Chapter 215 Abandoned City
Dugu Huai'en was eventually beheaded in public, and more cruel punishments were not used because of his status as a royal relative. This also made the Dugu officials in the court repeatedly thank the emperor and express their loyalty.

The resistance of Buddhism and Taoism continued, but it had begun to change from direct confrontation to softening, vigorously promoting the emperor's sacred achievements. Li Jiancheng also relaxed a little and ordered King of Qi Li Yuanji to return to Jinyang.

Good news gradually came from Li Jiancheng's harem. Three concubines became pregnant in succession, which made the emperor and the empress dowager very happy, and the civil and military officials and royal family members in the court also felt relieved.

Although the eldest prince is healthy, he is still too young and being alone is not a guarantee.

The ministers in the court who had frequently petitioned the emperor to take more concubines finally stopped, and Li Jiancheng also breathed a sigh of relief.

The concubines entered the palace with missions and family missions. When they were dignified and elegant, they showed the demeanor of noble families, but in private they really spared no effort to win favor. Even a strong body could not withstand so many young beauties.

At the court meeting, Li Jiancheng inquired about the people's livelihood this year. The current population of the country is nearly four million households, while when Emperor Wen was at the peak of his reign, there were more than eight million households in the country.

Li Jiancheng tried his best to avoid six or seven years of separatist fighting and unified the world in the shortest time possible, but the situation was still so tragic, which shows how deeply Emperor Yang harmed the people.

Li Jiancheng once again emphasized the court's policy this year in the Xuanzheng Hall, which was still to cultivate the people, encourage agriculture and sericulture, promote marriage, avoid internal and external wars, and restore prosperity to the world.

However, he did not give up the issue of official administration. After sweeping the southern counties with the Shenwu Army, he sent Wei Zheng, the Grand Counselor, and Chen Shuda, the Imperial Secretary, to clean up the bureaucracy and punish with criminal law those local officials and powerful people who dared to harm the people and violate the government.

But the tree wants to be still but the wind does not stop. Tuyuhun invaded Fangzhou, Taozhou and other places successively, the Dangxiang attacked Songzhou, the Turkic Shibi raided Mayi, and the Western Turkic Tongyehu Khan sent envoys to the court to propose marriage.

Baekje and Silla sent envoys to ask the emperor to restrain Goguryeo's aggression and protect them from being annexed by Goguryeo.

Simply avoiding war was obviously not a solution. After consulting with his ministers, the emperor ordered the Right Guard General and Prince of Qin Li Shimin to lead troops north to resist the Turks. The generals accompanying the army included Li Mi, Shan Xiongxin, Qin Shubao, Xue Wanche, Hou Jun Ji.

But before the King of Qin set out, news arrived from Mayi. The governor of Mayi, Li Gaoqian, the Duke of Jiangxia, was timid and cowardly. Seeing that the Turkic troops were coming in an endless stream and were about to completely encircle Mayi, he actually took advantage of the night to abandon the city and flee with more than 4,000 of his subordinates.

What’s even more hateful is that Li Gaoqian’s escape was not smooth as he was discovered and killed by the Turks on the way, losing more than half of his men and horses, leaving him in a miserable state.

Wei Zheng was not in the court and no one spoke first. After all, Li Gaoqian was a member of the royal family, and the royal family now held the military power. Among the sixteen generals of the world, Li Shimin, King of Qin, Li Yuanji, King of Qi, and Li Xiaogong, King of Hejian, occupied three of the guards. The two main generals of the newly established Shenwu Army were also members of the royal family.

Everyone wanted to see the emperor's attitude first, but the emperor seemed not to have heard it. After a moment's silence, Shangshu Zuo Pushe Pei Ji stepped out. As the prime minister, he was destined not to sit back and watch the situation like ordinary ministers. He must be the first to express his attitude.

"Your Majesty, I request that Li Gaoqian be severely punished. There has never been an official or general in our dynasty who fled the city before the battle. He must be severely punished to serve as a warning to others!"

"I second the words of Zuo Pushe."

"I second the motion..."

With a leader in the fold, most of the officials stood up, but the royal family civil and military officials had not yet expressed their opinions. They knew that Li Gaoqian's mistake this time was too big, but after all, they were relatives from the same clan, so they did not want to add insult to injury.

Therefore, he did not support but also did not speak out against it, which actually meant that he tacitly agreed that the court could punish severely.

But the emperor obviously still wanted the royal family to express their views. Li Jiancheng set his eyes on Jin Wang Li Xuanba and asked: "What do you think the royal family should do?"

Li Xuanba was usually a man of few words in the court, but at this moment he expressed his firm stance: "I think that since you are a member of the royal family, you should be punished more severely for committing such a serious crime!" These words made the other members of the royal family feel uncomfortable. They originally had a chance to survive, but now that their crime was punished more severely, they would be dead.

The emperor nodded and then his eyes fell on the prince who had the most indignant look on his face. Actually, he was his great uncle.

"What does the Duke of Xingchang think?"

Li Shuo immediately said that he could give up his title and dismiss himself from office, but at least he should keep his life to fulfill the duty of courtesy and respect for His Majesty.

He bowed slightly and raised his head to speak, but he suddenly found that the emperor, who had not moved his body, slowly leaned forward and stared at him with extremely cold eyes, like a hungry tiger or a hungry dragon.

"How do you think I should deal with members of the royal family who have committed serious crimes?"

Li Shuo said with difficulty: "You must...be severely punished!"

Li Jiancheng nodded and said to the ministers: "What the King of Jin said is very much in my heart. The royal family is extremely honored. I will not only confer the title of Duke and King, but also appoint him to a high position and entrust him with important counties and prefectures of the court.

I am grateful for your kindness, so shouldn't the royal family try their best to repay me? Ordinary ministers and generals know to be loyal to the emperor and serve the country, so are the royal family members, who have received such kindness, worse than the officials and soldiers who only eat my salary?
"Order the governor of Loufan to escort Li Gaoqian back to the capital immediately. The King of Qi will lead the troops of Jinyang to resist the Turks. When the King of Qin arrives, he will recapture Mayi and drive the Turks back to the grasslands!"

"promise!"

Fang Xuanling, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War, said: "Your Majesty, the Turks are cunning and are probably connected to Tuyuhun, Dangxiang and Goguryeo. We have to make arrangements in other directions as well to prevent any future troubles."

The military heroes immediately requested to fight. The emperor ordered the Left Guard General Li Jing, Duke of Wei, to lead his troops westward to fight against Tuyuhun. The generals Xue Ju, Pei Xingyan, Su Dingcheng and Fang Zhizhi followed the army.

As for Goguryeo, the emperor only ordered Zhang Huli, the Duke of Rongping, to go to Liaodong City to take charge, and sent envoys to officially enthrone Gao Jianmu as the King of Goryeo, Baekje King Buyeo Zhang as the Prince of Daifang, and Silla King Kim Jinpyeong as the Prince of Lelang.

"If any country refuses to accept the title, it will be considered as a traitor. The imperial court will send a large army to attack it. You should let them know this!"

When it comes to Goguryeo, some officials are worried. Li Jiancheng said, "I own Liaodong City. Goguryeo can only rely on Pyongyang. I only need to send 80,000 naval forces to destroy Goguryeo. You don't have to worry."

The ministers agreed when they heard this. In the past, Emperor Yangdi had failed to attack Goguryeo as he was always blocked by Liaodong City. But now that Liaodong City was in their hands, Pyongyang was no longer defensible and the navy could attack it. So there was no need to take him too seriously.

The envoy who received the order had an idea of ​​what was going on when he saw this, and he immediately took the order and left.

A few days later, news kept coming from the northern border. The King of Qi led his troops to fight against the Turks. They lost more than they won, but at least they did not lose any territory or city. The King of Qin finally reached the front line from Luoyang.

As soon as they met for the first time, the two kings of Qin and Qi were at loggerheads with each other. The generals on the front line were very worried and immediately sent the news back to the court.

...............

(End of this chapter)