The news of Yan Wen's dismissal as prime minister spread throughout the court and abroad. Although the ministers had expected it, they were not completely relieved until the emperor's decree came down.
Needless to say, the only person to succeed Yan Wen as second in command is Feng Xiang Nioyuan. Many people who wanted to advance took advantage of this opportunity to cling to the Liu Party and congratulate him on his victory. The latter also wanted to win people's hearts with this, so he ordered his confidants to entertain all the officials at his house to celebrate the success of eradicating the traitor Party. .
Compared with these idle officials, the chiefs of various ministries are obviously much busier, especially Gao Jizhi of the Ministry of Personnel. In addition to dealing with the documents sent by the Zhongshu Ministry, he also has to take care of Chen Tongpao who stays in Shandong and write letters to persuade him. Return as soon as possible, saying only that "there is a big change in the court" and keeping everything else secret. ,
Chen Tongpao got the letter and looked through it, and he knew that something happened to Yan Wen in the court. He immediately handed the letter to the two secretarial offices, who disapproved of it and refused to believe that the imperial court would stop the New Deal, so they insisted on staying in Jinan and refused to go back with him. Chen Tongpao didn't say anything. He waited for the two of them to leave, and then secretly discussed with the magistrate: "According to what Gao Shang said in his letter, Yan Shenzhen may have been dismissed. In this case, his old debts must be settled and he must be cleared." Party members. Those two clerks are the minions and confidants of Prime Minister Yan and must not be let go. After I leave, you can deploy troops to monitor the two of them. If you hear the exact information, arrest them quickly. Do not show mercy. ! Once we let them run away, you and I will be greatly blamed!" The prefect nodded solemnly and sent him out of the city.
The magistrate immediately followed Chen Tongpao's instructions and secretly placed several officers and soldiers in the government office, all dressed as ordinary government servants. They took turns patrolling in front of the guest rooms where the two secretarial offices lived, and spent no time idle. At the same time, he used the excuse that people in the outside world were disturbed. , dissuading the secretary not to go out and blocking news, which made the two of them fearful and deeply uneasy all day long. Within two days, the edict to remove Yan Wen came from the capital. The magistrate was so happy that he ordered people to lay down his men by the roadside and called two clerks to come and listen to the announcement. The two secretarial offices did not know that there was a scam and went calmly. The officers and soldiers seized the opportunity and rushed out halfway. They were tied up with hemp ropes and handed over to the prefect, who would be brought back to the capital for trial.
"You said it or not!"
In the prison of the Ministry of Punishment, the minister in charge of the interrogation roared angrily, and the loud noise of Xingmu echoed in everyone's ears.
"I've said enough..." Yan Liang was hung on the wall, his clothes were torn, revealing more than a dozen deep blood stains; he weakly opened his eyes and glanced at the notebook next to him where the notes were written. Jailer, "There is no one left..."
The minister was very dissatisfied. He curled his lips and asked the jailer: "Look, how many people did he mention?"
The jailer took out the list under the confession, read it for a while, and then reported: "There are a total of 126 people. After checking the description, there are 84 officials, all over the capital, prefectures and counties."
Shangshu turned around and cursed: "Your Yan family has been in charge of the government for many years, but you have focused on cultivating party members. It is really shameless! It is so deeply rooted that you will not be able to find out all the traitors. Since you don't know anything, I will be lenient. Please forgive me. You will not die. Come here and submit all the confessions and lists to the Zhongshu Province, and ask the Prime Minister to make a personal decision!"
The ministers and ministers in the hall all turned their eyes to Niu Yuan. When they saw him reading a confession, he sighed and frowned once, and then his sigh became heavier and his frown became deeper, looking extremely worried. The appearance of caring about the country and its people.
"Alas, alas... Everyone, please take a look." Niu Yuan reluctantly picked up the list and stretched out his hand, "As you all know, I, Niu Yuan, have always been a true-hearted person. I have always had nothing to say. What, there is no taboo. Although Prime Minister Yan and I have been colleagues for many years and have a deep friendship, who would have thought that he would be such a villain who only cares about the world for his own selfish interests. He is so secretive..."
"In this list, there are countless disciples, fellow villagers, relatives and friends, as well as people who have all kinds of contacts. And most of them can have an official position, so what are they if they are not cronies?"
"Mr. Niu, I think this statement is a bit arbitrary." When Niu Yuan spoke, Li Wenshou had already read through the list. "Yan Wen may have formed a party for personal gain, but he has presided over many spring palaces in the past. His disciples Naturally, there are not many. If this is used to prove that they are party members, I am afraid that it will not be able to stop Youyou's mouth. Moreover, there are many people from the same hometown, and they may not have met with them, so why should they be included in this list? The confession reported in the Ministry of Punishment is simply nonsense. , it should be called back for retrial!”
Niu Yuan immediately put away his sad face, and his expression revealed some displeasure. He rolled his eyes, coughed twice, and then managed to laugh: "Deputy Political Consultant Li is right. I don't want to affect innocent people." This person has brought disgrace to the court, so it is more important than anything else to find out everything. But the incident happened suddenly and the time left for us is very tight, so we are deeply troubled. It is better to kill Yan Wen, the traitor who brought trouble to the court first. Now, the gang members will disperse like birds and beasts, and the situation will calm down. What do you think?"
Li Wenshou was caught off guard by this move. Only then did he understand Niu Yuan's true purpose, and he tried his best to dissuade him: "Once Yan Wen resigned as prime minister, he was no longer harmful to the government. If he kills him again, wouldn't it be disturbing the situation?" Human heart? Besides, we don’t have a single piece of evidence that is enough to convict him of death.”
"Deputy Li joined politics, what benefits have you received from him, and now you are still speaking for him?" Niu Yuan finally couldn't hold back his anger. He said hurriedly, "If you want evidence of guilt, harming the country and the people is evidence of guilt. Let him die because of the New Deal. The officials and the people must pay with their lives!”
"Niu Fengxiang..."
"Stop talking," Niu Yuan interrupted, "This matter is not my decision. I have to ask Duke Liu for instructions. If you have a grievance to complain, just go to Duke Liu and see him Will the old man give you a good face?"
After that, he stood up directly and ordered outside: "The servants will take the sedan chair, and I will go to the Prime Minister's Mansion again!" Then he left without looking back, leaving Li Wenshou alone in full view of the public, very embarrassed.
Niu Yuan walked out of Zhongshu Province with his hands behind his back. He got on the sedan absentmindedly and urged the bearer: "Let's go!"
"Sir," the bearer of the sedan looked at the distance, glanced at the other person, then opened the curtain, bowed and smiled at him, "I dare to ask you to get off the sedan. This sedan... I can't walk now anyway. .”
"Why can't you leave?" Niu Yuan stamped his foot and opened his eyes angrily, "He Li Wenshou wants to deal with me, so you also want to run against me, right?"
"You don't dare think like this! It's just that the imperial troops in front are still blocking the way and refuse to leave. I'm afraid I can only leave if I ask you to come forward."
"Still blocking the road?" Niu Yuan stroked his beard, pondered for a moment, and actually smiled.
