Chapter 44: A man's words are good

Chang'an City Taiji Palace, Xiande Palace.

Li Jiancheng nodded noncommittally, but did not speak, but paced back and forth in the hall with his hands behind his back.

After a long time, Li Jiancheng sighed deeply and said: "If it is a felony of rebellion, if it is pardoned, in the future, if others compete to follow ......"

Chen Ying sneered and laughed: "Your Majesty, when Sima Yan usurped Wei Daicao, he could succeed, what did he rely on?" ”

Li Jiancheng thought for a while and said: "Needless to say, the Cao family was born poor and could not get the support of the clan lords, Sima Yan was born in a big family, and it took several generations to complete the usurpation conspiracy......"

Hearing Li Jiancheng's words, Chen Ying nodded, but he shook his head and said: "What Your Majesty said is not right or wrong, the most fundamental reason is that Cao Wei rose to Tuntian, and the collapse was also Tuntian." ”

Regime change is definitely not something that can be accomplished by relying on conspiracy. In the end, what is needed is the real power of the bayonet to see the blood and hit the hard. The strength of the clan gate valve is certainly strong, just like the Langya Wang clan in the Eastern Jin Dynasty can share the world with Sima. However, when the general of the Langya Wang clan rebelled, Sima Wang Dun did not sit firmly like the Sima clan, but was quickly driven down by the divisions of the Qin kings from all over the country.

To put it bluntly, it is because the vested interest class does not allow it. Cao Weide has established on behalf of the Han Dynasty, relying on the old foundation laid down by Cao Cao, the most fundamental strength is the Qingyan Erzhou, the million Yellow Turban Army, Cao Cao founded the Tuntian system, so that the imperial court can use very little money and food to feed a very large army.

However, this army, which had made great contributions to the Cao family, did not receive fundamental preferential treatment, and they still needed to hand over sixty or seventy percent of their income to the imperial court, so they were naturally unwilling to do it. Of course, the Tang Dynasty also did this in history, after experiencing the four generations of Gaozu, Taizong, Gaozong, and Wuzhou, there was no land for Qinchuan in Guanzhong, eight hundred miles, that could allow the imperial court to support the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty.

In the era of Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty, the government soldiers of the Li and Tang courts basically collapsed.

However, the Tang Dynasty can continue, this is because the territory of the Tang Dynasty is too large, although the Guanzhong government has collapsed, there are still more than 100 Zhichong Mansions in the world, and these more than 100 Zhichong Mansions can still enjoy the benefits of the early Tang Dynasty.

Chen spent nearly half an hour explaining to Li Jiancheng that there must be three conditions for the success of the rebellion: the officials forced the people to rebel, the people turned their backs, and the army defected, otherwise it would be impossible to succeed at all. Historically, during Yang Xuanxian's rebellion, Yang Xuangan received the support of almost all the clans, however, the people did not support the turmoil in the world, so relying on the hundreds of thousands of troops of the clans alone could not shake a stable court.

After Li Jiancheng heard this, he muttered: "Then I will issue an edict today to exempt Li Yuanji, Li Xiaochang, and the eldest grandson Anye from the death penalty, abolish them as commoners, and detain them forever." ”

Chen Ying smiled slightly, and recited: "Your Majesty Shengming, Your Majesty is merciful!" ”

……

In the province under the door, the atmosphere was cold, and the colleagues around him avoided Fang Xuanling one after another

The scholars and the historians of the order also shrank outside the door and did not dare to enter.

Gao Shilian saw that the atmosphere was not right, so he hurriedly walked to Fang Xuanling's side and said, "Xuanling, why are you so embarrassed by Your Majesty?" Your Majesty and the King of Qi are siblings, brothers, and friends, but you want Your Majesty to punish the people close to you, don't you hear the truth of "inseparable"? ”

Fang Xuanling patted Gao Shilian's shoulder and smiled: "Don't worry, I have my own measure." ”

At this moment, Chen Ying came to Menxia Province.

All the provincial officials, including Fang Xuanling, came out to greet the first person in the dynasty.

"I'll wait to meet Chen Xiangguo!"

Chen Ying paused and said with a smile: "Colleagues, you don't have to make a big fuss, just do what you have to do!" ”

Then the officials dispersed.

Chen Ying walked to Fang Xuanling's desk and gently placed the edict written by Li Jiancheng on Fang Xuanling's desk.

Fang Xuanling picked up the edict seriously and read it.

The surrounding provincial officials whispered.

"I said, does Fang Xuanling dare to reject the edict sent by Chen Xiangguo?"

"Your Majesty's edict, Fang Xuanling has already rejected three ways, Chen Xiangguo is the head of a hundred officials, he is not as big as Your Majesty!"

"It's hard to say, Chen Xiangguo is not Pei Xiangguo, he is a merit from a hundred battles, Fang Xuanling dares to disobey Chen Xiangguo, do you think Chen Xiangguo will pull out a knife and cut people?"

It's just that the provincial officials under the door were disappointed.

After reading the edict, Fang Xuanling picked up the pen and wrote a neat word "can" on the edict.

Chen Ying picked up the edict, patted Fang Xuanling on the shoulder, and then left the province.

The surrounding officials were in an uproar.

They all looked sideways.

"Bah...... I really thought that Fang Xuanling's bones were hard enough, but he was still afraid of holding a knife! ”

"You're not afraid, you try. Chen Xiangguo can kill at least hundreds of thousands of people, and he doesn't mind killing a few more! ”

Fang Xuanling listened to the surrounding discussions, and drank tea casually.

……

In the prison of Dali Temple, Chen Ying accompanied by Dai Guan, the secretary of Dali Temple, came to the "A" room in the prison, Chen Ying handed the edict to Dai Guan, Dai Zhou read the edict, and said expressionlessly: "Xiaguan will release people!" ”

"Cut slow!" Chen Ying waved his hand and said: "Li Yuanji, this bear child, can't be so cheap to him, I will meet him first!" ”

Dai Zhou bowed and said, "The lower official retires!" ”

In the wide prison, the three masterminds, Li Yuanji, Li Xiaochang, and Changsun Anye, all sat on the cold ground with shackles.

Li Yuanji looked calm.

Li Xiaochang closed his eyes and remained motionless.

Only the eldest grandson Anye, sighing for a long time, fidgeting.

Footsteps sounded, and the three of them hurriedly followed the sound, only to see Chen Ying dressed in civilian clothes coming slowly.

After a while, Chen Ying waved his hand and said, "Open the prison door!" ”

A jailer hurriedly stepped forward and opened the cell door with the key, at this time, Chen Ying clapped his hands again, and after a while, the sound of chaotic footsteps sounded, and more than a dozen servants carrying huge lacquer boxes rushed in.

The servants opened the food box, revealing more than a dozen hard dishes such as steaming roasted whole sheep, golden and tender roast suckling pig, crystal elbow, and braised lion's head.

Looking at the fragrant dishes, the tears of the eldest grandson Anye flowed down uncontrollably.

Looking at Chen Ying's posture, it was clear that he was giving Li Yuanji a decapitated meal.

The eldest grandson Anye crawled to Chen Ying's side, hugged Chen Ying's thigh and cried: "Chen Xiangguo save his life, Your Majesty spare his life...... Spare your life...... I don't want to die, Chen Xiangguo, please ......"

After a while, a foul smell came, and Chen Ying looked at the lower body of the eldest grandson Anye, and he knew it very well.

The eldest grandson Anye was actually scared to pee.

Li Yuanji covered his nose and looked at the eldest grandson Anye with disgust.

Li Xiaochang's originally closed eyes also turned pale.

Li Yuanji didn't care whether his hands were dirty or not, he reached out to tear the mutton on the whole sheep, tore off a piece of mutton, stuffed it into his mouth, stuffed it with a mouth, he laughed while eating wildly: "Third brother-in-law...... I know you did your best! ”

Chen Yingai was clean, waved his hand, and asked a jailer to take the eldest grandson Anye out, and by the way, clean up the urine in the prison.

One jailer flattered Chen Ying to bring a soft couch, and the other brought a desk.

In the repacked cell, Chen Ying sat up, picked up the wine jug, and poured a glass of wine for Li Yuanji.

Li Yuanji was stunned for a moment, picked up the wine glass, raised his head and drank it all.

Chen Ying poured another glass of wine for Li Yuanji.

Li Yuanji picked up the wine glass and said, "Third brother-in-law, please do something!" ”

Chen Ying nodded and said, "Say it, as long as I can do it." ”

Li Yuanji sighed and said: "Please third brother-in-law, ask Your Majesty for a holy decree, then I have a glass of poisonous wine, and I want to keep a whole corpse!" ”

Suddenly, Chen Ying slapped Li Yuanji in the face.

"Smack......

Four finger prints instantly appeared on Li Yuanji's face, which were extremely clear.

Chen Ying pointed at Li Yuanji and yelled, "Don't you have a brain? Do you think of Sanniang's feelings when you do this? ”

Li Yuanji did not refute or say anything.

Drink the wine in the glass.

Chen Ying pointed at Li Yuanji, didn't speak for a long time, and left the prison angrily.

Walking to the corridor of the prison, Dai Xuan greeted him.

Chen Ying said angrily: "The edict will be pressed for two days first, and they will be locked up for a few more days, so that they can repay the taste of suffering!" ”

Dai Xuan nodded and said, "The lower official obeys the order!" ”

……

Li Jiancheng watched Chen Ying walk to the imperial study with a sinister face, raised his head and asked, "The matter is done?" ”

Chen Ying nodded and said, "Li Yuanji only asks His Majesty to give him a cup of poisonous wine." ”

Li Jiancheng said suspiciously: "He didn't say anything else?" Didn't say why? ”

Chen Ying shook his head.

Li Jiancheng frowned and was silent.

Li Jiancheng looked at Chen Ying and asked, "Yuanji, what does this mean?" ”

Chen Ying sighed and said, "As long as Yuan Ji is alive, his children and relatives, as well as his clan, will be terrified, ready to bear the wrath of you, the emperor, at any time; But as long as he commits suicide, you are the son of heaven, and you will no longer be embarrassed by his children, and even in the future, you will pity his loneliness and misery, and take care of it a little, just like people. ”

Li Jiancheng suddenly realized.

Chen Ying smiled and said, "What does Your Majesty mean?" ”

Li Jiancheng groaned: "Give him a cup of poisonous wine!" ”

Chen Ying was stunned and was about to consider the words.

Li Jiancheng said: "The wine is laxative, and the amount is doubled, so that Li Yuanji can reflect and reflect." ”

Chen Yingwan smiled, he didn't expect Li Jiancheng to have such a cute side.

Chen Ying took a chamberlain with poisoned wine and went to the prison again.

At this time, Li Yuanji had already killed half of the roast leg of lamb in the prison, and he was drunk and hazy.

Seeing Chen Ying come in, the chamberlain placed the plate with poisonous wine in front of Li Yuanji.

Chen Ying pointed his finger and said, "Yuanji, Your Majesty agreed." ”

Li Yuanji got up and solemnly said to Chen Yingyi: "Thank you third brother-in-law for taking care of me, if Yuanji has an afterlife, he will definitely repay him." ”

Chen Ying almost wanted to tell the truth, but at the critical moment, he still held back, Chen Ying said with a straight face: "No need to be polite, this is also Your Majesty's intention, don't worry, your family is young, Your Majesty will take care of it, and I will take care of it." ”

Li Yuanji said again: "Can you give me a pen and paper, I want to leave a letter for Your Majesty, and ask the third brother-in-law to forward it." ”

Chen Ying waved his hand, and the waiter hurriedly went out.

Waiting for the inner attendant to send pen, ink, paper and inkstone, Li Yuanji pondered one or two, and slowly put down the pen: "Beware of Pei Lone, beware of Master Yanfa, beware of Yu Wenhua and the Guanzhong clan, they are Turkic ......"

Chen Ying was shocked.

Don't look at the few words written by Li Yuanji, but the amount of information is very amazing.

After Li Yuanji finished writing hundreds of words, he raised his neck and drank the "poisonous wine", Chen Ying was not in the mood to watch Li Yuanji's wonderful performance, and hurriedly took the letter to the Xiande Palace.

……

In the Hall of Xiande, Li Jiancheng read the letter, and angrily, he detained the letter on the desk.

"How can this be reasonable, come and call Li Anyan to me."

The chamberlain hurriedly went out.

After a short time, Li Anyan hurriedly followed the chamberlain into the main hall.

Li Jiancheng grabbed the letter, waved it and said, "Look at this, what is that monk Yan Fa who pretends to be a ghost in front of his father every day?" ”

Li Anyan took the letter with a puzzled expression.

Li Anyan hurriedly knelt on the ground: "The minister is derelict in his duties, the minister is ......"

Li Jiancheng said: "You can take someone to arrest the strict law!" ”

Chen Ying reminded: "Remember, secret arrest!" ”

Li Anyan bowed and said, "The minister understands! ”

Just when Li Anyan opened the net to arrest Master Yan Fa, this time the political reform that shocked the government and the opposition at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty finally came to an end.

At the end of August of the seventh year of Wude, Li Jiancheng, who was dressed in a dark robe, sat on top of the Danqi.

A group of Li family clans looked at Wei Zheng with anxiety.

Li Jiancheng looked at the Li clan with electric eyes and said: "Today, the clan will be lowered, and the list will be read out by the right servant of the Shangshu and the Shangshu Wei Zheng of the Ministry of Officials!" ”

Wei Zheng came out of the ranks, made a note towards Li Jiancheng, and then turned around and opened the silk book.

Wei Zheng cleared his throat and said in a low voice: "Li Daoyan, the king of Jiaodong, has been demoted to the prince of the county, and the feudal town has been halved; Li Xiaocha, the king of Gaomi, was demoted to the prince of the county, and the fiefdom was halved; Li Xiaotong, the king of Zichuan, was demoted to the prince of the county, and the fiefdom was halved; Li Xiaoci, the king of Guangping, was demoted to the rank of county duke, and the fiefdom was halved; Li Xiaoyou, the king of Shangdang, was demoted to a county duke, and the fiefdom was halved; Li Xiaojie, the king of Qinghe, was demoted to the prince of the county, and the fiefdom was halved; Li Xiaoyi, the king of Jiaoxi, halved the feudal ......"

The members of the Li family clan who were named were all depressed.

The ministers of civil and military affairs in the hall listened silently, and no one spoke.

Wei Zheng put away the silk book, turned to look at Li Jiancheng and said, "Your Majesty, the royal clan, the reduction of the seal has been completed."

Li Jiancheng nodded and said, "Fang Xuanling, you will announce the list of officials who have been laid off and retained." ”

Fang Xuanling made a show, and then, from his sleeve, took out a silk book.

Fang Xuanling unfolded the long silk book, cleared his throat and said: "Now read out the officials who have been laid off, Wu Shirong of Hongluqing, Zhao Wenke of Dali Shaoqing, Liang Luoren, a member of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and Qiao ......Yong, a member of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Fang Xuanling finally finished reading out the list, and the long silk book was already hanging on the ground.

The civil and military officials in the hall looked panicked.

Fang Xuanling turned around and said to Li Jiancheng: "Your Majesty, the minister has finished reading out."

Li Jiancheng was full of sadness, and asked in a bitter voice: "How many officials have been eliminated in the Ministry this time?" ”

Fang Xuanling said calmly: "Your Majesty, three thousand one hundred and eighty-two." ”

Li Jiancheng asked, "How many officials are left?" ”

Fang Xuanling said lightly: "There are still six hundred and thirty-one left." ”

The ministers suddenly exchanged their heads and whispered.

Li Jiancheng looked at Fang Xuanling with wide eyes and said, "So, in the court, wouldn't it be more than half empty?" Is it necessary to make such a big move? ”

Fang Xuanling said: "Your Majesty is a famous general in the Wude Dynasty, who has led troops for many years, and he should know the truth that soldiers are expensive but not expensive. ”

……

Yan Fa was dressed in a robe and Shi Shiran, walked out of the gate of Pei Lian's mansion, looked left and right, and then walked out with a high spirit.

A carriage drove up to Yan Faya's side, and two strong men jumped out of the carriage, stepped forward to twist Yan Fa, gagged his mouth, and carried him into the carriage.

The carriage departed quickly.

Xiao Nuoyan came out of the secluded place and nodded.

Another carriage drove by, and Xiao Nuoyan jumped into the carriage.

Outside Chang'an City, in a dungeon in an imperial village, the cells are full of various torture instruments.

Xiao Nuoyan murderously pulled out a red-hot soldering iron from the blazing furnace and looked left and right.

The helper on the side suddenly exclaimed, "General, that bald donkey fainted in fright." ”

Xiao Nuoyan was so angry that he threw the soldering iron back into the stove and said, "Lao Tzu hasn't done it yet!" It took so much effort to move things in. This thief, who has the courage to give him a bucket of cold water. ”

A guard poured a bucket of cold water over Yan Fa's body.

Yan Fa slowly woke up, saw the situation around him, immediately cried bitterly, crawled over, and kowtowed to Xiao Nuoyan again and again: "General! It's not about the poor monks, it's all Pei Sikong...... Forced the poor monk to do it! ”

Xiao Nuoyan was so angry that he kicked Yan Fa again, and shouted: "Don't cry, Lao Tzu asks, you answer, and you say half a wrong sentence......"

Yan Fa looked at the red-hot soldering iron in Xiao Nuoyan's hand, and said with palpitations: "Even if the general asks, the poor monk knows everything!" ”

Xiao Nuoyan covered his face helplessly, and after a while, he kicked again.

Master Yan Fa screamed, covered his face and said, "General...... Excuse me! ”