Late Tang Dynasty: I

Chapter 362 The imperial court was victorious and marched into Khitan
The next day at the court meeting, Du Rang was able to play.

"Your Majesty, Duke Kong is a veteran minister of three dynasties and has made great contributions to the country. The late emperor visited the west. Regardless of his wife's critical illness, Duke Kong resolutely followed the late emperor to serve him. He was loyal to the Tang Dynasty. His moral character was noble. He wrote "Seven Treatises" to set forth his words and was extremely literary. Sheng, ministers and other officials have discussed it together. If you are not "Wen Zhen", you can't show it. Please give a special tribute to Your Majesty!"

Li Ye looked as usual and said calmly: "Do you all think so?"

Several people came up and said, "I second my opinion!"

"Your Majesty!" Yuge, the right minister of the Ministry of Rites, stepped forward and said: "Posthumous titles are given to important officials of the imperial court. Kong Wei has neither an official position nor a title. I think it is not in line with etiquette and he should not be given a posthumous title!"

Li Ye nodded, this is why the matter must be kept secret. If the emperor doesn't know about it, and they bring it up all at once, and no one helps, what should the emperor do if he really doesn't know?
You can't just refuse, let's just start a fight!

But since he knew what was going on, he was naturally prepared. Kong Wei, who had no official title or title, was a commoner, so what qualifications did he have to receive a posthumous title.

"Your Majesty, Duke Kong is unjust!"

Li Ye lowered his face and said, "What's wrong with this?"

"It is the duty of a minister to directly rebuke the king's faults. Not only did Duke Kong have no faults, he should have made great contributions!"

"Who else thinks he was wronged?"

About half of the civil servants stood up.

Li Ye said to Zhao Xi: "Bring the things up!"

"promise!"

After a while, a heavy box seven feet long, three feet high, and five feet wide was carried up.

Li Ye said to the ministers: "In the past, Cao Mengde fought with Yuan Shao. After the victory, he found hundreds of letters in Yuan Shao's house, all of which were letters between his subordinates and Yuan Shao. Mengde burned these letters with fire. From then on. Everyone is united!"

His Majesty the Emperor looked at them and found that most of their faces had changed.

"I wiped out all the towns and found a lot of letters from the back houses of Li Maozhen, Wang Jian, Qin Zongquan, Zhu Wen and other thieves!"

"Someone suggested that I find the people according to the names and handwriting on the letter and kill them all..."

The faces of the officials were pale, and some of them had their backs wet.

Li Ye said: "I didn't even read these letters. I put them all in this box and locked them. I wanted to burn them in front of you, but I decided to find these people one by one according to the names on the letters. Killed!"

Although Du Rangneng was magnanimous, he did not dare to stand up at this time. Looking at the posture, if he killed him, most of the people would be dead.

Others did not dare to speak, hoping that His Majesty the Emperor would be like Cao Mengde and burn it on fire.

Li Ye said: "When Li Maozhen invaded Chang'an, even I was in danger. I can also forgive you, but anyone who writes letters to make friends with the feudal town should write me a memorial to apologize. If you don't want to repent, I will definitely punish you!"

His Majesty the Emperor pinched their balls, and no one dared to show his teeth. Even those who were innocent did not dare to speak. As long as they spoke, they would be targeted by the public. Civil servants already shared weal and woe. If they undermine each other, they would only die faster.

"That's it for Kong Wei, what do you think?"

At this time, no one dared to insist, everyone was panicked, and the matter was dropped.

The emperor won a great victory. From then on, these people could not even raise their heads in front of Li Ye.

……

In fact, there was nothing in the box, and the Emperor's correspondence was not found.

This strategy was proposed by Liu Wei. According to his knowledge, when Pinglu King Jingwu was still alive, he had many contacts with the courtiers.You can use false and true strategies to deceive.

As long as the emperor has a letter in his hand, they don't know if there is a letter from them. If he goes to the table to plead guilty, he can be forgiven. If he doesn't go to the table, he will die and his reputation will be ruined.

Everyone knows how to choose.

After they apologized, they admitted that they were connected with each other, and His Majesty the Emperor also pinched their balls.

The next day, more than 130 confessions were received in a copper box outside the Yizheng Hall.

His Majesty the Emperor was very happy. He called all the officials to watch in the open space outside the Council Hall, and burned the box with a fire. But by this time, the lock on the box had been opened, and the letters turned into ashes in the fire.

While the ministers felt at ease, they also had doubts. Has His Majesty the Emperor seen this?Why is the lock open?
"Ignore the past, from now on you must serve your government with your heart, and I will not forgive you in vain!"

"I am willing to serve your majesty and serve the Tang Dynasty till my death."

The court was uneasy and Li Ye could not focus on foreign affairs.

In March of the tenth year of the Great Reign, Li Ye received news from the Mobei grassland.

Yelu Huashi of the Diesi tribe killed his uncle Yelu Shelu, while Yelu Abaoji was behind. After Yelu Huashi got the trick, Yelu Abaoji led his troops to kill all Yelu Huashi and his followers, and merged them. of tribesmen.

Yelu Abaoji's move was too dazzling. He asked his subordinates to defect to Yelu Huashi. After Yelu Huashi succeeded, they immediately turned against him.

Yelu Huashi killed the leader, but he did not get much support in the first place. After killing Yelu Huashi, he won the hearts of the tribe. Yelu Abaoji immediately rose from the tribe's No. [-] figure to the tribe's No. [-] figure, quickly stabilizing the Duici tribe. situation.

No wonder such scheming people were able to unify the eight Khitan tribes and achieve the century-old foundation of the Liao Dynasty.

"What's the reaction of Yaonanbu and Daoshiwei?"

"Your Majesty, this is an internal matter within the Duici Department, and they didn't say anything!"

Li Ye paced back and forth, no, Yelu Abaoji has come to power, this matter cannot be delayed any longer. If he is allowed to unify the eight Khitan tribes, things will be difficult.

"I want to drive the conquest!"

"Your Majesty, the Emperor is affiliated with the Tang Dynasty, so how can he be put in danger? The Duici tribe is just a small tribe outside the vassal vassal, with only 5 men and horses. There is no need for Your Majesty to go there in person! Just send a general with [-] men and [-] men, and summon all the tribes With help, we will definitely be able to defeat this colleague!"

Li Ye shook his head, this time he was not just trying to pacify Yelu Abaoji.

His Majesty the Emperor is going to gather all the grassland tribes in Mobei.

For such a major event as the Emperor's expedition, His Majesty still has to discuss it with the governors in the Political Hall.

As Li Ye expected, Du Renneng and Shi Pu all thought that it was completely unnecessary to go to war against a grassland tribe, let alone the emperor's own conquest.

Li Ye said: "The eight Khitan tribes have 30 people who control strings. If someone unifies the eight Khitan tribes, do you still think it is unnecessary?"

"This... Your Majesty, is the Khitan so powerful? Do you want to find out more?"

"The caravans of the Weaving Bureau are all over the desert. The scouts of the Yushan Guards have all seen it. The Khitan has 300 million people. If they say they control 30 strings, I'd better say it to a young man!"

Shi Pu said: "Your Majesty, if this is the case, I think we should attack Yelu Abaoji!"

In this expedition to Mobei, Li Ye planned to lead the left and right Wuxiang troops, the left and right Longxiang troops, the left and right Jinwu guards, and Yang Shihou's Youxuanjia army, totaling [-] fine cavalry.

(End of this chapter)