Chapter 48: The Crown Prince is Growing Wings (Part 1)

If the people of Chang'an bid farewell to the first year of Wude with a sense of lingering anxiety, the arrival of the second year of Wude was one well worth looking forward to for the common folk. The Li Tang dynasty's hold on the Guanzhong region grew increasingly secure. Li Mi, whose fame shook the realm, had submitted and surrendered, and even Du Fuwei, whose might struck awe throughout the Jianghuai region, had surrendered to the Great Tang. The Great Tang enjoyed the aspirations of the people, and the unification of the realm was within arm's reach.

Li Yuan was exceedingly pleased as well. One year after the founding of the Great Tang, its territory had expanded by a third, adding nineteen prefectures and one hundred and fourteen counties. Now, the allegiance of Li Mi and Du Fuwei greatly alleviated the dynasty's acute shortage of military forces. These were merely the surface phenomena visible to the common people; the mottled bloodstains buried beneath that glorious facade were by no means something ordinary peasants could fathom.

Liu Wuzhou launched a fierce assault on Jinyang. Had Li Xiuning not arrived in time, leading the Women's Army to beat back Liu Wuzhou, that cradle of the imperial house would likely have been lost. However, Liu Wuzhou had now joined forces with Song Jingang to invade Youzhou, prompting Youzhou General Luo Yi to appeal to Chang'an for reinforcements. To Li Yuan, although Youzhou was merely an enclave, for the long-term benefit of the state and the dynasty, it could not be left unsaved.

As for how to rescue Youzhou, Li Yuan and the senior officials of the central court had yet to reach a resolution. At this time, what worried the court officials the most was the situation in Lingzhou. Once Lingzhou was breached, the Tujue forces would march straight south along the Fengxiang road and thrust into the Guanzhong region. Comparatively speaking, Lingzhou was the most critical priority of all.

Nevertheless, when the Shangyuan Festival (also known as the Lantern Festival) arrived, Li Yuan still decided to celebrate it on a grand scale, lifting the curfew so that the sovereign and the people could revel together. Yet, Crown Prince Li Jiancheng unexpectedly absented himself from the festival celebrations.

Li Jiancheng's mood was abysmal. This was because the Tujue Mohe Yedu had arrived in Chang'an to convey the fury of the Shibi Khagan to Li Yuan.

Emotionally speaking, Li Jiancheng was equally dissatisfied with the arrogance and tyranny of the Tujue. Had the Tujue not meddled behind the scenes, Xue Ju of Western Qin, King Li Gui of Yongle, Prince Liang Shidu of Liang, Prince Liu Wuzhou of Yuanxing, and Song Jingang of Yizhou would never have dared to make an enemy of the Great Tang. Now, although Xue Ju had been exterminated, Li Gui still held sway over Wuwei and dominated his locality; Liang Shidu was raiding and plundering Lingzhou, while Liu Wuzhou directly dispatched troops to attack Jinyang, the cradle of the Great Tang.

And now, to top it all off, the Tujue were turning things upside down, playing the victim first, and demanding to know why the Great Tang had acted in bad faith and presumptuously attacked the city of Bogulü.

"Calling a deer a horse, turning black into white, speaking sheer nonsense, utterly despicable and shameless!" Li Jiancheng desperately wanted to curse aloud, but the education he had received since childhood had inured him to keeping his emotions hidden behind a calm and cultured facade.

Inside the Eastern Palace, modeled after the Ganlu Hall and the Tangquan Palace, a massive pool had been constructed. Li Jiancheng, completely naked, submerged his entire body in the water, letting the warm liquid envelop him. The water insulated him from the outside noise, making him feel as though he were back in the womb. He curled his body into a ball, letting himself float and sink in the pool until his lungs felt ready to burst, only then poking his head above the surface to draw in massive breaths of air, as if experiencing a rebirth. He repeated this sensation of lingering near death over and over again, never tiring of it.

Tang Lin, the Investigating Censor, reported confidentially to Li Jiancheng: "Pei Ji, the Duke of Wei and Minister of the Right, has secretly signaled to the Censorate that he intends to impeach Chen Ying, the Baron of Xiuwu, General of Loyal Martial, and Right Guard Commander of the Eastern Palace, on the charge of presumptuously provoking border hostilities!"

The Investigating Censor was the deputy head of the Censorate, equivalent to the assistant to the Chief Censor. Tang Lin was not the sole voice of authority within the Censorate. One could easily imagine that after the Shangyuan Festival, when the offices officially reopened and the first grand court assembly of the second year of Wude was held, Chen Ying would be impeached by the gathered censors until he was riddled with holes like a sieve...

Whenever he thought of Chen Ying being subjected to prosecution on fabricated charges, a towering fury would swell within Li Jiancheng's chest.

"Ah..."

At that moment, a graceful woman attired in court robes walked in. Crown Princess Zheng Guanyin asked with a heart full of anguish, "Your Highness, what are you..."

"I am unreconciled!"

With that, Li Jiancheng recounted how the Tujue emissary had questioned Li Yuan on behalf of the Shibi Khagan, as well as Pei Ji's covert move to impeach Chen Ying.

Zheng Guanyin asked, "Does Your Highness not wish for General Chen to be put on trial?"

"Precisely!" Out of respect for Zheng Guanyin, Li Jiancheng patiently explained, "General Chen fought through bloody battles, rendering great merit without fault. If he is put on trial, it will surely chill the hearts of all men under heaven!"

Zheng Guanyin nodded, smiled faintly, and said, "To ensure General Chen is not put on trial is actually not difficult."

Thinking that Zheng Guanyin had only seen the surface of the problem, Li Jiancheng explained to her, "What Pei Ji is conveying actually means..."

Li Jiancheng pointed upward at the ceiling.

Li Jiancheng understood Li Yuan thoroughly. At the present juncture, the Great Tang lacked the capital to fight a total war to the death with the Tujue. And Chen Ying would likely be treated by Li Yuan as a discarded pawn to appease the anger of the Tujue.

"How many ministers in the court maintain overly close associations with the Crown Prince?" Zheng Guanyin looked at Li Jiancheng and asked.

Li Jiancheng replied, "A gentleman associates with others in harmony rather than forming a clique, but as for those who are well-disposed toward me, there are quite a few!"

As the saying goes, those involved are blinded by the situation, while onlookers see clearly. Zheng Guanyin instantly pinpointed the crux of the problem. To put it politely, Li Yuan was pretentious; to put it bluntly, he wanted to play the whore while setting up a monument to chastity. Li Yuan wanted Chen Ying's life to placate the fury of the Tujue, but he was unwilling to bear the infamous reputation of arbitrarily executing a meritorious minister. Therefore, he would only attack Chen Ying's personal morality. Chen Ying had no parents above him, so the crime of unfilial piety could not be pinned on him. Regardless of what charges were fabricated, Chen Ying's offenses would not warrant death, but the censors would still manage to fling dirty water onto him.

Mud thrown in that manner could never truly kill a man no matter how it was applied. Zheng Guanyin said, "If the censors impeach General Chen for flaws in his personal morality, then how many ministers in the court would escape impeachment?"

Li Jiancheng instantly grasped Zheng Guanyin's meaning. In truth, if Li Yuan wanted to deal with Chen Ying, he could only start from the angle of personal morality. After all, Li Yuan cherished his reputation and would never shoulder the infamy of arbitrarily slaying loyal and capable generals simply to pander to the Tujue.

If they only impeached Chen Ying's personal morality, then the other ministers could likewise be impeached. When the time came to prosecute, they would have to prosecute everyone, and they could not target Chen Ying alone.

Having found a solution, Li Jiancheng's spirits were greatly lifted. He spared no effort to please Zheng Guanyin, leaving her gasping for breath.

Feeling thoroughly satisfied, Li Jiancheng summoned his trusted aide, Wei Ting, and instructed him to coordinate the various ministers behind the scenes.

The first court assembly of the second year of Wude proceeded as scheduled. However, the very first item on the agenda was the proposal regarding spring plowing. China took agriculture as its foundation, and regardless of actual performance, this superficial display had to be executed brilliantly.

The ministers engaged in a fierce debate on how to encourage farming, reclaim wasteland, and develop agriculture.

After about an hour, the first agenda item finally concluded amidst bickering and wrangling.

Next came the Prince of Qin's proposal to attack Wang Shichong and recover the Central Plains. Consequently, the ministers crossed swords with their tongues, neither side able to convince the other, forcing them to shelve the controversial issue.

Then came the third, fourth, and fifth agenda items.

The sixth agenda item commenced. Zhang Guofeng, an imperial censor of the lower seventh rank (not a clerical error, but one of the subordinate officials of the Censorate), bowed and stepped out of the ranks, declaring: "I, Zhang Guofeng, impeach Chen Ying, the General of Loyal Martial, Right Guard Commander, and Baron of Xiuwu, on seven major crimes: deceiving superiors and concealing from subordinates, illicitly trading military equipment, slaughtering innocents and harboring rebels, and falsely reporting military achievements!"

Just as Zhang Guofeng's voice faded, Investigating Censor Li Shi'ao stepped forward and said: "I, Investigating Censor Li Shi'ao, impeach Pei Ji, the Duke of Wei and Minister of the Right, on twelve major crimes: indulging retainers to wreak havoc, treating human lives like grass, forming factions for private gain, appointing people through nepotism, and selling official posts and noble titles..."

Hearing this, Pei Ji's mustache involuntarily twitched.

Impeaching a veritable prime minister of the state was no small matter, but this was precisely the job of the Censorate.

Li Yuan gradually felt that something was amiss.

This wasn't right; the script didn't go this way. Li Yuan cast a sideways glance at Pei Ji, but Pei Ji could only pretend not to notice, as events had utterly exceeded the expectations of a prime minister.

Filled with surging anger, Li Yuan abruptly brought the first court assembly of the second year of Wude to a close. Returning to the imperial study, Li Yuan kicked a low table in fury, only to end up wincing in pain as he clutched his own throbbing foot.

This turn of events was completely unexpected. Li Yuan easily guessed that Li Jiancheng was stirring up trouble behind the scenes. Before Li Yuan could even dispatch someone to summon Pei Ji for an audience, Pei Ji had already leisurely strolled into the imperial study.

Seeing his good friend and close ally Pei Ji arrive, Li Yuan sighed and said, "The Crown Prince's wings have grown stiff!"

Li Yuan was extremely furious; he detested this sensation of things slipping out of his control, even if the person responsible was his own biological son.

Pei Ji replied, "Your Majesty, for a single branch to stand out alone is not a blessing for the state!"