A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1312 Killing Two Prime Ministers and Three Generals

October 9th,

The emperor came to Youzhou and rewarded the soldiers of the three armies.

"Bury the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the country and award them the fourth-level lordship, which will be inherited by the eldest son."

Wu Huaiyu felt like he was home when he returned to Youzhou. He had fought here for several years in the early Zhenguan period, fighting against the Turks, appeasing the Xiqi, subduing the Shanhou, and conquering the Beishan Xi.

Coming back after more than ten years, Youzhou has changed a lot.

In recent years, without the threat of border invasions from the Turks and Xiqi, Youzhou has rapidly prospered by virtue of its central location. It is the largest city in the northeast of the Tang Dynasty.
In particular, border trade is very prosperous.

Nowadays, Youzhou is not only full of Hu people such as Xi, Khitan, Shiwei, Mohe, Xun, Tiele, Turkic, etc., but also many Hu merchants from the east sea such as Goguryeo, Baekje, Silla, etc.

There are even more and more Sogdian merchants here. These merchants on the Silk Road have the most sensitive noses. A large number of Sogdian merchants do business here and even settle down. However, due to the current policy of the court, it is impossible for Sogdian merchants to establish independent settlements or even self-govern as before.

The Sabao still exists, but like any other family patriarch, he does not have any extraterritorial power. Even many Sogdians have begun to convert.

The Tang Dynasty had strict management over their belief in Zoroastrianism, and an additional tithe was levied on Zoroastrians. One tenth of their income had to be turned over, not to Sabaody or Zoroastrianism, but to the Tang Dynasty court.

This tithe was quite a lot, and many Sogdian merchants gradually stopped believing in Zoroastrianism.

On the other hand, in Youzhou, intermarriage between the Hu and Han peoples is quite common, whether it is the Turks, Tiele, Xi, Khitan, Mohe, or Sogdians.

The imperial court encouraged them to intermarry with the Han people. After the intermarriage, their next generations would become Han people directly and enjoy preferential treatment in various policies.

People tend to seek benefits and avoid harm.

If they were asked to pay one-tenth of their income as the price of their faith, they would convert immediately.

If a Hu woman married a Han man, she could obtain the status of a good citizen of the Tang Dynasty, and her children would be born with Tang Dynasty household registration. Hu women competed to marry Han men.

For example, during the conquest of Liao, many Hu people also vied to fight for the Tang Dynasty. It was not because they were so loyal, but because there were so many benefits.

The emperor rewarded the three armies in Youzhou City, and the Hu tribes who assisted him also received generous rewards. Those who made meritorious contributions were given official positions and medals, and they could even get the opportunity to move to the interior and settle down.
The most valiant and skilled medal winners can go to Chang'an and become members of the Imperial Northern Yamen Guard.

Countless Hu people yearn for Chang'an,

Since I can't go to Chang'an, I would really like to settle down in Youzhou.

The reward is rich.
Countless people were promoted to higher positions.
However, thousands of people died in this war.
Many senior officials also died.

In Yuguan, Prime Minister Cen Wenben died of illness. Just after leaving Yuguan, Secretary General Yan Sigu also died of illness. Then in Liaodong, General Baoguogong Duan Zhixuan died of a stroke after taking off his armor.

This person is a hero in Lingyan Pavilion.

Duan Zhixuan was the highest-ranking general to die in Liaodong.

Below him were Jiang Xingben and Wang Jun'e. Unfortunately, Jiang Xingben was hit by an arrow and died when he was attacking Wugut City.

Jiang Xingben was also a cavalryman. He had previously participated in Wu Huaiyu's expedition to the Western Regions and made great contributions. He was promoted to General of the Left Tunwei and appointed as the governor of Shule. This time, he participated in the expedition to Goguryeo, but was killed by a stray arrow in the final battle of Wugut City before returning.

I can only say that my fate is bad.

Originally, he was in charge of the engineering corps like the Yan brothers during this expedition to Liao, so he should have been quite safe. However, who would have thought that he would be killed by a stray arrow.

The emperor was very sad, and posthumously awarded him the title of General of the Left Guard. He also posthumously awarded him the title of Duke of Ying, and gave him the posthumous title of Xiang, and buried him in Zhaoling Mausoleum.

He also specially ordered his eldest son Jiang Jian to inherit the title of Duke of Ying.

Another senior general who died in the battle was Wang Jun'e, the General of the Left Guard and the Founding Duke of Xinxing County. He was Wang Jun'e's cousin. He followed Wang Jun'e to recruit soldiers and horses in Taihang Mountain and dominated the land. Later, he persuaded Wang Jun'e to submit to the Tang Dynasty. Although Wang Jun'e was too ambitious, he later courted death by instigating his relative, Li Yuan, the governor of Youzhou, to rebel. Then he came to quell the rebellion and used his relative's head to gain merit.

However, Wang Junkuo's crimes were soon exposed and he was killed by Wu Huaiyu when he defected.

Wang Jun'e was not implicated, but was always highly valued. This shows that he was a relatively honest and loyal person. Unfortunately, he also died in this war.
In the battle of Buyeo City, Wang Jun'e led his troops to attack, but was surrounded by the enemy and died from exhaustion.

"Wang Jun'e was bestowed with the title of General of the Right Guard, Commander-in-Chief of the Military Affairs of the Six Prefectures of You, Yi, Gui, Ping, Tan, and Yan, Governor of Youzhou, and Duke of Peng, and was buried in Zhaoling Mausoleum."

When Wang Jun'e's eldest son was only fourteen years old, the emperor specially granted him the title of Imperial Court Official with the help of his father and he inherited the title of Duke of Peng.

During the entire campaign against Liao, Duan Zhixuan died of a stroke after taking off his armor, which can be considered as death from illness.

Jiang Xingben was killed by a stray arrow, which was more of a case of bad luck.

Only Wang Jun'e fought a fierce battle with the enemy, but was eventually besieged and died of exhaustion. He was also the highest-ranking general who died in battle.

Qibi Heli and Li Simo were both seriously injured, but they were lucky enough to receive timely treatment and survived. They are almost recovered now.

The emperor was quite kind to Duan Zhixuan, Jiang Xingben, and Wang Jun'e. After their deaths, they were all given great honors.
Especially Jiang and Wang, who originally only held the titles of county dukes, were directly granted the title of dukes, and their sons inherited the title of dukes.

Generally speaking, in the Tang Dynasty, titles had to be inherited by being demoted in rank. Only those meritorious officials who had made particularly great contributions would be granted special favor by the emperor and not be demoted in rank.

Even the inheritance of royal family titles was downgraded by more than one level.

The eldest son of a prince is demoted to the rank of heir to the throne, and the eldest son of the heir to the throne is the duke. The sons other than the eldest son of a prince can only inherit the title of county duke, and the son of a county duke is the county marquis. For the royal family, the eldest son is demoted one rank, and the rest of the sons are demoted two ranks.

It is said that the illegitimate sons of the royal family will be removed after five generations, but they can be promoted to titles slightly later due to special grace.

Under normal circumstances, Jiang Xingben was only a county duke, and not one of the top founding heroes. Even if his son inherited the title after his death, he could at most be a county duke, and only with special grace could he be a county duke. But now the emperor directly allowed him to inherit the posthumous title of Duke of the country.

In addition, the emperor brought Jiang Xingben and Wang Jun'e, both of whom were still young, into the palace to raise them.

"He was posthumously awarded the title of Duke of Dai, Zuo Kuangzheng, the General of the Left Guards, the General of the Zhen Army, and the Governor of Bingzhou. He was given the posthumous title of Xiang and buried with him in Zhaoling Mausoleum. It was specially decreed that his eldest son, Zuo Shaoqi, would inherit the rank of Duke of Dai and be granted the title of Doctor of the Imperial Court."

Zuo Kuangzheng, whose real name was Zuo Nandang.

At the end of the Sui Dynasty, the world was in chaos. Zuo Nandang led the people to protect their hometown and was elected as the general manager. Later, he surrendered to the Tang Dynasty and was granted the title of governor of Youzhou. He was then appointed as the general manager of Xuanzhou and later the Duke of Dai. In this eastern expedition, he was the deputy general manager of the navy.

After the emperor returned, Zuo Nandang stayed in Liaodong and was appointed governor of Wuguzhou.

The emperor returned to Hebei.

After receiving urgent news from Liaodong,

Zuo Nandang was guarding Wugut City. The Goguryeo people in the Wugut River area attacked the castle where Fu Fuai, the brave and resolute commander under his command, was stationed. Zuo Nandang led his troops to rescue and defeated the enemy.

Fu Fuai, however, was too eager to gain merit and pursued the enemy, which resulted in him being surrounded by the enemy.
Zuo Nandang personally led 800 cavalrymen to the rescue, and broke through the siege. However, Fu Fuai was afraid of the enemy's large numbers, so he ran away, leaving Zuo Nandang behind. Zuo Nandang was shot several times, his horse died, and he was surrounded by the enemy. In the end, he fought on foot with a spear and was killed by the enemy.

This news came back,
Li Shimin was extremely shocked and furious.

He had just returned victoriously when one of the six commanders who stayed behind, Zuo Nandang, the Wugu commander, was killed in battle.

This shows that the situation in Liaodong is not that good.
It also tarnished the emperor's triumph and was a slap in the face of the emperor.

"Fu Fuai, the Commandant of the Resolute and Courageous Army, shall be executed."

Zuo Nandang was also responsible for his death in battle, as he should not have taken the horse lightly. However, Fu Fuai was even more guilty of abandoning the commander who came to rescue him and escaping himself.

The emperor was also extremely angry with him. Not only did he order his execution, but he also wanted to send his head to the military towns and garrisons of the seven military governorates and twenty-one prefectures in Liaodong.

In addition, Generals of the Central Army Zhang Wengan and Zhang Junyi were also ordered to be executed.

Zhang Wengan stayed behind in Wugut at the time and did not come to the rescue in time. He was afraid of the enemy's power and stayed in the city without leaving. Zhang Junyi was the deputy general who followed Zuo Nandang to attack, and he escaped back.

However, as a deputy general, it is not allowed to abandon the main general, causing the main general to be surrounded and killed in battle.

Fu Fuai, the Commandant of the Fierce and Resolute Army, Zhang Wengan, the General of the Imperial Household, and Zhang Junyi, the General of the Imperial Household, were all executed. These three men were of high rank, all of them were of the fourth or fifth rank.

But the emperor showed no mercy and executed them all.

The entire Eastern Expedition,

This number of military officers above the fifth rank died.

Duan Zhixuan, Jiang Xingben, Wang Jun'e and Zuo Nandang died in battle, while Fu Fuai, Zhang Junyi and Zhang Wengan were executed.

Seven of those above the fifth rank died, Qibi Heli and Li Simo were seriously injured, and Li Daozon sprained his foot.

Compared with the results of the battle, it is really not worth mentioning.

Reward first, then kill.

The death of a garrison commander and the beheading of three generals in succession made the atmosphere in Youzhou somewhat depressing, diluting the joy of victory and rewards.

The next question is who will take over the post of governor of Ugut State.
Several forces were fighting fiercely.

Li Ji wanted to push Lian Heding, who had just been granted a title of nobility by the emperor in Jieshi, to be the governor of Wugu.

However, Changsun Wuji did not support his ally, but instead wanted to put forward his own candidate.

Wu Huaiyu was very calm about this. He did not want to compete for the position of Wugut Governor. After the expedition to Liao, his family also got many good positions.

My senior brother Su Dingfang is the chief officer of the Andong Protectorate, in charge of the military affairs of seven prefectures and twenty-one states, and has 100,000 elite troops under his command.

There is also Pang Xiaotai who is also the governor of Daxingzhou.

His adopted son Wu Sigong also became the governor of Yanzhou.

Cheng Yaojin had also taken over as the Grand Protector of Shanyu, and Huaiyi was still the Grand Protector of Anxi, so there was no need to fight anymore.

It's just that this thing got a little out of control.

A few days later, undercurrents emerged, involving many people.

Wu Huaiyu was playing chess with Li Jing.
Suddenly the prince urgently summoned Huaiyu.

"Captain, something happened."

"Your Highness, what happened?"

"Just now, His Majesty ordered Minister Liu Li to commit suicide." Cheng Qian said excitedly.

Before the emperor's eastern expedition, Liu Li was promoted to the position of Shizhong. The emperor asked him to assist the crown prince in governing the country in Dingzhou together with Gao Shilian and others, and appointed him as the inspector of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the crown prince's left minister.

Now that the emperor had entered the pass, he suddenly asked Liu Li to commit suicide, which made the prince very frightened.

Liu Li was not only the prime minister, but also assisted the crown prince in regulating the country when the emperor was on the eastern expedition. Everyone knew that Liu Li was Wu Huaiyu's man and a member of the crown prince's party.

Wu Huaiyu was surprised, but he tried to remain calm.

"Your Highness, do you know what has angered His Majesty?"

"I only know that after Chu Suiliang met the emperor, Your Majesty urgently summoned Liu Li to the imperial court, and then ordered him to commit suicide."

This matter is obviously related to Chu Suiliang. Liu Li was the prime minister, and Chu Suiliang was also the prime minister. One was the Shizhong and the other was the Huangmen Shilang. Originally, the two were in a superior-subordinate relationship. The Huangmen Shilang was a subordinate of the Shizhong, but because Chu Suiliang was also promoted to the Council of State Affairs and became the prime minister, the two were no longer superiors and subordinates.

Liu Li assisted the prince in guarding Dingzhou, while Chu Suiliang went to Liaodong with Zhangsun Wuji.

"It must be Chu Suiliang who framed Prime Minister Liu." Cheng Qian said.

Wu Huaiyu asked, "Where is Liu Li now?"

"He committed suicide,"

"Ah?" Wu Huaiyu was also shocked. He died so soon.

"I heard the news and wanted to stop them, but it was too late."

There are many unreasonable things about this matter.

Wu Huaiyu could sense a crisis coming.

Everyone in the world knows that Liu Li is Wu Huaiyu's man and also the prince's man, but now he has been killed. It is obviously related to Chu Suiliang, and Chu Suiliang is in the same party as Zhangsun Wuji.

Could it be that Changsun Wuji wanted to go to war with him?
Why?

Wu Huaiyu understood his relative Changsun Wuji and knew that he had a strong desire for power, but was also narrow-minded, petty-minded and vengeful.

He's full of bad intentions, old coin.

But Wu Huaiyu and Changsun Wuji have been allied for more than ten years, and their cooperation has been pretty good. What does Changsun Wuji mean now?
When Wu Huaiyu was still puzzled,
Another shocking news came.
Zhang Liang intended to rebel, so the emperor executed him directly.

Wu Huaiyu felt a little creepy.
"Executed?"

"It has been beheaded."

Wu Huaiyu was so shocked that he was speechless.

Previously, Liu Li was ordered to commit suicide, and now Zhang Liang was executed. Both of them were the current prime ministers.

The most important thing is that ministers of such status were killed directly without being tried by the three courts or discussed in court by other ministers.

What's going on?
Even if someone really accused them of treason, even if there was evidence, they couldn't just be killed.

Soon more news came out.
Zhang Liang secretly plotted a rebellion with the intention of assassinating the emperor. The emperor found out, executed him, and ordered the confiscation of his property.

It's so unreasonable.

Wu Huaiyu smelled a strong conspiracy.
Zhang Liang's life or death had nothing to do with Wu Huaiyu, but he was able to become prime minister, which showed that he was very capable, and he had always been a loyal dog to Li Shimin.
Now the emperor killed this loyal dog in one fell swoop, leaving no room for him.

Changsun Wuji,

He immediately thought of the fat uncle of the emperor.

Wu Huaiyu comforted the prince with a few words and did not stay for long. The sudden change made him feel that a storm was coming.

He still needs to be careful.

Even if he is the prince's teacher, he has to pay attention at this time.

After returning, Wu Huaiyu closed his eyes and thought about what had happened recently.

The allies Changsun Wuji and Li Ji have been fighting fiercely recently over the issue of Wugu Dudu. Then he got some secret information that Zhang Liang seemed to be betting on both Prime Ministers Changsun Wuji and Li Ji, and he also maintained a good relationship with Wu Huaiyu.

As for Liu Li, he once supported Wei Wang Li Tai, but later Wu Huaiyu gave him a hand, so he was already branded as a member of the Wu Party and the Prince's Party.

Political struggle is very cruel, and the most direct manifestation of struggle is mutual exchange.
Wu Huaiyu fell into deep thought.

(End of this chapter)