Li Tai frowned and expressed angrily: "Is it possible to erase the accusation by resigning and becoming an official? I am a prince and the legitimate son of Emperor Taizong, how can I endure such humiliation?"
Zhang Liang comforted him: "The current situation is chaotic and public opinion is fierce. I don't know how many people are jumping up and down behind my back to do disobedient things. You are a prince and a compatriot of your Majesty's mother. You must not act on impulse. The overall situation is more important."
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"If the overall situation is to make me, a dignified prince, suffer humiliation and still have to swallow his anger, then that's not the overall situation!"
Li Tai made a splash.
The four central ministers each had a headache. They all knew that His Highness was the favorite son of Emperor Taizong at the beginning, so he developed an extremely arrogant and headstrong character. After dormant for these years, everyone seemed to have forgotten that he was a willful person. "Naughty kid"......
Xu Jingzong could only persuade in a low voice: "In the current situation, I don't know how many people are looking at His Highness, and they hope that His Highness can do something extraordinary so that they can stir up public opinion, confuse the public, and then criticize Your Majesty... If Your Highness continues to do this If you continue to make trouble, won't you play into the hands of those people? I don't know what will happen to your majesty, but I am afraid that there will be no good end."
Liu, Dai and Zhang were simply shocked. Can they say this in person?
However, everyone knew that Xu Jingzong was now willing to be Fang Jun's "stooge", and that the King of Wei and Fang Jun had a close personal relationship. The relationship between the two people was quite intriguing, so they remained silent.
Li Tai's expression changed. He gritted his teeth first, then became frustrated, and said helplessly: "In that case, then just follow His Majesty's will."
Liu, Dai, and Zhang finally breathed a sigh of relief. Liu Xiangdao poured tea for Li Tai with a pot in hand and said sincerely: "His Royal Highness is a noble man from the sky. He is extremely noble, but he is willing to endure humiliation and compromise for the sake of the overall interests of the empire. This kind of integrity is really admired by me. After returning to Beijing, I will definitely state this matter in front of His Majesty so that His Majesty’s integrity will not be wasted.”
Dai Zhou and Zhang Liang looked sideways, looked at Liu Xiang speechlessly and said: You are the imperial censor, and you are the one who claims to be the most pure person in the world, so you are so flattering in front of the King of Wei? Everyone is acting in accordance with His Majesty's orders. It is only right for King Wei to act according to His Majesty's orders. How can we claim credit for this?
Liu Xiangdao's expression remained as usual, disapproving.
Li Tai struggled for a while, then gritted his teeth and said, "I am shouldering the arduous task of building the Eastern Capital. There is a long way to go, but now I am having difficulty because of Pei Huaijie's lack of cooperation. I hope you will handle this matter quickly, otherwise the process will be delayed. You will definitely be impeached for being idle and derelict in your duties!”
……
The four of them had ridden hundreds of miles and were already exhausted. After the banquet ended and they chatted for a while, they each went back to their residences to take a hot bath and rest early.
Xu Jingzong was led by Li Tai out of Shangshanfang surrounded by hundreds of guards. He left Shangshanfang with great momentum and headed east along the street between Shangshanfang and Xiuwenfang, arriving at Nanshi In a nearby brothel, Chuguan, they were having a good time drinking all night long.
No one knows what was discussed...
*****
Early the next morning, Liu, Dai and Zhang got up to wash and change clothes. After breakfast, they found that Xu Jingzong was missing, so they asked the serving eunuch: "Why don't you see Xu Shangshu? Are you sick?"
The eunuch respectfully replied: "That's not the case, but after everyone had a rest last night, His Highness asked Shangshu Xu to go to Nanshi for a drink. He came back a little late, so he hasn't gotten up yet."
The three of them were silent. Are King Wei and Xu Jingzong really a team?
It seems that Xu Jingzong's mission to come to Luoyang to measure the acres overlapped with that of the King of Wei. The same problem facing both parties was Pei Huaijie, who was elected by the clans of Luoyang, Hedong, and Nanyang. If Pei Huaijie could not be removed, these two Human tasks cannot be carried out smoothly, and the consequences will naturally be extremely serious.
It’s a lot of pressure...
The three of them looked at each other, remained silent, ate their breakfast in a hurry, and then took the accompanying officials and servants out of Shangshanfang, crossed the Tianjin Bridge, and went straight to the Henan government office in the east city.
In the official residence, Pei Huaijie, who stayed here last night, had just finished his breakfast. When he heard that Liu, Dai, and Zhang had arrived, he hurriedly asked people to come in, while he tidied up his clothes and went out to meet them in the main hall.
In the main hall, Pei Huaijie is in the middle, Dai Zhou is on the left, Liu Xiangdao and Zhang Liang are on the right. The accompanying officials of the "Three Laws Division" stand on both sides, and the officials of the Henan Prefecture are all outside the door. The atmosphere is very serious.
In name, Dali Temple is the head of the "Three Law Divisions". Dai Zhou coughed lightly and took the lead in speaking: "His Royal Highness the King of Wei impeached Pei Fuyin for 'insulting the prince's concubine.' Come to Luoyang to thoroughly investigate this matter. We will interrogate everyone related to this case later. However, before leaving, His Majesty said that Pei Fuyin is an honorable minister of Zhenguan and a pillar of the country. He has made outstanding achievements and worked hard as a pastor in Luoyang over the years, so he must be respected enough. So before that, we would like to ask you a question. Pei Fuyin, what do you think about this? ”
Pei Huaijie was able to go from the last recorder in the "Tiance Mansion" to the high position of "Henan Yin" today. His actual power surpassed many of his colleagues in the "Tiance Mansion" who were before him. His political wisdom is naturally outstanding. How could he Don’t you understand the admonishment in Dai Zhou’s words?
However, he did not intend to accept His Majesty's "good intentions" either in public or private matters.
Why? !
He worked conscientiously in the post of Yin Ren of Henan Province and stayed in Luoyang for more than ten years. He managed the "Land of Three Rivers" which suffered from the turmoil of the late Sui Dynasty and was deprived of population, economy and farmland, so that all industries prospered. Instead of being promoted to the prime minister, he was promoted to the prime minister because of it. Voluntarily resigning on a ridiculous charge?
Then his reputation in this life will be in vain, and he will have to bear the reputation of "debauchery"!
What's more, he was recommended by the Henan clan and enjoyed the support of the clan, so today he has to fight for the interests of the clan. It is by no means that he can retreat if he wants to.
If the interests of the family are abandoned, the backlash will follow, and the consequences will be worse than being convicted by the court...
Taking a deep breath, Pei Huaijie said angrily: "It is clear that I, Pei Huaijie, have been innocent and fair throughout my life. How can I accept such an extremely humiliating frame-up? I have never done such insulting things, and I will never allow anyone to frame me!" Please strictly enforce the law and screen carefully, and you must give me justice.”
At this moment, just outside the main hall, all his subordinate officials were present. Such a crime was openly announced in public, which made him lose face and feel ashamed and angry.
Although Pei Huaijie was very firm in his refusal to "take it private", Dai Zhou still wanted to fight for it, so he shook his head and sighed: "The law is clear and the law is strict. The imperial court will never frame a frontier official with outstanding merits... …However, this matter has a huge impact and public opinion is bad. If it continues, it will inevitably attract attention from all parties. Even if Pei Fuyin is cleared of his innocence, it will not be able to calm all public opinions. Why bother?”
Many times, it is not a "not guilty" verdict that proves innocence. Some people say that the court was concerned about the bad influence and calmed the situation. Others say that Pei Huaijie used power for personal gain to destroy evidence, leading to the acquittal...
Right and wrong, black and white, are not so clear-cut.
Pei Huaijie understood this truth, but still shook his head: "Dai Siqing, there is no need to say more. Those who are clean will be clean. Please find out the truth as soon as possible and give me justice."
Dai, Liu, and Zhang looked at each other and shook their heads helplessly.
If the exhortation is ineffective, then the only option is to use the real chapter.
Continue to put tremendous pressure on Pei Huaijie until he is subdued...
Dai Zhou said: "In that case, let's proceed according to the procedures... We set up a government office in the official residence of the King of Wei, and Dr. Liu will interrogate the relevant personnel. The King of Wei and his concubines, the officials on duty that night, and Pei Governor Pei, what do you think of Governor Pei?”
Pei Huaijie had a dark face and said displeasedly: "Except for me, everyone is the King of Wei's people. How can we ensure the fairness of the testimonies of all parties?"
Dai Zhou had given Pei Huaijie enough respect, and now he was displeased when he heard Pei Huaijie's doubts: "The imperial censor, the Minister of Punishment, and the Minister of Dali Temple are all here to lead this trial, why does Pei Fuyin still question it? ? Do you want to teach us how to investigate a case? ”
It is no exaggeration to say that the three big bosses of the "Three Judicial Division" jointly tried the case, which already represents the highest level of judicial standards. As long as the three of them make a conclusion, it is the truth. Anyone who dares to question is questioning Datang. of judicial justice.
The results can only be followed and cannot be changed.
Otherwise, the laws of the empire will disappear...
Pei Huaijie had nothing to say.
Dai Zhou's face was solemn, no longer as polite as before: "Dong Yunguo is responsible for the investigation of all insiders in Shangshanfang and Henan Prefecture, and then summarizes the information from all parties and carefully screens it."
Zhang Liang nodded.
Then, Dai Zhou looked at Pei Huaijie and said slowly: "Please ask Pei Fuyin to send someone with my bureaucratic subordinates to seal the Henan government office's account books for the past ten years. We will audit and check the accounts one by one later."
As soon as these words came out, not only did Pei Huaijie suddenly wake up, but the expressions of the Henan officials outside the main hall changed drastically!
Pei Huaijie glared angrily: "What does Dai Siqing mean by this? You are here to hear the case, but you don't know why you need to audit the account books? The account books are the secrets of the Henan government. Without His Majesty's order, no one can act rashly!"
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He had been on guard against this trick before and had his account books sorted out to avoid finding any omissions, but he didn't expect Dai Zhou to be ruthless and want to review nearly ten years of account books all at once... Henan Prefecture has a vast territory, a large population, and an economic Prosperity, the various account books including taxes, population, corvee, and land are more than tens of thousands? Even if he wanted to fake it beforehand, he couldn't do it unless everything was destroyed.
Dai Zhou looked coldly and looked directly into Pei Huaijie's angry eyes: "I am ordered to try the case. How and how to try it is naturally authorized by His Majesty. No one can disobey it, otherwise he will be punished for obstructing justice... Pei Fuyin The reaction was so intense, could it be that there is something hidden in Henan Mansion’s account books?”
Pei Huaijie's face was gloomy and his heart sank.
Henan Prefecture has tens of millions of people and hundreds of thousands of hectares of fertile land, and the corresponding accounts are complicated. No matter how honest and fair the officials in Henan Prefecture are, there will inevitably be omissions. What's more, he, the governor, was recommended by the Henan clan and took office during his tenure. It is also supported by the clan, so it is inevitable to be biased when it comes to the taxes and corvee of the clan.
This is understandable, and it is also an unspoken rule of governments at all levels and in various places. After all, in the environment of clan politics, who can stay out of the mud?
However, as long as the court is serious and audits the accounts carefully, it will be a serious crime involving corruption. It can be seen that His Majesty is extremely determined to force himself to resign and become an official, and he even does not hesitate to impose such "unfounded" charges on himself...