Liu Jie insisted on killing prisoners, and Zhou Daowu inevitably felt guilty, frightened and angry.
Li Chengqian was a little embarrassed. Killing prisoners might not be worth mentioning in the past, whether it was a big deal or a small matter. However, the Eastern Expedition army used all the strength of the country to achieve its full success. His father even fell off his horse in the army. , life or death is unknown, and many people are responsible for this. At this time, finding a scapegoat is naturally a top priority.
The killing of prisoners happened to be exposed, so rumors such as "harming Tianhe" and "God is angry" were rampant. If there were no forces behind it to add fuel to the flames, Li Chengqian would not believe it. These people want to push Zhou Daowu out, put all the blame on him, and then beat him to death with a stick...
It stands to reason that as a prince, one should go along with the tide and sit back and watch, because not only the forces in the DPRK and China were responsible for the failure of the Eastern Expedition, but even His Majesty Li Er needed an excuse to get rid of the reputation of "poor command" and "a great success". Zhou Daowu is really the perfect candidate to dump the blame. Even if His Majesty Li Er is sitting in the Tai Chi Palace at this moment, Zhou Daowu has been taken into custody by the imperial army, and then "Baiqisi" will dig out all his past, and he will do anything illegal. The above outline is put online, an ironclad case is made, and the punishment is clear and canonical.
But Li Chengqian is not His Majesty Li Er, and he cannot be so ruthless, so seeing Liu Jie being aggressive and Xiao Yu happy to see the result, he can only ask Fang Jun for help.
He glanced at Fang Jun, and Fang Jun also looked at him, and the two looked at each other.
Fang Jun immediately understood what Li Chengqian meant, so he coughed dryly and said slowly: "Liu Shizhong is no longer the censor Zhongcheng, let alone the chief of the Weiwei Temple. I'm afraid it's not your turn to point out whether the general has made mistakes, right?" With such a long stretch, do you really think that the Tang army has no one?"
As soon as he opened his mouth, both Liu Jie and Zhou Daowu were stunned.
Liu Ji believed that Fang Jun and Zhou Daowu had always had a quarrel. How could he miss the opportunity to eliminate political opponents? Not only did he eliminate political enemies, but he was also able to recruit Zhou Daowu's troops, greatly increasing his strength. What's more, he even thought that once Zhou Daowu was punished by Ming Zhengdian, Princess Linchuan would almost become a widow... Liu Jie was the bad guy, and he found a scapegoat for all the forces, and also benefited, and Fang Junze could use all his methods. Taking down Princess Linchuan, after all, her habit of being a "good princess" is known to the world... Everyone gets what they want, getting the best of both worlds, how can they exonerate Zhou Daowu?
It doesn't make sense...
Zhou Daowu burst into tears with gratitude. He had always believed that Fang Jun should be the one who should inflict pain on him and hold him tightly, but it turned out that it was Liu Ji who was making trouble at this moment, and it was Fang Jun who came to his rescue...
It seems that I am still shallow and narrow-minded. I judge the heart of a gentleman with a villain's heart. Although Fang Jun is arrogant and domineering, he is a broad-minded and magnanimous person. He can be said to repay evil with kindness. If I can get away with it this time, I will definitely let my Princess Linchuan... stay away from this guy!
Women are short-sighted. If they are grateful to Fang Jun and Fang Jun takes advantage of him, then she might as well be dead now.
When Liu Ji saw that the prince had no expression, he couldn't help frowning and said in a deep voice: "The Duke of Yue has misunderstood. It is not that I am interfering in military affairs. In fact, the killing of prisoners is of great concern and has far-reaching influence. I am afraid that in the future, the courtiers will be dissatisfied and the people will boil. I am a minister of His Highness, and I should solve your problems for Your Highness, and I cannot just sit back and watch hidden dangers arise without doing anything."
He did not say any empty words such as "the national law cannot tolerate it". Everyone knows that killing prisoners is unlucky, but there is no severe punishment for this in the national law and military discipline. Instead, he hinted that Zhou Daowu had committed a crime and decided his fate. What is more important is the attitude of all the forces in the DPRK and China. If they are not brought to justice, it will bring great trouble to the prince.
Fang Jun could hear Liu Jie's hints and warnings, but he didn't want to get involved. He knocked on the table in front of him and said displeasedly: "Liu Shizhong is the imperial minister and a censor. He should be careful in his words and actions and follow the rules." Fadu, the so-called 'killing of prisoners' in your mouth is nothing more than hearsay and falsehoods. May I ask if there is any real evidence?"
Liu Jie had a stern look on his face, holding back his anger: "I have no evidence yet, but the groundless rumors may not be unreasonable. As long as the Three Law Departments intervene in the case, the truth and right will be revealed. No one can try to cover up the truth with one hand and confuse right and wrong!"
Fang Jun ignored Liu Ji and turned to Li Chengqian and said: "Your Highness clearly knows that the so-called 'killing prisoners' is only spread among towns and cities, and there is no evidence. How can you punish a general in the army with rumors and rashly let three people go?" The intervention of the judicial department? If this case is made, it will definitely lead to the rule of traitors and the abolition of law and discipline! It is better to order Zhou Daowu to stay in Chang'an temporarily and restrict his leaving the city, and then order the "Baiqisi" to go to Liaodong to search for evidence of "killing prisoners". If there is no evidence, he will be punished by himself. Zhou Daowu should be cleared and those who spread rumors should be severely punished. If there is really evidence of 'killing prisoners', he can be arrested and imprisoned on the spot. He will be punished according to the law!"
At present, "Baiqisi" has completely surrendered to the prince under the leadership of Li Junxian. All he needs to do is to order "Baiqisi" to search for evidence of "killing prisoners", and everything will be under the control of the prince. If you want Zhou Daowu to die, even if he has never "killed prisoners", you can easily concoct countless evidences and make an ironclad case; conversely, if you want to save Zhou Daowu, you can also go to Liaodong along the way to destroy the possible evidence. Liaodong is sparsely populated and has a large area. With a sparsely populated area, destroying evidence is easy and will not be noticed by outsiders.
The initiative rests in the hands of the prince. The life and death of Zhou Daowu is decided by the prince. Fang Jun himself is unwilling to get involved. Although the dispute with Zhou Daowu is just a dispute of temper and has not yet reached the point of putting the other party to death, Zhou Daowu has become the target of public criticism this time. , if he forcefully protects it, he may anger all parties, and the gain outweighs the loss.
However, when he came out with some irresponsible prevarication, everyone present was surprised except for Xiao Yu, who was still there.
Liu Tuo stroked his beard and nodded slightly: If you want to say bad things, Fang Er is the bad guy. He is so pure! Strongly promoting the intervention of the Three Laws Division can certainly collect evidence and make the killing of prisoners a solid case, but it is difficult to get rid of the suspicion of "framing". After all, Zhou Daowu bears the responsibility for the unfavorable Eastern Expedition. There are too many beneficiaries, even among the Three Laws Division. There are a lot of people out there, and smart people can see that Zhou Daowu is trying to get everyone involved. Even if the case is clean and true, how many people will believe it?
The consequences are too great.
But if according to what Fang Jun said, Zhou Daowu should be placed under house arrest first so that he has no chance to destroy the evidence, and then go straight to Liaodong to collect evidence one by one regardless of whether it exists or not. By then the evidence will be conclusive. Even the prince could not withstand the criticism and fierce public opinion from the government and the opposition. The case was extremely ironclad and Zhou Daowu would never be able to turn around.
Zhou Daowu glared angrily: I knew this guy was not a good guy! Fortunately, I was grateful just now, thinking that he was a broad-minded gentleman, but I was really blind!
How does this excuse me? According to Liu Jie's words, if he was imprisoned without any evidence, there might be some room for improvement. However, Fang Jun's actions clearly nailed the case and made it impossible for me to stand up forever...
So insidious!
The prince did not think so: in this way, the case was completely in his own hands. If he tightly grasped Zhou Daowu's handle, he could make him attach himself to the East Palace and not dare to betray him. Otherwise, if he cheated on him, he would be able to make him angry in an instant. Dang was imprisoned and ruined...
You have to be the second-in-command in handling affairs, and you are worthy of being a solitary humerus!
How could Fang Jun know what kind of thoughts this coward was thinking? He simply didn't want to get involved in this matter.
Seeing that Liu Jie did not object again, he looked at Zhou Daowu and asked, "Can't Governor Zhou send back even a single prisoner?"
Zhou Daowu cursed the insidious villain in his heart, but he did not dare to turn his face. After all, there was still some room for change. If he was angered, he advised the prince to search for evidence immediately, and everything would be over.
He could only answer in a muffled voice: "There are still more than 7,000 people left, but many of them are suffering from chilblains and need treatment. They are currently stationed outside Tongguan, waiting for the court to deal with them at any time."
It was said to be seven thousand, but it was definitely not there. He disliked that the prisoners suffered from frostbite and were consuming rice, food and medicine. He killed them one after another, leaving only the strongest ones to bring back and save the rice. Food and medicine have been sold through special channels, and the money has been pocketed...
Liu Jie clicked his tongue, shook his head and sighed: "Tens of tens of thousands of able-bodied prisoners were killed by the Zhou governor in one winter, and only a few thousand were left. Such cruelty and cruelty is truly rare and shocking in ancient and modern times! Your Highness, I suggest that the Three Laws Division be activated. Please intervene in this case, otherwise once word spreads, the consequences will be disastrous and may damage His Highness’s prestige.”
Zhou Daowu had a gloomy face and did not dare to speak. Since the crime he had committed had been completely handed over to the prince, why would he bother to make trouble with Liu Jie, a traitor?
Just think this guy is farting, it smells bad...
Li Chengqian glanced at Xiao Yu, who had been drinking tea silently, and ignored him.
Fang Jun first said to Liu Jie: "Currently, Chang'an is full of wastes both inside and outside. It is the time when Liu Shizhong is working hard to govern and serve the king. Why is he so chattering and confusing? Let the matter be handled by the 'Baiqisi'. You'd better not do anything else." You intervened to avoid outside suspicion that you were trying to interfere in military affairs and cause trouble out of thin air."
Liu Ji snorted and said nothing.
Now that Fang Jun is superior to him in terms of power, merit, and status, even if he is the prime minister of the dynasty, he does not dare to suppress Fang Jun. If he really angers this stick and encourages the military to express dissatisfaction, he will indeed be wrong. Good to step down.
After slapping Liu Ji, Fang Jun said to Zhou Daowu: "Please also ask Governor Zhou to sign a military order and transfer those prisoners to the supervision of Jingzhao Mansion. Now, in addition to repairing the damage in various parts of the city, Jingzhao Mansion still needs to prevent the people from dredging the river and strengthening the river. The embankment is short of manpower, so these prisoners should be put to good use to prevent us from doing too much corvee work and affecting people's livelihood."
He used the phrase "make the best use of everything", which shows that he did not regard the Goguryeo captives as human beings. The so-called "people who are not of my race must have different hearts". These barbarians who have never been bathed in Chinese culture are rebellious and treacherous in their bones, which is inconsistent with They are no different from wild beasts. If they are forcibly naturalized in the Tang Dynasty, they will suffer the consequences.
It's like some places in later generations have repeatedly elevated the status of black brothers for so-called political achievements and granted all kinds of incredible privileges. In fact, these guys have nothing but adding to social burdens, disrupting social security, and corrupting social morals.
Often when we realize this, it is easier to ask God than to send Him away.
There is no need to be too compassionate towards them, they don’t understand this either. What moral etiquette and repayment are worthless to them at all, as long as they can create corresponding value by treating them as consumables...
