Yang Kai and Tian Bo jointly asked to see Li Ze.

These two people, Yang Kai is the Imperial Historian of the Imperial History Terrace, and Tian Bo is the Imperial Historian.

At this time, the Yushitai is not just a spewing agency, but a real violent organ with the power of supervision, arrest, etc., and the Yushitai under Li Ze is even more special.

Imperial Historian Yang Kai held the Yixing Society in his hand, while Cheng Tianbo in the Imperial History controlled the internal guard. The Yixing Society has a great reputation, all over the country, in addition to those above board institutions, of course, there are also hidden things that are not known to outsiders, not to mention the internal guard, on the bright side, this thing is simply not found.

When the two are combined, the power it can burst out is even more terrifying.

"Zuo Xiaowei's matter has been completely investigated." Yang Kai spread out the thick stack of case files in front of Li Ze and bowed respectfully.

"Let's talk about it!"

"Yes!" Tian Bo cleared his throat and said: "Zuo Xiaowei's incident this time mainly happened in the Chinese army under the direct command of Qin Zhao and the subordinates under the command of Jin Shiyuan. This is also the reason why it is difficult for Yixing Society to penetrate. Previously, according to the number of casualties reported to the Ministry of War, it was only after the Ministry of Household and the Ministry of Officials were notified that it came to our attention. ”

Speaking of this, Tian Bo glanced at Li Ze with some shame: "This is a serious mistake in the intelligence work of our internal guards, and the internal investigation and handling procedures of the internal guards have already begun. ”

Yang Kai continued: "The supervising imperial history stationed in Zuo Xiaowei has also been suspended for investigation. ”

"Go on."

"Preliminary investigation revealed that this matter involved Qin Zhao, the general of Zuo Xiaowei, a total of 18 generals and colonels at all levels above Jin Shiyuan, and three chambers of commerce, two fleets, and two fleets that covered and carried these escaped soldiers. Now these chambers of commerce, carriages and horses have been sealed, and the main person in charge has been arrested, but after the incident, the first batch of the fleet has been far away from the area controlled by our side and cannot be recovered, and nearly 1,000 soldiers have escaped. The second batch has been recovered and detained by the sailors. Tian Bo continued.

"Tell me about it, how do you end it?"

"From the internal guard interrogation to now, Jin Shiyuan has taken all the problems on his shoulders, saying that the people below are acting on orders, only thinking that it is military affairs and not knowing the inside story, saying that Qin Zhao is completely kept in the dark and does not know about this matter at all." Tian Bodao.

Hearing this, Li Ze laughed: "In this way, this Jin Shiyuan is really a man." Didn't he know the gravity of the matter? ”

"He said, "It's just death." Tian Bo snorted coldly. "Because of some well-known reasons, it is inconvenient for us to torture Jin Shiyuan."

Yang Kai also had a headache: "Li Xiang, the real reason behind this matter is a political issue, and it is extremely tricky to deal with. It is not even convenient to announce it to the public. And if these generals and colonels are dealt with on a large scale at one time, it is also inappropriate for an army that has just established meritorious service in the Pinglu Campaign, it is easy to cause material discussions, and it is easy to be taken advantage of by people with intentions, so as to stir up trouble and lead to the emperor and Li Xiang, but it is not beautiful. ”

Li Ze nodded, took out several folds from the big case, handed them to the two, and said, "Look, the folds of intercession for them have been handed in." ”

Yang Kai took the excerpt and didn't look at the content, just glanced at the names of some of these people, and said with some astonishment: "Han Shangshu, Tian Tai Changqing and these people intercede for them is expected, Cheng Xu has performed well over the years, how can he be involved?" By the way, there is also Pei Ju, haven't you always stayed away from these people? Why did he get on the fold, and this Ding Jian, what's going on? ”

Li Ze said with a smile: "Cheng Xu and Jin Shiyuan have fought side by side many times, and they are willing to exchange all their military exploits for Jin Shiyuan's life, Pei Ju is purely because of his old friendship with Qin Zhao, and Ding Jian understands best, saying that this matter is best to cover up the past quietly and publicize it, which is not good for the Son of Heaven, and even worse for me." ”

"What does Lee Xiang think?" Yang Kai was silent for a while.

"Black doesn't mention white, just let it go gently, of course it's not okay." Li Ze's face turned cold, "What did Yu Shitai say?" How's the law? ”

"If you follow the law, like Jin Shiyuan, you should be beheaded. Those generals and colonels who are directly involved in this matter, don't even want to live. Yang Kai said in a low voice: "But if you want to open the killing ring, and if you want to execute so many generals and colonels at one time, it is impossible for the Imperial History Observatory and the Criminal Department to do it in private, and it will inevitably go through the open face, the public discussion of the court, and the review of the third trial, and this matter will have to make a big fuss." ”

Li Ze nodded: "It's really difficult." I had to cheapen them. This incident is characterized as the deliberate misrepresentation of losses by these generals, defrauding the court of a large amount of pensions, and then filling their pockets. ”

"In this case, Jin Shiyuan Ke was lifted high and put down gently." Tian Bo was a little reluctant: "I can't even investigate the issue of Qin Zhao." ”

As the mastermind of this incident, Jin Shiyuan was removed from the army, sentenced to hard labor, and confiscated family property. Other corrupt generals shall be dealt with in this way, and the level shall be reduced in turn. Li Zedao: "As the chief general, although Qin Zhao did not participate, he concealed it for his subordinates afterwards, deceived the imperial court, ordered him to retire, removed all official positions, and only retained his title. ”

"Yes!" Yang Kaidao.

After a moment of silence, Li Ze continued: "Finally, hand over these people to Qin Zhao and tell him that I don't want to see these people anymore, and I don't want to hear any more news from them here." ”

"Li Xiang, why is that?" Tian Bo was puzzled.

"Cheng Xu once said in the secret compromise that Jin Shiyuan had already wanted to go and wanted to go back to his hometown to have a look." Li Ze sighed and said: "This person has made great contributions to the Tang Dynasty, and letting him leave can be regarded as rewarding him and his ancestors for their countless years of meritorious service to the Tang Dynasty, and I am also worthy of his scars." ”

"Lee Sang-in-thee. Thinking about this treatment, Qin Zhao and the others must be grateful. Yang Kai said.

"You don't need them to be grateful, just don't mess with me." Li Zedao: "Inform Pan Motang and Hou Zhen, those ordinary soldiers are all released, and follow the normal retirement procedures." ”

"Yes!" Tian Bo said: "But Li Xiang, those chambers of commerce, fleets, chariots and horses involved in this matter can't be easily let go, they eat this bowl of rice you rewarded, but they want to smash your pot, they haven't shed blood for the court, and they have died of service." ”

"These people, you can do it, and you don't have to report it anymore." Li Ze waved his hand a little irritably. "Tian Bo, let's go, Yang Kai, you stay and I'll tell you another thing."

"Li Xiang doesn't know what else to order?" Watching Tian Bo leave, Yang Kai asked.

"I want to tell you about public opinion, wind reviews, and material discussions." Li Ze sorted out his thoughts and said: "In the past, there were few literate people, and these things were in the hands of those scholars or gentry, they said that the wind is the wind, and the rain is the rain, even now, this situation exists, right?" ”

"Yes!" Yang Kai nodded affirmatively: "But now there are more and more literate people under our rule, especially among the younger generation, the education you have spent a lot of money to insist on implementing has still played a role after all, there are more and more literate people, and it is becoming more and more difficult for those people to distort the policies of the imperial court, and the Yixing Society has also played a very good role in promoting and explaining." ”

"It's not enough, we have to strengthen, we have to control, guide, and finally catch all these into our own hands." Li Ze said vigorously.

"I don't know what Li Xiang wants to do?"

"Every once in a while, the imperial court will print and distribute a newspaper to officials in various places, and it often prints a large number of notices and posts, so in terms of printing technology, it is now passable, isn't it?" Li Ze asked.

"Yes. After solving the problem of ink, the technology of movable type printing has been improved by leaps and bounds, and now there are even color inserts in books. Yang Kai said.

"Run a newspaper on current affairs." Li Zedao.

"Current affairs newspaper?" Yang Kai blinked, and didn't react for a moment what it was.

"It's something like the Di Bao, but it's not just for officials, it's for all literate people." Li Zedao: "Newspapers can print and distribute unclassified imperial court policies, and anyone can submit articles to newspapers to comment on the current situation and discuss policies. ”

Yang Kai changed color slightly and said, "Li Xiang, what if there is something that doesn't conform to the will of the imperial court?" And even articles that go the other way? ”

"So I left you here, and that's it." Li Zeyi smiled and said: "Since this thing is in our hands, what can and cannot be sent is in our hands." In the past, the so-called wind criticism needed to be passed on by word of mouth, but when we get this newspaper, we can deliver the message we want to convey to thousands of people in a short period of time. ”

"I see, our Imperial Observatory is presiding over this?"

"No, you and Zhang Shangshu will discuss this matter." Li Zedao: "The establishment of such a department is ostensibly related to you, but secretly you must be able to control everything, and you can't let him go out of shape, and in the end, we will lift a stone and shoot ourselves in the foot." ”

"Yes. However, as soon as I heard about this thing, I knew that it cost a lot, but I was afraid that where Xia Shangshu was in the household department, Li Xiang still needed to go and say hello in person! Yang Kai smiled and said, "If I go and say it, Xia Shangshu will definitely spit on me and send me away with a simple roller." ”

"The start-up capital must be given, but in the end, the newspaper has to support itself, and this thing is not like the Di newspaper that is given away for free, it is to be sold for money, and if you want to read the newspaper, you can buy it with money." Li Ze spread his hands and said: "It's done well, it can make money, and it can be made into an old hen that lays golden eggs." ”