My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 301 Dictatorship
Luoyang.

Once the prince's letter to the world was published in Luoyang newspaper, it was like a huge rock thrown into a calm lake, causing waves in Luoyang city.

This earnest and impassioned article spread among the people like wildfire, triggering a heated discussion and collision of ideas.

After hearing the contents of the prince's letter to the world, many people's thoughts underwent a huge change.

After all, for most of the people in Luoyang today, it is the arrival of the prince that gives them hope in life.

You know, in Luoyang alone, Li Chengqian built more than a dozen factories, each of which employed thousands of people.

This means that there are tens of thousands of families in Luoyang working for the prince.

To put it another way, the prince provides a large number of jobs.

This has a huge impact not only today but also in future generations.

You can't eat the prince's food and then blame him.

Long before, many people were worried that if the prince's rebellion failed, they would not be able to keep their jobs.

The welfare benefits provided by the prince are so good.

Just the fact that meals are provided makes those who are able to work in the factory the envy of their neighbors.

Moreover, the monthly salary has become an important source of income for the family.

The people’s will is sometimes very simple.

If you want to eat, you have to work hard.

These days, loyalty is not that complicated.

Inside the factory, someone was talking loudly.

"I don't understand what rebellion is. I eat the food given by the prince and work for him."

"The prince is such a good person, he still cares about us poor people. How can such a prince, who is so good that we can't even find him with a lantern, rebel?"

"There must be some treacherous villain in the court who has misled Your Majesty."

Someone immediately agreed.

"That's right, our lives are getting better and better. In the past, we could only eat meat during festivals, but now we can eat some meat every few days. This is a life we ​​never dared to imagine before."

"My wife keeps talking about the prince's goodness every day. Who wouldn't carve a longevity tablet for the prince?"

"How could such a prince be a traitor?"

As soon as the two of them started talking, they immediately started discussing.

"I heard that the factory is going to set up a school. The prince has issued an order that all children over the age of six go to school. The books are free, and the school also provides meals."

"Is this true? It's so good."

"The prince's order is true. Our child can study now and may even become an official in the future."

"Just think about it, there are so many scholars, but only a few of them are officials."

"What's the big deal? Haven't you heard that in Liaodong, anyone who can read and write can become an official? The farther away, the better. This is a matter of great importance to our ancestors."

"Hey, you think only your child can learn it, but everyone can learn it, and it's not certain who will become an official."

"My kid is definitely a higher official than your kid."

"We'll see."

Amid the noise, someone sighed, "What a good life it is, but what if the prince fails? Will we still be able to survive?"

These words immediately made the atmosphere quiet.

Someone said doubtfully, "Your Majesty should do the same."

The man shook his head: "This is only available to the Crown Prince. Hasn't everyone been to Chang'an? Ask him if there is such a good thing in Chang'an."

The person who was called shook his head and said, "Let alone Chang'an, there is no such good thing in the world."

For a moment, everyone was silent.

After a long while, someone spoke up: "The prince cannot lose."

These words immediately made everyone excited.

"The prince must not lose!"
-
The carriage that Su Yu'er was riding in was speeding on the dusty official road. Outside the window, the scenery passed by like flying. The fields, villages, and mountains were all showing her the vast land of the Tang Dynasty.

Zuo Qiuming and Ji Zhao rode their horses, following closely on both sides of the carriage, vigilantly observing the movements around them.

Now Ji Zhao’s official position is equivalent to being gone, but he doesn’t feel sorry.

As the crown prince, we all prosper and suffer together.

His Majesty said that he would not suppress the Crown Prince's old subordinates, but in fact it is not that simple. Many people come to make things difficult for them.

For example, the Wei Wang Party.

Of course, the King of Wei would not pay attention to a small figure like him, but the King of Wei's party members had no intention of letting him go.

Even if you work diligently at your job, it is easy to find fault with it.

This is the county lieutenant.

There are many people who want to take up the vacant official positions.

In the past, the prince followed his example and no one dared to make any moves.

Now that the crown prince is in rebellion, how can a mere outlaw be qualified to serve as a county lieutenant?

So, just follow the prince.

At least I enjoyed it for two years.

Zuoqiu's name is slightly different.

Before he could enjoy any benefit from the crown prince, the crown prince went on an expedition to the east, and his arrangements were put on hold.

After waiting for a long time, the prince unexpectedly rebelled.

Of course, with the title of being under the command of the prince, he was still very popular in Chang'an City.

But Zuo Qiuming wanted more.

For him, if the prince succeeds, he will have the merit of following the dragon and truly cross the class.

Given such temptation, these risks are nothing.

The two have their own thoughts, but their goals are the same.

After several days of travel, the group finally saw the outline of Luoyang City in the distance.

Luoyang City, this ancient and prosperous city.

Su Yuer's eyes lit up in the carriage.

Because her man is in this city.

For a woman, her husband is everything.

The same is true for Su Yuer.

The carriage slowly drove into Luoyang City, and people on both sides of the street cast curious glances at it.

Su Yuer looked through the car window at this strange yet familiar city, feeling filled with emotion.

She knew that this would be a new beginning for her and the prince, and also a key place where their destiny would turn.

The carriage stopped at the gate of the palace, and Su Yuer, supported by Shan Yao, slowly got off the carriage. She looked up and saw the palace towering and majestic.

At this time, the Roman Princess Theodosius and the Silla Princess Kim Seung-man had been waiting at the city gate for a long time.

Seeing Su Yuer getting off the car, Theodosius and Jin Shengman stepped forward together, bowed slightly, and said in unison: "Sister, we have been here to welcome you for a long time."

Su Yu'er was slightly startled, then a gentle smile appeared on her face. She walked forward, shook their hands respectively, and said, "Sisters, you are too polite. Thank you for waiting for me."

Needless to say, the Roman princess Theodosius had no other thoughts about Jin Shengman at this time.

Naturally, the prince’s women cannot be limited to these, and there will be more and more in the future.

Theodosius blinked his blue eyes and smiled, saying, "We are most happy that my sister has arrived safely. Your Highness has been worried these days, and now that my sister is here, Your Highness can feel more at ease."

Jin Shengman also nodded gently and said softly: "Yes, sister, from now on, we sisters can keep each other company in Luoyang City."

Jin Shengman appears gentle on the surface, but she has her own plans in her heart. She knows very well that in this complicated situation, the support of the Crown Princess is very important. If she can have a good relationship with the Crown Princess, she will not only have a place in the palace, but also be able to fight for more interests of Silla in the Tang Dynasty.

Although Jin Shengman is older than Su Yuer, she is willing to call her sister. She is the Crown Princess. If the Crown Prince succeeds and ascends the throne, she will be the Queen.

Su Yuer, accompanied by Theodosius and Jin Shengman, walked into the palace.

Inside the palace, the atmosphere was tense and depressing. Soldiers came and went, busy making various preparations.

Under the guidance of the civil officials, Su Yuer came to the study.

In the study, Crown Prince Li Chengqian was dressed in military uniform, looking at the map on the desk with a frown. Hearing footsteps, he raised his head and saw Su Yuer, with a hint of surprise and relief in his eyes.

Li Chengqian stood up and greeted her, saying, "Yu'er, you are finally here. I hope you didn't suffer much on the way."

Su Yu'er looked at Li Chengqian's tired face, her heart filled with worry. She quickly walked to his side and said, "Your Highness, I'm fine. But I feel bad for you for rushing all the way here. The situation is so tense now, you must take care of yourself."

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "It's just that I've been a little busy lately."

"I'm glad you're here."

At this point, Li Chengqian paused for a moment and said, "I heard that the King of Wei had someone embarrass you."

Su Yuer nodded slightly: "Fortunately, King Jin is here to help."

This is favor.

Li Chengqian said: "It seems that the King of Wei really can't wait."

Su Yuer said softly: "In fact, he didn't dare to do anything, he just wanted to use this to disturb His Highness' mind."

The reason why Su Yuer said this was that she didn't want Li Chengqian to kill his brothers after the father and son killed each other.

This is not to say that Su Yuer is magnanimous, but that she hopes Li Chengqian has a better reputation.

Li Chengqian didn't say much, but just held Su Yuer's hand and said, "You've been traveling for many days, you should go and have a good rest."

It is indeed tiring to travel.

Especially when the road is bumpy.

Su Yuer replied: "Yes, Your Highness."

Li Chengqian is very busy now.

Although the people's hearts have been stabilized for the time being, there are still big problems on the government side.

Wen Zhong whispered, "Your Highness, Governor Zhao is here."

Li Chengqian said: "Let him in."

Soon, Zhao Jie arrived.

The reason why it was Zhao Jie was because King of Han Li Yuanchang was definitely unreliable.

Affected by the edict deposing the crown prince, Luoyang's official system has basically become semi-paralyzed.

This is naturally very unfavorable for the management of Luoyang as a whole.

Zhao Jie is actually quite capable. Although he is a second-generation talent, he is quite talented.

The most important thing is that he had served as a governor before and had management experience.

Su Dingfang was mainly responsible for military affairs.

Separation of military and political affairs was the tone that Li Chengqian had set long ago, so even if Su Dingfang had the ability to manage, Li Chengqian would not let him take over all the government affairs.

Once power is unchecked, problems can easily arise.

This has little to do with loyalty.

"Greetings to Your Highness."

"Give me a seat."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

Unlike Li Dejian, Zhao Jie's father died early, and Yang Shidao was only his stepfather.

As for his stepfather, although he has a good relationship with him, he will not be affected as much as Li Dejian.

As a royal relative and the son of Princess Changguang, he did not feel much pressure at all to rebel.

"The number of officials who resigned this time is beyond imagination. Many affairs in Luoyang City have come to a standstill. If this continues, the situation may get out of control."

Li Chengqian said calmly.

Zhao Jie hesitated and replied, "I can go and negotiate a bit. Some talents from aristocratic families are willing to support Your Highness."

High risk, high reward.

No matter what time it is, there will always be a shortage of people doing venture capital.

The same is true for aristocratic families.

Li Chengqian shook his head and said, "That's not necessary."

"I have decided to redistribute official positions in Luoyang City, recruit officials publicly, and implement new rules and regulations."

After saying this, Li Chengqian signaled to the eunuch Wen Zhong to bring a document to Zhao Jie.

This document is a re-planning of the government offices in Luoyang City today.

As for the current political system of the Tang Dynasty, Li Chengqian had never thought of continuing to use it, whether now or in the future.

Naturally, we need to make major reforms.

Originally, we didn't want too much turmoil at this time and wanted to maintain stability first. Unexpectedly, these officials resigned, which gave us an opportunity.

The more Zhao Jie read the content of the new policy in the document, the more frightened he became.

Although it is similar to the current system of three provinces and six ministries in essence, in reality, it is very different.

The first step is to establish a decision-making council.

The Decision-making Council is composed of experts, scholars and senior officials from various fields. It is responsible for researching, demonstrating and providing decision-making recommendations on major national policies and strategies, replacing the traditional model of relying solely on the prime minister for advice, making decision-making more scientific and comprehensive.

To some extent, the Council of State Councilor and Cabinet System are similar to the cabinet system of Ming and Qing dynasties.

Those who can enter the decision-making council must be Li Chengqian’s confidants and have real talents.

The second is the Supervisory Commission.

A vertically managed supervisory system was established, in which supervisory officials were directly responsible to Li Chengqian and were not subject to interference from other departments.

The scope of supervision has been expanded to not only monitor officials' corruption, illegal and disciplinary violations, but also to conduct comprehensive supervision of policy implementation, administrative efficiency, etc.

A special reporting channel is set up to encourage the public to participate in supervision and reward those who report true information. The Supervisory Yuan has the right to directly investigate any problems found and make recommendations for impeachment to ensure the integrity and efficiency of the bureaucracy.

Then there is the Hanlin Academy.

The main education system was the imperial examination.

The imperial examination system was naturally changed to a system of anonymous examination.

The recommendation system was not completely abolished, but new examination subjects were set up and new examination contents were issued for different positions in public offices to reduce the influence of Confucianism.

In addition, a recruitment system is also implemented.

In other words, some government officials can be recruited from groups such as merchants and craftsmen in the private sector.

There were not many changes in the six ministries, but more official positions were added to disperse the power.

The functions of the six ministries have also been optimized to a certain extent.

Zhao Jie looked at the document in his hand with mixed feelings.

Abolishing the prime minister system would undoubtedly concentrate power in the hands of the crown prince alone. Although the new system had many innovations and checks and balances in terms of documents, this huge change still made him feel a little uneasy.

"Your Highness, although this new policy has many subtleties, such a big change may face many obstacles in its implementation."

Zhao Jie raised his head and looked at Li Chengqian, trying to guess his intentions from his expression.

Li Chengqian nodded slightly, his expression calm: "I am aware of the difficulties, but if we do not make changes to the current situation, how can we break the old pattern and achieve long-term peace? The resignation of these officials may seem like a crisis, but in fact it is an opportunity for us to implement new policies."

The emperor was originally a dictator.

Such a system is actually not suitable for the times. Once a tyrant appears, the impact will be too great.

But for Li Chengqian now, he needs to control all the power.

Because only in this way can the Tang Dynasty ride the wind and waves and reach greater heights.

(End of this chapter)