Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

Ever since Du He knew that Li Tai was planning this batch of weapons, he had been sending spies to keep an eye on Fang Yiai and the Weiwei Temple's every move.

This year, the Weiwei Temple did not send the weapons and equipment to Luoyang because of the approaching winter, so Li Tai and Fang Yiai could not find an opportunity to take action.

But on March 15th of next year, Li Shimin will bring a large number of civil and military officials to Mount Tai to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth, and Li Chengqian may not necessarily be in Chang'an to supervise the country.

By then, Chang'an's defenses would definitely be weak, which would give Li Tai and Fang Yiai an opportunity to take advantage of.

Du He thought for a long time and finally sighed helplessly.

"Hey!"

"The East Palace's spies started too late!"

If the spies of the Eastern Palace were as omnipresent as the spies under Yin Yushan's control, there would be no need for blind guesses about many matters, big and small, as these spies would be able to obtain accurate information.

Although he now guessed that Li Tai was preparing to make a big move, the spies from the Eastern Palace could not enter the Prince of Wei's Mansion, and many important information could not be found out.

Because of the important news brought by Pei Xingjian, Du He no longer had the desire to read, but instead quietly made tea and drank it by himself.

As I was thinking, time passed quickly and it was soon approaching the next shift.

Just as Du He walked out of the Ministry of Works lobby with his things and prepared to return to the Princess's Mansion early, his eldest brother Du Gou walked over in a hurry.

"Second brother, I knew you would go back early!"

Looking at his second brother wearing fox fur and getting ready to go off duty, Du Gou felt helpless.

Among the heads of the three provinces and six ministries, the Minister of Works Du He was the most active in his duties and would return home half an hour early every day.

Du He saw his eldest brother coming towards him panting, so he asked curiously in a low voice.

“Brother, why are you walking so anxiously? What big thing happened?”

Although the Secretariat and the Ministry of Works are not far from each other, my eldest brother has been busy implementing the population migration decree recently and is extremely busy every day.

There was nothing important on weekdays, so my eldest brother never came to the Ministry of Works.

Du Gou panted and said, "The third brother has arrived in Chang'an this morning and presented the horseshoe and arithmetic to Your Majesty."

"Your Majesty sent General Niu Jinda of the Qianniu Guard to ride a horse with horseshoes on it and gallop along the riverbank for an entire afternoon. They were very satisfied with the horseshoes!"

"And His Majesty also summoned the Minister of Revenue Tang Jian and the Vice Minister of Revenue Lu Chengqing to Ganlu Palace to learn about arithmetic from the Third Brother. Both of them praised arithmetic highly!"

When Niu Jinda finished testing the horseshoe, His Majesty summoned all the officials from the Secretariat, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Revenue and the Imperial Household to the Ganlu Palace.

After some discussion, it was decided that His Majesty would let the people from the Imperial Household Department continue to test horseshoes during this period and try to gallop on different roads.

If horseshoes could really delay the wear of horseshoes, all the war horses and horses used to transport goods in the imperial court would have to be shod.

Moreover, His Majesty and the heads of various departments at that time all praised the Third Brother highly.

Du He pointed to the Ministry of Works behind him and said, "Brother, there are people coming and going at the gate. Let's talk in front."

Every one of these officials in the Ministry of Works is a gossiper. Whenever something big or small happens in other departments or Chang'an, they will share it with others.

"Okay." Du Gou nodded in response.

After they walked forward about a hundred steps and there were no officials around, they began to talk with confidence.

Du He smiled and said, "Brother, the wonderful uses of horseshoes and arithmetic are all within my expectations. There is no need to make such a fuss."

"And I have already agreed with Hou Junji that it will not be a big problem for the third brother to be promoted to Zhongshu Sheren based on this merit."

Hearing what Du He said, Du Gou nodded with relief.

He said softly, "Second Brother, I came to see you today because I want you to bring Princess Chengyang and nephew Ping'an back to the Duke of Lai's mansion tonight for a gathering."

"Because the Ministry of Personnel will start the assessment in the next few days, the third brother has to rush back to Jiangzhou early tomorrow morning!"

The Ministry of Personnel assessment is the most cumbersome for officials in prefectures, because they need to compile data of all sizes in the state to demonstrate their achievements in the past year.

Du He nodded and said, "Okay!"

When he saw his elder brother coming to him in a hurry, he thought he had something important to say, but he didn't expect that he was just talking about such a small matter.

That night, Du He brought his wife and children back to the Duke of Lai's Mansion for dinner, and chatted with the third son Du Aitong.

Du Aitong said with a lack of confidence: "Second brother, His Majesty thinks that I am quite accomplished in arithmetic and wants to set up a new mathematics department in Hongwenguan and let me serve as a direct scholar."

"But I declined because I was still young and didn't have the energy to take care of the affairs of the Hongwen Academy."

Although he had a better understanding of the new arithmetic, it was limited to what his second brother taught him. If he studied it more deeply, he would definitely be exposed.

Besides, his second brother was now planning a position for him as the Secretary of the Central Secretariat, and he felt a lot of pressure.

Du He said softly, "Third Brother, you were right to reject His Majesty's decision. The job of a secretary is not easy. You can't split your attention between two tasks."

"Besides, the scholars in the Hongwen Academy are all old men. What they want now is to leave their names in history books."

The main function of the Hongwenguan was to proofread books and maps and to teach the children of the royal family and important officials. Few of the people who served in the Hongwenguan were appointed to positions in the imperial court.

For example, Xiao Deyan, who was from the imperial uncle's side of the Xiao family of Lanling, Yan Shigu and his two younger brothers, as well as Chu Liang and Shangguan Yi were all scholars of the Hongwenguan.

Du Aitong breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Since my second brother said so, I feel relieved."

"I thought I would miss a great opportunity if I refused His Majesty!"

Today, Du Aitong was in the Taiji Hall, surrounded by a group of important officials who praised him, almost making him lose his mind.

Fortunately, Du Aitong woke up in time and realized that the things he was doing now to accomplish meritorious deeds were given to him by his elder brother, not his real abilities.

When leaving Ganlu Temple, Du Aitong felt a little scared. It turned out that flattery with sweet words could sometimes be more terrifying than harsh words.

The three brothers chatted for more than an hour until it became dark and then they dispersed.

The next day.

After the court meeting of all officials ended.

Just after Li Shimin and Li Chengqian left the Taiji Hall, there was suddenly a loud noise.

I saw generals including Cheng Yaojin, Hou Junji, Li Ji, Li Daozon, Niu Jinda and Wang Jun'e surrounding Du He like a group of tigers.

"Du He, is the horseshoe something you made?"

"I saw the horseshoe yesterday, and the effect is really good. No one except you has the brains to come up with it!"

"Are you free today? Have someone make a pair of horseshoes for my warhorse. I'll treat you to a drink!"

"..."

These old killers were chattering and pulling at Du He's official robe, all wanting to make horseshoes for their war horses first.

Cheng Yaojin was even more arrogant. He pushed the other generals away and then shouted loudly.

"Do you understand first come first served? I was the first one to come here!"

"I, Du He, will not let you work for nothing. I will give you as much silver as you want!"