"It is true that some of them have been handed to me, but the methods you are playing with, I really don't know anything about them? At that time, these twists and turns should have been put at the bottom by you, right? And it seems that such a character, even if I am negligent for a while, you can't take the initiative to remind me? Looking at these files, this person should have begun to rise in the Western Regions within a few years after I succeeded to the throne. I want to know, what benefits did this guy give you, so that you dare to take the crime of bullying the king and cooperate to hide it on his behalf?"

When Yang Guang said this, Gao Shicheng's expression was immediately sincerely afraid: "Your Majesty, this is all the dereliction of duty of slaves and maids! But we really don't have the slightest intention of deceiving Your Majesty, but in recent years, there have been constant turmoil in the DPRK and China. Unexpectedly, in just a few years, their home has become a climate, which has hindered His Majesty's eyes. The crime of this matter lies with the slave maid, and please ask Your Majesty to take it seriously!"

Yang Guang couldn't help but glance at Gao Shicheng lightly, and his voice was equally indifferent, unhappy or angry: "Is this really the case?"

"The slave and maid have a heart for Your Majesty, and they will never dare to say half a word. ”

Gao Shicheng swore to the sky and swore an oath: "If it weren't for that, why would the slave take the initiative to submit the secret fold of the Longxi embroidered general." ”

On Wang Chonggu's forehead, there was still a cold sweat: "Your Majesty, about Xue Ju, the old slave also mentioned a few mouthfuls a few years ago. However, at that time, His Majesty thought that Pei Huangmen might be able to use him to run the Western Regions, so he didn't care. So the old slave always thought that you knew everything about this person. ”

The so-called Pei Huangmen is naturally Pei Ju, the waiter of the Yellow Gate in the court.

"And such a thing?"

Yang Guang looked suspicious, and at the same time, his body leaned back slightly, falling into a memory, and then said thoughtfully: "Pei Huangmen did mention this person to me, saying that Xue Ju knew a lot of nobles in the Western Turks, and he might need to rely on his help to run the Western Turks. ”

In fact, the weakening of the Eastern and Western Turks in recent years, and the submission of the border vassals, were the power of Lai Peiju.

"There is also General Yuwen, who also mentioned it to His Majesty. It is said that this person has many horse farms under his banner, and supplies thousands of good horses to the army every year, which is a great supplement to my Great Sui Ma Zheng. ”

Wang Chonggu knelt on the ground and looked at the king behind the desk with a worried expression: "It's the Imperial Doctor, and he has also been on this matter several times." ”

At this time, Gao Shicheng seemed to think of something: "By the way, in the fourth year of the great cause, Zhang Heng, the former imperial historian, once participated in the theft of the salt administration and the theft and sale of smuggled salt, which also involved Xue Ju. ”

But when Wang Chonggu heard this, he was not surprised, and swept towards the purple-clothed waiter beside him with a knife-like gaze.

But the latter is unaware, with an eye and nose and a heart-to-heart attitude.

"Zhang Heng?"

Yang Guang frowned, and a trace of disgust appeared on his face: "There is no need to mention this person's name in the future." ”

At the end of last year, he heard that Zhang Heng was gloating at home and slandering the government, so he simply committed suicide.

But so far, Yang Guang still regards him, the former mastermind, as a thorn in the eye. It was a very strange feeling, gratitude, shame, jealousy, anger and other emotions mixed together, in short, it was not necessary, and I never wanted to take the initiative to think about this person.

Four years before the great cause, he was relatively smooth in the process of competing for the crown prince, and after ascending the throne, most of his efforts in the government were invincible. But since four years after the great cause, he was angry because Zhang Heng made him cherish the people's power and demoted him to Yulin Taishou, and this great court gradually got out of his control.

Yang Guang was absolutely unwilling to admit that he was wrong, and he did not want others to think that he was mistaken for believing slander and rejecting loyal ministers, so that after five years of the great cause, he encountered all kinds of setbacks.

So after learning that Zhang Heng was at home and sneered at his conquest of Liao, he did not hesitate to give a piece of white silk.

But although he had made up his mind to forget about this person, from time to time, he always listened to the people close to him and heard the name of this person.

This made Yang Guang irritable, and his mood became worse and worse: "In this way, this Xue Ju is actually my negligence?"

"Your Majesty!"

There was a sudden commotion in the study, and all the guards and eunuchs inside were bloodless, and they fell to the ground in panic.

Even Wang Gao and the others are no exception.

"This should be the negligence of the old slave, and the responsibility of the embroidered clothes guard should be the eyes and ears of the heavenly family, and you will fill in the gaps for Your Majesty. failed to report the matter of Jincheng Xue to the Son of Heaven in time, and the old slave was guilty of a great crime. ”

Gao Shicheng's body also trembled slightly: "Your Majesty, if the slave doesn't dare to blame others, please also ask Your Majesty to take heavy responsibility." ”

Yang Guang sneered: "Is it still a heavy responsibility? I see that you have no fear, and I don't think I can do anything to you, right?"

"How dare the slaves have such a rebellious thought?"

Wang Chonggu and Gao Shicheng seemed to be terrified, and they all lowered their bodies and shook their heads: "Your Majesty!

"That's it!"

Yang Guang had already put on a look of indifference, and waved his hand indifferently: "Let's talk about it, this Xue Ju, how to deal with it next? Hehe, the first emperor was sympathetic to the people and abolished salt and iron**, but the result was that it became the silverfish of these countries, as well as horses, silk, porcelain, and the commercial tax of our dynasty is only one of five taxes, and the low tax rate is rare since the previous dynasties, but even so, these people are not satisfied. What a Western Qin Overlord—"

The many attendants at the desk did not dare to speak at this time, but in their lowered eyelids, there was a flash of disapproval.

Sui Zhi Yan Zheng, the beginning of the Zhou system, in each salt area to set up directors, deputy supervisors, supervisors and other personnel to manage salt affairs. But in the third year of the emperor's reign, the first emperor took pity on the people's life and implemented the "salt well through the salt pond and the people", abolished the salt ban, implemented a tax-free system, and the salt officials were abolished.

The state only has "the director, deputy supervisor, and chief supervisor of the salt pond, and four supervisors, such as the east, west, south, and north";

However, this is actually a conditional abolition of the salt ban, and all merchants must follow the salt production system stipulated by the imperial court and pay a large amount of silver to obtain the right to produce, operate, and sell salt. If there are no legal procedures, it is the so-called private salt, which is expressly forbidden by the imperial court.

Therefore, in the world, there is still an overflow of illegal salt, and it is repeatedly prohibited.

As for the commercial tax, the commercial tax of the Great Sui Dynasty is indeed unprecedentedly light in the past five generations, but there are so many cities and so many checkpoints along the way, and a certain amount of tax must be extracted, so this smuggling is inevitable.

It's just that these words, they will never dare to say in front of the angry Son of Heaven.

Therefore, Gao Shicheng just smiled bitterly: "Your Majesty, the so-called not in his position, not in his government, I wait for these eunuchs to be shallow, and I really don't know how to make suggestions to Your Majesty." Privately, if Your Majesty really feels that this person is heinous and must be punished, why don't you gather all the ministers and discuss this matter?"

"That's right!"

Yang Guangwei bowed his head, and then said again: "Then my Yong'an County Uncle was in conflict with Xue Ju because of the matter of private salt. So this trip to Kansai, he is actually a public and private trip?"

"Exactly!"

Wang Chonggu glanced at everyone present, and then replied with a calm expression: "The slave maid found out that more than ten days ago, a salt caravan operating in Qinghai in Qinglong Villa was robbed and killed by Xue Rengao, the son of Xue Ju. Recently, Li Kaifu also confronted Xue Ju before Tongguan, and there was a battle between the two sides, and the result was a draw. However, as far as the slave maid knows, Li Kaifu had used some means beforehand, Xue's caravan was robbed continuously, suspected of being committed by the local government army and the border army, Xue Ju and several cronies were assassinated, and the second few shots, the old slave was sure to be the faceless arrow Luo Li under him. Therefore, in the battle of Tongguan, Li Kaifu's opponents were only Xue Ju's father and son and one of his subordinates, and there were only three people in total. ”

"This son is well versed in the art of war and knows how to divide the enemy before the war. ”

Yang Guang couldn't help but let out a laugh, his eyes were meaningful: "I actually dare to use the border army, I didn't expect that my future pillars would be so bold, it's rare that he can still move——"

If it was in normal times, he wouldn't care too much about it, at most he would secretly laugh and make a note in his heart for the bastard. After all, the second son of the Li family had fought to the death with several royal grandsons for Princess Minghui before, and almost died.

If you want to say that this son has any suspicious intentions, Yang Guang will never believe it. What this guy does is just to be similar to those big lords and princes in the court, using the power in his hands to seek personal interests and fight against dissidents.

But today, I don't know if the name mentioned by Gao Shicheng before made him feel unusually irritable, as if there were thousands of needles piercing his heart.

Before the book case, Gao Shicheng, Wang Chonggu and others couldn't help but hesitate for a while, and they didn't know how to respond for a while.

The Son of Heaven is undoubtedly extremely dissatisfied with Li Shimin's actions, but if he wants to follow the words of the Son of Heaven, it seems that it is a little inappropriate for Li Shimin to fall into the ground, just because the person in front of them does not seem to have too much anger when he says the words 'pillar of the future', at least in terms of tone.

However, this son of heaven is moody and moody many times, and even those close to them are difficult to judge for a while.