Tang Dynasty: Father, if you don't rebel, I will!

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please calm your anger, Your Majesty..."

Changsun Wuji was covered in sweat and hurriedly tried to comfort him.

Even Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui, who were originally reviewing memorials, hurriedly came over.

"Your Majesty, anger is harmful to your health..."

Li Shimin was furious and pointed at the newspaper in his hand, looking like he was about to kill someone.

An angry roar shook the Ganlu Palace.

"Calm down?! How do you expect me to calm down?!"

"The Crown Prince wants their heads, so they all try to run to me?"

"What do they take my court and my empire for?!"

"A trash can?! Ah!!!"

Enraged, Li Shimin slammed the newspaper in his hand onto the table, his eyes filled with murderous intent.

"Kill them! Everyone who has submitted a transfer application, kill them all!!!"

Minister of Personnel Changsun Wuji was instantly terrified and knelt down with a thud.

"Your Majesty, it is absolutely impossible!"

"What's wrong? These guys can't sit still anymore now that the Crown Prince is going to skin and stuff those who have embezzled more than five hundred strings of cash. They're all coming here to me. Do you really think these guys have clean hands?!"

"What the Crown Prince doesn't want, I don't want either!"

Changsun Wuji turned pale and hurriedly explained.

"Your Majesty, not all of these people are good-for-nothings. There are quite a few who are truly talented and learned, and many of them were rated as excellent in the counties where they served during their tenure."

"Our dynasty is newly established. Even if officials in various regions commit illegal acts, the Six Ministries must gradually establish their authority in the hearts of the officials in accordance with the Tang law. This matter needs to be handled slowly. However, His Highness the Crown Prince has ordered that anyone who embezzles five hundred strings of cash should be skinned alive..."

"Such stringent conditions would have been unheard of even in ancient times."

Li Shimin's anger subsided slightly, but the murderous intent in his eyes still flickered as he stared at the box of transfer applications in front of him.

"You mean, I should still approve their transfer requests?"

Changsun Wuji hesitated.

"Your Majesty, there are indeed many truly talented people among them. It would be a real pity to condemn them all."

Li Shimin sneered: "What a pity, they're just corrupt officials, what's there to pity about!"

however.

Despite saying that, Li Shimin was clearly calmer at this moment.

He rose to his current position step by step from the King of Qin, and he understands the principle that "too much clarity leaves no fish."

Despite the fact that Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui were both his trusted and capable ministers, he was still very much in charge.

However, if these people were to conduct a thorough investigation, five hundred strings of cash would not be enough.

After all, being in a high position, one is bound to have to deal with welcoming and seeing off guests.

Now that Li Shimin has ascended the throne, Fang Xuanling and his ilk have also risen to prominence, and people have been flocking to his residence to present gifts.

However, both Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui were extremely loyal to him.

Could I possibly, just because they took these things, treat them like that rebellious son, skinning them alive and stuffing them with straw?

He noticed that Li Shimin's anger had subsided somewhat.

Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling exchanged a glance without making it obvious.

He bowed and stepped forward.

“Your Majesty, the people His Highness the Crown Prince is currently punishing in Bingzhou are all corrupt officials, vermin who are poisoning the local area. However, if they are found guilty of embezzling 500 strings of cash, they will be skinned alive. How can these people still have the opportunity to submit a transfer request to the Ministry of Personnel?”

"The Embroidered Uniform Guard under His Highness the Crown Prince was transformed from the Hundred Cavalry Division bestowed by His Majesty. Do you think these corrupt officials can escape the notice of His Majesty and His Highness the Crown Prince?"

Li Shimin gave a soft snort.

He picked up the teacup beside him, his expression softening somewhat.

His gaze swept sideways to the wooden box of application documents on the table.

"So, you mean these people are gifts from my crown prince?"

Fang Xuanling had a dry cough.

"Ahem, well, His Highness the Crown Prince is young and cannot tolerate these people dressed in filth. However, His Majesty rules the world and has a benevolent heart. Giving these people a warning and transferring them to other prefectures is a good thing if they prove capable. After all, with the fall of the five clans and seven noble families, the court is indeed short-handed..."

"If these people remain incorrigible, then we can simply kill them with a single blow."

Li Shimin nodded slightly, seemingly accepting the explanation.

He then picked up the crumpled and tattered copy of the "Datang Xinbao" newspaper that he had punched, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.

"My Crown Prince, it seems that the year-end assessment of official promotions has yielded quite a few talented individuals."

"More than three hundred key figures from the original Bingzhou officialdom, just like that, they're discarded..."

Li Shimin curled his lip.

Subsequently.

After he saw the newspaper announcement about the year-end promotion assessment for officials in Bingzhou Province.

His body, which had been leaning back in the armchair, straightened up instantly.

A pair of eyes widened.

"Wow, over three thousand people were admitted?!"

He looked incredulous. They had seen the exam questions sent from Bingzhou that day.

Not to mention the last bonus question used to identify highly qualified individuals.

Even the questions on national politics and subjects like tax reconciliation and local chronicles are truly tests of one's knowledge and skills.

This was originally within the estimates of Li Shimin and Fang Xuanling.

With over 5,000 candidates, it would be good if 1,000 could pass the exam, since the vast majority of those taking the exam were ordinary people and local officials from humble backgrounds.

Then came the sons of aristocratic families like the Wang family of Taiyuan.

however.

"This unfilial son, how could he possibly obtain more than three thousand qualified officials with only two months of preparation time?!"

Suddenly, Li Shimin's eyes widened, as if he had instantly realized something.

He reached into the wooden box in front of him and pulled out a set of documents from officials of Bingzhou Circuit. The anger that had just subsided instantly rose up again.

"Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui!"

"You just said I should thank my crown prince? And that I should thank him for sending me over three hundred officials?!"

Li Shimin angrily threw a handful of documents at the group of people.

"He selected and promoted over three thousand clean and capable officials from among my subjects, and sent me three hundred filthy scoundrels with dirty backsides, and you expect me to thank him?!"

"My people! They are all my people!"

"He took three thousand young, honest officials from Bingzhou, gave me three hundred corrupt officials, and now he expects me to thank him?!"

"Rebellious son!!!"

"Those corrupt officials treat my court like a garbage can, but what does Li Chengqian take me for? Does he think I'll take just anyone?!"

"what?!"

In the Ganlu Palace, His Majesty Li Er truly couldn't hold back today.

These days, I've been handling all sorts of government affairs with ease and satisfaction, along with these three hundred application documents from corrupt officials in Bingzhou.

It was completely destroyed in an instant.

Now, even Changsun Wuji and the others didn't know how to persuade Emperor Li Er at this moment.

That night.

Standing in the Hall of State Affairs.

Emperor Taizong's anger had not subsided.

"Guanyinbi, that rebellious son has absolutely no respect for his father, the Emperor! It's outrageous!"

"More than three hundred corrupt officials, wasn't he very ruthless in killing? Didn't he even dare to defy public opinion and skin people alive? Why weren't all three hundred-plus corrupt officials beheaded?! Why weren't they all skinned alive?!"

"Let me handle this, huh? He's starting to get cocky!"

Emperor Taizong paced back and forth, barely touching the dinner served by the imperial kitchen on the dining table in front of him.

Empress Zhangsun looked helpless.

"Your Majesty, since these people are only petty thieves, a small punishment and a warning will still allow them to govern their own people. Such matters of state should not be handled impulsively."

"Isn't the nation currently short of officials?"

Li Shimin snorted angrily: "Lacking officials? If that rebellious son is truly filial, why doesn't he send me some of the three thousand talents he selected from the Eastern Palace?!"

"Dump these filthy scoundrels on me! Isn't he about to return to Chang'an? Guanyinbi, you just wait and see if I'll deal with this rebellious son!"

"Where's my riding whip! Sun Yi! Where the hell have you been? Bring me my riding whip!"

Outside the Lizheng Hall, Eunuch Sun stood nervously with his head bowed.

Which of His Majesty's orders can be carried out, and which are just words spoken in anger?

You still need to make your own judgment.

He knelt on the ground, his heart filled with sorrow.

Now that Eunuch Wang De and Eunuch Gao Hai have gone to His Highness the Crown Prince's side, they probably don't have to live in fear like him every day.

"Your Highness, we are just ahead of Jiangzhou. After passing Jiangzhou and then Puzhou, we will not be far from Chang'an."

Eunuch Wang was beaming with joy.

For the past six months, I have been following the Crown Prince. Although it has been quite tiring, I haven’t had the usual worries of serving a powerful ruler.

All that is needed each day is to arrange His Highness's daily food, clothing and other necessities.

In just six months, he had become noticeably rounder.

however.

At this moment, Gao Hai, who was following Eunuch Wang, looked sad and uneasy.

He still carries the Emperor's decree on his shoulders.

He was supposed to bring back half a mountain of gold. Although there were a few carriages carrying gold bricks in His Highness's grand procession, it was clear that...

This gold is not for His Majesty.

"parking!"

A calm voice came from Li Chengqian's carriage.

In an instant, the convoy came to a slow stop.

Li Chengqian stepped down from the carriage and walked to the edge of the fields on both sides of the official road. What should have been a silent and lifeless winter was now covered with deep green wheat seedlings.

Even now, despite the winter snow, it remains vibrant with life.

"Brother, this Heavenly Treasure Golden Seed is truly miraculous! It actually survived the winter snow without freezing to death..."

Li Tai, curious and excited, bent down to look at the winter wheat seedlings in the field and said...

Li Chengqian nodded slightly, took a deep breath, and exhaled a wisp of white vapor that rose and disappeared.

"These wheat seedlings are currently in the overwintering period and their growth has stopped. Once the first month of the lunar calendar is over and the weather warms up, they will enter the greening period and begin to grow again."

"In February, the crops turn green; in March, they joint; in April, they begin to develop ears; in May, they head, flower, and fill the grain... By June of next year, these fields will be ready for harvest."

Li Chengqian knew the details like the back of his hand, looking at the endless winter green in front of him.

Taking a deep breath, the pressure in my heart finally eased a little.

Wang Gonggong smiled and said, "In my opinion, while this Heavenly Treasure Golden Seed is indeed a blessing for our Great Tang, the true blessing for the people of our Great Tang is to have a crown prince like Your Highness who is diligent in governing and loves the people."

"Nowadays, every household in Bingzhou firmly believes that the kind of life Your Highness described in the newspaper can really come true."

Li Chengqian said nothing.

Li Ke, standing to the side, smiled slightly.

Li Tai burst into laughter: "Old Wang, this honey has actually been put to good use in your mouth. Your words are becoming more and more pleasing to the ear."

"In this vast land of China, there has never been a crown prince as wise and virtuous as my elder brother, and there will never be another like him in the future!"

"When my elder brother ascends the throne, he will surely become a sage ruler who surpasses even Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han!"

The eunuch looked panicked and glanced around.

Seeing that everyone in the group was His Highness the Crown Prince's people, he breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Li Chengqian shook his head slightly.

"A sage ruler for all ages, Qingque, in your eyes, what is a sage ruler for all ages?"

Before Li Tai could answer, Li Chengqian let out a long sigh.

"How vast is this world, and how many of us Chinese people occupy it? If we cannot let China dominate this world, let our Tang Dynasty have both day and night, and become an empire on which the sun never sets."

"A sage ruler for all ages... I'd rather not have him!"

"Hiss! The British Empire?!" Everyone gasped in astonishment.

Originally, it was thought that the Crown Prince's ideal of a lasting legacy was to conquer the Western Turks, Tuyuhun, Gaochang, Goguryeo and other surrounding countries, so that the people of the Tang Dynasty would be prosperous and the country would be at peace.

did not expect.

The surrounding countries were simply not enough to satisfy the Crown Prince's appetite.

"Let's continue our journey. It's been half a year since I last saw my beloved father, the Emperor. Let's see what he's accomplished in the country during this time..."

The Crown Prince's carriage was drawn by Li Chengqian's command.

We set off again.

at the same time.

A procession of prison wagons was also making its way from Hedong Road and Henan Road toward Chang'an.

Li Jing, Cheng Yaojin, Yuchi Jingde, and others personally escorted the shipment.

among these people.

The entire Cui clan of Boling, along with some captured members of the Li clan of Zhao County, the Lu clan of Fanyang, the Cui clan of Qinghe, and other powerful local families who participated in the rebellion.

They were all imprisoned in prison carts.

Shivering in the dead of winter, their expressions were numb and desperate.

They already knew their fate.

Cui Mingan, the head of the Cui clan of Boling, who had been howling and cursing the current emperor and the crown prince since he set off from Boling County, was now as wilted as a frostbitten eggplant.

His frail body huddled together with the other members of his clan in the prison cart, swaying gently like a puppet as the cart moved along.

"Hahaha, this year's New Year celebrations are truly a bountiful one! These aristocratic families have done a good job rebelling!"

As the convoy drew closer to Chang'an, Cheng Yaojin's smile became increasingly difficult to suppress.

Yuchi Jingde curled his lip.

Looking at the noble prisoners in the prison cart, his hostility grew even stronger.

"You old fool, you just got lucky. You just happen to be the closest to Boling County. If I were there, the entire Cui clan of Boling would be in my hands!"

"You, Cheng, have the audacity to take credit for something you earned with the help of His Highness the Crown Prince and the Embroidered Uniform Guard!"

"Hahahaha! Why don't you go and say such things to His Majesty? Tell His Majesty that His Highness the Crown Prince has mobilized the Embroidered Uniform Guard?" Cheng Yaojin didn't feel embarrassed at all.

However, upon hearing this, Yuchi Jingde's old face instantly turned red.

Enraged, he reached for the knife to chop down this shameless black bastard.

What's the difference between that and reporting the Crown Prince?

Let's not even talk about the fact that His Majesty would at most give the Crown Prince a warning for this kind of thing, and that would be enough.

To denounce His Highness the Crown Prince?

Yuchi Jingde glanced at the elders of the Boling Cui clan who were locked in a prison cart.

"I'm perfectly fine, why would I want to court death?!"

Among the long procession of prison carts, Li Jing remained calm, showing no concern whatsoever about the punishment to come.

His military achievements speak for themselves, so Li Er would be more at ease if he made some mistakes, and Li Er would feel more relaxed as well.

However... his gaze was fixed on these prison carts.

Along the way, there were at least a thousand such prison carts, and this was only the first batch. Later, the women and children of these local powerful families would also be escorted to Chang'an.

With the end of the aristocratic rebellion, besides leaving behind a mess in Hedong Province, there were only tens of thousands of powerful clans whose heads were about to roll...

His Majesty may not go so far as to execute all of these people, but...

Where is His Highness the Crown Prince?

......

"Your Majesty, His Highness the Crown Prince's entourage has arrived and is expected to reach Chang'an around noon today. Shall we prepare to go out of the city to greet him?"

Changsun Wuji stood outside Ganlu Hall, cautiously peering inside to inquire.

next moment.

"Wow!"

A stool grazed Changsun Wuji's scalp and flew past in an instant.

"Get out!!! I am the emperor! Does he, a mere crown prince, require me to personally greet him?!"

......

Outside Chang'an, Li Shimin looked displeased.

"Why hasn't that rebellious son's convoy arrived yet?"