Yang Yi's character may be the most gentle emperor in the history of the Sui Dynasty, but this does not mean that he is a cowardly person. In fact, the most rare thing in the hundred years since the founding of the Sui Dynasty is that there has not been a cowardly emperor. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that the Sui Dynasty did not have the habit of passing on the eldest son. The emperor would always choose the most aggressive person among all his sons to inherit the throne.
Although the process of how to determine which heir is more aggressive... is a bit cruel.
Perhaps this is also the fundamental reason why the Great Sui has not been depraved for more than a hundred years. Although it is undeniable that whether it is the local government or the imperial court, there are such things as corruption, bribery and even breaking the law, but at least the Great Sui In terms of national strength, it is still palpitating, especially force. What the Emperor of the Sui Dynasty was most proud of, and what he hoped to be proud of forever, was the undefeated army of the Sui Dynasty.
Perhaps the emperors of the Sui Dynasty have not forgotten the history of the decline of the previous dynasty, so they have always maintained a relative emphasis on soldiers. You must know that the former dynasty was once known as the largest country in the Central Plains before it was destroyed by Yang Jian, the founding emperor of the Sui Dynasty. It's just that in the country that also built its country by force, after a hundred years of peace, the emperors gradually forgot the reason for sharpening the knife in their hands from time to time.
They are used to writing beautiful and prosperous poems with a pen in one hand, but they forget that this hand should also hold a cold and sharp knife.
In order to prevent military rebellion, the former emperor, who only used civil servants, could not find a decent general to lead the army when he faced the rebel army led by Yang Jian. Thousands of rebels quickly collapsed under the devastating offensive. The tiger and wolf division in Yang Jian's hands fought against the former army, and every battle was won as heartily as boiling soup and snow.
On the wall of the imperial study room of the Taiji Palace, there is always a calligraphy written by Yang Jian, the founding emperor of the Sui Dynasty.
It is as swift as the wind, as slow as the forest, aggressive as fire, immovable as a mountain, difficult to know as cloudy, and moving as thunder.
This is a passage written on rice paper with the blood of the former emperor when Yang Jian led his army to defeat the last army of the previous dynasty. Until today, the framed handwriting on the wall is still bright red and bright. If understood carefully, this is a description of how to use soldiers. But Yang Jian's descendants all thought that this was Emperor Taizu telling his descendants how to be a good emperor.
Yang Yi stood under the scarlet writing, looked at Yu Donglai, Minister of the Ministry of War who was kneeling on the ground and did not dare to raise his head, snorted coldly and said, "If the people from the Qing Yamen hadn't investigated carefully, this matter would have been investigated by the Ministry of War." A request for merit has blinded the past. What chills me the most is not that Li Xiaozong, whom I valued at the beginning, failed to live up to my hopes, but that so many people in the court help him tell lies and help him to be deceived. My eyes!"
Yu Donglai felt a little wronged, because he really didn't accept Li Xiaozong's favor. If it wasn't for the meritorious service reported by General You Xiaowei Li Yuanshan, he would have long forgotten the young general from the Li family who was transferred to the border town as a tooth general. But he did know about Fan Gu. Just because he confiscated the money, it doesn't mean that General Youhouwei Li Yuanshan didn't send the money. There were two gifts sent to the Ministry of War at the beginning, one was his and the other was given by the minister of the Ministry of War.
As for the matter of Fan Gu's great victory, it is waiting for Junci to handle it.
So he didn't know how to justify himself. Although he was a little wronged, he was really dereliction of duty.
Seeing that Yu Donglai didn't speak, the emperor's face softened a little: "Hou Wenji, come and tell our Minister of War what happened to Fan Gu. I can't talk about it for a long time, he still doesn't know Where did I go wrong!"
Hou Wenji, the envoy of Qingya Township, leaned over and said, "I obey the order."
He walked not far from Yu Donglai and said in a low voice: "In February of the 11th year of God's Blessing, the Mongolian Yuan bandits attacked the pass, and Fan Gu's garrison general Li Xiaozong was defeated, resulting in the collapse of Fan Gu City. The two thousand surnames were all slaughtered by the Mongolian bandits. Li Xiaozong fled in fear of crime and hid in the Youxiaowei Army to seek refuge. After hearing the news, Li Yuanshan, the general of Youxiaowei, led his army to the border and took back Fan Gu after a night of fighting. But in order to cover Li Xiaozong's crime of dereliction of duty in the battle, Li Yuanshan concealed the fact that all the people and frontier soldiers in Fangu City were killed in battle in the memorial to the court."
"ah?"
Hearing these words, Yu Donglai was so surprised that he couldn't help but let out a very soft exclamation. Why is the story Hou Wenji told so different from the truth he knew? He knew exactly what happened to Fan Gucheng. So when I saw the words "Participating in the military department know but not inspect" written on the memorial, I was so scared that I didn't dare to continue reading, but Hou Wenji said, why didn't I know it at all
So he subconsciously raised his head and glanced at Hou Wenji, trying to find some clues from Hou Wenji's face. But Hou Wenji just continued with a stern face and a flat tone: "The day Fangu City was broken, the imperial court inspection and imperial envoys who came to Fangu just the day before yesterday were also surrounded by bandit soldiers. After the war, General You Xiaowei Li Yuanshan cherished Li Xiaozong's talent, bought the officials of the Ministry of War and the Qianhu Gao Tianbao who was in charge of investigating the matter, and changed the matter of Li Xiaozong's defeat into fighting hard and winning big."
There are a few key words in this, Li Yuanshan is protecting Li Xiaozong's talent, not because Li Xiaozong is also from the Li family in Longyou. Plain words that sound like nothing often hide intriguing information.
Hou Wenji looked at Yu Donglai expressionlessly and said, "This is what happened, Master Yu understood?"
Yu Donglai is not a fool, nor is he an idiot, otherwise how could he be in the position of Minister of the Ministry of War? After years of ups and downs in the officialdom, he has already grasped the affairs of the court extremely accurately. Listen to Hou Wenji's sentence, you can understand it, ask him, and he will know what he should do.
"Sinner, I understand."
He bowed his head again and said to the emperor: "The guilty minister is greedy for meritorious service. He clearly knew that there was something wrong and didn't investigate it. It was a dereliction of duty and dereliction of duty. Please punish him, Your Majesty. I dare not argue."
"I ask you..."
Emperor Yang Yi sat cross-legged on the kang again, looked at Yu Donglai and asked, "How much money did you collect?"
…
…
"I plead guilty, but I really don't have the benefit of collecting a copper coin."
Yu Donglai bowed his head and said earnestly: "I have committed the crime of ignoring my duty, but I dare not accept bribes and pervert the law. I failed to discover the hidden truth about Fan Gu and Li Xiaozong, and I am ashamed of your Majesty's treatment of my ministers." However... Although the minister's family is not considered extremely rich, but there is no shortage of money... The minister will definitely not deceive His Majesty just because of some yellow and white things."
Yang Yi took a sip of tea, nodded and said, "These are a few truths... Your Yu family really doesn't lack that money, even if compared to Wu Yidao, the Yu family is not much worse. Then I ask you, Ministry of War In the yamen, do you know how many people have accepted benefits from Li Yuanshan?"
"I really don't know... In the past two months, I have been busy secretly mobilizing food and grass to recruit people and braves. Other things in the Ministry of War are under the care of the minister waiting for you."
The emperor hummed, and turned to look at Hou Wenji: "I never imagined that there would be someone in the love office who would betray me."
He used the word betrayal.
Hou Wenji lifted his robe and knelt down, took off the beam crown on his head with both hands and bowed to the ground: "I have let my master down, I am not qualified to continue to command Qingya."
"Take off your official hat at every turn, are you not afraid that I will think you are threatening me?"
The emperor asked in a cold voice.
Hou Wenji raised his head and said: "I dare not, I feel guilty."
He spoke very simply, not saying a word in his own defense.
The emperor snorted and said, "If the subordinates make a mistake, I will take off the official hat of a person in charge, and the ministers and servants of the various ministries of the Sui Dynasty will not sit so peacefully. If the subordinates make mistakes, You can’t absolve yourself of the blame, but other people can’t do this job well, and you have to continue to do it. The salary will be cut for three years, and you will be demoted to one level. Later, you will write a letter of apology.”
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Hou Wenji kowtowed.
"That Qianhu... Since he is so willing to accept money, let him be buried alive at the door of the bank of the Ministry of Households, so that he can see countless silver all day long, but he can't catch a penny. The family members are sent to the frontier as slaves. , women’s family members... sent to the Zhifang Division to do slave labor. Each person is paid a copper coin a month, and when they have saved enough money to collect the money, they can go to slavery."
Everyone's heart trembled, the punishment at the door of the bank where the corpses were buried was to let those thousands of households be trampled under their feet all the time. And with a salary of one copper coin a month, how could it be possible to save so much silver in this life? Don't talk about one life, I'm afraid it will be difficult to turn over after generations.
The emperor leaned back and leaned against the wall, rubbing his frowning brows and continued: "Youhouwei General Li Yuanshan, who perverted the law for favoritism and deceived the king, this crime is unforgivable, but remembering the past few years... Military exploits will be punished lightly. You will be demoted to a fifth-rank general, and you will stay in the army for later use. Three hundred households will be reduced in food townships, and your salary will be fined for three years."
"Fan Guya General Li Xiaozong, although he fought hard and never retreated, he abandoned the city and fled after the defeat. He also tried to hide his defeat and bribed the officials of the military department... We are outnumbered. I don't blame him for his defeat. How can I blame a soldier? To the last general? When you take down Li Xiaozong, you ask him for me... If you have the courage to face an enemy twenty times your own, why don't you have the courage to face me?!"
"When Li Xiaozong was in the Martial Arts Academy, I paid special attention to it."
The emperor flipped through the thick talent record on the table, found a page, took a Chinese ink pen and crossed out Li Xiaozong's name: "It's a pity... I lost a promising general."
"Let's leave it to the Ministry of Criminal Justice and Dali Temple to inquire about the crime, and you can convict whatever crime should be convicted."
The emperor put down the ink pen and said a word, then looked at Yu Dong and said, "Go back and find out for yourself how many people from the Ministry of War took Li Yuanshan's silver. It's not just this time, and it's not just Li Yuanshan's bribe. Since I dared to take Li Yuanshan's money this time, wouldn't I dare to take other people's money before? This is not the first time, and I don't have the capacity and patience to let the past go. After the investigation, I will draw up a list. It's been too long, and I have forgotten the awe I should have... If this is the case, why should I be stingy with the butcher's knife?"
"The minister obeys the order."
Yu Donglai hastily responded.
"Wait, I haven't finished yet!"
The emperor's eyes lingered on the record of talent reserves, and while flipping through the names written by himself, he said: "Yu Donglai, he was resigned from the post of Shangshu of the Ministry of War, and was demoted to be the Minister of the Ministry of War, acting as an agent of the Ministry of War. After returning, he closed the door and reflected. One day, I want to see what you can come up with introspection. In addition... you will also be fined for three years. Li Yuanshan will count the bribes received by the officials of the Ministry of War, and tell me the amount after the statistics are completed."
"I want him to take out another share, plus the share he bribed the officials, and the salaries that you guys punished, and send someone to Fan Gu. The dead frontier soldiers and common people built a cemetery, and the rest of the money was sent to the relatives of those frontier soldiers as pensions."
"They are all the most loyal and brave soldiers of the Sui Dynasty. They used their lives to tell me their loyalty to me and their feelings for the Sui Dynasty. After all, I am ashamed of them, and I blame myself in my heart. Hou Wen After Ji reported this matter, I deliberately checked how much money the soldiers of the frontier army can get every month. It is so low that it makes people feel distressed! When they are alive, they only use that little money to serve the country. How can we not give them a grand burial in the end?"
"In addition... Yu Donglai, after you return to the Ministry of War, send someone to count the number of all the frontier troops in the Sui Dynasty. What I want is the real number. There must be some who are empty-paid, but don't let me know. After the statistics are calculated, I will contact the Ministry of Households Let’s discuss it with some people to see if it is possible to double the salary of the frontier soldiers. They defend the border for the country, and I can’t let them have enough food and clothing.”
"To be honest, it's the frontier army's hard-working money!"
When he said this, the emperor raised his head and stared at him: "If I know anyone who dares to steal the money, I will slaughter his nine clans. If the number of living people is not enough to make up the nine clans, I will kill them." His ancestral grave!"