Pei Yan was not sure what Liu Xiangdao meant and was well aware of the consequences of this matter. After weighing it for a moment, he gritted his teeth and said, "The Duke of Yue holds his honor and is proud of his merits. He regards the laws of the country as if they are nothing. He also wields power and acts arbitrarily. If this continues, where will the imperial authority be?" , Where does the discipline exist? Yushitai is responsible for investigating lawlessness and impeaching officials. He should not be afraid of power to expand the world and protect justice! "
Of course he knew the consequences of telling Fang Jun, but after weighing it in his mind, he felt that it was not a big problem. After all, Fang Jun made the mistake first. Even if the final result was that he could not shake his power, he was still on the side of justice and right.
As long as you are righteous, why fear Fang Jun's counterattack?
Since Wei Zheng, there have been few staunch and upright officials in the court. Although the civil servants headed by Liu Jie were in fierce battles with the military, they all acted wisely and protected themselves. No one had the kind of courage to move forward regardless of you or me. If you protect yourself in the event of an emergency, how can you really deliver a fatal blow to your opponent?
You may not really want to overthrow Fang Jun, but as long as you let the ruling and opposition parties see your bravery, it may not be a good opportunity to quickly advance...
Liu Xiangdao was noncommittal, thought for a while, and said: "I can't accept your one-sided opinion on this matter. I still need to investigate and collect evidence in detail before I can give you an answer."
Pei Yan had already strengthened his resolve and was not afraid of the official authority of the imperial censor. He shook his head and said: "Since I dare to offend the superiors and sue powerful officials, I have put my life and death at risk. Why not stay here at the imperial censor's desk and wait for the superior to investigate?" Evidence collection.”
To be honest, he didn't dare to go home. If the news leaked out to the Yushitai and Fang Jun found out that he came here to complain, he might not be coerced or lured. It would be safer to stay here. Liu Xiangdao is still the Yushi after all. Doctor, the first person in Qingliu in the court, you can't tie him up and send him to Fang Jun, right?
Liu Xiangdao frowned and said displeasedly: "Since you can't trust my officer's integrity, why did you come to me to complain?"
Pei Yan looked upright: "If you don't come here, where else can you go? Besides, this is the duty of the Yushitai."
Liu Xiangdao said with no expression on his face: "If you want to stay, then stay here. Come, please stay and resettle this person. The food and tea will be well served, so don't be slow to wait."
"Thank you, Shangguan, for your protection."
"You take care of yourself."
……
The clerk took Pei Yan down to settle him down. Liu Xiangdao sat in the duty room drinking tea and meditating. After a long while, he sent someone to investigate Fang Jun's arrest and detention of Pei Yi. At the same time, he called several important Taichung officials to discuss the matter.
In the early days of Zhenguan, the Yushitai only "heard and reported matters" and had no judicial power. In recent years, it has gradually begun to set up a prison to accept special litigation cases, and appointed a member of the censor to serve as the censor. Shi Chongzhen, one person takes turns accepting lawsuits every day.
At this point, the Yushitai, the Ministry of Punishment, and Dali Temple formed the Three Law Divisions, which is worthy of the name. For major cases, Dali Temple is responsible for interrogating criminals and drafting sentences, while the Ministry of Punishment is responsible for review, and at the same time, they are reported to the Yushitai for supervision and review, and the "Three Laws Division" jointly hears them.
Yushitai became the true highest supervisory agency of the imperial court.
So even though the city gate of Chang'an has been locked at this time, the Yushitai investigating the case can freely enter and exit the city gate, and no one can stop it...
By the time several officials arrived at the censor's desk, the censor who quickly left Mingde Gate to investigate the case in Fanchuan had also returned. The news he brought back was almost exactly what Pei Yan said. Liu Xiangdao naturally didn't care whether Fang Jun could be brought to justice in this matter. Overturning it, what he cares about is whether he can gain his own interests through this matter, so that he can completely control the Yushitai and live up to the trust that His Majesty had placed in him.
As for whether it can break the civil-military confrontation between North Korea and China, causing one side to completely overwhelm the other and break the balance, that is not within his consideration.
He is just a royal censor. It is the prime minister's responsibility to balance the government. He is not in his position and does not plan his affairs.
At the beginning of Xu Shi, thousands of houses in Chang'an City were lit with lights, and all the government offices in the imperial city were already dark. Only the duty room at the Yushitai was brightly lit.
Liu Xiangdao sat behind the desk, put down his tea cup, and scanned the faces of the Censor Zhongcheng Liu Qianyu, the Censor Wang Lun, the Censor Li Yifu, and Duan Gang in front of him one by one. He tapped his fingers on the desk a few times and said in a calm tone: "What do your colleagues think should be done about this matter?"
The other three people couldn't figure out Liu Xiangdao's thoughts and remained silent.
Liu Xiangdao looked a little impatient: "Pei Yan is still waiting for a reply in the government office. If he accepts his complaint, Fang Jun will be impeached at court tomorrow morning. If he doesn't accept it, Pei Yan will be sent out of the city and the matter will be dropped. Everyone. Any opinions should be discussed openly and honestly.”
Liu Qianyu asked tentatively: "It is indeed inappropriate for the Duke of Yue to detain officials from the Ministry of Industry. However, Duke Yue is the Minister of the Ministry of Industry and manages and punishes officials of the government. It does not seem to reach the level of impeachment in the court, right? ”
What Fang Jun did was indeed a bit arrogant and domineering. In terms of the duties of the Yushitai picket officials, it was within the scope of authority, but if anything was brought to the court, it meant that its impact and consequences would be huge. It is extremely serious. From this point of view, Fang Jun just detained Pei Yi. There have been no consequences. He only needs to issue a warning in the name of Yushitai. Taking the matter to the court in a big way would be making a fuss out of a molehill. .
Of course, his original intention was to test Liu Xiangdao's mind. These words could move forward or back, and did not express his position. He could adjust his attitude at any time based on Liu Xiangdao's feedback.
Too old...
Liu Xiangdao seemed dissatisfied with his answer and avoided answering. He looked at Li Yifu: "Li Yushi and Fang Jun are old friends. What do you think about this matter?"
Outsiders have always been interested in the relationship between Fang Jun and Li Yifu.
It stands to reason that when Li Yifu took part in the imperial examination, he was given clothes by Fang Jun. There was a good story passed down. No matter what, Li Yifu should be a loyal supporter of Fang Jun. However, the subsequent development was beyond everyone's expectations. Although Li Yifu approached Fang Jun many times, Fang Jun refused, knowing that he suppressed him for a time and eventually the two turned against each other.
It seems inappropriate to say that we are turning against each other. After all, considering that Li Yi’s highest-ranking official has served as county magistrate for ten thousand years, he is really not in a position to become enemies with Fang Jun...
Feeling that the other people's eyes were on him, Li Yifu was a little helpless. After thinking about it, he said slowly: "In my opinion, Duke Yue's move is not a trivial matter. In fact, no matter how Duke Yue deals with Pei Yi, It's all in the bureaucracy However, Duke Yue handed Pei Yi over to the "Baiqisi" and brought in the "Baiqisi" who did not belong to the court system. This is very wrong.”
Liu Qianyou and Wang Lun nodded in unison. They did not dare to say this, but they absolutely agreed.
Liu Xiangdao took a look at Li Yifu and felt that this person was indeed extremely cunning. However, although he was a censor and the nominal chief of the censorship, the imprint left by his predecessor Liu Jie was too deep. For example, this Li Yifu was Liu Jie had to be appointed to the Yushitai as a candidate to supervise the censor no matter what. No matter how Liu Xiangdao couldn't stand it, there was nothing he could do.
But now is a good opportunity to remove these nails...
As a supervisory agency directly responsible to the emperor, the "Baiqisi" can be regarded as the natural enemy of Yushitai, and its powers and responsibilities often overlap. From this point of view, Li Yifu agreed to accept Pei Yan's complaint against Fang Jun and resolved the issue. The essence shifted from "impeaching Fang Jun" to "maintaining the authority of Yushitai". The secret change of concept was smooth and without any trace, avoiding direct conflict with Fang Jun. However, in the final analysis, Fang Jun still had to be impeached.
"Then prepare the materials. I have sent people to investigate and collect evidence on the spot. There is no problem with Pei Yan's petition. You are lucky enough to go to court after dawn to impeach Fang Jun."
"Here!"
Everyone cheered up. After all, the person being impeached was Fang Jun. He was a truly powerful official in the imperial court. Regardless of his own merits, abilities, or unparalleled holy family members, he needed to be taken seriously.
All kinds of information and confessions were summarized overnight, and the direction of impeachment was determined based on Pei Yan's petition. All parties compiled and compiled a dossier, striving to have no flaws in the confessions, facts, evidence, etc., and striving to win with one blow.
Otherwise, it is very likely that Yushitai will suffer backlash. Once it fails to establish its power and is attacked instead, it will be a huge loss...
*****
The morning light of early winter always comes very late, and when I go to court at Mao Shi, the sky is still dark. Quickly, Marquis Wu rang the clapper, and then the gates of the 108 squares opened one after another, and carriages came out from the gates. , the lanterns hanging on the shafts of the carriages emitted orange-red light, and then gathered together like fire dragons wandering through the streets and alleys of Chang'an City, finally converging on the square in front of Chengtian Gate.
At three o'clock in the morning, the civil and military ministers got off their cars and walked to Chengtian Gate. They lined up according to civil, military and rank. The imperial guards pushed open the heavy city gate. The chamberlains lined up on both sides and watched the officials file into the palace together with the imperial guards. At the same time, the identities are screened one by one.
Fang Jun, Li Ji, Li Daozong, and Ma Zhou walked at the front. Ma Zhou looked back at the officials behind him and whispered to Fang Jun next to him: "The wind direction is not right today. Please be more careful when attending the meeting and be careful in your words and deeds." .”
Although Ma Zhou was close to Fang Jun, he was a civil servant after all and had his own sources of information, so he reminded Fang Jun.
Although it was too late when I received the news, at least Fang Jun could be mentally prepared...
Fang Jun not only disagreed, but instead chuckled: "Brother Bin Wang, don't worry, I've been prepared for a long time... Hehe, those guys claim to be civil servants, and they jump up and down all day to stir up trouble, but they forget that we were famous bombers back then. "If you don't fall, there are a mountain of impeachment memorials on Emperor Taizong's case. Who can do anything to me?"
Li Ji on the side was speechless and reminded: "With your current status, no one will impeach you like before, but as long as someone impeaches you, there must be full confidence. Don't take it lightly." He was not. He doesn't care about whether Fang Jun will be impeached, but the current situation has stabilized, which is very beneficial to him both publicly and privately. Once the situation in the government fluctuates, it will inevitably trigger a huge power reshuffle. This is his Not allowed.