Looking at the crying Pei Ji and the fearless Yuchi Gong, Li Shimin shook his head.
"I didn't think carefully about this matter."
He ordered,
"On such a major matter as deliberation, there are so many opinions to be listened to that the small political hall cannot accommodate them all."
"Come on, please come to Liangyi Palace to discuss politics."
After hearing the emperor's order, Cheng Yaojin immediately stood up and said:
"That's right! The seats in the political hall are too small, and my old Cheng's butt hurts from sitting on them."
"Let's go, let's go!"
"Jingde, let's go!"
He waved his hand to pull Yu Chi Gong away.
"His Majesty!"
Pei Ji pointed at Yuchi Gong and cried,
"I have never suffered such grievances in all these years. In the Wude Dynasty, I have never been so offended..."
"This Yuchi Gong...this Yuchi Gong is so deceptive!"
"Your Majesty wants to make the decision for me! Your Majesty..."
Li Shimin squinted his eyes slightly
"Pei Qing, don't cry."
His expression softened and he said comfortingly,
"I already know what happened today."
"You and Yuchi Gong had a dispute. From jockeying for seats to insulting each other, the political hall was full of chaos. It was extremely disrespectful."
"Where is the Prime Minister in the palace?"
"I'm here." Dai Zhou, who was the Prime Minister of the palace at the time, responded with his hands raised.
"According to the court's laws, what crimes should Pei Qing and Yuchi Gong be convicted of?"
Li Shimin asked.
"Return to Your Majesty."
Dai Zhou glanced at the two of them and said cautiously,
"As His Majesty said, the two insulted each other to disturb the government, and they should receive twenty sticks from the imperial staff."
The emperor has already characterized this matter as "mutual insults." That would definitely mean playing 20 big boards each.
It doesn't matter how many times Yuchi Gong's skin is rough and his flesh is beaten, but Pei Ji is an old man, can he still withstand it?
I'm afraid he'll be beaten to death with just a few sticks!
Sure enough, when he heard Dai Zhou's words, Pei Ji's expression suddenly changed.
"Your Majesty! Old Minister...I didn't insult him, Old Minister..."
He hurriedly defended himself, but Li Shimin waved his hand.
"No need to say more, I believe what Wei Zheng says."
"Although Pei Qing is responsible for disrupting the government, I consider that you are old and frail, so I am merciful and exempt from these twenty imperial staffs."
"As for other people who participated in the insult, they will be exempted from the imperial rod and will be fined three months' salary to serve as a warning to themselves."
After Li Er finished speaking, he turned to look at Yu Chigong and snorted coldly.
"Yu Chi Gong, I have received twenty imperial staffs. Are you convinced?"
Yuchi Gong smiled.
"Submit your Qi, be convinced."
He said carelessly,
"It's just twenty imperial staffs, I just passed it casually."
"Your Majesty, you are wise! I am just angry that that old guy relies on his old age and sits in that position shamelessly, and yet..."
Pei Ji's old body began to tremble again...
"alright!"
Li Shimin scolded,
"In any case, Pei Qing is a veteran of the Wude Dynasty. Even if he has no merit, he still has hard work. How can you insult him?"
"Keep your mouth clean, otherwise I will punish you!"
"Yes, I obey the order." Yuchi Gong curled his lips, but he was secretly happy in his heart.
Your Majesty may have already become dissatisfied with Pei Ji. This sentence "There is no merit, but hard work" is purely a compliment and a criticism!
His majesty was probably happy because of all the fuss he was making.
Sure enough, after hearing Li Shimin's reprimand, Pei Ji's face was not only not happy at all, but also a bit unpleasant, so he could only express his gratitude.
"Stop making trouble and leave!"
Li Shimin flicked his sleeves and said,
"Let me record Yuchi Gong's twenty-court staff. We will go to Liangyi Hall to discuss politics first."
After giving the order, Yu Chigong grinned from the corners of his mouth to his ears.
"Let's go, let's go, hahaha..."
He hooked Cheng Yaojin's back and left triumphantly under the gnashing teeth of all the martial arts veterans.
The ministers left one after another, leaving only Pei Ji and others remaining where they were.
"Mr. Ge, you have been wronged!"
"Yes, Mr. Ge, we can't let them be so arrogant! You can't be depressed, we have an emperor!"
"Yes, the Emperor is still here. If His Majesty doesn't turn to us, the Emperor will definitely make the decision for us!"
"That's it! Old Xiangguo Pei, you..."
Voices filled with indignation came one after another, making Pei Ji's face become more and more gloomy.
"Yes, the Supreme Emperor is still here, and his old man is still here..."
He clenched his fists and murmured softly,
"I have suffered such a great humiliation, I can't just let it go!"
"Let's go and discuss politics!"
At this moment, Pei Ji made up his mind to find the support of the Supreme Emperor and regain the situation.
But he may have forgotten that when Yu Chigong threatened Li Yuan with the head of King Qi, the Supreme Emperor he mentioned has not recovered from this situation until now.
…
Liangyi Palace.
Li Shimin sat on the dragon chair, and the ministers stood under the steps.
After such a fuss, all the ministers were summoned for a court meeting.
"This meeting today is not for anything else, just for these two words of law."
Li Shimin looked down and said seriously,
"I feel that Gou Jueqiu will execute the prisoner today. Is our martial law too harsh?"
"For some crimes, in my opinion, jail time is enough."
"There is absolutely no need to sentence some of the people implicated to death. At most, a sentence of exile is enough."
"Just on the list of Autumn Jue, I saw many people who shouldn't be killed. I really can't bear to write down and kill them."
When the courtiers heard these words, they began to whisper among themselves.
At this moment, a loud voice came:
"Your Majesty, do you want to change the laws?"
The person who spoke was none other than Wei Zheng.
"yes."
Li Shimin gave an affirmative answer and then asked again,
"What do Wei Aiqing think?"
Wei Zheng came out impressively.
"I thought it was good!"
He spoke concisely and to the point, saying,
"The martial law is too harsh and should be revised a long time ago!"
"Zhenguan, there should be a Zhenguan law, a relatively lenient Zhenguan law!"
As soon as this statement came out, everyone was in an uproar.
"Wei Zheng, you are talking nonsense!"
Pei Ji scolded with a sullen face,
"I am the one who presided over the revision of the Wude Code. I know it best! It cannot be called harsh at all. It is even extremely lenient compared to the Qin and Han Codes."
"Laws and regulations are originally used to restrain the world. If you commit a crime, you should be punished. This is a matter of course!"
"If the laws and regulations are relaxed, people in the world will not take the law seriously. How will the court govern? How should the people restrain themselves?"
After he finished quarreling with Wei Zheng, he turned to look at Li Shimin.
"Your Majesty, the moral code of Wu was compiled by an old minister, and the Supreme Emperor calls it good."
Pei Ji said sincerely,
"Datang is so good, why should we change it?"
"If Your Majesty has mercy on the condemned criminals and feels that they are innocent, he can pardon them or make slight changes to the important laws in the martial ethics. There is no need to make major changes..."
"Laws and orders are the foundation of the country. They affect the whole body. They cannot be changed rashly. Your Majesty, please think twice..."
After saying that, he bowed deeply.
"I second the proposal."
"I also agree that Mr. Pei, the prime minister, has a heavy attitude towards the country. You are right!"
"minister……"
Several old military officials came out and agreed with Pei Ji's words.
What they didn't see was that there was a hint of coldness in Li Shimin's eyes.
Xu Fenglei secretly sneered in his heart.
Martial virtue, martial virtue.
The emperor, the emperor!
Do you know what year it is today? Who is sitting on the dragon throne now?
You old guys should have exploded with gold coins long ago! Still want to hold on to your power, status and influence?
Save it!
"What Pei Qing said makes some sense."
Although Li Shimin was unhappy, he didn't want to get angry. He turned to look at Wei Zheng again and said,
"Wei Zheng, do you have anything else to say?"
Wei Zheng chuckled.
"Mr. Pei Ge, please change the subject. Those who have committed crimes must of course be punished, but the severity of the punishment is today's issue."
He said in a deep voice,
"I'm not denying Wu De Lv, but it is no longer suitable for the current Tang Dynasty."
"More than ten years ago, when the imperial court was first established, there were still frequent wars and chaos in the world. It is said that in troubled times, heavy laws should be used, and heavier punishments should be used to restrain the people. I think it is appropriate."
"But now, the world has been settled and entered the Zhenguan Dynasty. The country should be governed with tolerance and benevolence. Only in this way can we gather people's hearts."
"Mr. Pei Ge, please don't live in the Wude Dynasty. The person in power today is not the Supreme Emperor."
Although Wei Zheng was smiling, his words were sharp, which made Pei Ji stare.
After hearing these words, Li Shimin also had a bit of a smile in his eyes.
When it comes to fighting and charging, Yuchi Gong is second to none.
But to charge in the court, it has to be Wei Zheng! A master who charges into battle and expands territory!
"I second the proposal!"
Fang Xuanling said,
"Wu De Lv is not bad, it's just not applicable today!"
"The punishment is too severe and does not conform to His Majesty's strategy of governing the country with integrity. Therefore, it should be revised, the complex should be deleted and the sentence should be lightened."
As soon as he spoke, all the important ministers agreed one after another.
"I second the proposal, I second the proposal!"
Yuchi Gong also joined in the fun and said,
"What are the old things from the Wude Dynasty used by us in the Zhenguan Dynasty? In the Zhenguan Dynasty, we should have a set of things from the Zhenguan Dynasty, things that belong to His Majesty and reflect His Majesty's style!"
"Some old people, please stop wailing and shouting. It's better for you to carry those rotten things into the grave!"
"Hahaha……"
He laughed wildly, making Li Shimin's face darken.
"Wantless nonsense!"
Li Er scolded,
"Your Highness, please punish Yuchi Gong once more and add twenty imperial staffs!"
Yuchi Gong curled his lips and lowered his head.
But his words have turned into sharp knives, piercing into the hearts of all the old military officials, especially Pei Ji...
"Xu Aiqing."
Li Shimin looked at Xu Fenglei and said,
"I also want to hear your opinion on the matter of changing the laws."
Although the two of them had talked about it along the way, they still had to express their stance when it was time to show it to the ministers.
"Your Majesty, I also support changing the law."
Xu Fenglei came out of the queue,
"I would like to add two more points."
"First, the Tang Dynasty has been established for more than ten years, but it is still a new country. The new country has a new atmosphere and a lot of chaos."
"Wude Law is based on the Sui Dynasty Law. As Yu Chigong said, the old things cannot keep up with the new era, so many people take advantage of the loopholes in the law and breed many secret activities."
"Your Majesty should observe the various loopholes in the world, and then add laws and regulations to close the loopholes and regulate the chaos."
"For example, there are huge loopholes in the entry and exit system, which should be regulated and repaired."
Li Shimin nodded slightly.
This sums it up well.
But Xu Fenglei's words caused subtle changes in the expressions of several important ministers.
Especially Changsun Wuji and Yuchi Gong were shocked and looked at Xu Fenglei one after another.
"Second."
Xu Fenglei's face didn't change and he said,
"It is most taboo to amend the law if it is changed overnight so that the people do not know which version to use. Therefore, when your Majesty arranges ministers to revise the law, you should choose prudent and prudent people."
"When formulating laws and regulations, we should take the overall situation into consideration. Once they are released, they will be like Mount Tai, and they cannot be deleted or modified in the short term."
Li Shimin nodded repeatedly.
"Yep."
He praised,
"I have the same idea as you. It will be completed once and for all, and we cannot add any burden to the people!"
"Therefore——"
Li Er's current situation turned to the ministers.
"Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Wei Zheng, Dai Zhou!"
He ordered,
"The four beauties have outstanding abilities and have always been calm and prudent people. I order you four to revise the laws! You should do it carefully, cut out the complex and simplify it, and create a good law for our Tang Dynasty!"
"I am waiting for you to give me a different Zhenguan Law!"
"I obey the order." The four ministers suddenly thought, and they all came out to salute.
"Besides, there is another thing that I just remembered suddenly."
Li Shimin looked around and said with a smile,
"Has it been a long time since official assessments were conducted?"
This question made all the ministers who asked it feel stunned.
What, is this going to be a KPI performance appraisal and an elimination system for the last place?
"Your Majesty, that's right."
Wei Zheng once again said bluntly,
"Since there was an official assessment and selection in the fifth year of Wude, there has been no assessment since then."
"We don't know how talented, capable, and moral officials are in various places. Whether they are good officials, good officials, mediocre officials, or bad officials in the local area, the court also doesn't know. It just maintains the status quo in a muddle."
"This kind of official administration is really not Qingming."
Li Shimin nodded slowly.
"In the past, during the Wude years, the Supreme Emperor did not pay attention to this matter. Now that I am in charge of the country and administering the government, I am so busy that I have neglected and delayed it."
He sighed softly,
"According to the usual practice, officials are elected every three years, and the best ones are promoted and the weak ones are eliminated."
"I didn't expect that we, the Tang Dynasty, have not evaluated officials for so many years. It's hard to imagine how many officials in the world are dead and living without food, and how many animals are eating their salaries."
"There is no need to delay the assessment and selection!"
Li Er's eyes fell on the veterans of the Wude Dynasty, and gradually became firmer.
"Changsun Wuji."
He named them.
"I'm here." Changsun Wuji came out.
"From now on, officials from all over the Tang Dynasty will be summoned to Chang'an, and you will be in charge of the assessment and selection."
Li Shimin ordered,
"Be sure to get rid of the moths and find good officials for me!"
At this moment, everyone present knew that the emperor was going to start rectifying the officialdom and kicking people!
Who will be the first to be laid off?
For a time, people felt uneasy, especially those who were old military officials, and their hearts began to accelerate uncontrollably.
An uneasy feeling began to spread...
(End of chapter)
