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

Chapter 657 The True Colors Revealed
"The day after tomorrow, Chang He will be on duty at Xuanwu Gate!"

"Then let's proceed the day after tomorrow."

In the Qin Prince's residence at Hongyi Palace, Wei Zheng has come to give a lecture to the Qin Prince today.

In the sweltering summer heat,

The cicadas chirped incessantly.

Princess Consort Changsun presented a handmade locust leaf-shaped cold pottery bowl, along with a specially made ice bowl, making the locust leaf-shaped cold pottery even cooler and tastier.

Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Changsun Wuji, and Gao Shilian also arrived.

The six of them sat under the eaves, enjoying cold pottery while the summer breeze blew and the cicadas chirped.

Time waits for no one.
Li Shimin had already received news from Feng Deyi that Li Yi had entered the capital today, and that after Li Daoxuan and Li Xiaogong also arrived in the capital in a few days, the emperor would announce the enfeoffment.

He will be enfeoffed in Nanning Prefecture in the south, Li Yi will be enfeoffed in Zhen Prefecture in Hainan, and Dao Xuan will be enfeoffed in Yelang in the north.

The emperor broke his promise again. He led troops to quell Yang Wengan's rebellion and summoned Li Yi to court, but the emperor not only failed to honor his promise to make him crown prince,

They didn't even intend to let him stay in the court, nor to send him to Luoyang, but instead completely kicked him to Nanning Prefecture.

That was the territory of the Wuman, a wild land ruled by the Cuan clan for hundreds of years.

Now that things have come to this, we have no choice but to take a gamble.

Gao Shilian said, "How about we cast another divination to see if it's auspicious or inauspicious?"

Wei Zheng really liked the cold pottery made by Princess Changsun with locust leaves; it tasted delicious, especially the ice bowl, which kept the pottery refreshingly icy. However, upon hearing Gao Shilian's words, he put down his chopsticks.
“Gao Gong, your words are completely wrong. Divination is used to resolve difficult matters. What difficulties are there in this matter?”

If a divination reveals an unfavorable result, does that mean we have to stop doing anything?
The arrow is on the string; it must be released.

There's no turning back now that the arrow has been released. This matter has been planned for so long, and it has come to this point step by step. From any perspective, there is no room for hesitation or retreat.

If we wait any longer...

Li Yuan was about to issue an imperial edict in the Golden Palace, bestowing upon Li Shimin the hereditary title of Governor of Nanning Prefecture, and possibly even changing it to the title of Prince of Nanning.

Li Yihui was reassigned as Prince of Linzhen and hereditary Prefect of Zhenzhou, while Li Daoxuan was reassigned as Prince of Yelang and hereditary Prefect of Zhenzhou.

By then,

Everything is too late.

Li Shimin nodded in agreement with Wei Zheng's words.

He quickly finished the cold pottery in the bowl, wiped his mouth, and said, "Xuancheng is right. There's no turning back once the arrow is released. Let's proceed the day after tomorrow."

The plan had been made long ago.
Now all we need to do is follow the plan.

The palace guards of the Crown Prince and the Prince of Qi have been successfully dealt with, and Wang Gui, Xue Wanche, and others have been exiled from the capital.
Chang He will be on duty at Xuanwu Gate the day after tomorrow.
Jing Junhong and Lü Shiheng, two generals of the Imperial Guard, will be stationed outside Xuanwu Gate on duty the day after tomorrow.

"Everything is ready, all we need is the east wind."

Everything is ready; now all that's needed is a fuse to ignite it all.

Success can only be achieved by capturing and controlling the emperor, the crown prince, and the Prince of Qi all at once.

Missing any one of them would be extremely dangerous.

Li Shimin handed his Qin King's seal to Wei Zheng, saying, "Xuancheng, deliver the Qin King's seal to Wuyi. I will enter the palace through the Xuanwu Gate at dawn the day after tomorrow."
"Let Wu Yi carry the Qin King's seal to the imperial city and take control of the Three Departments, Six Ministries, Five Courts, and Nine Directorates."

"Xuancheng, you will go with Wuyi then."

"Xuanling and Ruhui, you two will stay behind to guard the Prince of Qin's residence for me."

Gao Shilian is currently serving as the Chief Administrator of Yongzhou, while the Governor of Yongzhou is concurrently held by Li Shimin, who does not actually manage affairs. The second-in-command, the Prefectural Governor of Yongzhou, is concurrently held by the Chancellor Yang Gongren. Therefore, Gao Shilian, as the Chief Administrator, wields considerable power in the Yongzhou government.

“Uncle, the day after tomorrow morning, open the Yongzhou prison and organize the prisoners to head north straight for Fanglin Gate.”

Fanglin Gate was the closest of the three northern gates of Chang'an to the palace, but it was a gate of the outer city wall and not as important as Xuanwu Gate.

However, the Hongyi Palace where Li Shimin now resides is to the west of the Taiji Palace. The shortest route to enter the Taiji Palace from the Hongyi Palace is through the North Gate, Xuanwu Gate, while the Fanglin Gate is located between the Hongyi Palace and Xuanwu Gate.

Fanglin Gate
It was actually a planned escape route.

If this risky gamble fails, then we must immediately evacuate Chang'an and head to Luoyang, or even Taiyuan in Hedong.

Controlling Fanglin Gate will buy some time for the Prince of Qin's mansion to retreat.

The Yongzhou government office is located in the west of the city, which is close to Fanglin Gate. Taking Fanglin Gate would allow them to reinforce Xuanwu Gate or assist in the defense of Hongyi Palace.

The prisoners in Yongzhou Prison were also a hidden element in this operation.

The prison contained not only prisoners, but also people that Li Shimin had secretly placed there during this period.

"Wuji, along with Yuchi Jingde, Hou Junji, Zhang Gongjin, Liu Shili, Gongsun Wuda, Dugu Yanyun, Du Junchuo, Zheng Rentai, and Li Mengchang, accompanied me into the palace."

"Shubao and Shixin went to the capital to meet Wuyi and immediately took control of the Twelve Guards."

The seasoned and invincible General Tian Ce was calm and decisive at this moment.

Now that the decision has been made, there's no point in hesitating anymore.

Hesitation will defeat.

Li Shimin poured everyone a cup of tea.

Raise your glass,

"I'd like to offer you all a toast with tea instead of wine."

Needless to say,

Everyone's fate was now tied to that of the King of Qin.

In the message sent by Feng Deyi,

The King of Qin will enfeoff Nanning Prefecture, and Li Yi and other members of the King of Qin's faction will also be either enfeoffed in remote and desolate areas or transferred to the frontier.

Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Wei Zheng, and others were all demoted to Lingnan as prefectural magistrates.

Needless to say, Changsun Wuji and Gao Shilian, the King of Qin's brother-in-law and brother-in-law, would be directly demoted to Dunhuang in Shazhou.

Even Qin Shubao, Cheng Yaojin, Yuchi Gong, Luo Shixin, Duan Zhixuan, Zhang Shigui, and other generals of the Qin Prince's mansion would be demoted to outside the capital.

Perhaps in three to five or ten years, when everything has settled down, they can be transferred back, or perhaps they will have to stay and guard the frontier forever.

We've long been bound together by a shared destiny, where one's fortunes are intertwined with the other's.

If great things come true,

Li Shimin will not forget everyone.

After drinking the tea,
Li Shimin produced a memorial.
"Please check carefully again to see if there is anything I have missed."

The memorial was passed from hand to hand among several people.
In fact, this memorial was drafted after much discussion among everyone, and they were all very familiar with its contents. However, the contents of this memorial were somewhat earth-shattering and shocking.

This memorial was presented to the emperor.

Then there really will be no turning back.

"Your Majesty, there is no need to change a single word in this memorial. It can be presented tomorrow."

Li Shimin took the memorial from Wei Zheng and read it again.

evening,

The evening drum has already sounded.

The city gates and ward gates of Chang'an are about to close again.

Pedestrians hurried along the road.

Once the city gates and ward gates are closed, a curfew will be imposed in Chang'an. Anyone still on the street at that time will be in violation of the curfew and will be punished by the Martial Marquis with caning. They may even be thrown into the labor camp, or in serious cases, they may be thrown into Yongzhou Prison or the Martial Marquis Prison.

"There seem to be quite a few people violating curfew lately, what's going on?"

"Yes, I heard that the Yongzhou prison is almost overcrowded now."

"It's probably because of the hot weather that everyone is irritable."

At the street corner, at the Wuhou Shop, two Wuhou on duty stood outside the shop, enjoying the cool air and chatting idly.

"There are also many Turks imprisoned there,"

"Those damned Turks, do they still think they're the same as before? They came to Chang'an with their master, submitting and surrendering. Even if their master appointed them to official positions in Chang'an, they can't act superior to others."
Some sons of Turkic nobles, or even mere servants, dared to act arrogantly and domineeringly in Chang'an. They were either drunk and fighting, engaging in extortionate buying and selling, and even openly harassing respectable women—they were courting death!
These people don't need to be imprisoned at all; they should be directly reduced to slavery and sent to mine coal north of the Wei River.

The people of Chang'an disliked the Turks.

Even the Tang people disliked the Turks.

Over the years, the Turks have invaded every year, causing immense damage to the Tang Dynasty.

Now that the Turks have been defeated, Khan Jieli and many Turkic nobles have come to Chang'an. The court has granted them official positions, but these people still do not know how to restrain themselves.

Wei Zheng rode by on horseback.

Hearing Wu Hou's comments, he simply shook his head and continued on his way.

Arriving at Shengye Ward, there was no need to enter the ward gate. The Prince Dai's Mansion occupied a corner of the ward and even opened its doors directly to the street.

Although Wei Zheng only brought one attendant,
However, the gatekeeper of the Prince's mansion immediately recognized him as Ah Lang's senior brother, Wei Zheng, a fourth-rank official in the court.

No need to announce,

The gatekeeper immediately ordered a servant to escort Wei Zheng to see his master.

When Wei Zheng entered the gate, he saw a group of burly men dressed in military uniforms practicing swordsmanship and spear fighting in the outer courtyard of the Prince's Mansion.

"We'll take action the day after tomorrow."

Wei Zheng took the tea that Li Yi had brewed, took a sip, and said.

"The day after tomorrow, the fourth day of the sixth lunar month?"

"Ah."

Upon hearing this time, Li Yi was momentarily stunned. He didn't know if it was a coincidence or an inevitable historical event.
It's that day again.

It was three years earlier than expected, but it's still June 4th.

Wei Zheng, holding a teacup, asked Li Yi, "Are you really sure that after His Majesty sees the Prince of Qin's memorial, he will summon the prime minister and then have the Crown Prince and the Prince of Qi confront the Prince of Qin face to face?"

"Definitely."

No man can tolerate being cuckolded, especially by his own son.

Li Yi took the Qin King's seal from Wei Zheng and examined the not-so-large gold seal.

June 3rd

After the morning court session, Li Shimin requested an audience with the emperor.
Li Yuan originally did not want to meet him because he could not fulfill the promise he made to Li Shimin before the expedition to establish a crown prince.

However, Li Shimin instructed Lu Kuan to relay a message that this matter was extremely important and confidential, and must be reported to the emperor immediately.

After much hesitation, Li Yuan still sent Li Shimin.

"Your Majesty, please read this memorial first!"

Li Shimin presented a memorial to the emperor.

Li Yuan was somewhat puzzled. He took the memorial with skepticism and opened the book. The more he read, the more shocked he became. His eyes widened like copper bells, and his breathing became rapid.

"Erlang, do you know what you've written?"

“Your Majesty, everything I have written here is true and not mere speculation. The Crown Prince and Prince Qi have been having illicit affairs with Consort Zhang and Consort Yin on more than one or two occasions.”

The truth will eventually come out.
Even your son knows about this matter.

There must have been quite a few people in the palace who knew about this scandal.

Your Majesty can investigate thoroughly and find out the truth. You can also summon the Crown Prince, the Prince of Qi, and Consorts Yin and Zhang to confront them in court.

Your son dares to stand by every word he has said!

Li Yuan was so angry that his vision blurred.

The King of Qin actually accused Crown Prince Jiancheng and Prince Yuanji of having illicit affairs with Consort Yin and Consort Zhang.

Li Yuan knew that there was a small gate connecting the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace and the Taiji Palace, but he had never blocked it.

Yuanji used to live in the Wude Hall, and the backyard of the Wude Hall is still preserved for him.

This means that they do indeed have this opportunity.

But Li Yuan found it hard to accept this fact.

"Erlang, you should know the consequences of daring to falsely accuse and fabricate this matter!"

Li Shimin said, “Your Majesty, the truth cannot be hidden, and falsehood cannot be made true. Jiancheng and Yuanji not only had illicit affairs with the two consorts, but the sons of Consorts Yin and Zhang, Prince Feng Yuanheng and Prince Zhou Yuanfang, are very likely not Your Majesty’s sons.”

"Enough!" Li Yuan shouted angrily, interrupting Li Shimin.

Li Shimin continued, "If Your Majesty does not believe me, then you may invite the prime ministers to hear this case tomorrow. I am willing to confront them in the palace. If this matter is untrue, I am willing to accept any punishment!"

Li Yuan gritted his teeth, "Fine, fine, fine, then let's have a confrontation in court tomorrow!"

"I will personally interrogate this matter tomorrow, so come early."

(End of this chapter)