A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1323 Taking the blame and resigning
August,

The earthquake in Hedong was particularly severe in Jinzhou, where more than 5,000 people were reported dead.

Wu Huaiyu, who had been resting at home, was also invited by the emperor to discuss matters in the Yanying Palace.

Some people say this is a bad sign.

Wu Huaiyu sat in the hall, listening to reports about the earthquake. The Hedong earthquake occurred on the first day of August. The center of the earthquake was in Jinzhou, causing a large number of houses to be destroyed and more than 5,000 people to be crushed to death.

On the third day of the Chinese New Year, there was another aftershock.

In Wu Huaiyu's view, earthquakes are just normal geographical phenomena, but in the eyes of the ancients, earthquakes are called earth dragons turning over. According to the divine right of kings and the induction of heaven and man, the turning over of the earth dragon is a warning from heaven, that the emperor has lost his virtue, has not acted, or has acted recklessly, so heaven has sent down strange signs and disaster warnings.

Anyway, ever since this system came out in the Han Dynasty, the emperor has often had to take the blame for many major natural disasters.

Of course, more often than not, it was the prime minister who took the blame and even became a tool in the court struggle.

The emperor could issue an edict of repentance, make a self-examination and admit his mistakes, but he still had to do the job, and the one who was truly responsible was the prime minister. Generally, one or two people would be pushed forward to take the blame and resign.

The Jinzhou earthquake
It happened when Emperor Taizong Li Shimin was about to be buried.

Some people want to make a fuss about this.

After returning to Beijing, Wu Huaiyu presided over the affairs of the three provinces and the Prime Minister's Office, but in fact he hardly took care of anything. He occasionally went to the court to pay homage or participated in the court meetings.

In the past few months in the court, it was Uncle Sun who was the most active and tried his best to get his hands on everything.

Since Chu Suiliang was unexpectedly kicked out of the central government, the struggle in the court has become more intense. First, it was rumored that Changsun Guojiu and his cousin Gao Jifu had a big quarrel for some reason and then went their separate ways.

Then, Prime Minister Cui Renshi somehow offended Zhangsun Guojiu again. Rumor has it that Prime Minister Cui impeached Chu Suiliang for many crimes to the emperor. Then Chu Suiliang, who had just been demoted to Gaochang as the chief historian, was demoted by the emperor to Anxi as a provincial Sima.

His title was further downgraded to Marquis of Henan County.

Changsun Guojiu was furious about this, and it is said that the two had a big fight.

A few days later, an imperial censor impeached Cui Renshi, saying that someone had appealed to the emperor but Cui Renshi concealed the truth. He also said that as prime minister, he still accepted gifts from Prince Li Tai and had ill intentions.

Zhang Sun Wuji stood up and wanted to severely punish Cui Renshi.
Finally, the emperor issued an edict to dismiss Cui Renshi from his position as prime minister, strip him of his title, and demote him to the position of Sima of Jianzhou in Shu.

But the case was not over yet. Zhangsun Wuji pursued the case relentlessly and implicated Prime Minister Yuwen Jie and overthrew him to the ground. Yuwen Jie, the Yellow Gate Minister and the third-rank official of the Secretariat, was dismissed from his post, stripped of his title of Duke of Pingchang County, and demoted to the Sima of Guizhou in Lingnan.

For a moment, the government and the public were shocked.

Many people don’t understand. Aren’t Cui Renshi and Yuwen Jie both the emperor’s uncle’s men? They are both members of the Guanlong Group. Why did the emperor’s uncle drive them both out of the court?

Some people said that because these two people changed their allegiance and joined the Grand Marshal Wu Huaiyu, the king's uncle was furious and cleared out the family.

After three prime ministers were dismissed and demoted,
At the end of July, Imperial Censor Cui Yixuan was also banished from the capital and demoted to Governor of Wuzhou.

Xu Jingzong, the Minister of Rites and the third-rank official of the Secretariat, was promoted to the position of Shizhong and concurrently the Chief Censor.

The Minister of the Secretariat Lai Ji was promoted to the third rank of the Secretariat and appointed as the Prime Minister. The Minister of the Imperial Court Li Yifu was promoted to the rank of Participate in the Government Affairs and appointed as the Prime Minister.

After demoting three prime ministers, two new prime ministers were added, namely, Lai Ji, the Secretary of the Central Secretariat, and Li Yifu, the Secretary of the Imperial Household.

Those who were demoted were originally Zhangsun Guojiu's men, and those who were newly appointed were all Wu Huaiyu's men.

Lai Ji and Li Yifu also have another identity, that is, they were former officials of the Eastern Palace and were also fellow disciples of the Crown Prince.

Zhang Xingcheng, the Duke of Beiping County and Shangshu Zuo Pushe, also served as the Minister of Justice.

The July that just passed was extremely lively.

Gods fight.

Even the dumbest person could see that Uncle Changsun suffered a great loss and Master Wu was the big winner.

Originally there were twelve prime ministers, eight of whom were from the emperor's uncle's side.

And now there are eleven prime ministers,
There are already five people on Master Wu's side, and the three judicial officials, the Grand Censor, the Minister of Punishments, and the Minister of Justice, are all from Master Wu's side.

If Gao Ji Fu really had a falling out with the emperor's uncle as rumored, then Gao Xiang, the Minister of the Central Secretariat and Minister of Personnel, might have also switched to Wu Xiang's side.

There is also Cui Dunli, the Minister of War and the third-rank official of the Secretariat. He is also the son-in-law of the Prime Minister Wu, so maybe he will change his allegiance.

All of a sudden, the Military Party became the majority in the Government Affairs Hall.

Some people also say that British Duke Li Xiang seems to be getting close to Wu Xiang recently.

Your Majesty.

Han Yuan, the Yellow Gate Minister and the third-rank official of the Secretariat, stood up and took the opportunity to attack, saying that the great earthquake in Jinzhou was a warning from God and that the court had made improper use of personnel.

They were openly and covertly accusing Wu Huaiyu, the Prime Minister who was in charge of the affairs of the two provinces of Shangshu and Menxia, ​​of being a slacker.
After such a long time back in the court, he didn't care about government affairs at all.

Han Yuan said that Wu Huaiyu was not worthy of his position and was just sitting there doing nothing, and even God couldn't stand it anymore.

Wu Huaiyu must be held responsible for the Jinzhou earthquake and he must resign.

There was a strong smell of gunpowder in the hall.

The two sides have been fighting fiercely recently.
Although Wu Huaiyu did not even attend the court, nor did he go to the government hall to handle government affairs, the Wu Party and the Guanlong faction had recently become really angry.
The Wu Party launched a fierce attack. Xu Jingzong, Zhang Xingcheng, Cui Renshi, and Yuwen Jie all fought with all their might. In addition, Pei Xingjian, Li Yifu, Lai Ji, Xu Yushi, Hao Chujun, Shangguan Yi, and others joined in.

The king's uncle suffered a crushing defeat.
Not only did Chu Suiliang die, but Cui Renshi and Yuwen Jie also rebelled. Although Zhangsun Guojiu finally deposed the two traitors, he also killed one thousand enemies but lost eight hundred of his own. In other words, he suffered a miserable defeat, because those two were originally prime ministers on his side.
Wu Huaiyu suffered no loss by killing the two men.

On the contrary, Wu Huaiyu took advantage of the situation to appoint two of his trusted aides as new prime ministers, and even took control of the three judicial departments.

It's a matter of life and death.

They could only take advantage of the Jinzhou earthquake to try to force Wu Huaiyu to retreat. After all, he now holds the title of presiding over three provinces, but has not yet done any work.

Wu Huaiyu's mouth corners slightly raised.

They were anxious.

He made a slight move and Changsun Guojiu couldn't bear it.

Cui Renshi and Yuwen Jie made them extremely anxious and dealt a heavy blow to the Guanlong Group. Although Zhangsun Guojiu dealt with the two afterwards,

But what loss would it cause to Wu Huaiyu? On the contrary, it would only make some people who followed Changsun Guojiu feel disheartened and panicked.

Struggle,
Isn't it just about winning over, dividing, various inducements or deceptions, plus threats?
Cui Renshi and Yuwen Jie became cannon fodder, and that was no one else's fault. At least, although they were dismissed and demoted, their families had not been implicated, so they still had a chance.

Now in the court, the core members of the Guanlong faction are only Zhangsun Wuji, Han Yuan, and Yu Zhining. Gao Jifu and Cui Dunli have also been shaken.

Han Yuan wanted to be beheaded.

Wu Huaiyu waited for him to finish his impassioned speech and then stood up.

But he did not refute as fiercely as Han Yuan and the others had imagined.
Just a long sigh,
"I have failed the Emperor Taizong's last trust, and I have also failed Your Majesty's expectations."

"I beg you to resign!"

The palace is quiet.

No one expected that after Han Yuan's attack, Wu Huaiyu would actually resign in the palace.

Emperor Li Chengqian refused, and Wu Huaiyu refused.

Three days later,
The emperor finally agreed to Wu Huaiyu's third resignation.
However, the emperor only agreed to Wu Huaiyu's resignation from the posts of Inspector of the Secretariat and in charge of the affairs of the two ministries, Shangshu and Menxia, ​​while he still served as the Minister of the Secretariat and Menxia.

He was still the prime minister of the Political Affairs Hall, but he no longer presided over the three ministries.

However, Wu Huaiyu did not go to the Council Hall to handle government affairs, citing the recurrence of his old illness.

The Minister of the Interior and the Palace Attendant Changsun Wuji was appointed as the Inspector of the Secretariat and was in charge of the affairs of the two ministries, the Secretariat and the Ministry of Personnel.

It seemed that Zhangsun Wuji had turned the tables and replaced Wu Huaiyu as the Prime Minister.

But in the court,
His power was not as great as before. Sometimes, even though he was the uncle in charge of the affairs of the three provinces, his words were not as effective as those of Wu Pingzhang, who did not attend court every day.

The time came to August 18th,

The aftermath of the Jinzhou earthquake was almost complete. The court sent envoys to express condolences, exempted taxes for three years, and gave three pieces of silk to each family of those killed in the earthquake.

More than a hundred miles west of Chang'an,

Liquan County, Zhaoling Mausoleum,

The coffin of Emperor Taizong Li Shimin was finally buried in Jiuyi Mountain of Zhaoling Mausoleum.

Jiuyi Mountain is located on the south side of the Jing River and the south side of the Wei River, across the Guanzhong Plain. It faces Taibai Peak and Zhongnan Peak in the south, and on the east and west sides, there are undulating mountains extending to the plain.

Zhaoling Mausoleum was built on a mountain and took more than ten years to build. From the first burial of Empress Zhangsun to the current burial of Emperor Taizong, many princes and nobles have been buried here.

Wu Huaiyu came to see Emperor Taizong off for the last time.
This is truly a Feng Shui treasure land.
There is a huge complex of buildings around the mausoleum mountain, and there are palace maids to provide support, soldiers and officials to guard it, a special fifth-rank mausoleum commander to manage it, and mausoleum-guarding generals and palace generals to guard it.

In front of the Emperor's Mausoleum,

Qibi Heli, Ashina She'er and many other Hu nobles who surrendered knelt down and begged Emperor Li Chengqian to let them kill themselves and be buried with him.
Cheng Qian looked at the Hu generals kneeling on the ground. These former barbarian chieftains were now loyal ministers who fought and shed blood for the Tang Dynasty.
And married into the royal family,

These people are actually a group of ministers who are extremely loyal to the court and the emperor.

"The late emperor had already issued a will not to allow you to be buried alive with him, but he already knew your loyalty."

At the foot of Jiuyi Mountain,

Inside Sima Gate, there are two rows of stone statues.
There is a stele under these stone statues, on which is the introduction of the characters in the stone statues. Each one is extraordinary.
The first one on the list is Jie Li Khan, the former Great Khan of the Eastern Turks. This heroic leader of the grassland who once commanded an army of 400,000 soldiers could only turn into a stone statue and serve Emperor Taizong for a long time.

Behind him were the barbarian kings conquered by Emperor Taizong.
Tuli Khan, Xueyantuo Khan, Tuyuhun Khan, Tubo Khan, Western Turk Khan, King of Goguryeo, King of Baekje, King of Silla, King of Linyi, King of Yanqi, King of Kucha, Tocharian Khan, Khazar Khan, King of Persia, King of Khotan, King of Kucha, King of Xi, Khitan Khan...
A total of thirty-six stone statues of kings and monarchs are lined up on both sides of Sima Gate.
There is a monument in front of each person, which not only records their identity, but also how the Tang Dynasty Khan, Emperor Taizong, conquered them.
There were howling sounds coming from afar.
Wu Huaiyu frowned.
Cheng Yaojin, come here.
"It was She'er and Heli, the barbarians. Your Majesty did not allow them to be buried alive with you, so they cut their faces with knives, and blood was flowing." Old Cheng was still alive and kicking. He had previously wanted to go to Persia in the Western Regions to be the chief steward of Khorasan, and to meet the Arabs who were flying the flag eagle.

But the emperor did not agree. Old Cheng was still the Great Protector of Shanyu and the Governor of Fengzhou, and still held the title of General of the Left Winged Guards.
With the passing of many famous generals such as Li Jing and Qin Qiong, Old Cheng has become a powerful figure in the military. Wu Huaiyu went to see the excitement.

It was not only He Li and his men who slashed their faces with knives, but there were hundreds of people, all of whom were officials of the fifth rank or above in the court, including Turks, Sogdians, Xi, Khitans, Tuyuhuns, Dangxiangs, Goguryeos, Mohes, Sillas, and Baekjes.
They used the barbarian tradition of cutting their faces with knives to express their loyalty and longing for Emperor Taizong.

After today,

These barbarian nobles in Chang'an of the Tang Dynasty all had scars on their faces.

This loyalty is directly reflected on his face.
After today,

If any barbarian noble does not have a scar on his face, it means he is not loyal enough.

Huaiyu touched his face. Fortunately, there was no such custom in the Central Plains. Otherwise, if he became a veteran of several dynasties, wouldn’t his face be covered with scars?
The scar-faced elder?
The funeral is over.

Return to Beijing.

Along the way, everyone was very quiet.

Wu Huaiyu's mind was filled with the past events that happened with Emperor Taizong over the years, all of which were still vivid in his mind.

There is no doubt about Emperor Taizong's great achievements.

He can definitely be compared with the Qin Emperor and Han Emperor.

The Zhenguan Era he left behind was so powerful and prosperous.
Wu Huaiyu even felt proud of it. He had contributed to the prosperous Zhenguan Period in history. Emperor Taizong's Zhenguan Period lasted two more years, but the number of households almost doubled.
Not to mention that Taizong finally fulfilled his wish, destroyed Goguryeo, and performed Fengshan on Mount Tai.

The Zhenguan of this time and space has become stronger because of him.

Not only did he witness this great era, he also assisted Emperor Taizong to take a further step and reach a higher position.

The emperor sent someone to invite Wu Huaiyu to ride in the same carriage.

In the carriage, Li Chengqian hoped that Wu Huaiyu could assist him as the imperial teacher and preside over the government.

But Wu Huaiyu shook his head and refused.

"It is enough to have the assistance of the uncle and the Duke of Ying to assist Your Majesty."

"I plan to calm down and finish writing the chapter on the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty in the Zizhi Tongjian. I will also write another chapter, The Chronicle of Emperor Taizong."

Zizhi Tongjian is a chronological book and does not contain biographies of emperors or ministers.

Wu Huaiyu planned to write a "Records of Emperor Taizong" for Li Shimin, a personal biography for the emperor, recording his great achievements and passing them on to future generations.

"I support you in writing a chronicle for the late emperor, and I also support you in adding the Zizhi Tongjian to the reigns of Emperor Gaozu and Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty."

"But this will not affect the teacher's assistance in government affairs."

"Your Majesty, please give me three to five years to concentrate on completing these two tasks first, and leave the affairs of the government to the uncle and the Duke of Ying."

Li Chengqian failed to persuade Wu Huaiyu.

After returning to Chang'an,
Wu Huaiyu really closed the door and refused visitors, concentrating on writing his book. He, the co-minister of the Secretariat, did not even go to the Secretariat for a few days.
The eldest grandson Guojiu presided over the affairs of the three provinces.

But Changsun Wuji always felt that he was restrained and found it difficult to move freely.

More than half of the ministers in the Council of State were no longer his people, and even Li Ji seemed to be keeping a distance from him.

Zhang Sun Wuji found the emperor.

"Your Majesty, I request that Chu Suiliang be summoned back to the court,"

Emperor Li Chengqian looked at his fat uncle, feeling dissatisfied but expressionless.

"It has only been two months since Chu Suiliang was banished from the capital," the emperor reminded his uncle.

"Your Majesty, Chu Suiliang was only implicated by his family members and did not commit any serious mistakes. He has already been demoted and punished. You can't just kill the minister chosen by the late emperor for such a small matter."

Zhang Sun Wuji insisted on recalling Chu Suiliang.

Even the position has been arranged, the Minister of Personnel.

Zhongshu Ling Gao Ji Fu now concurrently holds the post of Personnel Minister, but he cannot hold such an important position concurrently forever.

"Uncle, can you wait a little longer? Changing your orders from one day to the next is not a joke."

"Your Majesty, the court is in need of people."

······
Cheng Qian narrowed his eyes and carefully looked at Zhangsun Wuji for a long time, and finally let out a long sigh, "Since the Minister of Justice is so insistent, then summon Chu Suiliang back to the court to inspect the Minister of Personnel."

Changsun Wuji left with great satisfaction.

The emperor looked at the fat figure and his expression became increasingly gloomy.

Compared with his teacher Wu Huaiyu, Changsun Wuji made him more and more dissatisfied.

October,

Chu Suiliang returned to Chang'an, was appointed as the Acting Minister of Personnel, and was restored to the title of Duke of Henan County. He once again appeared in the court in a purple robe and goldfish.

This makes many people a little confused.

In the morning,
The emperor issued an edict,

Concubine Han was enthroned as queen.

The next day, he issued another decree to posthumously confer the title of empress on the deceased Wu Liangdi.

The emperor appointed his eldest son, Li Xiang, Prince of Chen, as governor of Yongzhou.

The second son Li Jue was named King of Liang, and the third son Li Xian was named King of Dai.

In the autumn and winter of that year, drought and locust plagues occurred in Yong, Jiang, and Tongzhou, and floods occurred in Qi, Ding, and other 16 states. There were several earthquakes in Hedong and Jinzhou.

Fortunately, since the Zhenguan period, the imperial court had abundant grain reserves in its warehouses, and prefectures and counties had promptly allocated grain and opened warehouses for relief.
There was no famine in the disaster-stricken areas, nor was there a surge in food prices.

In the capital Chang'an, grain prices only rose slightly, with each dou of rice remaining at around ten coins.

Just after winter,

There has been no snow.

This caused many people to worry.
No snow means there may be even greater drought and locust plagues next year, especially as locust plagues have occurred in many places this year. Without snow, the locust eggs will not freeze to death, and the situation will be even more serious next year.

In the Western Regions,
The Tang army led by Wu Huaiyi fought another large-scale battle with the Arab army in Khorasan. This time, the Tang army won again, not only defeating 100,000 enemy troops, but also capturing the governor of Khorasan of the Arabs on the spot. He was directly escorted to Chang'an and presented as a captive in the Imperial Ancestral Temple and Zhaoling Mausoleum.
The Arabs sent an envoy to Chang'an to request a truce and negotiate a peace treaty. The Arabs' condition was that they were willing to cede the Khorasan region of Persia to the Tang Dynasty, but the Tang Dynasty had to agree that the rest of the Persian land would belong to the Arabs, and that the Tang Dynasty would no longer support the restoration of the Sassanid royal family of Persia, nor would it keep the title of the Persian Protectorate.

The Tang court did not agree to this condition, because the territory actually controlled by Wu Huaiyi's Persian Protectorate was not only the Khorasan region, but also a large area to the south that reached the sea.
In addition, there are still many territories west of Khorasan controlled by the Tang army.

Now that the Tang army has the initiative and advantage, how can it suffer a loss in the negotiations? The Tang army is willing to cease fire and negotiate peace, but the condition is that the boundary is drawn along the current actual control line of both sides, and at the same time, the Arabs must pay tribute to the Tang emperor.

The Arabs could not accept this condition, so the negotiations became deadlocked and could not continue, and the Arabs had to return empty-handed.

Wu Huaiyu also knew about these things at home, but he didn't care. Neither the Tang Dynasty nor the Arabs in Persia had been able to defeat the other, so it would be difficult to reach an agreement through peace talks. If they continued to fight, there would always be one side that would bow its head and seek peace.

Wu Huaiyu still has more faith in the Tang army. After all, they now have the upper hand in all aspects.

He was more concerned about the battlefield on the other side.

In Haidong,
After the Tang Dynasty jointly destroyed Goguryeo and Baekje, it established the Andong Protectorate in the former Goguryeo territory, and the Ungjin Protectorate in the former Baekje territory, which was under the jurisdiction of five military governorates including Ungjin and Mahan, and governed 37 prefectures and 250 counties.

In Silla, the Jilinzhou Military Governorate was established, which had nine military governorates and 450 counties under its jurisdiction.

However, the Jilinzhou Military Governor's Office established by Silla was merely a vassal state. The Tang Dynasty did not conquer it, but still appointed the queen of Silla as the military governor. The governors of various states were also appointed by the queen of Silla herself and granted titles by the court.

At the beginning, the imperial court joined forces with Silla, a vassal state, to destroy Goguryeo and Baekje. Then, it implemented direct rule in Goguryeo and Baekje, relocated many nobles and powerful people from the two countries to the inland areas, and then relocated many civilians from the inland areas, and stationed troops in both places to rule.

But Silla was completely different and still maintained its independence.

Originally, there had been peace in the past few years, but Silla had big ambitions. They told the Tang that Goguryeo and Baekje had occupied a lot of Silla's land, and now they demanded that the Tang return these lands to Silla. The Silla people even asked for a lot more, many of which were territories of Goguryeo and Baekje that Silla had taken advantage of to sneak attack and seize.

Now they also say it is theirs.

The Tang Dynasty ignored this request. After it destroyed Goguryeo and Baekje, the seized land naturally became its own.

Silla was not willing to accept the rejection.

So now the Silla people secretly allied with Japan and supported the rebellion of some remaining nobles and powerful people in Goguryeo and Baekje, hoping to drive the Tang army out of the Korean Peninsula, and then the Silla people would unify the peninsula and fulfill the dream of their kings of all generations.

Now there are several rebel forces emerging on the peninsula under the banner of restoring Goguryeo and Baekje, but in fact they are backed by Silla and Japan.

I have to admire the arrogance and ambition of the Silla people.
Not many people in the court took them seriously at the moment. Wu Huaiyu felt that he had to make some arrangements first, so as not to let Silla and Japan take advantage of them.

First of all, it’s Baekje. This is the front line, and we need a few capable people to guard it.

He drew up a list, including Liu Rengui, Liu Renyuan, Xue Rengui, Wang Fangyi, Zhao Chiman, Xi Junmai, and these people should be enough.

After thinking about it,
He added some more names to the list, including several with the surname Wu, two of whom were his sons, and several were nephews and nieces of the Wu family.

If there is a chance, we should arrange for the younger generation of the Wu family to gain some experience.

We can also transfer more Turkic, Tiele, Sogdian, Xiqi, Mohe and other tribes from Mobei and the Western Regions to the Korean Peninsula. Anyway, there is still a lot of territory there.
Some of the money could be allocated to these tribes for farming, grazing, fishing and hunting, and to assist the Tang Dynasty garrison soldiers in defense, and they could still make some contribution. They are also outsiders, and certainly cannot stand on the same side as the natives of the Three Kingdoms of Korea.

First, deal with the remnant rebels of Goguryeo and Baekje who were secretly supported by Silla and the Japanese, and then destroy Silla.

If they were honest and obedient, we could still keep them, but since they are so arrogant and think they are the best in the universe, there is no need to keep them.

(End of this chapter)