Chapter 185 Drinking Together

The status of the Li family in Chang'an City gradually became transcendent. Even the descendants of the side branches were promoted at an unreasonable speed and began to take control of important positions in various parts of Chang'an.

Yang You, the Prince of Dai who stayed behind in Chang'an, naturally noticed it, but he was powerless to do anything. Now even the court meetings were deserted. If he were not for the care of his maternal family, he would probably be worried about food and clothing.

"Uncle, what should we do now?"

The Minister of Justice Wei Yijie is also very troubled now. It is bad enough that Li Jiancheng escaped from the Turks, but he actually entered Taiyuan with only a thousand cavalry, making all the aristocratic families place heavy bets on the Li family.

Although his Jingzhao Wei family is prominent, they cannot compete with so many families. He has done his best to keep Yang You safe until now.

There is no marriage relationship between the main branches of the Wei family and the Li family. If they could choose, they would certainly hope that the King of Dai, who has Wei blood, would ascend the throne and become emperor.

Unfortunately, there is no choice now. Wei Yijie still has some feelings for the King of Dai, and whispered: "Your Highness, don't think about anything else now. It is important to keep to yourself and save your life."

The King of Dai's face gradually became ugly. Wei Yijie stepped forward and stretched out his hand to grab his shoulder: "It's not the Li family who wants to usurp the throne, it's your Majesty who lost the country, so don't hate the Li family, don't hate anyone, this is the only way you can survive."

Yang You cried and said, "Whether I hate it or not, I can't live anymore. Uncle, don't lie to me."

Wei Yijie whispered: "Everything should be done in a legitimate way. The power of Chang'an has fallen into Li Yuan's hands, but His Highness is still fine. It can be seen that he wants His Highness to abdicate the throne.

"But my grandfather is still alive. How can I be qualified to abdicate the sacred artifact of the country? Moreover, even if I abdicate, I will probably die of illness. If so, I don't want to be a sinner of the family just to survive for a few more years. I only hope that my uncle can give his nephew a quick death."

Yang You was only twelve years old, but he had already made up his mind to die. Wei Yijie sighed, "I will do my best to protect Your Highness, so that you can marry, have children, and die in wealth and luxury."

Naturally, no one wants to die if they can live. Yang You listened quietly to his uncle's instructions, then watched him leave the palace and head straight for Duke Tang's Mansion.

In the Duke of Tang's mansion, an elder of the Dugu clan was talking loudly: "The world was conquered by our ancestors together. Since Taizu pacified Guandong, the emperor and his relatives have shared the world. The safety of the world is the responsibility of the descendants of merit.

If the emperor is unworthy, the court is in chaos, and the world is in turmoil, then the descendants of Wuchuan should stand up and eliminate the evils for the world!"

Wei Yijie, who came in, responded, "When Sui lost its deer, the old people of Wuchuan should chase it together. This is the law of nature."

When everyone saw Wei Yijie coming, they were not surprised. Some even thought he was really stupid for coming so late.

How can a mere nephew compare to the entire family?

Wei Yijie saluted Li Yuan respectfully, which also represented the attitude of the entire Jingzhao Wei family. In this way, Chang'an was settled.

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In the former Han Palace in Jinyang City, Li Jiancheng was handling various matters, while Qin Shubao and Wang Xuba were carrying Wei Daoer's head to recapture the county town under Taiyuan County, which was going very smoothly.

Almost all of them surrendered at the first sight of the enemy, but Qin Shubao, in accordance with Li Jiancheng's orders, did not show any preferential treatment to the bandit leaders who surrendered the city. After entering the city, he investigated whether they had done any evil. If the crime was extremely serious, they would be beheaded immediately as a warning to the public.

He did not need a motley crowd to show off, so almost all of the more than 100,000 captured bandits were arranged to farm. Only the brave ones were selected from among them to be trained under Zhang Huli and Pan Changwen.

Then he was taken to various places to suppress bandits. At the same time, the people were exempted from taxes and labor service, and even grain and oxen were rented to the people. After the harsh laws and taxes of the Sui Dynasty were abolished, Taiyuan County began to show some vitality.

Li Jiancheng currently has no shortage of food and grass. Both Chang'an and Zhuo County have large-scale food and grass stocks that can be transferred at any time. And the hundreds of thousands of rebels began to concentrate on farming, which could also relieve a large part of the pressure, especially by the end of next year.

"My dear, there is an imperial decree from Jiangdu."

There was nothing unexpected about Li Jiancheng. No matter how blocked the news was, the emperor should have known that he was back.

Li Jiancheng was sitting upright. The eunuch walked in and wanted to say something, but he didn't dare to. He could only clear his throat and begin to read the decree.

First, he praised Li Jiancheng's past achievements, promoted him to the position of Governor of Yongzhou, Shangshu Zuo Pushe, and Tejin Guanglu Dafu, and finally ordered him to go to Jiangdu as soon as possible to meet the emperor.

Li Jiancheng couldn't help but chuckle. It was already this time, but the emperor was still stingy with the position of Shangshu Ling.

The eunuch held the imperial edict humbly and pricked up his ears to hear the sound of Li Jiancheng's departure, but there was no sound. Just when his hands and feet were weak, the imperial edict was taken away lightly by someone.

"My lord, accept the order."

Li Jiancheng casually threw the imperial edict on the table. The eunuch smiled flatteringly and asked, "Prime Minister Li, when will you go to Jiangdu to see the emperor? You don't know that His Majesty misses you so much."

Li Jiancheng smiled and said, "Taiyuan has been pacified, and there are still many government affairs to be dealt with. I will go to Jiangdu to pay homage to Your Majesty next year."

"This, this...Prime Minister, His Majesty wants you to go to Jiangdu immediately."

"But I don't want to go. I'm afraid that His Majesty will send me back to the Turks again."

The eunuch knelt down and kowtowed, hesitatingly saying, "Your Majesty asked me to remind you that your Second Young Master is still in Jiangdu."

Li Jiancheng did not speak. The eunuch was dragged out. Zhang Huli came out from the side and said, "My dear, I will go to Jiangdu and bring you back."

Li Jiancheng shook his head: "Erlang will be fine. Jiangdu is no longer the emperor's Jiangdu. Even if he is angry and gives an order, no one dares to execute it. Besides, how can my Erlang be a man who can't even protect himself?"

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Since last year, more than a hundred villas and mansions have been built in the Jiangdu Palace, each of which has a beauty. Every day, one beauty is appointed as the host, and the emperor brings the empress and concubines as guests. The emperor and empress are always drinking, and the more than a thousand concubines in the palace are often drunk.

Jiangdu County Magistrate Zhao Yuankai and Xiaoguo Army Commander Shen Guang stood in front of the palace and watched the drunk emperor take off his dragon robe and crown, break a branch from a tree to use as a walking stick, wear a scarf and short clothes, and walk around the pavilions with a walking stick.

Everyone has become accustomed to such a situation. The emperor greedily enjoys every day of his life. Whether it is fine wine and delicious food or beautiful women and scenery, they are all deeply engraved in his heart.

Until late at night, the emperor was still wandering in the pavilion. A gust of cold wind finally woke him up. He stared blankly at the stars in the sky. Wang Yi wanted to put on his robe for him, but was kicked away.

When the queen arrived with tears in her eyes, the emperor pulled his wife over mysteriously and said, "There are many people out there who want to marry you, but you are still the Duke of Changcheng, and you are still the Empress Shen, so let's drink together!"

There are many people out there plotting against me, but let them plot. At worst, I will be the Duke of Changcheng and you will be the Queen of Shen, and we will still be rich and happy.

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(End of this chapter)