The Flourishing Tang Dynasty: Beginning with Marrying Yang Yuhuan

Chapter 87: Decisive Appointment
Wang Zhihuan, Meng Haoran and Cen Shen were waiting in the government office, along with a group of craftsmen and officials from the protectorate's warehouse department.

Li Ying brought Xin Yunjing to the government office, and everyone stood up and saluted.

Li Ying asked everyone to sit down first, and after a quick look around, he found that the deputy counselor of the Cangcao was not there.

Cangcao was one of the administrative systems under the Jiedushi, and the chief officer was called Canjun. However, due to the Gai Jiayun incident, the chief and deputy Canjun of Cangcao were arrested. Li Heng then let the Canjun under Canjun take charge of the matter first.

Li Ying asked, "Where is Counselor Qian?"

An official from the Cang Cao stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, Counselor Qian said that he wanted to prepare a birthday gift for Concubine Qian De, so he asked me to ask for leave on his behalf."

"Princess Qian De?"

Li Heng was stunned for a moment, then he remembered.

Li Longji's fourth son was named Li Yan. Li Yan's mother was Concubine Qian De, and Minister Qian was a member of Concubine Qian's clan.

Concubine Qian De was not from a prominent family and was not very favored, so not all of her family members could receive her protection and serve as officials in the capital.

If they cannot stay in the capital, they can only be sent to the frontier in the hope of making merit and being able to be admitted to the capital.

Li Heng thought for a moment and said to Xin Yunjing, "General Xin, go get him."

"Yes."

Xin Yunjing took the order and left.

Li Heng found a place to sit down, closed his eyes and waited silently.

After a long time, Xin Yunjing led two soldiers to bring in Counselor Qian and threw him on the ground.

Li Heng heard the voice, opened his eyes, and asked Counselor Qian, "Did I tell you yesterday to wait here today?"

Counselor Qian stood up, bowed and replied: "Your Highness, Your Highness has issued such an order, so I have asked someone to take leave on my behalf."

Counselor Qian seemed respectful, but he did not realize the importance of the issue and did not appear to be afraid.

"Okay." Li Heng sneered and turned to ask Xin Yunjing, "General Xin, according to military orders, how should we deal with those who fail to obey orders?"

Xin Yunjing replied: "Behead him immediately!"

Hearing the words "immediate execution", Counselor Qian was shocked and immediately knelt down and said, "Your Highness, spare my life. I am taking leave to prepare a birthday gift for Concubine Qian De. I..."

Li Ying interrupted, "So it was Concubine Qian De who told you not to obey orders?"

"No..." Counselor Qian immediately shook his head and said, "No...it's me..."

Counselor Qian hesitated and broke out in a cold sweat.

Li Ying said: "You are paid by the Tang Dynasty and you are an official in the Tang Dynasty. No matter how great the favor is, it is all from the saint. The saint employs you, so you should be loyal to your duties. But today, not only did you leave your post without permission, you also wanted to put the blame on Concubine Qian De. How many heads do you have!"

Li Ying spoke the last sentence, his voice gradually getting louder, and he stood up.

Counselor Qian was so frightened that his whole body was shaking, his mind was blank, and he kept kowtowing, saying, "Your Highness, please spare my life, Your Highness, please spare my life..."

Li Heng just looked at Counselor Qian and kowtowed. After a while, he said, "Forget it. This is not a military camp. Considering that this is just your first offense, I will spare your life. Take you out, give you thirty severe beatings, demote you by one rank, and fine you six months."

Counselor Qian kowtowed and said, "Thank you, Your Highness, for not killing me." The soldiers at the door came in at the same time and dragged Counselor Qian out. After a while, they heard Counselor Qian's screams coming from outside the door.

Li Heng quietly waited for the execution to be over before he came to sit next to Wang Zhihuan and the other two. He smiled and asked, "How did Mr. Cen Shen get together with Mr. Wang and the others?"

Cen Shen, who was standing by, just recovered from the punishment of Mr. Qian when he heard the question. He stood up quickly and bowed, saying, "Your Highness, I don't deserve the title of Sir. Please just call me by my name."

"Okay." Cen Shen was only twenty-two or twenty-three years old this year, not much older than Li Ying, so Li Ying didn't hesitate and nodded.

"I presented a book to the imperial court in Chang'an last year, hoping to be appointed, but..." Cen Shen looked a little embarrassed, smiled bitterly, and then continued: "Later, I heard that Your Highness had won a great victory in the expedition, so I wanted to come and see Your Highness's heroic figure, and by the way... see if I can stay in Anxi. On the way to Anxi, I met my brother and his friends, and we hit it off immediately, so we traveled together."

Cen Shen explained the whole story and expressed his purpose frankly.

Li Heng nodded and asked, "So you are here to join the army?"

"Yes." Cen Shen nodded, but at the same time he felt worried.

Because Li Heng was talking about joining the army.

If he wanted to join the army, he could be a soldier, and he was still young, and he had not written any poems that would be remembered by the world, so Li Heng might not think highly of him.

Li Heng pondered for a moment and said, "I am still short of a clerk in the Protectorate. I wonder if you are interested."

"Ah?" Cen Shen's worry turned into surprise. The work done by the registrar was equivalent to the secretary work for Li Heng, and he was a sixth-rank official. He was also Li Heng's personal military officer and had considerable power.

Seeing that Cen Shen did not answer, Li Heng asked, "Are you unwilling?"

"Yes, yes." Cen Shen bowed deeply to Li Ying and said, "Thank you, Your Highness!"

"No need to thank me." Li Heng smiled. "I am just selecting talents for the country. The Ministry of Personnel will regularly evaluate officials. If you are talented and can be used, you will be promoted. If you... fail, then I can't do anything about it."

Li Heng was talking about the assessment by the Ministry of Personnel, but nowadays, minor officials under the Jiedushi were basically selected by the Jiedushi himself and then reported to the court for confirmation.

Moreover, Li Heng had a plan in mind when he appointed Cen Shen as a sixth-rank official.

Because according to regulations, officials of the fifth rank and above must report to the emperor for review. Now the power of the Jiedushi is not yet at its peak, so this process must still be followed.

Cen Shen presented a book to the imperial court just last year. Although countless people wanted to present books to Li Longji every year, Li Longji probably had not seen Cen Shen's book. Even if he had seen it, he might not remember it.

But what if?
If there is a chance that Li Longji did not use someone last year, but Li Heng used him this year, this might leave a bad impression on Li Longji.

So Li Heng got stuck at this point.

"I understand." Cen Shen started to study at the age of five and wrote articles at the age of nine. He was proud of his knowledge, so he was confident about the assessment. After replying to Li Heng, he felt that it was not enough to express his inner feelings, so he added: "If I can't repay your kindness, Your Highness, and can't keep the people safe, there is no need to wait for the Ministry of Personnel to assess me. I will not be ashamed to face Your Highness and will resign."

"Yeah." Li Ying nodded and looked at Wang Zhihuan and Meng Haoran.

Wang Zhihuan and Meng Haoran were much older than Cen Shen, and had a stronger pedantic air about them. They originally wanted to try to argue with Li Heng, but seeing that Li Heng acted so decisively, they were afraid that if they did, they would lose everything, so they gave up pretending.

Wang Zhihuan directly took out a letter of recommendation from his bosom, presented it to Li Ying with both hands, and said respectfully: "Your Highness, this is the letter from General Gao recommending the two of us."

Li Ying took it and took a look, and found that it was indeed Gao Shi's work.

In fact, since Gao Shi did not write a poem to congratulate him on the opening of his government, but instead asked Wang Zhihuan and others to come, Li Heng knew that Gao Shi was intending to recommend him.

(End of this chapter)