Chapter 73 New Rich
How could Yang Su not need him to worry about it, because he had his own headache about his father Li Yuan's affairs. Just a few days ago, the emperor demoted Li Yuan to the position of city gate captain because of Li Yuan's drunken behavior.

That’s right, Duke Tang suddenly became the one guarding the city gate. This achievement of following the dragon was equivalent to not following the dragon at all, all because of those horses.

But fortunately, His Majesty is not that kind of person. After just a few days, Li Yuan was demoted to the fifth rank of Fengche Duwei. The reason was that there was no reason. This was the emperor's will.

Only then did Li Yuan realize his own identity and the other party's indifference. He hurriedly presented the horse sent by Qimin Khan. Then he was gloriously demoted to the position of Right Guard Captain, becoming a laughing stock in the capital.

Li Jiancheng thought about it and went to look for Zhang Wansui, who was currently the magistrate of Hualiu, an eighth-rank official, which was not too high. But for Zhang Wansui, who was born a horse thief, it was a great honor for him to have survived to this day.

Therefore, he spared no effort and, relying on his previous connections, found a horse from the Western Pole for Li Jiancheng. As the saying goes, the celestial horse comes from the Western Pole and travels thousands of miles to return to the virtuous. This was the divine horse Pegasus that Emperor Wu of Han had been dreaming of.

"My dear, I have seen countless horses in my life, but I have only seen a few of these top-quality horses in the Western Regions. I only found them by chance this time. Please take a look."

Li Jiancheng's eyes fell on the horse. It had a medium-sized head, a delicate appearance, short ears, a slender neck, a high back, a narrow chest, and hind legs that looked like swords. It looked extremely majestic.

The common Turkic horses today are mostly sturdy in build, with rough fur, heavy heads and broad foreheads, broad shoulders and chests, thick limbs and strong hooves.

In terms of long-distance running, the latter is naturally stronger, but in terms of leaping and galloping in the formation, the former must be stronger, and in terms of appearance, the former is also stronger.

"I won't be polite with you. You can go to the mansion to withdraw the money yourself."

Zhang Wansui bowed and said, "I am where I am today because of your support, so please don't be too harsh."

Li Jiancheng brought the horse back and asked Li Yuan to present it to the emperor. The emperor was obviously very pleased with it. Although he was not reinstated, fortunately that was the end of his troubles.

However, the glory of the Li family in the previous few years was suddenly shattered, and the news that Li Jiancheng had fallen out of favor with the emperor spread throughout the court and the country.

It’s not to say that all the guests and friends have dispersed, but the hustle and bustle and the momentum of one call and a hundred responses are indeed gone. In comparison, Yu Wenzhi’s surroundings have become lively.

There are now several veteran ministers in the court who are in charge of all affairs, including the Right Prime Minister Su Wei, the Left Wing Guard General Yuwen Shu, the Left Guard General Zhang Jin and the Minister of Personnel Niu Hong.

Of course, there were also many new nobles. The most favored by His Majesty were the Minister of Internal Affairs Yu Shiji, the Grand Censor Pei Yun, and the Minister of the Imperial Household Pei Ju.

A new emperor has new ministers, and the monarch can be seen from his ministers.

Since the time of the previous emperor, whenever Su Wei encountered a problem and disagreed with the emperor, his solution was to take off his hat and kowtow, regardless of right or wrong, and apologize. This is even more so now.

Yuwen Shu's situation was even simpler. He followed the emperor's advice and said yes and no. He had absolutely no opinions of his own in front of the emperor.

This is a great virtue in our dynasty, so it is not surprising that his family was able to marry a princess.

Zhang Jin and Niu Hong were both sickly and old, and they just held positions for the emperor and were usually submissive.

Yu Shiji relied on his own abilities. His abilities were divided into two aspects. On the one hand, he was knowledgeable and talented, good at cursive and official scripts, and had the ability to remember everything he heard and photographed. On the other hand, he was able to humble himself and flatter the monarch.

Pei Ju and Pei Yun are both descendants of the Hedong Pei family. Pei Ju relies on his ability to get along well with the emperor, while Pei Yun relies on his great achievements in destroying the Chen Dynasty in the past. Of course, he is also good at following the Majesty's thoughts, but he is slightly inferior to Pei Ju.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that these people, especially these three new nobles, would be the pillars of the future imperial court. However, no one could imagine that any of them could be compared with the Duke of Qi Gao Zuo and the Duke of Yue Yang Su during the time of the previous emperor.

Especially since neither Gao Zuo nor Yang Su had died yet, the emperor wanted to abandon them, which caused a lot of discussion in the world. ………

Li Jiancheng was playing chess with Wang Long, and he told him about the recent changes in the court. Wang Long placed a black piece and said, "Last year, except for Duke Xiao Cong of Ju, the other important officials in the court were either relatives of Guanlong or royal family members."

"It was because of this that we decided to persuade the King of Han to rebel, because there was really no sign of success."

Li Jiancheng, holding the white chess piece, trapped the black dragon and said, "I never thought that in just one year, Your Majesty would be so determined to suppress Guanlong and promote the nobles of Shandong and Jiangnan."

"My brother, you must be regretting this. If you hadn't rebelled, you might have had a chance to become an important official in the court."

"I don't regret it." Wang Long smiled and said, "I just wanted fame and fortune. If the King of Han succeeded, I would be a minister of the state now. Since I failed, I should admit defeat.

What's more, I am still alive and can play chess with you. Compared with those colleagues, I am much luckier."

"Brother Wang is open-minded."

Wang Xiong twisted the chess pieces and said, "Among these people now, Su Wei and Yuwen Shu represent Guanlong, Pei Ju was born in Qi State and can represent Shandong gentry, Pei Yun and Yu Shiji were born in Chen State and can represent Jiangnan gentry.

Your Majesty is also planning to build the Eastern Capital, which is good for the world, but not necessarily for you, my dear."

Li Jiancheng replied with a hint of meaning: "If it is really beneficial to the world but harmful to my family, I will not hesitate to do it."

Wang Long nodded: "My lord, you have a broad mind. Although the current emperor is not willing to accept advice and is somewhat unfeeling, he has a far-sighted vision, which is better than the late emperor."

"The Great Sui unified the country, and all the people in the east, west, south and north were its own country. If it wanted long-term peace and stability, it could not only focus on people from one side, but also move the capital to the center and promote talents from all sides. This would be worthy of the reign title of Daye.

While Wang Hu was being enthusiastic, Li Jiancheng silently made a move to kill Wang Hu's dragon, then silently broke up the chess game, stood up and said with a smile: "Then we will wait and see."

.........

After the court prepared the money and grain for the construction of the Eastern Capital, the emperor ordered the Minister of the Chancellery Yang Su, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel Yang Da, and the Chief Architect Yuwen Kai to oversee the construction of Tokyo Luoyang.

He also asked the three of them to recite the "Edict on Building the Eastern Capital" issued by the emperor last year: "The changes of the Dao of Qian are the result of the changes of Yin and Yang... Therefore, we know that it is not that the world serves one person, but that one person rules the world.

The people are the foundation of the country. If the foundation is solid and the country is peaceful, and the people are well-fed, who will be lacking? In the construction now, we must be frugal, and do not let the carved walls and lofty buildings be built again in our time. We want to make the humble palaces and poor food a legacy for future generations. The officials should make clear the rules and regulations, and express my intention! "

The core meaning is that the most important thing for a country is its people. The people are the foundation of a country. Only when the foundation is solid can the country be peaceful. If the people are prosperous, the world will be prosperous as well.

Therefore, when building the Eastern Capital, the common people must not be harmed. The Eastern Capital does not need carved walls or lofty buildings, but only humble palaces and simple food. Only in this way can the frugal culture be passed on to future generations.

However, according to the emperor's order to complete the project within one year, the court estimated that it would need to conscript 2 million young and strong men every month. These 2 million people would not only not farm to support their families, but would also have to work every day to build the capital. It was really unclear how this could be achieved without harming the people.

.........

(End of this chapter)