Jinyang Palace is located to the north of Taiyuan City. In the third year of Emperor Xiaojing's reign in the Eastern Wei Dynasty, the powerful minister Gao Huan built the Prime Minister's Palace in Jinyang. At the same time as the city was built, Jinyang Palace was built as a summer resort. After the founding of the Northern Qi Dynasty, Taiyuan was made the capital of the Northern Qi Dynasty, and Jinyang Palace became an important palace of the Northern Qi Dynasty. Since then, due to the strategic needs of politics, military, cultural traditions, and economic transportation, Taiyuan city walls and palaces have been renovated many times. Extensions and alterations. Dee
In the ninth year of Emperor Kaihuang's reign, the Sui Dynasty and the Turkic Khanate were in a stalemate. At that time, Yang Jian saw that the Turkic Khanate was extremely powerful and worried that after the fall of Taiyuan, the Central Plains would lose its most important barrier, so he ordered the then King of Jin and the Grand Manager of Bingzhou. Yang Guang expanded Jinyang Palace and built a palace wall seven miles in circumference and four feet high outside Jinyang Palace, making it an important line of defense to defend against enemies in the north. It was originally named "Gongcheng", but Yang Jian changed its name to "Gongcheng". "New City" to distinguish it from the original Daming City.
By the 16th year of the founding of the Emperor, the Sui Dynasty was at the peak of its national power and had strong soldiers and horses. When it faced the Turkic Khanate again, it was already in a strong offensive position. In order to meet the logistical needs of attacking the Turkic Khanate, Yang Jian had Jinyang Cangcheng built to the west of Jinyang Palace. The city had a circumference of eight miles and a wall four feet high. Its east wall was connected to the west wall of the "New City" and stored Lots and lots of weapons and armor. In the decisive battle that took place in the 19th year of Emperor Kaihuang's reign, the main army of the Sui Dynasty was the one heading north from Bingzhou, and all military supplies were provided by Jinyang Cangcheng.
Due to the widespread drought in the north this year, even if official warehouses were opened to sell grain, the supply of grain exceeded demand, and grain prices remained high. Yang Guang ordered Bingzhou governor Dugu Kai to expand the Jinyang warehouse. Once completed, Jinyangcang will be the largest granary in the north and can store more grain. In this way, the army can not only prepare for food shortages, but also have sufficient military supplies when war suddenly breaks out.
Compared with the Cangcheng area, Jinyang Palace itself is not large, covering an area of only a few hundred acres. With the influx of a large number of officials accompanying the Northern Patrol, the office area is not enough. In order to allow everyone to have an official office, Yang Guang , the front half of the "Miyagi" was also demarcated, and his official study room only had a "small" one.
While Yang Guang and Yang Xiu were talking, a chamberlain ushered Gao Jue and Zhang Heng in. They bowed to Yang Guang and saluted: "Old minister, see the saint."
Yang Guang glanced at the two of them with some surprise and said, "Without courtesy, Mr. Gao and Mr. Zhang, please take a seat!"
"Thank you, saint." Gao Jun and Zhang Heng saluted, then bowed their hands to Yang Xiu before taking their seats. Dee
When they saw Yang Guang and Yang Xiu's faces looking a little ugly, they knew that Yang Xiu had told Yang Guang what happened at the council meeting. Gao Jiong pondered for a moment and sighed: "A proposal that benefits the country and the people has led to the resignation of central officials and ministers. This is not only surprising, but also saddening."
At this time, Yang Guang was already angry and angry, and seemed relatively calm. After hearing Gao Jiong's words, he said lightly: "The King of Shu has already told me, but I think this is more than just one thing. But two, or even three or four.”
"It's really three things! And everyone's starting point is different." Gao Jiong said calmly: "The first is that he is angry at King Wei for killing officials without permission; the second is that although King Wei's actions have gained a good reputation, they also reflect Because of the central committee's incompetence and inaction, everyone was very unhappy with King Wei's replacement. Thirdly, they were worried that the saint would thoroughly investigate all the charity warehouses in the world because of the major case in Youzhou. If the court investigated, it would definitely be from Youzhou and beyond. Starting from Jizhou in the south, after all, King Wei's actions in Youzhou may have spread throughout Jizhou by this time. However, those who have vested interests are afraid that their children will be captured by the imperial court, so they resign in protest."
After glancing at Yang Guang, Gao Yan continued: "The first is to uphold the dignity of the law and uphold the rules. This is public and is admirable. The latter two are private desires and are derisive."
"What Mr. Gao said is absolutely true!" Yang Guang nodded. Although he was extremely dissatisfied with Li Ziquan's idea of threatening him with resignation, he also knew that he had to use the power of the Shandong nobles to counter the increasingly restless Guanlong nobles, so He couldn't kill Li Ziquan just to vent his anger.
He pondered for a while and then said: "The famous families in Jizhou lost the decision-making power of the central government. The court was not satisfied with it. After Yang Liang's rebellion was put down, they were the biggest losers, and their dissatisfaction became stronger than before. At this time, the world The situation is extremely delicate. I don’t think the imperial court can carry out large-scale measures against Jizhou yet.
However, if we let it go and if we fail to comply with public opinion and conduct a thorough investigation of the charity warehouse, we will lose the support of the people. I wonder if Gao Gong and Zhang Gong have any strategy to sort out the officialdom of Jizhou without straining their muscles and bones! "
Hearing this, Gao Jiong and Zhang Heng were a little ashamed. Dee
What is Yang Guang's mentality now?
In short, what Yang Guang means is, "I don't want to pay the money, but I want the goods. What should you tell me?"
However, after all, Gao Jiong was one of the founding fathers who had been on the battlefield for a long time. He encountered countless dilemmas. Yang Guang's problem was not difficult for him. He just thought about it for a moment and came up with an idea.
He bowed his hands to Yang Guang and said, "Sage, this matter is actually not difficult. You might as well do it in two steps."
"Oh?" Yang Guang suddenly became energetic and asked hurriedly: "Mr. Gao, tell me, what are the two steps?"
"The first step is for the saint to issue an order, saying that the court will conduct a thorough investigation of the free warehouses in the world within a month. With this order, it will not only give an explanation to the people, but also give officials in various places a buffer time." Gao Jiong said. After completing the first step, he explained in detail: "This move seems to be a compromise with corrupt officials, but in fact it is not the case, because the problem of Youzhou Yicang is common all over the world. Once the order of the imperial court is issued, those who have stolen Grain officials must have tried their best to buy grain to fill the deficit; everyone is like this, how can there be so much grain on the market to fill the gap? They have no choice but to raise the prices one after another and desperately buy it from the private sector. In the end, the court's grain supply When we come back, the people have also made money, and if they cannot make up for it within the time limit, the court can take it down."
"In addition, there is another advantage, that is, each faction and each aristocratic family has a difference in kinship; the first righteousness they fill must be the righteousness controlled by the direct descendants and important figures, and then the collaterals, relatives, and peripheral forces. In this way, their relationship can be divided from within." Di
"If the imperial court can make use of those abandoned officials and create some public opinion, the people of the world will be able to see clearly the true colors of various factions and families. It may not be able to achieve immediate results, but it can also reduce the number of people joining them."
"It's really brilliant, but what about the second step? How to go?" As soon as Gao Jiong finished speaking, Yang Guang couldn't help but praise him.
Gao Jiong's method directly points to people's hearts. If he acts in accordance with the law and sets a time limit, those officials who resell the grain from the charity warehouse will definitely be panicked and will definitely regard the faction leaders as life-saving straw. However, the faction leaders have priorities. Once they put their own interests first If you are a close confidant, then the others must be extremely disappointed and desperate. Even if you complete your vision in the end, you still have a grudge against the faction leader, and you will no longer be as trusting and loyal as before. With additional operations, their relationship can be differentiated.
Gao Jing said: "Sage, when the late emperor was still alive, he learned the lessons from the officials and families of the previous dynasty who worked hard for their daughters and brought trouble to the countryside, and established officials to avoid the county system and the rotation system. However, due to various historical reasons and practical reasons , causing this law to be unenforceable in many places. Especially in Jizhou, there are still many officials serving as officials in this county, and they serve for more than ten years. This allows them to collude with their families and local wealthy families to form an unity of interests. Alliance! This is also the reason why the Shandong nobles are able to control the officialdom of Jizhou, why the officialdom of Jizhou is impregnable, and why Prime Minister Li is not afraid of the Holy Spirit's dismissal."
After explaining the reason, Gao Jun then talked about his second strategy: "The grain is abundant and heavy. When officials from various places purchase grain to fill the shortage, no matter how closely they conceal it, it is known. The inspection censor Seeing that the food was all available, it might not be possible to punish them for their crimes, but the imperial court could give them a warning based on their behavior of purchasing food and transfer them away from home. Then, on the grounds of preventing similar cases, they would be formally transferred to the county system and The rotation system is introduced to Jizhou. The people are worried about similar cases happening and will definitely support the court's policy."
"Even if the Shandong nobles in Jizhou object again, it will not help. Firstly, they are afraid that the court will investigate if they are wrong. Secondly, they do not have the support of the people, so they can only respond silently."
"After that, if the sage arranges officials who are loyal to the court and loyal to the sage, they will be able to dilute the influence of the Shandong gentry and break their control over the local officialdom of Jizhou." Di
Speaking of this, Gao Jiong suggested: "Of course, other states should do the same. This comprehensive promotion
It can not only break down the barriers that make it difficult to implement the avoidance system and rotation system, but also does not appear that the court is deliberately targeting a certain faction or force. "
Gao Jiong's two-step strategy gave Yang Guang a feeling of enlightenment. He knew that the major political factions and major aristocratic families were powerful largely because they centered on their traditional sphere of influence and gradually absorbed officials from around them for their own use. When these people entered the center or were transferred to other areas, other officials would The force will be stronger and able to drive more people.
The reason why Yang Jian created the avoidance system and rotation system was to break this rule. As long as the children of the aristocratic families are successfully transferred to distant places, they can take advantage of the inconvenience of communication to weaken the control of the major aristocratic families over the local area; the ensuing rotation system can not only cut off the peripheral influence of the major aristocratic families, but also strengthen the influence of the major aristocratic families to a certain extent. to prevent them from buying new officials with "unknown origins and unclear positions."
At the same time, supplemented by Ming Jing Ke, Xiu Cai Ke, and universal education, we can break the monopoly of officials from aristocratic families on officials and culture and education at the source. If you persist like this for more than ten or twenty years, the family will slowly go downhill.
It's just that although Yang Jian had a good idea, during the Kaihuang years, he focused everything on defeating the Turkic Khanate, and during the Renshou years, he focused on stability and transition, so he had to compromise with reality. This is what Gao Jiong said before. "Various historical reasons and practical reasons",
Compared with Yang Jian, Yang Guang now has no strong foreign enemies and is still very young. In addition, he has strong control over the world. He can completely implement the avoidance and rotation systems by relying on the general trend created by Yang Ji.
"This method is very good, let's do it like this!" Yang Guang had already made a decision in his heart. He thought that he was the emperor and it was not appropriate to end the situation personally, so he said, "Gong Gao and Duke Zhang will be responsible for this matter, and the King of Shu will assist. "Di
"I obey!" The three of them stood up and obeyed.
Yang Xiu and Yang Guang share the same interests and share weal and woe; Gao Jiong has become Yang Guang's person since he has eliminated all the noble families in the world; and Zhang Heng was Yang Guang's confidant before he became successful. Therefore, the three of them had no way out and could only advance and retreat together with Yang Guang.
After discussing this important matter, Yang Guang thought of Yang Ji, who had violated laws and regulations and was criticized a lot.
He pondered for a long time, and immediately had an idea in his mind. He raised his eyes to Zhang Heng and said, "Mr. Zhang, before doing this, you have to do two things first."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Heng immediately clasped his fists and saluted, and said with a solemn expression: "Sage, please show me!"
"King Wei is now the Shangshu Ling of Xingtai, Hebei Province, and the general manager of the march of Liaodong Road. Although he has the right to kill first and report later, he killed too many Youzhou officials. From a legal perspective, it cannot be justified." Yang Guang said very much. He said solemnly: "The first thing you have to do is to mobilize the Yushi Yanguan of Yushi Santai and try your best to impeach him."
"Huh?" Zhang Heng was stunned for a moment. Although Yang Ji was jealous of the killing of officials, his killing not only solved future troubles and calmed the people's hearts, but the people of Youzhou had no confidence in the imperial court and the royal family. Not only has my sense of trust not weakened, but it has grown to a higher level. In addition, he also carefully planned to catch all Goguryeo including Gao Jianwu and eliminate all the troubles. Dee
In terms of internal disputes, Yang Ji eliminated the Yuyang clan of the Yuan family and the Youzhou forces of the Yuan family, which Yang Guang regarded as his confidants, putting the Yuan family and the Yuan faction into a very dangerous predicament. So no matter from which aspect, Yang Ji has made great achievements and has no faults.
However, Yang Guang was fine with no reward. Instead, he asked himself to launch Yu Shi Santai to impeach Yang Ji.
How can this be?
"Mr. Zhang, just do it according to the law." Gao Jiong understood Yang Guang's good intentions and deeply admired Yang Guang's foresight.
This is because regardless of whether Yang Ji is right or wrong or what his intentions are, his illegal behavior cannot be erased. If Yang Guang, as the emperor, is indifferent, where is the law? How will we govern the country in the future?
What's more, in the following major actions such as thorough investigation of free warehouses, implementation of avoidance system and rotation system, the imperial court will definitely capture many illegal officials, which will definitely cause an uproar in the world; many forces and many aristocratic families will protect their own interests and safeguard the Faction officials will definitely take Yang Ji as an example.
If Yang Ji had not been punished, then Yang Guang would not be able to explain to the world and enforce the law impartially. In order to reshape a just image
, Yang Ji, who was at the forefront of the storm, could only be severely punished, but at this time, no matter how heavy the punishment was, it was not convincing, and it gave people a feeling of trying to cover up the truth. But Yang Guang wanted to punish Yang Ji immediately before that. No matter what others said in the future, it would be useless. Dee
The reason why Zhang Heng asked the Yushitai to impeach together was to create a momentum and let everyone in the world know that Yang Guang was a "selfless" emperor, and to let everyone in the world know that the Yushitai was indeed an institution that was not afraid of power.
In the end, the authority of the emperor and Yushitai was established, and Yang Ji was only lightly punished, while the severely damaged political forces and aristocratic families were not at fault.
It can be said that it achieves multiple things with one stone.
"I will do as you say! We will impeach King Wei tomorrow. Please give the next order, sage." Although Zhang Heng is not as intelligent as Gao Jun, he is not a simple person either. Once Gao Jun reminded him slightly, he immediately understood what Yang Guang meant.
"The second thing is related to Goguryeo." Yang Guang paused and said, "Gao Jianwu is Gao Yuan's younger brother. He is currently imprisoned in Zhuojun Prison. In addition, there are more than two thousand families from Goguryeo who are slowly moving towards I am the meticulous work of Sui Dynasty."
"Considering the seriousness of this case and the large number of people involved, I decided to let the Yushitai, Dali Temple, and the Ministry of Punishment jointly review it, and then make all the truth known to the world, and let the world know the ambitions of Goguryeo and the true face of the traitors."
For a moment, even Gao Jiong was shocked and secretly said, "The Yuan family is finished!" Dee
. . . . . . .
In the morning of the next day, Zhang Heng mobilized the Yushi Santai Yushi officials and launched a massive impeachment against Yang Ji: he impeached Yang Ji for abusing his power, committing suicide without permission, and killing many people; in addition, he impeached Yang Ji for using the army to arrest people from seven counties in Youzhou. County officials are suspected of using military force to interfere in government affairs... If they are not severely punished, the country will not be able to survive.
This massive impeachment by Yushitai shocked everyone in Taiyuan. Countless people applauded Zhang Heng's behavior of "not fearing power" and at the same time, they also felt cold sweat for him.
Yang Ji was not only the number one person under one person but above ten thousand people, and what he did was logically correct. In addition, he was also the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Route Army. No matter what aspect the emperor considered, it was impossible to punish Yang Ji. Maybe because of the war, Zhang Heng was punished to appease him. But the result was unexpected——
Although Yang Xiu, Xiao Jue and others argued vigorously for Yang Ji in the court, and in the end, even Yang Guang had to die in person, Zhang Heng refused to listen and insisted on his own ideas. Xue Daoheng, who didn't know the details, even quoted scriptures and argued plausibly.
Gao Jun also advised Yang Guang to focus on the overall situation and the law.
Helpless, Yang Guang had no choice but to tear his eyes and reluctantly remove him from the post of Minister of the Ministry of War of the Jiji Inspectorate and General Zuo Yiwei of the Inspectorate School. His military official was demoted from the second-rank general of the army to the third-rank champion general. The promoted and civilized officials were demoted from the second rank, You Guanglu Doctor, to the third rank, Jin Zi Guanglu Doctor. In addition, he shall be fined five years' salary. Dee
This punishment is not severe.
Only then did Zhang Heng, Xue Daoheng, Gao Jiong and other critics give up contentedly.
However, will this heavy penalty have any impact on Yang Ji's real power? Not at all!
At most, it's just a little less salary. But Yang Ji was so poor that he only had money, so how could he care about this?
Despite this, Yang Guang, who was worried about Yang Ji's misunderstanding, wrote a secret letter explaining his intention to punish him severely, and then asked the messenger sent by Yang Ji to take it back to Yang Ji.
