Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

What the hell?

Throw the gift at the gate of the princess's mansion?

Du He walked over and took a quick look at the gifts. He found that apart from a small amount of gold, silver, and antique calligraphy and paintings, most of them were silk, Shu brocade, utensils and other items.

Just use this to test him?

Can't he, the Duke of Korea, withstand such a test?

Although these items are not cheap, they are completely useless to him.

In the several warehouses of the princess's mansion, there are large quantities of silks and satins, all of which are of high quality.

Would he be short of this little bit of gold and silver?

Du He saw an ordinary long box at his feet. He curled his lips, then frowned, picked it up and opened it.

Hey!

It turned out to be a tiger whip!

Who on earth is the smart one who sent this gift?

When Du He looked at the name written inside the box, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

"Li Yifu!"

It seems that this kid really wants to improve!

Du He placed the box on the table and then asked Li Yi, "Yier, who sent the gifts?"

Li Yi thought for a moment and said, "Yuan Gongyu, the Secretary of the Central Secretariat; Shanye, the Marquis of the Supreme Court; Dugu Mou, the Imperial Consort; Wang Fuzhi, the Attendant of the Imperial Court; Deng Su, the Deputy Minister of the Imperial Household; Lu Mingyuan, the Doctor of the Ministry of Justice; Li Chunfeng, the Military Official..."

What?

Li Chunfeng, the second charlatan in the Tang Dynasty, is here to join in the fun too?

Although Li Chunfeng is not as famous as Yuan Tiangang, he has higher attainments in astronomy and calendar.

Now that Yuan Tiangang has retired due to old age, it seems that Li Chunfeng also wants to be the Grand Historian!

A moment of silence.

Li Yi frowned and asked, "My lord, what should we do with these generous gifts? Should we send someone to return them to their original owners?"

My husband is now in a high position and has great power. He cannot let these small gifts tarnish his reputation.

Even if my father and elder brother will not blame my husband for this now, once my husband accepts these gifts, it will be easy for them to have a handle.

Besides, they don't need this little money now, so there is no need to accept it.

Du He smiled and said, "Have these gifts taken to the side hall and stored there. I will have the officials take them back when I go to court tomorrow."

"Ah."

Li Yi smiled and nodded.

She was also worried that her husband would lose himself because of the enormous power he gained, but now it seems that her husband has not changed.

...

The next day.

A meeting of hundreds of officials.

Today's court meeting was still presided over by Li Chengqian, but Li Shimin, who lived in Ganlu Palace, did not show up.

The officials sitting in the back kept looking at Du He.

All the officials had expectant expressions on their faces.

Changsun Wuji, Chu Suiliang, Yu Zhining and others also glanced at Du He with a cold smile on their lips.

It was obvious that they had already known about the officials giving gifts to Du He yesterday.

On the imperial platform.

Li Chengqian glanced at the court officials and then waved his hand.

"Today's court meeting begins."

As Li Chengqian's order was issued, the faces of the civil and military officials became serious.

As New Year's Day approached, the heads of various departments did not have any important government affairs to report, and the topics of discussion all revolved around the grand court meeting.

Minister of Rites Liu Dewei reported: "Your Highness, Tibet, Persia, the Arabs, Tocharian, Byzantine, Humi, and the Indian states have all sent envoys."

"This year, 168 vassal states came to pay tribute, the largest number since the Zhenguan period!"

"Dozens of countries, big and small, in India all sent tribute."

Pause for a moment.

Liu Dewei continued, "And the tribute items from these vassal states are 50% more than last year!"

hum~

As Liu Dewei finished speaking, a low buzzing sound suddenly came from the hall.

The officials looked shocked and began to discuss among themselves in low voices.

"After the Tang Dynasty conquered the 10 surrounding countries, I didn't expect the number of countries coming to pay tribute to it to increase instead of decrease!"

"Before, among the dozens of countries in India, only 10 small countries such as Kamarupa and Kamarupa came to pay tribute. I didn't expect that all of them would come now."

"Sure enough, we still have to show our fangs!"

"..."

Although the Tang Dynasty was known for its tribute from all nations, the maximum number of vassal states that came to Chang'an to pay tribute was only about a hundred at a time.

Moreover, most of the vassal states were small countries with only one city.

On the imperial platform.

Li Chengqian said with a smile: "Liu Dewei, since these countries are so sensible, the Ministry of Rites must entertain them well in the next few days."

These foreign tribes were quite respectful and all came to pay tribute when he was regent.

Not bad!

When the subsequent armies conquer these foreign tribes, they can capture more prisoners and kill less.

Liu Dewei responded respectfully: "I obey your order!"

Half an hour later.

The chief officials of the three provinces, six ministries, nine temples and five academies have all reported.

Changsun Wuji glanced at Chu Suiliang, indicating that he should impeach Du He for accepting gifts.

Just as Chu Suiliang was about to get up and do something, Du He stood up before him and reported.

"Your Highness, Princess Chengyang told me yesterday that many gifts inexplicably appeared at the entrance of the Princess's Mansion."

"Princess Chengyang and I do not know where these gifts came from. If they were lost by officials in the court, I hope Your Highness will order them to come to the Princess's residence to claim them."

what!

The official lost the gift at the gate of Princess Chengyang’s mansion?

That’s bullshit!

Zhangsun Wuji, Chu Suiliang, Yu Zhining and others all looked extremely gloomy after hearing Du He's nonsense.

How can they impeach Du He?

A step slow!

The officials at the back who were delivering gifts felt their hearts tighten, and then they buried their heads deeply in their chests.

What does this mean, Korean?

Don’t you want to accept the big gifts they give you?

Now that Duke Han has spoken about this matter at the court meeting, will they go to the princess's mansion to take the gifts back?

If I go to take the gift back, won’t I be impeached by the Censorate for bribing officials?

But if I don’t take it back, won’t the Korean Guild be angry?

Hey!

This gift was too careless!

They didn't expect that their other colleagues had the same idea. They all chose to send the generous gifts to the princess's mansion on the day when Duke Hanguo went to Yongzhou Mu's Mansion to take up his post.

This is like hitting the horse on its legs!

On the imperial platform.

Li Chengqian glanced at Du He with a smile, and when he turned to look at the other officials, his expression suddenly became serious.

"Who left the gift at the door of Princess Chengyang's mansion?"

"Duke Han is an important official of the imperial court, a clean and honest minister. Are you trying to frame him for taking bribes?"

Boom~

As soon as Li Chengqian said this, it was like a thunderclap, exploding in the minds of the officials who were giving gifts.

A moment of silence.

"Humph!"

Li Chengqian snorted heavily, then said with a cold face.

"After leaving duty, the official who lost the gift will go to the princess's residence and retrieve it!"

"Retreat!"

All the civil and military officials stood up and saluted.

"Congratulations to Your Highness the Crown Prince!"

As Li Chengqian and a group of civil and military ministers left, a group of fifth-rank officials sat in their seats for a while.

They looked at each other, and then left the Tai Chi Hall tacitly.

...

noon.

Du He had just finished handling the government affairs of the Ministry of Revenue and was about to go to the Eastern Palace for dinner when Lai Ji, the Tongshi Sheren, walked in.

"Duke Hanguo, His Majesty summons you to Ganlu Palace for lunch."