Datang: From exiled prince to eternal tyrant

Chapter 64 Appointment of Local Officials
When the reward order was issued, Li Ke was about to return to Shu. He wanted to go back quickly, resume production, and strive to surpass Li Chengqian in the management of the fief and win the crown prince.

The cavalry unit was greatly damaged, and he also needed to return to Shu to pay compensation to the soldiers who died and were injured in this battle.

Therefore, after attending the court meeting in person and receiving the reward, Li Ke planned to report to the court and lead his troops back to Shu.

This was a trivial matter, but when he reported it to Li Shimin in court, Li Shimin quickly agreed.

But at this moment, Changsun Shunde jumped out again.

"Your Majesty, all the officials in the Shu region have been greatly affected by the disaster of the people. Today in the Shu region, there are a large number of low-level officials. The King of Shu will return this time, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to govern the Shu region."

Most of the grassroots officials in the Shu region before were gentry class, mainly the Guanlong Group. Therefore, in this riot incident, Li Ke used the hands of the rioters to kill them all.

After Li Ke was going to return to Shu, he appointed other officials to firmly control the land of Shu in his own hands.

But looking at the elder Sun Shunde jumping up to criticize this matter, I think he wants to make a big fuss here.

Li Ke immediately set his sights on Changsun Wuji, who at this moment had his sleeves folded, seemingly not caring about it.

But Li Ke knew in his heart that all this was ordered by Changsun Wuji behind his back.

"Oh? Does the eldest grandson Aiqing have any good ideas?"

Li Shimin asked.

The elder Sun Shunde bowed and said slowly, "The imperial court should re-appoint county officials to assist the King of Shu in governing the land of Shu!"

As he spoke, he glanced at Li Ke proudly, his stingy face was undoubtedly exposed.

He talked about assisting Li Ke in governance, but in fact he wanted to secretly install officials from the Guanlong Group to trip Li Ke.

After all, today's grassroots officials are all from the gentry group, and a large part of them are disciples of Changsun Wuji.

And Changsun Wuji controls the government, and who he appoints to go to Shu is not a matter of his words?
Of course Li Ke couldn't agree, and immediately said: "At this time, the political situation in Shu is unstable, and my son is worried that if he appoints officials to manage it, if he is not careful, it will stir up riots among the people!"

"Ok!"

Li Shimin nodded slightly, but did not immediately agree.

"His Royal Highness the King of Shu made a mistake. This place cannot always be governed by no one. If things go on like this, who will be responsible for the education of the people?"

Changsun Shunde immediately jumped out to refute.

Judging by his posture, he is about to confront Li Ke on this issue.

"I believe that the people should govern themselves first, and when the situation stabilizes and the people resume production, the people will nominate suitable candidates, and then the ministers will go to the court and appoint orders!"

Li Ke didn't hesitate, and immediately put forward his own views.

His plan is very simple, the so-called self-government of the people, of course he, Li Ke, has the final say, and then the people will spontaneously recommend suitable candidates, and of course they will also recommend candidates whom Li Ke likes.

In short, the officials of the Guanlong Group cannot be allowed to get involved in the governance of other Shu lands.

"Humph!"

Changsun Shunde yelled: "Autonomous? What kind of system is this? Is this Shu land still under the rule of my Tang Dynasty? If something happens, who will take responsibility?"

"Of course this king is in charge!"

Li Ke refused to give up an inch of ground: "If the enlightenment is unfavorable and the people are in chaos again, I will bear it all!"

His words are sonorous and powerful, and he shoulders the responsibility in a big way.

Changsun Shunde was stunned for a moment, then his eyes rolled, and he changed his face with a gloomy expression: "The land of Shu is my territory of the Tang Dynasty, so you, the King of Shu, have the final say on everything? Seal the border?"

His facial expression obviously wanted to lure Li Ke to the road of splitting Tang Dynasty.

Li Ke hadn't responded yet, Li Shimin was already displeased and said: "Master Changsun's words are wrong! The so-called princes are originally all lands sealing the borders, what's wrong with that?"

As soon as Li Shimin spoke, other princes also echoed: "Master Changsun seems to be alarmist, right?"

These princes are all people who have not yet arrived in the enfeoffment land and stayed in Chang'an as officials. Even if they are not satisfied with the words of Changsun Shunde, those who have already arrived in the fiefdom will naturally be even more dissatisfied if they hear this.

Changsun Wuji had never made a statement before, and only then secretly gave Changsun Shunde a wink, signaling him not to extend this topic any further.

The eldest Sun Shunde thought he had a good idea and was about to use his strength to deal with Li Ke, but he didn't think that his words involved the power of the king, which is a very sensitive topic. If it is not handled properly, it will easily cause serious damage. The frontier is unstable.

Changsun Wuji is an old fox, he knew something bad was going to happen as soon as he heard this, if he offended all the princes at once, no matter how capable he was, the Guanlong Group would not be able to stand up to it.

Therefore, he immediately instructed his grandson Shunde to shut up and stop arguing.

But of course he won't easily go along with Li Ke's wishes. Right now, Changsun Shunde lost a city first, and only he stepped forward to regain the lost ground.

Taking a step forward and walking out of the line of courtiers, Changsun Wuji cupped his hands and said, "I think the King of Shu's strategy is not completely unreasonable..."

He wanted to be restrained first, so he first praised Li Ke's personal ability, and then changed the direction of the wind: "Although the King of Shu is capable, he only has the power of one person. If he is to worry about the management of the people's livelihood in the entire Shu region, I am afraid it will be difficult for a strong man... ..."

Everyone at the scene fell into silence, what Changsun Wuji said made sense, if Li Ke wanted to lead the whole of Shu with the help of local officials, naturally it would not be a big problem.But without appointing local officials, let Li Ke worry about the whole Shu, he really can't be busy.

But Li Ke didn't want to govern all the places by himself at all. He naturally wanted to install someone he trusted to help him govern in the future.

But these words cannot be said in the court. The appointment of officials is a matter of the court. How can you say that you want to install cronies?
"So, I think that when the Kingdom of Shu, as well as the surrounding Pengzhou, Maozhou, Jiazhou and other places, can be governed by the people according to what the King of Shu said, but other places... Naturally, the court still needs to appoint officials... "

Changsun Wuji's words sounded like a compromise.He followed Li Ke's wishes and allowed him to have autonomy in the core states and counties, but the surrounding areas had to be appointed by the imperial court.

However, the imperial court's appointment was naturally decided by his eldest grandson Wuji.

He was tantamount to weakening Li Ke's power virtually, and left a foreshadowing for the Guanlong Group.

In the future, if Li Ke and Li Chengqian really want to compete in governance performance, then he, the Guanlong Group, can get in the way and let those officials sent to Sichuan make trouble for Li Ke.

Everyone in the King's Party of Shu felt that Li Ke's agreement seemed to have left hidden dangers for themselves, but Changsun Wuji's words had no loopholes, and they were powerless to refute.

But Li Ke smiled coldly at this time, cupped his hands and said to Changsun Wuji: "Since Master Changsun thinks about this king, this king will accept your favor!"

"Okay! The King of Shu also agrees with this plan, so let's make a decision!"

Li Shimin made a final decision and made a final decision on the matter.

This vigorous court battle has come to an end.

(End of this chapter)