Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

Cui Dunli, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, turned extremely pale and his body trembled violently and uncontrollably.

His younger brother Cui Yuqing followed the King of Wei in rebellion, but he only found out about it after the King of Wei had raised his army.

During the time when the army was suppressing the rebellion, he lived in fear and anxiety every day. When he closed his eyes at night, he would see the scene of his family being destroyed and his property being confiscated.

Just when the civil and military officials were having different thoughts, Li Shimin waved his hand to the eunuch and asked him to issue an imperial decree to deal with the rebels.

"The Emperor of the Great Tang orders that the clans of Jingzhao Wei, Jingzhao Du, Boling Cui, Anping branch and second branch, Chenjun Xie, Chenjun Yuan... harbor evil intentions and are about to rebel, violate the will of heaven, and defy human principles. Their crimes are unforgivable!"

"All those who participated in the rebellion will be beheaded, fathers and sons over the age of sixteen will be strangled, and those under fifteen, as well as mothers and daughters, wives and concubines, and sons and wives, will also be executed. The property and lands of grandparents, grandchildren, brothers, and sisters will be confiscated and turned over to the state treasury, and the sons of uncles and brothers will be exiled three thousand miles away, regardless of their nationality!"

"..."

After the eunuch announced the first imperial edict, the Taiji Hall fell into complete silence.

The faces of the few ministers who were implicated were as pale as a piece of white paper.

When Du Gou heard that the Jingzhao Du family had been exterminated, he felt extremely heavy-hearted, as if his roots had been pulled out and he felt as if his body was floating.

However, Du He's heart was not moved at all. After all, he had no feelings for the Jingzhao Du family.

Moreover, not all the people of the Jingzhao Du family were exterminated. Dozens of people like Du Chuke, Du Jingyong, Du Ye, etc., all followed the King of Wei to Japan.

Those who stayed in the Tang Dynasty and could not escape had a miserable fate.

It was obvious that they did not participate in the rebellion, and many of them were not even aware of it, but they were severely punished by the court. It was even more unfair than Dou E's death.

Immediately afterwards, the eunuch took out the second imperial edict and read it aloud.

"The Emperor of the Great Tang orders that Cui Dunli be dismissed from his post as the Minister of War and demoted to the position of Chief of Gusha Prefecture in Sishui Province!"

"The Emperor of the Great Tang orders that Wei Siqi be dismissed from his post as Junior Secretary of the Imperial Household and demoted to Chief Clerk of Hengzhou!"

"..."

The demoted court ministers all breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this.

Saved a life!

According to the Tang Dynasty law, if their brothers or cousins rebelled, they should have been killed, but Your Majesty, considering their contributions and kindness over the years, still left them a chance to live.

After the eunuch announced the imperial edict, Cui Dunli, Wei Siqi and others walked to the side and knelt down to pay their respects to Li Shimin.

"I am a guilty subject. Thank you, Your Majesty, for not killing me!"

Li Shimin waved his hand with a serious expression.

These ministers were all talented and trusted ministers, but they were implicated by their clansmen, so he had to deal with them.

After the demoted ministers sat back down, the eunuch brought out the third imperial edict and read it.

"The Jingzhao Wei family is harboring evil and is planning to persecute people. They are a family that is punishing and killing people. From today on, Imperial Concubine Wei Gui will be demoted to Zhaorong, and Zhaorong Wei Nizi will be demoted to Jieyu."

"Concubine Yang Shu is gentle, virtuous, elegant and dignified. She is a noble concubine because of her talent and conduct. She is the head of the four concubines and controls the concubines in the harem to promote the royal family!"

"Consort Yan Xian is auspicious, virtuous, gentle, respectful and virtuous. She is of a gentle and kind disposition and is gentle, bright and virtuous. She is canonized as Consort Shu, the second of the Four Consorts!"

After the eunuch issued the imperial edict, he stepped back to one side and stood with his head bowed.

All the civil and military officials looked at each other with a trace of astonishment on their faces, then they stood up holding their tablets and saluted.

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

Du He felt that it was expected that Li Shimin would confer the title of Defei on Consort Yang.

There are four ladies of the first rank in the harem, whose titles are Gui, Shu, De and Xian, and their ranking is the same as their status.

Concubine Yang Shufei was ranked second among the four concubines and was the mother of Prince Wu Li Ke. It was natural for her to be canonized as a noble concubine.

Du He thought to himself, "Wu Wang Li Ke has benefited from this. I don't know if Li Shimin will make a mistake later and support Li Ke as well, so that he and Li Zhi can restrain Crown Prince Li Chengqian together!"

After Empress Changsun died of illness, Li Shimin never appointed a new empress, so the status of the imperial concubine in the harem was no different from that of the empress.

Although Yang Guifei is not the queen in name only now, who can guarantee that Li Shimin will not enthrone her as the queen?

Because of his arrival, the history of the Tang Dynasty underwent tremendous changes.

If the Crown Prince and the forces under the Prince of Jin fought too fiercely, Li Shimin might really follow the example of Emperor Jing of Han and, for the sake of the stability of the country, enthrone Yang Guifei as queen and make Li Ke the crown prince.

Li Shimin warned his ministers again and then announced the end of the court meeting.

Today's court meeting mainly announced the treatment of the families and ministers involved in the rebellion, and did not mention anything about the treatment arrangements for the King of Wei.

...

Over the next month, with the assistance of the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple went all out.

According to the information on the list, they went to various states and counties in the Tang Dynasty to capture criminals.

Every day, a large number of prisoners were taken back to Chang'an, and after their identities were verified, they were directly taken to the East Market to be beheaded.

Xingtai in the East Market has been dyed a deep dark red by blood.

With the demise of clans such as Jingzhao Wei, Jingzhao Du, Chenjun Xie, and Chenjun Yuan, the power of Boling Cui was greatly damaged, and people all over the world were shocked.

Pingkangfang

In the lobby of Baihua Building.

A large group of scholars dressed in white and blue robes were discussing loudly and excitedly. They didn't even bother to look at the courtesans playing the piano and dancing.

"Did you hear that?"

"This morning, the last few remaining members of the Jingzhao Du family were taken to the East Market and beheaded!"

"Their wealth and property were also taken back by the court!"

"Wow, there are thousands of carriages loaded with gold, silver, treasures, antiques, calligraphy and paintings. My eyes are dazzled!"

"At least several million guan!"

"..."

They had only heard before about how wealthy people from noble families were, but this time they felt it for real.

If the imperial court transported the noble families' carriages and dropped some silver, it would be enough for these people to have food and clothing for the rest of their lives.

A young scholar wearing a green robe and holding a paper fan suddenly spoke loudly.

"My dear brothers, the Jingzhao Du family's property was confiscated. What do you think the Minister of Works Du He and the Minister of the Left Du Gou and others think?"

"The Du family's huge family property was taken over by the imperial court. Wouldn't the brothers suffer a great loss?"

"You said..."

Before he could finish his words, he stood there motionless as if struck by lightning.

Because he saw the Minister of Works Du He, Cui Shenji, Xiao Kai and others walking down from upstairs!

Cui Shenji raised his eyebrows and said, "Brother Du, these people are criticizing you behind your back, do you need to teach them a lesson?"

Du He glanced at the hall, then shook his head and said, "Forget it. It's normal for people to talk about something so serious behind the scenes."

Not to mention the common people talking about them, even the servants in the princess's mansion have been secretly discussing the extermination of the Jingzhao Du family during this period.