Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 289 Framing the blame

Fang Chongyong asked Aduan to chase the murderer who killed someone on the street, but it was still a step too late.

The Jinwu Guards who heard the exclamation heard the news and came over, but this murderer was also a fierce man. Even though his skin was torn apart by the sticks in the hands of the Jinwu Guards, he still used brute force to kick the two Jinwu Guards on the opposite side to the ground. He stepped on the tree trunk next to the square wall with one leg, jumped up suddenly, and jumped to the diagonal wall of the square wall. He pressed his hands on the tiles on the wall of the square, turned over and entered the square, and ran away!

This scene happened in a flash of lightning. By the time Fang Zhongyong came to his senses, the murderer had disappeared on the street of Zhuque Street. His strong and vigorous movements made the onlookers look at each other in amazement.

The martial virtues of the Tang Dynasty are really abundant!

It just seems like it was used in the wrong place!

Fang Chongyong shook his head in disappointment, went to the square where the murderer entered, and told Fang Zheng to close the gate of the square and search for him, and do his best.

Anyway, he is just one of the people who eat melons.

Judging from the appearance of the murderer, it is not difficult to climb over the wall. The government is trying desperately to arrest people, but it's not that easy.

When Fang Chongyong returned to the scene of the incident, the soldiers of Jinwu Guard had already protected the scene. Zhang Guangsheng, the general of Zuojinwu Guard, was leading his men to interrogate the pedestrians who witnessed the incident.

When he saw Fang Chongyong approaching, he quickly came over with excitement on his face, clasping his fists and saluting, and said, "Didn't Fang Jieshuai go to Hexi and become the ambassador of the Western Region Economic Strategy? Why are you in Chang'an?"

"This is not the place to talk. You can talk about it in detail when you come to my house after your shift. Speaking of which, do you know the man who was assassinated?"

Fang Chongyong pointed at the man wearing a brocade robe lying in a pool of blood. This person's face seems to have passed his sixties, and he is now too dead to die.

"Isn't this Pei Kuan, the Minister of Household Affairs?"

Zhang Guangsheng lowered his voice and said, as the Zhonglang General of Zuo Jinwu Guard, how could he not know Pei Kuan, a high official in the court?

Secretary of the Ministry of Finance! Pei Kuan!

Fang Chongyong took a breath!

Although the security in Chang'an City today is not as good as that of Zhenguan, it is still relatively safe for nobles wearing brocade clothes to travel. After all, no one would assassinate a court official in the street without any reason to kill!

Xinghua Tower is located near Fangmen, and it leads to Zhuque Street. It can be said that this is the place with the largest flow of people in Chang'an City. Even if the assassin escaped, he must be a dead man, and this case is probably going to be a no-brainer.

However, no matter whether it is the title of Minister of the Ministry of Revenue or Pei Kuan himself, this assassination case will not simply go away.

That’s it! It has nothing to do with me anyway!

Fang Chongyong sighed. He would leave Chang'an tomorrow. Brother Ji and Li Linfu would have to worry about the next thing.

"Fang Jieshuai, would you like to send a few brothers to take you home? It's getting dark now..."

Zhang Guangsheng said a little embarrassed.

He actually wanted to catch up with Fang Chongyong and ask for an official position. The official position of Jinwu Wei Zhonglang is really big or small. As long as he is placed here, his official career is basically over, unless he can be released outside.

When it comes to promotion, who else in the entire Tang Dynasty is better at playing the promotion game than Fang Chongyong!

"That's fine too."

Fang Chongyong nodded slightly and did not refuse.

Returning to the house in Yongjiafang full of exhaustion, Wang Yunxiu touched her slightly bulging belly and asked Fang Dafu to prepare sobering soup. The couple talked secretly in the bedroom.

When he heard that Pei Kuan, the Minister of Household Affairs, had been assassinated in the street, Wang Yunxiu's face flashed with gloom and his brows furrowed.

"I don't know Pei Kuan, so why is Madam frowning?"

Holding Wang Yunxiu's hand, Fang Chongyong asked with a puzzled look.

"Alang thinks who is the murderer behind Pei Kuan's assassination? Or who is the most suspect?"

Wang Yunxiu asked calmly. It was obvious that she had her own opinions and just wanted to hear what Fang Chongyong thought first.

"In terms of motives, Right Prime Minister Li Linfu is the most suspicious.

One trip to Chang'an was to promote Jiaozi. The Minister of Hubu was the biggest obstacle to the implementation of Jiaozi. As long as the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue does not cooperate with the issuance of Jiaozi, or violates the rules in disguise, then this matter may go wrong.

If Jiaozi's affairs are ruined, he will definitely not be able to keep his position as Prime Minister!

Therefore, Li Linfu would never let someone who was not his confidant serve as the Minister of Household Affairs.

As for whether Pei Kuan is worthy of the Right Prime Minister sending someone to assassinate him, that is another question. "

Fang Chongyong said with a long sigh, he didn't expect that before the issue of Jiaozi was even started, complications would arise.

"If the right minister wants to deal with Pei Kuan, he should have other means. I heard something and wanted to tell Alang about it.

I believe Alang will definitely change his previous judgment after hearing this. "

Wang Yunxiu sighed and said.

"Ma'am, please speak."

Fang Chongyong nodded slightly. Wang Yunxiu was very capable of inquiring about political news in Chang'an and had his own network of connections. To be precise, it was her mother's connections with the Li family in Longxi.

"A few days ago, Pei Kuan has been recommended as interview envoy and field envoy to Hebei Province. And the saint has agreed. It is said that he will soon go to Hebei to take up a post and will no longer serve as the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs. At present, it is probably the approval of the Ministry of Personnel The process is not finished yet.

If viewed from this perspective, it seems that there is no need for the Right Prime Minister to kill Pei Kuan.

I even guessed that the reason why Pei Kuan wanted to go to Hebei was because of the conspiracy of the Right Prime Minister! It’s for Jiaozi! "

Wang Yunxiu said in a deep voice.

A word that wakes up the dreamer. This news is really important.

For people in official circles, if there is a stumbling block that is very difficult, what methods can be used to get rid of this person?

Assassination is of course the stupidest method, and reporting the other party for corruption is not a clever move either. For example, Pei Kuan is a relatively upright person, and the trick of throwing dirty water is of no use.

The really powerful way to deal with an official like Pei Kuan is to promote him, then transfer him to another place, and send him far away!

As long as a person leaves his official position, no matter how hard he tries, nothing will happen.

In order to control the issuance of Jiaozi and get rid of the disobedient people in the household department. Li Linfu dealt with Pei Kuan as he should have. From this, we can infer that sending Pei Kuan to Hebei to serve as the interview envoy was most likely the work of Li Linfu.

This is also in line with the game rules of the high-level power arena. There is really no need to send an assassin to kill people.

Letting Pei Kuan go to Hebei was an action planned by Li Linfu and approved by Ji Ge. The political risk was almost non-existent. Since Li Linfu has achieved his goal, why bother killing people?

"What would happen if the imperial court did not send Pei Kuan to serve as interview envoy and camp envoy?"

Fang Chongyong raised his chin and asked to himself.

"Alang himself is the interview envoy of Longyou Road. Need I say more? Of course he is also the envoy of Jiedu."

Wang Yunxiu said angrily, Fang Chongyong was in the dark, he had even forgotten what his official position was for.

Fang Chongyong suddenly realized that he was the interview envoy of Longyou, but he had even forgotten about it, which showed how strange this position was.

In the 21st year of the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, Ji Ge divided the country into fifteen tracts, and each tract was assigned an interview envoy, referred to as an interview envoy, who was in charge of inspecting prisons and supervising state and county officials.

The jurisdiction of the interview envoy does not completely overlap with that of the Jiedushi envoy! For example, the interview envoys of Longyou Road included the defense areas of Longyou Jiedushi and Hexi Jiedushi.

However, the official position of the interview envoy is not fixed and can also be held concurrently by the Jiedushi envoy.

The latter situation even occurs more often than the former!

For example, the interview envoy in Longyou has always been bound to the Hexi Jiedushi envoy and will not be set up separately. This is also because the economic weight of the Hexi Defense Area is much higher than that of the Longyou Defense Area.

Therefore, the Longyou envoy's residence has always been Liangzhou.

Nowadays, Fang Chongyong serves as the interview envoy of Longyou Road and the camp envoy of Hexi Province. However, this title is not often mentioned, and it can be covered directly with Jiedu envoy.

If you really want to recite Fang Chongyong's official titles from beginning to end, then don't do anything. You have to recite the official titles for several minutes every day. The same principle applies to Li Linfu and others.

In fact, they still only had so many government affairs under their jurisdiction. This was a typical "redundant official concurrently system" in the Tang Dynasty. This situation is no different from the concept of "one team, two sets of brands" in Fang Chongyong's previous government. They are all routine operations. When setting up official positions, having an extra set of names is just to facilitate the centralization of power and to deploy an extra set of people to decentralize power when necessary.

It can be used, but whether it should be used depends on the actual situation.

"In other words, if Pei Kuan dies and no suitable candidate can be found for Hebei's interview envoy, the imperial court will, in case of emergency, let a certain military envoy from Hebei also serve as Hebei's interview envoy. Bar?

Anyway, the Jiedu envoy here in Longyou also serves as the interview envoy. "

Fang Chongyong said thoughtfully.

The post of the interviewer was concurrently held by the Jiedushi. In fact, the imperial court transferred the power of supervising local bureaucrats to the Jiedushi. As for whether something will happen if you play like this, it depends on whether Jiedushi wants to cause trouble.

No one, including Ji Ge and Li Linfu, thought that Fang Chongyong, a Jiedushi envoy who was determined to conquer the Western Regions, would use his position as an interview envoy to make a public statement. In fact, a person's energy is limited. Fang Chongyong wanted to lead the army to attack Xiaobolu, and he did not have the energy to mess around in Longyou, Hexi.

But if this Jiedushi is a "careful person" who wants to take over the government affairs of the jurisdiction and install obedient government officials, then it is necessary to obtain the key key of the interview envoy.

"What Alang said is absolutely true, and I think so too.

However, there are Huangfu Weiming and An Lushan as military envoys in the Second Town of Hebei Province. It is difficult to say who they are. "

Wang Yunxiu said with a slight frown.

"Huangfu Weiming is impossible. He and Pei Kuan both have an old relationship with Wei Jian and can barely be considered a party.

Even if Huangfu Weiming wanted to make some noise, there was no need to assassinate Pei Kuan. "

Fang Chongyong has now determined that An Lushan is the biggest suspect, and he is also very likely to become the biggest beneficiary.

Next, all we need to do is pour dirty water on Huangfu Weiming.

And directly sending assassins to assassinate central officials, this kind of aura... seems to be the style of the mid-late Tang Dynasty vassal town!

Are they really sent by An Lushan?

Fang Chongyong murmured in his heart, always feeling that something else had been ignored.

He suddenly thought, why did An Lushan know that Pei Kuan was going to Hebei?

How could Anlushan, who was far away in Yingzhou, know what was happening in Chang'an?

Even if Fang Chongyong, the Hexi Jiedushi envoy, came to Chang'an, he would not know about similar personnel changes in the court, let alone An Lushan, a barbarian, as long as he didn't go out of his way to inquire.

And why do people in Anlushan know the specific whereabouts of Pei Kuan?

It is not difficult to guess who is the biggest beneficiary, but Fang Chongyong still doesn't understand An Lushan's method of doing things.

He secretly pondered that even he, a military governor with many acquaintances in Chang'an, did not know Pei Kuan's whereabouts. So, are An Lushan's connections more sophisticated than his, the son of the Shence Army general?

Fang Chongyong felt that he was thinking too much. It seemed that An Lushan might become the biggest beneficiary, but it was not that difficult for him to do this.

Unless... In Chang'an City, An Lushan has his own internal agent, and he is still an official in Chang'an, and his level is not low!

So, who is that person?

Fang Chongyong fell into deep thought.

"Why don't you go to Liangzhou with me.

Chang'an is too dangerous. "

Fang Zhongyong put his arms around Wang Yunxiu's shoulders and said softly.

"Alang is going to the Western Regions, and Chang'an will not leave any relatives as hostages. What do you think of the saint?"

Wang Yunxiu rolled her eyes helplessly, leaned her head on Fang Chongyong's shoulder and asked.

Anaye is just a concubine, and Pei Xiu is a mistress. These are women who are not worthy of being on the stage, and it doesn't matter at all.

But Wang Yunxiu is the daughter of Wang Zhongsi, and she is also the imperial wife who was canonized by Brother Ji. If she also arrives in Hexi, it means that Fang Chongyong no longer needs to worry about rebelling.

This obviously stepped on Brother Ji's bottom line.

As long as Wang Yunxiu is in Chang'an, she and the child in her belly are Fang Chongyong's magic needle, and Brother Ji can rest assured that he will lead his troops to run rampant in the Western Regions.

"Well, I will leave Chang'an tomorrow."

Fang Chongyong nodded slightly and said.

"Then when will you go home again?" Wang Yunxiu asked in a low voice, with a sad face.

"I don't know, maybe a long time later."

……

The murderer of Pei Kuan was found the next day. Not only was this man not killed, he actually appeared in front of a Hu Cake stall in a certain shop in Chang'an, eating Hu Cake and drinking a lot of wine!

When he was caught by Jin Wuwei, he didn't resist at all.

The assassin was sent to the Wannian County government office by Jin Wuwei. Li Xuan, who served as the magistrate of Wannian County, opened the gate of the county government office, allowed the people of Chang'an to enter the hall and watch, and then opened a court to interrogate the prisoner.

The murderer of Pei Kuan remained silent in the face of Li Xuan's various questions. As a last resort, Li Xuan asked the soldiers of Jinwu Guard to escort the prisoner to Jingzhao Mansion, which was in charge of Prince Li Han!

The assassin also remained silent when facing Li Xuan, the governor of Jingzhao.

The reason why Li Chen was helpless about this person was actually the same as Li Xuan. The case is too sensitive. If the prisoner is beaten to death and it is suspected of murder and silence, no one will take responsibility.

So the murderer was sent to Dali Temple again.

Facing Zheng Shuqing, who was now the minister of Dali Temple, his reaction was completely different from the previous one. This erratic assassin confessed without any hesitation at all like beans poured out of a bamboo tube. He insisted that he was sent by the right prime minister Li Linfu to assassinate Pei Kuan!

Under Zheng Shuqing's shock, the assassin also explained the motive for the assassination: the purpose of killing Pei Kuan was to prevent the Minister of Household Affairs from delaying Li Linfu's so-called important event.

As for how to kill Pei Kuan, it was up to Hexi Jiedushi Fang Chongyong, who came to Chang'an to report on his duties, to provide specific information about Pei Kuan's whereabouts and to arrange the assassination. After finishing the matter, Chongyong will leave Chang'an without leaving any trace.

Fang Chongyong has been in frequent contact with Li Linfu recently because he wanted to plan an assassination.

Zheng Shuqing asked Li Linfu what the so-called major event was and what role Fang Chongyong played in it. The assassin did not answer and remained silent.

Then, while no one was paying attention, the assassin suddenly hit his head against a pillar in the lobby of the Dali Temple Yamen, and died in front of everyone!

Zheng Shuqing was frightened. This kind of unreasonable disaster, as well as the so-called "major case" involving the Right Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty and the Hexi Jiedushi, made him unable to explain clearly.

In desperation, Lao Zheng had no choice but to ask Yan Zhenqing, who was the young minister of Dali Temple, to write a dossier, describing the confession and the whole story of the incident clearly, and copied it several times.

Because it concerned the Right Prime Minister Li Linfu, the original manuscript of the dossier was not sent to the Yizheng Hall where the Right Prime Minister was located, but directly to Xingqing Palace.

When Gao Lishi got the file, he didn't dare to delay and sent it to Ji Ge's desk.

Subsequently, the palace sent the eunuch Bian Lingcheng to chase Fang Chongyong, who had set off for Hexi. At the post station outside Jingyang City, he found the Hexi Jiedu envoy who was returning to Liangzhou, and the two returned to Xingqing together. palace.

(End of this chapter)