Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

The next morning.

Inside the Tai Chi Hall.

Unlike the usual relaxed atmosphere, today's court meeting was filled with solemnity, and all the officials attending the court had serious expressions.

Especially the officials involved, their eyes were bloodshot and they looked very nervous.

The officials did not see Li Ke and Liu Shi, and they all murmured in their hearts.

"what happened?"

"Could it be that the King of Chu and Liu Shi have been imprisoned?"

"But why are the other Guanlong families okay?"

The news that Xue Rengui had escorted the Western Turkic Khan and five spies back yesterday had already spread throughout the official circles in Chang'an.

By inquiring about the names of the five spies, these ministers quickly guessed what had happened and were filled with gloating.

These noble families involved will definitely be severely punished, and the many vacant official positions will then benefit their families.

It's not often that good things happen, where the fisherman benefits from the conflict between the two parties!

What they could not have imagined was that King Chu Li Ke was also involved.

All the civil and military officials privately laughed at Li Ke for overestimating his own abilities. He clearly had no chance of competing for the throne, yet he had to make small moves behind the scenes. Wasn't this just asking for trouble?

Judging from the current situation, the King of Chu will be in great trouble even if he doesn't die.

On the imperial platform.

Li Chengqian glanced at the vacant official position and asked in a calm voice.

"Why didn't Liu Shi come to court?"

As Li Chengqian finished speaking, all the officials turned their attention to Chu Suiliang, Yu Zhining, Yuwen Jie and others.

This group of people usually hang out together, and they know Liu Shi's situation best.

After a long time, no official stood up.

Li Chengqian gave the order in a deep voice, "Ma Zhou, your people from the Secretariat are absent from the court meeting for no reason. Send someone to ask what's going on."

"promise."

Ma Zhou stood up and responded, then left the Taiji Hall with a serious expression.

a moment of silence

Li Chengqian said calmly, "My dear ministers, let's begin today's court meeting."

When the heads of various departments were reporting on government affairs, the civil and military officials were not in the mood to listen. Their eyes kept falling on Yuwen Jie, Yang Siqian, Xie Shufang and others.

Looking at these important officials with their heads bowed, many officials sneered in their hearts.

"hehe!"

"Now you know you're afraid, right?"

"You usually rely on your family's prominence to stick your nose up to the sky all day long, but why are you sticking your nose up now?

"When you sent your family members to collude with the Western Turks and harm over 20,000 of our Tang soldiers, you probably didn't think about the serious consequences, did you?"

The relationships within the imperial court were extremely complex, with both cooperation and competition among them.

Because the Guanlong family supported the Longxi Li family in establishing the Tang Dynasty, the Guanlong family gained huge benefits and also shared many interests.

Now that this big thing has happened, these people from the Guanlong family should give up some of their profits.

After the heads of various departments finished reporting on government affairs, the Taiji Hall fell silent again.

Just when all the officials thought that Li Chengqian would talk about the big event of colluding with the Western Turks, Li Chengqian took out the battle report sent back by Xue Rengui.

Li Chengqian handed the battle report to the eunuch and spoke to the court officials with a smile on his face.

"My dear ministers, the Korean envoy has sent back the first battle report. Our Tang army has annihilated 20 elite Western Turkic troops in a single battle!"

what!

Du He led his troops to annihilate 20 elite Western Turks?

Upon hearing the news, the expressions of civil and military officials were suddenly filled with astonishment.

Is Western Turkestan so weak?

After a brief moment of astonishment, all the officials turned their eyes to Cheng Yaojin and Hou Junji, their expressions full of doubt.

The fact that these two powerful generals were unable to defeat the Western Turks shows that the Western Turks were very powerful.

But Du He led the same soldiers, and their morale was even lower than before, so why was he able to achieve such great results?

Could it be that Du He is stronger than these two generals?

Isn't this right?

Cheng Yaojin and Hou Junji felt the strange looks from the officials. They lowered their heads in shame and anger, their old faces burning hot.

Shame on you!

They had fought for decades, but they never expected that they couldn't even defeat that brat Du He. At this moment, they wished they could ram their heads into a pile of tofu.

Just when all the officials were feeling strange, the eunuch came to the side of the imperial platform with the battle report and began to read it.

After listening.

Civil and military officials all stood up and shouted in unison.

"Your Majesty is wise! Your Highness the Crown Prince is wise!"

"Korean Duke is mighty!"

After everyone shouted several times, they slowly sat down under Li Chengqian's satisfied smile.

The officials all knew clearly that praising Du He was sometimes more effective than praising the prince himself.

Just then, Ma Zhou came back in a hurry.

"Your Highness, Liu Shi and Han Yuan have committed suicide!"

wow~

When the news brought by Ma Zhou was heard, a huge noise suddenly broke out in the Taiji Hall.

None of the civil and military officials had expected that Liu Shi and Han Yuan would commit suicide out of fear of punishment!

What if Your Majesty shows mercy and spares their lives?

It's irrational!

"Humph!"

Li Chengqian snorted heavily.

He said in a deep voice: "Sun Fujia, you Dali Temple will be responsible for this matter!"

The deaths of these two old ghosts were too easy. The unscrupulous things they did behind his back could not ease the hatred in his heart even if he tortured them.

Sun Fujia stood up and replied, "As you command!"

After giving the order, Li Chengqian did not mention the matter of the spy at all, but directly announced his withdrawal from court.

After Li Chengqian and a group of important officials left the Taiji Hall, these officials gathered in groups of three or five and began to discuss in low voices about the spy.

"Everyone, how do you think His Majesty and His Royal Highness will deal with these people?"

"Of course, they'll confiscate their property and exterminate their entire clan!"

"As it should be!"

...

In the next few days, Fang Xuanling, Li Ji, Xiao Yu, Ma Zhou, Tang Lin, Zhang Xingcheng, Sun Fujia and others strictly interrogated the spies, and the atmosphere in the court became increasingly grim.

Especially the family members involved in the incident, they couldn't even sleep these days.

As soon as they closed their eyes, they worried that the imperial guards would come to arrest them.

During this agonizing wait, seven days passed in a flash.

After several days of rigorous investigation, people from the Dali Temple, the Censorate and the Ministry of Justice began to arrest officials according to the list.

The worst hit were the members of the Hongnong Yang family, the Guanzhong Yuwen family, and the Chenjun Xie family. More than 400 people from these three families were arrested.

Moreover, the vast majority of them hold official positions of the ninth rank or above.

As for the Sanyuan Han family, after the arrest of Han Yuan, Han Xun and other remnants, the Sanyuan Han family was almost wiped out.

All the members of the eastern branch of the Liu family in Hedong were also thrown into prison.

Tai Chi Hall.

A meeting of hundreds of officials.

Li Chengqian first announced the crimes committed by these families, and then asked the eunuchs to announce the results of the punishment.

"The Emperor of the Great Tang decrees that the Yang clan of Hongnong, the Yuwen clan of Guanzhong, the Xie clan of Chenjun, the Han clan of Sanyuan, and the eastern branch of the Liu clan of Hedong collude with the Turks and commit treasonous acts. This is a crime against the will of Heaven and cannot be forgiven!"

"Anyone involved in the rebellion will be beheaded, and fathers and sons over the age of sixteen will be hanged...!"