Chapter 227 Common People
Li Jiancheng now has three younger brothers. Li Shimin, the Prince of Qin, is still recuperating in the palace, Li Xuanba, the Prince of Jin, is in charge of the clan affairs, Li Yuanji, the Prince of Qi, is in Bingzhou, and he also has a illegitimate younger brother, Li Zhiyun, the Prince of Chu.

The only one who was really restless among them was Li Yuanji. Li Jiancheng didn't really want to use him, but he was his younger brother, and his father and mother were still alive, so there was no reason not to give him wealth, honor and power.

Moreover, Jinyang is such an important place, and it is also the place where Li Jiancheng started his army. The generals and soldiers are loyal but also arrogant, so it would not work without a prince of the royal family in charge.

Li Shimin was the mighty warrior of the Tang Dynasty. Although he lacked some tempering because the world became peaceful too quickly, his essence could not be concealed. After a few more battles, he would become the General of Heavenly Strategy.

Such a person naturally cannot be confined to one place, but should be like Li Jing, unsheathing his sword when needed and staying in the capital to train his weapons when not needed.

Li Xuanba is weak and sickly, Li Zhiyun is good at calligraphy and chess, neither of them is suitable to be in charge of a region. Only Yuanji, apart from other things, is brave and strong with archery and spear, and can be a cavalry general in the army.

It's just his nature...

Li Yuan sighed and said, "It seems that Yuanji must have caused some trouble. They are waiting for you to deal with Li Youliang and then drag him out. If you protect Yuanji, then the royal family will be in turmoil, just like Wei Zheng and his ilk...

Li Jiancheng said to his father sincerely: "Father, you are wise and understand my situation. Over the years, I have always been friendly to my brothers because we are all your blood relatives. Even Zhiyun enjoys the title of prince."

The more Li Yuan listened, the more frightened he became: "Jiancheng, you...you are not going to kill Yuanji, are you?"

The father and son looked at each other. Li Jiancheng understood Li Yuan's bottom line and sighed with regret in his heart. Then he smiled and said, "Of course not. I have never had such intention. But if I really get that situation, I will have to punish him severely to show the justice of the court."

Li Jiancheng took a step back, and Li Yuan could only say: "If that's the case, I'll issue the decree, and no one will say anything bad about you."

It is never a good idea to treat your brothers harshly. In a clan society, the right thing to do is to help your relatives rather than others.

No matter how fair Li Jiancheng was, there would always be people who found fault with him. But if Li Yuan, his father, came forward, injustice would also be justice. Not to mention how to punish him, killing him would be the principle between father and son and monarch and subject.

But Li Yuan would never kill his own son, and it was not to the point where not killing him would bring disaster to the entire family.

…………

In the Xuanzheng Hall, Li Jiancheng looked expressionlessly at Li Youliang, who was kneeling in the hall after being detained. Before he was convicted, he, as a noble relative of the Duke of Changle County, should not have been treated like this.

But who could have imagined that he would dare to leave his post without permission and deliberately try to bypass the imperial envoy and return to Chang'an to plead for mercy. After being blocked on the way, he was instigated by his close associates and prepared to surrender to the Turkic Khan Jie Li.

"Your Majesty, please spare my life. I wanted to return to the court to plead guilty, but I was coerced by my subordinates. This is not my original intention. Please understand your majesty."

"So it's true that you smuggled salt and iron to the Turks?"

Li Youliang was trembling and dared not answer, while Wei Zheng stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, according to the investigation by the imperial envoy, he not only smuggled salt and iron, but also recruited more than a hundred ruffians as his followers, often invading the market and causing great suffering to travelers.

Some time ago, someone stole his horse. The county magistrate of Changle arrested him and tortured him. Now he has even committed treason and surrendered to the enemy. I request that he be severely punished according to the law!"

After Wei Zheng, only a few people supported it, because according to the law, both smuggling banned goods and setting up courts without authorization were capital crimes.

Not to mention the act of treason and surrendering to the enemy. If he was not a member of the royal family, this crime would have implicated the entire clan.

The royal family began to plead for mercy. It was normal for them to stick together for warmth when facing danger. Especially after Li Jiancheng ascended the throne, he habitually suppressed the royal family and only promoted Li Xiaogong, Li Shentong, Li Shenfu and a few others. This was obviously not the life they had expected, and the Guanlong officials also began to make efforts. The implication was that most of the crimes were committed by Li Youliang and his subordinates, and he just kept silent.

All kinds of far-fetched excuses, reasons used by the previous dynasty to cover up the crimes committed by the nobles, and reasons why the emperor wanted to show mercy and protect them were listed.

Although they were all refuted by Wei Zheng, they did not seem anxious at all, because this was what they wanted to see.

In the end, it was still up to the emperor to decide how to deal with the matter, whether to show leniency to show the affection among clan members, or to continue to treat clan members harshly.

"Expel him from the clan, strip him of his official title, demote him to a commoner, and punish him with 100 strokes of the cane. The Ministry of Justice will thoroughly investigate the crimes of his subordinates and punish them severely!"

He didn't die, but it seemed worse than death. Li Youliang struggled and was about to hit his head against the dragon pillar in the hall and die.

But Shan Xiongxin, whose body had recovered a lot, grabbed him and said, "You can't die unless His Majesty says he wants your life!"

The royal family, civil and military officials all had nothing to say. Your Majesty was just rewarding those who had merit and punishing those who had fault as usual. Nothing was beyond anyone's expectations, but we just hope Your Majesty can continue to maintain this pattern.

As Li Youliang was dragged away, Shangshu Zuo Pushe Pei Ji stood up and said, "I have a report. It is said that the King of Qi often went hunting with his playmates in Bingzhou, trampled on farmland and crops, indulged those around him, and openly plundered the people's property. The poultry and livestock in the territory were almost all robbed by them.

He stood in the middle of the road and shot arrows at people, watching them dodge as a form of entertainment, and the local people were filled with resentment.

The King of Qi also liked to divide his soldiers into two sides, the left and the right, and order them to fight and kill each other, causing injuries or even death.

At night, he opened the door of his mansion, went to the homes of officials, and openly committed obscene acts.

In particular, the King of Qi had deliberately delayed the troops of Bingzhou to help the King of Qin, and after the King of Qin was seriously injured, he even ignored the imperial edict prohibiting slaughtering and drinking, slaughtered cattle and sheep, and held a feast and drank recklessly…”

Li Jiancheng listened calmly, so calmly that all the ministers were a little scared. There was no trace of surprise, nor any anger at the King of Qi for not living up to his expectations, nor was there any astonishment at Pei Ji's sudden remark about this.

"Then let Wei Qing personally investigate the truth and summon the King of Qi back to the capital. The King of Chu will take over his position temporarily."

Wei Zheng, everyone knows his character. He is not someone who would cover up for the royal family. Let alone the mistakes of the King of Qi or the Emperor, don't expect him to consider the overall situation and remain decent.

His Majesty assigned him to investigate, which showed that he had no intention of shielding the King of Qi, which made many people disappointed.

After the court was dismissed, members of the royal family once again flocked to the retired emperor. They said nice things and defended the King of Qi everywhere. No one mentioned Li Youliang, who had been demoted to a commoner.

Wei Zheng had already left the capital and headed straight for Jinyang Prefecture, and even began to write an impeachment memorial right away, because he knew very well that Shangshu Zuo Pushe would never speak nonsense without any evidence.

If the King of Qi really did this, then he should be severely punished like the Duke of Changle County!

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

(End of this chapter)