The lights are flickering, the insects outside the house that have woken up from the bitter cold of winter are crisp and loud, and the cool breeze of the night blows in from outside the door, and there is no coolness anymore, with the vitality of spring. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Xu Ping looked at the paper brought back by Wu Zunlu in his hand, flipped through it over and over again, and after a long time, raised his head and asked, "What time is it?" ”

"It's not been long since the time passed." Sima Chi, who was in a hurry, hurriedly replied.

Xu Ping stood up and said to Liu Xin, Wu Zunlu and Sima Chi, who had been guarding the yamen: "This case is too widely implicated for us to decide. I will go into the palace and wait for the Holy Majesty, and you will wait here for my news. ”

The three of them said together: "Deputy envoy, go and come back quickly!" ”

Xu Ping nodded, walked out of the Sansi Yamen, took only one soldier with him, and went to the big inner line behind the palace.

All the way to the outside of the vertical arch hall, seeing that Li Zhang was on duty again today, Xu Ping sighed. My own people are always easy to talk to, and if I change to someone I don't know, it will inevitably take a lot of time.

wrote the pleadings, and Li Zhang still took it to the front political hall to report.

After a while, Li Zhang came back, and Xu Ping asked him: "Which minister is on duty tonight in the political affairs hall in front?" ”

"It's Cai Xianggong, who is better than the others."

"Good!" Listening to Li Zhang's words, Xu Ping let go of half of his heart. Cai Qi does not belong to Lu Yijian's party, if there is really something to agree to tonight, Cai Qi is always easier to speak.

Xu Ping was outside, and Li Zhang personally entered the palace to pass on Xu Ping's request.

After waiting for not much time, Li Zhang hurriedly came out and said to Xu Ping: "Brother comes with me, the official family is reading the recital in Yanhe Palace, let's hurry up." ”

followed Li Zhang all the way to Yanhe Palace, and the small yellow gate went in to pass the ceremony, and spread the word that Xu Ping had entered the right.

Entering the hall, Xu parallel saluted like a ceremony.

Emperor Zhao Zhen was already a little tired at this time, and asked, "What is the big thing, you have to enter the right thing at night?" ”

Xu Ping said: "A few days ago, Weichen was ordered by the court to work with Yushitai and Kaifeng Mansion to investigate the case of office officials making trouble, but I don't want to find out the hidden situation behind the scenes today, which is very involved. Wei Chen thought about it, and this matter must be decided by the Holy Lord. ”

"What's the secret, let's hear it."

"Most of the public officials who made trouble that day were instigated and coerced by others, so they went to the street and rushed into the prime minister and the imperial historian's office. The reason why some people want to make trouble is precisely because these officials have no authority and refuse to be attached. Today, there is a public official Cui Youde confessed, there is an old and retired official in Kaifeng City, called Liu Taishi, recruited party henchmen, and colluded with the public officials in the capital to desecrate public property, disrupt the government and do many illegal things. Han Yushi proposed to lay off the officials of the three divisions, and these people were afraid that their own people would be cut, so they resorted to means to encourage irrelevant officials to make trouble on the streets, and removed these people, and their people happened to be safe and sound. ”

Zhao Zhen was silent for a while, looked at Xu Ping and said, "Is this really so serious?" can coerce so many public officials to go out and make trouble, this is simply an underground court. ”

"I'm afraid of what Weichen said, it's not as bad as the real situation. This is Cui Youde's confession, please see it in the Holy Palace. ”

The little yellow door standing next to him took Cui Youde's confession in Xu Ping's hand and presented it to Zhao Zhen.

Looking at the confession, Zhao Zhen was unimpressed at first, and soon frowned, and it didn't take long for his eyes to widen, followed by a wide open mouth, looking incredulous.

Putting down the confession in his hand, Zhao Zhen asked Xu Ping: "What is said in this confession is true?" ”

Xu Ping said: "The criminal Cui Youde is still in the prison of Kaifeng Mansion and has committed a capital crime, and Weichen promised not to implicate his family, so he wrote this confession, and he shouldn't lie." Moreover, according to the facts of the case that Weichen has investigated in the past few days, it can be compared with what he said in his confession one by one, and this is the case when I think it is. ”

Zhao Zhen opened his eyes and looked at the few pieces of paper on the table, still looking incredulous. After a while, he slapped the case suddenly: "It's so bold, it's to ignore the court!" It's as hateful as rebellion! ”

Xu Ping hurriedly said: "Collusion and greed are just can't be compared with rebellion." The imperial court has its own legal code, and His Majesty is a little angry, as long as it is strictly handled in accordance with the legal code. ”

Although things are bad, you can't go up the line in a mess, and as a subordinate, you must always prevent the emperor from coming according to his temperament, because you don't know which day the evil consequences will fall on your head.

After calming down for a while, Zhao Zhen said: "This case is strictly investigated, and without further ado, go and get someone immediately!" ”

"This matter can't be handled by a yamen of the Salt and Iron Division—"

Zhao Zhen nodded, thought for a while, and instructed the attendants beside him: "Immediately announce the prime minister's entry into the palace!" Also, in the history of Xuanyu, Han Yi and Li Rashi, the official of the Imperial City Division, came to the world. ”

The chamberlain received the order and hurried away.

Generally speaking, even if the chamberlain spreads the edict, it must have the emperor's imperial pen and seal, but just let the minister enter the palace to see the driver, and the monarch and the minister can face it in an instant, this step is omitted. In the late Tang Dynasty, the Privy Council was responsible for the Xuankou edict, so the orders issued by the Privy Council in this era were still called "Xuan". The chamberlain obviously has little authority, and the edict can only be used for these trivial matters.

Xu Ping listened to Zhao Zhen's arrangement and breathed a sigh of relief. Judging from the personnel who spread the propaganda, I am afraid that the case was handed over to the Yushitai and the Imperial City Division, and even Kaifeng Mansion was bypassed. The Imperial Historical Observatory and the Imperial City Division are independent of the political affairs hall and can not be interfered with by the rulers, and it is obvious that Zhao Zhen is also worried that there are foreign ministers involved.

When the chamberlain went out, Zhao Zhen asked Xu Ping in detail about the case.

Xu Ping explained in detail the process of investigating the case in the past few days, as well as the guesses of several people who were involved in the investigation in the process.

At this time, Zhao Zhen's anger slowly subsided, and after listening to Xu Ping's words, he said, "These little officials are so bold and reckless. The so-called freezing three ends are not a day's cold, but I am afraid that they have been colluding and committing fraud for some years. After this incident, the officials of each yamen must be selected and eliminated, and if the three divisions are like this, how can the other yamen stay out? ”

"Your Majesty said yes. Many of the officials of the yamen in the capital have been passed down from generation to generation, and there is a proverb that 'officials have no feudalism, but officials have feudalism'. Just because the things they do are small, you can't treat them as wrong. These petty officials control specific government affairs, and once they have the intention to cheat, no matter how good the government is, it will be ridiculous in their hands. They directly confronted the people and caused chaos, which ruined the reputation of the court, and they couldn't be sloppy. ”

Zhao Zhen looked at the paper on the table again and asked Xu Ping: "This time I checked it, and most of the officials of the three divisions went." Without the specific work of the officials, what should we do with daily government affairs? Have you ever wondered? ”

On the way to the palace, Weichen was also thinking about it. Today's plan, Weichen thinks that there is only one side to recruit public officials, after all, there are more officials in the capital than in other places, and there are many scholars who have not entered the office. In order to prevent the recurrence of this kind of collusion, most of the officials still have to come from outside the capital. In order to respond to emergencies, it is necessary to transfer skilled officials from Jingdong and Jingxi to Beijing, and take care of a little money and food, and I don't know if it is appropriate. ”

Zhao Zhen said: "During the Tiansheng years, there was a small official who died of poverty, I asked Wang Qinruo, and he replied that even if he was thin, he should still obey the law. Now it seems that Wang Qinruo is a treacherous and evil person, and his clever words are flattering. The little official is so greedy, could it be that it is also related to the fact that he is too thin? The ancients knew etiquette and etiquette, and knew honor and disgrace when they had enough food and clothing, if they had no worries about food and clothing, how could those little officials be so bold and formless, and defy the law! ”

Xu Ping bowed and saluted: "Your Majesty Shengming!" Although it comes from the treasury of the state, it is not allowed to reward excessively, but it is also not allowed to leave those who are faithful to work without food and clothing. It is not enough to support the family, and no matter the officials, they will naturally use the power in their hands to exchange money and food, and they can't wait to starve to death. Due to the greed of the petty officials, the loss of money and grain in the treasury was caused, and I was afraid that it would be countless times more than adding a little money. After this incident, the public officials' salaries should be adjusted, it is naturally inappropriate to be too high, people's greed is endless, and the people have the saying of 'promoting rice and fighting rice hatred', but they must always be free of food and clothing. Everything is in one degree, as long as it is moderate, and then there is greed and malpractice, it should naturally be punished severely, so that the public officials can act loyally. ”

"After this matter, let's gather the ministers to discuss." Zhao Zhen nodded in agreement. "By the way, in addition to the officials of the three divisions, aren't you also going to open some new field affairs, and now that the third division has an accident, what should you do with the officials who are needed there?"

"The minister invited some of the officials of the sugar business to enter Beijing. Chen has been in Yongzhou for six years, and many field affairs have been opened for many years, and there are many skilled people in the sugar business, and they can get twice the result with half the effort. ”

"It's okay, you should have cultivated some talents in Yongzhou for so many years, and you just happened to be transferred to Beijing to work."

At this moment, a report was spread outside the door that Li Yonghe had been informed.

Tonight, the Imperial City Division is Li Yonghe on duty, and he is the closest, so he is also the earliest.

came in and saluted, and Zhao Zhen hurriedly ordered the seat to be exempted.

Uncle Guo was naturally treated differently, Xu Ping stood for half an hour, and then he mixed his seat with the light of Li Yonghe.

Zhao Zhen said to Li Yonghe, who was sitting down: "Just now Xu Ping came to report the case of the street trouble caused by the officials of the three divisions two days ago, and there are great drawbacks behind the scenes. This matter is very important, and I want to have the Imperial City Division and the Imperial Historical Observatory handle it together with the Third Division. ”

Li Yonghe bowed and said, "The minister receives the order." ”

Zhao Zhen nodded: "Let's wait for the prime minister and the imperial history to come and talk together." ”

Li Yonghe turned around and nodded at Xu Ping, which was regarded as a greeting. The two families are close to each other and often come and go, but it is the first time to sit together on such an occasion, and they are a little uncomfortable.

After a while, the two prime ministers, Lu Yijian and Wang Zeng, and Han Yi, the middle of the imperial history, arrived one after another.

Zhao Zhen introduced the situation and asked Xiao Huangmen to pass the confession on the imperial case to a few people.

The three of them looked at each other, and almost said to Zhao Zhen together: "How can this matter be so ridiculous?" Really have you found out? If it's true, then not only the three divisions, but also the officials of the yamen in the capital will have to check it again! (To be continued.) )