A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 384 Confused True and False

Changan.

In the imperial city, between Secretary Province and Honglu Hall, the Yamen of Taishi Bureau.

Wu Huaiyu came out from the censor's platform in the east, accompanied by Zhang Xingcheng, the censor in the palace, and entered the yamen of the Taishi Bureau together.

"Interrogate Li Chunfeng according to the imperial decree."

The Taishi Bureau officials looked at Zhang Xingcheng, then at Wu Huaiyu next to him, and after receiving the imperial edict, invited them in.

The Taishi Bureau is not a judicial department and does not have its own prison, but the emperor ordered that Li Chunfeng be placed under house arrest in the Taishi Bureau.

A side room, Wu Huaiyu saw Li Chunfeng, the room was very cold, there was only a small charcoal basin, the room was like an ice cave, and even the window was still bleak.

Li Chunfeng was too cold, wrapped in a quilt, and sat in front of a charcoal basin to keep warm. The ground next to him was full of calculating sticks and drafts of various calculations.

He looked a little embarrassed at this time, with disheveled hair.

Wu Huaiyu didn't feel sympathy when she saw this scene.

"Li Chunfeng, I am Zhang Xingcheng, the imperial censor in the palace of the imperial censor, and I am here to accompany Wu Biejia to ask you questions. You will answer all your questions."

Li Chunfeng raised his head and saw two officials, one purple and one green, he was stunned for a moment before getting up to meet him.

The room was simple and crude, without even a couch or a bed, so Huaiyu stood up and asked questions.

"Dr. Li, can you borrow money from Da Zong Chi Temple?"

"That's true."

"How much did you borrow?"

"The principal is not much, but the interest is high. Over the past eight years, I have owed a total of nearly [-] yuan in interest."

"What's the current status of this debt?"

"I have a Taoist friend who helped me pay back."

"Is this Taoist friend Yuan Tiangang?"

Li Chunfeng said it was true, and also said that when he was studying Taoism in Henan in the early years, Yuan Tiangang traveled to Luoyang. They met each other and hit it off right away.

"Although Yuan Tiangang served as county magistrate twice in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, as far as I know, he was born in a poor family. He has been living in Langzhong all these years and built an observatory in Panlong Mountain to study astronomy and physiognomy. He is very poor. How can he come up with five hundred guan Money to pay off your debts?”

Li Chunfeng replied, "Brother Yuan knew that I was in a difficult situation in the capital, and my debts were hard to repay. I was often pushed, and I couldn't bear it, so I tried every means to help.

The late Prime Minister Du Xianggong had an old relationship with Brother Yuan, and Brother Yuan had seen him twice and formed a bond. In addition, Zheng Gong, Duke of Xingyang County, Wei Ting, Minister Zuo Cheng, Cui Gan, Minister of the Huangmen, etc., Brother Yuan also I used to watch for them.Brother Yuan asked the Du family and others for help on my behalf, and the Du family and others paid [-] guan to repay the debt for me. "

Wu Huaiyu was very dissatisfied with this answer.

Zhang Xingcheng even reprimanded him not to speak nonsense, now he was being questioned by order, if he dared to lie even half a sentence, it was considered a crime of deceiving the emperor.

Zhang Xingcheng was helped by Wu Huaiyu before. He was born in the Zhang family of Zhongshan, and studied under Liu Xuan, a famous scholar in Hebei. Be a small official like Gushu county lieutenant.

The family was poor, and he stayed in Beijing instead of the county official. He participated in the imperial examination, passed the Jinshi examination, and was transferred to Chenping County Captain. Later, he was recommended by Zhang Rui, the servant of the Ministry of Officials, and became Fuping's master book.

But he was still poor and owed a lot of Beijing debts. He was forced to repay the debts and was very embarrassed. It happened that Huaiyu met him and lent him money to repay the debts. Made Sanyuan county magistrate.

Because of his good performance, Li Shimin made an exception and promoted him to be the censor in the palace. Zhang Xingcheng is still very grateful to Wu Huaiyu, and he also knows that the recent rumors in Beijing have hurt the Wu family, so now he is very rude to Li Chunfeng.

Huaiyu is not in a hurry.

As long as it is a lie, there will always be a flaw.

"I heard a piece of news, but it's different from what you said." Huaiyu added some more charcoal to the charcoal basin and increased the fire.

"The daily supply of charcoal is limited. If you add too much, there will be no fire at night." Li Chunfeng said helplessly.

"Dr. Li, if you can cooperate well, you won't have to live here at night, and you can go home and reunite with your relatives."

Huaiyu added some more charcoal, finally feeling warmer.

"Zhang Yushi, can you help me get a pot of hot water and some tea?"

Zhang Xingcheng was sent away,

Wu Huaiyu cut to the chase, "Some people say that brother Chai Fuma was punished for what happened in the crypt in the south of the city earlier, and I blamed it on me, and Mr. Chai has a long-standing relationship with me.

Chai Zhewei found his rich friend Cui Yuqing, and through him he found his relative Zheng Shiji, and Zheng Shiji found his uncle Du Jingai. Du Jingai pretended to be Yuan Tiangang and redeemed your IOU from Da Zongchi Temple.

Chai Zhewei used this excuse to coerce and lure you to give the emperor a secret recitation, using the abnormal celestial phenomenon that is now appearing in Taibai day as an excuse, attach a secret note, and present the eleven-character prophecy handed down by God to my Wu family start.

If you do this for them, they will not only help you repay the five hundred guan debt, but also give you another five hundred guan money. "

"No, absolutely nothing."

Li Chunfeng firmly denied it.

"I don't know Chai Zhewei, let alone Cui Yuqing and Zheng Shiji, and I'm not familiar with Cui Gan, Cui Dunli, Zheng Shanguo, Du Yan, etc. I told you.

I have never received any money from them. "

Wu Huaiyu sneered a few times, "Since I came to you today, it means that I already know a lot of inside information. Do you think I will believe the content in your sealed memorial? Did you really write it?"

Li Chunfeng was silent.

After a long time, he said slowly, "I admit that the content of that secret melody is not all my speculation,"

But Li Chunfeng still did not admit that he received money to work for Chai Zhewei and others.

He told another truth.

He and Yuan Tiangang have been exchanging letters. Although one is in Chang'an and the other is in Langzhong, they have a good relationship. In their letters, they discuss Yin and Yang Taoism, astronomy and astrology, and even divination and so on.

Recently, there are frequent occurrences of too much daylight, which is somewhat similar to the situation last summer. This is a very abnormal celestial phenomenon, and there must be some omens.

And they originally studied these things, so they also discussed this matter in their letter.

In the end, it was Yuan Tiangang who connected the recent appearance of Taibai with the secret record, and said that the omen refers to those eleven characters.

Li Chunfeng thinks it makes sense.

So he proposed to report this matter to the emperor. After all, this is also the responsibility of the officials of the Taishi Bureau. He also told Yuan Tiangang that his name should be played. This is his speculation.But Yuan Tiangang said that he didn't want his name to be reported, and that he wanted to concentrate on studying astronomy at Langzhong Observatory and didn't want to be influenced by others.

In the end, Yuan Tiangang was not mentioned in Li Chunfeng's secret performance.

It sounds like it makes sense, but Wu Huaiyu doesn't believe it.

"Where are the letters between you and Yuan Tiangang?"

"In my study at home."

Wu Huaiyu dug into the details, asked a lot, and finally found some doubts.

Li Chunfeng said that Yuan Tiangang asked Du Yan, Zheng Shanguo, Cui Mingan, Wei Ting and other dignitaries in Chang'an for help, and they also had contacts with Yuan Tiangang, and Yuan Tiangang helped them meet several times.

These families also gave Yuan Tiangang a lot of face, and together they gave him [-] guan to repay the debt of the Dazong Temple. After repaying the debt, someone claimed to be Du Yan's family, and sent the IOU, along with Yuan Tiangang. a letter from

The letter said that he had settled his debts, and then it was about Taibai's vision.

"You mean, you and Yuan Tiangang started discussing the matter of Taibai with this letter?"

"Yes."

"Very well, I will check what you said today,"

Zhang Xingcheng brought hot water and tea, but Wu Huaiyu had finished asking, he went to see Fu Yi from Taishi Bureau, Taishi ordered Fu Yi to be a well-known Taoist priest, he was very good at gazing at the stars,

Last year, he was the one who said that Taibai saw Qin Fen, and the king of Qin should have the world. Fu Yi is still an anti-Buddhist, and has always been the leader of Taoism in the struggle between Buddhism and Taoism.

But on the other hand, Fu Yi is very cautious. Although he watches the stars and divinations, he will never spread them lightly, even if he reports to the emperor, he will never keep a copy.

This aspect is much stronger than Li Chunfeng.

Fu Yi has a good impression of Wu Huaiyu, and even has a natural liking for him. After all, Teacher Wu Huaiyu is Zhongnan Yinxian, and even now Wu Huaiyu is the uncle of Qihui, the abbot of Louguan Dao. He Medicine is also the second generation head of the Longmen Sect.

The old Fu chatted with Huaiyu for a few words, but he didn't see him directly. He told Huaiyu that he hoped that Huaiyu could contribute to the Taoism and persuade the emperor to suppress Buddhism and promote Taoism.

In fact, Huaiyu is also very dissatisfied with the current situation of Buddhism and Taoism, especially Buddhism, which is not simple. For example, these temples in Chang'an now occupy one or half a square, and even have tens of thousands of acres of fertile land. , There are hundreds of slaves, and even many tenants belong to them, not to mention their strong financial resources, opening quality warehouses and lending money, etc.

This is the cancer of the dynasty.

But he didn't dare to touch it easily.

Just like when Li Shimin seized the throne, he didn't even bother to talk about Xiao Gui and Cao Sui, and wanted to abolish Li Yuan's Sha Tai Buddha Taoist edict immediately.

They are strong, and they need to unite and win over first, make more friends and less enemies, which is inevitable for a stable position and power.

Although the Wu family is now a new noble, but the foundation is not deep, how dare to open fire on the Buddhist family, and he is not a Taoist priest who has become a monk, and the five surnames and seven families may not dare to be so rigid about Buddhism.

Although Li Yuan issued the Sha Tai Buddha Taoist Edict back then, there were many opponents in the court at that time, especially those headed by those famous noble families.

The gentry families represented by the five surnames, seven families, Guanlong and six surnames, in fact, have long been connected with these Buddhist forces.

Huaiyu said a few perfunctory words, and pointed out that Li Chunfeng's conditions were too poor, and it was freezing in the sky, so don't freeze him to death. After all, he is still an official under the ninth rank, and even the emperor gave him the task of deducing astronomy.

"Please ask Fu Taishi to change him to a clean and comfortable room, and set up some more charcoal fire."

"It was my negligence, so I will arrange it immediately." Fu Yi was very generous.

Huaiyu said goodbye and left, took Zhang Xingcheng to the six gates, found An Yuanshou and Doulu Huairang, went to Li Chunfeng's house, brought some firewood, meat and vegetables to Li Chunfeng's mother, wife and children, and said that Li Chunfeng had important errands recently and could not go home.

Then he went to the study to fetch things for Li Chunfeng.

The books, letters and some drafts in Li Chunfeng's study were all taken away.

Before leaving, Huaiyu even left twenty pennies to Li Chunfeng's wife for living expenses.

"Li Chunfeng hurt you like this, why do you still treat his family so preferentially?"

"The injustice has its head, and the debt has its owner. It has nothing to do with them, and I find this matter is getting more and more interesting. Li Chunfeng may just be taken advantage of by being kept in the dark, and was used as a gunman."

(End of this chapter)