Chapter 407 Punishment
Just as Li Chengqian said, the rebellion in Mobei is closely related to Tubo.
In order to make Mobei more chaotic, Lun Qinling even suggested that Ludongzan dispatch a thousand elite troops, disguised as people from the Nine Tribes of Tiele, and quietly sneak into Mobei.
When they arrive in Mobei, they will find the right opportunity to make the situation more chaotic, which will be beneficial for them to fish in troubled waters.
Zheng Rentai fought the Nine Tribes of Tiele on Tianshan Mountain. Xue Rengui shot and killed three enemy generals with three arrows, frightening the enemy to dismount and surrender.
Before leaving, Li Chengqian repeatedly instructed them not to kill prisoners without authorization, and as long as the other party surrendered, they would be treated preferentially.
Seeing that the turmoil in Mobei was gradually calming down under the attack of the Tang army, and most of the nine Tiele tribes surrendered without a fight, the Tubo came up with a plan to make these nine Tiele tribes, which had just surrendered, riot again.
The elite Tubo troops lurking in Mobei took the opportunity to cause chaos, causing Mobei to fall into chaos again. Zheng Rentai and others ordered their troops to kill the surrendered soldiers and plunder to reward their soldiers.
Xue Rengui even killed the surrendered soldiers, crossed the northern desert and continued to pursue the defeated Tiele army, and even captured the three brothers of Yehu alive.
After Xue Rengui withdrew his troops, his heroic deeds were sung in the army: "The general's three arrows conquered Tianshan, and the brave man sang a long song to enter the Han Pass."
But even so, Mobei was still not pacified, but became more and more chaotic, which made the people of Mobei panic.
The news of Mobei reached Chang'an, and memorials impeaching Zheng Rentai and Xue Rengui piled up in front of Li Chengqian like snowflakes.
"Your Majesty! I, the Minister of Constitutional Affairs, Yang Deyi, have a memorial." Yang Deyi stood in the hall and shouted loudly, holding a jade tablet.
Without him saying anything, Li Chengqian knew what he wanted to report, which was nothing more than impeaching Zheng Rentai, Xue Rengui and others for their failure to suppress the rebellion.
It was not all their fault. There were also Tibetans who were secretly playing tricks. Li Chengqian could not tell them. Even if he did, those people far away in the capital might not believe him.
They would only believe the information they had and what they could see with their own eyes. Besides, those conspiracies and tricks were not something that the court officials could understand.
"What did Minister Yang report?" Li Chengqian asked.
"Your Majesty! I want to impeach Zheng Rentai, the chief military commander of Tiele Road, and Xue Rengui, the deputy chief commander. They killed the captives who had surrendered, causing the nine Tiele tribes to flee."
"They did not comfort the soldiers, and did not care about the food and supplies, so that the bones were scattered all over the field. They also abandoned the armor and aided the enemy."
"Since the founding of the Holy Dynasty, there has never been such a loss as today. Rengui was greedy for the people under his supervision and did not know how to restrain himself. What he gained was not enough to make up for what he lost. I earnestly ask Your Majesty to put them in prison and hand them over to the officials for punishment." Yang Deyi said.
"I know what you said!" Li Chengqian said.
"Your Majesty! If they are not punished, how can the law be corrected? During the Zhenguan period, Duke Hou Junji of Lu pacified Gaochang and was imprisoned for corruption and plundering."
"How can Zheng Rentai, Xue Rengui and others be exceptions? Please, Your Majesty, issue an edict to punish them." Seeing that Li Chengqian did not want to punish Zheng Rentai and others, Yang Deyi brought up the case of Hou Junji. "
During the Zhenguan period, the Minister of the Central Secretariat Cen Wenben wrote to the late emperor, saying that Hou Junji was a meritorious general and should not be humiliated easily, and asked the late emperor to release Hou Junji."
"What did the late emperor do? In the end, didn't he release Duke Hou Junji of Lu? Zheng Rentai and Xue Rengui are both meritorious generals of our Tang Dynasty. If Hou Junji can be forgiven, why can't they?" Li Chengqian retorted.
Yang Deyi was speechless after being refuted. His original intention was to use the incident of Hou Junji to remind Li Chengqian to severely punish the crimes of Zheng Rentai and others.
He never thought that he would be refuted by Li Chengqian like this, and he didn't know how to answer for a moment.
"Although Zheng Rentai and others have faults, they have also made merits. Their merits and faults offset each other, and they will not be held accountable." Li Chengqian said.
Even the emperor said that he would not be held accountable, what else can others say.
"Your Majesty! I have a memorial!" A historian stood up and said with a jade tablet in his hand.
Li Chengqian frowned. Didn't they say that this matter was just exposed? Why did someone else stand up?
"What's the matter?" Li Chengqian said, with a hint of displeasure in his tone.
"I want to impeach the Censorate General Yang Deyi." Yu Shi said.
Li Chengqian was immediately interested. He wanted to hear what Yu Shi was impeaching Yang Deyi
for. "Why do you want to impeach Yang Qing?" Li Chengqian said.
"Your Majesty! When Xu Ziran, the son of the Minister of the Court Xu Yushi, was out, he shot and killed someone. The Minister of the Court concealed the incident and did not report it. The Censorate General Yang Deyi even took advantage of this and helped Xu Yushi conceal the incident." Yu Shi said.
"My dear Yang, my dear Xu, whether what Yu Shi said is true or not, you still don't confess the truth." Li Chengqian scolded.
"Your Majesty! This old minister is guilty!" Xu Yushi stepped out of the line, knelt in the hall, and admitted that it was indeed the case.
"Your Majesty! I am guilty!" Yang Deyi saw that Master Xu had confessed his guilt. If he refused to admit it, he would be in trouble.
Li Chengqian was so angry! Just now, Yang Deyi was still talking about rectifying the law, but it turned out that he was the first to commit corruption.
You broke the law knowingly, so how can you expect others to obey the law? A guy who committed corruption and abused his power still had the nerve to talk to him about rectifying the law. It was simply ridiculous!
Xu Jingzong stepped out of the line and saluted, saying, "Your Majesty! Such a minister must be punished!"
"Xu Yushi's crime of shielding his son from shooting and killing others is unforgivable. He should be dismissed from his post as a minister and demoted to the governor of Qianzhou."
"Xu Yushi's son should be handed over to the Dali Temple for punishment. Killing a person should be punished with a life!"
"Yang Deyi, the census official, shielded the criminal, committed corruption for personal gain, and deceived his superiors and subordinates. His crimes are extremely serious. He should be dismissed from his post and exiled to Tingzhou." Li Chengqian said.
Those who dared to deceive their superiors and subordinates and commit corruption for personal gain should be severely punished.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Xu Yushi and Yang Deyi thanked the emperor for not killing them. It was already a mercy.
The guards dragged them out and escorted them out of the palace.
"The matter of Mobei should be resolved as soon as possible to avoid more troubles." Li Chengqian said.
"Your Majesty! I think the matter of Mobei should be appeased, not annihilated." Xu Jingzong said.
"Xu Qing's words make sense, then who do you think should be sent?" Li Chengqian asked.
"Your Majesty! I don't think the son-in-law Duwei Qili is suitable to go to Mobei to appease it. After all, he comes from Mobei, and there is no one else suitable except him." Xu Jingzong said.
"Qili Hebi, Jiang Ke." Li Chengqian called out.
"I am here!" Qili Hebi and Jiang Ke stepped out and saluted.
"I order the general of the Left Guard Qibi Heli to be the pacification envoy of Tiele Road, and the general of the Left Guard Jiang Ke to be the deputy pacification envoy, to go to Mobei to pacify the nine tribes of Tiele." Li Chengqian said.
"Your servant Qili Hebi (Jiang Ke) obeys the order!" The two accepted the order.