Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 298 An actor’s self-cultivation

"Yan Shaoqing, please tell me about the previous case."

Zheng Shuqing gave Yan Zhenqing instructions with an expressionless face.

Today's trial is meaningless, everything is just a formality. Afterwards, it was certain that An Lushan would be placed under house arrest or even imprisoned.

Later, An Lushan will be summoned by the saint, and then he will burst into tears of gratitude for the saint's "magnanimity" and "sincerity". An Lushan will be pardoned later, and the case will be shelved due to insufficient evidence, but this does not prevent it from becoming a stain and hidden danger in An Lushan's career.

In the future, when Brother Ji wants to punish An Lushan, he only needs to say that he has found new evidence in Pei Kuan's case and needs him to return to Chang'an to report on his duties and assist in the investigation. He does not even need to find additional reasons for dismissal and investigation.

"Okay, Zheng Zhengqing."

Yan Zhenqing nodded slightly, suppressed the pain in his heart, opened a file and read:

"On the second day after Pei Shangshu was assassinated, Jin Wuwei captured the suspect in a Hu cake shop in Pingkangfang and took him to Dali Temple for interrogation by Zheng Zhengqing himself.

During this period, the suspect confessed that Right Prime Minister Li Linfu was the chief envoy, and Hexi Jiedushi Fang Chongyong, who returned to Beijing to report on his duties, planned the assassination. Then he took advantage of the officer's unpreparedness and crashed into a pillar and died.

At this point, the case has come to a standstill.

Since the suspect only gave one side of the story, neither the Right Prime Minister nor Fang Jieshuai was involved in the case. I went to the Yamen of Dali Temple today just to ask questions. "

Yan Zhenqing was not sure whether An Lushan assassinated Pei Kuan, but he knew that Li Linfu and Fang Chongyong must be innocent in this case.

The last sentence was a comment he added privately.

In other words, the suspect's one-sided statement was simply not enough to accuse the two men. Li Linfu and Fang Chongyong are just "witnesses" in this case.

"Zheng Zhengqing, you just judge the case, don't look at me. It's you who are judging, not me.

I'm just here to listen. After all, this case involves a prime minister and two military envoys, so I'm just curious. "

Brother Ji held a wooden-handled silk fan in his hand and kept shaking it, looking like he was enjoying watching a show.

The fan has a circular surface with a pair of flying birds on it, holding flowers in their mouths. Two mountains are painted on the bottom of the bird, and flowers are painted on the top. It is very exquisite.

After hearing this, Fang Chongyong, who was sitting aside, had a hard time resisting the urge to complain.

If he could, he really wanted to beat Brother Ji to death right now!

Perhaps Li Linfu and An Lushan had similar thoughts now, but like Fang Chongyong, these two people had cold and unsmiling expressions, as if they had made an appointment.

"Yan Shaoqing, please also tell us the new developments in the case."

Zheng Shuqing ordered.

"More than ten days ago, Chen Lu, a strong man in his thirties, died in a rented house in Huaidefang near Jinguangmen. Many of the residents here are from other places and their registered residence is not in Chang'an.

Most of their occupations are related to funerals, and Chen Lu is no exception.

Later, Jin Wuwei's investigation revealed that this man used to be poor, but recently he suddenly became rich and generous. He no longer went to the coffin shop in Chonghuafang in the south to make coffins. He spent all day living and drinking, as if he had endless money.

Later, I heard from neighbors and homeowners that recently there was a man named Li Meng from Hebei who was very close to him and often came here.

The Zao officials from Wannian County captured Li Meng and interrogated him overnight. They found that Li Meng actually had military membership in the Pinglu Army! It’s still recorded in the Ministry of War’s records!

After Wannian County handed Li Meng over to Dali Temple for detailed interrogation, the suspect not only confessed the fact of murder and silence, but also the purpose of the murder. "

At this point, Yan Zhenqing pointed at An Lushan and said: "Li Meng is a personal soldier of An Lushan, the military governor of Pinglu. He came to Chang'an to kill people and kill people. He wanted to eliminate the human and material evidence of the assassination of Pei Kuan, the minister of household affairs! Commander An Jie , don’t you have anything to explain?”

What am I trying to explain?

An Lushan looked confused. He never expected that a big pot would fall from the sky in such a ridiculous way. The framed person doesn’t even want to delve into the basic logical relationship!

He secretly cursed in his heart, if he really planned this incident, after the murder was successful, all members of the assassination team would definitely withdraw from Chang'an, and then all members of the assassination team would be silenced and the corpses destroyed!

Can we let these people stay in Chang'an and let Jinwu Guard catch them?

"Well, this matter is quite strange.

An Lushan, please tell me what's going on.

Could it be that Dali Temple has wronged you? "

Brother Ji pointed at An Lushan with his fan and asked.

"Weichen, Weichen is wronged!"

An Lushan didn't say much nonsense, he just knelt on the ground and cried bitterly! Fang Chongyong felt that An Lushan might not have cried like this when his mother died. From hearing the slander to bursting into tears, it only took a second or two!

An actor’s self-cultivation!

Looking calmly at the ridiculous scene in front of him, Fang Chongyong had a question in his mind: Did An Pangpang think he could get through today's test by crying?

Looking at this posture, Brother Ji has even prepared an unjust case package for him, directly looking for him from the Pinglu Army!

Fang Chongyong didn't know exactly how Brother Ji operated, but he thought that judging from the emperor's power and the resources he controlled, it would not be difficult to frame a Jiedu envoy.

"Bring someone to commit Li Meng's crime."

Yan Zhenqing shouted.

Soon, a prisoner in coarse linen clothes and unkempt hair was brought into the lobby of the Dali Temple Yamen and knelt in front of everyone.

"Li Meng, is the person who ordered you to kill someone and silence him in the hall now? Please identify him!"

Yan Zhenqing said in a stern and calm tone.

"It's him! It's him! An Lushan, the envoy of Pinglu Festival!

It was he who instigated me to kill and silence him. Chen Lu planned to assassinate Pei Kuan, the Minister of Household Affairs, and then stayed in Chang'an instead of returning to Yingzhou. An Lushan asked me to go to Chang'an to silence him. Only if he dies will An Lushan not be confessed. "

The suspect named Li Meng stared at An Lushan, pointed at him and shouted!

There was silence in the lobby of the Yamen of Dali Temple. Even An Lushan, who was kneeling down and crying, was stunned and didn't speak.

At this moment, Fang Chongyong completely understood Brother Ji's routine.

In previous lives, whether they were professional film critics or ordinary people who occasionally turned on the TV or computer and watched movies and videos casually, didn't they know that movies were fake?

Of course you know that. There is actually no need to answer this question. No matter how "real" the movie is, it must be fake.

Just like the obvious frame-up before us, whether it is true or false, there is no need to pursue it at all.

In ancient times, the chain of evidence used in handling cases could not withstand scrutiny, and there was no physical evidence in this case.

Even if there is, without professional technology to detect fingerprints, hair, DNA, etc., it will be difficult to judge the merits.

How to prove one's innocence was a very troublesome problem in Fang Chongyong's previous life, let alone in ancient times?

Unfortunately, this is not an era where facts and truth are spoken. It doesn't matter whether An Lushan did it or not. What matters is what Brother Ji thinks.

"Li Meng, this matter is of great importance. If I find out that you framed the whole family, I will punish the three clans!"

Ji Ge angrily scolded the suspect with a tigerish face.

"Back to the saint, sinners dare not lie. As for someone's identity, you will know the authenticity once you check it."

Li Meng knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Brother Ji.

"Sage, this man used to be the personal soldier of Zuo Xiang when he was the envoy of Pinglu. After Wei Chen took office, he changed his personal soldiers and only met him once.

This person must be holding a grudge because of this, and he is using this to put the blame on a minor official. Please ask the sage to take a closer look. "

An Lushan Shi Shiran said without any panic on his face. In the past, Li Shizhi served as the military governor of Pinglu, and many of the soldiers around him were actually Fang Youde's confidants. They were the elite who followed Fang Youde to conquer the Bohai Kingdom, and this Li Meng was one of them.

However, after An Lushan became the military governor of Pinglu, he replaced all the soldiers around him with Hu people from his own tribe, with Shi Siming as the captain of the soldiers.

So from this perspective, An Lushan did not lie.

"Is there such a thing?"

Brother Ji looked at Zheng Shuqing and asked.

"Back to the saint, these are just one-sided words from both sides. But Li Meng's military membership is in the Pinglu Army, and he still has not retired. This is ironclad.

Wei Chen could only find this. "

Zheng Shuqing saluted Brother Ji with folded hands, which already hinted that An Lushan could not clear his suspicions at all.

It can be seen from his words that Li Meng's military registration is in Pinglu, he is an athlete in the Long March, and there is this person in the Ministry of War. Moreover, this person should still be serving in the army and has not been reported killed or missing in action. Then Li Meng's words have considerable credibility.

An Lushan needs to provide more powerful evidence to "prove his innocence."

As for personal soldiers, the Ministry of War's account books do not record them in detail. In fact, private soldiers and ordinary soldiers are only relative to the personal relationship between certain generals. There is no so-called "professional" personal soldiers at all.

Take what An Lushan said just now. Who knows if An Lushan deliberately alienated a close confidant and used him as a chess piece to "do dark work"?

There were no cameras or tape recorders in the Tang Dynasty. Anyway, it was just a matter of words without any evidence. An Lushan could not prove that he had nothing to do with this suspect. On the contrary, the document provided by the Ministry of War was enough to prove that this person was now a member of the Pinglu Army!

Things like this depend very much on "subjective judgment." If the emperor says you have it, you have it, and if the emperor says you don't have it, you don't have it!

An Lushan lowered his head, eyes darting around.

The development of the matter is actually very close to what Zhang Tongru had speculated before. If things continue like this, the next step will be for the emperor to come out to "smooth things over", saying that there is insufficient evidence and that court officials cannot be imprisoned casually, and then he will find a secluded residence in Chang'an to put himself under house arrest.

An Lushan doesn't want this to happen!

Thinking of this, An Lushan suddenly saluted Ji Ge with folded hands, then knelt on the ground and cried loudly:

"Sage, Wei Chen would like to explain that the assassin who assassinated Shangshu Pei was probably from the Hexi Frontier Army!

They are from the Doulu Army! It is inseparable from Fang Chongyong, the governor of Shazhou at the time!

Now another confidant of Fang Youde's back then has come out!

This is the Fang family's father and son teaming up to frame a minor official. They want to control all the border troops of the Tang Dynasty and then plot to rebel!

Weak ministers are the thorn in their side, please be aware of this! "

Eh?

Everyone present was shocked and frightened by An Lushan's words!

Brother Ji's old face was as black as the bottom of a pot, and his whole body was shaking with anger! This is the first time someone dares to expose those unexplained scandals in front of him!

Well, if you don't count the time of longevity king Li Long.

Of course, Li Meng was Fang Youde's old subordinate, but Brother Ji personally arranged these things. He just borrowed Fang Youde's interpersonal relationships. After all, as an emperor who never goes out of his way, it is of course impossible for him to know a specific soldier in the border army.

What An Lushan said just now was clearly a slap in the face on purpose! Brother Ji doesn't believe that An Lushan can't understand this drama!

This bastard, how dare he resist!

At this moment, Fang Chongyong, who had been sitting still just now, stood up, ran to An Lushan and kicked him hard in the face!

An Lushan was like a meat ball. After rolling on the ground a few times, he leaned against the wall. He was so dizzy that he hadn't recovered yet!

This kick was not enough to relieve his anger, so Fang Chongyong rushed over and kicked An Lushan's fat belly hard. The latter clutched his stomach desperately and struggled to get up from the ground!

Several officials from the Yamen of Dali Temple rushed over to grab Fang Chongyong at the same time. After An Lushan climbed up, he rushed over again. The two of them struggled with each other, and the scene suddenly became chaotic!

"enough!"

Brother Ji yelled!

Soon, Fang Chongyong was held by Zheng Shuqing, and An Lushan was held by Yan Zhenqing. There were five or six officials between them to separate them. Fang Chongyong only received a punch at the corner of his mouth and was slightly bruised. But An Lushan didn't seem so lucky. His face was already fat, but now it was bruised and swollen and had been beaten into a pig's head.

"You are the military envoys entrusted by the imperial court. How can you act like street gangsters and fight in front of me?"

Brother Ji looked at Fang Chongyong with a dark face, then at An Lushan, and couldn't help roaring.

"A saint, a scholar can be killed but not humiliated. My father and son's loyalty to the saint has been proven by the sun and the moon, and I cannot tolerate the slander of this bastard!"

Fang Chongyong pointed at An Lushan and cursed loudly.

"Sage, someone who is as loyal to you as the Tianshan Mountains is as loyal as Kunlun. I want to duel with this thief! Please don't stop me, saint.

Little thief Fang! Tomorrow I will be waiting for you on Zhuque Street outside the Imperial City Gate. We will fight with fists and feet without any weapons until death!

Do you dare to challenge? "

An Lushan scolded back.

"Why don't you dare! Saint, let me kill this bastard!"

Fang Chongyong replied not to be outdone, spitting out fragrance.

In the Tang Dynasty, martial arts were practiced, and it was not only not uncommon to get into fights at the slightest disagreement, but it was often encountered. Pleasure and enmity itself was the mainstream thought at that time.

Although the fight between the two Jiedushi envoys on the street was outrageous, their brave and fearless martial spirit resonated well with society.

Jiedushi was the one who led the troops in war. If they don't even dare to fight, who can believe that they can lead troops to defend the country?

In other words, it is certainly a polite way for officials to fight violently, but everyone from the civil and military officials to the people in Guizhou fall into this trap.

This is indeed a very majestic and simple and crude solution.

"Hey, you are all officials of the imperial court, how can you behave like this!

They are all my ministers. If anyone is injured, I will be heartbroken! "

Brother Ji sighed and said, but there was a faint flash of pride on his face, and then disappeared.

An Lushan's move successfully changed the topic. Now everyone is worried about whether to let the two Jiedu envoys fight in the street to resolve their grievances, and have no intention of pursuing the matter of An Lushan's envoy's men going to Chang'an to kill people.

"Saint, you live with a face. Matters of reputation are a matter of life and death!

An Lushan slandered my father and son as the sons of treacherous ministers and traitors. This name is unfair and they cannot be regarded as human beings.

Please ask the saints to help you. There must be an explanation for the grudge between a certain person and An Lushan. The minister is willing to fight with him in public, life or death! "

Fang Chongyong knelt down on one knee and asked for battle.

This kind of fighting style was very common in the Tang Dynasty, but there were not many people fighting purely hand-to-hand without the help of weapons and armor.

"Sage, the same goes for humble ministers!"

An Lushan also knelt down on one knee and said.

"Okay! Three days later, I will set up a ring on Suzaku Street outside the imperial city gate. The two of them will fight on the stage. They will not bring weapons or armor. They must fight until the end.

After this battle, all grudges have been wiped out! That’s it for today’s case. You two can go back and prepare! "

Brother Ji waved his hand, turned around and left the Dali Temple Yamen lobby.

Fang Chongyong stood up, glanced at An Lushan, put his hand on his neck, and made a gesture of cutting his throat.

(End of this chapter)