Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 297 Nine Fools and One Wisdom

In an ordinary guest room in Chengdong Station outside Chang'an City, An Lushan, who had a sagging belly, was sitting on the couch with a gloomy expression. Because he was in a bad mood, he ate candied fruits. While eating, he listened to Zhang Tongru's report and inquired about the situation.

The expression on An Lushan's face was uncertain. From time to time, he would make a fist with one hand and then put it down gently.

"Jie Du, this matter is now abuzz in Chang'an City. There are rumors that the saint seems to want to replace Pinglu Jiedu.

The rumors that An Jieshuai sent people to assassinate Pei Kuan also became more and more intense, as if they were serious matters. "

Zhang Tongru lowered his voice and said.

"Substitute? Who does the saint plan to replace?"

An Lushan's face became even more gloomy and he asked impatiently.

"Jie Shuai, it's just a rumor, there is no real evidence, and my subordinates didn't find out the specific situation.

This kind of gossip cannot be taken seriously. People still say that Fang Chongyong, the governor of Hexi Province, raped civilian girls and then went home to rape and humiliate them. These are all nonsense. "

Zhang Tongru comforted An Lushan and said.

"Haha, that's true. It's just a woman, so you can't do it."

An Lushan said with disdain.

Unlike ordinary generals, An Lushan worked as a businessman in his early years, and he did not know who his father was. His mother had remarried, so he had an extremely rich life experience.

Or you can call it rough.

An Lushan was greedy for sweets and very beautiful. He had eleven sons, not to mention daughters. There were so many women in An Lushan that he couldn't even count them. Unlike the incorruptible Fang Youde, most of An Lushan's family wealth came from selling Khitan and Xi slaves, and his hands and feet were not very clean.

In order to serve the huge "harem", An Lushan also established a rather small team of "eunuchs".

In order to prevent the slaves from colluding, Lao Ai and his like were allowed to mix into the "harem". An Lushan personally castrated these servants to prevent them from promiscuous "harem".

Fang Chongyong just snatched a woman in Chang'an. Is that a big deal?

An Lushan sneered at this.

"You said, tomorrow the emperor will preside over a joint trial at Dali Temple. Would you like to go?"

Suddenly, An Lushan asked Zhang Tongru an inexplicable question, which made the latter stunned for a long time and was speechless.

In Zhang Tongru’s view, this kind of question should not be asked at all! At least An Lushan can't ask the question!

We are already at this juncture, we are already living in a post station outside Chang'an City, and we are still hesitating whether to go to Chang'an to see the Holy Spirit or whether to go to Dali Temple.

I don’t know if these things are just for show!

An Lushan is suspicious, and often likes to hesitate and retreat at critical moments. When it is time to do big things, he cherishes his own life.

Although Zhang Tongru had not taken refuge in Anlushan for a long time, he knew the character of the Jiedushi envoy in detail.

"An Jieshuai, don't tell me that your visit to Chang'an this time will definitely be a near miss; even if Chang'an is a dragon's pond and a tiger's den, now Jieshuai has to bite the bullet and go there.

Only when a fish jumps over the dragon gate can it transform into a dragon! When it's time to take action, you must take action. Don't hesitate, Commander-in-Chief! "

Zhang Tongru knelt down directly to An Lushan and kept kowtowing!

If this man hadn't listened to the advice from Ruliu in the past, Zhang Tongru would have really wanted to run away with the bucket now, regardless of the "hesitant maniac" like An Lushan.

"Oh, well, that's all.

By the way, the gift note you sent to your right minister today was also confiscated over there? "

As expected, An Lushan "followed his advice like a stream".

While sighing, he asked another key question that may affect his future.

Zhang Tongru nodded and replied with a depressed look:

"That's true. The servant on the Right Prime Minister's side first accepted the gift note and then returned it to Beizhi. In the end, Beizhi didn't even enter the Right Prime Minister's house.

Beizhi has been active in Chang'an City recently and visited many wealthy families. Not many people were willing to accept gifts and speak for Commander Jie. Only the Zuo Prime Minister accepted the gift from the Commander-in-Chief, but he didn't say anything special, and he didn't rule out returning it in the future.

At that time, the Zuo Prime Minister served as Pinglu Jiedushi in Yingzhou, and he had some incestuous feelings with Anjieshuai, but it was only a little incestuous, so we should not place our hopes on him.

During the trial in Dali Temple, the left prime minister was most likely to sit on the sidelines and watch. "

Zhang Tongru looked worried.

Li Shizhi, the left prime minister, was not reused by Brother Ji. But this time, because the Right Prime Minister Li Linfu is also one of the defendants, Li Shizhi, as the prime minister, is likely to attend. It's hard to say what role it can play.

At present, the emperor's attitude towards An Lushan is not clear. Most people are unwilling to place bets on Pinglu Jiedushi, who was born as a barbarian. This is actually human nature.

"Then, in your opinion, how can we get out of trouble? The commander in this section just wants to use his strength, but there seems to be no way to use it."

An Lushan asked with a troubled expression.

Before coming, he hoped to borrow help from Li Linfu. But judging from the current situation, Li Linfu doesn't seem to want to have anything to do with An Lushan.

"Come back to the festival, if your humble position is a saint..."

Halfway through Zhang Tongru's words, he saw An Lushan staring and yelling: "How can you compare yourself to a saint! That's nonsense!"

"Jie Shuai's lesson is right. The humble position means that from the perspective of a saint, the saint will definitely not want An Jie Shuai to be in harmony with those Jiedu envoys in the west. We might as well use this as a breakthrough.

The saint...perhaps didn't want the Jieduzhi of Bianzhen to be so clever. "

Zhang Tongru suggested calmly.

"It makes sense. Are you saying... let this handsome guy pretend to be stupid?"

After pondering for a moment, An Lushan raised the corners of his mouth slightly. His face looked uglier when he smiled than when he cried. The fat on his stomach trembled due to the rise and fall of his chest.

"Hui Jie Shuai, that's exactly what I think."

Zhang Tongru saluted and said.

Playing dumb in front of the emperor is nothing unusual, but it is a technical job.

If you pretend to be 100%, you would be a real fool. No matter how stupid the emperor is, it is impossible for a real fool to be a governor. Therefore, pretending to be stupid must be "nine fools and one wise", and you cannot have no advantages at all.

"Jie Shuai, a humble official, has a plan to keep him out of trouble."

Zhang Tongru lowered his voice and said.

"What's the plan?"

An Lushan narrowed his eyes and asked.

"Is such that."

Zhang Tongru whispered in An Lushan's ear for a long time.

"Wonderful! You said it so well!"

An Lushan laughed loudly, and the previous nervousness and nervousness were gone.

"Shuai An Jie, I thought about it all the way and felt that this matter was quite strange.

If the saint really doubted Jieshuai, he could just issue an order and be promoted openly or covertly. Why go to such trouble to let Jieshuai come to Chang'an?

Therefore, I believe that Pei Kuan's death may have a lot to do with the saint. The saint is at least an insider.

If this is true, then Jieshuai's visit to Chang'an can be said to be as safe as Mount Tai. "

Zhang Tongru finally expressed his judgment.

Although this inference is very bold and outrageous, it is logical when you think about it carefully and can explain many things that they could not figure out before.

"It's okay for you to know about this, and it must not be spread outside."

An Lushan waved his hand indifferently, his expression unusually calm.

The most terrifying thing in the world is not some poisonous snake or beast, but the "unknown".

When a card is not revealed, you never know whether it will be insignificant or whether it can turn things around. You can only predict it through various clues.

Once the hidden card becomes the exposed card, the game will suddenly become clearer, and no matter how powerful the card is, people will no longer be frightened.

……

"Alang, there will be a trial tomorrow...will the saint imprison you in Dali Temple Prison?"

In his study room, Wang Yunxiu asked Fang Chongyong softly while pouring tea.

Tomorrow is the day of the interrogation. In addition to those miscellaneous fish, several heavyweight "suspects" will be interrogated in court. For example, Li Linfu, the right prime minister, Fang Chongyong, the military governor of Hexi, An Lushan, the military governor of Pinglu, and so on.

Moreover, this trial was not only presided over by Ji Ge himself, but the people of Chang'an could watch the excitement outside the Yamen lobby of Dali Temple. So this is not so much a trial as it is Brother Ji's personal show.

In Fang Chongyong's view, tomorrow is just a show, he is just an actor, and everyone participating in the joint trial in Dali Temple tomorrow will be "actors." Everyone competes not only in scripts, but also in acting skills!

On the surface, the emergence of Dali Temple is the result of partial optimization of the superstructure of the bureaucratic system of feudal society. Its main functions are to review case files submitted from various places, preside over the interrogation of officials above the sixth rank, etc.

But in fact, the original intention of the establishment of Dali Temple was the most important tool for the emperor himself to intervene in judicial affairs. If there were no Dali Temple, the emperor would have to rely on the power of the aristocratic circle to interfere with the outcome of a certain case, and would have to find some "white gloves" to do the job.

It’s very unpleasant to be scratching an itch!

The game between the Ministry of Punishment, which was interfered by the prime minister's power, and the Dali Temple, which was interfered by the imperial power, in terms of criminal law was also a manifestation of the game between the imperial power and the prime minister's power.

Although Ji Ge's move was shameless, from a "technical" point of view, it was a typical technique of "making a big move" and should not be underestimated. The political significance of playing such a game before the release of Jiaozi is not as simple as it seems.

"There will be a trial tomorrow. If nothing unexpected happens, there will be an accident. There has been enough publicity, but the Dali Temple has not made public the evidence of An Lushan's crimes. There must be something fishy in it.

It is very likely that the key witnesses and physical evidence will be released tomorrow, making An Lushan irreversible. "

Fang Chongyong said in a deep voice, took a sip of tea, and frowned as if thinking about something.

"Oh, it turns out that Alang is so clear-headed. I thought you were stuck in the gentle land, and all you could think about was the white bodies of women."

The sour taste in Wang Yunxiu's words was extremely strong, and he was filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred.

"It's not that, it's not that, she's just a beautiful concubine, I know it well."

Fang Zhongyong smiled and waved his hand, not wanting to continue to dwell on this topic.

As for women, he can take them and let them go.

A concubine is a concubine, and beauty is beauty. If you want to extend it to other places, you can't do it. Fang Chongyong is not a lover, and he can't do the kind of thing like playing with the princes.

Dugu Yao is a beauty snatched away, so let's play with it. No matter how happy she is during sex and how much she can't put it down, to Fang Chongyong, she can only be a concubine and cannot replace Wang Yunxiu's position.

In Fang Chongyong’s view, this can be regarded as an unspoken rule of “doing as the Romans do”. Rich and powerful families who don't play this way will basically end up with their wives and children separated, and they won't end well.

For example, when dealing with matters such as the Dali Temple interrogation, Fang Chongyong only discussed it with Wang Yunxiu and could not bring it to Dugu Yao.

"Well, what do Alang think about An Lushan?"

Wang Yunxiu was secretly happy and asked in a lowered voice.

"If I were An Lushan, I would definitely act like a monster tomorrow.

What I want to do is not important, what is important is what An Lushan will do. "

Fang Chongyong pinched his fingers hard and said.

He has prepared a set of plans. If An Lushan doesn't take action, then Fang Chongyong will have to take action in advance.

The imperial court, or Dali Temple, has not yet announced An Lushan's guilt, but the news has already spread among the people. It would be really hell if no one set up a trap in this!

Fang Chongyong has been deducing in his mind how tomorrow's trial will proceed. The biggest variable is what An Lushan will do.

By kidnapping Duguyao and returning home, Fang Chongyong had tested out Brother Ji's intentions and bottom line. He also understood that no matter what he did, Brother Ji would be "punished" with thunder and rain, and he would not take any serious action.

To the west are the Western Kingdoms and Tubo, and to the north are the Khitan and Xi people. Both directions require concentrated troops. The grasslands in the central part of the north have been relatively peaceful in recent years, and the two towns of Shuofang and Hedong do not need joint actions.

Fang Chongyong felt that what Brother Ji was doing now was to take some time to deal with the affairs of the border town, and then he could step away from it and continue to wander.

It was inevitable that An Lushan would be beaten hard.

As a barbarian general, it would be more advantageous and more appealing to deal with the tribes in the border towns of Datang. Therefore, An Lushan was supported and reused by Ji Ge, which was just the call of the times.

From this perspective, An Lushan's promotion is also inevitable.

"That's right. After all, the assassin also reported the right prime minister. If something happens to Alang, then the right prime minister will also have something happen to him."

Wang Yunxiu nodded slightly and said thoughtfully.

She also didn't believe that Brother Ji would take down the Right Prime Minister and Hexi Jiedushi in one fell swoop. Such an operation would have such a huge impact on the government that it would be difficult to clean up the mess in the future.

"Yeah, a lot of things have changed, but a lot of things haven't changed."

Fang Zhongyong said pointedly, but unfortunately Wang Yunxiu didn't understand him at all.

An Lushan's ascendancy was created by the current situation. The balance between the three towns in the northwest and the two towns in the northeast is also the need for military balance during the Tianbao period. This is the aftermath of the general trend of switching from government soldiers to recruiting soldiers, and it is inevitable.

Fang Chongyong originally wanted to give Anlu Mountain some strength so that he would not be able to serve as Pinglu Jiedushi.

But after thinking about it, after following Ji Ge's operating ideas, he found that An Lushan's rise could no longer be changed.

Even from a certain perspective, the rise of the Hu Jiedushi is the call of the times and cannot be stopped at all.

For Fang Chongyong, it will definitely be more convenient to deal with Anlu Mountain in the future than dealing with other Hu Jiedu envoys.

At least Fang Chongyong knew that An Lushan should be in the middle and late stages of diabetes by now. In the Tang Dynasty, when there was no insulin, were we still afraid that we would not have the means to deal with An Lushan?

It's almost killing him!

"What is Alang worried about? Doesn't it mean that tomorrow's trial will not punish Alang?"

Wang Yunxiu asked with confusion on his face when he saw Fang Chongyong's serious expression. What she fears most is that Fang Chongyong carelessly favors Dugu Yao and uses his lower body to think instead of his upper body. But looking at Fang Chongyong’s character, there’s no need to think too much about it.

As for what Brother Ji will do, Wang Yunxiu, who comes from a family of officials, is not worried at all.

Of course she didn't know that An Lushan, a fat man who looked obese, actually caused a storm in a certain time and space!

She would not know that for many people, Anlushan was not a disaster, but a rare opportunity and a path to advancement.

If Fang Chongyong told Wang Yunxiu now that An Lushan would raise troops in Youzhou in the future and sweep across half of the Tang Dynasty, she would probably think that this was nonsense.

The experience of more than a thousand years beyond the present brings Fang Chongyong unspeakable loneliness.

"It's okay. Let's talk about it after the trial is over tomorrow."

Fang Chongyong sighed helplessly, as if he had really had too much fun with Dugu Yao these past few days, and thus felt exhausted and lost his ability to think.

……

Pei Kuan, the Minister of Household Affairs, was assassinated. Everyone in Chang'an City, from the princes and nobles to the common people, were shocked.

Early that morning, the gate of the Yamen of Dali Temple in the imperial city opened wide, and the trial presided over by Emperor Li Longji of the Tang Dynasty officially began.

In addition to Ji Ge, Prince Li Xuan, Left Prime Minister Li Shizhi, Dali Temple Minister Zheng Shuqing, Dali Temple Shaoqing Yan Zhenqing and others were present in the Dali Temple Yamen lobby as chief judges or as observers.

Although senior officials such as Hexi Jiedushi Fang Chongyong, Right Prime Minister Li Linfu, and Pinglu Jiedushi An Lushan were defendants, they only attended the hearing in the lobby because there was no solid evidence.

A series of miscellaneous fish captured by Dali Temple during the investigation of the case are awaiting trial and are currently in Dali Temple Prison. When interrogation is needed, he will be brought to the Yamen lobby for interrogation.

The outside of the Yamen was blocked by a wooden fence by the officials of Dali Temple. People in Chang'an City who liked to eat melons watched the excitement outside the fence. Facing Jin Wuwei's dazzling sword, everyone was excited but docile and did not dare to take a step beyond the boundaries.

Although no matter what the case is, it will not make them, the spectators, grow an extra piece of flesh.

But this kind of thing where a high-ranking official becomes a prisoner in one day makes them feel the pleasure of beating a drowned dog.

It doesn't matter if I'm unlucky, as long as I see you, who is usually so proud, unlucky, I'll feel relieved.

Watching you lose money at the gambling table makes you happier than me winning money at the gambling table!

This is the true inner thought of many melon-eating people.

"Zheng Zhengqing, the joint trial of Pei Kuan's assassination case can begin now."

Brother Ji, who was sitting in the auditorium, gave instructions to Zheng Shuqing, who was sitting in the position of chief minister of Dali Temple.

"The trial of the assassination of Pei Kuan has officially begun!

Yan Shaoqing, please state the case to the saint. "

Zheng Shuqing said to Yan Zhenqing, his face expressionless.

The young minister of Dali Temple is the real case handler of Dali Temple! This is exactly the same as the Liubu Shangshu who does not take care of things on weekdays, and the specific affairs are managed by the Liubu Shilang.

“Previously, the suspect who attempted to assassinate Pei Kuan committed suicide by hitting a pillar after confessing who was behind it.

However, there is something else strange about this case! "

Yan Zhenqing said solemnly, as if doing something routine.

(End of this chapter)