The news that Yan Jingrong, who was the supervisor and pastor of Shayuan, suddenly fell ill in his residence and became unconscious; among the endless anecdotes that emerged every day in Chang'an City, it could only be regarded as a small episode in the muddy water; but then The raid led by Cheng Wuting left many people unable to laugh.
Cheng Wuting, who had just been transferred to Zuo Jinwu Zhonglang General not long ago, directly led the descendants of Jinwu's Sixth Street Envoy; he raided the cattle and horse market outside Anyuan Gate and seized thousands of stones of new wheat that had not yet been transported away, but the source of which could not be explained; Immediately afterwards, he also led troops to blockade Neimafang in Beiyuan.
From the warehouse filled with grain, more evidence and clues were obtained, including fragments of military grain bags that had not been completely destroyed, remnants of fire paint and seals; there were also several corpses that were newly buried underground. From the appearance It looks like they are several key missing persons from the Changping Department.
Among them is Lu Shan, the brigade commander of Liquan Prefecture who is subordinate and stationed at Shayuan Prison but has been on leave for a long time. Then, this involved Chen Changchu, the deputy supervisor of the Jinyuan, and Zhang Si, the clerk of the Internal Servant Bureau who was an internal official; Sun Xu, the chief registrar of the Palace Guards Department of Weiwei Temple, and Sun Yu, the suburban social bureau magistrate of Taichang Temple;
As these people were arrested one after another, at least a dozen wealthy families and big businessmen in the capital were searched by Jinwu's descendants and the guards of the East Palace. From related industries, more than 30,000 kilo of old and new rice, wheat, and gold were seized. There are hundreds of thousands of silk goods; since then, the Hekou Warehouse fire seems to have been concluded.
However, amidst the faint thunder of the heavy rain in midsummer, in the Ideological and Political Hall where he listens to politics every day, Prince Li Hong's mood fluctuated like the thunder in the distant sky; "Uncle Zhen Wang, why is Zhen Wang Uncle Wang? Isn’t my father the most kind and kind to him and treating him favorably?”
He murmured to himself as if he was asking himself: because he really did not expect that this major case of burning Hekou Granary in Beijing would involve the Yue King Li Zhen, who was quite famous and famous in the government and the public. Li Zhennai was the eighth son of the late Emperor Taizong and the daughter of Concubine Yan De, one of the four concubines.
Li Zhen has been fond of martial arts since she was a child, and is good at riding and shooting. She loves learning, is involved in literature and history, and has talents in governance. Therefore, during the Taizong Dynasty, he was successively appointed as the governor of Anzhou, Xuzhou, Yangzhou, Xiangzhou and Jiangzhou, and was granted the title of King of Yue. After Tang Gaozong ascended the throne, he successively served as Zuowei General, Mian, Prime Minister, and Caizhou Governor.
He is even as famous as another royal brother, King Taizong's tenth son King Ji Li Shen; he is known as a model of moral character among the contemporary clans of "Ji and Yue". Therefore, he was also a model of "brothers, friends and brothers" who treated the royal family preferentially after Emperor Gaozong ascended the throne.
And Yan Jingrong was his biological uncle; although there were no signatures, marks or seals on the few letters that were burned in time; but the familiar calligraphy was practiced under Xiao Yi, a famous Zhenguan calligrapher. The style can be verified by comparing the congratulatory lists of the East Palace over the years.
But this also revealed a deeper conspiracy in front of Prince Li Hong. In other words, the interest network in Beijing that was involved in the supervisory envoy Yan Jingrong was just one of the people hiding behind the scenes at a deeper level, one of the pawns and tools that had been driven for a long time.
Just from the cryptic words and phrases in these letters, it can be proved that over the years, Yan Jingrong has been trying to collect money and supplies for the other party. At the same time, he also used this opportunity to recruit many accomplices who worked together to enrich his own pockets; or To cover it up or to get through it.
Especially in the early years, due to severe drought in Guanzhong, the emperor and his ministers moved to the eastern capital to eat; leaving the young prince Li Hong in Beijing to supervise the country. However, the prince Li Hong himself was suffering from illness, so he entrusted all matters to the prime ministers who assisted the government; and these prime ministers also had their own errands. Can only be rotated on a regular basis.
This also gives these powerful people more space and room for personal gain and fraud. Because they neither killed people nor set fires, they just used their respective powers and positions to work together to dig into the corners of the public. Therefore, they appeared to be quite hidden, even if someone was unfortunately exposed and caught;
It seems to be just a specific incident. Therefore, they have dealt with at least several chief officials by reselling and dumping various treasures. However, they did not expect that Prince Li Hong, who has gradually recovered in recent years, would actually have more energy and time to intervene in the political affairs of the capital. .
As a result, a complex system that was originally maintained by eating food at the end of the year, borrowing money in the spring and replenishing it in the autumn, or replacing the old with the new became increasingly difficult to operate, and even had to fall into hibernation. However, it is difficult to continue to cover up and fool around the real shortcomings and debts caused by this.
Therefore, this time the selection of warriors and martial arts exercises in the Guannei Road, as well as the follow-up training of the new army, also brought them a potential turning point. With the military supplies allocated to Beijing from various places, we can use this to make up for the huge deficit on the books; maybe we can also make a fortune.
However, in the end, it was Yan Jingrong's greed that took the lead but made his own decisions in private. However, this seemingly sure-footed plan revealed more flaws that were difficult to make up for. The large amount of food and grass that was not burned on the spot must be dealt with accordingly. transportation capacity, warehousing and distribution points.
Therefore, even if he used his privately-raised brave warriors to kill several people with knowledge of key events on the spot, it did not stop him from becoming a member of the suspect list. Therefore, his last move was to send someone to summon Li Zhen, the king of Yue, as if he was tipping off the news.
This was also the general situation that Yan Jingrong could confess before his consciousness collapsed; but through Jiang Tian's words, a major decision was also placed in front of Prince Li Hong. It should be noted that in his conception, Li Zhen is also a target and potential ally.
Because, except for King Chen who was simply framed, he was the only Li Tang clan relative in history who rose up in rebellion. Moreover, he is also one of the few members of the royal family who has served as a practical official close to the people. He has served in many places and has rich political experience.
In order to prevent his mother from taking the last step out of control, Prince Li Hong has been working hard to gather all the forces that can be fought for and united over the years. The Yue King Li Zhen, who is serving as the governor of Xiangzhou at the moment, is undoubtedly a potential banner and rallying point among the many relatives of the Li and Tang clans.
But he didn't expect that behind the heroic and wise character of the Eighth Prince Uncle, there was such a dark side. This made him greatly disappointed, and he couldn't help but hesitate a little: whether it was necessary for him to continue pursuing it. Go down, let's just leave it at that.
Using a crazy overseer, Yan Jingrong, is certainly not enough to face the accountability and questioning from the Eastern Capital; but it can basically explain and explain the root causes of these current evils and rights and wrongs. Then, taking advantage of the widespread worry about Daxing Prison in Beijing, we worked hard to bring it down...
In this way, although the prestige and reputation of the East Palace will be damaged, and the evaluation of the two saints will be slightly reduced; but at least it can avoid being used as an excuse and implicating more irrelevant people; it may even turn into a liquidation of Xijing or a suppression of the clan. ? However, he has all the unwillingness and sense of disobedience?
"Li Sheng, how about sending someone to blame Uncle Wang privately?" After thinking about it again and again, the thoughtful Crown Prince Li Hong said to the black civet cat who brought him all the truth and inside information: "And use him to attitude and reaction to determine the final aftermath of this matter..."
"It seems that His Highness has softened his heart and hesitated when it comes to the matter of the King of Yue?" Jiang Tian licked his paws without any hesitation: "But I don't know, from what standpoint did His Highness do this? To supervise the country and the crown prince? status, or the role of a junior member of the royal family? Have you considered each other’s thoughts again?”
"Because there are still some things I can't figure out, I can only ask Li Sheng for his vision and experience spanning thousands of years of history." Prince Li Hong sighed heavily and stood up to worship again. Said: "Please ask Mr. Li to teach me. It would be nice if I could answer my questions..."
"Then let's use His Highness's way of thinking and imagine the possible reaction of the King of Yue!" Jiang Tian put down his paw and nodded: "If the King of Yue has a clear conscience about this, will he think that His Highness is troublesome? Or should I thank you again and again for this? Are there more chances that you can check for omissions yourself?”
"What if the King of Yue is deeply involved in this, is he worried about it, and sends someone overnight to ask for help from His Highness, trusting his family, life and future? Or is he just paranoid and suspicious, speculating on how much inside information and truth His Highness has grasped, and using this to blackmail and control? Or is it? Are you determined to take risks?"
"At that time, once His Highness's private question is made public to the world, how much dignity and look will there be in the face of the officers and soldiers who have suffered greatly from it; in the face of those talents and lofty ideals who follow the Eastern Palace with the thoughts of Yao and Shun as the supreme kings? What? The Tian family is ruthless, but the royal family is related, it depends on how you choose!"
"If His Highness wants to fulfill some personal relationships and kinships, then he must give up some of the justice and integrity he upholds every day; if he wants to persist in pursuing his grand vision, then the life and death of a mere Yue king does not matter. Even most of the royal family can offer sacrifices..."
"Thank you Li Sheng for your analysis, I feel that my heart is becoming clearer." After hearing these words, Prince Li Hong pondered for a long time and then said: "It's just that I'm still a little unclear, and Uncle Wang is also He is the most noble of the clans in the world, the first of all kings to be honored; and he has been favored by two saints many times."
"No matter how honorable you are, can it be compared to His Highness, who is the Crown Prince and Supervisor of the country? Can it be more noble than the two saints who hold high the throne and dominate the world?" Jiang Tian did not hesitate to point out that he had always ignored or found it difficult to accept. Key point: "The King of Yue is also the son of Taizong, and he is the daughter of Concubine Yan De!"
"Maybe in the future history, when faced with Empress Wu stealing the country, he can certainly unite many Li Tang clans and fight to the death for the country Zuo; but in today's world, the Tang Dynasty in the eyes of King Yue is different from His Highness The Tang Dynasty in my eyes may not be the same thing!"
"It turns out that it's Gu who has become blind." Prince Li Hong's face almost changed after hearing this. In the end, he only left a complicated and deep sigh, and slowly responded: "But no matter what, Gu wants to There is no doubt that we will do our best to protect our clan members. Do you still want Li Shengxiang to help?"
"Then we need more fun and more changes." Jiang Tian replied meaningfully: "After all, changes in most things in the world come with corresponding costs, but some costs are insignificant, and some are insignificant. It can be noticed; some are earth-shattering and earth-shattering..."
