The Flourishing Tang Dynasty: Beginning with Marrying Yang Yuhuan

Chapter 81: Decision on Reward
The emperor and his court officials gathered in the Purple Palace.

Li Ying and Li Heng were also called over by Li Longji.

Li Longji pointed to the two piles of memorials on the dragon table and said, "This side is a petition requesting that Prince Shou be punished for sending troops without authorization, and this side is a letter from the Western Regions congratulating the victorious expedition."

Upon hearing this, all the ministers looked at the two piles of memorials on the dragon table.

Li Longji walked up to Li Ying and Li Heng and said, "Shi Ba Lang is your younger brother. Tell me, how should I deal with him?"

According to the order, Crown Prince Li Ying should reply first.

Li Ying thought about it first.

For Li Ying, it didn't matter what he thought or how he should deal with the situation. The key was to understand Li Longji's thoughts and say what Li Longji wanted to hear.

So what did Li Longji think?
Li Ying thought that the rewards for all the Anxi soldiers had been approved, except for Li Heng who got nothing. It was obvious that Li Longji did not want to reward Li Heng, but was worried that people in the world would say that he could not reward people according to their merits, so he called everyone here to discuss the matter.

As the crown prince, Li Ying must of course play a leading role.

So Li Ying said, "Father has worked hard to govern the country, appointed talented people and made reforms. He has blessed the people and his prestige is known all over the world. All the people in the world are grateful for his kindness, and all nations admire the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, this great victory is the inevitable result of Father's achievements. Eighteenth brother has only made use of Father's prestige to drive away the bandits who fled at the sight of him, and has done a little hard work. Although he has done hard work, he has violated the rules of the Tang Dynasty by sending troops on his own, which has caused endless harm. Compared with the two, his faults outweigh his merits. Therefore, I propose that Eighteenth brother should be punished slightly to serve as a warning to others."

"Oh?" Li Longji looked at Li Ying with a playful look in his eyes. "How do you think he should be punished?"

Li Ying said: "After all, the Eighteenth Brother is ill, so it is not appropriate to torture him. It is better to exile him and let him continue to travel. This will also fulfill the Eighteenth Brother's wish."

"It's OK. You don't plan to torture him." Li Longji's tone was cold, and he asked Li Heng: "What do you think?"

Li Heng was also trying to figure out Li Longji's thoughts. He had the same idea as Li Ying before, but just now he noticed that Li Ying's words did not seem to arouse Li Longji's interest, so he guessed that Li Longji had other ideas.

So Li Heng said, "Eighteenth brother, with his sick body, has traveled over the desert and the Gobi Desert to a long expedition of more than 3,000 miles. Although he violated the rules, his heart and soul are all for the Tang Dynasty. If he had lost, it would be fine, but now that he has won, he is punished. This may discourage the soldiers on the border. And I think that Eighteenth brother did not report in advance because Qiuci is far away from Chang'an. If he waits to report before going on the expedition, he may miss the opportunity to fight."

Li Longji nodded, returned to the throne and sat down, and said to Zhang Jiuling: "I remember that Doctor Zhang is Zhang Qing's cousin, and Shiba Lang's current personal physician is Doctor Zhang's daughter, Zhang Mujin. Has Zhang Mujin told you about Shiba Lang's condition?"

Xin Yunjing would report Li Heng's condition to Li Longji regularly. In addition, Li Longji also arranged other secret sentries, which means that Li Longji was aware of Li Heng's physical condition.

Therefore, Li Longji asked this question with the intention of telling everyone present that he cared about Li Heng.

At the same time, it was also hinting at Li Ying and Li Heng, who only evaluated Li Heng based on his merits and demerits, without considering feelings and righteousness.

Zhang Jiuling replied, "Your Majesty, as far as I know, His Royal Highness Shou's illness has been recurring. Fortunately, Zhang Mujin has inherited the true medical skills of Imperial Physician Zhang and made special medicine for His Royal Highness Shou, who takes it regularly to suppress his illness. After returning from this expedition, His Royal Highness Shou has overdrawn a lot of his body and has been resting in his room all day."

"Alas." Li Longji sighed heavily and asked, "How is the harvest in Fenglin County, Longyou this year?"

Pei Yaoqing was in charge of agriculture and stepped forward to say, "Your Majesty, there was a drought in Longyou this year, but Fenglin County is next to the Li River, and the Li River was used for irrigation, which resulted in a good harvest."

Li Longji asked again, "How did Gai Jiayun perform this year after his exile?" Li Linfu was in charge of the personnel affairs. Li Linfu stepped forward and said, "Gai Jiayun has acknowledged his guilt and reflects on himself every day. He barely passed the examination this year."

"Okay." Li Longji nodded.

Li Longji asked three questions in a row, all related to Li Heng, and the meaning was self-evident.

Li Ying and Li Heng's expressions gradually became unnatural.

Li Longji picked up the memorial in the middle of the dragon case and said, "This is Shibalang's petition for apology."

As he spoke, he opened the memorial and read it, saying, "Shiba Lang said in his memorial: 'The victory of the expedition is due to the grace of my father and the dedication of the soldiers. I have no contribution at all.' This point is very similar to what the prince said."

"And," Li Longji paused, and continued, "Shiba Lang also said, 'I know that I went to war without permission, which is against the laws of the Tang Dynasty. I wanted to tie myself up in Chang'an and apologize to my father, but I am afraid that I will die on the way due to illness. Then people will say that I want to die to gain a reputation of loyalty and make my father unkind. Secondly, thunder and rain are the grace of heaven. Merits and sins all come from above. If I tie myself up, it will be suspected that I am using my sins to gain the mercy of my father, and this is not a sincere apology. Therefore, I will stay in Qiuci first, and I will obey my father's edict as soon as it arrives.'"

After reading it, Li Longji closed the memorial and handed it to Zhang Taiyi Ling to read. He said, "Shiba Lang has made great contributions, but he is not proud of his achievements. Instead, he took the initiative to plead guilty. Even when he pleaded guilty, he thought of my benevolence and reputation. If I want to treat such a loyal, filial and righteous person unfairly, God will not allow it."

"I intend to remove Prince Shou Li Heng from his post as the governor of Jiannan to satisfy his desire to plead guilty. I will appoint Prince Shou Li Heng as the governor and inspector of Anxi, and confer him the title of General of the Cavalry, with an additional fief of 3,000 households. The rest of his original post will remain unchanged. According to this decree, let the Ministry of Personnel draft a document."

"Yes." Zhang Jiuling and others replied.

……

……

……

After the court meeting, Li Longji came to Wu Huifei's bedroom.

Although Li Longji conferred a higher title on Li Heng, he only appointed him as the Jiedushi of Anxi, which meant that he wanted to keep Li Heng in Anxi. In Li Longji's mind, this was not the best reward for a prince who once had the hope of competing for the position of the Lord of the Eastern Palace.

Moreover, he once strongly advocated giving Wu Huifei the title of empress, but gave up because of opposition from the ministers. Now that he has given this reward to Li Ying, it also means that Wu Huifei's last hope of becoming empress has been shattered.

Therefore, Li Longji was not sure whether Wu Huifei was satisfied with this reward, so he immediately came to find out.

Li Longji told Wu Huifei about the reward for Li Heng. After hearing this, Wu Huifei quickly kowtowed to express her gratitude on Li Heng's behalf.

Li Longji said: "Rewarding and sending Ying'er away means that you can no longer be the queen. Don't you feel disappointed?"

"Ever since I learned that Heng'er was ill, I no longer have the desire to be the queen. I am already blessed to have the favor of Sanlang. Now I only hope that Heng'er can live longer and that I can stay with Sanlang for a long time." Concubine Wu Huifei's words were quite sincere.

"Okay." Li Longji helped Wu Huifei up and said happily, "I am very pleased that you can understand things so well. Come with me. I have recently composed a new piece of music, which is magnificent and grand. Come with me to enjoy it."

(End of this chapter)