Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 567 Infighting
Imperial City, Censorate.

Officials in well-dressed clothes were coming and going in front of the solemn gate of the government office. But on this day, a ragged woman staggered in, arrived in front of the Censorate, knelt down and kowtowed to the ground.

She didn't say a word, but her hunched and humble posture made it easy to tell that she was there to appeal for justice.

The news soon reached the ears of Cui Youfu, the Chief Censor.

"What's the matter?"

"The one who came to appeal for justice was Xin, the wife of Feng Xiaogou, the bad catcher in Hu County. She came to sue Zheng Zhizhai, the magistrate of Hu County, for wrongfully killing her husband."

Cui Youfu pondered for a moment, and soon remembered that he had heard of Zheng Zhizhai's name, so he stood up, walked to the Duobao shelf, glanced at the neatly arranged files, and soon took out a volume.

He had seen this case before. Feng Xiaogou, the chief of the police in Hu County, had bullied people by taking advantage of the war and slaughtered the whole family of five. This matter was widely spread in Hu County at that time, and the evidence was conclusive. After Zheng Zhizhai took office, he investigated the case and ordered people to arrest Feng Xiaogou to punish him. Unexpectedly, Feng Xiaogou relied on his martial arts and openly resisted arrest. The yamen runners who went to arrest him died and two were injured. Zheng Zhizhai then ordered people to shoot Feng Xiaogou to death.

When the file was opened, more than ten confessions, lists of evidence, and approval documents from Huxian County, Jingzhao Prefecture, Dali Temple, and the Ministry of Justice were all present. The case had originally been closed, but unexpectedly something unexpected happened.

After Cui Youfu was promoted to an important position, he wrote to the court proposing five methods to eliminate the accumulated malpractices. One of them was to try unjust cases throughout the country, clear up the backlog of cases left over from the war, and reorganize discipline. What Zheng Zhizhai did was to follow this example.

"Zhongcheng, that woman is still kneeling outside the Censorate. Do you want to see her?"

"Go meet her." Cui Youfu handed the file to his subordinate and said, "Explain the situation to her and tell her to stop making trouble."

"Here."

Cui Youfu then continued to handle various cumbersome official duties.

He was smart, upright, and hardworking. Since taking office, he had performed his duties as the Chief Censor very well, managing the state's criminal law, laws and regulations, rectifying the judiciary, impeaching those who violated the law, and supervising all officials.

It must be said that after Xue Bai became regent, state affairs were quickly stabilized, and he played a significant role in this.

During this period, the imperial court had been confiscating temple property, which had caused some unrest. Some people had privately contacted Cui Youfu, including some elders from his clan, who had come to him and tactfully advised him. They meant that the crown prince had just taken over the state and was already seizing land from the Buddhist sect, which seemed to be very unstable, so it would be better to ask the emperor to come out and take charge of the situation.

In facing the elders, Cui Youfu was neither humble nor arrogant, and persuaded them patiently.

"The country is in trouble and the state is short of money. Some people have advised Your Highness to reform the tax system and collect taxes based on the amount of land. Your Highness has thought about it again and again, fearing that it will shake the foundation. According to the opinions of the uncles, if the emperor is in power, there will be no shortage of land and population. Your Highness is like the rising sun, how dare you abandon Your Highness and prevent the emperor from enjoying his old age?"

In fact, they all knew that if the emperor emeritus came to power, the tax increase would naturally be imposed on the people of the world. Not only would they not have to worry, but they could also take the opportunity to continue to annex land.

However, there were also people with long-term vision like Cui Youfu among the aristocratic families. After learning the lessons of the Anshi Rebellion, they knew that if the country and the people could no longer be the same as before, some changes had to be made.

Cui Youfu proposed five methods to eliminate corruption, and Xue Bai supported him. Now that Xue Bai wanted to deal with Buddhism without damaging the foundation of the family, he also expressed his support.

In this matter, he persuaded some people not to get involved in the treacherous conspiracy.

He only took care of official business and cleaned up the Tang Dynasty.

In the evening, Cui Youfu finally raised his head from his desk, stood up and left the Censorate.

When he walked out of the government office, he saw a woman in ragged clothes kneeling there. The woman had her head on the ground and he didn't know if she saw him or not. She neither cried out for justice nor spoke a word. She looked quite pitiful.

Cui Youfu thought that the people who were killed by her husband were even more pitiful, so he left.

When he returned to his mansion, a drop of rain as big as a bean hit his nose. He looked up and soon, heavy rain began to fall.

The next day, Cui Youfu arrived at the Censorate and saw the woman still kneeling there. Her tattered clothes that had been wet and dried, and the traces of washed mud made her look like she was about to mold.

He shook his head and went to the government office. After a while, the case was still on his mind, so he finally had Xin summoned in.

"I am Xin Di, a commoner, and I am here to speak up for my husband, Feng Xiao Gou, the bad catcher in Hu County. The magistrate of Hu County, Zheng Zhizhai, killed my husband unjustly because of a personal grudge."

She had said this sentence countless times and knew it by heart, but she was actually an illiterate woman and had poor speaking skills.

Cui Youfu said: "On the second day of the first month of the thirteenth year of Tianbao, in the south of Huxian County, Feng Xiaogou broke into Ge San's house and took possession of Ge San's daughter. Afterwards, he killed five members of his family and threatened, 'If the enemy soldiers come to the city, they can be used as military rations. What crime have I committed?' There are thirteen witnesses and seven pieces of evidence. In addition, the people of Huxian County all say that Feng Xiaogou has a bad temper and often beats and scolds his subordinates..."

"No, he didn't kill anyone, nor did he take Ge Erniang for himself."

"Zheng Zhizhai has evidence to convict him. Do you have any evidence?"

"He didn't! I know he didn't!"

"I have read the case files many times." Cui Youfu said, "Whether Feng Xiaogou is innocent or not cannot be determined by your shouting. It depends on the evidence."

Xindi burst into tears and kept saying that her husband was wrongly accused, but she couldn't produce any evidence.

"Let's go back."

"Why? The world is in such a mess, those defeated soldiers are killing and robbing everywhere, the court doesn't kill them, why should they punish my man?"

Cui Youfu understood. He knew that the reason Xindi was crying out for injustice everywhere was because she was unwilling to accept her wrong. It was a turbulent time and human life was worthless. There were indeed many worse crimes that had occurred.

"We need to cure your lucky mentality. The Tang Dynasty is still here, and the court's rules and laws are still here. Killing Feng Xiaogou is to let the world know that the world is still in chaos!"

The official's authority was so awe-inspiring that Xindi was speechless and could only cry.

Cui Youfu then drove her out.

But he sighed, called his followers over, and ordered them to take some money to Xin so that she could return home and live a good life.

I thought this matter would just go away.

However, the very next day, the Dali Temple actually issued a document to re-examine the case of Feng Xiaogou.

Cui Youfu was somewhat surprised when he heard this, and his first reaction was to ask, "But Xin provided new evidence?"

"Zhongcheng, it's Yuan Zai."

Hearing the name, Cui Youfu frowned slightly.

The imperial censor who came to report the matter then told the story in detail, saying that Xin had been sent out of the imperial city, but she met Yuan Zai's men before she left the city. After learning about her situation, Yuan Zai personally went to the Dali Temple to check the files, and soon the Dali Temple requested a retrial of the case.

"Among the prime ministers, Lord Wei is already old, and he will probably retire in two or three years. The most qualified people in the court to be prime ministers are Zhong Cheng and Yuan Zai. This time, Yuan Zai used the destruction of Buddhism to increase his authority, and he has been eyeing Zhong Cheng with eager eyes, and it is obvious that he wants to use this incident to deal with Zhong Cheng."

Cui Youfu did not respond to this question directly, but said: "Yuan Zai has no power to interfere with the Dali Temple's case."

"Yes, he did exceed his authority, but he also ordered people to impeach Zheng Zhizhai for his incompetence, for protecting the temples in Huxian County, for colluding with monks, and for occupying the farmland in Huxian County. Zhongcheng, he is clearly targeting you."

~~
Xuanzheng Hall.

Yuan Zai was holding the file and reporting to Xue Bai.

"Zheng Zhizhai was born in the eighth branch of the Southern Ancestor of the Zheng family in Xingyang. His father was the governor of Chizhou. His family was one of the seven surnames and ten families that were forbidden to intermarry by Emperor Gaozu's decree. However, Zheng Zhizhai's wife was still the daughter of the Cui family in Boling. He boasted of his talent, but he did not enter the officialdom through the imperial examination. After he was recommended by Li Mi, the governor of Jiannan at the time, he was promoted to the chief secretary. He returned to the court with the retired emperor and was transferred to the magistrate of Hu County. This man was arrogant because of his talent, and he thought that his family background and writings were superior to others."

Xue Bai said: "I know him. 'When the sky is clear, there are five-colored clouds; when the people are beautiful, there is Zheng Zhizhai.' He was quite famous in Chang'an."

Yuan Zai's heart trembled.

He thought, Zheng Zhizhai has a shitty reputation, and that boastful statement is only circulated among a very small number of people who know Zheng Zhizhai. But His Highness actually knew about it, which shows that His Highness has another group of people around him who act as spies to investigate major and minor events.

"The reason why I noticed Zheng Zhizhai is not because of this case, but because he is very close to the Prince of Yu and openly protects Buddhism. The Zheng family already has a lot of good land in the capital. Before Zheng Zhizhai took office in Hu County, the Zheng family had already bought a large house in the county and a villa in the suburbs of the county. The villa covers an area of ​​37 hectares, with farms, streams, bamboo mountains and mulberry gardens. The reason why the Zheng family was able to take over this villa is related to Fashan Temple, and the tenants were also arranged by Fashan Temple for him."

When Yuan Zai mentioned "37 hectares", he paused and glanced at Xue Bai's reaction. Xue Bai didn't show any surprise at all, as if he had known about this matter beforehand.

This made Yuan Zai even more cautious.

"As soon as I heard about the case of Feng Xiaogou, I knew that Zheng Zhizhai deliberately killed him to establish his authority. Since I confiscated the temple property, Zheng Zhizhai has always refused to cooperate. Instead, Xun Peng, the county lieutenant of Hu County, strongly supported him. Xun Peng was poor since childhood and had the ambition to help the people. He was a member of the imperial examination system and was capable of doing things. He had written to expose Zheng Zhizhai's mistakes several times. Feng Xiaogou was Xun Peng's right-hand man as the leader of catching bad guys. Zheng Zhizhai wanted to fight for power, so he killed him as soon as possible."

Xue Bai finally spoke up, "Just talk about the matter. You keep mentioning their backgrounds on purpose. Are you trying to figure out what I like or dislike?"

"I dare not!"

Yuan Zai is a man who needs to be taught a lesson. He needs to be beaten a few times before he behaves.

But he was indeed capable and thick-skinned, and he admitted his guilt uneasily, but soon continued to put forward his claims.

"I was deeply moved when I saw Xin travel alone to the capital to file a complaint. If she had not been wronged, why would she do this? I request that Feng Xiaogou's case be retried. If he is truly innocent, he should be cleared of all charges and the officials who work diligently for the country should be told that the court has strict laws!"

Yuan Zai had tested Xue Bai before and knew that although Xue Bai would not allow him to eliminate dissidents by destroying Buddhism, he would allow him to eliminate local hostile forces bit by bit.

After Xue Bai ascends the throne, the tax system will inevitably be changed. Those nobles who do not support Xue Bai and own a large amount of land will be obstacles at that time, so of course they have to prepare in advance. But in Xue Bai's view, this matter is not that simple.

From another perspective, although these aristocratic families who annexed land did not support him, they were loyal to the Tang Dynasty. On the contrary, those military governors and warlords who rose from humble backgrounds were the culprits who split the Tang Dynasty and caused unrest.

The common people were rising up and resisting the nobles, and they might even eliminate the nobles in the next two or three hundred years. But they had no cohesion, no leader, and no program. They could only complete the task of replacing the nobles through constant rebellion. Therefore, in this process, the national strength was constantly consumed and the Tang Dynasty was constantly weakened.

Therefore, what Xue Bai needs to do is not to simply and brutally eliminate the aristocratic families, because without the aristocratic families to inherit the culture, protect the central government, and stabilize the order, the situation will only be worse than the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.

He must be able to represent the interests of the common people and the poor, fight for their rights, then weaken the aristocratic families, resolve annexations, while preserving inheritance and order, so that the customs of broad learning and modesty will not be lost.

This is an extremely difficult balance to strike.

Therefore, after meeting Yuan Zai, Xue Bai met Cui Youfu again.

Cui Youfu had quite a few files in his hands, and he explained each one in detail to Xue Bai in person.

"Let's not talk about the case of Feng Xiaogou killing Ge San's family. As the leader of the gang, he is arrogant and domineering, and he has done many things to bully men and women..."

Xue Bai said: "I know, the people of Hu County call him 'there is no good meat on a mad dog, and the evil officials are rampant and commit many evils'."

Cui Youfu was stunned for a moment, and glanced at the ancestral volume in his hand, but did not see this sentence. He was surprised that Xue Bai knew even these trivial matters so well.

It can be seen that although this prince lives in the deep palace, there are other people around him who are gathering information.

This made Cui Youfu feel a chill in his heart.

Fortunately, he did not say anything false and told the whole story in detail. Finally, he said, "Your Highness, it is ridiculous that Yuan Zai sent someone to impeach Zheng Zhizhai. Even though Zheng Zhizhai bought a house and land in Huxian County as soon as he took office, he used his own wealth and never extorted a grain of food from the people. Why was he impeached for this?!"

Although Zheng's wealth was plundered from the people bit by bit over the past few decades, it was indeed unreasonable for the court to hold him responsible for his other businesses, at least not according to current laws.

"Yes, so all the memorials impeaching Zheng Zhizhai were rejected. Minister Cui did not need to be so indignant."

Xue Bai's attitude towards Cui Youfu was still quite friendly. He stood up, patted him on the shoulder, and spoke in a friendly tone.

"The issue of Zheng Zhizhai is nothing more than a matter of property. But the matter of Feng Xiaogou involves human life, so we must be careful."

Cui Youfu said: "It is true that Yuan Zai joined forces with his party to attack Zheng Zhizhai. In the case of Feng Xiaogou, the evidence is there. From Huxian County to Jingzhao Yin and Dali Temple, all the necessary documents are complete. Yuan Zai interfered without reason. I request that Yuan Zai be punished."

"Not urgent."

"Your Highness, if Yuan Zai can manipulate the facts for the sake of party unity and attacking dissidents, where is the discipline of the court?!"

Xue Bai deliberately rubbed his head and pretended to have a headache.

Today, the dispute between Cui Youfu and Yuan Zai is as difficult for him to resolve as the conflict between the Tang Dynasty's aristocrats and the poor. Both sides have shortcomings, but both have their own merits.

The case of Zheng Zhizhai and Feng Xiaogou is also very typical. On one side is a noble family that annexed land and is gentle and polite; on the other side is a humble official who is both a victim but also has a domineering side like local armed forces.

"I beg Your Highness to take back your order." Cui Youfu ignored Xue Bai's pretend headache and said, "This case is to uphold the law and discipline, and to calm people's hearts. It can warn the world that the turmoil is over, and the law still exists. If it is used by Yuan Zai, it will damage the court's discipline."

"Don't worry, you'll know when Yan Quanming arrives." Xue Bai said, "He has already investigated the case during his inspection of the capital."

Cui Youfu was stunned.

He knew that Yan Quanming had inspected the capital region in the name of the Criminal Justice Commissioner a while ago, and he thought it was to supervise the confiscation of temple properties throughout the country. Unexpectedly, he was also very concerned about such a small case.

The key is time. The conflict in Chang'an has just occurred, but Yan Quanming is about to return. There are several possibilities for this matter. One is that Yan Quanming has inquired about all the cases that occurred in the capital, but this is unlikely. He does not have such energy. He usually catches a few major cases to have a deterrent effect. The second is that Yan Quanming happened to have carefully investigated Feng Xiaogou's case and found new problems. The third possibility is that Yuan Zai had long wanted to use this case to deal with Zheng Zhizhai, and Xue Bai had placed people around Yuan Zai, knew about this in advance, and sent Yan Quanming to verify it.

Cui Youfu tends to believe the third possibility, which means that although Yuan Zai is a vicious dog, he is still being led by Xue Bai.

He felt a little relieved.

"In this case, I will wait patiently..."

At this moment, a palace maid hurried into the palace.

The Crown Prince Regent was meeting with the Chief Censor, and of course no one was allowed to intrude at this time. Obviously, it was an extremely urgent matter.

"Your Highness, urgent delivery from Longyou, 800 miles!"

"Where's the messenger?"

The palace servants were a little panicked and hurriedly brought the messenger over and handed a lacquered envelope to Xue Bai.

Xue Bai did not open it immediately, but asked someone to verify the seal before opening it.

After reading it, his expression did not change at all, and he said to Cui Youfu in a very calm tone: "The Tubo army has raised an army. Dazha Lugong has invaded Longzhou with an army of 300,000."

He had expected this, although he thought Tubo would wait until autumn and the weather was still hot, but overall it was within expectations.

After saying this, he immediately ordered: "Please invite the prime minister and officials from various provinces to discuss the matter."

Cui Youfu's face looked solemn.

With such a big event happening, the case he was originally struggling with became a small matter in comparison.

The Tang Dynasty had just stumbled out of the rebellion in Hebei and was still very weak. At this time, it had to face the Tubo army, which was like a sick person facing a strong man.

~~
"This year is different from last year. Last year, Dazalugong dispatched troops in a hurry and divided them to the west. He did not expect to meet Guo Ziyi, so he withdrew his troops before he could enter Guanzhong. Even so, Tubo still occupied the cities in Hexi and cut off our connection with the four towns of Anxi. This year, Dazalugong came well prepared and mobilized 300,000 troops. His purpose was to capture Chang'an. This year, he made up a reason, saying that the Tang Dynasty rejected Tubo's request for marriage and was unwilling to bring peace to the border, so he wanted to attack the Tang Dynasty."

"Shameless!"

"All is fair in war. From this incident, it can be seen that Dazalugong should not be underestimated."

In front of the map, Xue Bai tried to make everyone understand that the current situation was quite serious.

It's not that the situation wasn't serious before, but the Tang Dynasty was busy with internal strife and fighting among the people, and had no time to pay attention to the west, ignoring the heavy price the border troops paid in resisting the Tubo army in the past two years.

"Originally, Hexi and Longyou each had more than 70,000 soldiers, Jiannan had more than 30,000 soldiers, Guanzhong and Shuofang could support the border with 30,000 soldiers, and our total force against Tubo was 200,000. However, in the Battle of Tongguan, Geshu Han's 200,000 troops were almost wiped out. Last year, Li Guangbi used 20,000 soldiers in Jiannan to contain Tubo, and Guo Ziyi was stationed in Longyou with more than 30,000 soldiers to defend against the autumn. Since the successive battles, nearly half of them have been lost, and there are less than 20,000 soldiers left. The court must send more troops to support them."

The general situation was explained first, but how to arrange reinforcements still needs to be discussed separately.

Xue Bai couldn't keep boosting others' morale and destroying his own prestige, so he changed the subject.

"Of course, the so-called 300,000-man army of Tubo cannot be fully trusted. It is nothing more than driving out the herdsmen and people from the border areas and counting them in the army. Our Tang warriors can defeat a hundred with one, but it is no problem for us to defeat a large force with a small one..."

Some officials might not understand these situations, but Cui Youfu knew them all very well. As he listened, he became distracted and couldn't help but glance at Yuan Zai.

His fear of Yuan Zai had not been completely eliminated by a major war.

Yuan Zai, as Wang Zhongsi's son-in-law, had also been in Longyou for some time and had his own opinions on the war situation, so he soon spoke up.

"We are still negotiating with Tubo, but Dazalugong has already launched an attack. It shows that His Highness's previous predictions were correct. His so-called alliance is to paralyze us. He thought it was a surprise attack, but in fact His Highness had been prepared. This is one of our chances of winning. In the past two years, the war continued, but we were still able to defend against the Tubo army. Now the country is stable and our strength is stronger than before. This is the second chance of winning. Now the court has confiscated the temple property and the treasury is slightly full. This is the third chance of winning. In addition, many weapons such as gunpowder and catapults are being manufactured. Our army is far more well-equipped than Tubo. This is the fourth chance of winning..."

In fact, these words are just to boost morale. Relying on national strength, the Tang Dynasty can indeed win. The question is at what price it will have to pay.

For example, a big problem was that Chang'an was too close to the northwest border. Once Tubo passed through the Longshan defense line, it could march straight into the capital of the Tang Dynasty.

For this empire that had just ended civil strife and was still licking its wounds, encountering such a problem in the national war was fatal.

Just when Cui Youfu thought that Yuan Zai could only talk in general and flattering terms, Yuan Zai actually put forward a strategic suggestion.

"I think we can let Guo Ziyi take the initiative to attack and occupy Yuanzhou. First, it can intimidate the foreign troops and make them unaware of our strength; second, it can delay time and buy time for the court to mobilize reinforcements; third, it can coordinate with the Shuofang army."

Xue Bai did not comment on this suggestion and did not want to interfere with Guo Ziyi's command on the battlefield remotely.

But he said to Cui Youfu: "Cui Zhongcheng, what do you think?"

Cui Youfu glanced at Yuan Zai, then looked at Yuanzhou on the map, which was located between the Qinling Mountains and the Long Mountains. It was indeed a strategic location.

He then bowed and said, "I second the proposal."

A national war was about to come, temporarily pausing their internal strife.

But Xue Bai knew that this internal conflict was only temporarily shelved.

(End of this chapter)