Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 343 Li Zhi's Little Notebook
The next day, the ministers and envoys from various countries once again came to the palace to pay their respects to the crown prince. Baekje still ranked ahead of Silla.

The Baekje people made a big splash when they came to Chang'an this time.

There were also Baekje merchants in Chang'an City. On weekdays in the Tang Dynasty, they did not even dare to reveal their identities. They all bought fake official identification and claimed to be Silla people.

Now that he saw his country's envoys so prominent, he felt proud and no longer had to hide his identity. He could finally do business in the Tang Dynasty with dignity.

On the evening of the second day of the first lunar month, merchants from Baekje and Silla started fighting due to an argument. They were taken away by the Wannian County government and detained for three days.

When a person is praised highly, his mentality also changes.

Daochen originally came to the Tang Dynasty with the sole intention of strengthening ties with the country, and did not consider hunting in the Forbidden Garden.

However, now that things were going too smoothly and Baekje's reputation was rising in various countries, he suddenly became nervous.

During the hunting in the Forbidden Garden, if the Baekje warriors behaved too weakly, which was inconsistent with Baekje's current status, they would be ridiculed by other countries.

However, Baekje's greatest warrior, Heichi Changzhi, did not come with the team.

Among the accompanying guards, there were a few with good archery skills, but they were far inferior to the best archers carefully selected from each country.

The only thing to blame is that Baekje had not paid tribute to the Tang Dynasty for a long time and completely forgot about the hunting needs of other countries.

That afternoon, Daochen was pacing around the room anxiously. Four Baekje guards stood in front of him, each with their heads lowered.

"You're just trash! You're a bunch of trash! The reputation that Baekje has worked so hard to build among the nations is about to be ruined by a bunch of trash like you!"

Dao Chen cursed loudly.

The guards hung their heads, feeling very aggrieved.

They were originally just ordinary guards responsible for protecting Daochen's safety, but were suddenly forced to participate in hunting competitions in various countries.

They can't even rank in their own country, how can they compare with those fierce foreign elites?

Dao Chen looked at this bunch of useless things, as if he could already see Jin Famin's mocking expression, and he became more and more angry.

"No, we must not lose face in tomorrow's trial. Deputy Envoy Jin, we must think of a way!" Daochen said with a gloomy face.

Jin Yan said, "The trial is tomorrow. We don't have enough time. What else can we do?"

Dao Chen said, "At this point, the only option is to find a Tang man with excellent archery skills, pay him a large sum of money, and have him pretend to be from Baekje and take part in the selection."

Jin Yan was shocked and wanted to object, but then she changed her mind and thought that if her side could surpass Silla in hunting, it would be extremely beneficial to Fuxin, so she did not object.

Dao Chen said in a deep voice: "You and I will act separately. Go out and find someone now. Try to be as hidden as possible so as not to be noticed by envoys from other countries."

Jin Yan nodded in agreement and left the Honglu Temple with Daochen. They each took a few people and headed towards Chang'an County and Wannian County respectively.

Jin Yan knew that if she searched blindly on the streets, her chances of success were slim, so she separated from her men and went to a secret post of the Nei Ling Mansion in Wannian County.

She told her request to an inner guard and asked him to pass it on to Wang Jishan.

The inner guards were extremely efficient. Half an hour later, the inner guard came back with a handsome and burly young man.

Jin Yan was slightly startled when she saw the man. She bowed and said, "I'm here to see General Cheng."

The person who came was Cheng Wuting.

There are many experts among the Nei Lingwei, but most of them practice fighting skills, and their riding and archery abilities are not as good as those of regular troops.

Among the Inner Guards, there are only three archery masters who can compete with the elites of other countries.

One is Wang Jishan, one is Li Yuanfang, and the other is Cheng Wuting.

It was naturally impossible for Wang Jishan to come in person. Li Yuanfang often followed Di Renjie to solve cases, and many people knew him.

Only Cheng Wuting is left. After joining the Inner Guard, he rarely shows up in public and is the most suitable candidate.

Cheng Wuting raised his hand and said, "No need to be so polite. I am here on General Wang's orders to help you with all my strength. You don't need to treat me as a General. Just tell me what you need me to do."

Jin Yan then told him about the plan to disguise himself as a Baekje person and participate in the hunt.

Cheng Wuting's eyes lit up, and he smiled, "I've always wanted to participate in the hunt, but unfortunately, I wasn't strong enough to pass the internal competition within the Tang Dynasty. I never thought I'd be able to represent the Baekje people and participate in the hunt today."

Cheng Wuting immediately changed into a set of Jianghu clothes and followed Jin Yan back to the Honglu Temple.

After waiting for more than half an hour, Daochen finally came back with a depressed look on his face, obviously having gained nothing.

Jin Yan pointed at Cheng Wuting and said, "Don't worry, sir. I have found someone with excellent archery skills who may be able to represent Baekje in the competition."

Daochen took a look at Cheng Wuting and saw that he had a strong physique, which gave him a bit more hope. He took Cheng Wuting to an empty space, drew a target on a tree, and asked him to try shooting.

Cheng Wuting was sixty steps away and all ten arrows hit the target.

Dao Chen was overjoyed and bowed to him, saying, "Brave man, you are a skilled archer. Please participate in this hunt on behalf of Baekje. I will reward you handsomely!"

Cheng Wuting crossed his arms and snorted, "How much gold is a large sum of money? Stop with all that nonsense and tell me the real number."

Dao Chen smiled and said, "Ten taels of gold, plus twenty agates, how about that?"

Cheng Wuting's eyes flashed with greed. He licked his lips and said, "Add another ten taels of gold and I'll do it!"

Dao Chen smiled and said, "Okay. But there are conditions. You must defeat the warriors sent by Silla in the hunt tomorrow to get the reward."

Cheng Wuting laughed heartily and said, "It's a deal!"

The next morning, officials from the Honglu Temple brought envoys from various countries to the Sinong Temple grassland for a selection competition.

The target has been marked and is located eighty paces away.

There are wooden platforms on both sides, and envoys from various countries can stand on the platforms and clearly see whether the target has been hit.

The first to appear were the Tibetan warriors, represented by the Tibetan envoy Xiruo himself.

He was seen standing outside the horizontal line, and "swoosh, swoosh, swoosh", ten arrows shot out like shooting stars chasing the moon, and all hit the target.

Dao Chen swallowed his saliva and said with a wry smile, "I've learned a lot today. This Tibetan's archery skills are probably better than General Black Tooth's. No wonder the Tibetans are so famous."

The warriors from the following countries also showed amazing strength, with the worst one able to hit five targets.

The Mohe warriors who were familiar to Daochen hit eight targets, the Shiwei hit seven targets, and the Xi hit six targets.

After Daochen saw this, he secretly felt fortunate that his guards were so far away that they couldn't hit a single target. Otherwise, they would become a laughing stock to all other countries.

Having said that, I am still a little worried.

The Tang man was brought in at short notice, and I don't know if he had ever seen such a big scene before. I don't know if he would be scared and perform poorly.

Just as he was feeling uneasy, Jin Famin's mocking voice came from the side.

"Hey, isn't this the Baekje envoy who made such a splash the other day? Why does he look so grim? Could it be that he can't get used to the food from Chang'an and has diarrhea?"

Dao Chen glanced at Jin Famin and sneered, "I'm a very good person, but you Silla people, you have always been weak, how dare you come to participate in such a competition?"

Jin Famin said calmly: "The strength of a country is not just talk. Look carefully, our Silla can participate in this level of competition all year round, relying on real ability."

When Daochen heard him talk about "real skills", he felt a little uneasy and kept silent.

At this moment, the official of Honglu Temple announced loudly that the Silla warriors were on the field.

When Daochen saw the man, he was shocked to see that his arms were strong and even thicker than an ordinary person's legs.

There was a sound of "swish, swish, swish" as the man fired arrows continuously. The sound of arrows breaking through the air was loud, but the accuracy was a little poor and he only hit four targets.

Dao Chen laughed and said, “Not bad, I set a new record. It’s worthy of being Silla. It really doesn’t disappoint.”

After hearing this, several foreign envoys around also started to laugh.

Jin Famin was furious, but his subordinates performed poorly, so he couldn't get angry and glared at Jin Renwen.

Jin Renwen sighed, "Junghwan used to be able to hit six targets. Maybe we put too much pressure on him last night."

Dao Chen snorted, "You're still pretty stubborn."

Jin Beommin glared at him and said, "I want to see how many targets you Baekje people can hit."

After two people in between, it was finally Cheng Wuting's turn.

He was seen strolling leisurely to a distance of eighty steps, and before he had fully drawn the bow, he shot an arrow.

It takes others a quarter of an hour to shoot ten arrows, and there is a long interval between each shot.

Cheng Wuting, however, acted as if he was just playing. In less than a cup of tea, he had shot all ten arrows, and all of them hit the target.

There was a burst of exclamations from all around. Two people had already hit all ten targets, and Cheng Wuting became the third.

The Mohe envoy could not help but sigh, saying, "I never thought the Baekje people were such good archers. This is truly impressive."

Dao Chen could barely suppress the smile on his face. He smiled and bowed to the people around him, saying, "Thank you for the compliment. Actually, our country's top expert, Heichi Changzhi, did not come with the team."

Seeing that Baekje was in the spotlight again, Jin Famin was furious and turned around and left with his men.

The joy of the selection competition did not last long for Daochen.

In the afternoon, when he participated in the official hunting between various countries and the Tang Dynasty, he finally witnessed the horror of the Tang people.

Among the top five hunters, four were taken by Tang people, and only the Tibetans squeezed into third place.

The first place Jiang Ke hunted more than fifty prey, becoming a missing figure.

And I heard from others that Xue Rengui, the strongest general of the Tang Dynasty, did not participate.

It is said that this person can hunt more than seventy prey within two hours. He is simply not a human being.

Cheng Wuting, representing Baekje, gave it his all but only finished sixth. The outcome of this hunt left an indelible impression on Daochen, making him even more cautious when dealing with the Tang people.

Time soon arrived at the fourth day of the first lunar month. The vacation of the Tang Dynasty officials ended and the new year finally began.

In the 13th year of Yonghui, at the court meeting on the fourth day of the New Year, all officials were in high spirits.

On this day every year, major personnel changes are announced in the court, although many people already know the results of many of the changes in advance.

On the evening of the third day of the Lunar New Year, Li Zhi summoned Di Renjie alone.

It’s a pity that even with Di Renjie’s ability, he was unable to find out the problem with the Xiao family.

Li Zhi did not blame Di Renjie.

The time was too short, and at the beginning of the incident in the Eastern Palace, the case was not handed over to Di Renjie.

Furthermore, Xiao Siye's plan was too covert. He used Xu Ang as bait. When others investigated Xu Ang, he had plenty of time to destroy all evidence.

Therefore, at today's court meeting, Li Zhi also made corresponding adjustments to the punishment for Xiao Siye.

According to convention, at the beginning of the court meeting, the Minister Xin Mao would read out the new personnel appointments.

General Xin Mao stood at an angle in the northwest corner of the main hall and announced in a clear voice, "Your Highness: Minister Li Yifu has a poor judgment of people and appoints people based on personal connections. I hereby dismiss him from his post and demote him to Governor of Xiangzhou. I shall also demote him five ranks from Jinzi Guanglu Dafu to Zhong Dafu."

When the ministers heard about this appointment and dismissal, they all pondered it secretly.

They had known for a long time that Li Yifu was going to resign from his position as prime minister, but they were not clear about the reason.

Judging from the will, it can be said that he did not know people well, which means that he was implicated by his subordinates.

At this point, Xin Mao would continue, "...Xu Jingzong's son is incompetent and unworthy of being a role model. Considering his past merits and his old age and deafness, he is stripped of all his official titles and reduced to a commoner."

Xu Jingzong was demoted to a commoner just like Changsun Wuji, which was even worse than Li Yifu.

The ministers were shocked again.

Only a few people were fully aware of the situation and appeared calm.

Li Yifu was one of them. Because of Yuan Gongyu, he knew more about this matter than most people.

In his opinion, Xu Jingzong's punishment was already light. Xu Ang was guilty of treason, and as his immediate family member, he should be hanged according to the law.

Perhaps it was because he suffered from epilepsy, or perhaps Empress Wu Zetian pleaded for him, that the emperor showed leniency.

Next, Xin Maojiang announced two more personnel appointments.

Xiao Siye was demoted to the position of Secretary for dereliction of duty.

King Han Li Yuanjia was transferred to be the governor of Hongzhou.

Just as Xin Maojiang was about to continue reading the script, Li Zhi coughed and Xin Maojiang stopped talking.

Li Zhi swept his eyes around, taking in the expressions of the ministers, and said slowly:

"I know you are all confused, and I don't intend to keep it from you any longer. Lord Di, please explain the situation to the other ministers."

Di Renjie strode out, received the imperial edict, and turned sideways to face the ministers. He said loudly, "The Eastern Palace case has been announced. It was planned by Xu Ang, Yuan Gongyu, and seven others. However, the ultimate goal of these seven people is to assassinate the emperor!"

As soon as these words came out, the officials were in an uproar.

Their most common guess was that these seven people wanted to overthrow the throne of the crown prince, but they did not expect them to be so bold as to assassinate the emperor.

In this way, the punishment of Xu Jingzong, Li Yifu and others makes sense.

Li Zhi continued, "At last, this incident was resolved without incident. I was unharmed. This case will be handed over to the Dali Temple for handling. You, the ministers, need not speculate further. Lord Xin, please continue."

General Xin Mao agreed and continued to announce personnel adjustments.

"... Youzhou Chief Secretary Wang Shunfa, Bingzhou Governor Xue Ting, Yangquan County Magistrate Cui Xi, Qinghe County Magistrate Zhou Sheng, Guangchuan County Magistrate Qian Weiyi..."

He read out more than a dozen names in one breath, all of whom were county officials in Henan and Hebei regions. They were promoted because of their good governance and frugality.

This was obviously because the emperor ordered people to inspect local areas during his tour, and the emperor learned about the good governance of these people, so he promoted them.

Immediately afterwards, officials from more than twenty states and counties were demoted.

Among them, Cangzhou and Lucheng County have the biggest problems.

Three officials from Cangzhou were dismissed, including the governor. Six officials from Lucheng County were removed from office, and the county magistrate was sentenced to exile.

After the local officials were dealt with, it was the turn of the Beijing officials to be promoted.

The most important thing is naturally the selection of a new prime minister.

Shangguan Yi was appointed as the Minister of the Secretariat, Zhang Jianzhi was promoted to the Vice Minister of the Secretariat, Hao Chujun was promoted to the Minister of War, and Xue Yuanchao was promoted to the Vice Minister of Rites.

Generally speaking, there were slight adjustments in the three provinces and six ministries, and most of the officials who accompanied Li Zhi on tours were promoted.

What is noteworthy is that there have been major reshuffles in the Ministry of Personnel this year.

Three examiners were given special promotions, four were demoted seven or eight levels, and one was directly dismissed and investigated.

The reason was very simple. Li Zhi took out the small notebook in which he recorded his experiences along the way and compared it with the results of the examination by the examiner.

Those examiners whose evaluations were consistent with those in the small book were promoted, while those whose evaluations were very different from those in the small book were severely demoted.

The dismissed examiner was in charge of Cangzhou. He rated the Lucheng County magistrate's governance for the year as "average", which was obviously a bribe.

As edicts were issued one after another, the transfer of officials was completed and the ministers began to discuss state affairs.

Around 3 p.m., the court meeting ended and the ministers took their leave.

After the first day, envoys from various countries, governors and provincial governors of various states and counties began to return to their bases.

With the emperor in charge of Chang'an, this prosperous city returned to peace.

In late January, news came from Chang'an City that Xiao Siye was seriously ill in bed and could no longer sit in the government office. He resigned from his post to the emperor, but was rejected.

One morning in early February, Yu Zhining suddenly came to the Xiao Mansion to visit Xiao Siye.

When he was brought to Xiao Siye's room by Xiao Zhizhong and saw Xiao Siye lying on the sickbed, a trace of pity appeared in his eyes.

Xiao Siye was born a military general, a heroic and strong man, but at this moment he looked like a man who had indulged in excessive sexual activities, with a thin body, pale face, sunken cheeks, and dull eyes.

Yu Zhining came to his bedside and looked at him silently, as if he saw Cui Dunli who was about to die of illness.

Xiao Siye slowly raised his head and said weakly, "Mr. Yu, if you still want to ask the same question as before, my answer remains the same."

Yu Zhining glanced sideways at Xiao Zhizhong behind him and said, "Can I have a few words alone with Brother Xiao?"

Xiao Zhizhong nodded and left with all the servants in the room.

Yu Zhining sat down on the edge of the bed and sighed to Xiao Siye, "Brother Xiao, there's something I must tell you. I'm the one who caused you to end up like this."

Xiao Siye stared at him blankly without saying a word.

Yu Zhining said slowly: "Before Lao Cui died, he came to me and asked me to take care of you."

Xiao Siye said in a hoarse voice, "I know you've helped me a lot over the years."

Yu Zhining said in a deep voice: "But what you don't know is that Lao Cui is not confident about you and asked me to keep an eye on you secretly."

Xiao Siye was shocked.

Yu Zhining said, "I've been observing you for a long time, but I still can't see through you, so I went to find Zhangsun Wuji and asked him to help me keep an eye on you."

Xiao Siye's expression finally changed.

Yu Zhining said, "Changsun Wuji had been secretly watching you, so he was able to see through your plan. He told Li Ji about his suspicions about you, and Li Ji then told the emperor."

Xiao Siye took a deep breath, clenched his fingers into fists, but still remained silent.

Yu Zhining sighed, "Before I came to you, I went to see Di Renjie. He said he admired you very much. Although he concluded that you were the mastermind behind the incident, he could not find any evidence."

Xiao Siye was silent.

Yu Zhining added, "Changsun Wuji also admires you. He said that your passing away in this way is the best choice for the Xiao family."

Xiao Siye suddenly started coughing violently.

Yu Zhining sighed, "What I don't understand is why someone as smart as you would do such a treasonous thing?"

Xiao Siye coughed for a long time before finally stopping, but he became even weaker.

"I, I've already said... This was not done by me." He said breathlessly.

Yu Zhining shook his head and said, "I know you won't admit it, what a pity..." He stood up, turned around and left.

After he walked away, Xiao Zhizhong ran into the house quickly.

"Chief, what did Yu Zhining say to you?"

Xiao Siye turned his head and looked at him, saying word by word:

"You must remember what I'm going to say next. First, don't tell the truth to Madam Shufei. Second, tell Qilang to teach Fourth Prince to avoid cockfighting, running errands, and other pleasure-seeking activities. Be a peaceful prince and don't have any more delusions."

Seeing him making arrangements for his funeral, Xiao Zhizhong wept and said, "Nephew, I'll remember this."

Xiao Siye looked up at the ceiling and sighed.

"Mr. Cui, you have caused me so much trouble!" His neck tilted and he died.

(End of this chapter)