Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 155 My scheming father

In broad daylight, Li Ming got on the carriage and left quietly, just as he had come quietly.

Today's Liaodong is like a rough mud truck, rushing all the way along its predetermined route.

Li Ming had no intention of stepping on the brakes, and was too lazy to do any welcoming or seeing off, so he just picked up his bag and left.

Wei Daijia served as the governor of the two states and stayed in the local area to preside over the work.

Xue Wanche faithfully obeyed the imperial transfer order received a few months ago and went to Yingzhou Governor's Office to perform his duties, and infiltrated the interior together with Xue Rengui.

In addition, Zhang Sunyan and Fang Yize also volunteered to stay and handle some administrative and financial "clean-up" work.

In fact, he was just looking for a reason to stay in Liaodong.

Because there is always work to do in administration and finance, and it can never be completely finished.

The third of the three little ones - Yuchi Xunyu - returned to Chang'an with Li Ming first, and the task of infiltrating Goguryeo was temporarily handed over to Aunt Wu.

Because Li Ming was planning to reorganize the intelligence agency.

Now, he has a group of spies in Chang'an, using the Chang'an Newspaper as a cover and belonging to the newspaper in terms of "organizational structure".

Another group of spies was in Liaodong, forming their own department, which was part of the "Political Committee" and controlled the Liaodong branch of the Chang'an Newspaper.

This was obviously a stopgap measure, and the organization had to be changed. In front of Yuchi Xunyu, Di Renjie and Lai Junchen, everyone worked together to sort out the functions.

Otherwise, the fight between the two sides will be ugly.

On the way back to Beijing, Hou Junji and Li Ming rode in the same car.

Yuchi Xunyu, the young and unruly man, rode his horse freely outside.

The sun is shining outside the window and people are coming and going on the streets of Liaodong.

Some are farming, some are paving roads, some are doing business... people in Liaodong seem to be always busy and they walk with the wind.

Even the spacious road seemed crowded.

Next to the highway, the construction of a newer, more spacious and more scientifically planned "State Highway" is already underway in full swing.

Including the official and concealed total population of Yingzhou, there were nearly 200,000 people in Liaodong under Li Mingzhi.

It was enough to upgrade him from township-level official to - well, a bigger township-level official.

And these two hundred thousand people have begun to roll up.

We will destroy all of Goguryeo's local industries, making them unable to leave us for even a moment, and then we will be at their mercy, taking whatever we want...

Meow hahahaha!

Li Ming withdrew his gaze from the window with satisfaction and closed his eyes temporarily.

On the one hand, the sunlight outside was too bright, and one needed to adjust one's vision when entering the dark carriage.

On the other hand, he also needed to calm down his excitement.

He was about to leave the bustling Liaodong and return to the deep palace of Chang'an.

From the local military and political leader to the youngest prince in the palace, he needs to complete the role transition as soon as possible.

Li Ming actually wanted to stay in Liaodong like his two friends, and he didn't want to go back to the cramped palace.

Although the Taiji Palace covers a vast area and has a magnificent appearance.

But how can it compare to even a tiny hair in the vast land of our motherland?

What's more, returning to the palace means that he will have to deal with the chaotic palace and political struggles, and face the smiling but treacherous prince and his brothers.

This made him very unhappy.

He couldn't think of any other result from wasting time and energy on such a non-constructive thing.

Or maybe they are too full. They should all experience going to the countryside...

Li Ming gathered his thoughts and looked at Hou Junji and said:

“So, according to Fang Xuanling.

"Wei Zheng mistakenly thought that I was the culprit of the chaos in Liaodong, and my father was reluctant to use force against me, so he died of exhaustion and anger?"

After the postal routes were unblocked, messengers delivered secret letters written by Fang Xuanling one after another.

The main purpose was to introduce to Li Ming what had happened in the court during this period so that he would not be too "irritated".

As for the situation among the people, Di Renjie, a spy from the Chang'an newspaper, had been reporting to him.

Although there is a "time difference" of ten days or half a month, it is better than nothing.

Hou Junji nodded silently:
"That's what Prime Minister Fang wrote in his letter. The imperial coroner found the body correct and he has been buried in his hometown of Julu."

Sigh... Li Ming sighed softly.

Because of their positions, Li Ming had little interaction with this famous official who became famous in later generations.

All I remember is that he was an old man who was serious yet tactful.

However, despite their different positions, this old minister even died while advising the emperor to conquer Liaodong, making him his undoubted political enemy.

But it is undeniable that Wei Zheng's position was always on the side of the Tang Dynasty.

This series of actions were taken out of concern for the country and the people, rather than out of partisanship.

Put yourself in their shoes. If Li Ming stood in the perspective of the court officials at that time, he would have been deceived by the thick fog of war.

He is likely to behave similarly.

Therefore, Li Ming had respect for such a loyal minister.

That is why he was puzzled by Li Shimin's subsequent actions:

“Isn’t there anyone who is responsible for Wei Zheng’s death?”

Although Li Ming had some small tricks such as separatist kingship, deceiving the court, and establishing his own central government.

But fortunately, the misunderstanding was resolved in time.

Not only is there no punishment, there are even rewards.

However, none of the other ministers who believed and spread rumors were punished.

This is a bit abstract.

It seemed that after Wei Zheng's death, everyone acted as if nothing had happened and continued to laugh and joke in the court.

"Prime Minister Fang asked His Majesty about this privately, and His Majesty answered like this."

Hou Junji explained:

“Political affairs are complicated. Is there any court meeting where there aren’t several groups of people holding different opinions and arguing with each other?

"If ministers are punished every time they say something wrong, then there is no need to hold court meetings. Who will dare to speak in the future?"

At first glance, this seems to make sense.

But Li Ming always felt that Li Er was trying to switch concepts here.

It is normal to make suggestions that are right or wrong. As long as the starting point is good, Li Ming will not feel resentful even if he is like Wei Zheng.

But if one has ulterior motives and spreads rumors in the court, it may even lead to vicious party struggles like the one in the late Ming Dynasty.

That should definitely be severely punished.

Just like Huang Taiji, the iron-fisted leader of the Qing Dynasty, when the group of Ming and Qing officials who had surrendered to him showed signs of engaging in factional strife, he decisively gave them a severe beating.

"However, we cannot say that no one suffered the consequences." Hou Junji said with some gloating:
“The Crown Prince and Zhangsun Wuji have obviously fallen out of favor because of this.

"Fang Xuanling said that His Majesty has not spoken to the Crown Prince for several months."

Every time when mentioning the prince in private, Hou Junji would intentionally or unintentionally omit the fixed suffix "Your Highness" to express his disdain.

"Is it because my father has pinned the blame for fabricating the rumor on my…brother?"

Li Ming was also a little unsure whether he should call her "Prince Master" or "Prince Lady".

Hou Junji raised his eyebrows:
"From what you said, the prince is also taking the blame? Isn't he the real mastermind behind this?"

Li Ming pondered for a long time:

"It's hard to say. Your Majesty has been at odds with the Crown Prince for months. Logically, the Crown Prince should have stopped immediately.

"Even if the prince is too angry and refuses to stop, Changsun Wuji is a smart man, he should be able to dissuade him.

"Even Wei Zheng is on the side of the prince. If all this was really planned by the prince, Wei Zheng would have known something about it. Why would he be so angry that he died?"

Hou Junji stopped talking and fell into deep thought.

"But no, according to Fang Xuanling, the doubts gradually subsided only after Chang Sunyan personally went to Chang'an and clarified everything."

"Furthermore..."

Li Ming paused and continued:

“There were early signs of this round of attacks against us.

"When we first set out for Liaodong, people kept slandering you, Wei Daijia and Li Daozong. Even Xue Wanche was implicated and demoted to Yingzhou.

"This unsystematic way of doing things doesn't seem like something Changsun Wuji would do."

According to his personal experience, Changsun Wuji was like a poisonous snake hiding in the dark.

If you don’t make a move, it’s fine. But once you make a move, it will definitely be aimed at the vital point.

For example, the time when he led the Imperial Guards to besiege Lide Hall, and the adoption incident.

And like this time, the court was filled with fake rumors.

Apart from exhausting the emperor's patience and reducing the prince's favorability, it is unlikely to have any effect.

This is obviously not a stupid thing that Changsun Wuji would do.

"You mean, the Crown Prince is not behind the disturbance that the court officials have stirred up against you?" Hou Junji was very suspicious:
“Did they do it on their own initiative?”

"Maybe there is someone else behind this." Li Ming said:

"Behind all the chaos, there are obvious signs of human manipulation. These ministers advanced and retreated in an orderly manner, and it is obvious that they formed an offensive and defensive alliance."

After experiencing more than half a year of hard work in Liaodong and being the top leader for more than half a year.

Li Ming has developed the ability to find clues based on his subordinates' straightforward written reports. Hou Junji: "Who could it be?"

Li Ming: "Whoever benefits the most from this chaos is the real culprit."

Then, Li Ming found that Hou Junji was looking at him straight.

"If it's not my buddy, how could it be me!" Li Ming's mouth twitched.

Hou Junji pointed at Li Ming:

"Because of this incident, you obviously gained the most."

Liaodong was completely subdued from top to bottom. As long as Li Ming dared to shout, the two hundred thousand tigers and wolves in the two states would immediately change their flags and move south fiercely.

Moreover, his actions won him enormous favor from the emperor and brought huge material benefits and institutional conveniences to Liaodong.

The imperial court even changed its strategy specifically for this purpose and did not touch Goguryeo, basically acquiescing to the fact that Goguryeo was the back garden of the Liaodong military garrison.

Even her biological mother, Yang, benefited from it and was promoted twice to become Concubine Yang De, who was on equal footing with Concubine Yin De.

As for this battle, he started from scratch, defeated the larger force with the smaller one, and resisted foreign aggression, which was full of buffs.

This won him huge reputation in the government and the country, and it established his reputation.

Under the aura of war, no one dared to look down on this child anymore. It could be said to be a battle for him to establish his authority as the Jiedushi of Liaodong.

On one side, he gained both fame and fortune, while on the other side, the prince was despised.

Isn’t it obvious who the biggest beneficiary is?

"That was because I was born with extraordinary talent and responded appropriately, which was beyond the calculations of the mastermind behind the scenes."

Li understood Hou Junji at a glance, and felt that the Liaodong double-flowered red stick under his seat took his genius for granted.

"Assuming that I am incompetent and unable to turn the tide, and assuming that everything goes according to the prediction of the mastermind behind the scenes, how will the Liaodong incident go?"

Li Mingshe asked.

Hou Junji folded his arms and slowly began to deduce:
"Liaodong...I'm afraid it will fall completely. We don't know whether we are alive or dead. Even if we can survive until the court rescues us, as a defeated general, we will lose all our face."

"What about the prince?" Li Ming reminded.

"As for the Crown Prince... after everything comes to light, he won't end up well. If serious consequences are caused, I'm afraid it will cause His Majesty's disgust..."

Hou Junji said slowly.

Li Ming took out a pen and paper and drew a simple seesaw-like figure:

"If I suffer, the prince on the other side will also suffer. So who will benefit?"

"Another legitimate prince who has a chance to take the throne..." Hou Junji almost blurted out:

"King Wei, Li Tai? Is he the one who caused such chaos in the court?"

"Judging from the results, he should be the one with the most motivation."

Li Ming wrote Li Tai's name heavily in the middle of the seesaw.

This fat emperor brother who had to travel by sedan chair also had little interaction with Li Ming.

In just a few exchanges, Li Ming could clearly feel that Li Tai always regarded him as a fool:

When everything is fine, use Li Ming to threaten the prince and gain bargaining chips for him to seize the throne.

But Li Ming never responded, as if he didn't exist, letting him gradually fade out of her sight.

“So this time he simply took matters into his own hands, making a big fuss about what happened to me in Liaodong, openly attacking me, but in reality he was attacking the crown prince.

"This time, we even killed two birds with one stone, and got rid of Wei Zheng, a die-hard princeling...

"Really?"

Li Ming wasn't quite sure.

Li Tai also worked in the court for many years. Because he received great favors from the emperor and repeatedly exceeded the rules, a group of speculators in the court also turned to him.

If Li Tai eventually overthrew Li Chengqian and became the crown prince, he would ascend to the throne.

Then these speculators will also be promoted on the spot and become the dragon's followers.

Li Tai had the ability to stir up this turmoil in the court.

"Cen Wenben and Liu Li, Fang Xuanling said, these two people danced the most happily in the court?" Li Ming looked at Hou Junji inquiringly.

Hou Junji introduced:

“Those two are representatives of the Qingliu faction in the court, and they have no obvious inclination among the princes.

"But they are all doctors from the Wei Wang Literature Institute."

Li Tai obtained the emperor's permission to open a literary institute in Chang'an and recruit talented people.

However, joining the Literary Institute does not necessarily mean that both of them are die-hard members of the Wei Wang Party.

Because there are too many PhDs in the Literature Museum, the organization is very loose.

The King of Wei was generous and anyone who was willing to put their name on the list could receive a lecture allowance.

Therefore, famous people all over the world flocked to him, but they did not necessarily lean towards Li Tai on the political spectrum.

"What happened to the two of them in the end?" Li Ming asked.

Hou Junji shrugged his shoulders:

“Nothing serious, not even a month’s salary was fined.

"Zhang Liang has changed his mind and has been appointed as an inspector in Hebei Province."

Although we don't know the specific reason why the Minister of Industry was demoted, everyone can guess it -

Zhang Liang is the head of His Majesty's spies. Naturally, he has to take the blame if the intelligence is wrong.

But this pot was unexpectedly light.

"Hebei Dao includes Liaodong.

"Using Zhang Liang to keep an eye on me... Haha, it's making the best use of his resources."

Li Ming chuckled without smiling.

Zhang Liang obviously doesn't get along with Li Ming's faction.

He had previously reported Hou Junji's conspiracy, and the two had a grudge against each other.

Now, he failed to spread rumors about Li Ming, so he was demoted to a local area.

Dissatisfaction with Li Ming's faction will definitely intensify.

The problem is, on the one hand, Li Shimin was generous to Liaodong, giving whatever was asked for and trying his best to meet any requests, as if he had completely let go.

On the other hand, he recruited a former spy who had a grudge against Li Ming and asked him to keep an eye on this side.

Plus a bunch of court parasites are still in office...

After going around in circles, the problem comes back again.

What exactly does Li Shimin want to do?
Why do I always feel...

"It seems that Father is supporting me while protecting my opponent?

"Is this some kind of political balancing act, two steps forward and one step back, or...

"Could it be...he wants to fight in a ring?"

Li Ming had a bad feeling.

Hou Junji glanced at the young master and revealed the secret information that Fang Xuanling did not know and only he, the Minister of Personnel, knew:

"I heard that Li Shiji and a number of other civil and military officials will soon enter the Jin Palace to serve as assistants to Jin Prince Li Zhi."

Li Ming's eyelids twitched violently.

It’s over, Li Shimin really wants to challenge!

What? Has the emperor changed his mind and decided to let the princes compete for the position?
Or is it still the same old routine, using him and Li Zhi as whetstones to hone the abilities of the true prince?

I can’t figure it out, I can’t figure it out.

The emperor's mind is hard to understand...

Li Ming was puzzled and his eyes unconsciously drifted to the window.

They have entered the territory of Youzhou.

Although it is adjacent to Pingzhou, the atmosphere is completely different.

At the fork in the road, laborers were driving a team of donkey carts, transporting goods slowly and walking opposite them.

Although they are stronger than the people of Liaodong, their clothes are neater and thicker.

But their eyes were dull, their steps were lazy, and there was a sense of relaxation inside and out.

In fact, the situation is similar in other parts of the Tang Dynasty.

Agricultural society is not always tense. During the slack season, it is not that busy.

Only in Liaodong, after being given a shot of chicken blood by Li Ming, a string was tightened from top to bottom and began to roll up wildly.

"Are they... transporting pig iron?" Li Ming muttered.

This group of people were obviously not transporting these strategic materials to Liaodong.

Because Liaodong is now rapidly increasing its production capacity, there are mines everywhere, and iron prices have plummeted, there is no need to import pig iron from the mainland.

Moreover, Liaodong is in the northeast, and this transport team turned at the fork in the road and continued to move northwest.

That is outside the Great Wall, in the direction of the desert.

"Perhaps the court or Youzhou has some arrangements."

Hou Junji was just making small talk and muttered some correct nonsense.

The two of them just glanced at it quickly and put the detail out of their minds.

(End of this chapter)