Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

The clan leader Du Anshi originally wanted to use this wedding banquet to dampen the arrogance of the three Du He brothers, and let the other aristocratic families see clearly the strength of their Du family.

But the result was completely opposite to what was expected, and they made a mess of themselves.

Moreover, they lost face in front of other aristocratic families.

Hearing Duanshi's scolding, the elders sitting on both sides of the hall all lowered their heads in shame.

Once a person is unlucky, everything will go wrong.

Ever since the Du family drew a line between themselves and the three ungrateful bastards from Ke Ming, they haven't encountered any good things in this period of time. Only bad things have happened to them.

Now, not only the aristocratic families in Jingzhao Prefecture laughed at the Du family, but even the aristocratic families in Guannei Road and Hedong Road also laughed at them in every way.

They can’t even deal with the traitors from three families, where can they put their faces?

There was silence for a moment.

Du Jingyong, who was in charge of the wedding banquet, thought for a long time, and finally stood up tremblingly with gritted teeth and said.

"Chief, this poor coordination is all my fault. Please punish me!"

If the people blocked the road and demanded money because he was not well prepared and fell into the trap set by Du He and others, this would be understandable.

But when the unruly people asked for wedding money outside the mansion, his handling of the matter was indeed very problematic.

Cursing at this bunch of unruly people in front of all the guests brought complete disgrace to the Du family.

For a long time in the future, the people will probably criticize and laugh at the Du family.

"Humph!"

Patriarch Duanshi snorted coldly with an unhappy look on his face.

He then said in a deep voice: "Du Jingyong, I will punish you to kneel in the ancestral temple for one night. Do you feel wronged?"

Upon hearing the punishment the clan leader had imposed on Du Jingyong, all the clan elders in the hall had strange expressions on their faces.

Such a punishment is really too light!

Many people thought that the furious clan leader would kick Du Jingyong out of the power center of their Du family.

Du Jingyong quickly responded: "To the clan leader, my nephew has brought shame to the family, and I do not feel wronged to be punished like this."

"Yeah!" Duanshi nodded.

His deep eyes swept over the elders, and then he said in a cold voice: "Everyone, although we fully support King Wei's uprising now, we must also stick to the bottom line."

"I have discussed this with Shan Bin. From now on, Du Anshi will contact Shan Bin. No one else should interfere in this matter."

"Even if the King of Wei fails in his rebellion, our Du family will not be implicated."

Although Du Chuke assured him solemnly that King Wei's rebellion had at least a 70% chance of success, how could a big family put all its eggs in one basket?

Moreover, the Du family also supported Li's ascension to the throne. They knew that the consequences of a rebellion were too volatile and that a rebellion today might fail tomorrow.

Therefore, they could only support Li Tai secretly, while openly supporting Li Shimin, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

Du Jingyong and a group of clan elders responded quickly.

"it is good!"

Not only were all the elders confused by the clan leader's decision, even Du Jingyong couldn't believe it.

I didn't expect that he, a punished person, could take over such an important task. This shows how much trust the patriarch has in him.

The clan leader Du Anshi then said, "Du Jingyong, we must keep a good account book for the money, food and manpower we provided to the King of Wei."

"After the King of Wei succeeds, our Du family will use the account book to get our corresponding rewards!"

Although Du Chuke was a core aide to the King of Wei, people from other big families also worked hard for him.

How the benefits will be distributed in the future will depend on how much contribution they have made to the King of Wei, and these account books are an important basis for calculating their merits.

Du Jingyong nodded and said, "Yes, sir!"

Next, the group of people discussed in whispers for a long time, until the starry night when they finished.

...

The next day.

A meeting of hundreds of officials.

After the heads of the three provinces and six ministries had reported all the matters, big and small, of their departments, Li Shimin, with a smile on his face, turned to Du He and said.

"Minister of Industry, when will the heated kang be put into large-scale use?"

Du He stood up holding his tablet and replied, "Your Majesty, if we fix the ventilation ducts for the heated kang in the next two days, we can promote its use on a large scale."

Because Du He and Xiao Kai were not proficient in craftsmanship, the kang they made was not carefully selected in terms of materials and workmanship.

Smoke will come out from the cracks in the pipes. Although it won’t choke you, it will definitely smell unpleasant.

For Du He, who pursues perfection, such small flaws are naturally unacceptable, so he asked the master architect Qiu Xingyan for help.

Li Shimin nodded slightly and said, "The weather is getting colder and colder. These old officials can't stand the cold. You should fix it as soon as possible!"

"As long as the kang is safe and effective, I will give you and Xiao Kai a great achievement!"

Older people have weaker blood and energy, and they fear the cold winter the most.

Once you catch a cold, it will be a disaster.

Du He responded loudly: "As you wish!"

Many civil and military officials in the hall turned around and looked at Xiao Kai, who was sitting at the back of the row of civil officials, with envious expressions on their faces.

This dandy boy is lucky. Not only was he born in the Xiao family of Lanling, but he also has a good brother like Du He.

Du He actually gave away the kang and honeycomb coal, which had a significant impact on his career, as gifts. Even his brothers are not so kind, right?

Li Shimin then asked, "My dear ministers, do you have anything else to say?"

"If there is nothing important, today's meeting will end here."

As the weather grew colder, and many of the court officials lived in distant towns, Li Shimin ordered the officials to start their shifts half a quarter of an hour earlier than usual.

After a while, court meetings will no longer need to be held every day.

When the weather is good, the court meeting is held every two days. When it is snowing, the court meeting is held every three days.

Anyway, in winter, except for a few busy departments such as the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works, officials in other departments are relatively idle.

There was silence for a moment.

The Minister of Revenue Tang Jian stood up holding a tablet and began to speak.

"Your Majesty, our Ministry of Revenue has already counted all the items seized from Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla."

"Gold, silver and other valuables have been deposited into the national treasury. Livestock can be handed over to the Imperial Household Department for processing, grain can be handed over to the Sinong Department for storage, and weapons and equipment can be handed over to the Guardian Department for storage!"

As administrative departments, the six ministries are generally only responsible for the formulation, issuance and supervision of government orders and do not need to do very specific work.

The people who actually do the work are the people from the Nine Temples and Five Prisons, and they belong to the executive department.

Therefore, in terms of rank, the Six Ministries are one level higher than the Nine Temples and Five Institutions. The Shangshu of the Six Ministries is a third-rank official, while the chief officer of the Nine Temples and Five Institutions is a third-rank official.

Li Shimin smiled and said, "Tang Jian, after the court session, you can discuss this with the Minister of the Imperial Household, the Minister of Agriculture, and the Minister of the Imperial Guards!"