The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 901 Empress Xiao preached, breaking the deadlock
Taoguang Garden in Miyagi is adjacent to the Hongwei Hall where the four empress dowagers lived. Taoguang Garden has small and medium-sized buildings and pavilions, hidden by windows, hidden rooms and rooms, which are connected to each other and are extremely elegant and beautiful.

On the east side there is an undulating ridge, surrounded by green water flowing from Jiuzhou Pond at the foot of the ridge. There are lush flowers and trees on the ridge, and there are several pines, thousands of green bamboos, and some fruit trees. There is a small temple.

In addition to the two empress dowagers who believe in Buddhism going to recite Buddhist ritual scriptures from time to time, this small mountain has become the favorite place for children to play. The so-called intergenerational relationship is also well reflected in Yang Tong's family. The children felt that their grandmother and great-grandmother were not as serious as their mothers. They naturally got close to the four queen mothers. As long as the weather was fine, the older children would come here to play. Yang Chong, Yang Jun, Yang Dai, Yang Yue and Yang Wei often flitted around in their mother's arms, wanting to play with their brothers and sisters on the slopes, but they were too young to walk, so they could only watch helplessly as their brothers and sisters were at ease.

There is a hall on a hill with green and green flowers, red flowers and willows. Beside the hall is a rushing stream. The gurgling water drives a water wheel to rotate at a constant speed. One by one bamboo tubes reciprocate to pour the cool stream water on an elevated platform. Above the wooden trough, the gurgling stream flowing out just poured on the umbrella-shaped roof of the hall.

The water spreads in all directions, and then hangs down from the rain eaves like a curtain, forming a crystal water curtain.The inside and outside are separated into two worlds, the inside of the hall is extremely cool, and the outside of the hall is hot.

There are two cups of clear tea in the hall, and Yang Tong and his grandmother are sitting opposite each other, talking in a low voice.

Occasionally, the childish laughter of children can be heard from the mountains, but it is Yang Xifang who is playing with her younger siblings, including Yang You's children.Yang Tong is a bit laissez-faire with his sons. Although he is strict in academics, he usually doesn't treat them as eunuchs or noble sons.

Yang Zheng and Yang Rong were mischievous when they were young, and they learned martial arts from their mother and auntie. They are very flexible. They would climb trees from time to time, just like rebellious monkeys.

Yang Xifang was also led badly by her younger brothers. When Gong'e was not paying attention, she tucked up her skirt and climbed up the tree with both hands and feet.By the time Gong'e looked around in a daze and called "Princess" everywhere, she had already sat on the tree, wiped the peaches or plums she picked from her side with the corner of her skirt, and gnawed them.

After Da Xiao took a sip of the tea soup, he said, "Dong'er, I heard from Xiao Wu that you are so busy that you won't even come back to Fengyi Hall, why are you free to come here today?"

Next to the stone table was a small stove with a tea pot on it. Yang Tong sifted a cup of tea for his grandmother and said, "Grandmother, I am in a big trouble now, so I have to ask you for help."

"I don't pay attention to state affairs now, what can I help you?"

Empress Xiao's words are true. She and Empress Xiao Xiao have completely 'retired'. They usually help Yang Tong take care of their children, read books, and write elegant essays based on their own life insights from time to time, or Write to Yang Guang in Meishan.And Yang Guang, the literary and elegant old emperor, is even more romantic, writing travel notes and love poems from time to time to send back.The days of the 'old' family of three are plain and warm.It made Yang Tong's big and small wives very envious.

"It will definitely help!" Yang Tong said with a smile: "You have been the emperor's daughter, the emperor's daughter-in-law, the emperor's queen, and now the emperor's grandmother. Every time you change your status, it is closely related to the general trend of the world. , the rich and colorful life and rich and colorful experience are absolutely incomparable to those of us younger generations."

Empress Xiao laughed when she heard the words: "What happened?"

Yang Tong put down the tea pot: "Recently, there has been a big case in the country. Unscrupulous officials from Dong County stole more than 200 million shi of grain from Baima warehouse through the tunnel. According to the follow-up investigation by the imperial court, it took less than half a year."

Empress Xiao lost her voice: "How much?"

Yang Tong said firmly: "More than 200 million stones, or even more, and the court didn't notice it."

Empress Xiao didn't believe it: "If so much food is put together, it is completely a mountain, and the time is so known, how could the court not notice it?"

"This big case was caused by the Zheng family in Xingyang, and many officials from Dongjun County were involved."

"That's no wonder." Empress Xiao returned to her previous calm.

"Eh?" Yang Tong was taken aback, and then asked, "Imperial Grandmother, who is this?"

"The gentry used their influence to cultivate talents through education. After these people became officials, they fed back to the gentry they belonged to. In addition, through marriage, teacher-student relationships, etc., they also recruited outstanding poor scholars for their own use. The gentry used their influence. , send them to high positions, and gain more rights through these people; once these people commit crimes, the gentry try to use their influence to rescue them, and if the crime is too big or cannot be saved, they will quickly abandon it. Instead of being completely separated, they have been doing this for generations, hiding behind their backs and commanding their own chess pieces to fight... So it is normal for the Zheng family to steal food through the illegal officials they cultivated. I don't find it strange."

Yang Tong found that the matter was not simple, and asked, "So, there have been incidents of stealing food before?"

Empress Xiao said as a matter of course: "Of course, as long as there are people, there will be disputes, as long as there are officials, there will be corrupt officials; the so-called no corrupt officials, either because corrupt officials hide too deep, or their accomplices are going to investigate their accomplices. If you believe in officialdom If there are no corrupt officials, it would be a big mistake.”

"Grandmother's advice!" Yang Tong nodded sincerely, "I want to take this opportunity to kill Mrs. Zheng. Is there any way for Grandmother?"

"Impossible!" Empress Xiao looked at her silently expecting grandson, and sighed, "Son, I remember I told you before that your biggest problem is that you are too smooth and you think of your enemies too simply. ...I always think that your enemy is a soft persimmon that you can pinch; I always think that when the army passes by, no grass will grow. But have you ever thought that the grass is cut, but as long as the grass roots are still there, the grass roots will grow thicker in the coming year The new grass... Weeds recur once a year, while the thousand-year-old gentry recurs every ten years or every hundred years. Their children, disciples, and acquaintances have already spread all over the world and penetrated into various industries, and these are the roots of the thousand-year-old gentry. You The Taiyuan Wang clan that was hoed up is just the Wang clan on the surface, and their roots have already been integrated into thousands of ordinary people."

Yang Tong was silent for a while, then said again: "I have to do it, right?"

"It must be done, but you can't be in a hurry, let alone do the things that will be done thousands of years later. Otherwise, you will make the same mistake as your grandfather." Xiao Hou said: "A dynasty is like A family has its ups and downs, its prosperity and its decline. Whether it is success or failure, it is impossible to rely on one person or one generation. Things that will happen a hundred years later should be taken care of by people a hundred years later. Your grandpa I used to think about arranging everything for my descendants, but you know the result. If he calms down and follows the foundation established by Emperor Gao Zuwen, step by step, and only does what he should do, I am afraid it will be another Something happened. This is the most profound lesson, and you can't go away."

In order to teach her grandson, Empress Xiao unceremoniously used her husband as a negative example.

"The emperor's grandmother is right...I know I'm wrong." Yang Tong admitted his mistake with a good attitude, with the appearance of a good grandson, as if he really listened, and then asked: "Emperor grandmother, what do you think I should do?" Do?"

"Let me ask you first, do you think this was done by the Zheng family, or did many noble families related to the Zheng family also participate?"

"Shandong gentry should work together." Yang Tong sorted out all the things, and then talked about the purchase of grain in Jiyin.

After listening to the ins and outs, Empress Xiao concluded: "Your suspicion is right, it is impossible to go so fast with the strength of one family alone."

Yang Tong said: "If the entire Shandong gentry participates, it will be difficult to deal with."

"You are wrong. There are many people, but it is easy to deal with." Empress Xiao explained: "The thousand-year-old gentry is their advantage. In order to always maintain a high status, their family laws are stricter than the national laws. Anyone is allowed to discredit the family, even the head of the family... In this way, for generations, a famous family with good morals has been formed, and it has become a holy place admired by literati... But on the other hand, this is also their most fatal weakness. How much do they care about their reputation? Care about the family's life and death inheritance will be tens of thousands of times more. Therefore, when they cooperate, they often put their own family first, and even if they don't count their allies, they will have reservations. I don't care about the life or death of my allies."

"Furthermore, the Shandong gentry is different from the rebels such as Li Yuan who directly rebelled. They are still the people of the Sui Dynasty in name. And you represent the orthodox emperor of the world. As far as your control over the world is concerned, as long as there is enough evidence, you can Clearing them up without any worries is your greatest advantage, and it is also their greatest disadvantage. If you catch Mrs. Zheng and threaten him with the issue of his inheritance, he will definitely kill Cui, Wang, and Lu without hesitation. Betrayal, and vice versa."

"To put it simply, there are too many people with mixed mouths and unreliable allies." Yang Tong was persuaded, and he also understood the reason why "more people are easier to deal with".

"That's right, so you must not be fooled by their so-called advancing and retreating together." Xiao Hou said: "If it is a family, it will be difficult to deal with. Because any family issues, even if No matter how spineless the sons of the gentry, they will be very brave, so brave that they will risk their own lives to protect the future of the family. But if they are not from the same clan, then they don't care. After all, every gentry child is a "thousand-year They are just pawns of the title of noble family, from the moment they are born, their life and death are controlled by the "thousand-year noble family", men and women are like this."

When it came to the end, Empress Xiao felt a sense of embarrassment. She was the Princess of Liang and the Empress of the Sui Dynasty, but before that, she was the daughter of the Xiao family in Lanling, and she was very aware of the dirtyness between the surnames.

Yang Tong has now understood that the Shandong gentry are just like the Five Sacred Sword Sect, on the surface they are a whole, but in fact, they wish the other party would be unlucky, and when the other party is unlucky, they might step on it to boost their own status.

The concept of "five surnames and seven clans" was first formed during the Northern Dynasties.In the past, Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty ranked first in the world, and the four imperial surnames were Cui in Qinghe, Lu in Fanyang, Zheng in Xingyang, and Wang in Taiyuan. The Li family in Longxi was worried that he would not be in the dignified position, so his lord went to Luoyang by a big camel in the starry night. After all, it was still a step too late. When he arrived in Luoyang, the number of "four surnames Gaomen" had been fixed, and finally became the second ladder together with the Li family of Zhaojun and the Cui family of Boling. The old man was so angry that he almost died.

The tradition of intermarriage within the aristocratic family also began at that time, such as: the Cui family of Qinghe married the Li family of Longxi and the Lu family of Fanyang for generations; the Li family of Zhaojun married the Cui family of Boling for generations; the Lu family of Fanyang married the Zheng family of Xingyang and The Li family in Longxi was married for generations.

In the Zhou and Sui dynasties, Wang's strength was greatly reduced and he was eliminated from the top and fell to the first-class family. Li's not only entered the four surnames, but also ranked third. was promoted to the first place.

Next, the four surnames evolved into seven clans and five surnames, and the ranking competition became more intense.The Cui family of Boling and the Cui family of Qinghe, the Li family of Zhaojun and the Li family of Longxi fought fiercely for ranking and status. Even if they have the same surname, the relationship with other surnames can be imagined.

Although the Shandong gentry have always advanced and retreated together with the outside world, in addition to competition, they also have the obligation and affection to take care of them, but after Yang Tong pacified Jizhou and Youzhou, he directly let the refugees carve up the Lu family, Er Cui, and Zhaojun Li family. and flattened their ancestral houses, and they were not allowed to enter the country to live in peace. As a result, only the Lu family, the Er Cui family, and the Zhaojun Li family were anxious to jump, and the other surnames were Yang Tong's. How to prove Your ancestors are your ancestors' actions, but secretly applauding, they may not be grateful to Yang Tong, but they did not feel hostile towards him at that time, and they did not speak to Yang Guang who was in Jiangdu.

Later, Yang Tong exterminated Taiyuan Wang, Taiyuan Wen, and Hedong Pei in the name of collaborating with the enemy.

After thinking about this point, Yang Tong felt at ease. According to what Xiao Hou said, he wished that all the big surnames would participate in this big case, so why worry?
After thinking for a while, he said, "Grandmother, the Zheng family is definitely not the only one who infiltrates the officialdom, and the officials controlled by them are definitely not the only county magistrates who have been exposed. Now that the Zheng family has exerted its strength, Cui, Lu, Wang, Li and other clans are obviously not safe, and the reason why they haven't been exposed is not that they haven't infiltrated the officialdom, but that the court can't find out, can the imperial grandmother teach me?"

"There is no good way... but there is one stupid way!" Seeing that he regarded him as a military advisor, Empress Xiao couldn't help laughing.

In fact, Yang Tong didn't hold much hope, he just asked casually, at first he heard the phrase 'there is no good way', his face showed a trace of regret, but at the end he revealed a trace of expectation: " A stupid way is also a way, it's better than no way!"

"Silly boy, what is your household registration for?" Empress Xiao took a sip of tea soup and said with a smile, "From the end of the Han Dynasty to the founding of our country in the Sui Dynasty, the Central Plains has been in chaos for hundreds of years, resulting in very serious leakage of household registration. Emperor Gao Zuwen checked many times, but he couldn't eradicate it. By the fifth year of Daye, there were still many people whose ages were not true or "years and adulthood, but they were still young, and they were not old enough to be rent-free." This kind of national conditions seriously affects the financial revenue of the imperial court, and is not conducive to local development. It is because such people are not on the list, which brings great troubles to local governance, and Pei Yun has served as a governor for several times, so he is relatively clear about the inside story. He proposed a whole set of measures to verify household registration. Each household should be inspected by the lawsuit and verified with the individual, so that not only the gender and age can be confirmed, but also the number of people can be reliable. The head of the district is all far away. It also stipulates the method of rewarding the report. For those who have missed the account registration, the informer only needs to correct one person, and the corrected family will be ordered to pay taxes and labor. It is a year old, and a total of 24 were detected Three thousand Ding, newly attached 160 forty-one thousand five hundred people, the fifth year of the great cause was the time when our national power was at its peak and the government was at its clearest. The newly re-drawn household registration is true and reliable, and later became your imperial grandfather's employer One of the bases is that the household registration system you are now implementing is stricter, and even the three generations of the family's ancestors must be written. If you want to check an official from a poor person, the old and new household registrations are paired to verify the authenticity. If an official If he was a slave in the past, it would be easier, just stare at who his former master is. If he conceals the facts and falsely reports that he is a commoner, he can also use the old household registration for comparison, which may not be too accurate, but I think this It is better than blindly investigating and blindly suspecting."

"The emperor's grandmother really awakened the dreamer with one word, I am so stupid!" Yang Tong also realized the power of household registration, which opened a big breakthrough for his confusion.

After bidding farewell to Empress Xiao, she went to Huiyou Hall and asked someone to find Yang Qinfang, and said to her: "I want to know the detailed information of the officials in Jizhou and the Central Plains. I will find out the three generations of their ancestors, and then according to the great cause Five-year household registrations are compared one by one, and if they are slaves, it depends on which household their previous masters are in, and then I will conduct an in-depth investigation based on their master's family."

The existence of the Black Ice Terrace is somewhat similar to the Jinyiwei of the Ming Dynasty, but it is different. First of all, it is an external organization. Secondly, when the Black Ice Terrace is internal, it only has the responsibility of investigation, but has no decision-making and judicial power. The department itself is quite terrifying, once it is given the right to judge life and death, it will not be beneficial to the court.

What is there to say?

When the water is clear, there will be no fish, and when the king is in check, there will be no ministers.

People are selfish animals. Unless the world is completely managed by robots, there will always be some bias in many things.

As an emperor, Yang Tong needs to grasp the general direction, but in some small sections, he should be confused when he should be confused.

The existence of Jinyiwei can indeed ensure the strictest authority of the emperor, but it will also make the emperor and his ministers alienated. Yang Tong needs the black ice station to collect information, so that the basic information of the officials can be truly exposed before his eyes, but he knows that the detailed information is It's one thing, but it's another thing to engage in Zhulian. He asked Heibingtai to clear up the bottom line, not to deal with anyone, but to let the court know the real information of the officials. If someone commits a crime, he can Based on these data, quickly find out where the problem lies.

Heibingtai can act silently, and must not be moved to the stage. If people know that Heibingtai is investigating their own background, everyone in the officialdom will inevitably be in danger. Human means are also inevitable. If everything is investigated, it will only make everyone tied up and rigid governance, which is not good for national affairs.

As a deterrent, the No. [-] Xing Yu Department and Dali Temple are enough, and the Black Ice Terrace should continue to wander in the dark.

"Here!" Yang Qinfang came and left in a hurry.

At this moment, Shui Tianji came in with tea, like a little palace maid.

Yang Tong had something on his mind and was in a good mood. When she let go of the tray, he deliberately said in a low voice: "Bold Shui Tianji, dare to break into the forbidden palace. To drag her down, hit her with twenty big boards and spank her butt." Let's see if she dares to do it again."

Shui Tianji chuckled, she was not afraid of Yang Tong at all, Huiyou Hall is one of the three main halls of Ziwei Palace, but its function is the same as the study room of a wealthy family, although Yang Tong would occasionally meet his confidants here An important minister, but he seldom comes here for official business, so his concubines also come here from time to time to look for books.

Shui Tianji came to deliver tea, naturally she did not violate the rules, she made a face to her husband, and said mischievously: "Come on, come on, I want to see, who dares to beat me in this palace, hum, hide in my study His Majesty Shengwu Emperor is really capable of displaying official authority over his own daughter-in-law."

"No one is using torture, so the emperor himself will do it." Yang Tong opened his arms and rushed towards her. The husband and wife laughed for a while, and Shui Tianji was caught by Yang Tong and carried to his lap.

Of course Yang Tong was reluctant to hit her, but the salty pig's hands naturally got into her clothes.

Shui Tianji was dressed in regular clothes, and Yang Tong's big hands covered half of her smooth, elastic, firm buttocks under the soft and loose clothes. The delicate skin felt like silk satin, which made him love it.

"Okay, okay, don't make a fuss, this is the Imperial Study Room." Shui Tianji felt a strange feeling when he touched her body, her soft and round waist stretched out, and she was about to get out of Yang Tong's arms, Shui Tianji As soon as Tianji exerted force, Yang Tong felt the vitality emanating from the gluteal muscles in his palm, and he added some strength to resist with his hands. Shui Tianji groaned softly, straightened her waist and her limbs suddenly softened.

As soon as her stretched body softened, her extremely elastic and beautiful buttocks returned to a soft and greasy feeling. Gently stroking the delicate buttocks really made Yang Tong feel as soft as water. Yang Tong bit it lightly. With ears like ingots, Xiaoman said softly: "Now we only have the thick-headed Rong'er. When will you give me a daughter, and the children will become 'good'."

Shui Tianji blushed: "It's not up to others to decide."

Yang Tong nodded and said, "Well... I guess I'm not working hard enough, so tonight we... huh huh?..."

"Everything should be done in moderation, coveting the pleasure of the bed will hurt the marrow and kidney essence..."

As soon as Shui Tianji's red mouth opened and closed, she was kissed by Yang Tong. Shui Tianji's brows slightly frowned, and then they spread like ripples, and her pink cheeks bloomed like two peach blossoms. Come.

"Hmm... um..." A Yingyu jumped out of her red lips, and flew around without a trace, and it took a lot of effort to break free from her husband's domineering embrace, and pouted her pink mouth: "Not even a kiss, Otherwise, I will ignore you."

"Okay, you have the final say."

Yang Tong deliberately said with a sad face: "Then I'll sleep in the 'study' tonight."

"You dare." Shui Tianji raised her brows and turned her face immediately.It was her time tonight, and she wanted a daughter too.

"You too."

"It's almost there."

"..." Yang Tong

(End of this chapter)