Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

The next day.

A meeting of hundreds of officials.

When Du He walked into the Taiji Hall, he found that although the hall was already full of civil and military officials, it was very quiet inside, as if he had come to a quiet place.

The atmosphere in the hall is also extremely weird, making people feel depressed if they stay there for a long time.

"interesting."

Du He muttered to himself, then walked to his seat and sat down as if nothing had happened.

He knew that the reason why the atmosphere in the hall was so weird today was related to a case announced by the Censorate yesterday.

The Minister of Revenue Tang Jian violated Tang law, and the evidence is conclusive!

If nothing unexpected happens, Li Shimin will publicly announce the punishment of Tang Jian at today's court meeting.

As to whether Li Shimin will appoint new officials together, it is unknown. It depends on what Li Shimin thinks.

If he hasn't thought of a suitable candidate in his mind, then the chief officers and lieutenants of the three provinces, six ministries, nine temples and five prisons will participate in this fight.

Just as Du He was thinking about this question in his mind, the sharp voice of a eunuch suddenly came from outside the hall.

"His Majesty is here!"

"His Royal Highness is here!"

Civil and military officials stood up one after another and bowed to Li Shimin and Li Chengqian who walked in.

"Your Majesty, Your Highness, Your Highness the Crown Prince."

Ever since Li Chengqian returned from leading the expedition against Goguryeo, he would come to Taiji Hall every day to participate in court meetings, acting like the executive vice emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

However, Li Shimin did not give Li Chengqian much real power, so Li Chengqian currently mainly exercises the power of listening to government affairs.

Li Shimin sat down with a serious expression and waved his hand in a tired tone.

"My dear friends, no courtesy."

"Let's start today's meeting."

Ever since Li Shimin walked into the Taiji Hall, the solemn atmosphere in the hall suddenly disappeared, as if it had returned to its usual peaceful atmosphere.

For the next half hour, the heads of various departments reported on their department's affairs in an orderly manner.

Because it is now May, which is the busy farming season, the Ministry of Industry has more things to report than people in other departments.

When Li Shimin heard that the people in Jingzhao, Luozhou, Ezhou and Jiangzhou had greatly improved their farming efficiency by using the Zhenguan plow, he praised with a smile on his face.

"The Zhenguan plow innovated by the Ministry of Industry is great!"

"After the Zhenguan plow was installed, the average household cultivated 5 mu more land than in previous years. This year, the people's harvest will surely increase greatly!"

"Once the Zhenguan plow becomes popular throughout the Tang Dynasty, the people will be able to cultivate more and more land."

Because the Zhenguan plow was only officially promoted to local prefectures and counties after the beginning of this spring, and the number of scholars promoting it was limited, only 50 prefectures and counties have been selected for key promotion.

There are still hundreds of counties and prefectures where the Zhenguan plow will become popular among the people until around October.

Li Shimin praised the completion of the work, then turned his gaze to Li Chengqian and said.

"The Crown Prince's promotion of the Zhenguan Plow has been very effective, far better than I expected!"

"In order to encourage you to promote the achievements of the Zhenguan Plow, I have decided to reward those who have made contributions generously!"

Is this the beginning of the reward?

When the civil and military officials heard that Li Shimin was going to reward those who promoted the Zhenguan Plow, their faces were filled with astonishment.

They had been following Li Shimin for so long, but had never tried to reward people who had made contributions halfway through doing something.

If there are problems later, wouldn’t the current reward be very embarrassing?

But now all the ministers' attention was focused on the three posts of Zhongshu Ling, Revenue Shangshu and Secretary General, so no one stood up to raise any objections.

After all, everyone present was a smart person, and no one would mess with the prince, Hou Junji, Du He and others.

Li Shimin had already thought of the people and items to be rewarded, so he read them out loud.

"The Crown Prince has made great contributions in promoting the Zhenguan Plow. He will be rewarded with a thousand gold coins and a thousand items!"

"Hou Junji and Du He are the main executors, and they will be rewarded with 100 gold and 100 pieces of cloth!"

"Pei Xingjian has been rewarded with 20 gold and 20 pieces of cloth for his meritorious service in training craftsmen!"

"As for the rest of the meritorious people, once the crown prince has compiled a list of their achievements, the Ministry of Eunuchs will go and announce their rewards!"

As Li Shimin finished speaking, the Taiji Hall fell into silence.

After the civil and military officials reacted, a low voice of discussion was heard in the hall, and everyone looked very excited.

"The reward is so high?"

"There's no such high reward for making great achievements on the battlefield, right?"

The civil and military officials were not the least bit jealous of the rewards received by Li Chengqian and Du He, because one was the crown prince and the other was the one who innovated the Zhenguan Plow.

However, they were dissatisfied with the rewards received by Hou Junji and Pei Xingjian.

Why can Hou Junji and Pei Xingjian get such high rewards just by talking? Aren't they just following Du He's butt and getting credit for nothing?

Chu Suiliang couldn't help it, he immediately stood up with his tablet in hand and advised.

"Your Majesty, I think your reward to Hou You Pushe and Pei Langzhong is too high!"

"This reward is not in accordance with etiquette and law. Your Majesty, please reduce it as appropriate."

As Chu Suiliang finished speaking, Yang Shidao, Xiao Yu, Gao Shilian, Li Daozon and others stood up and advised him.

"Your Majesty, please reduce the reward as appropriate!"

"If a small achievement is rewarded with 100 gold and 100 pieces of cloth, how should it be rewarded if a great achievement is made?"

"Your Majesty, please be clear about rewards and punishments!"

Although the ministers in the court were all wealthy, a hundred gold coins and a hundred pieces of cloth were still a huge fortune for them.

Even those who didn't say anything, like Fang Xuanling and Li Ji, were jealous.

After Hou Junji heard the words of the civil and military officials, his smiling face suddenly changed, and then he cursed in his heart.

"What bullshit you're talking about!"

"Why is the silver you gave me so high a reward?"

"You couldn't see me working diligently and conscientiously, but now that I've received a small reward you're jealous?"

The promotion of the Zhenguan Plow was done by him and his future son-in-law Pei Xingjian, and they both took care of all matters, big and small.

The Crown Prince and Du He are the real slackers. Apart from holding a meeting last year to discuss how to promote the Zhenguan Plow, they have not taken care of anything else since then.

But Hou Junji could only keep these words in his heart and dared not speak them out in public.

In addition to not being able to offend his two allies, the Crown Prince and Du He, these ministers have also been very hot-tempered recently, and he might end up being besieged by these people.

Li Shimin had long guessed that the civil and military officials would have this reaction, and he said this in a firm attitude.

"The promotion of the Zhenguan Plow is of great significance, and I have always seen the hard work of Hou Junji and Pei Xingjian."

"If you think the reward is high and you have made great contributions, I will reward you according to this standard!"

"The reward has been decided. Don't mention it again!"