A few days later, the imperial court announced the outcome of the cases of Li Shizhi, Huangfu Weiming, and Wei Jian.

The three were convicted of forming a party for personal gain.

Under the promulgation of the imperial court, Li Shizhi was demoted to Yichun Taishou, Huangfu Weiming to Banchuan Taishou, and Wei Jian to Jinyun Taishou; Zheng Zhang was demoted to Nanfeng Cheng, Zheng Qinshuo was demoted to Yelang Lieutenant, Dou Luyou was demoted to Fushui Lieutenant, and Yang Hui was demoted to Badong Lieutenant; Wei Jian's younger brothers Wei Lan, Wei Bing, Wei Zhi, and their son Wei Liang were all exiled; and dozens of others were also implicated.

Li Shizhi's position as the left minister was taken over by Lin Xilie, the post of Huangfu Weiming's Hexi Jiedu envoy was concurrently held by Wang Zhonghe, and Wei Jian's post of secretary of the criminal department was concurrently known by Li Linfu.

This case can be said to be widely implicated, and for a time the people in the Chang'an court were panicked.

Since then, Ji Wen and Luo Xizao have become famous, and the people of Chang'an have given them the nickname of "Ji Snar". The meaning of this number is very clear, since it is said that Gwen is good at fabricating crimes, and Rohi is familiar with torture, and the two can run rampant in the world if they are matched.

Luo Xizao was born black and stout, with a hooked nose crawling on a donkey's face, his face was terrifying, and his methods were ruthless, and he was called "mule" by the people of the capital. Sometimes, in order to stop the crying of the child, the women of the capital often cried out, "The mule is coming." Strange to say, the child was so frightened when he heard this that he did not dare to cry anymore.

In the East Palace, the thirty-seven-year-old crown prince Li Heng has been closely following this matter from beginning to end, and for many days, he will wake up from his sleep every night.

Li Longji pushed Chang to establish a prince, and Li Heng was made the crown prince because of this. At this time, Concubine Wu Hui has passed away, and Li Longji is the new favorite Yang Yuhuan, but Yang Yuhuan has no children and few ambitions, and Li Heng's position seems to be relatively stable.

When Li Heng was still in his mother's womb, Li Longji almost killed Li Heng in his mother's womb in order to avoid the slander of his aunt Princess Taiping. When Li Heng was born and grew up, his mother had long been forgotten by Li Longji, and his second brother Li Ying had been designated as the crown prince early, so it was difficult for Li Heng to attract the attention of outsiders, so he also learned to protect himself by obscurity.

Li Heng suddenly became the crown prince, and while he was excited, he also remembered the experience of the former prince Li Ying: Li Ying was the prince for more than 20 years, during which he was cautious, but he didn't say a few more words to his two younger brothers, so he suffered a catastrophe, and was deposed and then given death. He raised his eyes and looked around: his father's mind was unpredictable, and there was no one to rely on in the harem, and the powerful Li You, who was quite powerful in the world, initially supported King Shou as the crown prince, and he was really alone, helpless, except for being more cautious, Li Hengzhen didn't know what else he could do.

After Li Shizhi and the other three were suddenly arrested and imprisoned, Ji Wen and Luo Xizao searched the city again. Li Heng has a lot of connections with these three people, Huangfu Weiming is a friend of Li Heng, and Wei Jian is the brother of the crown princess.

Li Heng had this thought, but he didn't dare to tell anyone, so he was only secretly anxious in his heart. As a result, his heart became more and more intense, and he couldn't sleep at night. Li Heng finally understood that regardless of foreign affairs, whether his position as crown prince could survive was only in the thoughts of his father. After figuring this out, he decided to enter Xingqing Palace to meet his father.

Li Heng used to study in the East Palace and was not involved in political affairs, but he was able to meet Li Longji during the court meeting. Now Li Longji has not been in the court for a long time, except for the court, and he is enjoying himself in the palace, and there are too few opportunities for father and son to meet. Li Heng took the initiative to ask for a meeting today, and Li Longji naturally understood his son's worries, so he allowed him to see him.

After Li Heng saw the salute, he bowed down and stood in front of Li Longji, and said: "Father, the son thinks that Wei is not virtuous, so he wants to demote her, I don't know if I can get my father's favor?"

Li Longji was stunned in his heart, but he still asked: "I heard that Wei's is still virtuous since she entered the East Palace, she was born in a famous family, and she should be able to abide by women's morals, so why is she not virtuous?"

Erchen thought that Webster's family was very fond of life, and his family branches were very numerous, so the good and the bad were uneven, and Erchen was worried. Li Heng replied.

"Hehe, the prince is a little worried. In the past, Emperor Zhongzong's Wei Shu loved to make trouble, but he had nothing to do with the crown princess Wei. Oh, could it be because of Wei Jian's case, are you worried about this?" asked Li Longji.

"The father's holy eyes are blazing, and the sons are worried because of this. Li Heng hurriedly replied.

"Well, you're a little too worried. Although Wei Jian is the brother of the crown princess, what he committed was not instructed by the crown princess, why should you be careful?" Li Longji sighed.

Li Heng still bowed down and said: "Father, the so-called melon field Li Xia is difficult to dispel. The sons are cowardly people, and they are afraid of causing trouble. Therefore, I implore that Webster be disparaged, and I also asked my father to choose another concubine for his sons. ”

Li Longji shook his head and sighed: "You are the prince, and one day you will ascend the throne, if you are so timid, how will you make a decision in the future? Although the Wei family has many branches, she is not at fault, if she abandons it, I can't bear it." ”

Li Heng knelt down and kowtowed again: "My father is prosperous in the Spring and Autumn Period, and he can extend his achievements for thousands of years, this is the edict of Emperor Xuanyuan, and his sons firmly believe it." The son can occupy the position of the crown prince, which is really a holy favor, and I ask my father not to say this again in the future. As for Wei's matter, the son has made up his mind and begged his father for mercy. ”

Li Longji shook his head helplessly and said, "Get up." Wechsler's business, you can do it yourself. If you want to expel her from the East Palace, you must give her a generous gift. ”

Li Heng was overjoyed in his heart, and cried with joy: "The benevolence of my father is as clear as the sun and the moon, and my son will definitely relay the benevolence of my father to Webster." ”

After Li Heng resigned, he still felt cold sweat on his back, but his heart was extremely comfortable: after expelling Wei from the East Palace, he completely washed away his relationship with Wei Jian and others, and even if the storm rose again, he would not be able to say anything about himself.

Because, Li Heng has already understood his father's true attitude. As long as the father does not want to abolish the crown prince, then his position can be as safe as Mount Tai.

It is said that the situation has reached this point, and it is time for this ferocious political tide to come to an end, which is also the unanimous idea of the government and the opposition. After all, the three people who fell down have a lot of power in the court, if they are really caught in one go, it will be difficult not to mention, and it will be easy to cause a backlash, and if they really commit public anger, Li Linfu, the prime minister, will not have a good life.

However, perhaps it is precisely because he clearly understands that the remaining power of the three of them is still huge, not to mention that Li Linfu is not a person who gives up halfway, and furthermore, Wan Dezhao's goal has not yet been achieved......

Since Li Shizhi and others were reprimanded out of Beijing, Li Linfu secretly thought to himself that although these people were belittled, they must still rely on the prince in their hearts, and over time, they will definitely have a chance to turn over. Li Linfu has never dragged mud and water, and will never leave the aftermath to eat himself, after he thought everything clearly, he entered the palace again to meet Li Longji.

"Your Majesty, this is an official document sent by the Criminal Department, and it is the official mission who escorted Li Shizhi, Wei Jian, and Huangfu Weiming to report what they saw along the way. Li Linfu held a note in both hands and handed it to Li Longji.

After Li Longji took it, he looked at it casually, and said with a little unhappiness: "It's good for you to make your own decisions about such trivial matters!"

Li Linfu hurriedly bowed down and replied, "Your Majesty, the minister really can't call the shots in this matter!"

"Oh?" Li Longji had a questioning look on his face, so he looked at it carefully again, but he still didn't gain anything, so he had to ask: "There's nothing wrong with this!"

Li Linfu had no choice but to point to a passage in the recital book and make it clear to Li Longji: "Holy Lord, please look here!"

But I saw that what was written on the note was that when Huangfu Weiming walked out of Chang'an City to Ma Weiyi, dozens of strong men on horseback suddenly came from the west, and held a banquet for Huangfu Weiming in the post to practice.

These are nothing, even if ordinary people commit crimes, when they are exiled, there will be three or two relatives and friends to see them off, not to mention a high-ranking official like Huangfu Weiming, with a few close friends to see him off, it is naturally nothing.

It's just that a few more sentences were added to the note, saying that although these dozens of men are dressed as ordinary people, they call each other mostly for military positions. And these dozens of men are powerful and powerful, all of them are mighty and extraordinary, and at a glance you can see that they are by no means ordinary people, but they are very military.

"Your Majesty, that Huangfu Weiming seems to have a wide range of friends, this time was demoted to Banchuan (now Zunyi, Guizhou) Taishou, after the news spread, there were so many powerful men to see him off. Li Linfu saw that Li Longji was really attracted by the song, and fell into deep thought, so he said as if he had no intention.

Li Longji was suddenly alert, raised his head, and looked at Li Linfu carefully, but after Li Linfu finished speaking, the old god stood with his hands down, and there was no trace of superfluous expression on his face, so he had to sigh in his heart: "Alas! It seems that I am indeed old, and this Li Brother Nuer is really becoming more and more difficult to restrain now!"

Seeing that Li Linfu was pretending to be stupid, Li Longji had no choice but to pick up the conversation and say directly: "These people are not ordinary people!

"The minister just heard that when Huangfu Weiming arrived at the Mawei Station, dozens of people suddenly came from the west, these people did not wear military uniforms, they were ordinary people, and they held a banquet in the post for Huangfu Weiming. As for the rest, the post man said that when he was listening, he found that these men were called by each other, and that they were mostly in the ministry of the army, and the post man concluded that these men should be men of the army. Li Linfu took the lead and put the blame on the unwarranted postman, anyway, he was just a postman.

Li Longji shook his head, not much surprised by Li Linfu's answer, but suddenly sighed: "Huangfu has been in the army for a long time, and he treats his subordinates very dearly, so he has to be loved by his subordinates." Alas, if he didn't have an affair with Wei Jian, he would actually be a good general of my Datang. It's a pity. ”

When Li Linfu heard this, he noticed the loneliness in Li Longji's tone, as well as the trace of unbearability in his heart, so he hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, this is exactly where Weichen's worries lie. Huangfu is only good at governing the army, and it is really worrying that these people come to a private meeting regardless of the laws of the country!"

Seeing that Li Linfu still refused to let go, Li Longji frowned and said in an impatient tone: "Well, Wang Zhongji will enter Beijing on the same day, and I will tell him to make an appointment after returning to Hexi." ”

At this point, there is no turning back arrow when the bow is opened, and the snake does not die but suffers from it, Li Linfu no longer cares about whether Li Longji will be jealous of himself at this moment, so he said like a boat: "Your Majesty, although Ambassador Wang is in charge of the Hexi army, after all, he has just arrived, how can he know the subtleties in it? Weichen thinks that this case has been tried by the three divisions until now, and there must be no flaws, and the three divisions must visit and investigate to the end, so that Ambassador Wang is in charge of the Hexi army to put an end to the source of trouble. ”

"The source of the trouble? Li Qing, you may have taken the situation too seriously. Li Longji actually had a sneer on his face at this time, and looked at Li Linfu gloomily.

"Your Majesty, after the case was concluded, the minister thought a lot. There was absolutely no warning before the case occurred, but it changed suddenly, why is this so? The reason is that each person has many origins, and no one knows about their secret interactions. Taking Huangfu Weiming as an example, he has successively served as the Imperial Historian, Si Nong Shaoqing, Si Nongqing, etc., because he has been in Beijing for a long time, how can he investigate his connections in detail?"

Since the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the ministers of the DPRK and China have been proud of being able to enter and exit the prime minister, so how can you know how many connections he has along the way?

Li Longji was silent, but he was thinking mostly about how to restrain this growing Li Linfu in the future.

Li Linfu ignored Li Longji's thoughts, and still said in his own way: "The reason why Weichen is worried about Huangfu is that his military position is too important. Since the reform of the military system, the border soldiers are recruited by the method of recruitment, so that the border soldiers are relatively fixed, and the imperial court does not need to be promoted as before, so that the border generals can sit on the male soldiers. If the emperor is very well-connected in the court, and he has to be loved by his subordinates, if he has a grudge and raises his arms, he is very prone to trouble, and begs His Majesty to investigate in detail. ”

After a long time, Li Longji sighed helplessly: "If it is as Li Qing said, these border generals must be loyal." If someone has a different mind, it is a source of trouble. Like Wang Zhonghei, who is also the envoy of the right section of Zhilong and the envoy of the Hexi festival, and An Lushan is the envoy of the Fanyang festival and the envoy of the Pinglu festival, if they have different intentions, won't the disaster be even greater?"

I'm not afraid of what you say, I'm afraid that you will be silent!

When Li Linfu saw Li Longji speak, his heart was settled, and he smiled: "The reason why the ministers are so desperate is that they are trying their best to prevent it, not allowing them to sit big, and checking and balancing each other. In the case of Huangfu Weiming, it must be stifled at the beginning of its germination. ”

Li Longji didn't say anything when he heard this, he didn't have any worries about the chaos of the border generals at this time: he thought that he was heroic, and those who coveted it might not have been born yet. However, above this court, Li Longji felt a little isolated, whether it was those arrogant wealthy families, or the powerful ministers in front of him, Li Longji felt powerless.

Li Linfu hurriedly added another fire and said, "Your Majesty, in fact, Wang Zhongsi and An Lushan are slightly different. After all, Wang Zhonghei is a native of Middle-earth, so he has inextricable ties with the people in the court, while An Lushan is a Hu person, and in addition to being loyal to the emperor, he has no secret relationship with the people in the court. But it is precisely because of this that once a Middle-earth general like Huangfu Weiming is angry, it will be a big danger!"

Li Longji was helpless, knowing that he could no longer stop this person now, so he had no choice but to agree to Li Linfu's request to investigate Huangfu Weiming's dealings with people in the army.

When Li Linfu received this holy decree, of course, he had to sway it to his heart's content. He summoned Jiwen and Rohizao and gave them a secret commandment.

Luo Xizao led a group of people to chase after Huangfu Weiming's footprints, and finally caught up with Huangfu Weiming's family on the ground in Shuzhou. Luo Xizao used the post house as a torture hall, and used all kinds of torture on Huangfu Weiming, and finally learned the names of the people in the army who came to see off Ma Weiyi. Luo Xizao was like a treasure, and saw that Huangfu Weiming was already dying, so he instructed his subordinates to beat Huangfu Weiming to death.

As a result, Huangfu Weiming's family wealth was confiscated, and his family became exiles and continued to move forward. Luo Xizao led his subordinates to Hexi, and then took down the people who saw him off according to the map, and it was indispensable to torture him again. When Luo Xixiao returned to the capital, the recital of the rebellion of the people in the army had already been read by Li Longji and Li Linfu, and the matter was really settled.

While Rohizao was heading west, Giwin was also in the capital. He searched everywhere for people who had dealings with Wei Jian, and then stuffed them into prison to interrogate Wei Jian's embezzlement.

More than a month later, Li Linfu ordered Luo Xixiao to inspect the debasement of Li Shizhi, Wei Jian and others. After the previous case and the death of Huangfu Weiming, Luo Xizao's name has long been spread all over the world, and his methods like a living Yama have made the people of the world frightened. When Wei Jian heard that Luo Xizao had reached his ground, he did not want to endure his humiliation and torture, so he took a rope and hung it on a beam, and then hung himself on it; Li Shizhi's method of death was different from Wei Jian's, and when he learned that Luo Xizao was about to arrive in the Yazhong, he took the tea cup that had been prepared on the table and drank all the poison in it.

When Luo Xizao learned that the two of them had committed suicide without seeing him, he muttered: "Oh, they are all people who understand! ”

When Li Linfu reported the death of the two to Li Longji, he attributed the cause of their death to them, and thanked the emperor for his kindness. Li Longji was helpless in his heart, and after sighing a few words, he could only throw it away.

Facing Li Linfu, who was no longer restrained, Li Longji pondered for a few days, looked around, and found that there was no one around.

Although Li Xilie was the left minister and ranked ahead of Li Linfu, he was only promoted by himself, and in terms of strength, he was more than a star and a half worse than Li Linfu. As for the other people in Chang'an, I am afraid that most of them have become Li Linfu's henchmen, so Li Longji has no choice but to set his sights outside Chang'an.

As the edict informing Li Shizhi, Wei Jian, and Huangfu Weiming of the outcome of the case spread all over the world, an edict written by Li Longji himself also passed through the dark line of the internal guard and quickly headed towards Yuzhang City......