Chapter 279: Moral Words
The emperor nodded when he heard this. If Luo Yi could listen to advice, then he could still be used. If not, then he would be giving up his own life.

The emperor returned to Chang'an before the beginning of autumn and made it clear that he would stay here for the New Year, which made the people of Chang'an feel slightly relieved.

No one expected that before His Majesty left, he clearly said that he was going on a southern tour to Jiangdu and would be back soon. However, before he returned, the name of their imperial capital was changed.

Fortunately, they had experienced this before in the previous dynasty, so they accepted it relatively quickly.

Moreover, His Majesty also said in the edict that when the world is stable, he will govern the world in Luoyang, and when there is change in the world, he will return to Chang'an to restore the country.

The imperial carriage returning to the palace deliberately stopped for a while in front of Prince Liang's mansion, and then returned to the palace in a grand manner.

After Prince of Liang was buried with the rites of a prince, the emperor appointed his son Xiao Xuan as the heir to the title of Prince of Liang, promoted him to the rank of Jinzi Guanglu Dafu and Prince Zhanshi, and also awarded him a fief in Liaodong with 12,000 households.

This was undoubtedly a great favor, especially since it was well known that Xiao Xuan did not have the talents and virtues comparable to his father. Not only had he resigned many times before inheriting the title, the queen had also asked to be demoted before inheriting the title.

But Your Majesty still bestowed upon him a unique and distinguished title among all the ministers. If the title of Prince Liang could be so great, then there is no need to say more about theirs.

After learning both literary and martial arts, and selling them to the emperor, what you are looking for is wealth and honor that can be passed down from generation to generation.

After the beginning of autumn, Zhang Huli, the Duke of Ying, returned to the court from Liaodong. The emperor summoned many of his old friends from Zhuo County and gave them a special banquet, which showed their close relationship.

The trend of seniority-based ranking is prevalent in the court now. All civil and military officials are competing to see when they followed the emperor. Those who were able to follow His Majesty when he was in Zhuo County now have high status.

Moreover, with this qualification, even when facing officials of higher rank than oneself, one has to treat them as equals, let alone show any respect.

Nowadays, it is more popular to compare fiefs. Whoever has more fiefs has a higher status in the eyes of Your Majesty and a closer relationship with Your Majesty.

After a few drinks, the emperor said to his long-time confidants: "You are all my loyal followers. You have followed me for at least ten years. You have made great contributions and have worked hard."

This didn't sound like anything at first, but it didn't seem right no matter how he listened to it, so he said in a sober tone, "We are only serving Your Majesty like dogs and horses, and we have no merits to praise."

Li Jiancheng shook his head and said, "I am not saying anything sarcastic. You are indeed my meritorious officials. You conquered Liaodong from Zhuojun, went north to the grassland to welcome me back to the Central Plains, defeated Wei Daoer at the foot of Jinyang City, and then conquered the world."

Many of the generals below puffed out their chests when they heard this. Among them were Han, Turks, and Goguryeo people, but regardless of their background, their loyalty was never a problem.

"I have always wanted to treat you well, share wealth and prosperity with you, but I have recently heard that you are proud of your seniority in the court, disrespect your superiors and humiliate your subordinates. Is this true?"

There was silence for a moment, but after looking at each other, many people took the initiative to stand up and said, "Your Majesty, we dare not deceive you. This is true."

"It is rare not to hide anything, this is loyalty. If you want to deceive even me, then I don't know what to do with this relationship between the monarch and his subjects."

After saying this, many people knelt down again. Li Jiancheng looked behind them and said, "Zhao Dashan, Zhang Erhe, Lu Ping... Why do you insist that I make things clear?"

"I...I dare not. I know my crime..."

The emperor did not say anything, but just glanced at Zhang Huli, the Duke of Ying. Zhang Huli did not say much, but stepped forward and untied his cowhide belt.

He walked up to the last few men, raised his sword high up, and swung it down on the heads and faces. With Zhang Huli's strength, each blow made the battle-hardened men scream in pain, and after a few hits they could not help but crawl on the ground.

By the time Zhang Huli was sweating all over, those men had already fainted, and the extremely tough, thick and wide leather belt had been broken and could no longer be used.

"Give the Duke of Ying a golden and jade belt."

"I thank you for your kindness."

The mistakes made by those people were not worth much, and they did not deserve any punishment, but they wanted to hide it from the emperor in order to get away with it, which was disloyalty. It was common for disloyal people to be sentenced to death, but Li Jiancheng still gave them a chance.

Afterwards, the banquet ended, and the officials and generals who had been beaten extremely badly were carried out by their colleagues and sent back to the mansion. The officials and people along the way were extremely surprised.

They all speculated that they were punished by His Majesty for their arrogance. Even they, who had been loyal followers of the Emperor, were in such a miserable state. The rest of the people naturally dared not be arrogant, at least not in public.

"You should restrain them more in the future."

"Your Majesty, don't worry."

"How is Luo Yi?"

"He entrusted me with escorting more than 40 large ships of gold, silver and precious treasures, as well as three ships of beauties, all of whom were noble ladies from Goguryeo and Baekje."

The amount was right. Li Jiancheng nodded with satisfaction. I can't possibly let you take most of my money and only give me a little, and then ask me to thank you.

"Your Majesty, the Protectorate still has too much power."

"I will set up thirty-six more governorates under the Protectorate, each in charge of a region, and I will order the King of Chu to go to Liaodong with his wife after the wedding."

"Your Majesty is holy."

"Shen Guang is in charge of the Imperial Guards now, so you will be in charge of the Imperial Guards and Cavalry in the palace."

"promise."

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

In Dali City, Tuli Khan was angrily whipping his subordinates: "You are not even as good as cattle and sheep, how dare you compare yourself to the eagle of the grassland? You said you wanted to integrate the troops for me and go south to avenge the humiliation, but in the end you forced another part of you to rebel!"

"Ah! Great Khan, Great Khan, spare my life, please give me another chance."

Tuli panted and threw away the whip in his hand, looking at the scholar in Confucian robes beside him: "What do you think we should do?"

Zhao Deyan shook his head and said, "This is because rewards and punishments are not strictly enforced regardless of status. Some people actually dared to disobey the Khan's Golden Arrow Order. Alas."

After listening to this, Tuli acted as if he had heard nothing and glared at him with dissatisfaction. If his mother had not always said that in order to make the country strong, it must rely on the people of the Central Plains, he would not have wanted to let such a thing enter the Khan's tent.

"I'm asking you what to do!"

Zhao Deyan was terrified, but he looked calm and even frowned slightly. He looked at Tuli Khan with a veiled reproachful look.

Tuli felt horrified, but due to the order of his mother Princess Yicheng, he could not punish the Han Chinese.

"Khan, what I said is the answer. The rewards and punishments are not strict regardless of the superior and the inferior. The system there should be changed. In my opinion, the people in our dynasty are disorganized and each one does his own thing. This is why the national strength is gradually falling behind that of the Central Plains.

You should not lose sight of the main point and worry about those trivial matters, but should reform the system as soon as possible, follow the example of the Central Plains to take over the military power of the various tribes, and let the leaders of the various tribes serve as officials in Dali City, so that no one will dare to disobey your orders. "

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

(End of this chapter)