Chapter 218 Yang Zhao Broken Arm

In Chang'an Qing Palace, since the deposed prince Li Heng, King Qing Li Cong seemed to have completely changed. The almost closed recruitment hall was reopened and expanded. He was respectful to the wise and the elderly, caring for the elderly, generous and generous, diligent in running schools, and became a wise king for more than 20 days, so he couldn't wait to find someone to compile children's songs.

"The Tang Dynasty is vast, the country is vast, the East Palace is empty and silent to find the eldest king, Muzi Li, Xihai jade, and the descendants are prosperous by our sect."

This nursery rhyme implies that King Qing Li Cong. He found a sloppy Taoist priest and offered him a reward, so that he could spread the nursery rhyme throughout Chang'an. However, Li Cong didn't know that the butler who was responsible for taking care of his land property habitually surrounded 20,000 acres of land before the ripening valley in Songzhou, but caused him a huge disaster.

That afternoon, the chief censor Song Hun hurried to Prince Qing's mansion, which brought him fatal news. The Henan Observer Li Qing'an and Songzhou Prefect Cui Lian jointly wrote a letter to impeach him, impeaching him, King Qing occupied 20,000 mu of land in Gushu County, Songzhou, and used lynching to force the people to rebel. The evidence was conclusive. 530 armed servants transferred from the manors of King Qing from various places have been arrested. In the memorial, Li Qing'an also impeached King Qing for suspected private troops to rebel.

Li Cong was stunned by the sudden news. He didn't know about this. He just asked the butler to help him pay attention to cheap land at any time. However, he did not expect that the ignorant butler caused him a huge disaster at this time, but Li Qing'an caught the handle.

"Song Zhongcheng, I don't know anything about this at all. What should I do now?"

"Your Highness, now Li Qing'an's impeachment memorial has arrived at the Censorate and will be handed over to the emperor tomorrow at the latest. The situation is in crisis, your Highness quickly think about a way to rescue him!"

"tomorrow!"

Li Cong was so shocked that he trembled all over. He grabbed Song Hun and begged: "Song Zhongcheng, can you suppress the memorial? Don't send it to the palace. I beg you to help me!"

Song Hun shook his head and sighed, "If I can suppress it, I will bring you the memorial now. Li Qing'an is the censor. His memorial is sent directly to the emperor. Logically, I have no right to check it. I also secretly checked it out in violation of regulations. Your Highness, I really can't help you in this matter. Now there is still half a day. Your Highness will find a way for yourself!"

At this time, Li Qiu next to him suddenly asked: "Song Zhongcheng, I heard that Li Qingan also impeached Cui Qiao the day before yesterday. Is there any result now?"

"Not yet, but I heard that the emperor was furious and summoned Yang Guozhong into the palace overnight to curse. I guess Cui Qiao is in danger this time."

Song Hun sighed and said, "This time Li Qing'an attacked repeatedly, obviously against the prime minister Yang and King Qing. Li Linfu and Zhang Yun both wrote letters to complain about the disadvantages of land annexation, which is very meaningful to take the wrong place. I suggest that your highness discuss countermeasures with Prime Minister Yang quickly, and not to be defeated by Li Qing'an."

"Li Qing'an!" Li Cong gritted his teeth with hatred, "I must send someone to kill this thief!"

Li Qi next to him was shocked and quickly stopped him, "My father must not be! Last time Li Qing'an was assassinated in Bianzhou, the emperor suspected that it was his father's actions. Although the final evidence of this matter was insufficient and left unresolved, the emperor had already become suspicious of his father. If the father sent someone to assassinate him again, he would be confirmed. Wouldn't that be the person behind the scenes? Now the father must not be impulsive."

"What do you think you should do?"

King Qing was so anxious that he was sweating coldly, saying, "The last time Li Qing'an was assassinated, he was framed and scolded by his father. Now the land case has started again, and my position as the Eastern Palace is over."

Li Qiu pondered for a moment, then bowed to Song Hun and said, "Thank you, Song Zhongcheng, for reporting the letter. Please delay Li Qing'an's memorial until tomorrow, and we father and son will thank you very much!"

Song Hun knew that the father and son had something to discuss and couldn't let him know, so he bowed and said, "It is my honor to serve Your Highness. I hope Your Highness can come up with good plans and turn bad luck into good luck. I will do my best to help you!"

After saying that, he said goodbye and left. Li Qi kept sending him out of the mansion and then back to the study. Li Cong asked him impatiently: "Does my son have any good plans?"

"Don't worry, father, please sit down and talk."

Although Li Cong was anxious, his son's calmness forced him to hold back his anger. He sat down and said, "Father must first understand why Li Qingan is so tough, and what is his purpose in doing this?"

Li Cong said angrily: "I don't understand why he did this. The princelings have been destroyed. What's the point of doing this? Will he take revenge on us?"

Li Qiu shook his head, "This is exactly what I want to say. The princeling seems to be purged, but in fact, there are many people who sympathize with the prince, especially the aristocratic families and royal families. According to the child, almost everyone thinks that the prince is innocent and deposed. The witch cup is very far-fetched. It is precisely because many people sympathize with the prince that Li Qingan suddenly shot back and pointed his sword at Yang Guozhong and his father. In this way, he became the hero of the princeling, became the leader of the princeling, won the hearts of the people in the court, and won praise from the people. He killed two birds with one stone. This is his purpose. Does the father understand?"

Li Cong took a deep breath, and when his son explained, he suddenly realized that Li Qingan was so scheming.

"But, what does this have to do with resolving my crisis?"

“It’s a big deal!”

Li Qiu smiled and said, "Father, since I can think of this, how could the emperor not think of it? Will he let Li Qingan succeed in his plan? No, Cui Qiao's impeachment memorial was sent to the palace the day before yesterday. The emperor was furious, but it has not been dealt with until today. Don't the father find it strange?"

Li Cong thought intently, it was true. Since his father was furious, he should punish Cui Qiao immediately, but there was no news yet. It was indeed strange. He hurriedly asked, "Why is this?"

"I was thinking, maybe the priest already felt that the prince would have problems, so he was waiting to see which one was more important and then decide who to punish."

"What you mean is that will the father choose one person between me and Cui Qiao to punish me?"

"That's right!" Li Qi nodded, "It must be like this. When the princelings were first destroyed, the emperor would never let Li Qing'an's counterattack be too fierce, but he could not explain to the people of the world without punishment. So he was waiting. Now that the problem of his father has arisen, it became the result of choosing one of two."

"Then what do you think I should do?"

"I thought my father should work in both ways. First, he should severely punish the steward and even execute him. He should immediately send someone to Songzhou to retreat to the aftermath. He should also carry out disaster relief in Songzhou like King Di to minimize the impact. Then the father must rush to the palace to apologize to his father before the memorial. Secondly, he might as well knock Cui Qiao again in the future and let him commit multiple crimes."

Li Cong really admired his son a little. He considered the problem and calmly resolved such a critical matter. Li Cong's heart was slightly relieved, and he asked again: "I wonder what else can Cui Qiao catch?"

Li Qiu smiled slightly and said, "Did your father forget it? Cui Qiao was promoted to the prime minister and the charge of giving up the home wife has not been cancelled yet!"

Song Hun came out of Prince Qing's mansion and rushed to find Yang Guozhong. He was Yang Guozhong's confidant, but he also had some selfishness. Therefore, he first reported to Prince Qing and then found Yang Guozhong. Yang Guozhong's courtroom was not in the Daming Palace, but in the Ministry of Personnel in the imperial city. According to the principle, the Minister of Personnel did not ask about the specific affairs of the Ministry of Personnel, but only involved in major events of the Ministry of Personnel, and was more involved in decision-making.

But Yang Guozhong, the Minister of Personnel, is different from others. He has to interfere in everything, from the promotion of county magistrates to the transfer of the Minister of the State, and after his examination or approval, he has to take away the power of the Minister of Personnel. Similarly, in the Ministry of War, he has taken away all the major and minor matters. This is his style. To put it nicely, he will take charge of power by himself, and to put it ugly, he will take over the power.

However, Yang Guozhong's life has been hard these days. One of his right-hand men, Cui Qiao, the Minister of Rites, was in trouble. He was impeached by Li Qing'an to indulge his family in the land. The evidence was conclusive, and even Cui Qiao's handwritten letter was arrested. The emperor was furious and summoned him to the palace and curse, ordering him to come up with Cui Qiao's handling plan within three days.

The emperor obviously pushed the trouble to him and asked him to deal with this matter. How could he deal with it? How could he dismiss Cui Qiao? Dismissing Cui Qiao would be equivalent to cutting off his arm. He did not have the determination to cut off his arm.

Yang Guozhong thought hard all night, and finally, with the reminder of his former aide and Minister of War Linghu Fei, he finally thought of a plan to demote Cui Qiao to Minister of Rites, and ask his family to return the occupied land, fine him three years of salary, and fine him 30,000 shi of rice for disaster relief. However, he retained Cui Qiao and the subordinate of the Secretariat of the Central Secretariat. This was Linghu Fei's strategy. He used extraordinary economic punishments to replace the punishment for his post. It seemed severe, but he avoided the important position and kept the most important position as prime minister, which also allowed the emperor to explain to the people of the world. It was the most smooth way to deal with it.

But a piece of news brought by Song Hun disrupted all this, and Li Qing'an impeached King Qing again. The same evidence was conclusive, that is, Cui Qiao and King Qing became brothers and brothers. At least Yang Guozhong believed that if the law did not punish the masses, Li Longji would not punish his son severely. For this reason, it was obviously unreasonable to punish Cui Qiao severely. In order to protect his son, Li Longji naturally would not punish Cui Qiao severely. He decided to punish Cui Qiao a little severely. He immediately modified Cui Qiao's punishment and still retained his position as Minister of Rites, but only demoted his third-rank sanctuary Jin Zi Guanglu Dafu to the third-rank Yin Qing Guanglu Dafu, and removed him from his position as the right concubine of the crown prince.

In fact, Yang Guozhong's idea is not unreasonable. Li Longji's attitude towards land annexation has always been loud and thunder. He issued several edicts to prohibit land annexation, but there was no substantial preventive measure. In the end, he had to admit the current situation of land annexation of the powerful and only begged the powerful and the powerful not to annex the land in the future.

Under this kind of thinking of focusing on profit and slight punishment, which of the powerful people in Chang'an did not desperately expand their manors and seize land? Now Cui Qiao and King Qing are impeached. Although there are factors that the princelings counterattack, will Li Longji really punish them for land annexation?

Because King Qing was pulled out, Yang Guozhong took this matter lightly. He believed that there was no need to pay much for this matter. In the evening, Yang Guozhong handed Cui Qiao's handling opinions into the palace.

Li Linfu acted relatively low-key in the past month. After the Minister of Personnel and Minister of Personnel were taken away by Yang Guozhong, his power was greatly restrained. In addition, he had accumulated over the years of hard work, and suddenly felt depressed, which caused him to have a serious illness. He lay on the bed for twenty days. After recovering from illness, he lost a lot of weight. Although he was hit hard, the scheming Li Linfu was not discouraged. On the one hand, he consolidated his sphere of influence and prevented Yang Guozhong from invading again. At the same time, he was low-key and tolerant, waiting for the opportunity to counterattack.

Now the opportunity has come. The impeachment memorial sent by Li Qing'an from Songzhou seemed to be in time, making Li Linfu happy. He got the full content of the memorial from Wang Gong at the first time. One was Cui Qiao and the other was King Qing. King Qing's impeachment involved the dispute between the Eastern Palace. He did not want to intervene for the time being, but Cui Qiao was related to the changes in the power structure of the court. If Cui Qiao could be killed, then the prime minister would be six, the Prime Minister, the Yang Party, and the Zhang Party each accounted for two, and the three parties were in a balance of power, and Yang Guozhong's expansion momentum was thus curbed. If he joined forces with Zhang Yun to strangle Yang Guozhong, Li Longji would have to give up Yang Guozhong in the end. Cui Qiao was impeached, which was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

At dusk, Li Linfu's carriage stopped in front of Zhang Yun's mansion. The concierge had already rushed to report. After a moment, Zhang Yun came out and laughed and said, "Li Xiangguo, tell me, how many years have you not come to my mansion?"

Li Linfu bowed and smiled and said, "The business is busy. Don't talk about Zhang Shangshu's mansion. I haven't been to my own house for several years."

"Then why do you have the time to come to the Mansion today?"

"If Shangshu Zhang doesn't welcome me, I'll leave now!"

"Where! Where! I can't even invite Li Xiangguo's big driver. Since I'm here today, I have to have two drinks."

Zhang Yun took Li Linfu's arm affectionately and waved his hand to the person and said, "Go and prepare for the banquet!"

Li Linfu and Zhang Yun walked into the mansion while talking and laughing. Zhang Yun kept inviting him to the VIP room. There was a banquet here, and Li Linfu did not postpone it and sat directly into the seat.

Zhang Yun took the wine pot and poured a glass of wine for Li Linfu, and smiled and said, "To be honest, why did you think of coming to our mansion today? Is it a memorial for Li Qing'an to impeach? "

Zhang Yun's frankness surprised Li Linfu a little. He picked up the wine glass and squinted his eyes and said, "Don't Zhang Shangshu care?"

Zhang Yun nodded and said, "I heard that King Qing was also impeached in the afternoon. I think this is a good thing. I will punish King Qing well and let the royal family restrain their encroachment on the land. I am the old Ministry of Revenue. The tax revenue and expenditure of the Tang Dynasty deteriorated year by year. In the first year of Tianbao, there were nearly nine million households. Now it is estimated that it is only six million at most. Nearly half of the households fled. This is close to the end of the Han Dynasty. Li Gaoguo, my Tang Dynasty is worried!"

"Zhangshu Zhang is right. I also came to Zhangshu for this matter. The land problem has become increasingly serious. Eight out of ten military officials have fled. Last year's previous round of war was forced to stop. Zhechong's mansion has actually been dead in name only. I originally wanted to train the cavalry to replace the cavalry, but I heard that the 120,000 cavalry in the capital have basically fled. If the land annexation is not stopped, there will probably be no soldiers or soldiers to protect your family in the future. Zhangshu, you and I are powerful ministers, and we have no choice but to do anything!"

The two of them drank another glass of wine, and Li Linfu asked tentatively: "Shangshu Zhang, this time I want to use Li Qing'an's impeachment of land annexation, and persuade the emperor to re-invest the case, and warn the land annexers by killing one to warn the land annexers. I wonder if Shangshu Zhang is willing to share this heavy responsibility with me."

Zhang Yun nodded and laughed: "I was thinking about whether to submit the memorial alone or jointly with Li Xiangguo. Unexpectedly, Li Xiangguo came to the door. It can be said that the heroes have similar opinions, and it is good! I and Li Xiangguo will report to the evil wind of land annexation."

After saying that, the two of them looked at each other and understood it. The two old foxes laughed proudly together.

Half an hour later, the joint memorial between Li Linfu and Zhang Yun was sent to the Daming Palace. At this time, Li Longji did not know that King Qing was committing a crime. However, Li Linfu and Zhang Yun talked about this matter. Li Longji was furious. The impeachment memorial of the Censorate should be the first to know, but now he has become the last one to know. He immediately ordered Li Qing'an's memorial to be transferred.

When the eunuch ran back from the Censorate and moved Li Qing'an's memorial and a large box of evidence into the Daming Palace, Li Longji's thunderous anger first came to the Censorate. Li Qing'an's impeachment memorial arrived yesterday morning, but now it was already evening. In other words, the memorial was suppressed for two full days. Li Longji immediately ordered a thorough investigation of the matter. The Censor Chief Wang Gong took the opportunity to impeach Song Hun and handed over the memorial without authorization and ventilated the King Qing.

Song Hun deserves to be unlucky. When Li Longji was at the height of his anger, the eunuch came to report that King Qing was asking for a meeting outside the palace. Song Hun's charge of privately venting King Qing was immediately confirmed.

Li Longji was furious and issued an order to dismiss the Chief Censor of Song Hun and put him in prison and investigate him strictly.

When Li Longji's thunder storm subsided slightly, King Qing Li Cong was led into the imperial study by a eunuch in fear.

In the imperial study, Gao Lishi had been reinstated. Without him, Li Longji's life was extremely inconvenient. After the case of deposed prince was slightly calmed down, he summoned him to his side and trusted him as before. However, Gao Lishi never mentioned the matter of the prince again, as if the deposed prince had nothing to do with him.

As soon as he walked to the door, King Qing Li Cong came towards him. Li Cong immediately asked in a low voice: "Ah Weng, I wonder if my father's anger has disappeared?"

Gao Lishi sighed and said, "King Qing, please listen to Lao Nu's words, bow your head and confess your guilt, make up for your mistakes, and accept any punishment. Otherwise, Lao Nu will not know what the consequences will be."

Li Cong was very grateful, "Thank you, Ahweng!"

"Go quickly! Don't let the emperor wait for a long time."

Li Cong walked into the imperial study with fear. He immediately knelt down on the ground, kowtowed twice, and said tremblingly: "My son is guilty! Please punish the father."

Li Longji had a blue face and said coldly after a while: "How did you know that you were impeached?"

Li Cong already knew that Song Hun was imprisoned. At this time, he would not tell the truth, which was like seeking death. He immediately said: "Report to my father, the censor Song Zhongcheng ran to my mansion this afternoon and told me that his son was in panic."

"Tird?" Li Longji snorted, "What are you afraid of? Haven't you always been bold?"

Li Cong didn't understand what his father said, so he became even more frightened and fought. He kowtowed twice and said, "Father, please listen to your words."

"explain!"

"Father, I have no intention of annexing the land this year. This time it was the steward of the son of the son. I didn't know at all in advance. Please ask my father to understand. Even if I am stupid, I will not do anything to harm my own name now."

Li Longji believed that Li Cong's last words were true. During this period, Li Cong gained fame everywhere, and he really could not do anything to damage his reputation at this time.

Li Longji stared at him and said slowly: "Then, how should you make up for your fault?"

His tone has eased. After all, he is his own son, and occupying a little more land is not a big deal. He can correct his mistakes as long as he can make up for his mistakes and recover the bad influence. He can forgive him.

Li Cong heard that his father's tone had already relaxed, and he couldn't help but feel happy and immediately said: "Father, my son-in-law has asked the manager to go to Songzhou immediately to clear all the land and compensate the farmers for the losses. In addition, my son-in-law is willing to pay 200,000 stones of rice to help the drought in the name of my father. Although my son-in-law is stupid, he also knows that the country is based on the people, and my son-in-law is willing to share his worries for his father!"

Li Longji pointed, and his son's statement made him basically satisfied.

"You are my eldest son, and you must set an example, focus on the country, and share my worries. Do you understand?"

Li Cong kowtowed twice and cried, "My son understands! My son must share his worries for his father."

"Okay! This is a lesson. Hurry up and deal with the aftermath of Songzhou and don't let the censor seize your handle."

Speaking of this, Li Longji suddenly remembered something and asked, "Is it yours that Li Qing'an was assassinated in Bianzhou?"

Li Cong raised his right hand and said solemnly: "My son is willing to swear to the heaven that although Mr. Chen and Li Qing'an have a bad relationship, he has never thought about assassinating him. This is someone who framed me. Please believe me."

"Okay! I just believe you once, it's not yours, but you should also pay attention to this matter and find out who did it for me? It's also easy to clear your doubts."

After saying that, Li Longji waved his hand and ordered him to retreat. He was quite worried. He once again picked up the joint letter between Li Linfu and Zhang Yun. The two jointly demanded that the consequences of land annexation be paid attention to and severely punished land annexes.

Of course, Li Longji understood the real intention of these two people. He took the initiative to investigate land annexation and attacked the Yang Party's forces. Li Longji did not expect that the two people would join forces to deal with Yang Guozhong. He picked up Yang Guozhong's opinion on dealing with Cui Qiao and was demoted to the level of scattered officials. He frowned and his strength was too light. How could he explain this to the people of the world?

He threw Yang Guozhong's memorial heavily on the imperial case with displeasure and cursed softly: "This ungrateful guy!"

He walked slowly in the room with his hands behind his back, and began to reflect on some of his recent decisions. He began to realize that he was supporting Yang Guozhong too fast, so he could get him in one step. There was no process. Unlike Li Linfu, who was like Li Linfu, who had been a prime minister for more than ten years and slowly formed authority. Now Li Linfu and Zhang Yun have joined forces to deal with Yang Guozhong, which will cause turmoil and uneasiness in the court.

Li Longji sighed secretly. He really needed to take measures to ease Yang Guozhong's upward momentum and hit him. At present, it seems very necessary.

Thinking of this, he picked up Li Qing'an's impeachment memorial again. Cui Qiao used his power to shelter his family from occupying the land. This was not what a prime minister did, and Li Longji felt disappointed.
Chapter completed!