Chapter 507: Three Conditions

Chen Hongzhi was taken away. Li Heng waved his hand, asking everyone to leave; he needed to be alone in the room. The room was silent. Once again, Li Heng couldn’t resist taking out a letter from a jade box. It was a letter he had received from Chengdu the previous day—a decree indeed, bearing the seal and handwritten signature of his father, Emperor Li Longji. After more than half a year of correspondence, the decree sent yesterday made things clear: Li Longji explicitly intended to pass the throne of Southern Tang to him, allowing him to reunify the Tang Dynasty.

The decree made it very clear that Li Heng was expected to inherit the throne of Southern Tang as the emperor of Northern Tang. In other words, the condition for inheriting Southern Tang’s throne was that Li Heng must first ascend to the throne of Northern Tang.

Li Heng paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back. He knew his father wasn’t using this tactic to divide Northern Tang—he had already received confirmed news from other sources that his father was indeed dying.

But the problem was, his father clearly knew that the throne of Northern Tang was already held by his grandson, Li Shi. Yet he still wanted Li Heng to ascend to Northern Tang’s throne first—this was clearly an attempt to force him to stage a palace coup and overthrow his grandson’s rule.

In fact, he had been pondering this issue ever since he was forced to let Li Shi ascend the throne—how could he turn the situation around and regain his own throne? Even if his father hadn’t imposed this condition, he would have taken action to reclaim what rightfully belonged to him.

Now, with the addition of Southern Tang as a bargaining chip, Li Heng’s ambition grew even stronger. At that time, Li Qing’an was engaged in a fierce battle with the Tibetans in Turfan, leaving him with few troops in Guanzhong. Meanwhile, he had 200,000 troops in Guanzhong under the command of his second son, Li Xi. This strength gave him the means to stage a palace coup, but he also feared public opinion and the Qianniu Guard in Chang’an County. If he didn’t launch a coup, he would have to take another path—a path he was familiar with.

Thinking of this, Li Heng immediately ordered, “Pass my command: summon Wang Gong, Fang Gan, Li Lin, and Linghu Fei to see me at once.”

……

That night, Li Shi, whose condition had been improving, suddenly suffered from severe diarrhea. His body was nearly dehydrated, and his already weak health couldn’t withstand such stress, causing his illness to worsen even further than before. Dozens of imperial physicians stayed by his side day and night, while Empress Dowager Shen Zhenzhu wept in desperation, praying to the heavens to protect her son.

The news that the young emperor Li Shi was seriously ill spread throughout Chang’an’s court and society. Many people harbored a subtle concern: if Li Shi did not survive, who would inherit the throne? This was a very serious issue. Most members of the imperial family had fled to Chengdu, while those remaining in Chang’an were either distant relatives or obscure figures with no claim to the throne at all. After much deliberation among the ministers, their attention finally turned to the retired emperor Li Heng. Would he be the one to inherit the throne, or would it be his son?

All sorts of speculations spread like wings throughout the court. The ministers visited each other’s homes, exchanging information and discussing possible outcomes for the court.

The next evening, Wang Gong’s carriage stopped in front of Right Prime Minister Pei Min’s residence. Wang Gong got out of the carriage, and Pei Min, who had already been informed, came out to greet him.

“Prime Minister Wang, what a rare visit!”

Pei Min smiled as he stepped down the steps and gave Wang Gong a friendly punch. “Tell me, how long has it been since you last visited my residence?”

Wang Gong quickly apologized with a smile, “I’ve been too busy. I originally planned to come over during the New Year, but I ended up not doing so. I’m truly sorry.”

At that moment, Wang Gong suddenly realized something and said, “That’s not right! Prime Minister Pei, you haven’t visited my residence either!”

The two exchanged glances and burst into laughter. “Exactly! We’re both too busy.”

Pei Min invited Wang Gong into his outer study, where he spent his days and received important guests. Generally, officials of some status or the powerful would have two study rooms—one outer and one inner. The inner study was usually located in the private quarters and served as the ultimate sanctuary for privacy.

Pei Min was no exception. His inner study contained his correspondence with Li Qing’an, his diary, and records of important internal meetings—all of which must never be seen by outsiders, especially not Wang Gong.

The two sat down in the outer study. A maid brought in two cups of hot tea. Wang Gong sipped the tea carefully and said, “I heard Prime Minister Pei’s eldest son is getting married next month. The bride is actually Lu Huan’s daughter. Congratulations!”

Pei Min smiled faintly. “It’s only natural for men to marry when they reach adulthood, and for women to get married as well. As for who the bride is, I think it’s unnecessary to pay attention to. Marriages between prominent families are quite common. Isn’t it the same for the Wang family?”

Wang Gong chuckled dryly. “I wasn’t paying special attention. I was just mentioning it casually. I’ll send a congratulatory gift next month and attend the wedding.”

“I’d be very happy to see that!”

The two exchanged a few more pleasantries before the conversation gradually shifted to today’s main topic. Wang Gong said, “I’ve come to visit Prime Minister Pei today because there’s an important matter I need to discuss with him—specifically, regarding the fate of the Land and Fields Department.”

The Land and Fields Department was a temporary administrative body established by Li Yu to reallocate land seized from the powerful. Li Yan had served as its head. After Li Yan was assassinated by An Lushan, the department fell into silence again, with no activity for nearly half a year. Now, it faced the choice of being abolished or continued.

In truth, whether such a minor department existed or not wasn’t crucial; what mattered was whether the land reform should proceed. So far, the reform had only been implemented in Guanzhong and not extended nationwide. After Li Yu’s death, this major reform project was temporarily put on hold.

Moreover, the land reform in Guanzhong was only half-finished, with much land still unreallocated to the people. If the Land and Fields Department were abolished, what would happen to that land? If it were handed over to the Ministry of Revenue, it would mean the end of the ambitious land reform movement.

Thus, there had been ongoing debate on this issue. The faction led by Pei Min, supporting Prince Zhao, opposed dissolving the department, while Li Heng, Wang Gong, and others insisted on its abolition. The two sides were in sharp conflict, with the standoff continuing from the beginning of the year to the present.

Pei Min picked up his teacup and said, “It’s not that the Land and Fields Department can’t function—it’s that someone is deliberately blocking them from carrying out their duty of redistributing land. All the land west of Chang’an County has already been allocated, leaving only the land east of Wannian County unassigned. Prime Minister Wang, with all due respect, if the Guanzhong army didn’t interfere with land redistribution, I think there wouldn’t be any problems. Take the imperial estates in Weinan County last time as an example—the land was already given to tenant farmers, yet why did the Guanzhong army force them to return the land deeds? It’s truly baffling!”

Wang Gong hadn’t come today to discuss solutions but to lay things bare before Pei Min. He let out a cold laugh and said frankly, “Then I’ll speak plainly. The Regent believes this matter has been dragged on too long. If it isn’t resolved soon, it will show the court’s incompetence. The Land and Fields Department must be dissolved by tomorrow. If a resolution still can’t be passed in the council chamber tomorrow, he will use his authority as Regent to dissolve it.”

“Dissolve the council chamber?”

Pei Min exclaimed in shock, “How can the Regent have the authority to dissolve the council chamber? He doesn’t have such power!”

“Is that so?” Wang Gong said coldly, “When the Political Council was established, the third rule made it clear that if more than half of the prime ministers resigned, the regent would have the authority to dissolve the council and have officials above the fifth rank elect a new one. Prime Minister Pei can’t deny that!”
Pei Min remained silent. Since Li Yan’s death, his position had been taken over by the new Minister of Punishments, Li Lin. Like Li Yan, Li Lin was also from the imperial family, and he had even longer experience—having served as Deputy Minister of War as early as the eighth year of Tianbao. He originally belonged to the pro-empire faction, loyal to Emperor Li Shi, but not long after joining the Political Council, he switched sides to support Li Hen.
It was his defection that restored the 3-3-1 power balance in the council: three from the Prince Zhao faction, three from the regent faction, and one from the Zhang faction. At that time, the Political Council consisted of seven people—him, Pei Min, Wei Tao, Cui Huan, Zhang Yun, Wang Gong, Fang Guan, and Li Lin. In other words, if four of them resigned at the same time, the council would have to be dissolved.
Pei Min understood that the key here was Zhang Yun. Since Wang Gong had come prepared to use this issue as leverage, it was highly likely that Zhang Yun had already compromised with the regent faction. It seemed only Li Qingan could keep such a fickle person in check.
Sure enough, Wang Gong took out four documents and placed them on the table. “Prime Minister Pei, these are my resignation letters, along with those of Fang Guan, Minister Li, and Minister Zhang. The four of us will officially resign from our positions in the Political Council tomorrow.”
Since Wang Gong said they would resign officially the next day, his visit that evening was to discuss terms. Pei Min understood his intentions. After pondering for a moment, he asked frankly, “Prime Minister Wang, why not just state your conditions directly?”
Talks between prime ministers were usually subtle and skillful, with nothing said outright, allowing both sides to interpret things on their own. The goal was to keep things amicable without outright confrontation. But for them to openly lay out threats and conditions like this was quite unusual—it meant they had reached a final showdown.
Wang Gong took back the four resignation letters and said proudly, “Actually, the regent also wants stability in the government. We wouldn’t take this step unless it’s absolutely necessary. It can’t really be called conditions—just a few small requests.”
“Prime Minister Wang, please go ahead. What are the requests?”
“The first request.”

Wang Gong raised one finger and said, “There are many rumors in the court and among the people that are unfavorable to the Regent. They claim that the late emperor was killed by the Regent—these are all baseless accusations and slander against the Regent. Yet the Council of State has remained silent, which undoubtedly fuels the spread of these rumors. Therefore, we demand that the Council of State issue an official statement to clarify the cause of the late emperor’s death and clear the Regent’s name.”

At this point, Wang Gong glanced at Pei Min to see his reaction, but Pei Min remained calm and said, “Prime Minister Wang, please continue.”

“Very well. Here is my second demand: the Land and Fields Department should be officially dissolved, land acquisition should be halted, and the emperor’s edicts on land acquisition should be revoked. All unallocated land, including the 10,000 hectares of imperial estates, should be returned to their original owners, to be inherited by the Regent.”

“Is there a third demand?” Pei Min asked, trying to suppress his anger.

“Yes, there is a third demand. It involves expanding the Regent’s powers—specifically adding two new rights: first, the Regent has the authority to veto decisions made by the Council of State; second, the Regent has the right to decide who will succeed the throne.”

“That’s enough!”

Pei Min stood up abruptly, his anger now beyond control. He stared at Wang Gong and said word by word, “Prime Minister Wang, I reject all three of your demands. As the Right Prime Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, I formally accept the resignations of all four of you.”

…

Early the next morning, explosive news spread from the Secretariat in the Daming Palace. The three members of the Regent’s faction in the Council of State, along with Zhang Yun, resigned from their positions as prime ministers. Immediately afterward, Regent Li Hen announced the dissolution of the Council of State.

Before the emperor reached adulthood and could rule, the Council of State had been the highest authority in the Tang Dynasty, responsible for deciding on all military and state affairs. Its dissolution meant that the Tang Dynasty no longer had a supreme authority figure.

According to the power-sharing agreement reached between Li Qing’an and Li Hen last year, if the Council of State was dissolved, the Regent had to propose the formation of a new Council of State within three days. This new council would be elected by civil officials of rank five or higher, with the Secretariat organizing the process, the Chancellery overseeing it, and the Censorate providing external supervision. Finally, the new Council of State would be established after approval by the Deputy Secretaries, Deputy Chancellors, and Censor-in-Chief.

Although it seemed democratic and the procedures were strict, in reality, it was still a struggle among four factions: the Prince Zhao faction, the Regent’s faction, the Zhang faction, and the Royalist faction.

For a time, there was much discussion both within and outside the court. Everyone’s attention shifted from the seriously ill young emperor to the public selection process for the new council, as it involved the interests of all. Many people had the opportunity to participate in this selection. According to tradition, the regent would only formally propose the formation of the new council on the last day, giving various factions time to secretly form alliances and gain as many supporters as possible.

The public selection for the council was solely a matter for court officials and had nothing to do with the palace staff. Inside the Daming Palace, there was little stir over this matter; eunuchs and maids continued to focus on the emperor’s illness.

Chen Hongzhi was on duty at night. After dawn, other eunuchs took over his responsibility of caring for the emperor. Exhausted, Chen Hongzhi returned to his own room. Over the past two days, he had been deeply troubled. He never expected that just a little castor bean powder could have such serious consequences, nearly costing the emperor his life. He was filled with remorse; if he had known, he would never have used castor beans.

But regret was of no use. Fortunately, neither the imperial physicians nor the empress dowager had discovered the truth about the emperor’s serious illness, which gave him some relief. Now, he only hoped that the retired emperor would keep his promise and stop disturbing him, allowing time to wash this matter away.

After all, Chen Hongzhi was only seventeen. Though intelligent, he lacked experience and did not understand the treachery of human hearts. When he pushed open the door to his room, he was shocked to see Li Fuguo reappear in his room like a ghost, looking at him with a smirk.