The land division of Tianshui County is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, extremely irregular, roughly showing the shape of ")". It surrounds Longxi County in the west; the whole county includes Shanggui, Jicheng, Qingshui, Qinling, Longcheng, Chengdu Jiliu County, Shanggui County is located in the middle and on the north bank of the Weishui River; Chengji County is located at the top of ")". 【Error correction】
The Wating River (Hulu River) located in Tianshui County is one of the main tributaries of the Weishui River. It flows southward from Chengji County and merges into the Weishui River northwest of Shanggui City. The main north-south main road in Tianshui County is It is built along the Wating River.
The next morning, hundreds of prison cars and carriages formed a convoy and walked out of Chengji City. Under the escort of groups of soldiers, they drove slowly southeast along the official road like a long dragon.
When the people in the city heard that something had happened to Li and that he was about to be escorted to Beijing, they went out early in the morning in the heavy snow and stood on both sides of the road decorated with lights to watch the procession of "criminals."
Speaking of which, the people in the city not only have no ill feelings toward the Li family in Longxi, but are actually grateful from the bottom of their hearts.
Although it is said that the Li family used very bloody force to conquer the original capital accumulation, the Li family had completed the accumulation of capital hundreds of years ago. Once they were firmly established in Chengji County, they worked hard to consolidate their foundation and accumulate reputation, and began to pursue strategies to benefit the people, such as not increasing taxes in good years and donating money and food in bad years.
Under Li's strategy, whenever the people in this county and nearby areas encounter difficulties that they cannot overcome, they basically have a way to seek help and a way to survive; and in the war years, the Li family in Longxi became a shield for the people. big tree. Therefore, to this day, the people of this county have basically benefited from the Li family.
At this time, seeing the direct descendants of the Li family being taken away one by one in prison cars, some people felt that their world had collapsed. Their minds went blank, and they were even more confused about the future. However, the government had posted a notice yesterday, explaining Li's sins in detail. When the people saw that Li had lost their righteousness, they naturally could not say anything.
If the imperial court throws the Li family into a prison car for no reason, even if the people dare not rush into the government or rush into the prison car team, they will definitely ask the government to come up with a convincing explanation; if they cannot come up with it, these will be deeply affected by Li family The people of Enhui must be very dissatisfied and want an explanation.
In front of the Li Mansion, Li Heng watched the last carriage and prison car go away, raised his eyes to look at Yang Ji beside him, and said with some meaning: "It's snowing heavily and it's freezing cold. Will he die suddenly on the way?" "
"It certainly won't happen here. After all, no one would dare to do anything wrong without a clear interrogation." Yang Ji knew that the so-called "violent death" was actually a common tactic used by officials in the past dynasties to kill their opponents silently: whenever a minister's head fell to the ground, other officials would be killed. Families who were enslaved and exiled to the frontier were either driven away in herds like cattle and sheep, or put on prison cars. In order to eliminate the roots and avoid future troubles, their opponents usually bribed the escorting officials.
After receiving the benefits, the officials would either deny the prisoners water, food, or clothing, causing them to die of thirst, starvation, or freezing; or they would cause an accident, causing the prison car to fall into a cliff or a turbulent river; I encountered the so-called "bandits" who were murderous.
There are also some officials who deliberately let the prison car run on the uneven road. As the prison car bumped along the way, the prisoners' necks were naturally torn by the big shackles. The prisoners' necks were naturally worn out by the big shackles. They walked so bumpyly and blood flowed all the way. After walking for a long time, they would naturally die. In addition, there are many, many methods... If the court pursues the case, the prisoners will die either normally or accidentally. Therefore, many prisoners would rather be stabbed to death than be tortured to death by officers on the way.
The methods used by the officials against Lin Chong in "Water Margin" are actually the most unskilled and stupid methods; because once someone inquires or reverses the case, the two officials will undoubtedly die, so any official with a little bit of brains will Won't do that.
Regarding the above-mentioned "violent deaths" and "accidents", let alone Yang Ji, even Yang Guang could not cure them.
As for the various "cultures" and "customs" in prisons, they still exist in civilized society, let alone now?
"I think so!" Li Heng just mentioned it. After hearing Yang Ji's words, he stopped talking about this heavy topic. Instead, he sighed and said goodbye to Yang Ji: "I brought my grandson here to wish me a happy birthday." Shou, but I didn’t expect to encounter such a thing. It’s getting late, so I won’t disturb the king anymore.”
"Mr. Li, let's go slowly." Yang Ji watched Li Heng board the car and leave, then turned back into Li's house and walked towards the main hall.
In the main hall at this moment, in addition to Jincheng prefect Fang Gongyi, Jincheng lord Bo Ouyang Xun, Wuhan prefect and general manager Zhang Shou, Huining prefect Guo Xuan, Lintao prefect Zhou Faming; there are also Tianshui prefect Wen Yanhong, Tianshui chief historian Yu Zhining, Longxi Prefect Liu Changgong, Prefect of Hanyang Yang Xuanjie and others. When they saw Yang Ji coming back, they all stood up and saluted: "See you, Your Majesty."
"No courtesy!" Yang Ji sat at the top of the list. From a glance, they were mainly officials. The rest were all people who were close to Li and had a certain status. They were obviously waiting for the news. , Li Jiancheng and Li Yuan, who came to celebrate his birthday, were also sitting at the bottom.
These people without official positions are much more responsible and smarter than the Dou Gui father and son who "fleeed" and "didn't understand" the world. Dou Gui and his son were afraid of being implicated yesterday, so they left immediately before the truth came out. Their behavior not only offended Li's relatives and the Li family who might "come back", but also gave people the illusion of fleeing in fear of crime. At the same time, it also allowed the representatives of the major sects to see clearly the Dou family. And if he is guilty, where can he go?
Therefore, the escape of Dou and his son was really not worth the gain. In contrast to them, these people who did not run away gave people a feeling of magnanimity and unafraid of investigation.
As for the Li family's children, not all of them were taken away. There are still a few important members here to cooperate with the government's investigation. The leader of them is named Li Wei.
Li Wei's grandfather, Li Yuan, was one of the twelve generals of the Western Wei Dynasty. In the first year of Emperor Xiaomin's reign, Li Yuan, along with several of his sons, was forced to commit suicide by Yuwen Hu because he was implicated by his son Li Zhi. Yu Wenyong assumed power, vindicated Li Yuan, and posthumously awarded him the title of Taibao and the posthumous title of Zhong. At the beginning of the Sui Dynasty, Yang Jian posthumously gave Li Yuan the title of Duke of Shangzhu Kingdom and Li Kingdom, changed his posthumous title to Huai, and his title was inherited by Li Wei.
Li Wei's title was also deprived of his title yesterday, but he was able to remain calm despite his family's destruction during the Northern Zhou Dynasty and being a former Duke. He knew that Hou Mo, Chen Yì and Dugu Huai'en were both small people who could not make the decision, so he bowed to Yang Ji and asked in a hoarse voice: "Your Majesty, I wonder what else the common people can do? What should they do?"
There were a large number of people here, and many of them were descendants of powerful families and officials who came to celebrate their birthdays. In order to avoid people saying later that Yang Guang treated his meritorious officials harshly and abused their descendants, Yang Ji said: "The Li family of Longxi had meritorious service in the Sui Dynasty. The late emperor Not only did he say to Li Gong (Li Mu), "The imperial master, Shangzhu State, and Shen Guo Gong's utensils are magnificent and profound, the wind is vast, the society and grain support the orders, and the public is the leader." After Li Gong's death, he posthumously presented Li Gong as a gift. Ji, Ding, Zhao, Xiang, Ying, Mao, Wei, Wei, Luo and Huai were the military governors of Jizhou. At the same time, they also doted on the descendants of the Li family, including you. When the sage ascended the throne, He still has great faith. Therefore, the Sui Dynasty did not treat Li family badly. It is really his own fault that Li family has fallen to this point, and he has no one to blame."
Everyone's faces showed thoughtful and enlightened looks: As Yang Ji said, the emperors of the two dynasties of the Sui Dynasty did not treat the Li family unfairly. Basically, it was a double reward, and Li was never owed a single thing. As for the situation that the Li family in Longxi fell into today, it was entirely due to the Li family's loss of integrity and seeking death. She could not blame the emperor at all.
Li Wei and other Li family members also remained silent when they heard this.
Yang Ji glanced at the sad Li Wei, and then said: "Since the founding of the Sui Dynasty, the Li family's descendants have been rampant in lawlessness and committed numerous crimes. I think Mr. Li is aware of what you have done. All your actions, I will not exaggerate or hide anything, no matter what it is, I will report it truthfully."
Although Li Wei was prepared, his expression still changed horribly after hearing these words. He felt sad for a while, then sighed: "Your Majesty, what you said makes sense. My family, Mr. Li, has a lax upbringing, a bad family tradition, and has betrayed the divine grace..."
"Your Majesty!" Fang Gongyi saw that Li Wei seemed to be asking for mercy, so he rushed to cooperate: "You are the prime minister and the minister, can you plead for mercy?"
Yang Ji said with sincerity: "The crimes Li committed were not only countless, but every one of them was treason, especially the collusion with Tuyuhun, which directly led to the tragic death of thousands of soldiers in the Xihai Protectorate. Faced with such shocking crimes, even a saint would find it difficult to show mercy outside the law, otherwise, how can he explain it to the world?"
"Li's only way out, her only chance is to confess her crime calmly and cooperate with the investigation; apart from that, there is no other way. If they take chances, conceal things, and resist inquiry, no one can save them."
Hearing the two singing harmoniously, Li Wei suppressed the words that came to his lips. His younger brother Li Hong also took his elder brother's arm and signaled with his eyes.
Li Wei also knew that this was the time to ask for help from others, and he could not have any unrealistic illusions. He sighed and said bitterly to Yang Ji: "What the king said is absolutely true. I, the Li family of Li Longxi, have fallen." To reach this stage, we have brought it upon ourselves and no one else; the common people must cooperate with the government in order to find a chance of survival and a way out."
"It's great that Mr. Li has this understanding!" Yang Ji nodded and said, "Mr. Li can record many of Li's deeds in his confession and confess them frankly, and the saint can still show some kindness; if he shirks the blame, Concealing the facts is tantamount to killing yourself and killing the last glimmer of hope."
After hearing this, the faces of the Li family's children became sad, and some of them who were weak in endurance were sobbing softly. Li Wei said sadly: "Your Majesty is right. Now that the matter has come to this, how can the common people dare to deceive your father?"
After saying that, he saluted Yang Ji to the ground and asked in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, the common people are confused and confused, and they don't know what to do. I kindly ask your Majesty to remember Li's past achievements and point out a clear path."
Li Wei knew that Yang Guang obeyed Yang Ji's words. If Yang Ji was willing to give "a clear way", it would mean that Yang Guang was giving a clear way, so he wanted to find out something from Yang Ji.
"I've made it very clear!" Seeing Li Wei's great disappointment, Yang Ji added, "The other direction is nothing more than exchanging merit for guilt. As long as you confess those who colluded with you and collaborated in evil, the saint should be able to Deal with it lightly and keep the net open."
Yang Ji said this not only to Li Wei but also to the people present; he not only wanted to dig out more criminals, but also divided the relationship between Li and his relatives and friends. Once those people in the government who "joined forces to commit evil" are arrested and brought to justice, Li's relatives and friends will definitely think that Li betrayed them in order to gain a chance of survival. Then, of course, the blame was placed on Li.
When everyone heard this, their expressions suddenly changed and they looked at each other in confusion. This is obviously a shameless conspiracy, but none of Li's children, Li's relatives and friends can decipher it. And Li Wei regretted it endlessly. If he hadn't asked this question, others would have pretended they didn't know.
Now, the problem has become clearer. Even if the Li family does not testify against anyone in the future, as long as they are caught by the court, these people and their families will definitely say that it was the Li family, and they all believe that the Li family will do it in order to survive. They confessed.
"General Hou Mochen, General Dugu!" At this point, Yang Ji's goal has been achieved, and he doesn't want to talk nonsense anymore. Looking at Hou Mochen yì and Dugu Huai'en, he said: "The saint, the east and west capitals, and the whole world are paying attention. Regarding this matter, you and Mr. Li and others should go immediately to investigate and verify, and get things done here as soon as possible."
"Here!" Hou Mo Chen yì and Dugu Huaien responded, stood up and looked at Li Wei: "Li Gong, please."
Li Wei looked at the children of the Li family and his relatives and friends, with mixed feelings in his heart. He sighed and said to his children: "Let's go."
With that said, he walked out of the hall first.
. . . . . .
For a while, the main hall became quiet again. The people who came to wish Li Xuzong birthday were on pins and needles, feeling that they were neither good enough to leave nor good to stay.
After a long while, Yang Ji finally spoke. He said to everyone: "The officials will stay and the rest will do as they please. Before you leave, please note down the names of the entourage one by one, and take the initiative to ask the officers and soldiers to check the vehicles, so as not to cause trouble in the future." Causing unnecessary trouble for yourself."
"Here!" Li Jiancheng and others all stood up, obeyed the order, saluted and left. As for Yang Ji's explanation, they had no objection at all; after all, it was clear now and it would do no harm to anyone.
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[Correction: Brothers and sisters, I made a common sense mistake - I took it for granted that the Li family of Longxi was in Longxi County, Longxi County, so the previous chapters said that the Li family was located in Longxi County, Longxi County. Now I checked some information , found that I had made a mistake in the address and things.
In fact, the ancestral home of the Li family in Longxi is located in Chengji County, and Chengji County from the Northern Zhou Dynasty to the early Sui Dynasty was subordinate to Tianshui County, so the ancestral home of the Li family in Longxi should be in Tianshui County, not Longxi County.
Now that I have corrected the mistakes I made before, I am extremely sorry and I beg my brothers and sisters to forgive me! 】
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