Chapter 66

"Truly a bold attack on the city, Secretary Cui is indeed skilled at taking things out of context!" Upon hearing this, Qin Shubao’s gaze immediately turned cold as he looked at the old man who had stood up. This old man was none other than the Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel, Cui, who had accompanied Pei Ji to force him to go to Lantian the other day.

Qin Shubao sneered and said, "Why doesn’t Secretary Cui mention that when the deputy envoy of Lantian arrived the other day, over a thousand civilians were blocked outside the city gates by County Magistrate Zhao?"

As Qin Shubao spoke, his gaze immediately turned to Wei Wei among the ministers, and he said, "At that time, Attendant Wei was there, right? Why not let Attendant Wei come forward to explain the situation?"

Wei Wei, who had been sitting among the civil officials, sighed inwardly when Qin Shubao stood up first. He knew that no matter what, he couldn’t avoid it today.

Sure enough, before his thoughts had even settled, he heard Qin Shubao drag him into the matter. With no choice, Wei Wei sighed inwardly, stood up from his seat, walked to the center of the hall, and bowed to Li Er, then began to recount what had happened outside Lantian City that day.

"Ha ha ha ha, what a good attack!" As soon as Wei Wei finished speaking, Cheng Yaojin’s loud voice, like a broken gong, rang out: "It’s just that I, Old Cheng, didn’t go. If I had gone, hmpf, I would have tied up County Magistrate Zhao and thrown him into the snow, treating human lives like playthings. How can such a person be fit to be a county magistrate?"

"General Cheng, what a great show of might!" Upon hearing this, Secretary Cui immediately looked at Cheng Yaojin and said, "If we follow General Cheng’s logic, what’s the point of having laws and regulations? If there are local officials who don’t follow the law, we should just send the army to deal with them!"

As soon as Secretary Cui’s words were out, it was like he had poked a hornet’s nest. Cheng Yaojin immediately pointed at Secretary Cui and started cursing. What a guy! The Tang Dynasty has just been established! The foundation of the country is not yet stable! And you’re already pointing fingers at the military!

What’s the deal? Are you trying to force the military to hang up their weapons and retire?

Cheng Yaojin’s words immediately riled up the civil officials. What’s the deal? According to you, General Cheng, the vast Tang Dynasty was conquered by the military, with no contribution from the civil officials?

If it weren’t for the civil officials strategizing behind the scenes, could the military have conquered the vast Tang Dynasty?

As one civil official stood up, a military official naturally stood up as well. Li Shentong, once he got riled up, was almost the same as Cheng Yaojin, his loud voice deafening, and his waving of the court staff made it seem like he was about to start a fight at any moment.

Li Er’s face turned completely black, like the bottom of a pot. At this point, the focus of the debate had already moved beyond the issue of Lantian. Attack the city? Who attacked the city? Commit a crime? Who committed a crime?

No one was paying attention to these issues anymore. The debate first started between the civil and military officials, and then inevitably slid into the scene that Li Er least wanted to see—a debate between the old and new officials!

What’s the point of discussing this? Li Er, in a fit of rage, slammed his fist on the imperial desk and angrily announced the end of the court session, leaving the Taiji Palace with a face as black as the bottom of a pot.

The groups that had been arguing fiercely below, upon seeing the emperor leave in anger, glared at each other, straightened their clothes, and angrily dispersed. A routine court session thus ended in a chaotic mess!

However, the matter was far from over. Li Er could not tolerate the existence of officials like Zhao Yuankai in Lantian. Since the debate in the court had not resolved anything, he would bypass the court!

However, before Li Er’s order was issued, at the next morning’s court session, a group of over a dozen old officials, led by Secretary Cui, jointly submitted a memorial to Li Er—severely punish Zhao Chen to uphold the law!

Thus, another battle between the civil and military officials was staged in the Taiji Palace!

The issue of Lantian became an unsolvable knot. For three consecutive days of court sessions, as soon as the name "Lantian" was mentioned, the atmosphere immediately became tense, and the arguments became fierce. The two sides were at a stalemate, both demanding severe punishment for Zhao Chen and Zhao Yuankai, but neither side was willing to bring these culprits to Chang’an!

Li Er had lost his temper countless times. The forces he had painstakingly gathered over several months had been completely torn apart by these few days of debate!

"Since the ministers cannot reach a consensus, let the Censor-in-Chief Du go to Lantian in person!" On the fourth day of the court session, after Li Er had finally managed to stop the endless debate, his impatient voice echoed in the hall.

Sending Du Yan to Lantian was within the duties of the Censor-in-Chief. As soon as Li Er’s words were out, the people below immediately fell silent, clearly accepting Li Er’s decree.

"Minister Du!" Seeing that the ministers had no objections, Li Er felt a sigh of relief and quickly turned his gaze to Du Yan, hoping to take advantage of this favorable situation to resolve the matter quickly.

However, when Li Er’s gaze fell on Du Yan, his eyes immediately widened, and a sudden surge of anger rose within him.

The hall was in chaos, and the old man Du Yan, as the Censor-in-Chief, was actually sound asleep, his head drooping and snoring softly.

Du Ruhui, not daring to meet Li Er’s murderous gaze, could only turn to Fang Xuanling, who was sitting with his uncle, for help.

Fang Xuanling sighed inwardly and, under Li Er’s angry gaze, gently nudged Du Yan. When Du Yan, the old man, woke up, Fang Xuanling quietly recounted the events that had just transpired.

Upon hearing Fang Xuanling’s words, Du Yan immediately scrambled to his feet, holding the court staff and standing in the center of the hall, trembling with fear. "This old minister is confused and accidentally fell asleep. I beg the emperor’s forgiveness!"

As soon as Du Yan’s words were out, the entire court burst into laughter. However, the few sitting in the prime minister’s seats all inwardly cursed him as an old scoundrel!

The corners of Li Er’s mouth curled up, and a cold smile appeared on his face. He then looked at Du Yan and said, "Minister Du is advanced in age and should not travel in this cold weather, but this matter is of great importance, so Minister Du must go to Lantian in person!"

Upon hearing Li Er’s words, Du Yan inwardly groaned. He had anticipated that this matter would eventually fall on him, so he had pretended to be old and frail, hoping to avoid it. However, it still fell on him.

With no other choice, Du Yan bowed to Li Er and said, "As the emperor’s minister, it is my duty to help the emperor. I will follow the emperor’s decree and go to Lantian!"

With Du Yan’s personal trip to Lantian, no one else had anything to say. Even if there were still significant differences, they would have to wait until Du Yan returned from Lantian.

While Du Yan was preparing to leave Chang’an for Lantian, someone had already arrived in Lantian before him. Dressed warmly, wearing an ugly sheepskin winter hat, he climbed down from a sled with a ruddy, sunburned face. Who else could it be but Cheng Chumo!

"Chumo, why are you here?" When Zhao Chen saw Cheng Chumo climb down from the sled, he was so surprised that his mouth dropped open. Why wasn’t this guy staying in Chang’an and instead came to Lantian?

"I was bored in Chang’an, so I came to Lantian to keep you company!" Cheng Chumo grinned, saying happily.

I don’t believe you for a second! Zhao Chen rolled his eyes, but in front of others, he couldn’t ask much. He had to suppress his curiosity and turned his gaze to the fierce-looking black guy who had come with Cheng Chumo, asking curiously, "Who is this?"

"I am Wei Chi Baolin. I have long heard of Xiao Chen’s intelligence. This time, I came with Chumo because I need your help!" The black guy, upon hearing this, suddenly bared his teeth in a grin, looking like a mutated gorilla, and said in a deep voice.

Wei Chi Baolin! Upon hearing this, Zhao Chen’s eyes widened in surprise. No wonder this guy looked like a standing gorilla, incredibly fierce. It must be because he inherited his father Wei Chi Gong’s genes!

What a pair of fierce men! Zhao Chen sighed inwardly, especially Old Wei Chi Gong. Not to mention the distant past, just recently, when the Turks invaded from the south, Old Wei Chi Gong dealt them a heavy blow in Jingyang, killing over a thousand and capturing a Turkish leader. He was the only one who made the Turks suffer in this southern invasion.

However, Zhao Chen couldn’t quite understand why Wei Chi Baolin was seeking his help.

Old Wei Chi Gong was low-key and rarely had close friendships with the old generals in the Tiance Mansion. They were all nodding acquaintances.

Recently, when Zhao Chen’s new residence was completed, following Old Qin’s suggestion, he sent an invitation to Wei Chi Gong. Unfortunately, the invitation was never acknowledged, and Old Qin was furious, saying that Old Wei Chi was no good and had no sense of partnership as a door god!

"To be honest, I came here to ask Xiao Chen for a solution!" As they entered the house, Wei Chi Baolin held the hot tea that Zhao Chen had poured and smiled honestly, saying, "The grain from Luoyang and other places is stuck just outside Lantian, unable to move forward. The emperor is urging us, and I have heard of Xiao Chen’s intelligence. Is there any way to get the grain to Chang’an?"

Transporting grain? Upon hearing this, Zhao Chen was momentarily stunned. He had known about the grain being stuck in Lantian for a while.

When Sun Simiao went to the Ministry of Revenue to request grain, the Minister of Revenue, Changsun Wuji, had told Sun Simiao that the grain from Luoyang was stuck in Lantian and couldn’t be transported to Chang’an. He hadn’t expected it to still be stuck after so long.

Moreover, the generals in the court were all idle, so why would a task like transporting grain fall to a recently meritorious hero like Old Wei Chi?

Glancing strangely at Wei Chi Baolin and Cheng Chumo, Zhao Chen noticed Cheng Chumo looking embarrassed and lowering his head, while Wei Chi Baolin looked up and smiled honestly. He immediately understood!

It turns out that a bunch of shameless people had teamed up to bully an honest man!

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