Chapter 70 Promotion
While they were talking, Li Xiuning rushed in and insisted on asking Li Jiancheng to tell the story again from the beginning. Li Jiancheng was naturally more tolerant towards his sister, so he repeated what he had said before.

But Ah Ju and Da De were listening with great interest, and were a little unhappy when they were interrupted by Li Xiu Ning. However, facing their sister's iron fist, they could only pout and bear it, otherwise she would really beat them up.

After he finished speaking, the two younger ones were amazed at Yang Su's prestige, while Li Yuan and Dou secretly observed Yang Su's situation and knew that there would soon be another disturbance in the court.

Li Yuan asked, "What are we going to do with the wealth we just brought in?"

Dou frowned and said, "Our family is not like the Yang family. We should still hand it over. And you, don't just talk about Jiancheng. You should also present those horses to His Majesty."

Dou was anxious and started to cough. Li Xiuning stepped forward and rubbed her back: "Don't be anxious, mother. Talk slowly."

Only then did Li Jiancheng know that his father had gotten along very well with the Turkic Khan Qimin during his trip to the north. When leaving, the Khan was so moved by his loyalty that he gave Li Yuan several horses that had been presented to him by various tribes.

Qimin Khan was the newly ascended Great Khan of the Eastern Turks. This was the first tribute from his tribes, so naturally he was extremely attentive. Those horses were one in a million on the grassland.

Since he came back, Dou had urged him to present them to the emperor, but Li Yuan loved his divine horses and precious bows the most in his life. He personally fed and brushed those horses every day, and he felt sorry for riding them himself, let alone giving them to others, so he had been dragging it on until now.

Li Jiancheng nodded and said, "The Queen's birthday will be in a few days. I will take this opportunity to present most of my gains to her."

Li Yuan could only express his opinion: "I will only keep one horse, and the rest will be presented to Your Majesty."

Li Jiancheng shook his head and said, "Then your majesty will definitely think that you are keeping the best for yourself. The consequences will be more serious than not offering it. It is better to offer it all."

Seeing Li Yuan's hesitation, Dou became angry and stopped looking at him. She was usually a very generous person, but how could she forget the taboo at the critical moment?

Li Jiancheng did not try to persuade him when he saw this. If he did not give the emperor a severe warning, how could he see his true face and learn to be cautious and live in this dynasty?

It is not difficult to guess what Li Yuan was thinking. After all, he felt that he was a loyal minister and was related to the emperor. The emperor ruled the world and would not care about such a small matter.

He will soon learn that just because an emperor rules the world does not mean he is generous.

Fortunately, Li Jiancheng now also wants to suppress the momentum of the Li family. It is too early to start now, so it is better to stabilize it.

The next day, Li Jiancheng first went to the Duke of Ju's Mansion. It was different from before. The front of the mansion was extremely lively. As members of His Majesty's wife's family, the direct descendants of Lanling Xiao family were now entrusted with important tasks and were in a very glorious position.

But since he was the future son-in-law after all, Li Jiancheng entered smoothly and met Xiao Cong directly without having to wait. After the greetings, he sat down, drank two bowls of tea and talked about the suppression of the rebellion.

Finally, he explained that some of the wealth was not easy to show in public, so he asked the Xiao family to present it on the Queen's birthday on his behalf. Xiao Cong naturally had no reason not to help with this small favor. After thanking him, Li Jiancheng left the gift list and said goodbye.

After leaving the Xiao Mansion, he went to visit old friends and relatives, such as his new brother-in-law, the husband of Changle Feng, who was the illegitimate son of Pingyuan County Duke Feng Hun, named Feng Shao Shi.

He was a gentle and elegant man, and Li Yuan fell in love with him as his son-in-law at first sight at the banquet.

.........

"The King of Han rebelled, which is an unforgivable crime. He should be executed as a warning to the people of the world." "Your Majesty obeys the will of Heaven and serves the people, and is the master of the country. The 300,000 rebels were so powerful, but they were pacified by your Majesty."

"The King of Han should be sentenced to death!"

At the court meeting, all the ministers demanded that the King of Han be sentenced to death, and they all felt that this was what Your Majesty wanted to see.

But unexpectedly, the emperor said: "I have few brothers, and I cannot bear to express my feelings. I want to be forgiven and die by law."

The court was silent for a moment. Why did it sound so strange when these words came out of your mouth?

Moreover, the King of Han did not have to be sentenced to death for rebellion, so wouldn’t it be too unfair for the deposed Crown Prince and the emperor’s grandchildren to be wronged?

Then in the matter of the King of Han, wasn't it even more unfair for righteous men like Dou Lu Yu who refused to join the enemy and were killed?

But the emperor had made up his mind, and he only issued an edict to abolish Yang Liang's title, demote him to a commoner, and imprison him in Chang'an City.

The emperor did not execute the main culprit, which caused a lot of discussion among the court officials. However, later the emperor actually issued an edict to hold accountable the officials and soldiers from the 19 states who followed the King of Han in rebellion.

The ministers all tried to dissuade him, saying that the emperor had just ascended the throne and had not yet had time to grant amnesty to the people and show his grace to the world, and it was definitely not a good thing for him to start a large-scale purge first.

This finally angered Yang Guang, and he threatened the civil and military officials, "I don't like people to advise me. If someone is in a high position and makes a request, I will be even more intolerant. As for humble people, I will give them some leniency, but I will never let them take office. You all know this!"

I hate people giving me advice the most. If you are already in a high position and still want to gain fame by giving me advice, I will never tolerate it. If you are in a low position, I can tolerate it a little twice, but I will never let you live for long.

These words successfully frightened the court officials, and no one dared to say another word. Yang Guang watched everything happily, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised. He did not need anyone to remind him, because he himself was the smartest man in the world.

Therefore, Yang Guang looked at Yang Su in the front with some dissatisfaction, because he found that many people were looking at Yang Su's back, seemingly hoping that Yang Su could persuade him as prime minister.

How could an emperor be restricted by his subjects? What Yang Guang hated most was people like Gao Zuo. When he was still a prince, he wondered why his father could tolerate such a subject.

Later he understood that because his father was not good at governing, he had to rely on Gao Zuo, but he did not use him. Anyone who wants to share my power should be killed!
After the court was dismissed, the emperor's will was implemented. Later, the Ministry of Justice checked and found that more than 200,000 families of officials from 19 states, including the ministers, servants, and relatives of the King of Han, were sentenced to death or exiled...

Under such circumstances, rewarding merits and bestowing honors lost its original lively atmosphere. Of course, the lower-level soldiers were not affected. They were still grateful for Your Majesty's grace because all the vacant positions in the army were filled by them.

Yang Su himself had no chance of receiving any reward, and the same went for his older sons. Now the emperor could only confer the titles of Yitong Sansi on his sons Wanshi and Renxing, and his nephew Xuanting, and gave them 50,000 pieces of fabric, 1,000 pieces of silk, and 20 prostitutes and concubines to Yang Liang.

Li Jiancheng was promoted to the position of Prince's Clan Guard and given the title of General of the Imperial Court, Li Jing was promoted to the position of Chang'an Order and given the title of General of the Imperial Court, and Shen Guang was promoted to the position of General of the Palace for his merit in being the first to ascend the mountain.

The Prince's Guard was a fourth-rank official, so even if he was transferred horizontally, he could be the governor of a state. Although it was only a lower-level state with four or five counties under its jurisdiction, this was the position that Li Jiancheng hoped to achieve when he brought the letter to the palace to pay a visit to Dugu Qieluo.

…………

(End of this chapter)