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

Chapter 668 Secret Mission
night is deep,
The daytime heat has gradually subsided, and a gentle breeze brings a touch of coolness.

I'm so sleepy.

But Li Yi couldn't sleep.

Holding a cup of tea, I sat on the veranda gazing up at the starry sky.

At this moment, there must still be many people who are not asleep.

Slowly sipping the tea,

Standing in the Imperial Palace, the power center of the Tang Dynasty, Li Yi began to contemplate his future.

Not far apart,

East Palace.

The location of the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty
Within a single day, the crown prince changed hands.

In the morning, Crown Prince Li Jiancheng went out and never returned.

In the afternoon, the King of Qin moved into the Eastern Palace.

Li Yi and other ministers were ordered to urge Li Shimin to ascend the throne, but he declined three times before accepting it and becoming the second crown prince of the Tang Dynasty.

At this time, Li Shimin's wives, concubines, and children were still in the Qin Prince's Mansion in Hongyi Palace, while the wives, concubines, and children of the deposed Crown Prince Jiancheng had been moved out of the East Palace and settled in Tongyi Palace in Tongyi Ward.

Li Shimin will stay in the Eastern Palace tonight.

Right there in the Xiande Hall,

Even though it was late at night, the palace was still brightly lit.

On the major case,
Many memorials were displayed.

The Xiande Hall of the Eastern Palace has become the new power center of the Tang Dynasty. All government offices, including the Three Departments, Six Ministries, Nine Temples, Five Directorates, and Twelve Guards, as well as officials such as the prime minister and ministers, and all military and state affairs are handled by the new crown prince.

Suddenly,

Faced with these affairs of the court, Li Shimin was somewhat at a loss as to where to begin.

It's midnight.
He was still working tirelessly, reviewing memorials and making comments.

Although the various departments and officials of the imperial court each had their own duties and rewards.

The three departments had a division of labor: the Secretariat made decisions, the Chancellery reviewed them, and the Ministry of Personnel carried them out.

With over three hundred prefectures in the provinces and hundreds of government offices in the capital, various matters were reported up the chain of command. The six secretaries of the Secretariat, each assigned to one of the six ministries, provided their recommendations. The Vice-Chancellor and the Chancellor of the Secretariat reviewed these recommendations, which were then forwarded to the Chancellery. There, the six supervising secretaries first deliberated on the recommendations, and then the Vice-Chancellor of the Palace Gate and the Attendant-in-Ordinary reviewed them.
For some important matters, the ministers would first discuss them in the Secretariat and reach a consensus.

The memorials presented to the emperor
Basically, the Secretariat had already taken action, and even the Chancellery had reviewed the matter on his behalf; the prime ministers had reached a consensus.

This will undoubtedly make things much easier for him.

However, Li Shimin, who had just taken over these responsibilities, did not find it easy and even struggled to adapt.

He was very serious and careful.
He carefully read and studied every memorial, paying meticulous attention to both the original content and the actions taken by various departments.
This inevitably takes too much time and effort.

When he first encountered these things, he was like a green recruit carrying a spear into battle for the first time, unaccustomed to everything and clumsy in every way.

I watched it until midnight.
I didn't review many, and even after reading many, I hesitated and didn't make a decision for a while.

Instead, it made my eyes blurry and my head spin.

I feel dizzy and lightheaded.

I never imagined that being the crown prince wouldn't be easy.
Being the head of the Tang Dynasty was even more difficult.

The eunuch Zhang Jiunan entered.
"Your Highness, it's late, you should rest."

Li Shimin looked at the eunuch who had been by his side since Taiyuan, and put down his pen.

He said with a wry smile, "Ananda, I never imagined that facing these memorials would be such a headache."

Zhang Anan draped a robe over Li Shimin's shoulders.

"When I first went to the battlefield with Your Highness, I was just as nervous and uneasy."

Li Shimin simply put on his clothes and came out.

After leaving the palace gate, we arrived at the courtyard.

The wind outside is cool and the air is fresh.
My mind suddenly felt much lighter.

Li Shimin strolled through the palace, smiling as he spoke to Zhang Anan, who followed behind him: "I remember when the righteous army first rose up, you accompanied my troops south. That time, when I went to scout ahead of the enemy camp and encountered an ambush, you drew your sword and slashed."

But they are very fierce.

Zhang Anan was originally a eunuch in the Jinyang Palace of the Sui Dynasty.

However, he also participated in the uprising in Jinyang, followed Li Shimin southward, and even charged into battle.
He earned the nickname "Sword Saint" in the army.

Despite Zhang Anan's thin frame, his sword on the battlefield was truly formidable.

“Ananda, you have made great contributions and endured hardship along the way. I feel it is too unfair to you to be merely a palace attendant.”

This is both unfair to your contributions and a disservice to your talent.

I intend to appoint you as Grand Master of the Silver Seal and Purple Ribbon, with the additional title of Pillar of the State, and to bestow upon you the title of General of the Left Palace Guard.

Zhang Anan is currently an attendant in the Inner Palace, holding the rank of Senior Fourth Grade.

Although this rank was not low, it was still that of an inner court official.

The Left Gatekeeper General was not only a third-rank official, but also a court official.

Furthermore, he rose to the rank of high-ranking official in purple robes.

"Your Highness, I am just a eunuch. I am content to serve by your side. How could I possibly be qualified to be the Left Gatekeeper General?"

"No, your achievements, your abilities, and your loyalty are enough to make you the Left Gatekeeper General."

Not only will I grant you a third-rank official position, but I'll also bestow upon you a marquisate!

Zhang Anan declined, but Li Shimin turned around and said, "Qian Jiulong and Fan Shixing are Your Majesty's left and right gatekeepers, and have been in charge of the palace for many years. They were just Your Majesty's servants before."

But they were capable, had military achievements, and were loyal, so His Majesty bestowed upon them the titles of Duke and Grand General.

The position of the gatekeeper general is very important.

The Tang Dynasty had twelve guards and four prefectures, two of which were the Left and Right Gate Guards. Although these two prefectures did not command troops outside the capital, they were responsible for guarding the gates of the capital and the imperial city and verifying tallies, which was very important.

His success this time

In fact, they had also infiltrated the Left and Right Gate Guards. For example, Fan Shixing, the General of the Left Gate Guard, and his father were originally imperial servants and were trusted confidants of the emperor. However, two years ago, Fan Shixing's father, Fan Fang, was involved in a treason case. Fan Fang was killed, and Fan Shixing was stripped of his official rank and title.
Later, Li Shimin summoned him into his army and led him to fight against Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande, allowing him to make new contributions and restoring his official rank and title. As a result, Fan Shixing became a loyal follower of Li Shimin.

When Li Yi entered the capital today, Fan Shixing was very cooperative and assisted him.

Now Li Shimin has successfully seized the throne.
He will definitely plug those loopholes, and he will definitely place his most trusted people in such important positions as gatekeepers.

Zhang Anan, though a eunuch, was both capable and loyal, which greatly pleased Li Shimin.

With the titles of Grand Master of the Palace, Pillar of State, and General of the Left Imperial Guard, plus the honor of being ennobled as a marquis, Zhang Anan knelt down in gratitude.

Although he was just a eunuch
Eunuchs also yearn to achieve great things, to be ennobled, and to have their names recorded in history.

"Get up," Li Shimin said, pulling him up and then giving him a task.

After Zhang Anan takes office as the Left Gatekeeper General, he will be specifically responsible for guarding the gates of Taiji Palace.

"His Majesty's safety is of utmost importance and must not be compromised!"

"I understand."

"There is one thing you have done for me: Consort Zhang and Consort Yin are colluding with Jiancheng and Yuanji to bewitch the Emperor. They must not be allowed to stay by His Majesty's side any longer and cause him harm."

Zhang Anan nodded.

Consorts Zhang and Yin were the emperor's favorite concubines and each gave birth to a prince. However, they were always on good terms with the deposed crown prince and helped him plot against the Prince of Qin.

Now it is only natural to settle scores with the two concubines.

···
After midnight,
In the Taiji Palace,

Emperor Li Yuan was still wide awake, lying on his imperial couch with his eyes wide open in a daze.

He still can't figure it out.
He himself was the founding emperor of the mighty Tang Dynasty.
He reigned as emperor for six years.
One day,
Even with only half a morning,
He was then overthrown by his second son in a coup.

This mutiny was so sudden and so swift.

He once thought that no matter how capable or brave Erlang was in Chang'an, he only had a few hundred guards left and couldn't cause any trouble.

Who would have thought,
Silently

He became Erlang's prisoner.

This was a near-perfect decapitation strike.

Just like the victories Erlang had won, he himself was even inferior to Erlang's former opponents. Xue Ju and his son had once defeated Erlang's Eight Generals of Asamizuhara.

Wang Shichong managed to hold out against Erlang Shen for more than half a year.

Even Liu Wuzhou could make Erlang cautiously station his troops at Baibi for more than half a year without daring to attack.

Even Dou Jiande, who came from a peasant background, was able to stand up to Erlang for several months.

But myself,

The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty

She was captured by Erlang in her sleep.

He originally thought,

Jiancheng's military prowess was inferior to Shimin's.

Little did I know that I was just as pathetic as I thought.

He inherited the title of Duke of Tang at the age of seven, became a Qianniu Beishen (a high-ranking military officer) under Emperor Wen of Sui at sixteen, and led troops into battle at eighteen. He had decades of experience in officialdom.

Finally, the uprising in Taiyuan led to the near unification of the country among the many rebel kings.

Now, however, his son, who is only in his twenties, has quietly seized the throne.

It's laughable that he still thought he had everything under control.
He also promised Erlang several times to make him the crown prince, while at the same time preparing to enfeoff him in the southern borderlands.

Erlang promised so readily back then,

It turns out he had already seen through everything.

In a daze,

It felt like a dream.

The magnificent Taiji Palace has become his prison.

He recalled the words of advice that Li Gang and Chen Shuda had given him, saying that he would regret his actions.

Hey,
He regrets it so much that his legs are bruised and purple from pinching, but what's the use now?

this moment,
He even considered suicide.

But in the end, it was just a fleeting thought.

死，
It takes even more courage.

He's old.

I wouldn't even dare to risk my life.
I wouldn't dare die.

long night,

A long and agonizing ordeal.

Inside the Taiji Palace, there were people who were suffering even more than Li Yuan.

Ningyin Pavilion on the south bank of Beihai Pool

The palace was heavily guarded on all sides, and the deposed crown prince Li Jiancheng was imprisoned inside. He could only be referred to as the commoner Li Jiancheng now.

There was only one old eunuch by his side.

Li Jiancheng lost everything except his life.

But his current situation makes him feel worse than death.

During the day, they were confined to the Linhu Palace on the west bank of the South China Sea Pond.

In the evening, we moved to Ningyin Pavilion, south of Beihai Pool.

Li Jiancheng could not accept such a defeat. In the dead of night, he was still shouting, but no one paid any attention.

He was imprisoned in this small Ningyin Pavilion, with nothing but water and wheat porridge.

No one paid any attention.

No matter how much he roared and cursed, he could not get help from heaven or earth.

The old eunuch huddled in the corner, looking like a deaf and blind man.

The door was locked from the outside.

The guards remained motionless, like a group of statues.

Moonlight streamed in through the window.

The light shone on Li Jiancheng's face, making it appear deathly pale.

My throat is hoarse from shouting.
I've cried all my tears.

Looking at that small window, he realized that it not only blocked out the moonlight and his freedom, but also completely distanced him from the position of Crown Prince.

"Second brother, if I had known you were so treacherous and ruthless, I shouldn't have stopped Yuanji at the Qi Prince's banquet that day."

I hate it!

"I should have killed you with my own hands that day!"

(End of this chapter)