Chapter 153: Duke of Tianshui County, households granted, Wei Jian dismissed from his post

In front of the bonfire, ministers kept toasting Li Xuan, with beautiful words coming out one after another.

Li Xuan had no choice but to take a sip of the wine.

Even at a banquet, Li Xuan would not get drunk.

Fortunately, at the critical moment, Li Longji summoned Li Xuan into the tent.

There are only Yang Yuhuan and the Yang sisters here.

Li Longji asked Li Xuan to play a game called Chupu.

Everyone had bad luck. Although they had been calling "Lu" all night, they had not had many chances of getting completely black.

When the banquet was over and they were leaving, Yang Yuyao invited Li Xuan into her tent to continue playing Chupu.

Li Xuan pretended to be drunk and sneaked away back to his own tent area.

Li Yuying didn't take a break yet and kept asking Li Xuan how he knocked down the tiger.

She had always heard that tigers were the most ferocious animals and that every tiger hunter in history would go down in history.

Li Xuan explained the situation to Li Yuying in vivid detail, which made Li Yuying so excited that she raised her fist.

When she gets home she can tell her friends about it, causing them to marvel and envy her.

The next day, the army set out back to Chang'an.

Two days later at dusk, I returned to Chang'an City.

At the court meeting of the new day, Li Longji conferred the title of Duke of Tianshui County on Li Xuan for his meritorious service in rescuing the emperor, with an actual fief of 500 households. Now that the position of the Chief Official of the Honglu Temple was vacant, Li Longji appointed Li Xuan as the Minister of Honglu.

Li Xuan skipped the title of founding county duke and went directly to the title of founding county duke, with a fief of 2,000 households.

However, Li Longji specifically granted Li Xuan a fief of 500 households.

Real fiefdom is a specific part of the fiefdom system, as opposed to virtual fiefdom.

In the Tang Dynasty, fiefdoms were either real or fake. The fiefdoms had no territory, and the fiefdoms were just empty names. For example, the Marquis of Qingshui County before Li Xuan, although he was a marquis and had a fief of 1,000 households, was actually just an empty title that sounded good.

They would only give some land as a gift.

Including Li Shizhi's Duke of Song, Li Linfu's Duke of Jin, as well as all the princes and heirs to the throne, their fiefs were all nominal.

Only those who are granted titles and real seals can enjoy the rent and taxes of the households they receive. Real seals are bestowed by the court on officials. It is a top-level treatment. By adding real seals, the recipients can actually enjoy the rent and taxes of the households they receive.

The Tang Dynasty learned from the lessons of previous dynasties and would not implement real fiefdoms.

Even if the title was actually granted, it would be impossible for there to be a "Marquis of Ten Thousand Households" like in the Han Dynasty.

The imperial court will select 500 households in Tianshui County, and their tax revenues will be directly handed over to Li Xuan.

Although the ministers were mentally prepared for this reward, they were still extremely surprised.

Li Longji was generally quite forthright in promoting officials and giving titles, but he seldom conferred titles on his ministers.

The ministers couldn't help but sigh in their hearts, saying that there is no greater merit than saving the lord.

Moreover, this time Li Xuan also served as the Minister of Rites, who was in charge of assisting and directing the prime minister's ceremonies.

This was a third-rank official, and it was the first time that Li Xuan served as a central government official.

Previously, Wang Zhongsi concurrently served as the Minister of Honglu. Later, Wang Zhongsi concurrently served as the Grand Censor. The position of Minister of Honglu became vacant and it was Li Xuan's turn.

There are two Honglu Shaoqings of the fourth rank in the Honglu Temple. Daily affairs are handled by the Honglu Shaoqing and the Honglu Cheng.

At this time, Li Xuan's full official title was General of the Left Dragon Guard, the Jiedushi of Hexi and Longyou, the Zhidushi, the Yingtian Ambassador, the Honglu Qing, the Governor of Xiping County, the judge of Wuwei County affairs, and concurrently the Ambassador of Longyou Herdsmen, Hexi Changxing Transport, Helong Yafan, Helong Suppression, and Chishui Army. He was granted the title of Shang Hujun, Yinqing Guanglu Dafu, and was granted the title of Duke of Tianshui County, with a real fief of 500 households.

Although they were not the highest-ranking officials, they all held real power, which made the ministers secretly jealous.

You must know that Li Xuan is only eighteen years old!

If Li Xuan could really defeat Tubo, how noble he would be, I dare not imagine!

Li Xuan did not indulge in the joy of power. He remained cautious and would stay at home with his father for a while and return to Huangshui City as soon as possible.

At this moment, a major event will break out in Chang'an.

After leaving court, Chief Censor Yang Shenjin impeached Wei Jian for having a secret meeting with the crown prince at midnight in the hunting ground, which seemed to be a conspiracy.

Afterwards, Palace Attendant Censors Lu Xuan and Luo Xishi, and Ministry of Revenue Langzhong Wang Yu came out to testify.

They requested that Wei Jian's servants and the prince's guards be arrested for interrogation.

By then it will be possible to confirm that Wei Jian and the prince had a secret meeting in the middle of the night.

Li Longji was very shocked.

Wei Jian is a relative by marriage.

The relative of the emperor and the prince had a secret meeting late at night at one o'clock in the morning, and it was right next to him. This reminded Li Longji of some unpleasant memories.

He immediately summoned Wei Jian to Xingqing Palace for questioning.

Wei Jian didn't know what was going on and thought that the cardinals were having a meeting.

Wei Jian had long forgotten what happened during the hunting trip.

When Wei Jian arrived at the Qinzheng Office Building, he did not find Li Linfu, but found a bunch of Li Linfu's lackeys.

I felt strange.

"The Saint has arrived..."

Upon learning that Wei Jian was coming, Li Longji walked out from behind the scenes angrily.

"Meet the saint!"

Wei Jian and other officials saluted.

"Left Prime Minister, what did you say to the Crown Prince during the midnight meeting at Xianyang Plain?"

Li Longji didn't ask him to stand up, but asked directly.

With so many ministers filing the lawsuit together, he felt that it was most likely true.

He thought that although Wei Jian was a relative by marriage, he was absolutely loyal to him.

After this happened, he naturally linked Wei Jian and the prince more closely together in his mind.

"Please calm down, Your Majesty. I have not met with the Crown Prince in private!"

For a moment, Wei Jian felt a chill down his spine and argued with Li Longji.

He didn't understand why someone knew about the past and even let the saint hear it.

But Wei Jian could only deny that he had met the prince. After all, he only went to the prince's camp at that time and did not actually meet the prince.

"really!"

Li Longji frowned and looked at Yang Shenjin, Wang Yu and others.

One of these people must be deceiving him.

The good mood I had during this period of time suddenly disappeared.

"Your Majesty, it was a servant under the Left Prime Minister who reported the secret. As long as we arrest the servant who accompanied the Left Prime Minister on the hunt that day and interrogate him, we will surely know the details."

Wang Yu stood up and reported to Li Longji.

His father was a cousin of Yang Shenjin, and Wang Bo was recommended by Yang Shenjin to enter the officialdom, but Wang Bo's real benefactor was Li Linfu.

If it weren't for Li Linfu's promotion, he would not have been valued by the saint.

Now Wang Yu is not only a doctor in the Ministry of Revenue, but also a household registration and sex labor officer.

"Left Prime Minister, let me ask you again, is there such a thing?"

Li Longji stared at Wei Jian.

"I remember now. When I heard that the Saint was attacked by a tiger, I wanted to go visit you..."

Wei Jian hated Wang Yu very much. If his servants were taken out for interrogation, someone would definitely not be able to bear it.

It’s better to be frank.

He already understood that he had accidentally stepped into Li Linfu's trap again. He clenched his fists for a moment, feeling depressed.

"How come I didn't know you were here? Summon General Chen to the building and ask!"

Li Longji summoned Chen Xuanli. If Wei Jian had come at that time, Chen Xuanli would definitely have known about it.

"Your Majesty, after I passed by the Prince's camp and learned that you were safe and sound, I dared not disturb your rest any longer!"

Wei Jian had no choice but to bite the bullet. He emphasized: "I have not seen the prince yet. I just asked the guard to pass on a message."

"Oh!"

"When you learned that I had encountered a tiger, you did not come to see me first, but went to find the prince first. What on earth were you thinking?"

Li Longji slammed the jade table. He no longer believed Wei Jian's words.

Go to the Prince's Camp, are you just going to say a word?
In an instant, Li Longji was very disappointed with Wei Jian. He even forgot his past achievements in Guangyuntan and started to question him.

Wang Yu, Luo Xishe and others were secretly delighted.

With this in mind, Wei Jian would be in trouble even without them having to do anything.

"I dare not think otherwise. I only asked the prince about the saint's situation, but I didn't even see him in person!"

Wei Jian knelt on the ground, his mind went blank.

I wanted to defend myself, but it seemed so feeble!

"I see you are impatient and want to establish a crown prince!"

Li Longji said in a cold voice.

Upon learning that the emperor was attacked by a tiger, he did not visit the emperor first, but met with the prince secretly in the middle of the night.

Everyone will think of these factors.

What’s more, Wei Jian’s sister is the Crown Princess!
"Saints, please forgive me, Saints, please forgive me..."

Wei Jian felt remorseful and kept kowtowing.

"Central Prime Minister Yang, first detain Wei Jian, and arrest all of Wei Jian's servants and the prince's guards to see what they said!"

Li Longji was furious. He refused to listen to any explanation and prepared to investigate the case thoroughly to find out what role the prince played in it!
"As ordered!"

Yang Shenjin understood that this was an unusually large case and if one was not careful, it would implicate many people.

However, his Chief Censor was recommended by Li Linfu. Even though he was unwilling to get too involved with Li Linfu, both the court and the public believed that he was Li Linfu's man.

This time, Li Linfu had evidence, so he had no choice but to use force.

Wei Jian was disheartened and unable to argue, so he was taken away by the Yulin Guards.

An hour later, Li Longji dismissed Wei Jian from his post as Prime Minister and removed him from his post as Minister of Justice.

At the same time, Li Linfu, who was secretly manipulating the situation, ordered Ji Wen, Luo Xishi, Wang Yu, and Lu Xuan to fabricate charges against Wei Jian.

Even if it is difficult to find at the moment, we must create a crime.

For example, Wei Jian was an official when he served as the Jianghuai Transport Commissioner, which was a severely corrupt area. There were also petty officials and boatmen in the grain transport, and they could also put in some effort. "Saint, calm down. The prince knew that you were safe and sound not long after General Li fought the tiger, and he sent someone to greet you. It was Wei Jian who acted too hastily!"

Seeing that Li Longji was sulking, Gao Lishi came to comfort him.

He sees things very clearly.

Since the prince knew that the saint was unharmed, he would definitely not summon Wei Jian late at night.

Wei Jian got the rumor from somewhere and came to see the prince!

"I think so too!"

Li Longji had his own thoughts in mind: the prince had no power at all and posed no threat to him.

But the prince cannot have a pillar like Wei Jian again, otherwise he will think too much.

If it is confirmed that there is no relationship between Li Heng and Li Longji, he will not depose the prince. It will just be a warning.

Hearing Li Longji say this, Gao Lishi felt relieved. He was really afraid that the emperor would depose the crown prince in anger.

Although the sage had many sons, Li Longji disliked his eldest son Li Cong because he was disfigured while hunting, and Li Longji could not choose Prince Shou Li Heng. No one else was more suitable than Li Heng.

……

Wei Jian's sudden collapse shocked the government and the public.

Just one day after returning from hunting, everything happened unexpectedly.

The people of Chang'an are still struggling for their daily necessities; the merchants of Chang'an are still busy pursuing profits.

But the princes and nobles all knew that things were going to change!
Wei Jian's followers were in a panic. The Minister of War Huangfu Weiming and the Minister of Rites Pei Kuan were all running around in their homes in a panic.

Wei Jian’s crime could be serious or minor, but Li Longji was in power and would not let it go easily.

The most terrified person is Li Heng, another protagonist in this case.

He was a pure victim. Even though Wei Jian came and went in a hurry and only said a few words, he was afraid of further investigation and would not give up.

"Don't be anxious, Your Highness. I believe my brother is innocent."

Concubine Wei gently comforted Li Heng.

She was also very anxious when her brother was investigated by the Censorate, and she was even more worried that the crown prince would be implicated.

"It's all your brother's fault for making trouble for himself."

Li Heng was stuck in a quagmire and was not so friendly to his usual beloved concubine.

"Brother must have been framed by a traitor." While speaking for Wei Jian, Concubine Wei reminded Li Heng: "Your Highness can pass the message to Mr. Gao."

"How dare I move at this time!"

Li Heng knew Gao Lishi's loyalty to the saint.

The main reason for recommending him as the crown prince was that he was a more suitable candidate.

"Your Highness..."

When Concubine Wei wanted to say something, Li Heng interrupted her loudly: "Stop talking and go back to your room."

Concubine Wei did not dare to disobey and could only leave with a heavy heart.

"Wei Jian, you have caused me so much trouble."

Li Heng pressed the table, feeling irritated and extremely frustrated.

He is the crown prince, but at the critical moment, he has no one to use.

Even Huangfu Weiming, who had a good relationship with him, did not dare to contact him.

……

Song Guogong Mansion.

"Qi Lang was very smart and Wei Jian fell into Li Linfu's trap. Fortunately, I expressed my dissatisfaction with Wei Jian to the Saint at the banquet for conferring the title of Imperial Concubine."

Li Shizhi and Li Xuan sat together.

As bystanders, they could infer that Wei Jian was deceived late at night. No one except Li Linfu could have such a sinister method.

"I didn't expect it to happen so soon. Wei Jian couldn't be so careless."

Li Xuan shook his head and said that history should still be respected.

Although Li Xuan had reminded Wei Jian and Huangfu Weiming, it is difficult to change one's nature.

In history, Wei Jian and Huangfu Weiming, who commanded an army of over 100,000, went out for fun during the Lantern Festival.

Now that he had escaped that disaster, he had fallen into a deeper trap.

Li Xuan felt that Wei Jian must have had thoughts of "treason".

"Wei Jian has won over many court officials. If he falls, many court officials will suffer."

Thinking of this, Li Shizhi was filled with worry. He was afraid that things would get out of control and affect Qilang.

"The purge of the court is inevitable! We cut ties with Wei Jian in a timely manner. I just saved the emperor, so there is no way I would be implicated in the prince's gang."

Li Xuan held Li Shizhi's hand to reassure him.

"I just don't know who has the chance to become prime minister?"

The position of Left Prime Minister will definitely be filled, and Li Shizhi was thinking about the minister who might be appointed as Prime Minister.

"Li Linfu will definitely recommend a minister who is easy to control as prime minister, just like in the late Kaiyuan period, and make arbitrary decisions on government affairs."

Li Xuan guessed that it would be the Minister of Works Chen Xilie.

This person is attached to Li Linfu, has sufficient qualifications, is humble in temperament, and is easy to control.

"Minister Chen of the Ministry of Works..."

Li Shizhi also thought of this name.

"My son's power is already established and cannot be changed. After all, the prime minister is below the saint. No matter who is the prime minister, Li Linfu will find it difficult to move me!"

Li Xuan said to Li Shizhi.

People like Wang Zhongsi, Zhang Chou Jianqiong, and the former Huangfu Weiming, all looked down upon Li Linfu. However, as the chief prime minister, Li Linfu had no way to deal with the Jiedushi and could only use strategies and traps to deal with them.

Li Xuan would not let his guard down because of his identity.

"What about the prince..." Li Shizhi asked Li Xuan again.

"If the crown prince has not committed a serious fault, the saint will not change the crown prince."

Li Xuan felt that Li Longji would sometimes use Li Linfu to suppress the prince, but would never slap the prince to death with a single slap.

Every time Li Linfu tried to kill the prince and make him flee in disarray, Li Longji stopped him.

Moreover, in some cases, Li Longji would not easily implicate the crown prince.

"The situation is complicated. Qilang should go to the border earlier."

Li Shizhi always felt that Li Linfu would not give up easily this time.

"Observe again!"

Li Xuan was mainly afraid that Li Linfu's lackeys would bite people randomly.

Historically, even after the Wei Jian case was over and Wei Jian was dead, people were still sent to search for Wei Jian's followers in Jiangnan on the pretext of being "Wei Jian's followers." They made random accusations and eliminated dissidents. This lasted for seven or eight years. Those people took the opportunity to extort money and do all kinds of evil. Many people were forced to die.

Five days flew by.

Yang Shenjin used all his skills to interrogate the servants who followed Wei Jian and the guards who followed the prince.

After dozens of people confessed, there was no information that made Yang Shenjin happy.

It was almost the same as what Wei Jian said in the Qinzheng Office Building.

However, because the crown prince was involved, the emperor personally sent a special envoy to supervise the interrogation. Not only Yang Shenjin, but even Li Linfu could not tamper with the confession.

They could only submit these confessions to Li Longji.

After seeing this, Li Longji's expression eased a lot. It turned out that it was Wei Jian who acted on his own initiative.

The most important thing is that Wei Jian did not meet the prince, and he just asked a few questions and then left.

Li Longji asked Li Linfu to choose a lower county in Shu and demoted Wei Jian to be the prefect.

But things did not go so easily. Li Linfu's lackeys convicted Wei Jian of corruption, bribery and abuse of power for personal gain within a few days.

This made Li Longji furious. Poor Wei Jian was demoted to Lingnan as a deputy governor before he even set out for Shu.

At the same time, another minister reported that Prince Xue Li Yan had an improper relationship with Wei Jian, so Li Longji demoted Li Yan to the position of Deputy Governor of Yiling County.

Prince Xue was the grandson of Emperor Ruizong, so Li Longji felt no pain at all for driving him out of Chang'an.

Li Linfu took advantage of this incident to demote Zheng Zhang, the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Granaries, to the position of Nanfeng Chancellor, Zheng Qinshuo, the Imperial Censor of the Palace, to the position of Yelang Wei, Dou Luyou, the Supervisory Censor, to the position of Fushui Wei, and Yang Hui, the Supervisory Censor, to the position of Badong Wei. He drove away more than a dozen ministers in succession and purged Wei Jian's followers.

Of course, Li Linfu couldn't deal with the toughest bones directly.

For example, Huangfu Weiming and Pei Kuan, both of them had experience as military governors, and their status in the mind of the sage was different.

There are also Zhang Shuo’s two sons, Zhang Yi and Zhang Jun, who have considerable influence in the court.

But Li Linfu still ordered his minions to find flaws and implicate them.

Because Li Linfu's target was Crown Prince Li Heng, but the sage had no intention of punishing the crown prince, which made Li Linfu very frustrated.

He thought that by expanding the "Wei Jian case", he could implicate the prince.

Seven days after the Wei Jian case, Crown Prince Li Heng made a decision that shocked the court and the public.

He submitted a petition to sever ties with the Crown Princess Wei, citing emotional discord with her.

Wei, who had been with him for many years and had given birth to two sons and two daughters for Li Heng, had to become a nun and live with the Buddha by the lamp.

But in Li Linfu's opinion, what's the point of just letting the prince lose his wife?

Therefore, the secret plan could not stop. He had to fabricate some more charges and kill Wei Jian first to eliminate any future troubles.

"Shichiro..."

One day, Li Xuan was writing in the house when his old friend Pei Zhou found him with an anxious look on his face.

Pei Zhou has grown into a handsome boy of sixteen or seventeen years old, and is no longer as frivolous as he was two years ago.

"What's up, Liu Lang?"

Li Xuan did not forget the words "If you become rich and powerful, don't forget each other", and when Pei Zhou and his nephew finished their studies, he transferred them to the army.

Pei Zhou is only seventeen years old now, too young.

"An official named Luo Xishi said that Pei Huang was involved in a murder case. He arrested Pei Huang regardless of my uncle's identity... Pei Huang and I have always been together, so it is impossible for him to kill anyone..."

Now Li Xuan is favored by the emperor and holds a high position of power. Pei Zhou's uncle Pei Kuan has a friendly relationship with Wei Jian and is now in trouble.

He could only turn to Li Xuan for help.

(End of this chapter)