At the same time, in the Yang family's mansion in Xinyi Fang, Yang Guoguan, the secret envoy of the Imperial Council, was alone in his study. He was silently looking at a stack of cryptic messages, and in his hand he was playing with an old, yellowish and white paper with a vaguely beautiful pattern. Even the needlework and tassels on the sachet have faded and become threadless.
Although it seemed to be only a few thin pieces of paper, it represented with ease the recent series of events in Beijing centered on the seizure of the Shangshan Temple incident; as well as interrogation records and copies of confessions of relevant persons; it also made him think that it was over. The dusty past has stirred up trouble again.
There are Taoist sects from the Tang Dynasty, and the people are mainly Lingbao Sect and Louguan Taoism handed down from the Southern and Northern Dynasties; but the most respected by the royal family of Li and Tang Dynasties is the Qing Sect of Maoshan, and the high Taoists who have been canonized and supported by the imperial court in the past dynasties, such as Wang Yuanzhi, Pan Shizheng, Sima Chengzhen and others all came from the Maoshan Sect of the Shangqing Sect.
Among them are the Louguan Taoist Qihui who raised troops in Taiyuan for Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty and created the prophecy that "Li's family will conquer the world", and the tenth generation leader of the Maoshan Sect, Wang Zhiyuan. The people built momentum to claim the emperor's status, and were able to keep the palace prosperous for generations.
In addition, there is the Nantianshi Taoism/Zhengyi sect which was revitalized by the descendants of the Zhang family in Longhu Mountain, Jiangxi; among the people, there is also Deng Ziyang who teaches the "Tianpeng Method" in Magu Mountain and establishes a new Taoist sect such as the Chuangbeidi Sect. branch. The Lou Guan Tao uses knotted grass as the tower to observe the stars and the aura, so it is famous for its famous tower.
Generations have respected Yin Xi, who was taught the Tao Te Ching by Lao Dan during the Spring and Autumn Period, as the founder and the founder and proponent of Laozi's nonsense. His writings include Laozi's Transformation of Hu Sutra, Laozi's Western Ascension Sutra, Laozi's Opening of the Heaven Sutra, and Miaozhen Sutra, etc., which are the source of the Miaozhen Dharma title of Shangshan Guanzhu.
When it was passed down to the founder Yin Wenchao, Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty decreed that Doctor Yinqing Guanglu be honored as his master and national master; he also ordered the Haotian Temple to be built as a Taoist temple. Therefore, Miaozhen himself is the contemporary leader of Louguan Taoism and the junior disciple of Master Haotianguan; however, his private behavior does not reflect the quiet and inactive style of the Taoist sect.
If he is just setting up a private execution hall, amassing money, hiding criminals and shielding fugitives, or even using his influence, transportation, and scum in the legal system, and engaging in personal fraud to seek escape from crime, then it is just a personal crime. It is a matter of personal ethics; it will never have such a big impact.
However, according to the current evidence provided by Xijingli Court, he not only secretly spied on and collected the secrets of the court and ministers in the capital, but also secretly communicated with many princes and foreign vassals for many years, and he did not know how many prohibited activities he did in the middle; In the end, the late emperor's consort was actually involved.
This forced Yang Guoguan, who was the secret envoy of the Imperial Council and the uncle of the dynasty, to avoid suspicion. Even the political affairs hall was legitimately bypassed. He, the inner secret envoy in charge of the armies in Beiya, directly mobilized a group of Youxiao guards stationed outside the capital to act under the ten guards of Nanya.
This process also made Yang Guoguan feel a little uneasy; on the one hand, as the emperor who ruled from the top down, he supervised the imperial guards and the inner secret envoys of the Beiya armies; although he was not very active in taking care of things and was low-key and introverted, he was absolutely The Junior Council was isolated from the decisions of the political hall.
On the other hand, Feng Tingbi, the late emperor's consort and the eldest son of the vassal, was also his acquaintance and old friend in the upper-class circles of the capital. It is hard to imagine that the other party was also accomplices in that tragedy; and after all these years, he has always been calm and flawless in front of him.
Therefore, the current arrest of Feng Tingbi, which Yang Guoguan can neither stop nor participate in, is undoubtedly a continuous torment. Then there was a sudden sound of pushing the door, but Yang Suguan raised his head impatiently and said, "Didn't I tell you not to disturb me now?"
"Why, it's you!" However, he unexpectedly saw his wife, whom he had respected in private for a long time and who was also very harmonious on the surface. The wealthy and graceful woman, who was already over 40 years old but could still vaguely see her former beauty and grace, said loudly: "Aye, please let me pass a message to your husband."
"Madam, please tell me..." Yang Guoguan rubbed his swollen eyebrows and sighed: Although he has no true love for this wife, after all, she gave birth to three children for him and provided him with many things through his family. A supportive partner has little need to avoid suspicion in both public and private matters.
"The rights and wrongs of that year have already been explained. I wonder how far Mr. Daofu will continue to struggle with this matter?" Mrs. Yang calmly relayed: "Is it true that for a little obsession back then, he would not hesitate to harm the Tian family? Does authority even endanger the future of my family and the whole family?"
"I know!" Yang Guoguan sighed heavily: "What you said is true; but please tell your father-in-law that I can only secretly stop and restrain my subordinates within my duties, but I cannot interfere with Xiantai and Nanya. The actions of the guards; after all, I am in my position, so I have to avoid suspicion."
After a while, under Mrs. Yang's silent gaze, as the brazier was lit, wisps of blue smoke from the burned fabric continued to emerge; this also represented Yang Guoguan's last nostalgia and memory for the past, and so on. Burned out, the ashes completely disappeared together.
In the Third Secretary's Courtyard in the Imperial City, Liu Zhan, the Prime Minister of Planning, who looked thin but had clear eyes, was also reviewing the reports from all over the world, including the Dao Branch, the Transportation Department, and the Household Department; however, When he saw the end, he could only let out a long sigh.
If the previous animal disasters that occurred one after another in various places can only be regarded as man-made mustard troubles for the size and accumulation of the Tang Dynasty during the heyday of the Zhongxing Dynasty for many years; since the sudden change in the celestial phenomena, this drive of gradual collapse and decline has Due to internal and external factors, it has been accelerated even further.
The most intuitive manifestation is that the imperial court's annual revenue is gradually shrinking due to the road blockage, transportation delays, and sharp increase in losses caused by this chaos. In particular, only one-third of the vassal tribute, discretionary funds, and maritime miscellaneous taxes, which accounted for half of the country's income, were paid.
However, various additional expenditure items are increasing day by day. Every time the local government sends troops to exterminate animal disasters, or suppresses and handles changes in various places, and even uses a large number of civilians to deal with the aftermath, it also continues to consume the central government's accumulated accumulated resources over the years. The remaining inventory and wealth.
Therefore, after the autumn harvest, it is inevitable that there will be obvious shortfalls and deficits in the accounts of the three secretaries who dominate the world's financial planning. Of course, the affected Gongtai Province and the feudal lord's office are not having a good time either. It is said that the clan support and household expenses will also be tightened.
For this reason, the palace's routine draft, which was held every five years, has been postponed to the next round; and in addition to the announced World's No. 1 Martial Arts Tournament, which will have a certain scale and investment, more than a dozen other major Xiang and the people enjoyed Pei Enjun's palace activities, but they were also temporarily suspended.
This is reflected in the local news that the Beast Worship Cult/Qilin Society, which was originally wiped out and suppressed, has resurfaced in many places. Not only are there fools and foolish women who deceive them, they believe that they are born according to the celestial phenomena; they can protect themselves from harm through the beast ghosts controlled by these beast-worshipping cults.
Even some lower-level officials secretly believed in this evil theory and secretly informed it. Or there are wealthy families who are forced to pay large sums of money in private to protect themselves; they even secretly bribe beasts and ghosts to commit crimes at night, thinking that they will eradicate old enemies and grudges. Chaos often occurs...
Fortunately, the Pingjing donation promulgated not long ago not only passed quickly in the court, but also received widespread response from all state governments across the country. After all, the world is so big, and the higher the position, the more wealthy and powerful people are, the more they are afraid of death, and the more afraid they are of losing everything they have by dying unprovoked.
But how to manage such an additional amount of income, and whether to turn it into a normalized additional tax item; this has become the most troublesome and troublesome thing for the current Third Secretary/Controller Liu Zhan. For this reason, he attended three political hall meetings and almost became the focus of disputes.
As the saying goes, money must be used everywhere, and there are urgent reasons everywhere; therefore, the elders and privy councilors, each representing their own region and faction, with different angles and positions, started to argue, and some even had no manners. Mouth sprayed on each other's faces.
But as the oldest attendee, he remained relatively unperturbed. No matter what demands and bargaining conditions these ministers and ministers put forward; he only insisted on the only bottom line. That is to say, the investment of the Anxing Yushi Department not only cannot be moved, but also continues to increase.
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This was also a potential tacit understanding that Liu Zhan had reached with Xijingli Xingyuan, or the "Hidden Immortal" after he survived on the verge of life and death and gained a physique that was different from ordinary people. Thinking of this, he took another big sip of the special drink, which was full of fresh, fishy and sweet taste.
As the only sequelae of the unknown foreign body embedded in the body, he became more and more fond of eating raw food, especially pork and mutton dumplings or pickled offal, as well as various uncooked blood directly seasoned with spices. products. You can stay energetic for a longer period of time.
This is also an important reason why he, at the age of 57, can continue to be in charge of the country's finances and maintain the smooth operation of the three departments. However, the next moment he saw Du Zhisi, the head of the Trial and Issuance Department responsible for supervising the issuance of government bonds, rushing in and shouting breathlessly:
"Ji Xiang...Ji Xiang, the Luodu Official Securities Bureau sent an urgent telegram. The bond market in Baoquanfang...the bond market has a sudden rush to redeem money in advance. It is said that it is because the news of the loss of contact with several foreign vassals has spread. Nineteen vassal debts have been closed!"
Immediately afterwards, when Liu Zhan arrived at Shangshu Province, he found that the officials on duty from the General Affairs Department and the Privy Council had also arrived here first. Before he could ask, Lian Gongzhi, the left counselor of the Department of General Affairs, spoke in a low voice: "Prime Minister, the four-pronged expedition into Yunmeng Daze was defeated again; this time, among the thieves, Strange beasts and ghosts appeared..."
