A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 205 Du Yan's killing intentions return

Luoyang.

Taiwei Mansion.

Wang Shichong wore a thirteen-ring jade belt around his waist and sat upright at the top.

The Internal History Order Wang Shiyun held a yellow silk ribbon and read out the imperial edict.

"The imperial edict appointed Du Yan as the Minister of Personnel and Chief Clerk of the Taiwei Mansion, and Pei Renji as the Minister of Rites and Sima of the Taiwei Mansion.
Shan Xiongxin was appointed Right Assistant General, and Pei Xingyan was appointed Left Assistant General.

Qin Qiong was the Dragon General, Cheng Yaojin was the Huben General, and Luo Shixin was the Eagle General.

Bing Yuanzhen was the Deputy Minister of Huazhou..."

A long list of rewards,

Du Yan, dressed in a purple robe, knelt in the Taiwei Hall and was not too excited.

"Appoint Du Yan, the Minister of Personnel, Grand Marshal, and Chief Clerk, as Duke of Anji County, and posthumously confer the title of Duke of Anfeng County on his father..."

Conferred a title and bestowed it on his father.

But Du Yan remained calm.

Duke of Anji County, he would rather be the Marquis of Xinfeng County, which has a lower title.

It's a pity that this family title was given to a bastard by the second son of the eldest wife. What a shame! The title of Marquis of Xinfeng ended up falling on the head of a bastard born of a maid.
This should have belonged to him.
Wang Shichong's list of honors, rewards and appointments was very long.

He established the Taiwei Mansion and appointed all the high-ranking officials of the central court of Emperor Huangtai in Luoyang as subordinates of his Taiwei Mansion. He also appointed a number of his generals obtained after defeating Li Mi, such as Qin Qiong, Cheng Yaojin, Luo Shixin, Pei Xingyan, Shan Xiongxin, Bing Yuanzhen and other generals, as generals and general managers, and appointed them to work part-time in his Taiwei Mansion.

All the civil and military officials of the Luoyang central court became officials of Wang Shichong's Taiwei Mansion.

As Wang Shichong's confidant, Du Yan naturally received very good rewards.

After the meeting, Wang Shichong gave a banquet.

After defeating Li Mi, the Luoyang court also seized most of Henan, although Wang Shichong personally led his troops to attack Guzhou last time and returned without success.

But now the situation in Luoyang has improved significantly.
At least the food famine problem was temporarily solved, and palace banquets became luxurious again.

There are hot dishes, cold dishes, and even many dishes for guests to enjoy.

There was also fine wine at the banquet,
There are glutinous rice wine, millet wine, Gaochang wine from the Western Regions, Persian Sanle juice, and the persimmon wine from Guanzhong which is said to be quite famous now.

Seeing the burnt persimmons, Du Yan became even more furious.

This persimmon wine is brewed by his son-in-law Li Yi.
Li Yi,
This damned scoundrel, a country bumpkin, and a scoundrel, actually tricked his beloved daughter, Shi Niang, away.

Sikong and Nayan Duan Da saw Du Yan staring at the burning persimmons,
Smiling, he picked up the bottle, opened it, and poured a glass for Du Yan. "This persimmon liquor tastes very good. I heard it was made by Mr. Du's son-in-law. Congratulations to Mr. Du for finding a good son-in-law. It's a pity that he serves in Chang'an.
Otherwise, if he were in Luoyang, with his talent, he would at least be a secretary, attendant, or other important positions.

He did well in both the Three Character Classic and the Disciple Rules.”

Du Yan looked at Duan Da who was trying to show his goodwill, but he was just disdainful in his heart. This guy was eight feet tall, had a beautiful beard, and was once a general who was good at riding and shooting.

But now that I am old, I am as timid as a mouse.

Previously, Yuan Wendu, Lu Chu, Huangfu Wuyi and others planned with him to get rid of Wang Shichong, but this cowardly guy turned around and informed Wang Shichong.

Fortunately, he was once Yang Guang's confidant and one of the seven nobles who supported Emperor Huangtai.

He became more and more cowardly as he got older. When he was young, he was invincible after having been on the battlefield for many years. However, when he got old, he couldn't even defeat the bandits. He was repeatedly defeated by the peasant army led by Zhang Jincheng, and was called Duan Lao.

He had previously led troops to fight against Li Mi, but also fled in the face of the enemy.

But such a person is now appointed as the Sikong, one of the Three Dukes, and the Nanyi, the highest rank among the Prime Ministers, and is also granted the title of Duke of Chen.

Duan Da was still chattering there, praising Du Yan for having a good son-in-law, but he didn't know that he was hitting the wrong horse.

Persimmons are very hot.

Du Yan and Duan Da drank a few glasses and were actually a little drunk.

On the carriage back home, Du Yan stopped his men.

"Turn around and go to the Dali Temple Prison."

A little drunk and full of irritability, Du Yan came to the Dali Temple prison to see his nephew Du Chuke.

In the dark and cold dungeon,

Like an ice cave,

The jailer knocked on the cell door to wake Du Chuke up.

Du Chuke groped his way up from a pile of moldy, damp straw.
I was imprisoned for a long time, with only a bowl of porridge every day.
Du Sanlang was so hungry that his skin and bones were visible, and his face was pale.
He even felt a little unsteady on his feet.

Du Yan waved his hand and asked the jailer and his followers to leave.

The uncle and nephew were left staring at each other across the prison bars.

Du Yan took out a handkerchief and covered his mouth and nose. The smell here was too bad.

The two were silent for a long time.

Du Yan said sarcastically, "Your good second brother doesn't seem to care about your life or death."

Du Chuke just stood there and looked at him straight.

Seeing him like this, Du Yan had a lot to say, but in the end he just shook his head and turned away.

When we got outside,

He told the jailer,
"Give him a quilt, one extra meal a day, and a steamed bun for each meal."

"The New Year is coming soon. Give him a pot of wine and two pounds of mutton during the New Year." After leaving the Dali Temple prison, he got on the carriage and went home.
Du Yan's thoughts were in turmoil.

That nephew Du Ruhui was indeed quite capable. He used his mother to threaten him and even ruined the reputation of Du Yan and his mother, Madam Guo, in Chang'an.
I really underestimated him before.

Back home,
His wife, Guo, came forward to greet him.
"My dear, Shi Niang sent two large carts of New Year gifts to us. There is sweet-scented osmanthus rice from Yushuchuan, homemade persimmon cakes, bean curd sheets and bean curd paste, cured meat and fish, and live geese, chickens and ducks." Mrs. Guo looked very happy.

Although she is far away in Luoyang, her daughter still cares about her.

I didn't even become estranged from my parents because of what happened before.

Du Yan's face remained cold. "Just a little bit of money, and you're going to forgive her? I won't forgive her. She didn't even ask her parents about her marriage, but listened to Du Ruhui's arrangements. I won't acknowledge it at all.
Nor will I recognize her as my daughter or her so-called husband."

Guo sighed, "My dear, it's too late to undo what has happened. Shi Niang is the flesh and blood of my ten months of pregnancy. It's our fault that we left her in Fanchuan. If we had brought her to Luoyang, we wouldn't have had these troubles.

Now that she's married, whether it's a good marriage or a bad one, what's the point of us saying more?"

Du Yan blushed and said angrily, "Marriage is a matter of great importance. It is decided by the parents and the matchmaker. How can one decide for oneself? Married? Even if married, one should get a divorce."

Du Yan went into the study alone in anger.

Still very angry.

Thinking of my daughter Shi Niang, who was lovely and filial from birth to adulthood, she now secretly married a man her parents did not approve of.

Du Yan wished he could immediately pick up his sword and go to Chang'an to kill the dog slave.

But there was nothing he could do except sulk.

Even though he is now the Minister of Personnel and the Duke of Anji County in the Luoyang court, Li Yi is the Director of Fengyi Palace and the Earl of Qianshui County in Chang'an of Li Tang. That dog slave is even included in the clan registration.

He also didn't expect that Li Yi would be the great-grandson of Li Jing and the son of Li Zhi.

But even if he was born in the Duke Hua's mansion, he was just an illegitimate child after all, and he still would not agree to his daughter marrying him.

The assassins have been sent.
But if there is no result, it must be a failure.

Now the old lady is in Du Ruhui's hands again, and Du Yan is even more out of reach of Li Yi.

Cursing Li Yi with gnashing teeth, Du Yan decided to spend a large sum of money to send someone to assassinate Li Yi. As long as he died, even if his daughter became a widow, with the status of the Jingzhao Du family, he could still find her a husband from a prominent family.

Du Yan could find any of the six surnames in Guanzhong and the five surnames and seven clans in Shandong if he wanted to.

······
Chang'an,

Gao Er and more than a dozen others were beaten half to death and hung up all night. The next morning, the green-hatted Xin County Magistrate sent people to take them back.

This case is very simple. Wannian County charged two crimes: fraud and loan sharking. Anyway, there are witnesses and physical evidence.

The Tang Dynasty Code defined fraud as deceit and deception as sorcery. Forging imperial seals, forging official documents and seals, and forging official documents were serious offenses, punishable by death, hanging, or exile. Defrauding public or private property was treated as theft, with a maximum penalty of exile of 3,000 miles.

As for usury, the punishment was based on the consequences. For example, if the debtor went bankrupt, the penalty was one year in prison. If the debtor fled, the penalty was one and a half years. If the debtor committed suicide, the penalty was one and a half years in prison and a fine of one thousand coins. Furthermore, interest exceeding double the principal was not recognized.

"Wannian County transferred the case to the Yongzhou government office. Yongzhou sentenced Gao Er to exile for 3,000 miles. His accomplices were also sentenced to exile and imprisonment respectively."

After the local county magistrate has tried a case, if he is not qualified to directly sentence the person to exile or death, he must report it to the state, and then the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice will make the final decision.

But Yongzhou is very special. It has great judicial power and independent judicial authority. It is not subject to the usual appeal procedures. As long as the case is clear and there is no doubt about it, it can be tried directly and even, if necessary, a death sentence can be made on the spot.

Flowing three thousand miles,

This is the earliest sentencing.

But Li Yi didn't sympathize with him either.

But in the afternoon,

Li Yi received new news again.

After Emperor Li Yuan learned about this case, he actually issued an order to kill him.

It's not just Gao Er alone, but Gao Er's gang that Li Yi and his men captured last night, a total of thirteen people, and the emperor wants to kill them all.

This is a bit too much.

Although severe punishments were used in troubled times, Li Yi had no objection to killing Gao Er alone, but he killed all thirteen people, including a Gaojiabao villager who had received some bribes to help spread the news.

After all, these people were captured by Li Yi. If they were all killed, Li Yi would feel guilty, especially the village guard who was the one who released the information. His crime did not deserve the death penalty.

He returned to his study, immediately wrote a letter of remonstration, and then rode to Chang'an to submit it.

Li Yuan soon saw Li Yi's letter of remonstration.

"The law is what the king and the world share. If the law is shaken, people will be at a loss. Your Majesty has just established a great cause, how can you abandon the law?"

Li Yuan looked at it and stroked his beard, "It was Li Yi who captured the man himself, and now he comes to beg for mercy."

The emperor threw his letter of remonstration into a basket that was already piled with such memorials of advice.

Prime Minister Xiao Yu and Chen Shuda also made suggestions and admonishments.

There were also the Imperial Censor Sun Fujia and the Supervisory Censor Li Suli who wrote a ten-thousand-word letter to strongly advise against it.

"Among so many letters of remonstration, only Sun Fujia, Li Suli, and Li Yi made the most sense and deserve a reward."

"Sun Fujia was promoted to the rank of Junior Secretary of the Dali Temple, and Li Suli was promoted to the rank of Assistant Censor, from the rank of Senior Censor."

"As for Li Yi, his position will be increased by one level."

"Those of the second rank can be spared execution, but will be exiled three thousand miles to Jiannan."

(End of this chapter)