Just a few days before Li Longji killed three sons in one day, shocking all classes in Chang'an, a letter of report from Youzhou was delivered to Li Longji's desk via the express horse of the inn.
But the emperor had no time to care about trivial matters, and he was not willing to let foreign countries interfere with the "secret letters" sent individually by provincial governors and frontier officials.
He would rather go to the opera house to listen to music and compose music more than to be bothered by boring state affairs all day long, so he handed the letter to Gao Lishi for processing.
The letter was written by Fang Youde, the investigation and disposal envoy of the Youzhou shogunate. In the letter, Fang Youde sued Ling Huchao, the magistrate of Yongqiu County who had just taken office this year, and asked the court to remove him.
Fang Youde said in the letter: Although Linghu Chao entered the official position through kindness, he was not grateful for the court's kindness and behaved inappropriately in private, which was disgraceful.
This is not groundless, but there is detailed evidence.
Fang Youde detailed Linghu Chao's "love affair" in his letter.
There is a colleague in Linghu Chao called Gao Shang. The two are like brothers and have a close personal relationship. Linghu Chao also had a beautiful concubine in his family. He and Gao Shang often played with this beautiful concubine together. The three of them had extremely wild sex together, which was famous far and wide.
Later, the beautiful concubine gave birth to a daughter, but she didn't even know who the father was, so she recognized her as a noble woman and Linghu Chao was her "adopted father". This was simply ridiculous.
How can a person with such misbehavior be regarded as a local governor? Please ask the court to remove him.
That's how the letter was written, and that's all it said.
Gao Lishi had almost forgotten this trivial matter, but when he saw Fang Chongyong today, Gao Lishi thought of his father Fang Youde's ridiculous informant letter.
This letter had been "left unpublished" for a long time, and was shelved by Gao Lishi, who didn't even bother to look at it again.
You said that you are an observation and disposal envoy of Youzhou, and if you want to observe, you are also an official of Youzhou. Even if you say that the court should remove Zhang Shougui, the governor of Youzhou, it is all serious business!
But what does it mean to write a letter of complaint asking the court to remove a county magistrate of Henan Province? Is it because you, Fang Youde, stayed too busy in Youzhou?
Gao Lishi was puzzled. As the chief supervisor placed by the imperial court in Youzhou, what was he doing in charge of the miscellaneous affairs of Henan Province? What was his motive?
Not to mention cross-district affairs, even if Fang Youde is the investigation and disposal envoy of Henan Province, Li Longji is too lazy to take care of similar matters, and Gao Lishi doesn't want to pay attention at all!
What's the big deal with a silver party? Is it worth mentioning?
Gao Lishi felt that Fang Youde was completely ignorant and ridiculously naive.
When Fang Youde came back to report on his work, Gao Lishi felt that he must recommend it and let the saint open his eyes.
With some ridiculous thoughts in his mind, Gao Lishi came to Daming Palace. Before entering, someone in the palace told Gao Lishi to return to Xingqing Palace quickly, where the saint was waiting for his return in the Qinzhengfu Building.
Gao Lishi, who was sweating profusely, had to rush back to Xingqing Palace after a long journey. When he saw Li Longji, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty was reading the memorial with a slightly gloomy face.
"Has the matter been cleared up?"
Li Longji put down the memorial and asked in a calm tone.
"Go back to Saint and find out."
Gao Lishi started talking about it when he saw Fang Chongyong and others going to the inn, until not long ago when the "three kings" were hastily buried with civilian courtesy.
After listening to the entire funeral process, Li Longji was slightly stunned.
He really wanted to clean up Fang Chongyong and his gang, but after careful consideration, he found that he couldn't find anything wrong with it!
The funerals of the three kings were all held in "civilian standards." After Li Ying and others were deposed, weren't they just civilians?
"Who planned this?"
Li Longji asked with a bad look on his face.
"Back to the saint, he is a child, the son of an old minister in Qiandi."
Gao Lishi smiled.
"Old minister of Qiandi?"
Li Longji was stunned. The only remaining old ministers from those days were Chen Xuanli, Gao Lishi, and Fang Youde.
It turns out that a few years ago, there was a king, Maozhong, who was in charge of the imperial army.
But because that man was arrogant and violated Li Longji's taboo, he was eventually demoted and sentenced to death.
Wang Maozhong is not like Fang Youde who is indifferent to fame and fortune, low-key and undemanding. He is not as good at life as Gao Lishi, and he is not as good as Chen Xuanli who doesn't care about Li Longji's affairs at all.
Accompanying a king is like accompanying a tiger. In the survival of the fittest, someone will naturally be eliminated. There is only one result for being out, and that is death.
"Fang Youde's son, Fang Chongyong."
Gao Lishi said softly.
"That fool?"
Li Longji was almost amused by Gao Lishi's words.
"A strong man is not allowed to deceive me. Fang Youde's only son is the one... you and I have seen before. If he had become a master, he would have already entered the Imperial Academy to study."
Li Longji waved his hand and said.
The Imperial College has existed since the Han Dynasty, and its names vary from dynasty to dynasty.
In the first year of Zhenguan, the Tang Dynasty renamed Guozixue as Guozijian and established it as an independent educational administrative institution.
There is a person in the prison who is the highest education administrator. There is a principal and a registrar, who are responsible for specific matters such as students' academic performance and student status. There are six schools under the Guozijian, namely Guozixue, Taixue, Four Schools, Legal Studies, Calligraphy and Arithmetic. The teacher-student ratio is about one to twenty.
During the Kaiyuan period, there were more than 2,000 students enrolled, including many foreigners who "study abroad" in Datang.
The entrance threshold for the Imperial College is not low. Only children of officials with normal intelligence and whose fathers' official positions have reached a certain level can be admitted after an interview and present a letter of recommendation written by an official in their family who holds a certain level of official position.
Fang Chongyong's father Fang Youde's official position was certainly fine, but at that time Fang Chongyong's IQ could not pass the Imperial College interview.
That's why Li Longji said this.
Back then, if Fang Chongyong had no problem with his intelligence, he would be like an ordinary official's son, first go to the Imperial College and hang out for a while, and then see if he can take the imperial examination.
Of course, given Fang Youde's status, it would not be difficult for Fang Chongyong to become an official in the future.
There may be people who don't understand the "market" who think that the admission threshold for the Imperial College is very low. But in fact, in addition to being a place where status and background are considered, the Imperial College also leaves a way for some civilian children to enter and study in an "enhanced" way.
In order to enter the Imperial College, these common people have to take a crazy entrance exam! The difficulty is not that great.
Moreover, after entering, they will have to study hard and cope with various exams!
Yes, there are very frequent exams in the Imperial College. In addition to entrance exams, promotion exams, and proctored exams, there are also ten-year exams, annual exams, etc. Each type of exam has different functions. Different subjects have different examination contents and methods.
Of course, children of officials could not take the exam seriously, but children of common people could not, because this was one of the steps for them to participate in the imperial examination.
Although the actual effect of the Imperial College was not very good, it actually reserved some talents for the imperial examination and objectively improved the overall educational level of the bureaucracy.
The mode and content of the exam are closely related to the imperial examination. It can be regarded as participating in the imperial examination mock examination training class in advance.
After completing their studies, all students had to take the imperial examination. Like the rural tribute scholars, they passed the civil service examination and were promoted to official positions after obtaining their background.
Li Longji actually wanted to send Fang Chongyong to the Imperial College to study. Now that Gao Lishi mentioned this, he remembered that this child must be a fool.
At least it used to be.
"If you look at it from a slave perspective, not only is this person not stupid, he is actually very wise and a young man is smart."
Gao Lishi said softly.
"That's surprising."
Li Longji murmured to himself.
"It is not uncommon for people to be stupid when they are young and become talented when they grow up. How does the saint plan to deal with this matter?"
Gao Lishi asked for instructions very respectfully.
"What do you think?"
Li Longji nodded slightly and asked noncommittally.
"Back to the saint, let's stop this matter and don't mention it again. If there are courtiers who write to me, just suppress the memorial and there is no need to reply. After some time, this matter will fade away."
Gao Lishi bowed and said.
"Just do it accordingly."
Li Longji sighed. He vaguely felt that this time it seemed that he had "exerted too much force", but he couldn't save the face to make some remedies.
Seeing Li Longji's expression, Gao Lishi continued to suggest: "The heirs of Li Ying, Li Yao, and Li Ju can be adopted into the names of other princes. There is no need to mention the others, and there is no need to restore King Ying (Li Ying has not yet become the king). In front of the crown prince are the names of King Ying), King E, and King Guang.
However, while adopting, confinement is necessary. "
Gao Lishi's suggestion was very appropriate. There was no need to take action against the descendants of the three kings. Instead, they were adopted into the names of other princes and imprisoned.
If he is not imprisoned, what should he do if he lies dormant and wants revenge all day long?
It has to be said that this kind of political tactics is really very mature and can eliminate hidden dangers to the greatest extent and downplay the adverse political impact caused by "killing three sons in one day".
"If we follow this, how will Fang Chongyong deal with it?"
Li Longji nodded and continued to ask. He no longer wanted to think about what to do. Killing three sons in one day was a bit messy and made him a little confused. At this time, he didn't want to do multiple-choice questions, let alone any quiz questions.
Only true-false questions are his cup of tea. Now Li Longji just wants others to give him ideas. He can just answer "yes" or "no".
"I heard that three scholars who participated in the imperial examination this year also followed Fang Chongyong to help him. It is better to meet the Minister of Rites of the branch in advance and not to admit these three people as a punishment."
Gao Lishi suggested in a low voice.
"Very good. As for the others, except for Fang Chongyong, they must be domestic slaves, so there is no need to punish them."
Li Longji waved his hand and laughed.
The dust of the times finally passed by Fang Dafu, Fang Laique and his father and his son dangerously, without crushing them into a pile of meat under the mountain.
Ordinary people's jokes often end in laughter; noble people's jokes often end in death. The same words, said by different people, have completely different effects.
"As for the child Fang Chongyong, I can just bring him to Xingqing Palace and let the saint see him. It is up to him to decide how to deal with the saint.
If nothing happens, his home is right behind Xingqing Palace. You can go home right out of the palace gate. If something happens, he will be detained in the palace and taught a lesson. The saint can only be regarded as a virtuous person who disciplines the disobedient children, so why not? "
Gao Lishi looked at the corners of Li Longji's mouth and knew that the other party's mood had improved.
"Don't be busy. Let him stay in the prison of Dali Temple for three days first. After three days, bring this disobedient child to Xingqing Palace. I also want to see how this little bastard transforms from stupidity to unteachable. Became the gifted and intelligent person he is now."
Li Longji's mood improved and he said to Gao Lishi: "I went to the Liyuan to see how Aunt Gongsun taught her incompetent disciples. I'll leave it up to you to deal with Fang Chongyong. Let the people over at Dali Temple take care of it. , don’t be hungry.”
Li Longji waved his hand and walked out of the main building of the Qin Government Affairs. Gao Lishi sighed in his heart. In the past few years, Li Longji spent more time going to the Liyuan than to the Zichen Hall of the Daming Palace.
Sure enough, now that the world is singing and dancing, Li Longji also wants to enjoy it.
Gao Lishi walked out of Xingqing Palace and saw that the sunset was about to set and the drums of the curfew were already beating. He let out a breath and thought to himself: This time he saved Fang Chongyong's life. Next time Fang Youde returns to Chang'an to report on his work, he will have to extort a lot of money from him.
…
In a small cell in Dali Temple Prison, Fang Chongyong looked at the almost unrecognizable Yan Zhuang, who looked like he was mourning for his heir, and sighed with emotion: "So you are here too!"
"Look at what Xiao Langjun said, I have been hoping that you and Commander Zheng will fish me out. But it's just that Commander Zheng didn't come, and you actually came in, what should I do!"
Yan Zhuang lamented that Fang Chongyong's imprisonment had dispelled the only extravagant hope in his heart. In his eyes, Zheng Shuqing, an old bureaucrat who always talks about cheating, is not reliable at all. This young gentleman can still look forward to it.
Of course, that was what he thought yesterday, but he doesn't think so now.
"When you go to jail, you're just in jail. But when I go to jail, I'm experiencing life."
Fang Chongyong did not dislike the bad smell on Yan Zhuang's body, sat down next to him, and then said plausibly: "If so-and-so guessed correctly, so-and-so will leave here tonight, or at most tomorrow morning."
"Isn't this...impossible?"
Yan Zhuang asked suspiciously. He has read many books, how come he doesn't know that Dali Temple is easy to get in and out?
"Then we'll see."
Fang Chongyong hummed twice, ignored Yan Zhuang, and began to close his eyes to rest.
After a while, Yan Zhuang couldn't help it anymore. He asked in a low voice with some uncertainty: "Why did you enter Dali Temple, young man? You are still a child!"
"It's nothing. The saint killed three sons in one day, and then I collected the bodies of those three princes and buried them. One of them was the former prince."
Fang Chongyong looked indifferent and spoke very calmly.
"Oh, it turns out we just buried the prince..."
Yan Zhuang suddenly noticed something was wrong, looked at Fang Chongyong suddenly and asked, "What are you talking about? A saint kills three sons in one day, and then you..."
"Yes, the body was hanging on the beam in the lobby of Chengdong Station with its tongue hanging out. It looked really scary."
Fang Chongyong continued to say indifferently.
"Then you got caught?"
Yan Zhuang was about to cry, but looked at Fang Chongyong with a sad look on his face and asked.
"That's about right. I should stay here for one night and then leave. It's not a big deal."
Fang Chongyong nodded slightly.
"It's over, it's all over. You might die before me. Why are you so calm now!"
Yan Zhuang kept beating the ground in the prison cell and crying. The hope in his heart was completely shattered.
