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

Chapter 691 Audacious
July 1st
On the first day of the month, a grand court assembly was held, during which all civil and military officials of the ninth rank and above in the capital attended the court at the Xiande Hall of the Eastern Palace.

Minister of Works Pei Ji also attended court today.

After the court ceremony,
Pei Ji stepped forward.

"Your subject Pei Ji has something to report."
Yesterday, I entered the palace to pay my respects to Your Majesty. Your Majesty bestowed upon me a handwritten edict, which stated that I should be given the honorific title of Emperor Emeritus!

With this remark,
The Xiande Hall was quiet.

Only twenty days had passed since that palace coup, and only half a month had passed since the King of Qin was made crown prince.
right now,

The emperor in the deep palace is about to abdicate and become the retired emperor.

For many officials in the hall, it was too shocking, and they couldn't react for a moment.

What's even more surprising is that it was Pei Ji who made the announcement.

It was already surprising enough that Pei Sikong, who had already retired, appeared at the morning court today, but it was unexpected that he came to convey the emperor's edict.

Crown Prince Li Shimin sat high on the throne.
His gaze slowly swept across the assembled officials in the hall.

The core leadership team has been decided to ascend the throne in three days, but the process still needs to be repeated at today's grand court assembly.

Li Shimin stood up.
"Previously, Jiancheng and Yuanji plotted a rebellion, and I led eight hundred guards to protect the emperor and quell the rebellion. His Majesty was frightened and deeply disappointed in Jiancheng and Yuanji, and unexpectedly, he never recovered from this setback."

"I was appointed regent in a time of crisis to oversee the country and govern the state."
It's only been less than half a month.

Li Shimin sighed, "Please ask Minister Pei to convey to His Majesty that he should rest and recuperate in the palace in peace. I will handle all the affairs of the court and then report to the emperor."
Your Majesty is only in your fifties, in the prime of life. Once your health improves, the Tang Dynasty will continue to be ruled by Your Majesty.

Li Shimin refused to accept the throne.

Some people were surprised.

Then I immediately realized it.

According to custom, one must decline three times before being accepted.

really,

Li Yi, who served as both Minister of Works and Attendant-in-Ordinary, stepped forward.

They took the lead in urging him to ascend the throne.

But the crown prince still firmly declined.

After the morning court session,
Li Yi requested that the court convene a meeting.

Since the Sui Dynasty, court discussions differed from the court discussions of officials and the prime minister's council. Only high-ranking officials such as the prime ministers of the three provinces, princes of the imperial family, generals of the left and right guards, governors of Yongzhou, censors, and ministers of the six ministries could participate in court discussions.

During the court meeting,
Li Yi once again led the effort to urge the crown prince to ascend the throne, but the prince still refused.

In the afternoon,

The Council of State Affairs held another meeting.

The Crown Prince also came to the Hall of State Affairs to learn about government affairs.

Today's meeting was chaired by Li Yi, who was on duty as the political scribe. He still urged the Crown Prince to ascend the throne.

Li Shimin, following custom, insisted on declining the offer three times.
They finally agreed.

Therefore, the Secretariat drafted an edict.

An imperial edict was issued to the world.

Three days later,
Emperor Wude abdicated, was given the title of Supreme Emperor, and passed the throne to his son, Crown Prince Li Shimin, who then ascended the throne.

The meeting concluded.

The six prime ministers each had a different expression.

Li Yi, Fang Xuanling, Gao Shilian, and Yuwen Shiji, these four prime ministers, were the crown prince's men, and naturally they were all very happy.

The two former prime ministers, Xiao Yu and Feng Deyi, clearly had somewhat complicated expressions.
The crown prince is about to ascend the throne and become emperor so soon.
A new emperor brings a new court; perhaps they will be kicked out of the government office just like Pei Ji, Yang Gongren, and Chen Shuda.

Liu Shiche, a scribe in the Imperial Secretariat, entered.
"Gentlemen, an urgent report has just arrived from Yizhou, delivered by express courier at an urgent rate of 800 li."

Li Yi was about to leave work.

"What's the urgent matter?"

Xiao Yu asked, "Could it be a rebellion by the Western Qiang, or an invasion by the Dangxiang Qiang or Tuyuhun?"

Liu Shiche, however, handed the urgent report to Li Yi.
Xiao Yu was stunned for a moment.
He had assumed he would receive it first.

Li Yi took it, opened it, and quickly glanced at it, somewhat surprised.

"This is a report from Dou Gui, the Grand Commander of Yizhou,"

It wasn't a barbarian rebellion, nor was it a border incursion by the Tuyuhun; rather, it was Dou Gui who killed Wei Yunqi and Guo Xingfang.

"He claimed that Wei Yunqi and Guo Xingfang were henchmen of the deposed crown prince and plotted a rebellion, so he had them executed."

"what?"

Xiao Yu was shocked. "Didn't the Crown Prince already issue an edict to all directions, stating that only Jiancheng and Yuanji were guilty, and the rest would not be investigated? How could Dou Gui kill people indiscriminately?"

It's a bit of a pity for Li Yi to be associated with Wei Yunqi.

He was a scholar-general, born into the Pengcheng branch of the Wei family of Jingzhao. He studied under the great scholar Wang Po and passed the Mingjing examination during the Kaihuang era to become an official.

In the early years of the Daye era, he was promoted to the sixth-rank official position of Attendant-in-Ordinary. When the Khitan invaded Yingzhou, an imperial edict ordered Wei Yunqi to be sent as an envoy to the Turks, requesting that they send troops to assist in the campaign against the Khitan. Wei Yunqi's mission was merely to deliver the edict, but this civil official, upon arriving in the Turkic territory, directly requested 20,000 troops from Qimin Khan.

He personally commanded 20,000 cavalry, falsely claiming that they were passing through Liucheng to trade with the Goguryeo people. They secretly marched to within 50 li of the Khitan camp, then suddenly launched an attack, inflicting a great defeat on the Khitan and capturing more than 40,000 men and women.

This operation was quite remarkable.

A sixth-rank civil official, single-handedly, borrowed 20,000 troops, decisively defeated the Khitan, capturing over 40,000. He relied not only on the prestige of the Sui Dynasty,
He also possessed exceptional command skills. He divided the 20,000 Turkic soldiers into 20 battalions, advancing in four parallel columns, each battalion one mile apart, ensuring no overlap. They were ordered to advance at the sound of drums and halt at the sound of horns. Any Turkic chieftain who disobeyed his orders…
Slay him directly.

By displaying the heads of the Turkic leaders to all the camps, they were completely subdued and utterly terrified.

They could also use the Turks' plan to pass through the Khitan to trade with the Goguryeo people in Liucheng to lull the Khitan into a false sense of security, thus allowing them to get close to the enemy camp and inflict a major defeat.

This demonstrates both courage and strategy.

Such a formidable person,
After Li Yuan entered Chang'an and proclaimed himself emperor, he was received at the Changle Palace and appointed Minister of Agriculture. In the early years of the Wude era, he also commanded the defenses of Binzhou and Jingzhou.

Before his death, he was the Minister of War of Yizhou Circuit and the Governor of Suizhou.

After the abolition of the Yizhou Regional Military Commission, he became the Chief Secretary of the Yizhou Grand Military Commission and concurrently the Governor of Suizhou. Dou Gui, the Left Vice Minister of the Regional Military Commission, had always been at odds with Wei Yunqi and had repeatedly petitioned the court to report that the Liao people were rebelling and that troops should be dispatched to strictly quell the rebellion. However, Wei Yunqi and Guo Xingfang, the Minister of Civil Affairs of the Regional Military Commission, consistently opposed this.
These three are irreconcilable enemies.

They repeatedly submitted memorials to the imperial court, attacking each other.

After the incident on June 4th, news from the imperial court reached Yizhou.

Wei Yunqi's cousins, Wei Qingjian and Wei Qingsi, both previously served in the Eastern Palace and were considered members of the Crown Prince's faction.

Dou Gui summoned Wei Yunqi and Guo Xingfang to Yizhou, claiming that Jiancheng and Yuanji were plotting a rebellion, and that the Yizhou Grand General's Office would henceforth be under the control of the Prince of Qin.

Wei Yunqi refused to believe it and wanted to see the imperial edict.

Dou Gui then accused him of being a henchman of the deposed crown prince and of disobeying the imperial edict, clearly indicating his rebellious intentions. He then smashed a cup as a signal, and his personal guards immediately rushed in, capturing Wei Yunqi and Guo Xingfang.
The chief secretary and military commander of this Grand General's Office also concurrently held the position of a Grand General.
He was also a high-ranking official of the third rank.

As a result, Dou Gui just cut him off.

That's the gist of it.
Dou Gui, the Grand General of Yizhou and Duke of Zan, killed his chief secretary Wei Yunqi and his military advisor Guo Xingfang.

Afterwards, they also killed some of Wei and Guo's clansmen.

This includes his exile to Xizhou, his subsequent pardon, his joyful return to Chang'an, and his stop in Yizhou to visit his clansman, Wei Yunqi.
As a result, it ran right into Dou Guidao.
Dou Gui was searching for Wei Ting's clansmen on charges of being remnants of Wei Guo's rebellion when Wei Ting ran into him, so Dou Gui killed him as well.

"This Dou Gui is absolutely audacious!" Xiao Yu cursed.

Dou Gui was a capable commander, but he was also ruthless. When he led his troops to fight the Ji Hu, they were ambushed and his troops were defeated. Dou Gui killed fourteen of his generals in one go, quickly promoted junior officers to replace them, and resumed the battle. He personally led the cavalry to supervise the battle from behind, and managed to turn the tide of the battle and win.

In battle, if any of his subordinates were afraid of the enemy, he would immediately behead them. Even if his soldiers committed minor offenses, he would whip them until they bled profusely.

When he first took office in Sichuan, he brought his nephew with him as a trusted confidant. However, because he had to go out and his nephew failed to arrive on time, he was beheaded and his head was displayed to the public.

He once forbade his servants from going out, but then he sent one of them out to fetch something. When the servant returned, he accused him of disobeying his orders and had him executed. The supervising official felt this was unreasonable, so Dou Gui had the supervising official beheaded as well.

Zhao Hong'an, a renowned scholar, was a court official. However, Dou Gui disliked him and would whip him at the drop of a hat. Zhao Hong'an was whipped hundreds of times in a year.

But such a cruel official,
However, he remained the highest military and political official in Sichuan.
Ultimately, the reason was that Sichuan was a remote and difficult region to govern during periods of dynastic change. Even Duan Lun, the emperor's son-in-law, who was stationed in Sichuan before, couldn't control the situation.
They had no choice but to use Dou Gui, a cruel official.
He frequently led troops to suppress and quell unruly barbarians, and even whipped local officials, with considerable success.

But no one expected that,
He's so bold!

Even two high-ranking officials of the third rank were beheaded.

They even accused him of treason.

"This Dou Gui cannot be allowed to remain in Shu any longer. He must be recalled to the court to be punished!" Xiao Yu said angrily. He had a good relationship with the Wei family.

Wei Yunqi's uncle, Wei Cheng, served as the Imperial Academy Chancellor in the early years of the Wude era and was related to Xiao Yu.

Li Yi felt it was a pity that Wei Yunqi died, but it was good that Wei Ting was killed, so that he wouldn't have to come back to the capital to disgust him.

"Left Minister,

Dou Gui's handling of this matter was indeed problematic.

but,

The crown prince is about to ascend the throne.
The most important thing now is local stability.

Now that the Chief Secretary and the Military Advisor of the Yizhou Grand General's Office are both dead, two of the six Grand Generals of Shu are gone.

If Grand Commander Dou Gui is recalled at this time, wouldn't the Yizhou Grand Commander's Office be thrown into chaos?

"Once Huangfu Wuyi arrives in Yizhou to assume the position of Chief Secretary of the Grand General's Office, we should thoroughly investigate the cause and effect of the matter before proceeding."

Dou Gui is wrong.

But stability is paramount.
It cannot interfere with the new emperor's ascension to the throne.

"I think we should first discuss who should fill the vacancies in the positions of the Grand Commandant of Yizhou and the Commanders of Suizhou and Huizhou."

The Yizhou Circuit Commander originally commanded six military governorates.

The abolition of the Xingtai and the establishment of the Yizhou Grand General's Office, one of the five major general's offices in the country, to govern the southwest region, is of great importance.

The land of Bashu must not be allowed to descend into chaos.

Dou Gui has indeed been quite brutal in Shu these past few years, but his indiscriminate killings have certainly intimidated the Liao people.

The new emperor ascends the throne.

Stability trumps all else.

It's not too late to make adjustments gradually after everything has stabilized.

Xiao Yu was very dissatisfied with Li Yi's handling of the matter.
However, Fang Xuanling, Gao Shilian, and Yuwen Shiji all immediately supported Li Yi.
Feng Deyi glanced at it and also agreed to postpone dealing with Dou Gui.

As a result,
The Council of State Affairs has six prime ministers, five to one.

Xiao Yu's objections were useless.

"Report this consensus to the Emperor!" Li Yi concluded the discussion.

(End of this chapter)