In the imperial capital, the official office and the yamen select lawsuits.
In the stuffy signing room, a middle-aged official tugged on the collar of his heavy official uniform, took a breath, then pointed to the official document in his hand and said: "This is the newly proposed Prince Xi Ma of the Economic Affairs Bureau of the East Palace. His name looks like Does it look familiar?"
Hearing this, the Siguan sitting in the hall snorted, sipped the West Lake Mingqian tea that was brought in this year, and then said leisurely: "Old Tian, you are really the prince, a mere official from the fifth rank. , is it worthy of such attention?"
"Lao Jianhua, a person from Cixi County, Yinzhou," the official surnamed Tian ignored the officer and continued to mutter: "I vaguely remember... there used to be a director of the Criminal Department with this name, and he seemed to be from Cixi. Could it be the same one? Bar?"
The clerk straightened up from his armchair: "Lao Jianhua?! Are you talking about Lao Jianhua from the Criminal Investigation Department? There were rumors before that he was actually from Beiya? Hurry, bring it here show me!"
Lao Tian did not dare to neglect, and quickly got together with the chief officer to carefully review the official appointment document sent from Luoyi. Then, they asked the scribe to take out the roster of the Ministry of Justice that had been sealed for many years for comparison. After careful study for a long time, the chief officer said in a deep voice: "Old Tian, this matter must be reported immediately. When it comes to the East Palace and Beiya Nilin Division, there must be no negligence!"
-
After Shen Lie read the notice sent by the official department, he slapped the official document on the case with a murderous look on his face.
Lao Jianhua, Lao Jianhua, I never thought that not only would you have the guts to return to Shengtang, but you would also dare to enter the palace with such arrogance and take up a post under the prince's sect.
Are you not afraid of Ni Linsi's methods, or do you not take Shen seriously at all? !
Shen Lie pondered for a moment and decided to go to the palace immediately to report to the emperor. He planned to use Beiya's elite troops to arrest Lao Jianhua with all his strength. However, this matter must first obtain His Majesty's approval.
Rules are rules, and you cannot use the royal private soldiers just because of your own anger.
After leaving the Beiya Guards Station, Shen Lie passed through Xuanwu Gate and Chengtian Gate one after another, all the way to the Liangyi Hall in the inner court, where Li Chengwu always read and rested after the end of the court.
When Shen Lie climbed up the steps, he just walked to the front of the palace and met several important ministers coming out of the palace. He couldn't help but be slightly surprised. He didn't expect that the emperor, who always liked to be lazy, had just finished the meeting.
When the ministers saw Shen Lie, they had complicated expressions on their faces, and they all nodded and said hello and passed by. Only the prince's young master Liu Ce, who was relatively familiar with him, pulled Shen Lie aside and started talking in a low voice.
Liu Ce smiled and asked: "Master Shen, we haven't seen each other for a long time since the incident in the East Palace last time. How are you doing recently? With such changes in the court, the burden on your shoulders is not light."
"I will serve the emperor without any hesitation." Shen Lie also smiled, and then asked the other party curiously, "Master Liu, you are now the prince overseeing the country. Your Majesty has not been personally involved in the affairs of the court for some time. Why are you discussing the affairs of the court again today?" ?”
Liu Ce looked at the ministers who were leaving, and patiently explained: "You don't know something. The prince's supervision of the country mainly focuses on government affairs and people's livelihood matters. Anything involving the military is still adjudicated by the emperor. Especially..." He pointed to the west, "Especially regarding Western Xinjiang, the palace must make a decision."
Shen Lie was surprised and asked: "Could it be that... Your Majesty is planning to send troops to the Western Border?"
"Alas, it's just the opposite." Liu Ce sighed: "Although most of the courtiers advocated the Western Expedition as soon as possible, they were afraid that it would be delayed for a long time and create an irreversible situation. But Your Majesty... Alas, every time this matter comes up, Your Majesty will …”
"Just... the dragon body is not in good condition?" Shen Lie frowned.
Liu Ce couldn't help but smile: "Yes, the dragon body is not in good condition."
Shen Lie was a little disappointed: "So, His Majesty really does not agree with sending troops to regain Western Xinjiang. Mr. Liu, you are an important minister of the imperial court, what do you think of this matter?"
"To be honest, I can understand your Majesty's difficulties." Liu Ce lowered his voice: "First of all, although we have elite soldiers now, we have no good generals. This does not mean that there are no generals available in the court, but that we don't know who we can really trust. .”
Hearing this, Shen Lie nodded silently.
The rebellion in the imperial capital could be hidden from ordinary people, but not from the civil and military officials. Now the emperor and the prince are in a state of conflict. It is difficult for anyone to say that those generals with heavy troops will not have the mentality of "choosing a tree to live in". If the tiger talisman is given out easily but entrusted to someone else, I am afraid that I will not have to wait until the battle with the Turks, but I will be in chaos first.
It can be seen that Xie Guang's actions were extremely harmful to Shengtang.
Liu Ce continued his analysis: "Secondly, Your Majesty is really scared. A battle at Crescent Bay resulted in the loss of a total of 120,000 troops. They were all the elite forces of the dynasty. Looking at the world, except for Xuanjia, Among the three legions of Qilin and Changdao, who dares to brag that he is stronger than Lieren and Zhenjiang? However, Xuanjia Longdao is in Xie Guang's hands, and Qilin has to defend the capital, who else would His Majesty dare to send to Western Xinjiang? , to feed the Turkic tigers and wolves?”
"But in the ghost desert of Western Xinjiang, there are still loyal soldiers who defend the country!" Shen Lie said excitedly.
Liu Ce waved his hand, motioning for him to lower his voice, and continued: "I know, you are talking about Lieutenant Li who guards Metasequoia City. However, it has been more than half a year since you left Xijiang. How is the situation there? Still. Are there any survivors? No one knows. Besides, we can’t add thousands more to the eighteen hundred people, right?"
Seeing Shen Lie's silent expression, Liu Ce knew that he was unhappy, so he took the initiative to change the subject: "By the way, do you have anything important to do when you come to see His Majesty? Oh, if it's not convenient to tell you, then don't tell me. .”
"There is nothing inconvenient to say," Shen Lie said calmly: "I have just received a notification from the Ministry of Officials that the traitor Lao Jianhua has been appointed as the prince Xima by the East Palace."
Liu Ce was slightly surprised: "Is this...information accurate?"
Shen Lie replied solemnly: "The specific situation needs further verification, but it should be close to ten. Lao Jianhua and Xie Guang colluded with each other, and it was not a day or two. I am not surprised at all that this situation occurred."
"This is a top priority!" Liu Ce grabbed Shen Lie, turned around and walked towards the main hall. At the same time, he said anxiously: "What your Majesty is most concerned about now is not Xijiang, but His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"
-
In the past six months, under the double pressure of internal and external worries, Emperor Shengtang Li Chengwu has become much older than before. If he hadn't taken good care of himself when he was young and laid a good foundation for his body, he might have been unable to hold on long ago.
The main reason for this is because of tiredness.
The thousands of miles of territory that the emperors of the past dynasties had fought so hard to conquer were all lost in one fell swoop in the hands of an unworthy descendant like him, and the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers from the Holy Tang Dynasty were all in vain. To say that I wasn't anxious would be a lie.
In the dead of night, Li Chengwu knelt in front of his late brother's soul countless times and secretly cried out his grievances and self-blame.
He talked to the imperial brother about the Ghost Desert in Western Xinjiang, the Protectorate of Zhenjiang, Nian Jinsong, and He Jingming. He talked about all kinds of things endlessly. Sometimes he even talked about the white and majestic east. The chicken crows.
Of course, the one he mentioned the most was Crown Prince Li Bing.
Just as Liu Ce analyzed Shen Lie, if Xie Guang hadn't beguiled Li Bing and caused an incident in the imperial capital that shocked the government and the public at a critical moment, and triggered a series of unpredictable situations later, Li Chengwu would have gathered the army without hesitation and sent troops westward. levy. Even if we try our best, we must drive away the Turks and recapture the vast western frontier.
After all, although he, Li Chengwu, is a coward, the blood of the Li family is also flowing in his body. That kind of proud and fearless pride that looks down on the world is also beating vigorously deep in my heart!
Unfortunately, God seemed to be deliberately testing the Li royal family, causing the prince and nephew to become suspicious of him at the most inappropriate time, and together with Xie Guang, disrupted the pace of the dynasty. The emperor Li Chengwu, who respected the Holy Religion, always hoped to rejuvenate the country with benevolence and righteousness and govern by doing nothing, but the wind did not stop even though the tree wanted to be quiet.
After Li Chengwu listened to Shen Lie's report, his worry became a little more serious.
"Shen Qing, please tell me carefully, what kind of person is Lao Jianhua?"
Shen Lie's expression was as calm as water and he said loudly: "Your Majesty, do you still remember Mr. Qin Zhuqin?"
"Qin Zhu? Of course I remember." Li Chengwu frowned slightly: "When the late emperor was in power, Qin Aiqing was the head of the Bei Ya Ni Lin Division, and he was considered your predecessor. And if I remember correctly, Qin Zhu seems to be still Your master, right? Why do you mention him?"
Liu Ce, who was standing next to him, also nodded. He was a senior member of the imperial court, so naturally, like Li Chengwu, he knew Shi Qin Zhu, the former chief of the Bei Ya Ni Lin Division.
In Liu Ce's impression, Qin Zhu was a very shrewd and capable man, deeply trusted by two generations of former emperors.
Shen Lie continued: "Your Majesty, you are right. Mr. Qin is both my predecessor and my master. From a certain point of view, he is like my father, with a kindness as deep as the sea. And Qin My lord, it was Lao Jianhua who was killed! At that time, Lao Jianhua was Qin Zhu’s most trusted and relied-upon deputy."
"Oh, I remembered it!" Li Chengwu glanced at Liu Ce and said solemnly: "Lao Jianhua did serve in the Nilin Division, and his position was not low. However, after I succeeded to the throne, he was placed in Beiya I don’t think much about it, usually only Qin Zhu comes to see the report, and I haven’t seen Lao Jianhua that often.”
Liu Ce continued: "I also heard about Lord Qin's murder at the beginning, but because it involved Beiya, I didn't know much about it. Unexpectedly, Lao Jianhua turned out to be the murderer of Nilin Division Chief Shi. Lord Shen, Do you have any irrefutable evidence?"
Shen Lie nodded slightly: "Master Liu, your humble position is the ironclad proof."
After that, he told the gloomy-looking Li Chengwu and the slightly astonished Liu Ce about a depressing old story.
