The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 894

Jingu Garden is the name used by Shi Chong. The Li Palace rebuilt on the site in the Sui Dynasty is naturally not called Jingu Garden, but Jicui Palace. The surrounding area of ​​Jicui Palace is [-] miles away, and the walls are eight feet high. Gongxuan Langfang is ready.

Yang Guang did not decorate the houses in the garden with pearls, agate, amber, rhino horn, ivory and other valuables like Shi Chong did. Dotted with towers, pavilions, ponds and blue waves, coupled with the rocky mountains, lush trees, and bamboo pavilions in this garden, the whole palace is very elegant and natural.

Inside the main hall.

Yang Tong was discussing with Yang Gongren, Fang Xuanling and Ling Jing, the three came from Luoyang in a carriage, but they were not drenched by the rain, they drank a cup of hot tea, and the warm breath immediately filled their limbs.

"Your Majesty!" Yang Gongren put down the teacup and said in a deep voice: "The Minister of Yin sent back news that Shi Yu, the county magistrate of Baima County, was a petty official who was corrupt. About ten thousand stones, the exact number is unknown..."

"More than 200 million shi?" Yang Tong couldn't help being surprised, "This is a quarter of the grain stored in Baimacang... The key is that no one found out about so much grain, this is a big problem! The officialdom of Dongjun is about to collapse in half the sky."

"The masterminds are these two people! The county magistrate, magistrate, magistrate, and magistrate are not involved..."

"My God, how did they do it?" Yang Tong felt admiration for both of them.

"Tunnel!" Yang Gongren also understood Yang Tong's mood at this time, because he was so shocked when he first saw Yin Hongzhi's urgent report, and said with a wry smile: "Dacang's geology is very suitable for digging tunnels. They opened a tunnel, and then moved the grain without anyone noticing. In order to cope with the annual inspection, they separated the middle and upper part of the grain cellar with a floor. It was impossible to open them one by one, so they dealt with it; it was Yin Shilang who was careful and asked General Xue Wanbei and the others to pull out the grain, otherwise, the court would only find out when the grain cellar was emptied."

"It's true that the Tao is one foot tall and the devil is one foot high. According to this, other large warehouses are not safe." Yang Tong couldn't sit still, feeling that all the granaries were not safe anymore.

"That's right!" Yang Gongren said with a wry smile, "The servant yin means that before you think of a solution, keep quiet, lest some criminals dig holes to steal food."

"well considered."

Yang Tong had a great headache and asked again: "Has this kind of thing happened before?"

"That's not possible!" Yang Gongren shook his head and said, "In the past, there was an unwritten rule in the official warehouses and righteous warehouses, tacitly allowing the children of the aristocratic families or local officials to resell the grain in the warehouses and earn the difference, as long as they make up the full amount. That’s enough, and for the imperial court, it also plays the role of exchanging old grains for new ones, so the imperial court and Yushitai turned a blind eye.”

Yang Tong was annoyed, "What's the difference? It's nothing more than taking advantage of family power and position to infringe on the interests of the country. Now that we have cut off the dirty hands of evil, it has turned into direct theft... Where did this food go?"

Yang Gongren's face was serious: "According to the Nacang Order, all these grains were sold at a high price to Puppet Tang and Li Mi..."

"Bang!" Yang Tong slapped the table hard, and suddenly jumped up, "I really ate the guts of a leopard!"

Taking two steps forward, he snatched the urgent report from Yang Gongren's hand.

Looking at it at a glance, Yang Tong's face was gloomy, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Wow! It turns out that these aristocratic families are responsible for the trouble."

Yin Hongzhi's emergency report was very detailed. Shi Yu was the person who sneaked into the officialdom of the Zheng family in Xingyang. This time, the Zheng family contacted him. The waters were sold to the Puppet Tang Dynasty, which was in short supply of food, and the profits reached several times the normal food price.

What made Yang Tong even more shocked and angry was that Gao Diguo, a famous family, had already turned the light into darkness and sneaked into the officialdom of the Sui Dynasty, as he expected.

in his mind.

After Wu Zetian suppressed the aristocratic family for a short period of time, the power of the aristocratic family quickly made a comeback, and their direct lineage and offshoots still flooded the government and the public in light and dark ways. .This is also something that can’t be helped. First of all, they have the most abundant educational resources, and their children are born in large numbers. Secondly, the gentry headed by five surnames and seven sects have strong connections and people with a slightly better climate. With the help of these connections, naturally Thirdly, in the Wu Zetian era, the court was caught in the struggle between Wu Li, Wu Wu, Li Li, and everyone who had ambitions for the throne, Compromise with the powerful family, hoping to use their strength to make himself a leader. In this way, more children from the powerful family will be reused. No matter who becomes the emperor in the end, the family who will benefit in the end will be the one who divides the eggs into baskets.

For example, the Cui family among the five surnames and seven sects had more than 20 prime ministers in the Tang Dynasty, among which there were still more than 200 years. That is to say, every ten years, there was a prime minister in the Cui family.

If he doesn't do it thoroughly, then he is very likely to be equivalent to Wu Zetian in history. The so-called no need for aristocratic families will last only his generation at most. Will make a comeback.

It's just that these people are just like Shi Yu, lurking in the dark and acting as mice, how can he clean them up?

If it is not cleaned, the three dynasties are weakened, the four dynasties are in dispute, the five dynasties are lingering, and the six dynasties are broken... the historical cycle of alien invasion will repeat itself again?
"Your Majesty!" Fang Xuanling is so clever, he guessed Yang Yu's worries in an instant, pondered for a while, and said, "I think some things can be ruled out."

"You said."

"Here!" Fang Xuanling said, "Before the founding of the Sui Dynasty, the north and the south were divided for hundreds of years. During this period of endless wars, in order to consolidate their rule, the small imperial court not only went to war everywhere, but also discredited the hostile forces one after another. , so that the hatred and estrangement between each other further expanded. When Emperor Gao Zuwen established the country, this hatred and estrangement were our internal worries in the Great Sui Dynasty. In the Turkic Khanate, the situation in the Sui Dynasty was extremely severe at that time. The Guanlong nobles who relied on military force and the foundation of the Sui Dynasty had no choice but to compromise every step of the way. The way of the southern gentry to meet the interests of the Guanlong nobles has achieved fruitful results. However, when the Turks split and were weak, all the officers, big and small, were disciples of the Guanlong nobles. Take Yu Wenshu for example, he has Three thousand fake sons, most of them served in the army, the rising star of the Guanlong aristocrats is not yet like this, Dugu, Yuan, Li, Zhao, Dou and other entrenched Guanlong aristocrats, the penetration and influence on the army can be imagined If these people join hands, the situation of the Great Sui Dynasty at that time would be worrisome. By the time Emperor Wu ascended the throne, the powerful and powerful Guanlong family had become the most terrifying beast, so Emperor Wu did the opposite, relying on the Shandong gentry and the southern gentry However, the Shandong gentry and the southern gentry were severely weakened during the Unification War and the reign of Emperor Wen. They were no opponents of the Guanlong nobles at all, and they did not dare to be enemies with them, so the three slowed down. Slowly come together, and work together to target the royal family and the confidant ministers promoted by Emperor Wu. Emperor Wu is weak, so he vigorously promotes the Han family. Unfortunately, the power already held by others cannot be taken back. The imperial examination system is not a panacea. The reason why they have been prosperous for a long time is because they have mastered cultural inheritance. In order to fight against these famous and high-ranking families, Emperor Wu did promote a group of poor families through imperial examinations, but this power is too weak to shake the established system. The underprivileged scholars, or for the sake of fame, power, and ambition, turned to the major factions. Aristocratic families, who used to enter the officialdom through the shadows, at first disdain and did not want to enter the imperial examination. When they found that it was irreversible, they competed with the underprivileged At that time, how many people from the poor family can pass them?"

"Once they take part in the scientific examination, with their profound family tradition and cultural inheritance, they have already taken advantage of it, and even without cheating, they can win against the poor. You can see that more than [-]% of the candidates who passed the examination during Emperor Wu's time were from famous families. The reason is it's here."

"Furthermore, an official from a poor family was indeed hostile to aristocratic families at the beginning, but he hated the rich just because he envied him, because he also wanted to be rich, so when he became a member of the rich, he was soon naturalized. Aristocratic families become allies. As long as the aristocratic families lower their stance a little bit, these officials from humble backgrounds will snatch their heads to become sons-in-law and make friends with them, so as to raise their own backgrounds, and eventually be assimilated into the aristocratic families. 'Foreign relatives'. Only this turbulent war gave Shengshang the hope of completely destroying the aristocratic family, completely cleaning out the old forces in the officialdom, and then pulling the poor people into the center of power, so that everyone can be together Compete on one starting point."

Hearing this, Yang Tong asked: "Then, what does this have to do with being a rat in a family?"

Fang Xuanling said: "After years of suppression by the Sui Dynasty, they have adapted to the new way of life after many years of adaptation and preparation. It is one thing to participate in the imperial examinations incognito, and another is to absorb the low-ranking talents for their own use. "

"I understand what you said..." Yang Tong said with a wry smile, "However, they themselves are flourishing, and they have recruited a lot of talents secretly. This is more than just Shi Yu? If the Zheng family in Xingyang does not have a strong network of contacts, Why did the gods steal so much food without anyone noticing it?"

Fang Xuanling smiled and said: "This is the target we are going to investigate. Fortunately, the servant of the yin did not startle the snake, so that we turned from the dark to the dark and regained a certain advantage. Judging from the information held by the servant of the yin, Shi Yu It's just a small fish that they cast their nets widely, but now this small fish, we can make him grow into a big fish."

Yang Tong understood, "You mean, develop Shi Yu into Mission Impossible?"

"That's right!" Fang Xuanling's eyes sparkled, and he said with a smile: "Yin Shilang also said that Shi Yu's political achievements are good, and he has a good reputation in the local area. If he is hired, he will become the leader of the Zheng family. In order to protect this big fish that has grown up with great difficulty, and promote more small fish, Zheng will not only give him more important news, but will also steal the big fish. The food for walking will be replenished one by one from the tunnel. When we arrive, we only need to stare at the entrance of the tunnel to know which merchants and caravans belong to the Zheng family. All the dark ones are dug out."

Yang Tong already understood Fang Xuanling's subterranean intentions. The aristocratic family is a whole externally, and internally they are also intrigues.

You can take advantage of this and divide them into different ones.

(End of this chapter)