Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 93 Who doesn't have a spy?

"See, I'm so stingy." Li Ming pouted angrily.

He has already seized the financial and military power of Pingzhou and Yingzhou.

But Li Shimin was always reluctant to give up the more critical personnel power.

This is very troublesome because people are the key to everything.

Without the assistance of trusted aides, it would have been difficult for Li Ming to achieve full control over the Liaodong military garrison.

This was not conducive to the big plan he had in mind and was about to embark on.

And he also had a lot of reasons to stand on the emperor's side.

If even the officials let the Jiedushi accept their fate, then the imperial court will really have no control over the Liaodong military garrison.

Although Li Shimin was obsessed with the feudal system, he did not want to divide it so thoroughly.

Wow, I didn't expect that although Li Ming is young, he is more antique than his father and is reversing the history of land division.

The power to appoint officials became the focus of the game between father and son.

"It's not that I don't want to give it to you. Haven't I given you all the other military and political powers?" Li Shimin said earnestly:

"It's really because the officials' acceptance of their fate is a serious matter. It not only affects you and me, but also the local people.

"Have you ever had any experience in governing a region?"

Li Ming was startled:
"Uh... you can have it."

I will have it when I am promoted from a grassroots civil servant to a director in my previous life.

"You yourself have no experience. If you entrust your work to the wrong person, it will cause great harm to the local people!"

Li Shimin seemed to be thinking of himself who let the wolf guard the door, and his attitude was particularly sincere.

Li Ming was speechless for a moment.

"Besides." Li Shimin calmed down and said calmly:
"Leaving Pingzhou aside, Yingzhou is still a vassal state. It has no provincial government, only a general administration office. Except for Liucheng County where the general administration office is located, other areas are managed by the natives themselves.

"Especially in recent years, Goguryeo has been quite restless and has repeatedly provoked. Several counties under Yingzhou are actually under the control of Goguryeo, and some other counties are secretly communicating with Goguryeo.

"Those natives may not be willing to follow me, how can you make them follow you obediently?"

Li Ming patted his chest confidently:
"It's okay. If they don't want to go with me or with my grandfather, then I'll let them go with my grandfather!"

Li Shimin was amused by this fearless kid and pretended to be angry:

"You rebellious son, you are playing a joke on the emperor!"

He beat and kicked Li Ming out of the study.

"Wait, come back."

He grabbed Li Ming who was running out of the palace.

"What's the matter?"

"Come back early in the evening, and your mother can also come to Lizheng Hall, and we can have dinner together."

"Okay!"

"Go."

Like an ordinary father and son, Li Shimin and Li Ming said goodbye.

Looking at the lively figure, Li Shimin's face slowly darkened.

"Liaodong... Was it Hou Junji who gave him this bad idea? Or was it Fang Xuanling? They really should have their salaries deducted." He said to himself.

Li Shimin really couldn't understand Li Ming's motives. What was the difference between this and exiling himself to Liaodong?
Even if more resources are sent there, given the local constraints, what major development can there be?

Do you really want to create another Xuzhou or Yangzhou outside the Great Wall?
You don't want the ready-made Xuzhou and Yangzhou, but you run all the way to the desolate mountains and wilderness. What are you trying to achieve?
"But that guy looks naughty, but he is very shrewd and will not suffer any loss.

“He must have a reason for doing this…

"Could it be that he followed the example of Sun Shuao in the Spring and Autumn Period and deliberately requested to be granted a remote and barren land to avoid being coveted by others?"

The more Li Shimin thought about it, the more he felt that this was the reason, which was consistent with Li Ming's low-key and fearful personality.

However, Li Shimin could now fully understand Li Ming's cowardice.

Li Ming's worries were not groundless, the situation in the palace was indeed very complicated.

We can get a glimpse of this from the changes in Jiucheng Palace.

Although the mastermind of the incident has been brought to justice, there is still a hidden mystery that has not been answered:
How did Ashina Jieshelu, an uneducated Turkic officer, know that realgar wine would be poisonous if heated?

He once thought that this was common knowledge known to everyone in the south of the Yangtze River, but people in Guanzhong just had little knowledge.

But after some investigation, it was found that no one in Li Shimin had noticed, and the southerners were also completely unaware of this "little common sense of life"!

Some of his imperial doctors were from Yangzhou, and they were completely unaware of this!

Southerners are not fools. If they really knew that realgar wine is so dangerous, who would dare to drink it?

The imperial physician would not even dare to use it as medicine and apply it on Your Majesty!

How many heads of the Nine Clans are enough to be chopped off?

Now that I think about it, there may have been quite a few unlucky people who died from poisoning after drinking realgar wine.

But epidemics are rampant in summer, so no one thinks of realgar wine!
“Therefore, Ashina Jieshelu must have had an accomplice who provided him with this information.

"That accomplice is very knowledgeable and knows everything about the palace..."

Li Shimin's heart grew heavier little by little.

What is even more bizarre is that the number of people who participated in the rebellion was not small, but several hundred.

However, the few people who were captured alive were all soldiers who knew nothing and were forced to come along.

And all the officers who might have known some inside information were killed in the battle.

"Or rather, he was silenced..." Li Shimin's heart shuddered.

A group of rebels escaped from Jiucheng Palace, led by Ashina Jieshe's deputy.

Then, all those people were killed by the Tang army that came to support them.

Li Shimin vaguely felt that there was an invisible hand preventing him from finding out the truth about the Jiucheng Palace Incident.

But he also has hidden tricks.

"Pass it to Zhang Liang."

After a while, an ordinary-looking official hurried to the hall and bowed respectfully:
"His Majesty."

Not only does Zhang Liang have an ordinary face, but his position is also the most easily overlooked one, that of the Minister of Works.

Therefore, although he was one of the six ministries of the Shangshu Province, Zhang Liang had always been a transparent person.

Except for the annual summer floods, when people would be reminded of the various dams he supervised, no one would even remember his existence at other times.

This passerby was Li Shimin's absolute confidant.

Because Zhang Liang adopted a group of "adopted sons".

He was called an adopted son, but in fact he was a spy, secretly searching for intelligence for Li Shimin.

Li Shimin handed over to him all the cases that were inconvenient for the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice to investigate.

"I asked you to investigate the Qinzhou Military Governor's Office. How is the progress?" Li Shimin asked straight to the point.

The Turkic rebels who escaped were intercepted and killed by the army of Qinzhou Military Governor's Office.

Zhang Liang reported truthfully:
“No abnormalities have been found yet.

“The Qinzhou Governor’s Office is the closest to Jiucheng Palace. After receiving the scout’s report, we quickly sent troops to support us.

“Because the incident happened suddenly, the frontline soldiers did not receive the order from His Majesty to keep the prisoners alive.

"At that time, the Turkic leader was shot to death by arrows first, and the remaining bandits resisted stubbornly and were all slaughtered."

So this is also an accident... Li Shimin closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then asked:
"Where was Prince Ji at that time?"

Prince Ji Li Shen, then governor of Qinzhou Military Governor's Office, was the nominal supreme commander of that army.

"Your Majesty, Prince Ji has been in his fiefdom and has never left," Zhang Liang replied.

Li Shimin nodded slightly.

Li Shen was only in his early teens, and the position of Governor of Qinzhou was just a nominal one, so it was unlikely that he was plotting any conspiracy.

After all, no one is a little demon like Li Ming...

"Your Majesty, I have found some interesting information about the case of Ashina Jiesheli."

Zhang Liang took out a few letters from his arms.

It was written on parchment. Li Shimin suddenly became excited:
"Secret letter? From the grassland?"

He snatched it from Zhang Liang's hand impatiently and spread it out to take a look.

"…What kind of bird language is this written in?"

"It's in Turkic. This is the translation."

Zhang Liang took out a translation written on a piece of white paper from his arms.

Li Shimin's eyelids twitched.

Wouldn't you present it together?

He began to read, his brows furrowed more and more.

"Is it Xueyantuo?"

Xueyantuo was a khanate established by the nomadic Tiele tribes in the north of the Tang Dynasty, occupying the pastures of the former Eastern Turks.

The leader of the Xueyantuo, Zhenzhu Khan Yinan, nominally submitted to the Tang Dynasty, but was constantly making small moves in secret.

But this time, Yi Nan's actions were not small at all.

These parchment letters are the correspondence between Yi Nan and Ashina Jieshelu.

It was implicitly agreed in the letter that after Ashina Jieshelu "accomplished great things", the Xueyantuo tribe would "give up living space" to Jieshelu's tribe.

"Could it be that Xueyantuo is the mastermind behind this?"

Li Shimin pursed his lips and read the secret report which contained a huge amount of information over and over again.

The forces involved in the case are becoming more and more complicated...

"Just discovering that Ashina Jieshe had correspondence with Xueyantuo does not necessarily prove that Yinan was the mastermind behind everything."

Zhang Liang answered rigorously based on the facts:

"The letter is vague, and I don't know what the 'big event' is, or where the 'living space' is.

"It is very likely that Yi Nan and Ashina are just pretending to be in agreement and can go back on their word at any time."

Li Shimin nodded in agreement.

This kind of two-faced behavior is indeed in line with Yi Nan's capricious character.

The Xueyantuo Khanate should also have been involved in the Jiucheng Palace incident.

However, it is still unknown what specific role he played, whether he was the mastermind or an accomplice.

"It is just as you said. The Xueyantuo's activity area is further north than that of the Turks. How could they know the properties of realgar wine?

"You guys continue to investigate."

"According to the order."

Zhang Liang took the order and withdrew.

Li Shimin slowly stood up and walked to a huge feng shui map.

The place where "Gaochang Kingdom" was originally located was crossed out and "Xizhou" was written with a pen.

After standing for a while, Li Shimin muttered:
"Let's destroy Xueyantuo next year."

…………

After leaving Lizheng Hall, Li Ming went back to his printing house in Xishi.

Under the combined influence of "cash power" and "my father is Li Shimin", today's printing houses have completely changed their appearance.

The Zhang's Bookstore store, which was originally connected to the printing house, and the neighboring shops were bought by the governor. The walls were broken down and transformed into a connected office area.

There was a plaque hanging at the door, with four golden characters:

Changan Newspaper.

The famous, or infamous, Chang'an Express was published here.

This is the first and only newspaper in the entire Tang Dynasty. It is published every three days and covers everything from news to "the unspeakable secrets of the palace maids."

For just one penny, readers can experience the shock of a whole day of chaos and destruction.

When the literati and scholars in Chang'an met and greeted each other, they would always start with a conversation like this:
"Have you read today's Chang'an Express?"

"That stuff is complete crap. Have you seen it?"

"Not even a dog would look at it. By the way, do you know how the maids in the palace take care of their personal needs?"

Amidst the criticism, Chang'an Express became the best-selling publication in Chang'an.

As soon as you open the door of the newspaper office, you are greeted by a busy atmosphere.

Reporters rushed to hand over their first drafts to editors, and the editors gave sharp criticisms of the nonsense first drafts.

The titles of editor and reporter sound impressive, but they are actually Li Ming's old team, with a new name.

A group of clever poor kids, led by Lai Junchen, acted as reporters, collecting interesting news materials everywhere.

The meritorious young men, led by Di Renjie, served as editors and re-edited the first-hand reports and interviews done by the poor children who had just learned to write into content that could be published.

This is just a rough allocation. Changan Express encourages internal personnel to give full play to their strengths and transfer positions with each other.

As there were still some problems with movable type printing and there was a shortage of editorial staff in the initial stage, the Chang'an Express was published every three days.

Even so, the intensity of the work at the newspaper office was beyond the tolerance of children who skipped classes and were illiterate.

Therefore, Li Ming hired several off-field experts at high salaries.

"Your Highness Li Ming..."

Pei Xingjian, an outstanding graduate of Hongwenguan, a primary school teacher in the Secretariat, and the future second-generation Minister of Rites who could convince people with reason, greeted Li Ming weakly.

At this moment, he was sitting on the throne of "Editor-in-Chief" in doubt of his life, and his hair was falling out in clumps at the mountains of manuscripts.

His classmates at the Hongwenguan School also looked confused. In front of their seats were placed half-intelligible labels such as "Editor-in-Chief," "Deputy Editor-in-Chief," and "Senior Editor."

To this day, they still don’t understand the situation.

They are clearly teachers at the Secretariat's primary school, and they are clearly teaching you nobles the ways of sages.

In a blink of an eye, they were abducted by the Jiedushi to this strange place called "newspaper office" and became colleagues with their students without knowing what was going on.

If Li Ming had not taken out the emperor's imperial edict and asked them to transfer to the Chang'an newspaper office on the spot, they would have thought they were going to be kidnapped and taken to Liaodong to become savages.

"You guys go ahead and do your work, I'll find someone." Li Ming didn't bother the editors to lose their hair.

"Mr. Ming is looking for me?" Lai Junchen came up happily.

He now manages a team of "little reporters" composed mainly of children from poor families.

As for their original task of distributing newspapers, it was handed over to a group of cheap laborers newly recruited from the soup kitchens.

The porridge stall has become Li Ming's human resource pool.

"I'll find Di Renjie and Lou Shide and ask them to bring their men to my study."

After giving the instructions, Li Ming went straight into a separate room.

After a while, Di Renjie, Lou Shide and several other children came in one after another.

There is no need to say much about Di Renjie. Although Lou Shide comes from a poor family, his knowledge is far superior to that of many children from aristocratic families. He will also become a general or a prime minister in the future, so his IQ is guaranteed.

The other children, besides being clever kids fished out from the soup kitchen, had one thing in common:

They firmly believed in the weird urban legends about Li Ming at the soup kitchen - such as that throwing sand could prolong life.

"There is an interesting case and I would like you to investigate it in depth." Li Ming went straight to the point.

Di Renjie and Lou Shide looked at each other.

In the past two days, Brother Ming has been intentionally or unintentionally asking them to check some "interesting" things.

Moreover, the inspection results are never published in newspapers, and they are not allowed to tell others about them.

"Go and find out which highly skilled pharmacists or alchemists there are in Chang'an, and whether they have had any contact with palace maids or dignitaries recently."

Lou Shide asked:

"Mr. Ming, how do you tell if a pharmacist has superb skills?"

"Simple."

Li Ming said calmly:
“The pharmacist who knew that heated realgar wine was poisonous before the newspaper published the article is the person I am looking for.

"If you find someone who meets the requirements, don't alarm him yet. I have a plan for the next step."

(End of this chapter)