Chapter 5194 Within the rules

Chapter 5194 Within the rules
"Poor bones by the river, still the person in the deep boudoir's dream"...

Is there anyone who can truly understand the profound meaning of this poem?

It is said that "one should die on the battlefield" and "one should never turn back from death", but if the one buried in a foreign land and whose blood stained a foreign land was your father, husband, or son, how heartbroken would you be? Would you still care about the so-called glory?
However, the world is like this. Whether it is humans or animals, they are always moving forward in constant war.

The land to live on, the air to breathe, the right to mate and to reproduce, each one requires fighting, plundering and protecting with blood and life.

Someone will die for these things.

You think that life is peaceful, but in fact someone is carrying the burden for you...

You can be afraid of death and hide behind, but you must not forget those heroes who charge forward for you and never turn back.

……

The atmosphere of the banquet was somewhat solemn. The Tang Dynasty had only been established for more than twenty years. Both Zhang Xingcheng and Ashina Zhong had lived through wars and were accustomed to seeing dead bodies, so they did not look sad, but were filled with more emotion.

Looking out the window at the prosperous times and peaceful and prosperous people, we can better empathize with the soldiers who died fighting for our country.

Li Tai took a sip of wine and sighed, "Although I cannot lead troops to fight and kill enemies, if I can repair Luoyang City, I will not fail your majesty's trust. But knowing is easier said than done. In the chaotic times at the end of the Sui Dynasty, wars were raging everywhere, and Luoyang City was the center of wars and struggles among all parties. It still looks prosperous, but in fact it is extremely damaged. If we want to restore it to its original state or even better, the manpower and material resources consumed are simply unimaginable, and it is as difficult as ascending to heaven."

The table was very quiet and no one else could respond to this.

In the third year of Yongxi in the Northern Wei Dynasty, Gao Huan, then Prime Minister and King of Bohai, ordered the demolition of Luoyang City. Since then, although Luoyang had suffered from wars many times, it had not been captured by foreign enemies for eighty years.

It was not until the fourth year of the Tang Dynasty's Wude reign that Li Shimin defeated Wang Shichong and captured Luoyang City...

The first thing Li Shimin did when he led his army into Luoyang City was to denounce the Sui Dynasty for its excessive luxury and the magnificent and extravagant palaces in Luoyang, which had wasted countless people's money, leading to the demise of the Sui Dynasty. In order to learn the lesson from the demise of the Sui Dynasty, he "burned the Qianyang Hall of the Ziwei Palace in the Eastern Capital" and demolished all the luxurious and magnificent palaces. At the same time, he also destroyed all the magnificent buildings in Luoyang City.

Therefore, when it comes to the magnitude of the destruction to Luoyang City, no one has surpassed Emperor Taizong in the past hundred years.

There is another interesting story. In the fourth year of Zhenguan, Emperor Taizong wanted to rebuild the city of Luoyang, but was opposed by his ministers, especially Zhang Xuansu, who was a fifth-rank official at the time.

Zhang Xuansu said: It is not an urgent task today to repair the palace in Luoyang before the emperor's tour. The urgent task is not to repair the Luoyang Imperial Palace, but to recuperate and let the people who have experienced war become prosperous as soon as possible.

And your Majesty, do you know that in order to build the Luoyang Palace, the Sui Dynasty cut down all the towering trees within a hundred miles of the surrounding area, and then went to the mountains hundreds of miles away to look for big trees. In order to transport a huge tree to Luoyang, not only did they have to use hundreds of people to pull it, but it also cost hundreds of thousands of dollars - "the cost of one pillar has cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, so the rest can be imagined"!
Besides, it was your Majesty who ordered the Luoyang Imperial Palace to be demolished because it was too luxurious. But now, only more than ten years have passed, why did your Majesty imitate the luxury and extravagance of Emperor Yang of Sui?
Moreover, the people today have not yet fully recovered from the chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty, and the national strength is far less than the prosperous power when Emperor Yang of Sui built the city of Luoyang. Your Majesty, you have gone to such great lengths and wasted so much money and manpower, I am afraid that you are even worse than Emperor Yang of Sui - "Your Majesty has forced the wounded people to carry on the legacy of the fallen Sui Dynasty, I am afraid that your suffering is even worse than that of Emperor Yang of Sui"!
Emperor Taizong was a man of broad mind, and was always loved for his ability to accept advice. He listened to Zhang Xuansu's advice with an open mind, but his last sentence made Emperor Taizong very dissatisfied.

How can you compare me with Emperor Yang of Sui, the king who lost his country?

"You say I am not as good as Emperor Yang, but how am I compared to Emperor Jie and Emperor Zhou?"

Zhang Xuansu was also upright and immediately replied: "If this battle does not stop, it will also lead to chaos!"

Your Majesty, if you do not stop building the Luoyang Palace, you will be no different from Xia Jie and Shang Zhou...

Emperor Taizong listened to the advice and gave Zhang Xuansu two hundred pieces of colored silk!
But he was angry and depressed, so he said to Fang Xuanling: If there is something that needs to be done in the Luoyang Palace in the future, he will be willing to work in the open air - "If there is something to do in Luoyang in the future, it will not hurt even if I live in the open air!"

……

Fang Jun accepted the wine poured by Ashina Zhong, thanked him, and then said to Li Tai: "Your Highness, since you know how much manpower, material resources and financial resources were spent on building Luoyang, and it involved tens of thousands of craftsmen, corvées, and officials, and countless amounts of money, you should understand that such matters must be strictly controlled, and officials must not be allowed to take advantage of it, neglect their duties, or embezzle money."

Ashina Zhong was surprised and said, "Not really? Your Highness is in charge of all the projects, who would be so bold?"

Fang Jun shook his head and said, "The corruption case of Zhaoling is still before our eyes. If they dared to take action against Zhaoling when the interests are at stake, how much more so against a mere Luoyang city? Moreover, a large number of officials in Henan Prefecture were either dismissed or imprisoned. The newly recruited officials are new and do not know the ins and outs of the situation. It is very likely that they will embezzle money."

Zhang Xingcheng hurriedly said, "Don't worry, Commander. I have always taken this very seriously and have strictly managed the officials."

"I'm talking about strict control, but this is not a question of strictness or not. It's human nature. It won't work just by relying on control. We need to conduct strict inspections, find out whoever commits it, punish them, and deter a group of people!"

"..."

Zhang Xingcheng and Ashina Zhong looked at each other.

This is going to build a large prison!

Li Tai smiled bitterly and said, "Why is it so? Since you also said that this is human nature, it is impossible to completely eliminate it. If it is almost the same, everyone should turn a blind eye. As colleagues, there is always some friendship. Besides, everyone has respected me during my time in Luoyang. How can I suddenly kill him?"

Fang Junqi asked, "Your Highness, are you going to spread kindness and win the hearts of the people in Luoyang City?"

Li Tai's face changed and he said, "Don't talk nonsense!"

A prince who once had a "bad record" of competing for the throne is winning the hearts of the people in Luoyang, far away from Chang'an... This is a murderous act!

Is he afraid that Your Majesty will chop off Li Tai's head?

Fang Jun laughed and said, "Your Highness, are you still afraid? I thought that as the 'number one prince in the world', you have already achieved perfection and are invulnerable."

Li Tai looked extremely ugly.

He definitely had no intention of competing for the throne, but his fear of imperial power was growing day by day.

How could he not know that those officials were taking bribes and taking advantage of others? But those people were either retainers of the great aristocratic families or directly descendants of the great aristocratic families. If he turned a blind eye and sold a little favor to them, those aristocratic families would always speak for him in the future. As long as public opinion was formed everywhere in the country, His Majesty would not be able to do anything to him.

But now, after listening to Fang Jun's words, he thought that he had done a bad job, and it was even a way to his own death...

"Erlang wants me to be a lone minister?"

Fang Jun looked at Zhang Xingcheng and Ashina Zhong. Both of them lowered their heads and looked as if they were deaf to everything. He thought to himself that Li Tai was indeed capable. How long had it taken him to recruit these two people under his command?
Maybe she won't follow him closely and follow him till death, but they must have the same interests... otherwise she would never say such words in front of these two people.

Since these two people have already gained Li Taizhi's trust, Fang Jun did not shy away from speaking frankly: "I don't know what your Highness means by 'lonely minister'? The Tang Dynasty has its own laws and the royal family has its own family rules. Since there are laws and rules to follow, your Highness can just act according to the rules. Why think so much? Your Highness, why don't you tell me who gave you this idea?"

Li Tai had a blank expression on his face.

Zhang Xingcheng on the side smiled bitterly: "It was my ignorance that almost made a mistake for His Highness."

Fang Jun looked at him and said, "What do you mean? Your Highness, what is the big deal? What big deal are you talking about?"

Zhang Xingcheng's face turned pale.

Fang Jun sighed, "How stupid."

Zhang Xingcheng was one of the few high-ranking officials in the world. When Fang Jun scolded him in person, his face turned red, but he dared not say a word.

It's not that I'm afraid of Fang Jun's power, but I realize that I might have done something wrong...

Li Tai stroked his beard, thinking: "Erlang means... to do everything according to the rules?"

Fang Jun asked back, "Your Highness, what kind of situation do you think is most favorable to you at this time?"

Li Tai thought about it and understood Fang Jun's meaning: "Of course everything is within the rules."

He is Taizong's legitimate son, Your Majesty's younger brother, and the first prince of the Tang Dynasty. When Prince of Jin Li Zhi's rebellion failed and his reputation was ruined, he was the one who could pose the greatest threat to the imperial power.

If he wants to go further and get his hands on imperial power, he has to break the rules and go against the current.

On the contrary, he has long since given up the ambition to seize the throne, so it is naturally safest to stay within the rules - the title of the world's number one prince may seem dangerous, but it is also safe, provided that everything is within the rules. If Your Majesty wants to get rid of him, he must break the rules.

But what about now?

His Majesty has not yet shown any intention to get rid of him, but he himself broke the rules...

Isn't this just tying up one's own knot and handing the knife handle to Your Majesty?

Perhaps under certain circumstances, even if His Majesty didn't want to get rid of him, he couldn't, because the rules were broken...

At the side, Zhang Xingcheng was sweating profusely. He stood up and left the table, bowing to the ground: "I am a foolish official. I almost put Your Highness in danger. I hope Your Highness will forgive me!"

"Hey!" Li Tai stood up quickly, took two steps forward to help Zhang Xingcheng up, and comforted him: "Why do you have to do this, Prefect? ​​You and I have known each other for a long time and have a deep relationship. We are naturally loyal to each other. You have good intentions, and I agreed with you at the beginning. How can I put the blame on you now? Please stand up quickly, don't take this matter to heart!"

Fang Jun looked at this scene of "harmony between the emperor and his subjects", took a sip of wine, and seemed to be thinking about something.

Is Zhang Xingcheng really so foolish that he cannot see the current situation clearly, so he comes up with such a crooked idea?

Does Li Tai really have no political talent, and he stepped into such a big pit dug by Zhang Xingcheng intentionally or unintentionally without realizing it?

Not necessarily.

On the contrary, Ashina Zhong, who looked confused and at a loss, looked innocent and naive...