Chapter 2066: Taizong Chronicles 8: The Dukedom

The warm chamber fell quiet. Apart from the faint rustling of the curtains stirred by a gentle breeze, there was almost no other sound. To be able to accompany the prince in attendance was, for Li Zongkai, a great honor—one might even say it could definitively cement his standing within the Li family. Yet at this moment, his heart was filled only with trepidation. He stood rigidly to the side, face solemn, not daring to breathe too loudly.

Others might not know the true state of Li Shaoyou's health, but Li Zongkai knew it all too clearly. Strictly speaking, this was deceiving the sovereign—and it could hardly be concealed. If His Majesty were to expose it on the spot, how would they ever recover? The crime of deceiving the emperor and showing contempt for the throne was one that even the Duke of Shou could scarcely bear.

Compared to Li Zongkai's anxiety and unease, Li Shaoyou, as the father, was far more composed. He lay there calmly, gazing placidly at Liu Yang without the slightest trace of panic. Naturally, the sickly appearance had all but vanished as well.

As for Liu Yang, he wore a very earnest expression, three fingers resting on Li Shaoyou's pulse. He even closed his eyes to feel carefully, the scene nearly frozen, with only the occasional twitch of his fingers.

After roughly a quarter of an hour, Liu Yang opened his eyes, tilted his head, and drawled with a touch of mystification: "The Duke's ailment..."

"Could it be that this old minister's illness has reached the point of no return?" Li Shaoyou said at once. "Your Majesty need not mince words!"

Liu Yang waved a hand: "Regardless of whether the illness is light or severe, when seeking a physician and medicine, the first priority is to find the root cause, prescribe accordingly, and eradicate it. In my view, the Duke's ailment is somewhat peculiar—peculiar in that it is not a malady of the body, but a sickness of the heart!"

Hearing the Emperor speak thus, and meeting his teasing gaze, Li Shaoyou sighed and gave a wry smile: "Your Majesty's eyes are piercing as a torch; this old minister is deeply impressed! However, as Your Majesty says, skilled physicians and good medicines are easy to obtain, but the medicine for the heart is hard to come by!"

Liu Yang fixed his gaze on Li Shaoyou, his tone still relaxed, but his expression had grown somewhat more serious: "I have a dose of heart-medicine here. I wonder if it will be of use to the Duke?"

"The palace holds many rare treasures; this old minister is about to have his eyes opened!"

Liu Yang said flatly: "Director of the Chancellery, Chief Minister, with the additional honor of Opening a Mansion with the Same Rank as the Three Excellencies—how about that?"

"This old minister is advanced in years and unfit, dull and mediocre—how could I bear the heavy responsibility of chancellor?" Li Shaoyou shook his head outright.

"The post of Director of State Affairs was given to Lü Duan—that has already done the Duke an injustice!" Liu Yang thought for a moment, then said this.

Li Shaoyou responded immediately: "State offices are filled by measuring talent, not by measuring the man! I am grateful for Your Majesty's kindness, but this old minister has self-awareness; I truly cannot fill the post of chancellor. Your Majesty need not put yourself out!"

Liu Yang knit his brows, pondered briefly, then added: "Grand Academician of the Inner Cabinet, and elevation to Commandery Prince of Shouyang!"

This "great favor" crashing down left Li Shaoyou genuinely stunned. After a moment of alarm, he quickly regained his composure and said gravely: "I beg Your Majesty to speak no more of this! Your Majesty has a heart of concern for this old minister, and I am moved beyond words. But what virtue, what ability, what merit do I possess to presume to occupy a princely rank?"

Li Shaoyou's attitude was resolute; he even propped himself up from the couch for the sake of it. Liu Yang, after carefully appraising him for a while, said slowly: "The Duke's merits—how shall they be repaid?"

"This old minister merely did what was his due duty; Your Majesty truly need not give it another thought!" Li Shaoyou was silent for a moment, then spoke slowly: "If reward is to be given, the late emperor already rewarded me. This old minister asks for nothing more!"

Hearing this declaration, a flicker of deep thought passed through Liu Yang's eyes. After a long while, meeting his gaze, he suddenly smiled: "The Hall of State Affairs is still short one seat. If the Duke will not deign to take it, I shall have to rack my brains again!"

"Your Majesty flatters me. The Great Han is teeming with talent, more than enough for Your Majesty to draw upon!" Li Shaoyou paused, then added: "If Your Majesty pities this old minister's meager past labors and insists on rewarding me, then just give me some gold and silver! This old minister has many children and descendants, and supporting them is no easy matter—so I will shamelessly beg for a reward."

Hearing this, the corners of Liu Yang's mouth curled slightly. In a joking tone, he said: "The Duke is trying to emulate Wang Jian, is he?"

Li Shaoyou responded at once: "Who is this old minister, that I would dare to be mentioned in the same breath as a famed general of the ages!"

"The Duke need not be so modest! Of the twenty-four ministers of the Qianyou era, only the Duke remains. The world looks up to you—how could you not compare?" Liu Yang said with a light sigh. After a moment's deliberation, he spoke very gravely:

"Hear the edict! Li Shaoyou, Duke of Shou, has served the imperial house loyally for forty-six years, with toilsome labor and great merit, a pillar of the state. He is hereby granted the honorary title of Grand Tutor, bestowed one hundred catties of gold and one thousand catties of silver, and enfeoffed with two hundred thousand qing of land in Northern Jin Province!"

Watching Liu Yang's expression, Li Shaoyou knew this was the Emperor's final decision. Therefore, he did not put on airs and decline again. Straightening up, he prostrated himself on the couch and said: "This old minister bows in thanks for Your Majesty's great grace!"

"Rise! That will be all for today!" Liu Yang waved a hand, stood up, and looking at Li Shaoyou still kneeling prostrate on the couch, said meaningfully: "The Duke should rest and recover from his illness in peace!"

With that, he turned and left. Seeing this, Li Shaoyou hurriedly bowed again and called out loudly: "I respectfully see off Your Majesty's return to the palace!"

"No need to see me off!" Liu Yang raised a hand.

Inside the room, only after confirming that the imperial entourage had departed did the kneeling father and son rise. They exchanged a glance and both let out a long sigh of relief. Before they could say anything, the various branches of the ducal household—Li Shaoyou's sons and grandsons, wives and concubines—all surged in at once, so many that the spacious room could barely contain them.

Facing a host of eager gazes, Li Shaoyou immediately scolded: "What are you all crowding in here for? Go back to where you came from—don't disturb this old man's recovery!" Though reluctant, none dared defy Li Shaoyou's wishes, and they could only leave with aggrieved, lingering reluctance.

Though the room emptied once more, Li Shaoyou seemed displeased with the now-stale air. After a moment's thought, he instructed Li Zongkai: "Accompany your father for a walk outside!"

"Yes!" Li Zongkai had questions on his mind, and to this request, he was naturally more than willing.

Father and son strolled leisurely along the garden path, where a faint layer of pale green had just begun to appear. Once permitted, Li Zongkai finally ventured to ask: "His Majesty clearly wished to reward Father for the merit of escorting the late emperor's coffin back. Why did Father decline so many times?"

"Do you think that was merit?" Li Shaoyou turned his head and stared sternly at his son.

Li Zongkai's face tensed, and he lowered his head: "I merely feel regret on Father's behalf!"

"Regret over what? Not being enfeoffed as a prince?"

Li Zongkai was not so naive, but with fame, profit, and power before him, it was hard not to harbor a bit more hope: "Then what of the post of chancellor? With Father's ability and reputation, could you not earn a seat in the Hall of State Affairs?"

Hearing this, Li Shaoyou smiled and asked lightly: "Have you ever considered—if the Emperor intended to appoint me chancellor, why did he not announce it on the day of the great ceremony?"

"This..." Li Zongkai could not help but fall into thought. After pondering briefly, he said hesitantly: "Then what was His Majesty's purpose in coming here?"

"To diagnose this old man's illness!" Li Shaoyou raised a hand to point at himself, saying with some helplessness: "This illness has rather boxed me in!"

"Father, was it the Emperor's instruction before he left?" Li Zongkai seemed to think of something.

"This new emperor of ours—to be sure, he has always treated people with generosity!" Li Shaoyou clasped his hands behind his back, gazing up at the pale blue sky overhead, and sighed long: "However, if anyone thinks they can deceive him with fair means, they would be exceedingly foolish."

Li Shaoyou's words clearly carried an implicit meaning, but before Li Zongkai could puzzle it out, he heard his old father instructing: "As for the land in Northern Jin Province bestowed by His Majesty, arrange for some people to go overseas to manage and cultivate it. If any members of the various branches are willing, give them full support!"

"Yes!" Li Zongkai responded at once, but on second thought, he could not help raising a question: "Arranging personnel should not be much of a problem—among the brothers and nephews of the various branches, there will always be some willing to venture overseas. However, His Majesty's grant only mentioned two hundred thousand qing of land, but did not specify exactly where it is! Moreover, Northern Jin Province is the fief of Prince Qi..."

Sensing Li Zongkai's concern, Li Shaoyou looked entirely at ease and said with a chuckle: "Prince Qi will have to return to the capital for mourning rites eventually—no matter how far the journey, he should be arriving soon. Once he returns to the capital, just take the golden deed of enfeeffment and go see Prince Qi!"

"Will His Highness Prince Qi be willing?"

"Do you think these overseas enfeoffed states can develop merely by relying on the enfeoffed kings, their armies, and those scattered merchants and commoners?" Li Shaoyou said in a low, measured tone:

"To be perfectly honest, regarding the overseas enfeoffed states promoted by the late emperor, I too harbored doubts and was not very optimistic—even now, that remains the case. The reason is simple: the cost outweighs the gain. Under the late emperor's policies, no matter how abundant the coffers, they would eventually be drained! The war in the South Seas continues to this day—not a single day it ceases, and not a single day the state stops bleeding.

Given the new emperor's style of governance, he will certainly not sit idly by and watch this situation. He is bound to take action—it is only a matter of sooner or later. Even if one day His Majesty issues an edict abolishing the enfeoffed states, that is not out of the question!

However, today's bestowal upon our Li clan by His Majesty has allowed this old man to glimpse another possibility!

The late emperor could enfeoff kingdoms—so the current emperor can enfeoff dukedoms, marquisates, and earldoms! If the states beyond the prefectures of the Great Han were merely the imperial house's division of foreign lands, then support would be limited. But if the meritorious nobles are bound onto the same warship and all pull together, then how the future develops is anyone's guess."

Li Zongkai listened to his old father's analysis with his mouth agape. Many things, when viewed from a different angle, truly gave one a sense of sudden clarity.

A strange emotion surged in his chest. After a moment, steadying his mind, he clasped his hands to Li Shaoyou and said: "Father's insight is profound and far-reaching; your son admires it immensely!"

"Admire what? I merely mentioned it offhand!" Li Shaoyou said casually: "How could the Emperor's thoughts be so easily fathomed?"

"As for you—you seem very eager for this old man's speculation to come true!" Li Shaoyou stared at Li Zongkai, chuckling.

Li Zongkai was clearly choked for a moment, but noticing his old father's teasing gaze, he bowed and said: "Even a single piece of enfeoffed land overseas would be of extraordinary significance to the Li clan! Besides, with these decades of accumulation, the South Seas is no longer the barren wasteland it once was—there is still much to be gained, especially Northern Jin Province..."

"We'll see!" Seeing his reaction, Li Shaoyou chuckled again: "Even you are tempted! Among the meritorious nobles of the Great Han, how many can keep their hearts unmoved?"

"Be prepared! Turn the fief in Jin Province into the first dukedom of the Great Han Empire."