Daxing is now Xi'an. It is located in the north of the Qinling Mountains. The climate is a warm temperate semi-humid continental monsoon climate with four distinct seasons. After entering the ninth month of the lunar calendar, the weather has become cooler every day. After the execution of Yang Xuangan and In the night of Li Zixiong's day, a strong north wind suddenly blew in the Daxing area, the temperature dropped sharply, the sky was gloomy and gloomy, and there was a vague prospect of snowfall.
It so happened that the temperature dropped suddenly on the night when Yang Xuangan, who raised the flag of righteousness, was killed. The people of the Sui Dynasty, who had long been unbearable for Yang Guang’s abuse of power, murmured quietly, saying that the heavens were crying for the Duke of Chu who took the lead in rebelling against the tyrant. For the officials and dignitaries who participated in the morning pilgrimage to see the great emperor Yang Guang handling state affairs, this is undoubtedly the sky has no eyes and made the situation worse. Because they have to get up from the warm blanket after one o'clock in the morning on the fourth watch. Struggling out of the arms of the beautiful wife and concubine, yawning, washing and eating, and then must rush to gather outside the gate of the imperial city before five o'clock, waiting for the opening of the imperial city, entering the palace to go to court - this is extremely hard work, plus The temperature dropped suddenly and the weather was extremely cold. This already inhumane routine was even more inhuman torture.
It is very sad that although the poor little wife Chen Yingliang is not qualified to participate in the early court, but because she is doing the guard of honor in the imperial city, she has to report for duty outside the Yanxi Gate before Yinshi, and enter the imperial city and the East Palace to do those boring things. The errands are also extremely hard. Fortunately, Chen Yingliang is still a virgin at the moment, so he doesn't have any entanglements with pink arms and legs. When he wakes up, he has one less fetter than other powerful officials.
Li Yuan, who is not a great court official and not an official in the capital, can actually be lazy and not participate in the early court, but because there are some things that must be done, Li Yuan also put on a white fox fur and drove to the outside of the imperial city to join the court team , and happened to meet Pei Ju, Chen Yingliang's distant uncle Shangshu Zuopu. After greeting each other, Pei Ju said with a casual smile: "Mr. If it's me, I've already found an excuse to ask for leave and be lazy."
"I asked for instructions on the date of departure from Beijing, so I came here too." Li Yuan said with a smile: "Yang Xuan feels that the matter of the traitor has ended, and it's time for the next official to go to Honghua to take office. Come here to ask for instructions on the date of departure from Beijing, and also ask the emperor if there is anything else. Confess your promise."
Pei Ju didn't doubt that he was there, so he nodded and didn't ask any further questions, but Li Yuan didn't want to miss the opportunity to talk with Pei Ju, the famous man in front of Emperor Sui Yang, and said with a smile: "Pei Xiang, take this opportunity to inquire about an official matter, I don't know Hong Has the prefect of Hua been selected? I will go to Honghua to take up the post, and I need to work closely with him to defend the northern land of the capital of Daxing. I wonder if Prime Minister Pei and Prime Minister Su have already decided on the candidate for this official position?"
"Not yet." Pei Ju replied casually, "I'm too busy these days, I haven't had time to discuss this candidate with Prime Minister Su, but soon, there will be news within a day or two."
Li Yuan, who had no way to establish a good relationship with his deputy in advance, was a little disappointed, but he had no choice but to nod his head and express his thanks. Pei Ju then exchanged some polite words with Li Yuan, then took his leave and walked to the gate of the civilian queue. The first place, waiting in line with the civil and military officials, waiting for the opening of the imperial city. At the same time, during this period, Li Yuan's secret ally, Doctor Feng Deyi, also passed by Li Yuan's side, but the two did not talk to each other. Feng Deyi only nodded slightly to Li Yuan, indicating that the matter was done, and Li Yuan was determined. , waiting patiently for the opening of the imperial city with the idea of watching a good show.
At the right time, with the sound of bells and drums, the gate of the imperial city slowly opened, and the imperial army in bright armor stood on the hatchback, leaving the Zhuque Gate facing Zhuque Street. The civil servants, led by Pei Ju, and the military officials, led by Yu Wenshu, walked in together , enter Chaoyang Gate through Chaoyangmen Street, enter the Grand Palace and go straight to the Jinluan Hall, form a team outside the hall, wait for the eunuch to pass the emperor's order, and call all the officials to enter the hall for an audience, and all the officials enter the hall to stand still, so far they are still very diligent Emperor Sui Yang also walked into the main hall, sat down on the dragon chair, and accepted the salutes and kowtows of the officials.
After the morning ceremony was formalized, the first speaker was Chen Yingliang's distant uncle Pei Ju, who was very good at flattering and announced a happy event to wash away the grievances of Sui Yang for getting up early in the cold. In a beautiful battle, Guo Fangyu, the leader of the peasant uprising army who once captured Beihai County, was captured alive. Emperor Sui Yang was really happy, and immediately decreed that Guo Fangyu should be dismantled and rewarded Zhang Xutuo. Today, the atmosphere of the morning court also became active.
The following political affairs did not go so smoothly. In addition to the drought and flood disasters reported by several counties, Shangshu Youpu She Suwei was also very uninterested in the report, saying that the Shandong rebel Du Fuwei and the thief of Fu Gong Er The trend is getting bigger and bigger, and it has a tendency to spread to the south. There are also two handsome guys from Hebei, Zhang Jinsheng and Gao Shida, who are getting more and more happy, and have openly established an alliance with the invincible Dou Jiande, and the momentum is even stronger. Dazheng, the local government has nothing to do with them.
Hearing Su Wei's reports, Pei Ju and Pei Yun brothers were of course secretly happy in their hearts, and secretly laughed at Su Wei's right minister's lack of wink, but the arrogant Emperor Sui Yang's face became uglier the more he listened, almost a big Roaring and ordering to arrest and imprison several unlucky local officials who lost their cities and lands, they mobilized the army to suppress the rebellion. Seeing that the opportunity was just right, Li Yuan was not polite, and immediately winked at Feng Deyi, his secret ally. Feng Deyi understood, and unceremoniously sent a signal to his deputy Sili, Su Shichang, to signal Su Shichang to take the opportunity.
Here, by the way, let me introduce the official position of Sili. When Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty first came to the throne in the early years, he was ready to do a big job. In Taiwan, the censor is in charge of picketing all the central officials, and those who visit are in charge of sending envoys to follow the imperial edict, and inspecting according to festivals. Sili is in charge of supervising local officials in Gyeonggi and prefectures and counties, so as to avoid the censor's dominance and lose its supervisory role. Later, although because of Pei Yun's rapid rise, Yushitai easily stepped on Yezhe and Silitai who were already in the same power, but Yezhetai and Silitai did not give up struggling, and they still did not give up. Ken is completely obedient to Pei Yun, Minister of Disciplinary Inspection, and has done a lot of fighting for power and profit with Yushitai secretly. He is one of the few restraining forces of Pei Yun in the court.
By the way, Fang Xuanling's father, Fang Yanqian, is from Silitai. He is the official governor of Silitai, and he usually does things that offend Yushitai. .
Closer to home, after receiving a secret order from his superior, Su Shichang, who was quite famous in the Sui court, cleared his throat without hesitation, and immediately strode out, took out a memorial from his sleeve, and said in a loud voice: "Report to Your Majesty , The humble minister, Sili, Biejia Su Shichang has his own roots. He was entrusted to impeach the incumbent officials and bribed the courtiers in an attempt to exonerate the criminal officials who were suspected of treason against the party.
When Su Shichang first came forward to sue Shichang, including a super powerful official like Yu Wenshu, they were a little worried for a while-Yu Wenshu's two precious sons were planted in Su Shichang's hands, until Su Shichang took the initiative to tell the content of the black complaint Only then did the civil and military officials who had no ghosts in their hearts quietly breathe a sigh of relief, settled down and smiled to see who should be unlucky today. And Emperor Sui Yang was in a very unhappy state at this time. When he heard Su Shichang's report adding fuel to the fire, he was of course furious, and angrily shouted: "Who is so bold? Excuse that traitor and his party? Speak carefully!"
"My Majesty, I have verified the facts. Chen Yingliang, the crown prince's right deputy, was in vain of the Holy Grace. He secretly bribed the courtiers with ten South China Sea pearls and a pair of Han Dynasty dragon mouth jade buckets, in order to exonerate the prisoner Xuan Lilang Gao Shilian." Su Shichang looked. Seriously gave an amazing answer.
The court was full of astonishment, and almost everyone's eyes focused on the faces of Chen Yingliang's big backers, Pei Ju and Pei Yun. Pei Ju and Pei Yun brothers were even more caught off guard, and they complained together, knowing that Chen Yingliang must be in trouble this time— Su Shichang is not a mad dog who bites people indiscriminately, and he directly verified the details of Chen Yingliang's bribes and gifts, which proved that Su Shichang must have the evidence in his hands, and it would be difficult for his brother to excuse Chen Yingliang.
"What? It's Chen Yingliang?" Emperor Sui Yang's reaction was one of surprise, and he said, "He just put down Yang Xuangan's rebellion for me, how could he do such a thing?"
"My Majesty forgives my crimes, I didn't dare to believe it before, but the facts are there, I have to report it truthfully." Su Shichang replied loudly: "Besides, I also heard that Chen Yingliang came forward to deal with Gao Shilian's family. Gao Shilian's family obtained a prison visit document to assist Gao Shilian's family in prison visits."
It was Old Wei's turn to be stubborn and complain quietly, and while secretly scolding Chen Yingliang for not keeping secrets, he also knew that Emperor Sui Yang would definitely not let it go, so he bit the bullet and went out to play: "My lord, it is true that this matter was given to Chen Yingliang by the old minister. A document allowed Gao Shilian's family to visit him, but the old minister had already stated in the official document that he ordered the prison warden to monitor the visit of Gao Shilian's family members throughout the visit, so as to prevent Gao Shilian and his family members from colluding with each other. But apart from this, Chen Yingliang did not have any This old official can testify for Chen Yingliang about Gao Shilian's exoneration, please Your Majesty investigate clearly."
Seeing that Old Wei's stubbornness was also implicated, more people gloated at his misfortune - Old Wei's stubbornness is not very popular. Emperor Sui Yang became even more angry, and ordered the eunuch to present Su Shichang’s memorial to him, and after taking a closer look, he saw that the content of the memorial was basically the same as Su Shichang’s dictation, so Emperor Sui Yang was inevitably even more angry, and immediately shouted: : "Pass down the order to arrest Chen Yingliang and put him in prison. He will interrogate Yushitai and Dali Temple strictly, find out the facts of the case, and punish him severely!"
Li Yuan smiled quietly, and countless civil and military officials who were jealous of Chen Yingliang's popularity also laughed quietly, while the two brothers Pei Ju and Pei Yun frowned, unable to make a decision for a while. But it's not bad, Chen Yingliang still has a few reliable thighs in the court, Wei Lao stubborn immediately saluted and said: "My lord, as far as I know, Chen Yingliang's assistance to Gao Shilian's family to visit the prison is only out of sympathy, and there is no excuse for Gao Shilian. Su Biejia's report on the actual actions of the charges is nothing more than a report, and there is no conclusive evidence, there may be misunderstandings, and I hope His Majesty will investigate carefully."
Pei Yun still had important matters to deal with and did not dare to open his mouth casually, so he quietly gave Pei Ju a look for help, Pei Ju understood, and immediately went out to play: "Your Majesty, what Wei Liushou said is reasonable, unless there is no conclusive evidence, you can't do it." Let the judgment be light, send Chen Yingliang to prison immediately, and ask the Holy One to rest the wrath of thunder and be cautious."
Pei Ju was also one of the very few people who could persuade Emperor Sui Yang. After hearing Pei Ju's persuasion, Emperor Sui Yang, who had a good impression of Chen Yingliang, calmed down a bit, and changed his tone: "Decree, tell Chen Yingliang to go to the palace immediately, I want to question him face to face, whether this is really the case!"
The eunuch who passed the decree hurried out of the palace and rushed to the east palace next to him. Li Yuan, who didn't see Pei Yun winking at Pei Ju, smiled more happily secretly, and said secretly: "Pei Hongda, if you like to take care of the disciples of the party, you can take care of them. Boy Chen Yingliang went to the palace, let's see how he answers and how you protect him."
"Oops, why did ten pearls and a pair of jade buckets come out?" Pei Yun groaned in his heart, "Ying Liang, don't you mean that the mud can't support the wall? If this is true, the old man will Isn't the hard work of the arrangement in vain?"
"Ten pearls from the South China Sea? A pair of dragon-mouthed jade buckets from the Han Dynasty?" Yu Wenshu, the head of the military officer, kept his face calm, but he was wondering in his heart, "Strange? Why does the old man seem to have seen these things somewhere?"
While waiting with each other's thoughts, Chen Yingliang, who was wearing the armor of the imperial army, was quickly called to the Golden Palace. After standing on guard in the cold wind for a while, Chen Yingliang had already turned blue from the cold. He was somewhat nervous when he entered the Golden Palace for the first time. , so when he hurried into the palace, Chen Yingliang almost staggered and fell to the ground. Fortunately, he quickly regained his balance, but he saluted Sui Yang Emperor Jishou in a somewhat embarrassed way, and said loudly: "My humble minister Chen Yingliang, kowtow to the sage, the emperor will live for ten thousand years!" .”
"Chen Yingliang, some officials impeached you, saying that you bribed the courtiers with jewels in order to exonerate the criminal Gao Shilian. Is there such a thing?" Emperor Sui Yang asked sharply.
"What?!" Chen Yingliang's little face turned blue from the cold suddenly turned pale, and he almost turned his head to look at Pei Yun, exclaiming in his heart, "How is it possible? How could the speaker know about this? I haven't How did they know that Gao Shilian was exonerated?"
Seeing Chen Yingliang's pale face, Li Yuan and many officials at the scene felt even more gloating, while Pei Ju and Pei Yun felt a little desperate, knowing that this was definitely true, but Emperor Sui Yang was even more furious, shouting: "Why don't you answer?" ? Is there such a thing?"
"Wronged!" Chen Yingliang finally came back to his senses, and screamed: "Oh, my lord! Your Majesty, I am wronged, I have never done anything!"
"You still dare to cry for injustice?" Emperor Sui Yang threw Su Shichang's memorial to Chen Yingliang heavily, and said angrily, "Look for yourself, the evidence of the crime is solid, how dare you deny it?!"
Walking forward in embarrassment, Chen Yingliang, who had nothing to reward for his good intentions, picked up the memorial and looked at it carefully, and his face became even paler at once—because the ten pearls and a pair of jade buckets are iron-proof evidence! But after the shock, Chen Yingliang discovered a flaw as if he had grasped at a straw, and hurriedly said loudly: "My lord clearly checked, I gave ten pearls and a pair of jade buckets to the officials of the court, but those were just my colleagues. I have never said a single word to exonerate Gao Shilian in front of him."
"Very good, just accept the bribe." Emperor Sui Yang nodded with a smirk, and asked with a ferocious expression: "Then you gave these jewels to that colleague?"
"Oops! What should we do? Should we be honest?" The matter came too suddenly, and Chen Yingliang's mind was in a mess for a while, unable to decide whether to confess to the bribe recipient. And almost all the officials present focused their eyes on the face of Pei Yun who was the most suspect. Pei Yun tried to keep calm, with no expression on his face, but he had already scolded his unfilial nephew bloody in his heart.
"Why didn't you say it? Who is it!" Emperor Sui Yang asked again, with an even more ferocious expression.
"Yes...it's Yun Dingxing Yun Shaoqing." Chen Yingliang finally spoke the truth hesitantly.
"Yun Dingxing?!" Now it was finally Li Yuan's turn to be dumbfounded and confused, "How could it be Yun Dingxing? Chen Yingliang, why did you give those gifts to Yun Dingxing?!"
"Yun Dingxing?!"
Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty and the brothers of the Pei family were also slightly taken aback, but Chen Yingliang hurriedly added: "My lord, this minister gave these gifts to Yun Shaoqing, but this minister's move is really just a matter of colleagues. Gifts between each other do not violate the laws of the country. In addition, I can swear to the sky that I never said a single word to beg Yun Shaoqing to excuse Gao Shilian. If the Holy One does not believe it, he can tell Yun Shaoqing Come and confront me, if my minister has half a false statement, I am willing to accept the crime of deceiving the king and beheading!"
Emperor Yang of Sui was doubtful, and he was on fire, so he immediately shouted: "Chuan Yun will surely rise to the palace!"
The development of the situation has completely exceeded the scope of Li Yuan's control. After a while, Yun Dingxing, who was also on duty in the imperial city, was also announced to the Jinluan Hall with a puzzled head. After learning the reason why Emperor Sui Yang summoned him Yun Dingxing was frightened out of his wits immediately, and while cursing Chen Yingliang's 18th generation ancestors in his stomach, he also hurriedly called out his grievances: "The sage clearly checked that Chen Yingliang gave such a gift to the humble minister, but this is just a gift from his colleagues. It's just a mutual gift between them, Chen Yingliang didn't ask the humble minister to absolve the criminal Gao Shilian."
"No?" Emperor Sui Yang believed it, and said angrily, "How dare you deny it at this point? If you don't do it, you will be guilty of the same crime as Chen Yingliang and Gao Shilian!"
"Your Majesty, I have been wronged!" Yun Dingxing almost didn't cry, and kowtowed desperately, saying, "My Majesty clearly found out that I received a gift from Chen Yingliang, but I really didn't agree to exonerate the criminal officer Gao Shilian. Chen Yingliang I have never begged my ministers like that. Please ask the Holy Majesty to check clearly, please ask the Holy Majesty to check clearly."
Yunda Shaoqing's crying and begging for mercy wore away the last patience of Emperor Sui Yang, and being unable to tell the truth from the fake, Emperor Sui Yang simply cut the mess with a sharp knife and shouted: "Come on, take down these two thieves together, and hand them over to the three thieves." The judiciary will interrogate him strictly and punish him with serious crimes!"
"Damn it, you scared me to death." Li Yuan, who was worried, quietly let go of his heart, thankful that this incident didn't become too big on the spot, and it was too big to be dealt with. However, Tang Guogong slightly underestimated Young Master Yun The ability to make a fuss...
"General Yuwen, Yuwen Zhuguo, you know this matter, you know it best, you have to speak for the subordinates!"
When the guards in the palace stepped forward to arrest the person, Yunda Shaoqing suddenly cried hysterically, "Yuwenzhu Kingdom, General, you know about this matter, you know that this official was wronged, you have to say something for this official!" To be fair! General Zhu Guo, I beg you, my subordinate!"
The astonished gazes of the ministers and officials all turned to Yu Wenshu, the chief military officer, and even Emperor Sui Yang stared at his number one favorite Yu Wenshu in astonishment—because everyone knew that General Yu Wenshu was Yun Da Shaoqing's number one backer, as the father-in-law of the deposed prince, Yun Da Shaoqing was able to quickly make a comeback and be reborn from the ashes, following Yu Wenshu's path.
Hearing Yun Da Shaoqing's cry, General Yu Wenshu's expression immediately became extremely embarrassing. Seeing Yu Wenshu's embarrassing expression, Li Yuan was even more dumbfounded, thinking: "No way? This is true. Can you still get involved with Yu Wenshu?"