With the end of the court meeting, the news of the court's severe punishment of Yang Ji spread like wildfire, and quickly spread around Taiyuan County with Jinyang Palace as the center. When people knew that the reasons for Yang Ji's severe punishment were revealed one by one, the military and civilians were instantly aroused. There was an uproar.杝
The court's explanation was that everything should be based on the law, and no one should go beyond the law. Although the corrupt officials in Youzhou really deserved to be killed, Yang Ji killed them casually without being interrogated and convicted by the court. Then, What he did was a violation of the law and he should be punished by the law. If the imperial court had set a precedent of being open-minded to Yang Ji, how would the law restrict officials in the future? How to ensure the safety of the people?
However, although the legal principles are correct, the soldiers and civilians in Taiyuan simply cannot accept it.
If Yang Ji is a cruel official like Yan Rong and Yuan Hongsi, no matter how the court punishes him, everyone will accept it. But not Yang Ji.
The reason why he went on a killing spree in Youzhou was simply because corrupt officials were illegal, traitorous to the country and seeking glory, and cheated on others. If he didn't kill people who had forgotten their ancestors, how could they continue to cause harm to the hometown and to foreign countries? And for Yang Ji, a good official who serves the country and the people, the court will severely punish him. Who will dare to stand up for the people in the future? However, no matter how much the soldiers and civilians objected and howled, they could not wake up the small group of people who pretended to be asleep in Jinyang Palace.
But what they don't know is that a small group of them are more depressed and angry than they are - this is because most of the ministers from aristocratic families have already reached a tacit agreement when dealing with Yang Ji, as long as there is someone They would never let go of the opportunity to suppress Yang Ji, and they would naturally stick together. It is a pity that although Yang Ji is extremely arrogant, he has no political stain at all, and after reaching his height, he is not like other people who stain themselves, so no matter how hard everyone digs, they can't find any black spots about Yang Ji.
Now we finally have a chance to kill Yang Ji. Who would have thought that before they took formal action, those bastards from Yushitai who had already been exposed would impeach Yang Ji first, even though Yang Ji did lose the title of Minister of the Military Academy. He holds the two positions of Vice Minister and Inspector Zuo Yiwei General; his Wusanguan was demoted from the second-rank Zhenjun General to the third-rank Champion General, and his Wensanguan was demoted from the second-rank Youguanglu Doctor to the third-rank Jin Doctor Ziguanglu. But it was far from making up for Yang Ji's mistakes.
If it were them who were in charge, even if Yang Ji survived, his Shangshu Ling, Liangzhou Mu, and General You Yiwei would also be lost. However, now, Yang Ji has been "heavily punished", which means that the matter has been overturned. Whoever dares to mention it again in the future will become suspicious of the emperor, provoke the imperial power, and think that the emperor is unfair and unclear about rewards and punishments.杝
. . . . . .
Just as the military and civilians in Taiyuan were discussing, more than 20 tough guards escorted Li Ziquan's carriage and stopped in front of the Wang Family Mansion in Taiyuan.
Although the Taiyuan Wang family was also one of the five surnames and seven clans, the Taiyuan Wang family was quite weak in the Sui Dynasty: First, Wang Gui, an important figure in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, reminded Emperor Wu of the Zhou Dynasty many times that Yuwen Yun had poor moral character out of consideration for the future of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. He was unworthy of inheriting the throne and taking charge of the government; he not only suggested that Emperor Wu of Zhou establish a new heir, but also tried to kill Yuwen Yun's father-in-law Yang Jian many times. After he failed to kill him politically, he made Yang Zan, who was the consort of Princess Shunyang at the time, a friend. In addition, He also let Princess Shunyang and Dugu Jialuo continue to create conflicts, so as to continuously drive a wedge between the Yang brothers.
When the time came, Wang Gui encouraged the more timid Yang Zan to kill Yang Jian on the grounds that Yang Jian would definitely bring disaster to the Yang family. However, although Wang Gui had a good idea, he made the wrong mistake that he was entrusted to. He never dreamed that He Ruobi, whom he trusted the most, was actually Yu Wenyun's man, so everything was learned by Yu Wenyun and Yang Jian. When Yang Jian accepted the abdication and became emperor, although he did not blame his younger brother and was very tolerant of the couple, he was extremely unhappy with the Wang family.
Second, Wang Ku of the Wang family was one of Yang Liang's plotters. Under Wang Ku's instigation, the Wang family strongly supported Yang Liang's rebellion, which aroused Yang Guang's disgust.
To this day, although they have a good reputation among the people and scholars, they have very little official power. This has also resulted in the Wang family being unable to form a powerful interest group, nor having enough appeal and influence to make officials effective. If others wanted to join a certain clan, their first choice would be the Guanlong nobles, followed by the prosperous Boling Cui family, Qinghe Cui family, Zhaojun Li family, and Longxi Li family, rather than the declining Wang family.
although
In this way, the Li family and the Wang family still have a close relationship. Wang Bing, the head of the Wang family, heard that Li Ziquan was visiting and personally welcomed him out. He laughed loudly from afar, clasped his hands and said, "Dear guest! Prime Minister Li has made my house shine.杝
Wang Bingnian is nearly seventy years old, his hair is already graying, and his half-open eyes are shining with the light of vicissitudes of life, and you can tell at a glance that he is not an ordinary person. Next to him was a man about forty years old. This man had fair skin, clear eyes, and a short beard. He was wearing a Confucian robe and a hair crown, and he looked quite elegant. This was Wang Bing's son. The brother-in-law of Wang Yu and Li Yuan, and also the heir to the Wang family.
Li Ziquan took a few steps forward and saluted Wang Bingshen: "I didn't make an appointment beforehand, so I feel uneasy. I hope Brother Shi will forgive me."
In ancient times, nobles had many taboos when visiting their homes. They would usually send someone to send a greeting card in advance. If the host accepted it, he could come at the appointed time, which would be convenient for everyone. Li Ziquan came for an impromptu visit, so he said, "I didn't make an appointment in advance, so I felt uneasy."
However, even though he has come, the Wang family must give him a grand reception out of etiquette, and a grand reception is of high standard: for example, opening the gate, having all the clan members come out to greet him, and then inviting him into the main hall, etc., but this is only a grand reception in terms of etiquette. , some official and official colors.
The second way of reception is to pay attention to the purpose of the visit. There is no need to open the door or the whole clan to greet the visitor. Instead, the visitor is invited into the study one-on-one to talk. The study is usually a place where men cultivate their minds and keep confidential documents. People are not allowed to enter easily. If guests are invited into the study. It reflects the close relationship between the two parties and the importance the host attaches to the guests.
Wang Bing was undoubtedly the latter. He knew that Li Ziquan, as a prime minister with a lot of things going on, would definitely not be as simple as chatting with him and reminiscing about old times.
The three of them entered the study and sat down. A maid served them tea and then withdrew, leaving only the three of them in the study.杝
"I haven't seen you for so many years. I'm glad that my brother is still so healthy and strong!" Li Ziquan looked at Wang Bingyan, who was blushing, and said with a smile.
Wang Bing and Li Ziquan had ancestors, and he was the oldest among the heads of the five surnames and seven sects. He was talented, a great Confucian far superior to Wang Xiaotong, and had a very high reputation among the scholars. Moreover, during the transition period between the Zhou and Sui Dynasties, he served for several months as Nayan (then known as Shizhong) and the general manager of Xiangzhou under the Sui Dynasty. After his resignation, he also held the title of honorary officer of Shangzhu State and Duke of Taiyuan. Hearing this, he chuckled and said, "I am getting older after all, and I am no longer capable of doing anything... Changhong, I have met your Uncle Li."
By saying "uncle" instead of "uncle", Wang Bing invisibly brought the relationship between the two parties closer.
"My nephew Changhong pays homage to his uncle!" Wang Yu stood up and saluted with meticulous and neat etiquette.
Li Ziquan also knew Wang Yu, but his behavior of following his elders to the study and taking a seat in the study, as well as Wang Bing's solemn introduction, made Li Ziquan think of something. He bowed slightly to reciprocate the courtesy, then turned to Wang Bing and said, "Brother, Chang Hongying is so powerful and magnanimous that he is not a creature of the pond. There is a successor to the Wang family!" After that, he tested again! Then he asked: "From what my brother said, are you planning to pass the throne to your nephew?"
"That's true!" Wang Bing nodded and sighed: "A few years ago, the Presbyterian Council agreed that Changhong would be the next head of the family, but after all, he lacked experience and rashly passed the family head to him. It was not a good thing, so he I have been handling family affairs for several years. Now, I am barely qualified to be the head of the family."
"As for me! After all, I am old and my energy is not as good as before. If I continue to steal the position of the head of the family, it will not be a good thing for the family inheritance, and it will not be conducive to the growth of Chang Hong, so I decided to step down and hand over the position of the head of the family to In the future, he will make fewer mistakes with me as my guide."
Li Ziquan was silent when he heard the words. In fact, he knew the situation and many things of the Wang family in Taiyuan. The Wang family mainly wanted to kill two emperors of the Sui Dynasty, which led to the disappearance of official power. Among them, Wang Bing, the head of the family, must bear at least 80% of the responsibility, because he lost the bet twice, and his losses were worse each time.
Although Yang Guang ascended the throne as the emperor, although he did not do anything to the Wang family, when he liquidated Yang Liang, he uprooted the official power of the Wang family.
As his mind whirled, he smiled and said: "Family inheritance has always been the top priority of our noble clan. My younger brother is very interested in the noble inheritance.
I have admired Cheng Zhili for a long time. When the time comes, I hope that my elder brother will send a post to my younger brother. "
Wang and his son were overjoyed when they heard this. Wang Bing laughed loudly and said, "Definitely, definitely!"
The grand family of a large family always passes the family head to the "prince" when the head of the family is old. The purpose is what Wang Bing said, "the old head of the house can provide guidance, and the new head of the house will make less mistakes and take less detours." After his death, the new head of the family was able to take charge of his own affairs.
Whenever there is a transition between the old and the new, the aristocratic families will invite relatives and friends to watch the ceremony, firstly to invite everyone to witness, and secondly to show their strength and connections to the outside world; for a behemoth like the Wang family, they need guests for banquets and disciples who come to celebrate the old days. There will definitely be many. But the troublesome thing is that there are no big figures in the Wang family who can control the situation. If they can't even invite an important dignitary, then although the handover ceremony they hold will not become a laughing stock, it will also make people feel that the Wang family Decline is a foregone conclusion. They no longer regard the Wang family as a top family and no longer choose to join the Wang family.
As the prime minister of the Sui Dynasty, Li Ziquan, if he could come to watch the ceremony in person, the Wang family's situation and influence would be stabilized, but at the same time, it would also mean that the Wang family owed Li Ziquan a huge favor.杝
Li Ziquan smiled and said, "I'm looking forward to it very much!"
Wang Bing laughed loudly and said: "Our two families are in the same spirit, we are not outsiders, so we don't have to mince words when talking...I guess my brother's visit has something to do with Youzhou and King Wei?"
Li Ziquan said: "Brother's insight! It is related to what happened in Youzhou, but the matter is not as simple as just Youzhou."
In fact, whether it is Li Ziquan, Pei Ju, Su Wei or others, they are not the kind of people who only pursue family interests. If personal and family interests are not involved, they will actively do their best for the Sui Dynasty. However, if there is a conflict between the interests of the Sui Dynasty and the interests of the family, the balance in their hearts will naturally favor their own family and the faction to which their family belongs.
Both Zhaojun Li and Taiyuan King have a history of nearly a thousand years, and they have gone through countless dynasties. In their eyes, any dynasty or regime is just a stop in family history, so they always hold the concept that the interests of the court are short-lived and the interests of the family are eternal. But this time, Li Ziquan is not just here for the family's interests.
He took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, and then said to Wang Bing: "Brother is not in the court, there are some things that cannot be obtained immediately; and as far as I know, Tuoba Cheng, the prefect of Hejian County in Jizhou, was also guarded. The king has taken it, and he and the officials from Hejian County are being escorted to Taiyuan."
Wang Bing had a sister who married into the Yuan family and received the royal title of Lord Qi during the Northern Zhou Dynasty. However, the Yuan family always maintained the surname Tuoba, and the Tuoba Cheng mentioned by Li Ziquan was Wang Bing's nephew, Wang Yu 's cousin. This news shocked the Wang family and his son. Wang Bing quickly asked: "Brother, is Tuo Bacheng also involved in the Yicang grain case in Youzhou?"
"It should be!" Li Ziquan said: "The confessions and evidence sent by King Wei said that the officials of Qingwan County in Hejian, which borders Jizhou, embezzled 50,000 shi of yigang grain, and the officials of Min County embezzled 37,000 shi of yigang grain. Officials in Liang and Wen'an counties embezzled more than 60,000 shi from ink. Although there is no news from other counties, the amount of grain that these three counties embezzled was 150,000 to 60,000 shi. As their boss and a descendant of the Yuan family, Tuoba Cheng, if he did not If you get a piece of the pie, no one will believe it.”
Hejian County was formerly known as Yingzhou and was the thirteenth county. As early as the third year of Emperor Kaihuang's reign, the imperial court required Hejian to use the "Da Suo Mao Yue" proposed by Gao Jiong to check household registrations and identify illegal households based on their appearance, so that the number of households in Hejian could be increased. There were 173,883 households, and today the number has increased to more than 200,000. It is one of the rare Shangshang counties in the Sui Dynasty. ["Sui Shu·Zhi"]
Hejian as a whole shows a pattern of narrow from north to south and wide from east to west. It was also a major grain-producing county in the Sui Dynasty; it borders Shanggu and Zhuojun in Youzhou to the north, and is close to the sea to the east. Since the Yuan family stole seven of Youzhou's How could we not consider Hejian, a major grain-producing county, for the grain in the county warehouse? How could it be possible not to consider Tuoba Cheng, a member of the Yuan family?
As for the governor Tuoba Cheng, he is a member of the Yuan family after all. If the Yuan family gives him an order and gives him some appropriate benefits, he will definitely do things according to the Yuan family's wishes for the sake of profit and to gain the attention of the Yuan family.
"If the evidence
Indeed, that would be troublesome. Wang Yu said worriedly when he saw his father was silent.
"Of course there is evidence, but it is one thing to have evidence, and another thing to decide whether to convict or not." Li Ziquan glanced at Wang Yu and said directly to Wang Bing: "Brother, the extent to which the saint trusts King Wei will The prince, the king of Qi, and the king of Shu combined were not as good as him. Even if King Wei stabbed the sky down, the saint would not punish him. However, King Wei was obviously right this time, but the saint complied with Yushitai's impeachment and punished him. King Wei is here to punish you severely!"
"Nowadays, many people think that the saint is preparing to imitate the late emperor and establish an image of an emperor who is selfless and clear in rewards and punishments. However, King Wei has a high position and has made a big mistake at this time. Therefore, using King Wei to kill chickens and scare monkeys is undoubtedly the best way to quickly establish prestige. The best way."
"Isn't it?" Wang Bing had been away from the court for too long and didn't know much about the inside story of the court. He also believed that Yang Guang punished Yang Ji to scare the monkeys. Yang Guang now captures people like Yang Ji and punishes them severely. Everyone in the world can see his decisive and selfless image of killing.
Even Yang Ji is like this. Who dares to disrespect or disobey in the future?
"Indeed, but it is definitely not the point!" Li Ziquan said in a deep voice: "I think the saint has two purposes: one is to protect King Wei, he has punished King Wei now, and the matter is over. The other is to clean up the officialdom. Be prepared. After all, the sage could not even deal with King Wei. He suddenly gained "justice". When he punished corrupt officials in accordance with the law, no matter how severe the punishment was, others would have nothing to say. "
"The first point I mentioned must have been noticed by many officials. But the second point, most of them are not aware of it."
After glancing at Wang Bing, Li Ziquan said as if he was seeing a dagger: "If the saint goes about his business, Tuoba Cheng will definitely die!"
