Sun Tu's reaction was so fast that he immediately caught the flaw in the other party's words. He immediately knelt down and said to Zhao Ji: "Your Majesty, all the people mentioned by Liang Taifu were indeed eliminated by me, but what I did was also In order to maintain the laws and regulations of the Song Dynasty.
"Yuan Wang of Jiangzhou colluded with the bandits on the river to harm the ships. This was something that even Governor Cai agreed with at the beginning, and the court had already rewarded and punished him. Murong Yanchao colluded with the local Erlongshan bandits in Qingzhou and actually intercepted and killed me in the middle of the road. The officers and soldiers of the Ping thief, and He Mo, together with Gao Xiang, secretly joined the Liangshan bandits, causing the Qingzhou officers and soldiers to suffer repeated defeats and heavy losses. If I hadn't rushed back in time to put things right, it's hard to say that the Liangshan rebellion would have lasted forever. When.
"Now that Taifu Liang has used these people to accuse me of avenging my personal revenge, I find it hard to accept it. Especially Wang Shenbin, who has already personally admitted the crime of colluding with the Gu family, so how can you say that I was beaten into submission? ? If Your Majesty still doesn't believe it, you can have Wang Zhongcheng and others brought to the palace to ask for the reason. Taifu Liang, I can certainly beat Wang Zhongcheng into a move, but what about the others? I can't buy all the more than ten censors or Is it because you surrendered? Your Majesty, please show me innocence and justice!"
He really said these words urgently and quickly, but also in a clear manner. He pointed out that the people who were previously used by Liang Shicheng were all to blame for their fate. At the same time, it was also clearly pointed out that he did not know how to recognize and employ people, and he actually continued to do so one after another. Recommend and support those who are greedy, cruel, and colluding with bandits, so it is not surprising that there is another Wang Shenbin.
Liang Shicheng was completely stunned by his targeted words. How could he have imagined that this young general had such good eloquence and courage, and could talk so eloquently in front of the emperor? Even he, a favorite minister of the imperial court, did not have such an ability to speak quickly. In anger, Liang Shicheng was speechless for a long time, and finally he was speechless.
If only one night later, all the ministers' memorials to impeach Sun Tu were sent to the palace, allowing Zhao Ji to have a clear attitude, perhaps Sun Tu's words would not be so powerful, but now, it is obvious that even the emperor He was a little shaken. After all, he was the one who entrusted Sun Tu with this job. Liang Shicheng came to complain, which actually made him a little embarrassed.
Although Sun Tu was kneeling on the ground, his eyes were always paying attention to the emperor's reaction. Seeing that he was slightly moved, he felt more confident and immediately continued: "Your Majesty, everything I reported has witness testimony. In addition, , I never really said that Taifu Liang had colluded with Liao spies. He was just greedy for money and was kept in the dark. However, the protection of him and Wang Zhongcheng made the Gu family merchants and others emboldened to act unscrupulously. It is a fact that the prohibited items were sent out of Tokyo and transported to the Liao Kingdom, so I believe that the Taifu still has to bear a lot of responsibility for this matter."
"Indeed... there is some truth in it." As the emperor, Zhao Ji still knew the virtues of these close ministers. Although he turned a blind eye on weekdays, when something really happened, he couldn't do the beatings that should be done. lost. At that moment, the emperor's face finally darkened: "Liang Qing, it seems that you did not think properly about this matter. Then the Gu Family Trading Company really has a financial entanglement with you, which led them to do whatever they want, right?"
"Chen..." Liang Shicheng wanted to say that he was wronged, but he also understood this.
Things can't be ignored, otherwise they will only get darker and darker. At this time, I can only lower my head: "I know my mistake. I was greedy for a moment, so I let the people below, let them be too presumptuous." .”
Zhao Ji saw that he recognized him, and the expression on his face softened: "But I also believe that you will never really have anything to do with the Liao people. I still know your loyalty."
"Your Majesty is wise, I am ashamed of myself." At this point, he could only retreat in order to advance, and save himself first. Sun Tu's arrival and performance really caught him off guard. He actually turned the situation around in an instant. The person who was originally punished became the hero. He didn't feel regretful. If he had known that this guy was so difficult to deal with, he should have been more cautious. At least he should have waited until the bullets were sent from the ministers and gathered the power of the party members to deal with him.
"But Yuehou, what you have done in the past few days has gone too far. Now everyone in the court is in panic because you are hunting down officials everywhere. Even the palace has begun to spread some rumors. This Liao spy is certainly You want to take it, but you can't disturb the peace of my court and Tokyo." Ignoring Liang Shicheng's treatment, Zhao Ji began to beat Sun Tulai again, even he was a little dissatisfied with Sun Tu's thunderbolt methods.
"Your Majesty, I know that what I did was indeed too hasty, but the matter is very important. Otherwise, we cannot find out the whereabouts of the relevant thieves as soon as possible. Moreover, I have indeed achieved a lot this time. Not only have I eliminated all the corrupt officials who protected the Gu family, I also have some clues about the Liao spies hiding in Tokyo. As long as I give you some more time, I will be able to catch them all." Sun Tu defended himself hurriedly.
Sure enough, Zhao Ji perked up after hearing this: "If this is really possible, I will reward you well. By the way, do you think there are still people protecting the Gu family?"
"Exactly. After careful investigation, the minister found out that the Gu family had sold hundreds of thousands of dan of grain to the Liao people in the past few years, and all of his grain came from the military rations that had been withheld from our Forbidden Army officers. Among them was the Ministry of War. Officials such as the minister Zhuang Fan, the doctor Jia Huan of the Ministry of Household Affairs, the commander of the palace front department Huang Wendao, and the doctor Yang Huaichang of the Ministry of Punishment were involved. They either tampered with the military rations, or asked their own slaves to open grain shops and divert the money that should have been distributed. The grain that came to the hands of the Forbidden Army officers was intercepted, and then sent to stores for sale, and finally all was bought by the Gu Family Trading Company at a high price... All of this was personally acknowledged by Gu Youzhi, and there was a lot of written evidence to prove it."
Well, Sun Tu actually once again dragged several middle-level and above-level officials into such a major case. This time, even Zhao Ji's face became extremely ugly. And when he opened the confession file again and read it quickly, he found that there were more officials involved in the case, densely packed, with more than ten or twenty people...
Liang Shicheng looked at Sun Tu with surprise. If he hadn't been in front of the emperor, he would have given a thumbs up and expressed his admiration for Sun Tu. This guy is really brave and generous. He has killed all the powerful officials in many key yamen in one fell swoop. Is he really planning to raise prisons and purge the entire court
Moreover, among the officials here, none of them have much to do with him, Taifu Liang, but there are quite a few who are with Tong Guan and Gao Gao.
Qiu is inextricably connected with favored ministers like Yang Jian. He has offended all the ministers!
At this moment, Liang Shichengdu felt that he was a little stupid in rushing into the palace. Based on Sun Tu's own actions, who among the officials in the court could let him go? He didn't even have to take action himself. Just to protect himself, those people could bury him alive with memorials. This made the look he looked at Sun Tu extremely strange. There was anger, but more shock, and a bit of schadenfreude.
And the emperor was completely stunned at this moment. Sun Tu really gave him a big unsolvable problem. As smart as he is, he can easily see that what Sun Tu said is true. Even if they are not actually helping the Liao spies, they have indirectly made a big mistake that harmed the court, because if it weren't for their collusion between officials and businessmen, It's impossible for the Gu family to be so unscrupulous.
Not to mention that these people also used their own hands to line their own pockets and swallowed up all the military rations and salaries that should have been allocated to the Forbidden Army. It can be said that the crimes of these people are serious enough. If they really need to be investigated, it will not just be demoted or relegated.
However, this will inevitably cause a great turmoil in the court and the capital, and may even cause the court's prestige among the people to be greatly reduced. All of this is what Zhao Ji does not want to see. He doesn't like to deal with troubles and has always been laissez-faire with his courtiers. How could he like to see such a result
Sun Tu was still kneeling there in a dignified manner, seemingly respectful, waiting for the emperor's judgment. But in fact, his heart was already ups and downs, and he was even a little nervous.
Although he didn't want to admit some things, he could only accept them. Whether in Shandong or Jiangnan, he had seen too many of the shortcomings of the Song Dynasty today - the exploitation of the people, the indifference of human lives, the harsh treatment of soldiers, the rampant corruption of officials... Each of these made him clearly think of the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty. In fact, most of them are self-inflicted. But all of this must be borne by thousands of people who are actually the most innocent people. In the years to come, the people will only suffer much greater pain than those high-ranking officials and kings.
After understanding all this, Sun Tu actually had the idea of replacing Zhao Song with him for a long time, just because he still had some concerns, such as the safety of himself and Ya'er, and the fact that Zhao Song did have stronger power than other dynasties. The development of local business and the prosperity of the people are undeniable, which caused Sun Tu to still be full of hesitation even at this time.
Until this time, when such a major case occurred in Bianjing City, when the ministers of the DPRK and the Central Government actually reached out to the money and food of the Forbidden Army for a small profit, when Sun Tu knew how dark and dark everything behind this was. The filth finally became unbearable for him.
Even so, he still made his last effort, or in other words, gave the court a last chance. As long as the emperor can wake up in time and investigate the matter strictly, Sun Tu will still do his best to complete the job. When the Jin invades in the future, he will definitely bring his own with him like those loyal ministers in the history books. The Shandong Army went to deal with it and tried to change the direction of history.
But now, all the decision-making power rests only with Zhao Ji's thoughts!