Ma Zhou and the others outwardly agreed, but inwardly they were full of disdain.

Isn't the Crown Prince known for his benevolence and filial piety? Why is he so cruel to his own brothers?

It seems this filial piety isn't entirely pure!

Although they were disdainful in their hearts, they still pretended to be nonchalant and worked hard without complaint.

The Secretariat is very busy, extremely busy.

Basically, all the memorials from across the land were sent to them first. After they were sorted and processed, only a portion of the memorials that required His Majesty's personal approval would be handed over to His Majesty. The vast majority of the memorials were approved by His Majesty and then sent to the Secretariat for review. Once they passed the review, they would be sent to the Ministry of Personnel, and then distributed and executed by the six ministries of Personnel, Revenue, Rites, War, Justice and Works.

Therefore, every official in the Secretariat was a model worker, almost to the point of neglecting to eat or sleep.

Li Zhi only helped out at the Secretariat for half a month before he was already feeling overwhelmed.

He had always thought that studying was the most tiring thing, but he never expected that the workload of the Secretariat was far greater than that of studying.

While the Secretariat was busy with its affairs, news of Li Tai rejecting the imperial edict spread quickly.

Li Jing, Yuchi Jingde, and others didn't care, since they hadn't participated in the eastern expedition and weren't entitled to any credit. But for Zhang Liang, Li Shiji, Ashina Duer, and others, this was a matter of life and death.

Although many of them have already reached the highest ranks of officialdom and have been enshrined in the Lingyan Pavilion, who would complain about their high salary and numerous achievements?

Therefore, they did not hesitate to gather together and run to Li Shimin to plead their case.

"Your Majesty, we have risked our lives and shed our blood for the Tang Dynasty, remaining loyal and courageous, spending half our lives on the battlefield. Did we never expect that in the end we would not even receive any credit?"

Li Shimin was puzzled when he heard this.

What are you doing?

"Who said you didn't contribute anything?"

"Your Majesty, Prince Wei has rejected several imperial edicts concerning rewards for our eastern expedition..."

"What? This is actually true?"

"Guards, summon the Prince of Wei to the palace for an audience!"

"promise!"

Before long, the King of Wei strolled over.

Although he had long guessed why His Majesty had summoned him, his heart still skipped a beat when he saw the room full of generals from the Eastern Expedition.

Will these thugs kill me?

"Your humble servant greets Your Majesty!"

Li Shimin flicked his sleeves in displeasure.

"Don't give me that nonsense. I'm asking you, what gives you the right to reject the imperial edict that bestowed rewards upon them!"

Upon hearing this, Li Tai frowned slightly, then replied with a rather firm tone.

"Your Majesty, the reward is too generous!"

"thick?"

"How thick is it?!"

"Your Majesty, according to the imperial edict drafted by the Secretariat, all those who participated in this eastern expedition will be promoted one rank, those who have made meritorious contributions will be promoted two ranks, and those who have made great contributions will be promoted three ranks!"

"The generals present here need no introduction. They have fought for the Tang Dynasty for half their lives and made great contributions. It would not be an exaggeration for my Li family to be granted the title of king!"

Upon hearing Li Tai's words, the expressions of the crowd, who had just been indignant towards him, softened considerably.

"Your Highness, granting the title of Prince is too much..."

"Yes, yes, we know our own limitations. We'll be content if we can secure a position that benefits our wives and children!"

In fact, their fear of being made a king was related to Liu Bang's oath of allegiance by cutting a white horse.

Ever since Liu Bang swore his oath on the white horse, no one who was granted the title of king by someone of a different surname had a good ending...

Therefore, they never dared to dream of being made kings; they only hoped to be granted the title of duke or marquis to pass down through generations.

"No, no, no, all of you elders have rendered great service to the country. Only bestowing the title of king is worthy of your merits..."

Li Shimin had no intention of bestowing titles of kings upon the generals, and upon hearing Li Tai's words, he immediately snorted coldly in displeasure.

"You'd better confess honestly why you rejected the imperial edict from the Secretariat!"

"Your Majesty, as I just mentioned, the decree from the Secretariat is far too generous..."

"If we really follow the Central Secretariat's wishes, our Great Tang will have more than 800 additional Grand Pillars of State, plus 1,600 Pillars of State, not to mention countless other Protectors of the Army and Commandants."

"Although those with honorary titles do not receive a salary, they are entitled to land and wealth, and they can also transfer to official positions and become substantive officials."

"There are already more than three thousand honorary officers waiting to be transferred to higher ranks. If we do this many again, the line of honorary officers could stretch for a hundred years..."

Li Shimin frowned slightly upon hearing this; he had not expected that the number of noble titles in the Tang Dynasty would be so excessive.

But there was nothing that could be done about it; since he ascended the throne, the Tang Dynasty had won many great victories.

"Even if a lord has a lot, he still has to be paid, right?"

"Your Majesty, anything becomes worthless when there's too much of it, and titles are no exception!"

"Oh, my nephew told me that. He had long foreseen that the Tang Dynasty's system of honorary officials was overabundant and would eventually become worthless junk, the kind that nobody would want even if you threw it on the ground..."

"Cough cough cough..."

Upon hearing this, Li Shiji coughed repeatedly in embarrassment.

The others were also very embarrassed upon hearing this, after all, they all rose to power through military merit, and the current abundance of military merit in the Tang Dynasty was partly due to them.

Upon hearing Li Tai's words, Li Shimin's eyebrows furrowed into a deep frown.

Although that's what he said, this unfilial son shouldn't have said it like that. What do you gentlemen think of him?

"presumptuous!"

"The noble titles of my Great Tang Dynasty are extremely precious. When did they become worthless trash?"

"Your Majesty, if these rewards are distributed this time, won't the titles of nobility become worthless?"

"Moreover, I reviewed the records of the Eastern Expedition and found that in most of the major battles, Li Jue led the Sanglin Zhechong Prefecture troops to break through the city first, and then the others followed up to attack and kill."

"Therefore, I believe that the greatest military merit of this eastern expedition should be awarded to Li Jue and the Sanglin Garrison Command under his command. As for the others, they can at most be promoted to a higher rank, and it is absolutely impossible for them to be promoted any further."

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