Due to Liu Chengyou's inaction and even deliberate connivance, the turmoil in Tokyo intensified. As if he felt the emperor's thoughts, Shi Hongzhao extended his hand to others, including the ministers of the court.
If Shi Hongzhao really wanted to arrest everyone, he would not be that stupid. However, it would not be difficult to carry out some "targeted" retaliation, especially for those civil servants who were disgusted by him.
In today's Han court, there is a chain of contempt. Military men like Shi Hongzhao despised civil servants, and civil servants like Yang Bin and Wang Zhang despised Confucian officials, and Confucian officials seemed to despise everything.
Take Shi Hongzhao as an example. He seemed to have a deep-rooted prejudice and contempt for civil servants. Or perhaps it was because of inferiority complex. Although this was an era of low literacy and the status of scribes was not high, not all warriors used their ignorance as capital to show off. Especially when he reached Shi Hongzhao's position, he deeply hated others who ridiculed him as a mean man and laughed at his shallow knowledge...
He once said to others: "The literati are intolerable. They look down on our generation and call us pawns. It's hateful!"
This time, when Shi Hongzhao got the opportunity, he naturally used the topic to his advantage and made it as "happy" as possible. Right and left, when doing things in Xijing, the resistance is much smaller than in Tokyo, and under the instruction of the emperor Liu Chengyou, he has a famous teacher.
The peak of this turmoil was when Shi Hongzhao targeted Su Fengji. Shi Hongzhao had always been disgusted by Su Fengji, a villain who often made trouble in the court, acted arrogantly, and sow discord.
In Xijing, the biggest landowner, the biggest manor, and the most rampant behavior is Su Fengji. So, during the inspection of Liu Manor, Shi and Su faced each other.
Shi Hongzhao sent troops to inspect a manor owned by Su Fengji in the suburbs of Luoyang. Su Fengji's servants were so arrogant that they resisted with weapons and were directly attacked. Dozens of Su Fengji's followers were killed.
When Su Fengji heard the news and arrived, it was already too late and he was furious. He had a fierce argument with Shi Hongzhao, but a mouth could never be worth a sword from a martial artist. If Shi Hongzhao hadn't retained a clear mind, he might have captured Su Fengji on the spot. Even so, the two of them got into trouble directly in front of Liu Chengyou.
"Your Majesty, Shi Hongzhao acted perversely, arresting court officials indiscriminately, imposing private punishments, plundering people's property, and taking human lives lightly..."
This was the first time Liu Chengyou saw Su Fengji lose his temper like this. It was as if he had been stepped on by Shi Hongzhao. He completely broke his skin and impeached and attacked Shi Hongzhao in front of the emperor.
Glancing towards Shi Hongzhao, I saw that he had a sullen face and was filled with anger. He cupped his hands towards Liu Chengyou and said, "Your Majesty, I have verified that Su Fengji is in Luoyang, occupying acres of land, using servants as his servants, committing lawlessness, and forcing people into slavery." Fan, he actually dared to send people to the government and civilian villages to capture the villagers and farm them privately. All the tenants of his manor were shackled. If he tortured the people like this, how could he be a prime minister and stand in the court. Please, Your Majesty Dismiss him from office and hold him to account!"
"That's nonsense!" After hearing what Shi Hongzhao said, Su Fengji became even more angry, and then said to Liu Chengyou: "Your Majesty must not listen to Shi Hongzhao's slander. As far as I know, Shi Hongzhao faked the king's order and acted on his own, falsely accusing the loyal and indiscriminately. He used cruel methods to enrich his own pockets. This caused people in Xijing to panic and complain. This person is a great evil in the current dynasty and a disaster to the country. Please get rid of him by your majesty."
"Traitor! Spouting blood!" Shi Hongzhao seemed to have been touched by the words. He lifted up his official robe, exposed his fists, and faced Su Fengji with his eyes ready to spit fire.
"Bold Shi Hongzhao, who is so arrogant in front of His Majesty, you can imagine how rampant he is on weekdays." Seeing Shi Hongzhao's actions, Su Fengji took two steps back knowingly, and habitually pulled Liu Chengyou's tiger skin and asked He said: "Do you still want to take action in the palace?"
"You think I don't dare?" Shi Hongzhao yelled.
"Enough!" At this time, Liu Chengyou, who had been listening to the two people arguing with a sullen face, finally couldn't help it anymore and shouted: "Do you still have me as the emperor in your eyes?"
Liu Chengyou suddenly went berserk, which shocked the two of them. Su Fengji's eyes squinted, and when he saw that Liu Chengyou was angry, the corner of his mouth raised a little joy, and he quickly bowed, pretending to be humble and frightened, and apologized: "I have no status, please forgive me."
Shi Hongzhao seemed to have calmed down. He looked at Liu Chengyou and was frightened by his cold gaze. He rolled up his sleeves and with a sullen face, he also apologized: "Your Majesty, please forgive me."
The hall slowly became quiet, and you could hear a needle drop. Liu Chengyou looked at Shi and Su expressionlessly. His eyes were calm, and his mind was calmly thinking about how to deal with this matter, should he use the topic to his advantage, or should he let things go?
Putting things to rest? This idea was killed by Liu Chengyou almost immediately.
Shi Hongzhao bites Su Fengji, which is an unexpected surprise, and the two of them bite each other, which makes them even happier.
Regarding Su Fengji, Liu Chengyou had long wanted to rectify it, but he had never thought about when to take action.
From the beginning, Liu Chengyou had a bad impression of Su Fengji. Before the founding of the Han Dynasty, this man had restrained himself somewhat, but after he became the prime minister, what he did was worthy of the name of "treacherous and powerful prime minister". Selling one's official position and seducing one's title, bringing trouble to the government, having no ruler, violating prohibitions, being arrogant and extravagant, conniving at lawlessness...
Even if Liu Chengyou sent people to win over him before, it was just against his will and wanted an ally to fight against Yang Bin. However, in fact, even without Liu Chengyou, the disputes and conflicts between Yang and Su were intense enough. Moreover, Su Fengji often used Liu Chengyou's influence to fight against Yang Bin.
By now, Su Fengji had actually become a cancer in the Han Dynasty. This person is so arrogant when he succeeds, and what he does is really too arrogant.
To a certain extent, Liu Chengyou disliked Su Fengji more than Yang Bin. Of course, when it comes to conflicts, the conflict between Liu Chengyou and Yang Bin is still more serious. It is a struggle for imperial power. Even if they can be suppressed for a while, it will be difficult to reconcile them in the end.
"Su Qing, what do you have to say about the crime Shi Qing is accused of?" After a while, when Shi and Su were involuntarily feeling nervous, Liu Chengyou finally spoke up and faced Su Fengji.
"This is all Shi Hongzhao's slander..." He blurted out the words of denial, but when he noticed Liu Chengyou's cold eyes, Su Fengji's voice couldn't help but become hoarse. The indifferent eyes made him feel flustered.
His lips seemed a little dry, and Su Fengji swallowed.
Taking a deep breath, Liu Chengyou picked up a stack of memorials from the imperial case, weighed them in his hands, looked down at Su Fengji, and said coldly: "These are the memorials I received after I ascended the throne regarding your violation of laws and disciplines. There were more than twenty copies of the memorial in more than a month!"
Hearing Liu Chengyou's words, Su Fengji was shocked. He reacted quickly in astonishment: "It must be a villain who is causing trouble and falsely accusing me. Your Majesty must not believe those untrue words!"
Su Fengji's answer almost seemed to want to fool Liu Chengyou into thinking he was a fool.
"Su Fengji!" Liu Chengyou shouted angrily: "Do you think I can be bullied?"
Su Fengji was completely shocked by Liu Chengyou's sudden question, and he responded in shock: "My lord, I don't dare."
"Selling an official position and getting a title, is this true? The governor of Ruzhou clearly marked the price at five thousand yuan. Is this true?"
"Is there any lie in indulging in domestic servants, practicing lawlessness, and oppressing good people?"
"Is it illegal to expand a house beyond the limit? Is it illegal to violate the imperial ban?"
"Enclosing land harms the people, robs the people, and conflicts with the government. Is this false?"
"..."
"Do you want to see each of these for yourself? Do you want me to point them out for you one by one?" Liu Chengyou threw the memorial on the imperial desk with force and stared at Su Fengji coldly.
"My lord, my lord, my lord..." Su Fengji's legs softened and he knelt down.
After saying "Chen Chen Chen" for a long time, he finally said "Guilty".
At this time, Shi Hongzhao made another comment at the right time: "Your Majesty, I found some armors from Su Fengji's manor, and his servants also had many sharp weapons. He secretly amassed armors and armors, for fear that he might have other intentions. There is a plan."
Su Fengji looked at Shi Hongzhao with eyes that were about to burst. No matter how serious the other crimes were, he was confident that he would be able to overcome them, but when Shi Hongzhao said this, he almost wanted to kill him. Privately accumulating armored soldiers is much more sensitive than taking human life lightly.
"I don't dare, I don't dare to have any different intentions!" Su Fengji, without caring much, hurriedly apologized and said: "I am loyal to your majesty and to the great man, and heaven and earth can teach you. Your majesty must not listen to Shi Hongzhao's slanderous words!"
Liu Chengyou seemed to be irritated and did not listen to his explanation at all. He angrily ordered outside: "Come here, capture this thief, put him in jail, and keep him under strict supervision!"
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty, forgive me! Your Majesty, spare my life!" Su Fengji was completely panicked, and kept crying out while being carried out.
Unfortunately, Liu Chengyou remained unmoved.
"Your Majesty is wise in capturing this thief." Shi Hongzhao, who was standing by, showed a somewhat satisfied look, and complimented Liu Chengyou for the first time.
Liu Chengyou seemed to have come back to his senses, sighed, and said to Shi Hongzhao with a little lack of interest: "Shi Qing has been working hard these days on errands."
"Serving His Majesty and the imperial court, I dare not say anything about the hardships!" Shi Hongzhao's temperament was as submissive as a sheep at this time.
Liu Chengyou thought for a while and then said to Shi Hongzhao: "Now that Su Fengji is in prison, the properties he bought in Xijing and the grain and wealth he collected should be inspected by Shi Qing. All his party members and slaves who have committed illegal crimes must be taken away and they are not allowed to leave." Take off one person!"
"Yes!" Shi Hongzhao raised his voice and responded excitedly. This person really didn't have much self-consciousness.
Liu Chengyou looked at his back. What Shi Hongzhao didn't know was that Liu Chengyou looked at his back with the same indifference.
After he retreated, Liu Chengyou's face slowly returned to calmness and his eyes softened. He slowly sat back behind the imperial desk, picked up a copy of the memorial and continued to read. Taking down a minister didn't seem to have any impact on him.
The memorial in hand was not an impeachment of Su Fengji. It was just a political report forwarded by Tokyo.
"Come here, send the military envoy!" After a while, Liu Chengyou's cold voice sounded in the hall.
