Inside the Duke's Mansion in Jinling City.
It was already late at night, but the study in the Duke's mansion was still brightly lit.
Looking into the study from outside, in the candlelight, one could see a tall, imposing figure pacing back and forth, appearing somewhat anxious.
The tall figure reflected in the candlelight outside the study was none other than Chang Yuchun, the Duke of Wei, the first of the six founding dukes of the Tang Dynasty.
Normally, at this time, Duke Chang Yuchun of Wei would already be resting in bed.
In fact, there are no exceptions today.
However, an urgent military intelligence report from the soldiers on duty on the city wall of Jinling City instantly woke up Duke Chang Yuchun of Wei, who had just lain down, from his sleep, and he was immediately wide awake.
The on-duty commander came to report that before midnight, Marquis Xiao Po, who held the token of the commander of the Golden Guard, personally escorted a group of people into Jinling City at night and headed straight for the palace.
Although the soldiers guarding the city gate could not be certain whether Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huai'an was among this group of people.
But isn't this as obvious as a louse on a bald man's head?
Throughout the court and the palace, everyone knows that Xiao Po, the commander of the Imperial Guards, is the emperor's personal bodyguard, responsible for protecting the emperor's safety at all times.
Xiao Po has already returned to Jinling City, so how could the Emperor not have returned to the capital?
The key point is that the emperor secretly returned to the capital late at night without even informing Chang Yuchun, the Duke of Wei who was acting as prime minister, beforehand so that he could greet him outside the city.
The news that Chang Yuchun learned was that the Emperor was in Chang'an Prefecture inspecting matters related to the relocation of the capital to Chang'an and the construction of the new imperial palace.
Even if the Emperor rushed back to the capital day and night without stopping, it was because the Empress and the Imperial Concubine were about to give birth. It wouldn't be difficult for him to inform the Emperor and ask him to go outside the city to meet him. There were daily express courier services between the capital and Chang'an.
Therefore, in Chang Yuchun's view, the fact that the emperor returned to the capital ahead of schedule without informing him to receive him was quite intriguing!
As the saying goes, serving a ruler is like serving a tiger; every step you take is like walking on thin ice!
Therefore, when Chang Yuchun learned that the emperor had returned to the capital late at night, he was no longer sleepy. He immediately jumped out of bed, threw on a coat, and hurriedly went to the study.
In absolute silence, a person begins to recall the various state affairs he has handled since the emperor left the capital and he took over as acting prime minister, and whether there were any aspects that violated etiquette or law.
After much deliberation, Chang Yuchun finally listed three major events that he believed could potentially cause problems during the past six months while he was serving as acting prime minister in Nanjing.
Firstly, in the "Tea and Horse Smuggling Case in Four Provinces and Eight Prefectures" led by Liu Ziyu, the Earl of Wuyi, his indecisiveness gave Su Chen, the Governor-General of Liangjiang and Lianghu, and Jiang Ning an opportunity to raise troops and cause trouble in Suzhou Prefecture.
Of course, before the rebellion of these two men could even begin, it was nipped in the bud by Chang Yuchun, who was already prepared, and it did not have any substantial impact on the rule of the Tang Dynasty.
Furthermore, he immediately reported the matter to Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huai'an, who was on his westward expedition. The latter approved the punishment according to the relevant provisions of the Tang Dynasty Law. Su Chen and Jiang Ning, the governors of Liangjiang and Lianghu, as well as their families and relatives, including all those involved in the "tea and horse smuggling case," have been arrested by order of Chang Yuchun and are being held in the Ministry of Justice prison awaiting judgment and execution.
I think I handled this matter correctly, right?
Inside the study, Chang Yuchun solemnly reviewed the case files of the "Tea-Horse Smuggling Case," as well as his memorials to the emperor and the emperor's comments. He nodded to himself, then shook his head.
The next moment, after closing the file, Chang Yuchun suddenly remembered that it might be because of the recent rumors circulating in the court and among the people that the emperor wanted to establish the Imperial Noble Consort Yue Qiluo as the Queen of the Western Regions and inherit the title left by her father, the valiant Khan Moyanchuo.
"That shouldn't be the case!"
Chang Yuchun muttered to himself, "This matter is nothing but speculation. Even if the Emperor issued an edict in the Uyghur Khanate posthumously conferring upon the valiant Khan Moyanchuo the title of Western King of the Great Tang, and allowing his descendants to inherit the title;"
"However, this matter was ultimately not brought up for discussion and conclusion in the name of the Emperor of the Great Tang Dynasty or in the court of the Great Tang Dynasty. Based on mere rumors and hearsay, it should not be enough to make the Emperor rush back to the capital in the dead of night!"
"Besides, we have reported this matter to the Emperor, and it is not our place to handle this matter as Dukes!"
Eh—
As he spoke, Chang Yuchun sighed, feeling as if his head was about to explode!
If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have voluntarily relinquished my military power when the emperor ascended the throne, saying that I wanted to retire to the mountains and live a leisurely life at home!
If I hadn't relinquished military power back then, I would probably be leading troops to conquer Goguryeo, or following the emperor to lead troops north to Youyun to quell the rebellion. At the very least, I could have been a supervisor in Chang'an Prefecture.
Each of these tasks was a cushy job, far easier than sitting in Jinling City and acting as prime minister.
"Hey, with so many capable people in the capital, why did the Emperor choose to appoint a roughneck like me as acting prime minister to govern the country?"
"Now look what's happened! I don't even know where I went wrong. It's giving me a headache!"
Chang Yuchun "regretted his past actions." Compared to governing the country, he, a military general, preferred to fight on horseback and on the battlefield, to make contributions to the emperor and the Tang Dynasty.
He was never a meticulous person, yet he was forced to do the work of governing the country. Wasn't this like forcing Zhang Fei to do embroidery?
Chang Yuchun brewed himself a pot of hot tea and continued to sipping it while flipping through the files scattered throughout the room, hoping to find something useful.
It wasn't to prepare in advance for "deceiving the emperor and committing treason," but rather to at least know something when the emperor asked questions.
As he flipped through the pages, Chang Yuchun's gaze suddenly froze, and his mind cleared as if he had remembered something.
This is a memorial submitted by the Ministry of Justice a few days ago, asking for my opinion on whether to severely punish Yu Siqian, that rebellious northern student.
The Ministry of Justice's opinion was that the evidence was conclusive regarding Yu Siqian's treasonous remarks on his examination paper, as well as his drunken attacks on the emperor and the spread of the claim that the Tang Dynasty only had half its territory. According to the law, he should be executed.
Chang Yuchun did not immediately respond to the Ministry of Justice regarding this matter.
In his view, the emperor attached even more importance to the first imperial examination of the new dynasty than to the suppression of the rebellion in the Western Regions.
Therefore, Chang Yuchun believed that this matter should not be handled arbitrarily.
Thinking of this, Chang Yuchun suddenly slapped his forehead, hurriedly pushed open the study door, and shouted outside, "Xiao Guo, prepare the horses, let's go to the Ministry of Justice prison!"
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