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

Chapter 654 Execution Can Be Done First and Reported Later

It was getting late.

Li Yuan was still heartbroken on Penglai Island in Haichi.

"His Majesty,"

Consort Zhang and Consort Yin, along with their palace servants, found their way to the island.

Li Yuan hurriedly wiped away his tears with his sleeve under the cover of night.

"Your Majesty, why haven't you returned to the palace yet, it's so late?"

Li Yuan forced a smile, "I came to this island for a stroll earlier, and since there was a gentle breeze, I took a nap. I didn't expect to sleep for so long, and it's already so dark."

"Your Majesty has not eaten yet, you must be hungry. We brought food, and it's all hot."

Several food boxes were placed on the table. When opened, they contained four cold dishes, four hot dishes, as well as pastries, staple foods, and soups, which was quite a feast.

Li Yuan smiled and said, "I'm really hungry. Let's have a meal here on the island while enjoying the lake breeze."

The palace servants hung lanterns, set up curtains, burned incense, and arranged flowers.

Li Yuan picked up the ivory chopsticks; he seemed to have a good appetite.

"Ah, dining here is quite nice. I'm full."

Looking at the still-plenty of food left, Consort Zhang took out a towel to wipe the Emperor's mouth and hands, and said casually, "I heard that the Crown Prince has been staying at Linhu Palace these past few days."

"Hmm." Li Yuan didn't want to say more.

Consort Yin said, "The Crown Prince is, after all, the heir apparent of the country. Although Yang Wengan was once a guard of the Eastern Palace, he has now rebelled, so we cannot hold the Crown Prince responsible."

"Yes, the Crown Prince is kind and generous; Your Majesty should be more understanding."

The two favored concubines chatted back and forth.

“Prince Feng Yuanheng and Prince Zhou Yuanfang are still young and will have to rely on their elder brother in the future. Your Majesty should not be too harsh on the Crown Prince.”

Li Yuan felt the evening breeze.

Two young concubines, one with her arm around his left arm and the other around his right, swayed back and forth, whispering softly.
"Is the Crown Prince really that good?"

“We are just women and do not understand the important military and national affairs outside, but the Crown Prince treats his two younger brothers, Yuan Heng and Yuan Fang, very well, and he is also very polite to us.”

He has always been benevolent and filial to His Majesty; such a crown prince is certainly desirable.

"Where is Erlang?" Li Yuan asked.

"King Qin, everyone says you're a brilliant general, a skilled commander, and a loving father to your soldiers. But you're not so kind to us. When we pacified Luoyang, we went there on imperial orders to obtain His Majesty's decree, requesting some land for our fathers and brothers."

But the King of Qin ignored him completely. Even his subordinates, such as Li Shentong and Changsun Shunde, only recognized the King of Qin's teachings and not the imperial edicts.

Yuanfang and Yuanheng were his half-brothers, but when did the King of Qin ever treat them as his own brothers?

The King of Qin could not even tolerate the King of Qi, who shared the same father and mother, so how could he possibly tolerate Yuan Heng and Yuan Fang?

They don't even care about the two of us. If His Majesty passes away in the future, we, a widow and orphan, will be even more bullied by the King of Qin."

Li Yuan reassured him, "Don't worry, it won't happen."

“When His Majesty was alive, the Prince of Qin ignored us, mother and son. What will happen after His Majesty passes away?” Consort Zhang said.

at night,

Consort Zhang served Li Yuan in bed, using all her skills to make him feel completely comfortable, and took the opportunity to whisper sweet nothings in his ear.

After the morning court session the next day

Li Yuan summoned his ministers to discuss matters. Feng Deyi, observing the emperor's expression, saw that the emperor's mind had changed, so he also changed his tune and said some good things about the crown prince.

They then conveniently shifted the blame onto the officials of the Crown Prince's Palace.

“Wang Gui, the Crown Prince’s Vice Commander, Xue Wanche, the Crown Prince’s Left Guard, Xu Shimo, the Crown Prince’s Attendant, Zhao Hongzhi, the Crown Prince’s Chief Clerk, and Ren Can, the Chief Steward of the Imperial Kitchen, were all officials of the Crown Prince’s Palace who failed to advise the Crown Prince, causing discord among his brothers. They are all guilty.”

Li Yuan also blamed the brothers for their discord.

Having already cleaned up the Qi Prince's residence, it's only natural that the Eastern Palace should be cleaned up as well.

The five people, including Wang Gui, mentioned by Feng Deyi, were all exiled to Xizhou.

The emperor also issued an edict ordering the crown prince to return to the Eastern Palace and reflect on his actions.

The day after the Dragon Boat Festival,
Li Shimin led his army out of the capital to quell Yang Wengan's rebellion.

The emperor personally went to the outskirts of the city to see him off.

This time, the emperor only reminded Prince Qin to be wary of Li Yi of Jingzhou, but did not mention again the matter of making Li Shimin the crown prince after the rebellion was quelled.

Li Shimin didn't pay any attention.
His resolve is now as firm as iron; the emperor's lies can no longer fool him.

“If Li Yi makes any unusual moves, you can act first and report later!” Li Yuan patted Li Shimin’s arm and said, “Even if my own son goes too far, I will still have to tolerate it. But I have the least tolerance for former separatists like Li Yi.”

Taking advantage of the Yang Wengan incident,
Li Yuan intended to completely strip Prince Yan, Li Yi, of his military power and recall him to Chang'an to remain idle. If he dared to hesitate in any way, he would have Prince Qin execute him.

The Prince of Yan, who was granted the imperial surname, was ultimately not a member of the royal Li family.

Li Yuan didn't trust any of these warlords from the end of the Sui Dynasty.

Sending the King of Qin to lead the expedition was not intended to target Yang Wengan; Qian Jiulong was enough to deal with Yang Wengan.

Li Yuan was targeting Li Yi and Prince Chang Le, Li Youliang, intending to use this opportunity to replace them.

In the sweltering summer heat,

Ningzhou

Baijiabao
General Qian Jiulong, the Right Imperial Guard, and Yang Shidao, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, brought their troops to the city gates.

The atmosphere inside the castle was tense.

The soldiers of Qingzhou were under the command of Governor Yang Wengan and Minister of Agriculture Yuwen Ying. They were ordered to raise troops to go to the capital to defend the emperor and to quell the rebellion of the Prince of Qin.

But now,

But the imperial army came to punish them.

One was the Right General of the Imperial Guard, and the other was the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and the emperor's son-in-law.

As for Qian Jiulong, everyone knows that he used to be the emperor's household slave.

This is the emperor's confidant.

The soldiers of Qingzhou were confused.

Who are they?
They rose up to defend the emperor and punish the rebels, so how come they are now the ones being punished as rebels?

A group of generals and officers surrounded Yang Wengan.

"Commander, what exactly is going on?"

Yang Wengan was also flustered when he saw the imperial troops arrive so quickly, but he still tried to remain calm. "These people must have already defected to the Prince of Qin and are plotting a rebellion together!"

But this statement,

Not many people believe it anymore.

Yang Wengan was about to lead his troops out of the city to fight against Qian Jiulong and his men.

But none of the generals and soldiers would obey.

Although the Qingzhou army generals had not yet mutinied, Yang Wengan had already lost all ability to command them. Three days of this collective silence followed.

Prince Li Shimin of Qin led his army to arrive.

Yang Wengan had consistently claimed that Li Yi, the Prince of Yan and Governor of Jingzhou, and Li Youliang, the Prince of Changle and Governor of Liangzhou, had not led their troops south to join forces with the emperor.

Instead, they were met with the rebellious King of Qin whom they were supposed to be attacking.

Accompanying the Prince of Qin was Zhang Jin, the Right Guard General newly appointed by the court as the Inspector General of Jingzhou. He was a colleague and friend of the emperor from the previous dynasty.

And Yuwen Shiji, the Imperial Secretary who was in charge of the Liangzhou Governorship, was the emperor's cousin and the elder brother of Consort Yuwen in the emperor's harem.

Chen Fu, Junior Supervisor of the Palace,

We rode our horses to the foot of Baijiabao.

Introduce yourself

The imperial edict was revealed.

Chen Fu had a loud voice and stood below the city wall, loudly reading the imperial edict aloud to the public.

Yang Wengan rebelled, and the King of Qin was ordered to suppress him.

"That's a forged edict! It's the King of Qin who's plotting rebellion! Fire arrows and kill the one who dares to forge this edict!" Yang Wengan roared.

But on the city wall
The generals on either side of him remained silent.

Li Shimin rode his horse to a point an arrow's throw from the city wall and removed his helmet.

"I am Li Shimin, the Prince of Qin."

Yang Wengan's crime of forging an imperial edict and plotting a rebellion is unforgivable. As for the others who were deceived or coerced into joining the rebellion, they can be treated leniently as long as they return to the fold.

Those who capture Yang Wengan or are the first to open the city gates and surrender will be rewarded!

As soon as Li Shimin finished speaking
The officers and soldiers from Qingzhou on either side of Yang Wengan on the city wall were all staring at him with wolfish eyes.

"Don't be fooled by the traitors."

We have come to the capital to defend the emperor by a secret imperial edict!

Before he could finish speaking,
One of the cavalry generals had already drawn his sword.

With a clang, the sword was drawn horizontally.

This sound immediately spurred the other generals to action.
They all drew their swords.

Yang Wengan shouted, "Are you trying to rebel?"

"It is you who are rebelling,"

A captain lunged forward, and Yang Wengan reached for his sword, but a hand reached out from behind and firmly held his hand down, preventing him from drawing his sword.

Yang Wengan's personal guards hesitated.
The scene was chaotic at one point.

In the blink of an eye, Yang Wengan didn't draw his sword, and his personal guards were still hesitating.

A horizontal knife had already pierced Yang Wengan's waist and abdomen.

Then another knife stabbed from the side.

One cut or two cuts

Three cuts, four cuts

Yang Wengan had been stabbed countless times, blood flowing freely. He collapsed, his gaze searching through the crowd one last time.

It landed on Yuwen Ying.

Minister of Agriculture Yuwen Ying remained in a daze.

Ever since Qian Jiulong and his group appeared three days ago, he knew that things had failed and he was doomed.

He didn't know why Li Yi of Jingzhou hadn't sent troops to join forces.

But he knew that his relationship with Yang Wengan was completely over.

right now,

Upon seeing Li Shimin appear at the city gates,

Looking at the banners fluttering under the blazing summer sun, he knew his fate would be the same as his son, Abao.

Even worse than A Bao, who was secretly killed at a post station on the way to exile, with the official explanation being that he died of illness.

He would inevitably be convicted as a traitor, facing not only death but also the implication of his family.

Looking at Yang Wengan lying in a pool of blood,

Yuwen Ying looked completely numb.

Until a gleaming knife came stabbing towards him, he didn't even try to dodge.

Yuwen Ying fell down.
The gates of Baijiabao were suddenly flung open.

More than 10,000 soldiers from Qingzhou

Holding aloft the heads of Yang Wengan and Yuwen Ying,

They surrendered to the King of Qin.

Without losing a single soldier,
The rebellion was quelled.

Ningzhou and Qingzhou were also recovered.

Prince Yan, Li Yi, led more than ten riders to Qingzhou City to pay homage to Prince Qin and handed over the seal of the Governor of Jingzhou to Zhang Jin.

"The Prince of Yan did not come earlier or later, but only right after Yang Wengan died and Ningqing was pacified."

Changsun Wuji, who was accompanying the army, had no liking for this princeling and directly mocked him.

Li Yi asked, "I wonder how things are in Chang'an?"

Changsun Wuji then asked, "Are you asking if the Crown Prince is alright?"

Li Yi did want to ask this question, but he was in Jingzhou, which was hundreds of miles away from Chang'an, and news wasn't readily available.

He was also startled when he heard that Yang Wengan, the governor of Qingzhou, had raised an army.

Especially when they heard that Yang Wengan was raising troops to defend the emperor by imperial decree, to suppress the rebellious Prince Qin, Li Shimin, and to purge the court of corrupt officials,

While Li Yi was secretly excited, he also had some doubts.

How come he, a princeling, didn't receive any news about such a big event?

These days, he has been waiting in Jingzhou City, holding back his troops.

In the end, he escaped a terrible fate.

However, if the crown prince is deposed, his situation will also be very troublesome.

Li Shimin pulled Li Yi to sit down together, saying, "Although the court had previously summoned the prince to the capital to take up his post, this sudden rebellion in a locality..."
The Prince's decision to remain in Jingzhou to maintain stability is a meritorious act.

"Chang'an City is as usual and very peaceful. Prince Yan, there is no need to worry!"

(End of this chapter)