Datang: Just been appointed as the crown prince, the counterattack system is here

Chapter 98: The Emperor's Teachings: Your Majesty, if you act stupidly again, I will go back and punish you! [Seeking monthly votes]

Li Shimin was not a very diligent emperor.

Although he was a wise ruler in history, he was still inferior to those diligent emperors in history.

Normal times.

He usually worked until around the hour of You, then went to Lizheng Hall or the bedroom of a concubine in the harem to plow the fields.

But today, it was already past the hour of You, and he was still staying in the Liangyi Palace, with no intention of farming.

The reason.

The main reason is that there have been too many bad things happening recently.

Although he adopted Li Chengqian's disaster treatment method, the result is still unknown.

It’s not that he doesn’t believe in Li Chengqian’s ability, but that he is worried about Li Chengqian’s ability.

As a father, it should be a happy thing for him to see his son succeed.

But after what happened that night, he just couldn't be happy.

After all, it would be very uncomfortable for anyone if his son and his father teamed up to cheat him.

However, no matter how uncomfortable it is, I still have to use my son's good idea, which is to keep public and private affairs separate.

"His Majesty."

Wushe walked in quietly and saw Li Shimin practicing writing at the desk, so he called out to him in a low voice.

"Any news?"

Li Shimin pretended to be calm and continued to practice calligraphy, but his ears perked up.

"Your Majesty is wise. Zuo Pushe handled the disaster according to your methods and quickly brought the chaos under control. Now, there is an endless stream of grain transported to Chang'an, and the disaster victims in Guanzhong are extremely grateful to the court. I believe that within ten days or half a month, the grain prices can be adjusted back to normal levels, reducing the court's expenditures." Wushe said with a smile.

Li Shimin's lips curled up slightly, but it was fleeting. Then he calmly put down the brush in his hand and said calmly, "Tell Zuo Pushe that the grain merchants should earn the money they deserve. As long as it's not illegal, don't make things difficult for them. Do you understand?"

"clear."

Wushe smiled awkwardly twice before leaving Liangyi Hall.

Li Shimin breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to return to the harem to relax.

However, at this moment, a voice suddenly came from outside the door: "Your Majesty, the Nanyang Governor Deng Rong has submitted a memorial for your personal review!"

"Ok?"

Li Shimin was slightly stunned, then he smiled dumbly: "This Deng Rong, the news is a little late, isn't it? However, his loyalty is commendable!"

As he said this, he waved his hand to signal the official to bring in Deng Rong's memorial.

"His Majesty."

"Read it. I've been practicing calligraphy for so long that I'm too lazy to read it."

In fact, he just wanted to act like a prophet, because he knew what would be said in Deng Rong's memorial, which was nothing more than how awesome Li Chengqian's disaster relief method was, and then he would blabber on about a lot of his own political achievements, and finally ask for credit and reward and praise the prince.

but
When the official unfolded the memorial and prepared to read it, his expression suddenly changed.

"what happened?"

Li Shimin saw the official standing there in a daze, snorted coldly, and said indifferently, "Is the way Nanyang dealt with the disaster the same as mine? It's just a trivial plan, anyone could have thought of it, what's there to praise?"

"Uh, that's not the case, Your Majesty, it's..."

"What is it?"

"Your Majesty, please read it yourself."

The official quickly knelt on the ground and raised the memorial above his head with both hands.

Li Shimin frowned slightly, then took the memorial with some suspicion and unfolded it to examine it.

There were fifteen large characters written on the memorial: The Imperial Instructions: If Your Majesty does something stupid again, I will go back and deal with you!
His Majesty Li Er first had this expression:

Σ(°△°|||)︴

Then there’s this expression:
(╯°Д°)╯︵━

“This is unreasonable!!!”

After throwing away the memorial, Li Shimin was furious. His expression changed a lot, and he finally set his eyes on the official and asked coldly, "Did you see it?"

"Minister, minister, minister"

The official was so frightened that he almost lost his soul and stammered: "I don't understand what your majesty is talking about. I didn't see or hear anything."

"Humph!"

His Majesty Li Er snorted coldly, his eyes sharp as a knife, and then he said word by word: "Smart people often live a long time, do you understand?"

"I understand clearly, I understand clearly. I have not come to your Majesty's place today."

"roll!!"

Emperor Li II waved his sleeves angrily, and the official crawled out of the Liangyi Hall.

at the same time.

A luxurious club in Chang'an City.

Several officials from the five surnames and seven families, dressed in fancy clothes, were gathered together drinking and chatting.

Among them, the official of the Wang family said with disdain:
"I thought Your Majesty had truly raised a million dan of grain, but it turns out it was just bluffing. He used high prices to attract idle grain merchants from the surrounding area!"

"But none of us expected this move. It was really unexpected!"

Another official from the Cui family sighed, "After all, even with the Five Clans and Seven Families, we can't control all the grain merchants!" "Even if we can't control all the grain, we have to make a lot of money from him, otherwise the hatred in our hearts will be hard to overcome!"

"It's useless. Once the grain in Guanzhong accumulates to a certain amount, the imperial court will definitely come forward to offer a fair price. This time, we lose."

"Then what do you say we should do? Are we just going to give in like this?"

"This"

Hearing this, everyone fell silent.

After a moment, a Li family official said solemnly, "These past few days, officials from the capital and the prefectures have all been in Chang'an, and people are in a panic. It's all because of that assessment and layoffs for the Right Servant!"

"In my opinion, compared to the interests of merchants, the share of officials in the court is what we should care about!"

"Yes, yes, that's what we should care about!"

The Zheng family officials echoed eagerly.

The Lu family official glanced at the Zheng family official and said calmly:
"I heard that You Pushe signed a military order before Your Majesty because of this matter, saying that if the officials in Chang'an City cause unrest again, he will resign from his position as You Pushe and Minister of Personnel!"

Wow!
The whole place was in an uproar!

Some people looked excited but hesitated to speak.

Some people frowned, as if they were thinking about something.

The Cui family official took in their expressions and actions, then sighed and said, "You said there were so many things to do before the assessment, and after the assessment, there are still so many things to do. Why bother with the assessment?"

"That's right. For promotion, there's nothing wrong with an assessment. For daily official duties, there's no need for an assessment!"

"Yeah, come on, drink!"

"In my opinion, being an official doesn't depend on assessments, but on connections like our Five Surnames and Seven Families!"

"Very good, very good! It would be great if all the officials in the world came from our five surnames and seven families!"

As they drank and chatted, the officials from the Five Surnames and Seven Families talked a lot, completely ignoring the other aristocratic families.

After a while, the Cui family official said with emotion:
"Although this official assessment has little impact on us officials from the Five Surnames and Seven Families, we still want to let His Majesty know that the Tang Dynasty is not the domain of the Taiyuan Li family alone!"

"so."

Having said that, he paused, looked around at the others and said, "I want to add fuel to the fire of this matter. What do you think?"

Several people looked at each other in confusion.

But then the official of the Wang family said with a smile: "Master Cui, your Cui family is the most prestigious family in the world. This matter should be decided by you!"

"Haha, your Wang family is also a famous and prestigious family, don't you have any ideas?"

"This"

The Wang family official hesitated for a moment, then mused, "It's not clear that the new Zhenguan Dynasty needs any changes. Fortunately, no major changes have been made yet, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous!"

"That's right. The court's most pressing matters right now are disaster relief and the summoning of officials for assessment. Isn't this just adding to the chaos?"

"Yes, yes, yes. If the Eastern Turks come and cause trouble again, it will only add to the chaos!"

"hehe."

Upon hearing this, the Cui family official smiled noncommittally, then continued, "I heard that back then, those people from the Qin Palace and the Tiance Palace wanted to make a name for themselves!"

"I heard that it was You Pushe's idea!"

"You Pushe is your Majesty's brother-in-law! I know!"

"Then you know that Empress Zhangsun doesn't like her brother interfering in government affairs. Perhaps His Majesty doesn't understand this matter!"

"Aren't you an official in another state? You're well-informed!"

"Isn't being an official all about listening and talking? Especially in Chang'an, the news is even better, and you know almost everything!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone agreed with them, and then the atmosphere fell into silence again.

Until the royal official broke the silence thoughtfully: "So, the Right Prime Minister wants to replace his own people?"

"I heard that Pei Sikong has been fighting with You Pushe recently. I guess it's because of this!" Zheng family official said.

The Cui family official glanced at him and said with a smile: "If the people of Wude are replaced by those of Zhenguan, Pei Sikong will naturally not give in!"

"But, interference from foreign relatives in government has always been a source of chaos! Didn't anyone tell His Majesty?"

"I heard, no!"

"The capital is discussing this much, this must be the public opinion!"

"Since no one has complained to His Majesty, why don't we have someone write to His Majesty?"

Hearing this, the officials from the Five Surnames and Seven Families were shocked and could not help but look at the official from the Cui family who was speaking.

But the Cui family official laughed and said, "Whether it's the people of Zhenguan or the people of Wude, the more fiercely they fight, the better it is for us, isn't it?"

"But it will be difficult to deal with if His Majesty investigates this!" said the official of the Wang family with some concern.

The Lu family official sneered:
"Oh, those people will be removed sooner or later, why not let them help us jump a few times before they die!"

"Good idea!" The Zheng family official clapped his hands and smiled.

The Li family official rolled his eyes, looked around at the few people, and said with a smile: "I say, if Wude's people are driven out of the court, won't our chance come?"

"Wonderful!"

Everyone's eyes lit up and they couldn't help but raise their glasses to celebrate.

Even the unpleasant feeling he had previously felt about being at a disadvantage with the grain merchants was swept away, replaced by a face full of excitement.

The Li Tang dynasty has only been around for a little over a decade, yet they dare not submit to the whipping of us, a family with centuries of history? This is outrageous!
(End of this chapter)