Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

Du He looked up and saw Liu Xiangdao, wearing a dark crimson official robe, standing respectfully at the gate.

This guy!

He came in person to report such a small matter.

Du He smiled and said, "Minister Liu, please invite the three chief officials in."

There was a pause.

He continued, "From now on, you can just leave these small matters like reporting to the lower-level officials."

Previously, when he was the Minister of Works, Xiao Kai liked to be an errand boy, but he didn't expect that Liu Xiangdao would do such a thing.

After all, Liu Xiangdao, who is over 50 years old, and Xiao Kai, who is only in his early 30s, are completely different types of people.

Liu Xiangdao smiled and said, "Minister Du, I'm in the lobby right now. These things are just a piece of cake."

As he said this, he walked quickly towards the lobby.

It didn't take long.

Sun Fujia, Tang Lin and Zhang Xingcheng walked into the office together.

"Greetings to Lord Korea."

He bowed and saluted.

Sun Fujia reported, "Duke of Han, the officials of the Three Departments have brought back all 35 princes and are imprisoned in the Dali Temple prison."

"How do you think we should convict them?"

Zhang Xingcheng explained, "We will punish the officials and noble families who committed crimes according to the Zhenguan Code, but we don't know how to punish those princes who hold high positions and great power."

They are not as favored as Du He, nor do they have as much power as Du He.

These vassal kings could not touch Du He, but it was easy to touch them.

If this case is not handled properly, it will not only affect their careers, but it will also affect their family members.

Du He also understood the concerns of these three people. They were all afraid of being scapegoats.

If there were only one or two vassal kings, they might dare to make free-handed judgments, but facing 35 vassal kings, they could not make judgments easily.

Once Li Shimin and Li Chengqian could not withstand the pressure from the Li clan members, a chief official of the Three Departments might be pushed out to eliminate the anger of these clan members.

After all, the death of Chao Cuo in the Western Han Dynasty is still fresh in our memory!

He frowned and pondered for a moment.

Du He waved at them and said, "Close the door."

Tang Lin, who was closest to the door, walked over quickly and closed it.

Du He asked softly, "What level of crimes did these princes commit? According to the provisions of the Zhenguan Law, how should they be punished?"

These princes embezzled birth subsidies and secretly wanted beauties from Western Turkic. These crimes were not serious enough for them.

At worst, the title of Prince of a County could be downgraded to the next rank of Duke of a County.

This group of people gathered armed forces and openly resisted the investigation of the case by the three divisions. The crimes they committed could be big or small.

For example, Li Shenfu, the Prince of Xiangyi, ordered the city gates to be closed and gathered hundreds of his troops to confront the court. This behavior could be punished as treason.

The result of rebellion is the confiscation of property and extermination of the clan.

Of course, for the royal family, the main criminal would often be demoted to a commoner and then ordered to be executed.

In this way, it has nothing to do with the royal family.

Sun Fujia took out a piece of rice paper from his wide sleeves, spread it out and read aloud.

"Xiangyi County Prince Li Shenfu embezzled 5500 mu of land, illegally occupied 81 beautiful women from Western Turkic areas, illegally seized hectares of land, formed a clique for personal gain,... closed the city gates, resisted trial with force, and threatened investigators. According to the law, he should be demoted to a commoner, have all his property confiscated, and be sentenced to three years in prison!"

"Prince Gaoping, Li Daoli, embezzled 3460 mu of land, illegally appropriated 72 beautiful women from Western Turkic areas, and raped 49 women... He gathered 1503 of his followers to defy the censors. According to the law, he should be demoted to a commoner, have all his property confiscated, and be sentenced to three years in prison!"

"..."

"King Li Yin of Shu embezzled 2000 mu of land, illegally appropriated 49 beautiful women from Western Turkic areas, beat 15 of his subordinates, accepted bribes of 10 strings of cash, and gathered 800 slaves to resist the inspectors. According to the law, he should be demoted to a commoner, have all his property confiscated, and be sentenced to three years in prison!"

As Sun Fujia finished speaking, the office fell into silence.

The three of them turned their eyes to Du He, waiting for Du He to make the final decision.

After a while.

Du He raised his eyebrows and asked, "None of these 35 princes meet the criteria for the death penalty?"

Well...

The three of them froze in silence, almost choking on their own saliva.

They thought Du He felt the penalty was too severe, but they didn't expect Du He to feel it was too light!

He is indeed a Korean prince who specializes in doing great things!

Sun Fujia quickly explained, "Replying to Duke Han, except for treason, the punishment for members of the royal family does not meet the standard of death penalty."

"These princes did have some rebellious behavior at first, but under the warnings of the officials of the Three Departments, they corrected their behavior within the prescribed time and did not reach the level of rebellion."

As he spoke, he handed the paper in his hand to Du He with trembling hands.

After serving as the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple for so many years, this was the first time that Sun Fujia encountered such a difficult case.

Du He carefully read the indictment and said with a smile, "Please stay in the Ministry of Revenue for a while. I will go to the Eastern Palace and let His Royal Highness the Crown Prince make the final decision."

The person in power now is Li Chengqian, and any major matter of punishing royal family members requires his approval.

However, there is a great possibility that Li Chengqian will let him make the decision directly.

After all, this group of princes are basically people that Li Chengqian hates, and that guy will not give them a good face.

"As ordered!"

The three of them responded in unison.

Du He walked out of the office and asked Liu Xiangdao to entertain the heads of the three departments. Then he walked quickly to the East Palace alone.

Mingde Hall.

After listening to Du He's report, Li Chengqian said directly, "Du He, you can decide these trivial matters."

Sure enough.

Du He bowed and said, "Your Highness, then follow the sentence set by the chief of the Three Departments. Degrade these princes to commoners, confiscate all their property, and make them guard the imperial mausoleum for three years."

"How about we read out the verdict at court tomorrow?"

It was impossible for Li Shimin to send these vassal kings to a remote place to perform labor. If a member of the royal family committed a crime, guarding the imperial tomb for a few years was already a severe punishment.

Moreover, they were demoted to commoners, which was the most severe punishment.

After losing their rights, status and property, their future lives will definitely be very difficult.

Maybe you will even feel depressed.

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "Du He, since the emperor has given you full responsibility for this case, he simply doesn't want to offend a bunch of clan elders."

"However, Father's intention is very clear. That is to severely punish these people and warn the other aristocratic families in the world."

"If these clan members behave well, I will gradually restore their titles after I ascend the throne."

Hey!

Did this father and son reach such a tacit understanding?

Du He curled his lips and said, "Your Highness, I am the one who does the offending things, and you all act like good people."

Li Chengqian patted his chest and said, "Du He, the more losses you suffer now, the higher the rewards you will receive in the future. I will definitely not treat you unfairly."

"I will increase your fiefdom!"

Another big pie...

Du He bowed and said, "Your Highness, the people from the Three Departments are still in the Ministry of Revenue. I will go back and inform them of your decision."

After paying his respects, he strode out of Mingde Hall.

On the imperial platform.

Li Chengqian shook his head slightly. He took out the map of the Tang Dynasty's territory that he carried with him and then pointed at Yanzhou.

He held the territory map in both hands and muttered with satisfaction.

"Thirteen states!"

"It finally looks a bit reasonable."

This is what is called a fiefdom. Can those princes who only have one county be considered princes?

...

Household Department.

After Du He came back and conveyed Li Chengqian's order, the chief officers of the three divisions all breathed a sigh of relief.

This difficult case was decided so simply and quickly.

So efficient!

at this time.

Du He sighed, "The penalty is a bit light, it's too easy for these princes, alas..."