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

Chapter 214: Revocation of the Imperial Edict of the Guo Family
The sun rises,

It adds a bit of warmth to the New Year in Chang'an after the snow.

East of Pingkangfang, East Market.

Before the market opened at noon, some merchants in the East Market had already gotten up to prepare for business, while others were still resting.

In the backyard of a store near Xifang Gate,
A young man was eating a steaming and fragrant Hu pancake.

The young man was very handsome, but his face was pale and there was a vertical wrinkle between his eyebrows, which made him look prematurely aged. He was wearing a green Taoist robe and a small crossbow was placed on the table in front of him.

I haven't finished eating a sesame pancake yet.
A Sogdian warrior with a high nose, deep eyes, white skin, blue eyes and chestnut curly hair came in.

"Sir, the plot failed. Two people were killed on the spot, one was captured alive, and the remaining six escaped through the canal and have returned to the East Market through the underground canal."

The young man remained calm and continued to eat the half of the Hu pancake.

Two beautiful Persian girls came out from the shadows in the corner. They both had high noses, deep eyes, plump and sexy lips, and tall figures. Such beauties, yet each of them carried two daggers.

"Sir, do you need us to take care of them?"

The young man slowly finished half of the Hu pancake.

He picked up a white silk towel, wiped his already clean hands, and smiled slightly.

"Lushan, didn't you tell me that those nine were warriors you carefully selected, and that they were famous Tuojie warriors from the Western Regions? How is it that nine warriors ambushed us halfway and failed to kill a single one?"

The Sogdian Hu strongman called Lushan stood like an iron tower.
Lushan, in Sogdian language, means brightness.

This Lushan came from the Shi Kingdom in Hezhong. His ancestor was also a prince. Later, he fought for the throne in an internal conflict and fled into exile after his failure. Shi Lushan followed the caravans to travel between the city-states in the Western Regions since he was a child. Later, he followed the caravans to the Central Plains.
The leader of the merchant group he once followed, Sabao, was killed by other Sogdian Sabaos, and Shi Lushan became a masterless warrior.
Later, he joined the young man's father and gained his trust.

"Sir, I personally selected those nine Tuojie. They all come from the nomadic tribes in the river. They are all brave warriors who have survived cage battles. Moreover, each of them has more than ten years of experience as a mercenary warrior and has served under me for more than three years."

"But they failed," the young man picked up the crossbow on the table and wiped it. "Failure is failure,"

"Sir, there are reasons for this. We didn't investigate Li Yi thoroughly beforehand and underestimated him. He has profound Taoist skills. This time, we had a very careful plan and almost succeeded.

Kang Qi shot an arrow at Li Yi, and Mi San rushed over with his stick, just one shot away.
Can,
We didn't expect Li Yi's Five Thunders to be so powerful. Cao Liu and the others who escaped said that they saw from a distance that Li Yi suddenly launched a lightning strike at Mi San from a few steps away.
The light was so bright that it was impossible to see anything.
Then Li Yi rushed towards Mi San and hit Mi San's waist again.
That punch was as powerful as lightning. You know him, a giant as strong as Mi San. He is a fierce man who can carry a camel on his back. His club weighs more than 30 kilograms.

But he couldn't hold out for even one round under Li Yi's lightning technique and fainted immediately."

"And we shouldn't have chosen to start today. Today is the New Year's Day court meeting. There are many nobles and officials in Pingkangfang. They are all attending the morning court at the same time.
Our first strike failed, and Li Jing and his wife, as well as Chu Suiliang and his son, happened to be there, and they intervened to help, which ultimately led to our failure."

The young man looked at the crossbow in his hand.

"Taoism? Lightning magic?" He shook his head. "I don't believe it. If he really had such a skill, how could he be shot by Kang Qi? How could he still be injured and bleeding?"

"Incompetence is incompetence. They feed them well and spend so much money on them, but when they are needed, they are all waste."

Shi Lushan did not make any argument.
But he was very dissatisfied in his heart. This action was planned by this young man.

In fact, he also thought that the time and place were not very good, and it would be best to take action when Li Yi was halfway back to Yusu Township.

It also makes it easier to retreat afterwards.

But this young man is beyond doubt.

"Forget it, failure is failure. As the old saying goes, a thief can be thieves a thousand times, but he can never be on guard against thieves a thousand times. Li Yi got away with it this time, but can he get away with it every time?"

"Fresh breeze, bright moon."

Two Persian beauties stepped forward and asked, "What do you want, sir?"

"The red ram should be roasted by now. Send it to them. They like to drink Li Yi's persimmon liquor, don't they? Send them two jars.

Let them eat and drink well and don’t worry.”

Shi Lushan hesitated for a moment before speaking: "Sir, please give them another chance."

"Lushan, you raise an army for a thousand days and deploy it for a single moment. My father usually feeds them well and even gives each of them a concubine. Isn't it just for this moment?"

"Sir, they are still useful now that they have escaped."

"Don't say any more, Lushan, you disappoint me."

Seeing the young man's face turn cold, Shi Lushan didn't dare to say anything more.

He knew very well that although this young man was young and had lived in a Taoist temple because of his frail health when he was young, and had been practicing at home, he was a cruel and ruthless person.

About a cup of tea time,

The young man took Shi Lushan through a secret underground passage and came to another inn.

In the warehouse at the backyard of the inn,
The freshly roasted red lamb has been cut open.

The two jars of persimmon cakes have been opened.

But no one eats meat or drinks wine,
The six Tuojie warriors who escaped back, these mercenary warriors from the nomadic tribes in the river, never thought that one day they would die in Chang'an, thousands of miles away from home.
Died in an inn in East City,
The one who killed them was the young master who had always treated them very generously and magnanimously.

The young man who usually treated this group of people as brothers was now looking at those who fell to the ground with disdain. In fact, whether they succeeded or not,

Coming back means death.

The poisoned wine had been prepared long ago.

"This red lamb is roasted to perfection, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Come, they don't have the chance to enjoy it, let us eat it." The young man greeted Shi Lushan and two Persian maids.

The six people were poisoned and died miserably. They struggled in agony before dying, and each of them had an extremely hideous expression.

But the young man actually sat here, cutting the roasted whole lamb with a knife and eating it very comfortably.

Even Shi Lushan, the mercenary leader who crawled out of a pile of corpses, was very afraid of the pale-faced young man.

"Don't worry, those people from the imperial court are still blocking Pingkangfang and searching, and they won't be able to find the East Market for a while. We still have time. After eating this roasted whole lamb, it won't be too late to deal with them. When the market opens at noon, we will go to the East Market again.
I haven't been to the East and West Markets of Chang'an for several years. Luoyang has been in a terrible state these past two years. The markets are not interesting at all. Chang'an is still the best."

Eat enough,

The young master wiped the corner of his mouth.

"Li Yi, Li Yi, you're awesome this time. I failed."

"Next time, can you still hide?"

"Pack it up properly, leave some things related to the Wei family, and lead Li Yuan's henchmen to Wei Ting."

He thought that what he did was so secret that the government officials could not trace him back.

But he didn't know that when he was about to put the blame on the Wei family and make Wei Ting the scapegoat, Li Yi had already exposed Du Yan.

······
After the grand meeting,
The regular palace banquet lasted from the afternoon till the evening.

Li Yi asked the imperial physician for some painkiller pills, which greatly relieved the pain of the wound.

In the music,
The emperor summoned Du Ruhui, a man from Jianping County,

Then he called Li Yi forward.

The two men came before the emperor, and Li Yuan gave them wine.

Du Ruhui didn't know that Li Yi had been assassinated, and he didn't know that the Du family had been in great trouble.

When the palace eunuch Lu Kuan reported the information to Du Ruhui, Du Ruhui was also shocked and his eyes almost popped out.

"Your Majesty, I really don't know."

"Well, I also believe that you have no connection with Du Yan. After all, he killed your brother and imprisoned your younger brother."

"I asked you to come here because you are now the head of the Fengxiang Marquisate. I would like to inform you that from this moment on, all the assets of Guo, Du Yan, and Du Rui will be transferred to Li Yi.
I consider that Mrs. Guo is old, so I allow you to take her back and offer her as a sacrifice."

The people in Fengxiang Marquisate lived together and owned the property in common, but each person also had some private property. In addition, before Du Ruhui's grandfather passed away, he left a will, dividing the property among his sons in advance.

This advance division of property does not violate the court's regulations that grandparents and parents are not allowed to have separate registrations or property. In name, it is still the common property of the family and will only become personal property when the family is actually divided.

However, in order to prevent future disputes, some large families would divide their property in advance and invite the elders of the family and the maternal uncles of the sons to witness it.

A document will also be drawn up to serve as proof in the future.

Du Ruhui's grandfather and parents were all dead, but his grandmother was still alive, so the family had never been divided, but it had been planned long ago.

Now, Li Yuan said in one word that he would confiscate the property of Guo, Du Yan and Du Rui, and give it all to Li Yi.

Of course, it was only limited to Guanlong, Hedong, Shannan and other places, and the property in Luoyang and other places that Li Tang had not yet controlled could not be confiscated.

"Your Majesty, the matter has not been fully investigated yet. Please do not draw any conclusions yet. Even if it is found out that it was really Lord Du who did it, I cannot take the Du family's property."

Li Yuan said: "The court confiscated their property, which is government property. If I give it to you, what does it have to do with the Du family?"

"Du Ruhui,"

"The minister is here."

"Ms. Guo also came to the palace to pay her respects to the Imperial Concubine today. I have already sent someone to inquire about her. After the inquiry, they will be sent to the palace gates. You will take them back."

"The minister obeys the order."

Li Yuan was also willing to actively win over many prominent families such as Wei, Du, Yang, Pei, Xue, Liu, Cui, Lu, Zheng, Wang, Li, and Xiao, but some of them were stubborn and unyielding.
If he is determined to go against the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan will not be polite.

Du Yan was the kind of person who was ungrateful and was determined to oppose the Tang Dynasty. It was understandable that they served different masters in Luoyang, but they had to leave a way out when doing things. The actions of people like Du Yan had already touched Li Yuan's bottom line.

Especially this time, an ambush and assassination was carried out openly in Chang'an City on New Year's Day. This is absolutely intolerable.

This guy had killed more than a dozen officials and generals who wanted to surrender to the Tang Dynasty or were traitors to the Tang Dynasty in Luoyang. Li Yuan had already remembered him.

There is also Du Ruhui in the Fengxiang County Marquisate of the Jingzhao Du family. In addition, there are several other branches of the Du family, such as the Yixing County Duke's Mansion and the Changguang County Duke's Mansion. We can punish and suppress the Du Yan branch and then win over the others.

(End of this chapter)