troops in check, preventing them from acting recklessly and avoiding the worst possible outcome."

Li Shimin remained silent, as did Yuwen Shiji, the person involved.

In fact, there was probably a third, unspoken reason why Du Ruhui chose Yuwen Shiji.

Yuwen Shiji was a former official of the Wude era and a former imperial son-in-law, not a direct descendant of the Qin family. Having him conduct the investigation would avoid accusations of the Qin family's new elites persecuting members of the imperial clan.

Moreover, Du Ruhui kept emphasizing that there was no illicit communication with foreign countries and that the border defenses must not be breached, which suddenly escalated the issue to the point of threatening the nation and its people.

After a moment of silence, Li Shimin asked, "Grand Chancellor, if I adopt Kemin's suggestion and send you to Liangzhou to oversee the region, are you confident you can do a good job?"

Yuwen Shiji knew that only he could do this job, so he did not hesitate and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, I am quite familiar with Liangzhou and other places. If Your Majesty trusts me, I am quite confident."

"Alright." Li Shimin nodded, but his tone didn't show much joy. "In that case, after the court session, you shall immediately set off for Liangzhou. You must first stabilize the local military and political situation and absolutely must not incite a mutiny or rebellion."

This result can only be described as barely meeting expectations.

Once Yuwen Shiji arrives in Liangzhou, capturing Li Youliang will make it easy to regain military power and reorganize the border towns.

However, this alone is not enough to deter other princes and nobles in their fiefdoms, nor can it shake the foundation of the enfeoffment system.

Li Shimin glanced at the assembled ministers, understanding the situation perfectly well.

Dealing with the royal family is too sensitive; if one is not careful with their words, it is easy to offend the entire royal family.

No one wanted to be the villain, and Li Shimin didn't want to force his trusted confidants to take the blame.

Just as Li Shimin was about to give up, Chen Huai'an unexpectedly spoke up: "Your Majesty, I have something to say."

Li Shimin was somewhat surprised: "My dear minister, do you have something to report?"

"Your Majesty, that is indeed the case," Chen Huai'an said, bowing. "As the Minister of Revenue, I reviewed the account books of various circuits, prefectures, and counties upon assuming office."

"I have discovered that the accounts of the Liangzhou Governor's Office have been in disarray over the years. Military pay, trade, and salt profits are all collected and disbursed by the government. It is precisely because the Prince of Changle holds financial power that he dares to maintain a private army."

"Of course, it may also be because the salt lake in Hexi was abandoned and the transportation of military rations was difficult, which forced Prince Changle to rely on the private market to raise military supplies, which was also one of the reasons that forced him to take risks."

"The Ministry of Works also needs salt ponds and salt mines for salt production. I suggest that the salt ponds be repaired and state-run warehouses be built in a unified manner."

At this point, Chen Huai'an paused for a moment: "If we can bring all the salt lakes in Hexi under government control, we can immediately start producing salt locally. Part of the salt produced will be used for government production, government approval, and commercial sales, while another part will be used for trade to exchange for horses, cattle, and sheep. All profits will go into the Ministry of Revenue's treasury."

"What does Your Majesty think?"

After hearing Chen Huai'an's words, Li Shimin fell silent for a moment, unsure whether to be happy or angry.

Damn it, this brat is trying to make me suffer again!

"......"