Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 4975 It’s better to do the job than to do the job
"Your Majesty, the royal family is the cornerstone of the empire. Since ancient times, if the royal family is stable, the country is stable; if the royal family is in chaos, the country is in chaos. Killing the royal family is tantamount to cutting off one's own arm! Although there are some people with ulterior motives and ruthless hearts in the royal family, there are more people who are either bewitched or coerced by them. In fact, they may not want to rebel. Your Majesty, why don't you be tolerant and let them repent and be grateful?"

Liu Li spoke eloquently and got straight to the heart of the matter.

Li Chengqian frowned and said nothing.

Whether it was the Zhaoling case or the treason case, apart from his anger, he wanted to use these two major cases to enhance his prestige. Especially the latter was a strategy he had prepared for a long time, and for this he even put himself and the prince in danger.

Just as Liu Li said, if he acted on his own and implicated many people, he would definitely gain prestige. From then on, everyone in the royal family, both inside and outside the court, would be in awe of him. However, the consequence of the royal family suffering a heavy blow was the imbalance of the power structure of the court.

After the founding of the Tang Dynasty, it inherited the Sui system, which was nothing more than mutual restraint and balance among the royal family, civil officials, and the military.

Nowadays, civil servants are suppressed by the military and have no say in any military affairs. This has caused the military to grow rapidly. Although the command of the army lies in the central government and there will not be a situation of "strong branches and weak trunk", he failed to control the "Military Affairs Council", which is a huge hidden danger.

The "Military Affairs Council" was originally established to allow the emperor to completely control military power, but today it has become a stumbling block to the emperor's power...

If even the royal family became decadent and weak, and only the military was left in power, a change of dynasty might have occurred during the Ming Dynasty.

Be it Li Ji or Fang Jun, Li Chengqian trusts these two people very much. But once the military becomes powerful and unstoppable, when these two people retreat, will the army still support the imperial power?
Even when these two people hold the power to overthrow the imperial authority, will they still be as loyal to the monarch as before?
Li Chengqian sighed, feeling a little frustrated.

The emperor is known as the supreme ruler of the world and his words are law. But in reality, it is impossible for him to do whatever he wants. Everything he does is just a weighing of the pros and cons.

The art of making choices and rejecting are the ultimate principles of heaven and earth, and even emperors cannot escape their ruts.

"Who is the mastermind?"

"Li Shenfu, Li Daoli."

"Ok?"

Li Chengqian raised his eyebrows, a little surprised: "Only these two people? As far as I know, Li Xiaoxie has been involved and offered suggestions, how come he is not included?"

Liu Li said respectfully, "Your Majesty, please understand that Li Xiaoxie has indeed been involved. However, when the mutiny took place last night, Li Xiaoxie was in the Wannian County jail and did not personally participate in the mutiny. His status is somewhere between the mastermind and the accomplice. I have consulted the Zongzheng Temple and the Prince of Hejian for their opinions. The Prince of Hejian and the Prince of Han all believe that it is better to let him go than to let him go. Since Li Xiaoxie did not participate in the mutiny, his sentence should be reduced by one level and he should be listed as an accomplice."

"What do the King of Han and the Prince of Hejian think?"

Li Chengqian looked directly at Liu Li with sharp eyes.

Liu Li felt uneasy, but said, "Yes, Your Majesty ordered me to investigate this case, but I don't know much about the situation within the royal family, and I am afraid that it will lead to an unjust, false and wrong case, so I beg the King of Han and the Prince of Hejian to give me some advice."

Your Majesty must be disgusted by this kind of blame-shifting behavior, but Liu Li has no choice. He can't offend a member of the royal family just to please Your Majesty, right?

Today, the military is powerful and the civil officials are severely suppressed. The only way to fight back is to unite with the royal family. If he offends even the royal family, he will become the most humble and incompetent prime minister since the founding of the Tang Dynasty and be laughed at by the people of the world.

Fortunately, Li Chengqian did not get angry because he understood that although Liu Li's actions were somewhat irresponsible, they might not be a bad thing for the royal family.

The Zhaoling case and the treason case, if these two major cases were to implicate everyone, nine out of ten members of the royal family would be emptied and lined up to be beheaded. Although he had vented his anger, the royal family would indeed sink from then on and would no longer be called the "cornerstone of the empire."

As I said, it’s just a matter of weighing the pros and cons and making some choices.

In order to ensure that the royal family can stabilize the country, they must sacrifice themselves for the dignity that is offended by the emperor.

How to choose is actually not difficult...

Even though Li Chengqian was not a qualified politician, he had been taught the strategies of governing a country since he was young. There were so many historical books from ancient times to the present that he had read them extensively. How could he not know the principles behind them?
"Although Li Xiaoxie did not personally participate in the mutiny, he was one of the main plotters of the rebellion. Now he is detained because of the Zhaoling case, but he escaped... Although this is the legal principle, it is unacceptable. He will be stripped of his title and punished together with Li Shenfu and Li Daoli. His descendants will not be involved in this case and will be dealt with in the Zhaoling case."

In other words, Li Xiaoxie was held accountable for the crime of treason, and his descendants were also dealt with in the Zhaoling case. Whether they lived or died depended on what crime they were convicted of in the Zhaoling case.

This is considered a leniency, otherwise according to Li Xiaoxie's crime of conspiracy and rebellion, his whole family would be buried with him...

"Yes! Your Majesty is benevolent and kind, and will bring blessings to all people. You will surely make those traitors ashamed and regretful."

"Alright, the mastermind has been decided. Although I will never ask about it, I cannot pretend that nothing happened. Anyone involved in this case will be demoted one level and fined three years' salary!"

"Here!"

Watching Liu Li walk out, Li Chengqian took a sip of tea and suppressed his anger.

Although he knew how to choose, how could he be willing to watch the clan rebel against him but was too cautious to act? However, no matter how unwilling he was, he could only choose to endure it for the sake of the foundation of the empire, the stability of the country, and his own ambitions. This feeling of being furious but unable to release it was enough to make him furious and almost mad.

"Your Majesty, the Grand Commandant requests an audience."

"Let him in."

Li Chengqian took a deep breath, and tried hard to suppress the anger boiling in his chest. He composed himself and kept a calm face.

Fang Jun strode in, bowed to the ground, and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, I am your humble servant."

"No need to be so polite, General. Please sit down. Someone, serve tea to the General."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Fang Jun stood up and sat down at the side, took the tea served by the eunuch and placed it on the coffee table beside him without drinking it.

"Your Majesty, the Left and Right Jinwu Guards and the Left and Right Leading Army Guards have sealed off all the city gates. Jingzhao Prefecture, Chang'an County, and Wannian County have each sent out patrol officers and yamen runners to patrol the streets. All neighborhoods and markets in the city are under strict control. Everything is calm at the moment, and there are no remnants of the rebels causing trouble. Your Majesty can rest assured."

Even though the rebels have been wiped out, no one knows whether they have a backup plan. If the mutiny fails, they will wreak havoc. And no one knows whether someone will take advantage of the opportunity to cause chaos. Chang'an is a megacity with a population of over a million, where merchants from all over the world gather and make a living. If there is chaos for a day, the losses will be immeasurable. We must suppress it forcefully to ensure that nothing goes wrong.

Li Chengqian said "hmm" without making any comment, then he reached out and picked up a memorial from the imperial desk and handed it to the eunuch, asking him to pass it to Fang Jun. After Fang Jun took the memorial from the eunuch and opened it to read, Li Chengqian said, "This is the memorial that the Duke of Tongan sent to the palace this morning. Take a look."

Fang Jun read the memorial quickly and frowned.

In the memorial, Zheng Rentai said that his old illness had flared up and his head was splitting. He could no longer lead the Left Guard to guard the imperial city. He asked His Majesty to appoint another capable person and begged to retire...

Seeing Fang Jun looking thoughtful, Li Chengqian asked, "What does Erlang think about this?"

Fang Jun hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and said, "The Duke of Tongan is in his prime, strong and energetic, and I have never heard that he has any chronic illness. I think his remarks are just excuses, but his intention to retire is very sincere... Whether to allow him to retire is up to your Majesty, and you can make the final decision."

Last night, Zheng Rentai led his troops to blockade Chengtian Gate and even crossed the border to blockade Yeonhee Gate. Many civil officials were there at the time and everyone could see it clearly. If you say that Zheng Rentai has nothing to do with the rebels, no one would believe it. Perhaps the contact between him and the rebels is extremely secret, but as long as the "Hundred Cavalry Division" makes every effort to investigate, and even if those who have contact with him are arrested and interrogated, he can be exposed.

His Majesty must know that he has a connection with the traitor, and Zheng Rentai also knows that His Majesty must know this, so now Zheng Rentai wants to give himself a chance to withdraw with dignity before everything is made public.

At least now His Majesty must be afraid and may not start a war, so he still has a chance to retreat; but when everything is public and there is no way to follow, His Majesty will have no choice but to punish him...

Li Chengqian pondered for a moment, sighed, and said, "The Duke of Tongan has indeed been wronged over the years. Retiring in his prime to enjoy the company of his grandchildren would seem too harsh to the court."

Fang Jun remained silent.

This was Li Chengqian's usual practice. He would seize every opportunity to undermine the prestige of Emperor Taizong. Whenever Emperor Taizong did something wrong, he would publicize it with great fanfare. By doing so, it would appear that he had many wise qualities.

Of course, Zheng Rentai participated in the Jinyang uprising at the age of sixteen, and had always served under Emperor Taizong. He was considered to have made outstanding contributions and had rich experience. However, he was repeatedly not valued, which was indeed a bit cruel...

Seeing Fang Jun remained silent, Li Chengqian frowned and continued, "The meritorious officials of the Zhenguan period are now gradually dying out, and it is difficult for the rising talents to take on important responsibilities. We should let the Duke of Tongan hold on for a few more years."

This is the intention to "forgive" Zheng Rentai for what he did in the mutiny.

Of course, "it is better to use mistakes than to use merits", which is also a way to control subordinates. Zheng Rentai secretly colluded with the traitors and watched the Taiji Palace mutiny without doing anything. Strictly speaking, this is already a capital crime. Now that Your Majesty not only does not pursue him, but continues to entrust him with important tasks and guard the imperial city, if Zheng Rentai still has a trace of morality, he should do his best and die for it.

As for the saying "it's difficult for up-and-coming talents to take on big responsibilities", Fang Jun doesn't care.

The structure of the army had already been initially formed, and Zheng Rentai, who was alone in leading the Left Guard, could not affect the overall situation.

Moreover, when the military system reform is completed, no one will be able to take charge of the army alone, and all the Tang army will become a solid entity...

"Come on, accompany me to the King of Qi. This kid never learns from his mistakes and keeps making them despite repeated admonitions. He is totally ignorant!"

Li Chengqian stood up and greeted Fang Jun.