Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 88: Changsun Wuji: Yes! That’s how he should be rewarded!

"Quick, follow up!"

Deep in the dense forest outside Jiucheng Palace, the remaining Turkic rebels fled north in panic.

The rainstorm stopped, the dark clouds dispersed, and the sky in the east began to turn pale.

After a night of fierce fighting, the Tang army finally took the initiative in Jiucheng Palace and eliminated all organized resistance.

The remaining rebels, led by Chulasher, seized several war horses and fled northward.

"Ye Hu, there is a river ahead!" the scout reported.

Chulasher's tense expression relaxed:

"That should be the Jing River. As long as we cross the Jing River, the road to Lingzhou will be flat and no one can stop us from returning to the grassland!"

Everyone was excited and urged their horses to speed up.

However, when the defeated troops arrived at the river, what was waiting for them was not a ferry.

Instead, it was a row of heavy cavalry in strict formation.

"Why would the Tang army set up an ambush in this place?!"

Chulasher was greatly shocked.

However, when he saw the appearance of the leader on the opposite side, his expression immediately changed from surprise to surprise:

"So it's you, you're here to pick us up..."

Before he finished speaking, there was a sound of breaking air.

An arrow shot accurately into Solasher's mouth, making him unable to make any sound.

Arrows rained down, leaving no one alive.

…………

Mid-August.

The humiliating rebellion of the imperial guards at Jiucheng Palace has completely fermented and has become the biggest topic in Chang'an City and even the whole country in the past two days.

This first imperial palace of the Tang Dynasty, built in the Sui Dynasty, was burned down to ruins.

If it weren't for the timely rain, it would not be much better than the Afang Palace.

Not only the buildings, but also the most elite imperial guards, as well as the eunuchs and palace maids of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, suffered huge losses.

The left and right gate guards among the Sixteen Guards were on the verge of disintegration.

Such a big mess happened in the center of the empire, and the base was almost stolen. It really lived up to the famous saying:

The world is just one giant makeshift team.

The usually straightforward ministers of the Zhenguan period said bluntly that since even the imperial guards had rebelled, the Tang Dynasty was doomed.

On the other hand, Datang discovered a group of talents through this incident and became the earliest team to prepare for the next season.

For example, Li Daozon, a great general from the royal family who commanded the situation calmly in the face of disaster, and Wei Daijia, a loyal and promising young man from the aristocratic family.

The most dazzling leader among these talented people was naturally the fourteenth prince Li Ming, who discovered the conspiracy of Ashina Jieshe to lead a rebellion, rushed 300 miles to report it in time, rescued the emperor twice and saved the lives of all royal family members, and by the way solved the unsolved case of Li Xiaogong.

After the incident, it is time to reward people according to their merits and conduct investigations and accountability.

Among the heroes of Jiucheng Palace evaluated by the government and the public, Li Ming undoubtedly won the first place.

The government and the opposition were able to reach such a consensus because Li Ming grasped the two most important aspects at the same time.

The emperor and the people.

Just after cleaning up the mess, Li Ming and his group hurriedly ended their summer vacation and returned to Chang'an the next morning.

The leaflet offensive that Chang'an citizens are so familiar with is back.

Of course, the content of the leaflet certainly does not directly publicize Comrade Li Ming’s great achievements.

Otherwise, the "Xiao Yi Law" of one fan is worth ten haters will be applied to him.

Early in the morning, the citizens of Chang'an received a sensational message:
《Shocking! This common summer drink is actually poisonous? This treatment is worse than arsenic, even the emperor is not immune...》

Concerned about their own safety and curious about something new, the citizens read the latest leaflets without any precautions.

And Li Ming's various great achievements invaded everyone's brain in this very cunning way.

Appointed by His Majesty, unanimously approved by the imperial court, and the most popular among the people.

Li Ming has fully gained momentum.

Lizheng Hall, study.

Li Shimin and Zhangsun Wuji were discussing some of the aftermath of the Jiucheng Palace incident. They first agreed on their statements and would discuss it with the ministers at the grand court meeting tomorrow.

This matter can only be discussed with my eyewitness and elder brother-in-law, Changsun Wuji.

There is no need to bother Fang Xuanling and other civil servants.

Want face.

"Have all the spies of Ashina Jieshe in the palace been identified?" Li Shimin looked displeased.

The rebellion among the imperial guards was due to his poor selection of personnel, so he just endured it.

But there were also rebellious colleagues among the palace people, which shows that the selection and examination of personnel in the entire Ministry of Internal Affairs was not strict. This is a clear institutional problem and cannot be tolerated.

Adding something to the medicine today and shit in the food tomorrow, who can stand this?
"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Internal Affairs have investigated all the eunuchs and maids in the palace one by one, focusing on the Turkic people among them."

Zhang Sun Wuji reported with ease:

“We seized a maid from the Shang Pharmacy. She was the one who put your Majesty’s realgar wine on the stove to heat it, causing your Majesty to be poisoned.

"After investigation, it was found that she was not one of Ashina's gang members. She just accepted his bribe and heated up the wine as instructed, thinking that it was no big deal."

Li Shimin frowned:

"You tampered with my medicine without permission, and this is not a big deal? Didn't anyone find out?"

The work processes of Shangshi Bureau and Shangyao Bureau are both very complicated.

When one person cooks or makes medicine, the whole process needs to be monitored by the imperial guards and palace servants to prevent anyone from "adding ingredients" into the mixture.

The palace maid secretly heated the medicine, so why didn't the people who were monitoring her stop her in time?

"It was probably because the realgar wine she prepared was for external use and not for oral consumption, and it was only heated without adding anything else.

"So maybe the guards were slacking off."

Li Shimin stroked his beard and thought for a moment, his eyes sharp:

"The guarding of the forbidden areas of the Imperial Palace should be responsible for every detail. The eunuchs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the junior eunuchs at all levels should be responsible..." At this point, Li Shimin remembered.

The eunuch from the Ministry of Internal Affairs was his close companion, who risked his life to alert him on the day of the incident.

Li Shimin closed his eyes and softened his tone:
"Considering that this is his first offense, the Junior Supervisor of the Ministry of Internal Affairs shall be fined half a year's salary.

"That maid accepted bribes, causing me and the crown prince to be poisoned and in danger. Considering her ignorance, she shall be... caned fifty times and exiled to Danzhou."

Your Majesty's treatment of the regicide was too merciful... Changsun Wuji muttered in his heart and replied:
"good."

"What about the remaining bandits who were captured alive? What did you find out from them?" Li Shimin asked.

He instinctively felt that there must be someone behind the Ashina Society case.

Because a Turkic man who was uneducated and had only surrendered to the Tang Dynasty ten years ago had never been to any place further south than Chang'an in his life.

How did he know the customs of the southerners and that heated realgar wine is poisonous?

Even people in Guanzhong don’t know!
Could it be that the guy is a hidden genius in making medicine?

There must be a military strategist giving him advice!
Having said this, Changsun Wuji's expression also dimmed a little.

"No. The senior officers were either killed or committed suicide. The minions who were captured alive knew nothing. Most of them were brainless people who followed blindly."

The clue to catching the big fish has been cut off... Li Shimin frowned in distress.

Originally, a small group of rebels successfully escaped from Jiucheng Palace during the chaos. The leader, Chulasher, was the adjutant of the association leader and should have known something.

However, the remaining bandits were intercepted by the Qinzhou Military Governor's Office troops who came to help suppress them at the bank of the Jing River and all of them were killed.

For this reason, Li Shimin also wrote a letter to reprimand Li Shen, the governor of Qinzhou.

He was the tenth prince born to him and Concubine Wei, Li Shen, who served as Prince Ji but was unable to flatter the emperor.

"What about checking for other hidden dangers?" Li Shimin asked.

Zhang Sun Wuji answered fluently:

"We are currently conducting a strict review of the Turkic people in the army. We have found that some Turkic people, like these rebels, have long been unaccustomed to life in Han areas and are eager to return to the steppes."

Alas... Li Shimin sighed silently.

"My original intention is to treat all people in the world as my subjects, whether they are Turks, Qiangs, Buyeo, or Shiwei, all can be used by me and can live in harmony with me." (The barbarians are also human beings, and their feelings are no different from those of the Chinese... If virtue and grace are widespread, the four barbarians can be made like one family)
"But I didn't expect that it was a bit wishful thinking..."

Chang Sun Wuji stroked his chin and said:
"There are too many Turks living in the Central Plains. Changes are inevitable over time. How about moving them all to Lingnan?"

Li Shimin rolled his eyes at him:
"If you let the northerners go to Lingnan, you might as well just kill them. But..."

Zhang Sun Wuji's idea inspired his thinking:

"We can move the Turks to the north of the Great Wall, set up camps in Fengzhou and Xiazhou, guard the northern defense line, and monitor the Xueyantuo."

Xueyantuo was a tribal khanate formed by the Tiele tribes that populated the former Eastern Turkic territory after the demise of the Eastern Turkic Khanate. It had always been lip service to the Tang Dynasty.

"Your Majesty, this is a brilliant idea." Changsun Wuji praised his brother-in-law's brilliant idea.

It not only eliminated the hidden dangers in the core area of ​​the Central Plains, but also consolidated the northern border, and made the Turks and Xueyantuo suspicious and hostile to each other, vying for "favor" from the Tang Dynasty for support.

One step to revitalize the overall situation.

"Except for the Turkic traitor, I'll have to trouble you to advise me on the aftermath of other people." Li Shimin said.

Zhang Sun Wuji pretended to be stupid and said:

"The pensions for the soldiers and palace servants have been distributed generously, and all the meritorious officials have also been rewarded and promoted..."

"I'm not talking about Li Daozon and Wei Daijia, but Li Ming." Li Shimin did not beat around the bush with Zhangsun Wuji and went straight to the point.

Changsun Wuji sighed:

"Your Highness has made such an extraordinary contribution. Your Majesty should give you a reward that is not excessive. I have no right to comment."

Today, Li Ming is on the rise.

No matter how much Changsun Wuji wanted to suppress him, he could only choose to endure it temporarily and deal with it later.

Don't be the bad guy who spoils everyone's fun.

Otherwise, not to mention disobeying the emperor's will, it would also anger colleagues in the court.

He can't even get past the hurdle of public opinion.

You know, the strange little leaflets distributed everywhere on the streets have already infiltrated the Changsun Mansion and quickly spread among the servants.

Under this high-intensity brainwashing, the servants in the mansion all turned their elbows outward and spontaneously stood on Li Ming's side, thinking that this young prince was affectionate and righteous, and had a promising future.

As to whether this matter was related to the little traitor in the family, Changsun Yan, the shrewd Changsun Wuji chose to keep it in the dark for the time being.

Although this strategic ambiguity gave him an extra way out, it also brought him a small trouble.

If Zhangsun Wuji impeached Li Ming at this critical moment.

He also didn't know whether these brainwashed slaves would spit in his food.

"But I'm here to ask you to give your opinion." Li Shimin said frankly to this trusted minister.

This wise ruler knew that a forced melon would not be sweet.

If the enfeoffment of Li Ming was not in line with Changsun Wuji's wishes and he insisted on pushing it through, it would undoubtedly intensify the conflict between the uncle and nephew.

This is something he, as a father and brother-in-law, does not want to see.

Changsun Wuji sighed silently again and said slowly:
"I will always put the country first."

Li Shimin nodded appreciatively and said:

“I have a preliminary idea—

"Li Ming was named the King of Song, with his seat in Pengcheng County, Xuzhou. He was appointed as the governor of Xuzhou, and remotely governed Yangzhou, and served as the Grand Commander of Yangzhou.

"how do you feel?"

One king, two states, plus a grand governor's office, this is a high-end treatment for a prince born out of wedlock, and he can even get close to the treatment of a legitimate son.

In particular, the "Grand Commander of Yangzhou" not only has an important position, being one of the four major military governorships in the Tang Dynasty, but is also a position once held by Li Xiaogong.

The significance of clan inheritance is self-evident.

Changsun Wuji was stunned at first by such generous conditions.

Then, the corners of his mouth slowly curled up, revealing a relaxed smile from the heart:

"Your Majesty's arrangement is very good, and it is worthy of the great achievements made by His Majesty Li Ming."

(End of this chapter)