In the lobby of the Zhuojun Prefecture, Yang Ji gave Pei Ju the reply of "wait for the army and then ransack the house", then took the confession from Ling Jing and watched it.
The oral confession is very detailed. Due to geographical advantages, the Yuyang Clan of the Yuan Clan has always had business contacts with Goguryeo. This time, it was the Yuyang Clan of the Yuan Clan who contacted Goguryeo. The Yicang grain was resold to the Yuan clan, who then sold it to Goguryeo, which was in short supply of food, thus earning nearly ten times the huge profit.
In fact, Yang Ji also heard about the dirty things that existed in official warehouses and free warehouses all over the world, because as early as the Renshou period, Zhang Jun and Yuan Shan of Liangzhou took advantage of their power to join forces to conquer Lintao County. , Tianshui County's official rations and military rations were sold to Tuyuhun, and he made huge profits from it. This incident aroused Yang Jian's rage. He ordered a vigorous and thorough investigation of the official warehouses and military warehouses of all counties and counties in the world, and finally killed him. , arrested a large number of lawless generals.
In Yang Guang's time, he founded the Censor Santai and expanded the Censor's establishment. The existence of a large team of censors and the strict laws that have been investigated for twenty years have made local officials no longer dare to attack official warehouses and military warehouses. However, despite this, the censors were investigating the process of secret visits , from time to time, we catch the worms in the officialdom and bring them to justice. However, since official warehouses and military warehouses have become one of the key targets of the censors, local officials no longer dare to attack these two major sectors; instead, they start targeting free warehouses that are scattered all over the country and are not strictly managed.
They generally regard the charity warehouse as their own warehouse and the grain in the charity warehouse as profit-making capital. Their method is to resell it during the lean season and the grain price is high, and then buy back the amount when the new grain is on the market and the grain price is low. , earn the middle price difference. Although the price difference between one stone and one bucket is relatively small, if the quantity of grain sold is large, you can still make a huge profit.
Regarding this unwritten and ubiquitous unspoken rule, the imperial court and Yushi Santai generally turned a blind eye: this is because although local officials made money through their actions, they renovated the grain of the Yicang, and also made money. It solves the local food shortage problem and solves the court's worries without alarming the court; therefore, as long as the local officials do not do too much, the selling price is not too high, and the goods are returned to the warehouse in time afterwards, it is considered The censor would not deliberately look for any flaws in it.
But it is unheard of and unprecedented for someone to do something as decisive and thorough as Youzhou. They actually emptied all the charity warehouses in seven counties. How greedy is this? How unscrupulous?
The original intention of Yang Ji and Yang Guang was actually to kick the Yuyang clan and the Yuan faction out of Youzhou, thereby creating "fighting opportunities" for the major political factions to deal with the Yuan faction. The more intense their fight and the stiffer the relationship, the more corrupt officials will be dug out, and the more powerful families will be removed by the royal family. Cheng can be said to achieve multiple things with one stone. Unexpectedly, as things unfolded, such a "big melon" was discovered, and the officialdom of Youzhou showed corruption in a collapsing manner.
Faced with this unimaginable result, Yang Ji also felt very troubled and had a headache. After all, he was about to go to war with Goguryeo, which had a strong army and many generals. He now needed a very stable rear area. If a thorough investigation continued, the rear area would be in chaos. But if Yang Ji is left alone and does not investigate or deal with it, then Yang Ji himself is not willing to do so; the key is that he cannot explain it to the people. Once the people know that the charity warehouse has been emptied, they will definitely become angry, rise up in opposition, and even attack the government. If In this way, the rear area will be more chaotic, and his situation in the front will be even worse.
The dilemma Yang Ji faces now is actually a problem encountered by the marching general manager who "airborne" to a certain place. The marching general manager focuses on defeating the enemy and generally chooses not to investigate or deal with it. As long as local officials Assuring that there would be no chaos in the rear while he fought, he warned the local officials and that was it.
If the people find that the fruits of their labor have been taken away and rise up in anger to resist, the local officials will not be worried, but will be ecstatic and get what they want. Then they will not hesitate to use force to suppress them. At least, they will define the people as gathering to make trouble; Then they respond to the enemy and rebel, and then use the heads of the common people to claim credit and reward. They can easily obtain great achievements and promotions. As for whether the court and the emperor lose the support of the people because of this, they don't care, don't care, and don't care.
But Yang Ji was different from those marching generals. He was a prince of the Sui Dynasty, and his relationship with the emperor and the people was both glory and humiliation. How could he choose not to listen to his subordinates and not deal with it?
】
At this moment, there was only a "pop" sound, and Yang Ji glanced at it, but it was Zhang Zhongchuang, a civil servant, who came to the front and knelt down. Zhang Zhong is Zhang Jin's nephew. He is only 29 years old this year. He has never experienced ups and downs, winds and waves in his whole life. Under this deadly silence and solemn atmosphere, he finally collapsed.
However, he also knew the grievances between Yang Ji and the Guanlong nobles, and knew that the other party would not let him go, so he knelt down in front of Pei Ju, kowtowed and begged: "Prime Minister Pei, the prisoner is a descendant of the Zhang family of Guanlong. , if Prime Minister Pei can let the offending officer go, there will be retribution."
"The Zhang family is not short of money and food, and it is not short of land. If you had known about this, why did you do it in the first place? At this time, are you still lucky?" Pei Ju shook his head secretly. This boy looks like a dog. It was really stupid. He continued: "At this moment, the eyes of the whole world are in the north, and the eyes of the entire court are focused on the Liaodong Campaign. Not to mention local officials like you, even if it is replaced by King Wei and me Officials can only accept the trial of the court and the sanctions of the law."
"How could this be so?" Zhang Zhong was so frightened that he shuddered. He was just reselling grain from the charity warehouse, and it was not a conspiracy to usurp the throne. How could it have reached the point where Yang Ji and Pei Ju would also be punished by law?
Pei Ju shook his head. He really had convinced this idiot. His eyes passed directly over Zhang Zhong who was lying on the ground, and he said to the officials who were looking down and were about to beg for mercy: "You guys, listen to my advice now. Explain everything clearly and quickly, and strive for the opportunity to make amends and change your past, otherwise, you will definitely die!"
Ever since Yang Guang divided the Northern Patrol Army into three, the imperial court, both inside and outside the court, had realized that the Great Sui Dynasty and Goguryeo were about to fight. Among the three armies, the East Route Army led by Yang Ji undoubtedly received the most attention. Compared with this, even the Central Route Army headed by Yang Guang has been ignored by people, let alone the West Route Army headed by Duan Wenzhen.
Although the actions of the group of people in front of them are no different from betraying the country and the enemy, they are not without opportunities to make amends. If they immediately try to make up for the food they sold off when the news of the Eastern Route Army's food shortage comes out, Everything is easy to say. But now... he and Yang Ji were restricted by the general trend and background that attracted world attention, so even if they wanted to let these people go, they couldn't.
In the following battle, if the Sui army does not progress smoothly or fails, he and Yang Ji can completely throw all the blame on this group of people. Afterwards, not only they themselves, but also the families behind them will also Be severely punished.
The above truth is understood by the senior officials of all major aristocratic families; once those senior officials who acquiesce or encourage their corruption and bribery know that they have been discovered and arrested by Yang Ji, they will clean up the family as soon as possible and abandon them without hesitation.
Therefore, whether in public or private, whether it is the court or their own family, they must be executed. Therefore, when their group of chess pieces were discovered, the outcome was already determined and they were certain to die. There was no way to survive at all.
The so-called "paying off merit for crime" and reforming one's past are just methods commonly used by divorced persons in order to get married as soon as possible.
"You have also heard what Prime Minister Pei said. You should reflect here tonight and confess the sins you have committed!" Yang Ji thought that these people are Youzhou officials. If they are all killed or killed, After being imprisoned, the government offices at all levels in Youzhou were paralyzed, so he said calmly: "Tomorrow morning, you can work here! I hope you will cherish this opportunity."
Pei Ju was stunned for a moment, but then he understood Yang Ji's sinister intentions. Seeing the surprised and happy expressions of the living dead below, I couldn't help but feel a moment of silence for them.
"Thank you so much, Your Majesty, for giving us the opportunity to make a difference!" Liu Wu, Zhang Zhong and others cried with joy and thanked them one after another.
"Prefect Xue!" Yang Ji ignored them and ordered to Xue Shixiong: "Immediately send someone to the state capital and bring all the official documents and items to the county government. All future official documents will be sent here. Tell the outside world. During the war, the forces of the two governments should not be dispersed, so they were concentrated in the county government."
"Yes!" Xue Shixiong responded, and suddenly thought of something again, and asked quickly: "Your Majesty, the entourage of the officials are still waiting outside, how should we deal with this?"
"Let them go back to their respective homes!" Yang Ji pondered for a while and then said: "The current situation is complicated and serious. Duke Pei and I require that every official must work at the county government day and night before the battle is over. They Just send some changes of clothes to your master tomorrow; there is no need to come and wait in the future. In addition, let someone find a few boxes, pack these corpses, and find a place to put them."
"Here!" Xue Shixiong accepted the order with his hands raised.
"Zhang Huibao!" Yang Ji turned his attention to Zhang Huibao, the governor of Zhuo County. This man was the son of the late Zhang Jiong, Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Since his father was a direct descendant of Yang Guang, he inherited his father's knowledge and integrity. Feng, so when he finished his filial piety, Yang Guang immediately appointed him as the governor of Zhuo County. Before Yang Ji separated from Yang Guang in Daxing City, Yang Guang specifically mentioned Zhang Huibao and asked him to take care of him.
However, Yang Ji didn't know what this person's abilities were, so when he was in Jizhou, he got to know Zhang Huibao through Xue Shixiong and knew that this person was upright, loyal, and capable. Thinking that Shi Yuanhongli, the governor of Youzhou who stayed behind, had been beheaded, and the Youzhou capital could not live without someone in charge, he decided to give him a chance.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Huibao came out of the queue and bowed to Yang Ji: "This is my humble duty."
Yang Ji said to him: "Now the capital of Youzhou cannot be without someone in charge. From now on, you will also be in charge of the post of governor and exercise the power of governor."
Zhang Huibao was stunned for a moment, then saluted excitedly: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness."
Yang Ji nodded and said: "The saint appreciates you very much and gives you some opportunities. This is why I gave you this position and power. I hope you will not let down the saint and not lose your father's virtuous name and reputation." .”
Zhang Huibao never dreamed that the saint would be so affectionate and nostalgic. When he heard Yang Ji's words, he suddenly had mixed feelings and tears in his eyes. He bowed to the ground and promised with a trembling voice: "I will definitely live up to the high expectations of the saint and the king."
Yang Ji looked at the hourglass and found that it was getting late, so he announced the adjournment of the meeting.
