Chapter 524 Donggong Meeting

Li Chengqian learned about the livelihood of the people in Lingnan, inspected the people's sentiments in Lingnan, and inspected the local government soldiers.

Li Chengqian stayed in Lingnan for half a month, and decided to change his itinerary and return to Chang'an instead of continuing his tour in the south.

...

Chang'an, Donggong, Xiande Hall.

"Now the country is peaceful and the people are safe, and the people in various places can live and work in peace. The economy of Yangzhou and other places is developed. I have been ordered to supervise the country, and I work diligently every day, and I dare not slack off."

"I wonder how the tax revenue in various places is in the first half of this year?" asked the crown prince Li Jue.

"Your Highness! A few years ago, His Majesty issued an edict to reduce taxes in various places and increase various commercial taxes. Now the grain stored in the warehouse is 10% less than before."

"Since the various taxes collected from merchants have been increased since this year, the amount collected is about doubled compared to last year." The Minister of Agriculture stepped out and saluted. "

Your Highness! There is no war in the northwest now, but the Heyuan Army still maintains a large number of soldiers. The northwest now does not need so many soldiers at all."

"I think the Heyuan Army should be disbanded and the disbanded soldiers should return to their hometowns. This way, the pressure on the court can be reduced." Wang Mo, the Prince's Secretary, stepped out and saluted.

"Your Highness, Secretary, what you said makes sense! What do you think?" Li Jue asked.

"Your Highness! I think what Wang Sheren said makes sense. The Heyuan Army is bloated and has a large number of people. Hei Chi Changzhi has been leading the Heyuan Army for many years. If he becomes disloyal and takes advantage of the army, he will become a hidden danger to the Tang Dynasty."

"Your Highness should take precautions and immediately issue an order to transfer Hei Chi Changzhi and Lou Shide back to the capital and disband the Heyuan Army to relieve your majesty's worries!" said another Sheren Zhang.

Both of them were confidants of Crown Prince Li Jue. They both urged Li Jue to disband the Heyuan Army while Li Chengqian was on a southern tour to test the loyalty of the ministers to the crown prince.

When the emperor dies in the future and the crown prince succeeds, who among these people can be promoted and who should be demoted to other places.

"Your Highness! I object!" Li Jingxuan, the third rank official of the Secretariat and the right son of the Crown Prince, stepped out and saluted.

"Why does the right son object? The Heyuan Army has 50,000 soldiers and horses, and with the auxiliary soldiers, there are at least 100,000 soldiers."

"Hei Chi Changzhi and Lou Shide are leading troops outside and hold military power. Once they have the intention of rebellion, they will sweep across the world of our Tang Dynasty. How should the right son deal with it?" Li Jue questioned.

Li Jingxuan was speechless. He did not dare to guarantee that Hei Chi Changzhi and others would not rebel. What if they really had troops and rebelled against the Tang Dynasty?

He, Li Jingxuan, was full of knowledge. If it came to debate, he, Li Jingxuan, was really not afraid of anyone.

But he didn't know anything about military affairs. He didn't say much, but he felt that it was inappropriate for the prince to do so.

"Your Highness! The Heyuan ambassador and the deputy envoy were appointed by His Majesty himself. If there was no decree from His Majesty, do you think Hei Chi Changzhi and Lu Shide would obey the prince's order?" "

Disbanding the Heyuan army and replacing the generals are serious matters. I think it's better to report to Your Majesty." He bowed to Liu Rengui, the third rank of Zhongshu Menxia and the prince's left assistant.

Liu Rengui was reminding Li Jue that as the prince, he could not do anything beyond the rules. Although the prince was in charge of the country, it didn't mean that he could do anything.

Without the emperor's approval, the prince cannot even mention the matter of disbanding the army. Otherwise, let alone disbanding the Heyuan Army, what will the emperor think when he comes back one day?

Even if you, the prince, have this idea and worry! The first thing to do is to report to the emperor on his southern tour, rather than privately summoning ministers to discuss this matter.

Li Jue frowned. He naturally heard Liu Rengui's objection. Usually, Liu Rengui and Li Jingxuan did not get along.

The two sides often sang opposite tunes. As long as one side stood up to speak, the other side would jump out and put forward the opposite opinion.

Now they all have the same idea.

"I will report this matter to Your Majesty, but before that, we need to discuss a strategy so that I can report it to my father together." Li Jue said.

"The Crown Prince should report to His Majesty first! I don't think there is any need to continue the discussion." said Li Ke, the Crown Prince's tutor.

After Li Ke spoke, no one else jumped out to say anything against it. After all, this was not something they could discuss casually.

Unless it was the Crown Prince who raised this question, if the Emperor raised the issue of abolition in the court, he might still be able to make suggestions.

But if the Crown Prince did this, it would be suspected of exceeding his authority, and it would even make people wonder what the Crown Prince wanted to do.

"In that case, then everyone should disperse!" Seeing that no one else said anything, Li Jue had to announce the adjournment of the meeting.

"Farewell, Your Highness!" The ministers saluted.

Li Jue left Xiande Hall and returned to Guangtian Hall, furious.

"This Li Ke is simply too much of a bully. All officials have to act according to his mood. He is even more rude to me. Does he still have me, the

crown prince, in his eyes?" "My father ordered him to assist me in governing the country, not to let him oppose me in everything. Who does he think he is? The master of the Tang Dynasty?" Li Jue cursed.

During the period of governing the country, whenever he, the crown prince, proposed some strategies, Li Ke would stand up and interfere, and always find an excuse to stop it.

These would be fine, but one time Li Ke actually accused him in front of so many people, making him lose face.

His mother went to ask for an explanation, but Li Ke rejected it on the grounds that the harem was not allowed to interfere in government affairs.

"Your Highness, calm down! Li Ke is just taking advantage of your Majesty's favor to act recklessly. Now that your Majesty is old, I'm afraid he won't live long."

"After your Majesty passes away, the world of the Tang Dynasty will not belong to your Highness. By then, it won't be too late to deal with Li Ke. Now your Highness needs to be patient." The Prince's Groom said.

"Is there no way to deal with him now? Do we have to wait until a hundred years after your Majesty dies?" Li Jue said.

"Li Ke is highly regarded by your Majesty and has many followers in the court. With the current strength of the prince, it is difficult to overthrow Li Ke."

"Even if the prince reports Li Ke to your Majesty, your Majesty will never listen to the prince's family."

"If you really want to get rid of Li Ke, I have a way." The Prince's Groom said.

"Oh! What do you have in mind? Tell me quickly." Li Jue's eyes lit up immediately and he asked hastily.

"Your Highness! That is..." The Prince's groom said, wiping his neck.

"Do you mean that I should kill Li Ke?" Li Jue lowered his voice immediately.

"Yes! And it has to be done quickly!" said the Prince's groom.

"No! It will be disastrous if my father knows about this." Li Jue shook his head.

"Your Majesty is currently on a southern tour and will not be back for a while. As long as Your Highness works quickly, it will definitely be done."

"Even if Your Majesty knows about this after returning to the capital, at most he will blame Your Highness. After all, Your Highness and Your Majesty are father and son." said the Prince's groom.

"Let me think about this matter again." Li Jue said.

He did not agree to the Prince's groom's suggestion immediately.