Chapter Twenty-Three: Heavy Rewards and Enfeoffment

Princess Taiping is dead! As commanding and queen-like as she was, Princess Taiping breathed her last in Pei Min's arms.

Just as she had said: she had her pride!

Even though Emperor Ruizong, Li Dan, had begged for her life, to force Princess Taiping to live on as a defeated outcast would be, given her towering pride, far more agonizing than death itself.

Princess Taiping had long since decided upon her path for the future: either live as a victor, or end it all in defeat. Thus, she had prepared her poison long ago. In truth, not only she, but Li Longji as well—if Princess Taiping had emerged victorious today, even had Princess Taiping been willing to spare Li Longji, he would not have had the face to linger in this world.

They were cut from the same cloth; the realm of the Li Tang dynasty could not accommodate two individuals with such intense lust for power.

A sense of melancholy stirred in Pei Min's heart. Though he felt no regret for the side he had chosen today, he could not help but indulge in a fleeting wonder: what would things have been like if he had allowed Princess Taiping to bribe him back then, serving her with absolute sincerity?

Things had reached this point; further rumination was of no use!

As for Princess Taiping's dying advice, Pei Min could only keep it buried deep in his heart, remaining vigilant at all times.

Li Longji's coup had succeeded. Faced with the five brothers acting in concert, Princess Taiping stood entirely alone and unsupported; her defeat was neither undeserved nor unjust.

Following this coup, the Retired Emperor Li Dan was struck by a grief worse than death. Princess Taiping's suicide deprived him of his "only" true family member. His faint, lingering passion for political power turned into intense hatred; he even came to believe that his own clinging to that sliver of authority, his failure to relinquish power entirely to Li Longji, had been the root cause of the coup. Plunged into remorse and self-reproach, completely unwilling to concern himself further with state affairs, he issued an imperial edict handing over all power in his hands to Li Longji, moved out of the Taiji Palace, and took up residence in the Baifu Hall.

After a series of vicious struggles, this great empire of the Tang dynasty—beginning with Empress Wu's usurpation, followed by the Zhang brothers seizing power, the chaos wrought by Empress Wei and Princess Anle, and the Taiping faction monopolizing the court, with one faction rising to brilliance only to perish—had finally reached this day, when everything was settled once and for all.

Li Longji had also shaken off his awkward, powerless status to become a true emperor in name and deed!

The only thing that brought Pei Min some relief was that Li Longji had not embarked on a massive slaughter at the conclusion of this coup. The key officials of Princess Taiping's faction in the imperial court had already been thoroughly purged. Toward their families, however, Li Longji adopted a tolerant stance, refusing to drive them to total extinction, though he chose not to issue a blanket pardon either; instead, he confiscated their family assets and exiled them to remote prefectures.

Moreover, to Pei Min's greatest surprise, Princess Taiping's family was also included within Li Longji's act of grace. Pei Min recalled that in history, Li Longji had executed all of Princess Taiping's sons except Xue Chongjian. But this time, perhaps influenced by the heartbreaking wails of Li Dan, his urge to kill was not quite so fierce. Although the properties and assets of Princess Taiping's mansion were still confiscated, her other three sons were spared the death penalty, reduced instead to commoners and exiled to Bazhou, barred from holding official posts or returning to the capital. Xue Chongjian, much like in history, received a special pardon, was restored to his original rank, and was bestowed the imperial surname of Li.

Realizing that Huifan had been omitted, Pei Min specifically reminded Li Longji. He was no noble gentleman; when the opportunity arose to strike a fallen opponent, he would never pull his punches.

Huifan was naturally sentenced to death as well. During the search and seizure of his estate, soldiers and guards recovered thirteen million guan of wealth from his mansion. In terms of confiscated assets, he ranked second only to Princess Taiping, meaning his execution was entirely justified.

As night fell, the purge of the Taiping faction in the imperial court was officially declared concluded.

That very night, Li Longji hosted a modest victory banquet in the Wude Hall. The scale of the banquet was small, but every civil and military official who had contributed to the dragon-rising merit was invited.

This was precisely where Li Longji's brilliance lay.

The Retired Emperor Li Dan was merely of mediocre talent. Back when Li Longji launched the Tanglong Coup and Li Dan first ascended the throne, mountains of state affairs had overwhelmed him, making his head spin as he found himself completely incapable of handling them. Consequently, he devised a method: whenever a state matter arrived, instead of using his brain to think, he would directly ask whether the matter had been discussed with Taiping. If not, go discuss it with Taiping first. Had it been discussed? Even better, just handle it according to Taiping's method. Not only were all military and state affairs entirely entrusted to Princess Taiping, but even the supreme authority over the appointment and dismissal of civil and military officials was completely handed over to her. Because of this, officials scrambling to attach themselves to Princess Taiping in pursuit of a bright future flocked to her like ducks to water. This resulted in the court's civil and military officials being predominantly partisans of Princess Taiping. Now that the Taiping faction had been largely cleared out, countless vacancies remained, and the imperial administration was bound to be unstable.

Yet the people Li Longji could trust most were those officials who had aided his ascension; these men had rendered great service and were awaiting their rewards, rendering them boundlessly loyal to him. Building his core administration out of these dragon-rising meritorious subjects was a necessary undertaking for wise monarchs of any dynasty.

The seating arrangements at the banquet were also meticulously ordered according to their contributions to the coup.

Without a doubt, the Four Princes occupied the foremost merit. In this coup, the role played by the Four Princes was self-evident. As princes of the blood bearing the imperial edict to capture the ringleaders, they possessed immense deterrence and public credibility; even if someone suspected the edict might be spurious, no one dared to defy the emperor's sons. One either chose to be executed for defying an imperial decree or accepted it—there was no third choice.

Next came Guo Yuanzhen. The strategic brilliance and step-by-step planning Guo Yuanzhen displayed during this coup earned him the highest planning merit, an honor he richly deserved. Following him were Pei Min, Wei Zhigu, Wang Ju, Cui Riyong, Zhang Shuo, and others. Zhang Shuo was far away in Luoyang and naturally could not attend today's banquet. Furthermore, because Wei Zhigu, Wang Ju, and Cui Riyong had followed Li Longji for a long time and held great seniority, Pei Min was placed below those three. Behind Pei Min came Wang Maozhong, Ge Fushun, Li Xianfu, Xue Jungu, Ma Xu, and other generals who had been the first to respond to the call, numbering nearly fifty people in total, stretching from top to bottom.

Among this group of meritorious subjects, Pei Min was the youngest and held the lowest rank, yet the merit he had acquired was the most dazzling, and not a single person dared to dispute it. Anyone sitting at this victory banquet was a seasoned political operator; how could they fail to realize that after today, this youngest of youths would be like a carp leaping over the dragon gate, beginning to transform into a dragon and soar into the skies?

Li Longji possessed exceptional eloquence. As the host of the banquet, he called out the names of all fifty-and-odd men one by one, recounting their merits and toasting each individually. He praised everyone until their faces beamed with delight, making each feel deeply valued and assured of a boundless future, filling them with yearning for a glorious life ahead.

With a single banquet, Li Longji successfully won the hearts of all.

Pei Min returned to his mansion. Gazing at the estate gifted to him by Princess Taiping, he thought of the heroine among women who had perished in his arms, and could not help letting out a sigh, a faint melancholy lingering in his heart.

Stepping into the courtyard, the steward Ning Ze was the first to come forward and offer his congratulations. Today's purge of the Taiping faction had long since become the talk of the town. Though Pei Min's specific contributions were not yet publicly known to the world, rumors and hints had already leaked out.

Ning Ze and his elder brother Ning En possessed comparable talent and were both qualified to inherit the management of the Xue family. Unwilling to contend with his elder brother, Ning Ze had taken a step back and accepted Xue Na's invitation to serve as the steward of the Pei household. Seeing that Pei Min possessed extraordinary eloquence and exceptional administrative talent, destined for greatness in the future, he devoted himself heart and soul to managing the estate so that when Pei Min rose to prominence, he too would share in the glory. He had never imagined that in barely a month, Pei Min would already have distinguished himself, and he was naturally overjoyed.

Xue Na had been waiting for Pei Min's return. The old man and the youth sat together in the main hall discussing the day's coup.

Upon hearing of Li Dan's sorrowful cries, Xue Na also sighed deeply with profound emotion. Learning that Princess Taiping had actually died in Pei Min's arms, he could not help but remark: "If Princess Taiping had been born a man, with her tactical genius she would surely have achieved great things. What a pity! Her female form shackled her with too many disadvantages, driving her to obsess over power like a moth flying into a flame. You need not carry any burden in your heart; the power struggles of the royal family have always been this cruel and unavoidable. From my understanding of His Majesty, today's coup is a tremendous blessing for the realm of the Great Tang."

Recalling the brilliance of the Kaiyuan Prosperity recorded in history, the melancholy in Pei Min's heart dissipated considerably.

With the elimination of the Taiping faction, a brand-new era had arrived.

Having served as emperor for over a year, Li Longji had continually held court audiences in the Wude Hall.

On this day, he finally moved into the Taiji Palace. The young Third Prince of the Li family was naturally high-spirited and filled with towering ambition, feeling that the entire realm was now within his grasp and that the Great Tang would rise in a magnificent surge.

Just yesterday, Li Longji had executed five chancellors, leaving the highest offices vacant. The very first order of business upon holding court was to appoint chancellors to keep the administrative machinery of the Great Tang running smoothly: Guo Yuanzhen, Yao Chong, Zhang Shuo, and Liu Youqiu were all promoted to chancellors. The second matter, which formed the centerpiece of today's court assembly, was the bestowal of rewards upon the meritorious subjects of the coup. Faced with the countless vacancies that had suddenly opened up in the court, Li Longji had not slept a wink the previous night, determined precisely to place every official willing to follow him into the appropriate positions. On the one hand, this would help him stabilize the imperial administration, and on the other, it was a reward for their assistance.

The Four Princes, having rendered the highest merit, went without saying. However, given their special status as imperial princes who were already royalty, there was nothing left to reward them with, so their actual taxable households were raised to five thousand. Guo Yuanzhen was promoted to chancellor and created Duke of Dai. Wei Zhigu was promoted to Minister of the Secretariat (Shihong) and created Duke of Liang, receiving three hundred taxable households. Wang Ju was appointed Minister of Finance. Enjoying exceptional trust and participating in great affairs of state, he was created Vice-Director of the Zhongshu Province (Ziwei Shilang) and Duke of Zhao. Cui Riyong was given acting authority as Administrator of Yongzhou, bringing his total actual taxable households to a full four hundred, and was created Duke of Qi. Zhang Shuo was summoned and appointed President of the Imperial Chancellery (Zhongshu Ling) and created Duke of Yan.

As one meritorious official after another received their enfeoffments, the civil and military officials throughout the court pricked up their ears the moment Zhang Shuo's name was called.

At yesterday's small banquet, Pei Min's status as a foundational hero had been abundantly clear; as the youngest of all the dragon-rising ministers, every official in the court wanted to know how high this youth, rising straight to the skies in a single bound, would climb!

Pei Min, Director of Operations in the Ministry of War, was promoted to Supervising Censor (Shi Yushi) and created Duke of Liang.

When the imperial appointment was announced, the assembled ministers could not help but gasp in great astonishment, and a few even felt a profound sense of unfairness. Though no one dared to whisper aloud, with so many officials kneeling and sitting there in rows, the slightest stir among them sent a ripple of agitation through the hall.

Everyone knew Pei Min would experience a meteoric rise, but none expected that he would leap across multiple ranks all at once—jumping from a lowly eighth-rank minor official straight into a high-ranking official of the lower sixth rank—while also being granted the title of a State Duke, an extraordinary bestowal of imperial favor!

Yet those who had personally participated in the coup accepted it with calm equanimity. While they certainly felt a measure of envy, in their eyes, the honor was thoroughly well-earned.

Had it not been for Pei Min, the Right Yuulin Guards would not have been subdued so easily. If the Right Yuulin Guards had not surrendered, the Imperial Cavalry (Wanqi) could never have been brought to submission. Without the Yuulin Guards and the Wanqi, what on earth would Li Longji have used to confront the Southern Palace Imperial Guards?

Furthermore, Pei Min had uncovered the Taiping spies, saved Li Longji's life, and been the first to propose the strategy of a direct assault on the Southern Palace.

Throughout the entire coup, Pei Min's contributions lay at the most critical junctures, deserving the credit for firmly securing the ultimate victory!