Chapter 345: Will Li Shimin’s later years be unknown?

Li Ke rode almost non-stop, traveling day and night to rush back to Chang’an, his face full of fatigue and busyness.

He didn’t care about anything else and rushed straight to Duke Song’s mansion.

“Your Highness.”

Xiao Yu’s eldest son, Xiao Rui, had been waiting at the door. When he saw Li Ke arrive, he hurried to greet him.

Li Ke didn’t say much and let him lead the way.

Although I have been to the Duke of Song’s Mansion so many times, I can say that I am familiar with the place, just like going home.

This time, he left with an especially heavy heart.

When he got the news, he was on his way back to Tubo from India. Immediately, without any rest, he rushed to Chang’an.

All the way he kept talking about being able to see his great uncle for the last time.

“Uncle!”

As soon as Li Ke arrived in front of the couch, he saw Xiao Yu leaning against a soft pillow, eating porridge in small mouthfuls while being served.

But Xiao Yu was now extremely skinny. Li Ke reached out and grabbed his uncle’s hand, but it was just skin and bones, without any flesh.

“Saburo!”

Xiao Yu smiled and said with some difficulty: “You are finally back.”

“Uncle, I’m back, I’m back.”

Li Ke said with tears in his eyes: “Seeing that Uncle Gong is fine, Sanlang is relieved.”

How could he not see that this was Xiao Yu’s last glimmer of hope?

When a person reaches this stage, with only skin and bones left, a normal person would be in danger. But for an old man who is nearly 80 years old, there is only one explanation for such a situation.

“Da Lang stays, everyone else goes out.”

Xiao Yu said.

“Yes!”

Only Xiao Yu, Xiao Rui and Li Ke were left in the room.

“Saburo.”

Xiao Yu pulled Li Ke and said softly, “Uncle is leaving.”

“When my sister left, I felt disheartened and had no interest in life.”

“It was the prince who restored my confidence and gave me the idea to continue living.”

Li Ke cried, “Uncle, you are in good health. Shou Xinghou is here. Please take good care of yourself…”

“Aye!” Xiao Rui also knelt beside the couch, looking at him with grief.

Xiao Yu smiled and said, “Silly child, birth, aging, sickness and death are the normal course of human nature.”

“I know what my body looks like.”

“I’m going to go see Aye and call Ajie and the others.”

Such words deeply hurt the hearts of the two children.

“Sanlang, you must remember this.” Xiao Yu said, “In the future, you must firmly follow the arrangements of the Crown Prince.”

“The prince will not harm you.”

“He said that he conferred you the title of Emperor Tianzhu because he cared about you and didn’t want you to be caught up in the vortex of struggle in Chang’an.”

“The prince almost saved the entire royal family.”

He took Xiao Rui’s hand, put it together with Li Ke’s, and said, “You have to take care of each other.”

“Da Lang is in Chang’an, and there are many open and covert attacks.”

“Da Lang, I can’t protect you from the wind and rain. After I leave, you should interact more with Lu Dunxin and discuss things with him.”

“The Shandong family will not let this go.”

“I’m worried about you…”

“No…….”

“Aye, sister, I…”

As Xiao Yu spoke, his voice gradually became fainter and then disappeared, as if he had fallen into a deep sleep.

“Aye!”

“Uncle!”

The two cried out in grief.

Clang.

When the people outside the house heard the noise, they understood what had happened. They rushed into the house, saw Xiao Yu, who was no longer breathing, and fell to their knees.

“Aye!”

“Aweng!”

September 652th, the th year of Zhenguan ( AD).

The former Prince’s Grand Tutor, Deputy Prime Minister of the Secretariat, and Duke of Song Xiao Yu died of illness at home at the age of 78.

The court and the people were in grief, and the Holy Emperor was heartbroken.

……

According to custom, Xiao Yu was treated with a state funeral, and officials were responsible for arranging it.

Li Shimin issued an edict to posthumously award Xiao Yu the title of Sikong and Governor of Jingzhou.

The posthumous title was “Zhenjian”.

This was the posthumous title that Li Shimin was going to bestow.

The relationship between Xiao Yu and Li Shimin as monarch and subject cannot be explained in a few words.

Xiao Yu started from the Sui Dynasty and served through the three dynasties of Emperor Yang of Sui, Li Yuan, and Li Shimin.

His character has always been criticized. He often disobeyed Li Shimin and had disputes with his fellow ministers.

If it weren’t for Li Chengqian, given Xiao Yu’s character flaws, he would have been driven away from the center of power long ago.

Zhen means approval of his political performance, while Bi means dissatisfaction with his character.

Li Chengqian was opposed to this posthumous title.

He found Li Shimin and said, “Your Majesty, the achievements of the Duke of Song cannot be judged by his character based on his personal emotions.”

“Back then, Xiao Yu led the Jiangnan gentry and made the Shandong noble families no longer dare to be arrogant.”

“The subsequent series of events all started from this.”

“If we use the word ‘narrow’, we are exaggerating his character problems while ignoring the contributions he has made.”

“This shouldn’t happen.”

He paused and said, “Your Majesty, the posthumous title is for the achievements of the minister during his lifetime and is the final judgment after his death.”

“Such a posthumous title is unfair to Duke Song’s life and will also attract criticism.”

Li Shimin’s problem sometimes was that he was too subjective and emotional.

This kind of posthumous title is more suitable for someone who has committed serious crimes.

But to you, Xiao Yu was once a prince, the uncle of Emperor Yang of Sui, and your nominal uncle.

This is not to say that Xiao Yu is narrow-minded, but to say it about himself. Besides, if you do this, how can other ministers feel at ease?

Who doesn’t want to have a beautiful posthumous title after death?

“You’re right. I shouldn’t do this.”

Li Shimin sighed and said, “Fortunately you persuaded me in time. If it had really been decided, it would have been a bad thing.”

He thought of something and said, “If Wei Zheng were here, he would definitely advise me.”

“Prince, let the ministers discuss this matter.”

“I’m not participating.”

He looked a little lonely and missed the time when Wei Zheng was around.

Li Chengqian shook his head. You disliked Wei Zheng when he was around, but you missed him a lot when he was not around.

You really have a masochistic physique, right?

However, Li Shimin was right in one thing.

As soon as Wei Zheng’s words and the posthumous title of “Zhenbian” came out of Li Shimin’s mouth, they were immediately bombarded by the late big haters.

Is it the vision and mind that an emperor should have to bestow such a posthumous title on a meritorious official and a duke with a complicated identity?

Li Chengqian found Changsun Wuji and others and asked them to discuss the posthumous title for Xiao Yu.

Finally it was finalized.

Posthumous title: “Su”.

This posthumous title is correct.

Sure enough, the ministers did not hesitate to praise their deceased colleagues, just so that they themselves could be given a good posthumous title one day in the future.

Everyone has a day when they will die. If you treat others badly, someone may treat you badly in the future.

After Xiao Yu’s posthumous title was decided, the two palaces no longer had to worry about his affairs after his death. They just had to wait for his burial.

The court is operating as usual and will not come to a standstill if anyone is missing.

Xu Jingzong met the emperor in the Eastern Palace and reported on the population and land investigation.

“Your Highness, the main part of the land inventory in Shandong has been completed.”

“There are still a few parts that are being finalized.”

Xu Jingzong said: “If you don’t check it clearly, you won’t know. Once you check it clearly, it’s really unbelievable.”

“The number of fields owned by the Shandong noble families is staggering.”

“There are also hundreds of thousands of unregistered people hidden away.”

“These evaded taxes are a huge loss to the court.”

The Taxation Department’s investigation in Shandong has progressed much faster since the Qizhou case.

Of course, there were some minor incidents and obstacles, but the Ministry of Taxation did not need to intervene, as the local tax commissioner could solve all the difficulties.

The Ministry of Taxation is now gaining momentum and has a great deterrent effect throughout the world.

For some families that are reluctant to cooperate, the government doesn’t even need to do anything; the tax commissioner can just send out tax collectors to scare them out.

“That’s why the Department of Taxation exists.”

“You have to consider the court’s tax revenue. Tax revenue is your first priority.”

Li Chengqian said: “If you don’t investigate, these will remain hidden under the surface forever, and the court will suffer losses, and it will also hinder the court’s development.”

“You did a great job.”

“However, do not be proud or eager for quick success.”

“After Shandong’s problems, other places won’t be difficult either.”

Xu Jingzong said solemnly: “I will follow the instructions of the prince!”

“Do your job well, the court will not forget your contribution.”

“Yes!”

After Xu Jingzong reported to the Eastern Palace, he also had to report to the emperor in the Taiji Palace.

After hearing this, Li Shimin felt a surge of anger.

“Xu Jingzong, you did a great job.”

“The progress of the finalization of the inventory must be accelerated and completed as quickly as possible so that the tax collection based on the amount of land can be implemented.”

Xu Jingzong’s heart sank. He was not in a hurry, and the prince was not in a hurry either.

Your Majesty is now anxious to implement it.

“My people don’t have much land, but they pay so much tax.”

“They have so many fields under their control, but they are trying their best to evade taxes and undermine the foundation of our Tang Dynasty.”

Li Shimin said in a deep voice: “They have let me down and let the people of the world down.”

“You need to hurry up.”

“It enriched the noble families, but impoverished the treasury of the Tang Dynasty.”

“It’s the opposite of Tian Gang!”

Xu Jingzong bowed and said, “I accept your order!”

He walked out of the Taiji Palace and immediately went to the East Palace to report the Holy Emperor’s thoughts to the Crown Prince.

Li Chengqian frowned slightly. He didn’t know what had stimulated Li Shimin, but his emotions had become increasingly unstable and extreme in the past one or two years.

Could it be that the unknown old age will happen to Li Shimin?

“Just do as you are told.”

Li Chengqian said.

“Yes!”

With the power Li Shimin held, it was unknown whether big problems would arise in his later years.

Li Chengqian would definitely not provoke Li Shimin, but would find a way to follow his wishes.

He asked Fang Yiai to inform Changsun Wuji to come to the East Palace tomorrow to have a serious discussion with him.

……

The next day, Zhangsun Wuji came to the East Palace, and Li Chengqian talked about the issue of collecting taxes based on the amount of land.

“Your Highness, this matter is very troublesome.”

Chang Sun Wuji said: “The tax department has checked the population and the government has registered it.”

“If the big families don’t have anyone to farm, and they won’t spend money to hire someone, what will happen if the fields become barren?”

“We should think of a solution for this.”

“Some families are resentful and would rather leave their fields uncultivated than cultivate them. When they eventually become wasteland, they have a reason not to pay taxes.”

“This is a loss to the court no matter how you look at it.”

Li Chengqian nodded and said, “All the problems that uncle mentioned may occur.”

“Since they are unwilling to do this or that, the court will suffer losses again.”

“How about this, uncle, discuss with the ministers and see if it is feasible for the court to pay for the extra land of those families.”

(End of this chapter)