Emperor Taizong's unprecedented plan to establish a eunuch system was not his own choice, but rather the choice of emperors throughout history.
It was only during the Ming Dynasty that this system was established and became the infamous Eastern Depot.
However, unlike the Ming Dynasty in history, Li Er did not distrust the Hundred Cavalry Division; he just thought the Hundred Cavalry Division was a bit stupid.
But we can't entirely blame the Hundred Cavalry Division. After all, these men were his old comrades who fought alongside him to build the empire. They were worth ten men for killing and arson, and they might not be as good as the jailers in the Ministry of Justice's prison when it came to solving cases and interrogating criminals.
Therefore, Li Er did not blame the Hundred Cavalry Division, but simply wanted to create another pair of eyes outside of the Hundred Cavalry Division to keep an eye on the vast Tang Empire for him.
Although Zhang Anan was very reluctant to do this, since His Majesty had spoken, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and do it.
But he had absolutely no idea how to do it.
Left with no other choice, he went to the Inner Palace to seek advice from Li Jue.
When Zhang Anan arrived at the Inner Palace Secretariat, Li Jue was punching and kicking Li Tai. Zhang Anan was frightened when he saw this and quickly stepped forward to break up the fight.
"Crown Prince, why did you assault Prince Wei?"
"I beat him up?"
"I didn't hit him, I just wanted him to stop pretending to be drunk and get up to drink with me!"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Anan pried open Li Tai's eyelids and saw that the guy had already fallen asleep. He then immediately spoke to Li Jue.
"Grandson, don't bother. Prince Wei is already asleep. Let's carry him back."
Upon hearing this, Li Jue nodded with a sullen expression.
"All right!"
"My fourth uncle always brags to me about his incredible drinking capacity, but who would have thought he'd get drunk after just a few jars of wine..."
"How many jars?"
Zhang Anan looked at the wine jars scattered on the ground and felt a wave of dizziness. How much had these two drunk?!
Under Zhang Anan's command, Li Tai was quickly carried out by the eunuchs and sent to the Prince of Wei's residence.
Zhang Anan then chased the other eunuchs out, leaving only himself and Li Jue in the prison, and diligently served Li Jue tea.
"Is the Crown Prince still conscious?"
"good!"
"I don't know why, but I just can't get drunk when I drink..."
"well!"
Zhang Anan rolled his eyes upon hearing this, thinking to himself, "You're practically drunk and acting crazy, yet you still have the nerve to say you're not drunk."
"Your Highness, there's something I'd like to ask you about, and I'd like to get your advice..."
"What's up?"
"His Majesty said he wants me to establish a surveillance system to become his eyes and ears..."
"The Eastern Depot!"
Upon hearing this, Li Jue immediately thought of the Eastern Depot, but he never expected that the wise and mighty Li Er would also create such a thing.
"What Eastern Depot?"
Zhang Anan was stunned upon hearing this, and then quickly corrected him.
"This is the Imperial Household Department!"
Li Jue smiled indifferently upon hearing this.
"Same!"
"Whether it's called the Eastern Depot or the Inner Palace Secretariat, they actually do pretty much the same thing!"
"Uncle Zhang, what are you planning to do?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Anan quickly voiced his confusion.
"This servant is precisely because I don't know what to do, that's why I've come to ask the Crown Prince for advice!"
"This servant thinks the system you devised for the Hundred Cavalry Command is excellent, it's just that the people in the Hundred Cavalry Command are too stupid and don't know how to use it at all..."
Li Jue nodded vigorously upon hearing this.
"Yes, yes, yes!"
"I told His Majesty long ago to replace that big idiot Yuchi Fan, but His Majesty just wouldn't listen, always saying things like 'new people are worse than old clothes...'"
Zhang Anan was about to nod in agreement when he suddenly realized something was wrong.
"Your Highness, you've got it backwards! This servant remembers His Majesty saying, 'Clothes are not as good as old ones, and people are not as good as old friends'... No, no, that's not right. It's 'Clothes are not as good as new ones, and people are not as good as old friends'!"
"well!"
"If the Crown Prince is tired, he may go to sleep first. I will come again tomorrow!"
Upon hearing this, Li Jue grabbed Zhang Anan.
"Don't go!"
"Who said I'm sleepy? I...I'm not sleepy!"
"Uncle Zhang, just tell me straight, what kind of organization do you want to establish?"
Seeing this, Zhang Anan could only voice his confusion.
"Actually, it's nothing much, just being able to serve as His Majesty's ears and eyes is enough."
"Moreover, our Inner Palace Service used to do the same thing. The eunuchs and palace maids in the various princely mansions were actually our spies..."
"To say something offensive to the Crown Prince, it was our Inner Palace Secretariat that first discovered the shady dealings when your father plotted a rebellion..."
Li Jue was not angry at all; he simply nodded in agreement.
"Oh oh oh..."
Did His Majesty mention granting you any special privileges?
"privilege?"
Zhang Anan was stunned when he heard this, thinking that no one had mentioned this to him.
"May I ask, Crown Prince, what special privileges do we want?"
Upon hearing this, Li Jue immediately corrected him.
"Not us, it's you...all of you..."
"I'm not a eunuch, what special privileges do I need..."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Anan quickly echoed.
"Yes, yes, it's us servants... May I ask, Your Majesty, what special privileges should we ask for?"
Upon hearing this, Li Jue lay down on the bed and then held up two fingers.
"One is the power to arrest people!"
"And another right is the power of torture!"
"Without these two rights, your Eastern Depot is just a figurehead..."
Zhang Anan didn't bother to correct Li Jue's distinction between the Eastern Depot and the Inner Palace Secretariat; he simply found paper and pen and wrote down Li Jue's words.
"The power to arrest people... the power to torture... anything else?"
"have!"
"What rights?"
"The right to dispatch troops..."
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
