Chapter 4988 Opening the Net

Chapter 4988: Leniency

Li Chengqian woke up early in the morning, washed up, put on a set of casual clothes, and sat in the side hall to eat breakfast. While listening to Li Junxian's report, he was a little surprised: "Prince Jin and Fang Jun left the city together at midnight yesterday and went to Zhaoling?"

"Yes, after the two arrived at Zhaoling, they drank with His Royal Highness the King of Wei all night. The King of Wei and the King of Jin were drunk, while the Duke of Yue asked the eunuchs to boil hot water for a bath. They have not returned to the city yet."

Li Chengqian swallowed a mouthful of porridge: "What did you talk about?"

"The three of them were drinking in a side hall and had driven all the eunuchs away. No one knew what they were talking about, but when His Royal Highness the King of Wei saw the King of Jin coming, he was very surprised. He held the King of Jin's hand, and the two of them burst into tears..."

Li Junxian naturally did not dare to say everything. He expressed the state of mind and status of the King of Wei and the King of Jin in such an obscure way. As for what you can understand from it, it depends on Your Majesty yourself.

"Heh, Qingque thought that Zhinu would die inexplicably while in captivity, so he was so surprised to see Zhinu?"

Putting down his bowl and chopsticks, wiping the corners of his mouth with a handkerchief, Li Chengqian stood up and walked out of the side hall to the imperial study.

Li Junxian followed closely, and when he saw His Majesty sitting casually on the mat in front of the window, he replied, "I dare not speculate on the King of Wei's intentions."

Li Chengqian took the tea handed over by the eunuch, took a sip, and asked, "Yesterday, many people were given the task of 'co-minister of the Secretariat'. How did the Duke of Yue react after hearing this? Who did they meet and what did they say?"

"He only spent half an hour in the Ministry of War discussing with Cui Dunli and Liu Rengui. I don't know what they discussed. He then went home. In the evening, he sent someone to invite the King of Jin to visit Furong Garden. His Highnesses Gao Yang and Jin Yang also accompanied him. After that, he went directly out of the city to visit the King of Wei at Zhaoling Mausoleum... I didn't see any difference from the past."

Who is Fang Jun, who doesn't take your Majesty's precautions seriously? Even if he is dissatisfied, how can he express it in his words and deeds? Even if he expresses it, it must be intentional, and it is impossible for him to really think so.

"The King of Wei is leaving for Luoyang today?"

"Yes, they have probably already set off. The Prince of Jin and the Duke of Yue must be accompanying them. We will go our separate ways in Chang'an."

"Send some good people to secretly protect the safety of the King of Wei, and don't be careless," Li Chengqian ordered, and then reminded: "The King of Jin must also be well protected, and the King of Qi... there must be no mistakes."

He had no intention of harming his brothers, but because of this, the safety of the princes had become his shackles. Once any of his brothers encountered an accident, the outside world would pin the blame on him, causing him great trouble.

Wang De appeared at the door and said softly, "Your Majesty, the Minister of Imperial Clan Affairs, the Imperial Censor, the Minister of Justice, and the Minister of the Supreme Court are here to see you."

Li Chengqian said: "Let them in."

He also reminded Li Junxian: "The safety of the princes is the top priority. You must be careful and no accidents should happen."

"The last general's decree."

"Well, let's go do our work."

"Well, I will take my leave now."

Li Junxian bowed and took his leave.

Li Chengqian drank tea and nodded slightly. Li Junxian was calm and modest, clear-minded, loyal to the royal family, and had no second thoughts. He was really good at handling secret affairs. Therefore, even though he knew that Li Junxian's ambition was to lead troops into battle and guard the border, he had to keep him in the palace and relied on him.

It's not that I don't want to help Li Junxian, it's just that I can't find a replacement, so I can only let him suffer for a few years...

Li Yuanjia, Liu Xiangdao, Dai Zhou and Han Ai arrived together. After they exchanged greetings, Li Chengqian indicated that there was no need to be formal and asked them to sit down next to him and had the eunuch serve tea.

They knelt on the mats on the ground, with the king and his subjects sitting opposite each other, and the atmosphere was very harmonious and casual.

Li Chengqian had thought about the relationship between himself and his ministers. In the past, he felt that his prestige was not enough to intimidate his ministers, so he deliberately distanced himself from them, hoping to deepen their awe, but the effect was not good.

So he has changed recently, doing the opposite, being more gentle, showing kindness, and replacing it with gentleness and generosity...

"What is the situation of the Zhaoling case?"

Li Chengqian knew the purpose of their visit and asked directly.

The four put down their teacups and looked at each other. Li Yuanjia spoke up, "Your Majesty, the Zhaoling case has been initially interrogated and the facts are basically clear. Most of the people involved are descendants of the royal family, and the money involved is probably in the millions. Fortunately, these people still have some reverence. The places where they made moves were the palaces, corridors and other buildings above the mausoleum. The Xuan Palace under the mound is all in compliance with regulations."

Liu Xiangdao added, "Yan Lide has been recalled from Luoyang. We understand that when the Xuan Palace under the burial mound was completed, the inspection was extremely strict and there were no mistakes. However, after the Xuan Palace was completed, he was transferred back to the Ministry of Works. Although the palaces and corridors on the ground were also designed by Yan Lide, he was not in charge of them. They were jointly built by the Zongzheng Temple, the Taichang Temple, and the Ministry of Works. This gave those corrupt people an opportunity to take advantage of it."

Emperor Taizong ignored Empress Wende's last wish for a "simple burial" and built a huge project. The "Zhaoling" was an extremely large project. Not only was the Yuan Palace carved out of the mountain, but it was also surrounded by walls. There were houses and palaces on the mountain, stretching for dozens of miles. It was grand and spectacular.

Li Chengqian glanced at the ministers one by one and asked in a deep voice, "Is it really so?"

The "Zhaoling" case has far-reaching implications, and even court officials are involved. It is possible that the ministers made excuses for those corrupt thieves in order to protect their own interests and maintain the stability of the court.

Several people stood up in a hurry and bowed to the ground: "Your Majesty, please understand. We were all once ministers of Emperor Taizong. We are filled with grief and indignation at the desecration of Emperor Taizong's mausoleum. We wish we could cut the people involved into pieces. How dare we conceal the truth and deceive Your Majesty?"

"When Yan Lide was in charge of building the Yuan Palace, the rules and regulations were strict and the requirements were stringent. Outsiders had no chance to interfere. When the palaces, corridors, gates and other buildings on the ground were built, the defenses were relaxed, which gave the thieves an opportunity to take advantage."

Li Chengqian nodded slightly and felt relieved.

"Zhaoling" is the mausoleum of Emperor Taizong and Empress Wende. Using inferior building materials and doing a perfunctory job on its construction are serious crimes. However, there is an essential difference between the Yuan Palace and surface buildings. If the Yuan Palace also suffers from insufficient building materials and perfunctory construction, then the Yuan Palace should be dug up and the underground buildings should be inspected one by one. Such an offense to the spirits of Emperor Taizong and Empress Wende is absolutely unacceptable.

But if it is not rebuilt now, the Yuan Palace will collapse and the mausoleum will shake in the future, and the country will suffer unspeakable disasters...

Now only the surface buildings have problems, so the consequences are naturally much lighter.

"So, can you three judicial departments and Zongzheng Temple work out how to deal with this?"

Liu Xiangdao, Dai Zhou, and Han Ai all looked at Li Yuanjia.

Li Yuanjia had no choice but to say cautiously: "This case is of a bad nature, but it is not without a chance to remedy it. We may give a lighter punishment, mainly through education and admonition, supplemented by a fine, to minimize the impact as much as possible."

Li Chengqian understood what he meant. Li Shenfu and his ilk had launched a mutiny, which had implicated dozens of royal family members. Many descendants of Emperor Taizu had even become extinct. If the "Zhaoling Case" was also severely punished, the royal family would probably be wiped out.

No matter what, the royal family is the most solid foundation of imperial power. No matter how many mistakes they made, the Tang Dynasty was still in the hands of the Li Tang royal family.

If the royal family declines and lingers on, the imperial power will be in danger.

Moreover, the military is becoming more and more powerful, and the imperial power is already in jeopardy. If there is no support from the royal family...

"For the sake of the overall situation, I can let them off the hook, but I must teach these royal family members a profound lesson, so that they will feel pain and regret. The rest of the merchants involved in this case will all be beheaded and displayed to the public to rectify the situation. Their property will be confiscated, and their descendants will be sent to the army. They will be severely punished without mercy!"

"Here!"

Your Majesty did not mention titles or official positions, which means that this is the end of the matter. Do not shake the foundations of these people so that they can still be your helpers. However, "feeling sad and regretful" means imposing severe punishment.

I'm afraid that the money and silk that these royal families have inherited from their ancestors or collected after the founding of the country can no longer be kept...

But compared with the life and title, it is indeed a lenient exception.

Li Chengqian's face turned pale and he waved his hand. Several people quickly bowed and took their leave and went to do their work.

……

In the imperial study, Li Chengqian was filled with anger but couldn't vent it, so he was very irritable.

"Your Majesty, the Queen is here."

"Well, let her in."

"Here."

The sound of rings and ornaments jingled as Empress Su wore a crimson palace skirt, which made her skin look as white as jade. Her head was covered with pearls and jade, and her bun was piled high. She had a graceful figure and a slender waist. When she walked by with lotus steps, a faint fragrance like orchid and musk wafted from her, which was light and elegant but not strong, just like the Empress's gentle personality.

Logically speaking, the Queen's beauty and kindness surpassed those concubines and talented women in the palace, but Li Chengqian felt uncomfortable.

At that time, Li Siliang went to the Imperial Hospital to ask for medicine, in which he added a deadly poison. Li Chengqian's strategy of "turning the tables" misled Li Shenfu and others into thinking that Li Chengqian had been poisoned and could not wait to launch a mutiny was indeed a good strategy to eliminate the hidden danger.

But the root cause was that Li Chengqian was too tired to get an erection, and when he got an erection it was not strong enough, which made Li Siliang fall into the trap without any precautions...

How can I not feel embarrassed and guilty when my wife is as beautiful as a flower and in her prime, but my abilities are declining and I have to seek help from medication?

"The chief steward said that Your Majesty only ate a small amount of breakfast and was eager to deal with state affairs, so I personally stewed a bowl of bird's nest to replenish Your Majesty's qi and blood."

Su had a delicate figure, spoke softly, and had a flawless profile. She gently placed a bowl of bird's nest on the coffee table at the side.

Li Chengqian frowned slightly, feeling dissatisfied when he heard the word "supplement".

Could it be that the Queen was dissatisfied with his weakness in bed, and resentful that she had not been able to enjoy their lovemaking for a long time, so she hinted at him?
Li Chengqian claimed that he was not a petty person, but as a man, he was not strong enough in bed, so he felt guilty and had to think about it...