Early Tang Dynasty: forge ahead

Chapter 497 Borrowing People
"Huaiying, don't let me down!"

Chen Qingsi's words soon came true.

Di Renjie did not disappoint Chen Qingsi.

Di Renjie didn't even look at Li Chongde.

Before being promoted to the Minister of Works, Li Chongde was the Jieshizhong, an important position in the Menxia Province, in charge of admonishing the attendants, also known as "Jiejian" or "Jieshi".

The powers of the Jieshi Zhong somewhat overlap with the definition of Di Renjie's Shiyushi, both of which have the power of supervision.

In terms of status, the Jieshizhong was higher, and in addition to impeaching officials, he was also qualified to make suggestions and discuss politics. However, the Shiyushi had more real power, including the power to enforce the law and investigate rumors.

As a member of the censors, Li Chongde paid great attention to his personal morality. Although he was despised for including Li Yifu in the family tree, he did a good job in other aspects. He was cautious and never made mistakes.

Chen Qingsi couldn't find any flaws in Li Chongde, so he could only make up some specious, true and false things to anonymously accuse Li Chongde.

Faced with these false accusations that were both true and false, and false but with a hint of truth, Di Renjie could not be fooled at all.

Di Renjie was now busy investigating new cases while also having old cases on hand. He did not even give the false accusation a second glance, and their goal was not achieved.

Chen Qingsi also had a headache about this. This person was too shrewd, which might not be a good thing.

Zhou Kui was the executor, but Di Renjie was not fooled. He had no other options and could only ask Chen Qingsi for help: "Lord, I have tried many methods, but none of them worked. I had no choice but to spend a month investigating Li Chongde, hoping to find some evidence against him before suing him. I think a guy who could put Li Yifu, a jerk, in the family tree must be unclean."

As he spoke, he revealed a bitter smile: "After investigation, it turns out that Li Chongde was suspected of being unfilial, in addition to the fact that he invited Li Yifu into the family tree and pulled him out of the family tree."

Chen Qingsi was not surprised. He had been in the Tang Dynasty for many years and had a certain understanding of the personalities and reputations of many ministers in the court.

Apart from the fact that Li Yifu was included in the family tree, Li Chongde really did not have a bad reputation.

"Unfilial piety is a great sin, what does it mean to doubt unfilial piety?"

The ancients attached great importance to virtue, with filial piety being the first priority. An unfilial person was not qualified to be an official.

This rule is not entirely unreasonable. Just imagine, if a person does not even have basic filial piety, how can we expect him to be loyal and love the people?
If you don’t even care about your own parents, who else can you care about?

Zhou Kui said, "It happened ten years ago, when your majesty had just ascended the throne. Li Chongde's biological mother was critically ill. Some people said that Li Chongde was reluctant to give up the opportunities of the new dynasty and was unwilling to go home to take care of his mother. But the fact is that Li Chongde not only went home, but also observed mourning for his mother. After the mourning period was over, he returned to the imperial court."

Chen Qingsi closed his eyes and thought, he couldn't get involved in this case.

Given Li Zhi's character, even if he overthrew Empress Wu, he would inevitably bring disaster upon himself, so he had to let Di Renjie do it.

"I have some dirt on Li Chongde... So, you arrange for someone to accuse Li Chongde of colluding with the traitor Shangguan Yi. As for the reason, the flood control method he used originated from Shangguan Yi's flood control strategy."

This was something that Chen Qingsi found very strange. During the time that Shangguan Yi was prime minister, he had been committed to solving the transportation capacity problem in Guanzhong and allowing the court to get rid of the title of the emperor who pursued grain.

Shangguan Yi was from Shanzhou and was particularly familiar with the local terrain. He developed a set of reasonable methods for water control and canal digging.

Shangguan Yi regarded this as his greatest achievement as prime minister and paid special attention to this matter.

Unfortunately, Shangguan Yi met Li Zhi who was suddenly ill. Li Zhi wanted to complete his long-cherished wish as soon as possible and was unwilling to use the already scarce treasury for this matter. Later, Shangguan Yi thought he had guessed Li Zhi's intentions and proposed to depose the empress, which violated a taboo. Li Zhi took advantage of the situation to get rid of her with the help of Empress Wu, and also took down the former crown prince Li Zhong who was supported by the Guandong gentry, thus removing a major threat to his son.

Therefore, Shangguan Yi's method of flood control and canal digging was not mentioned by others.

The reason why Chen Qingsi knew this method was because Shangguan Yi's daughter-in-law Zheng gave it to him...

As history unfolded, Shangguan Yi's daughter-in-law Zheng eventually gave birth to Shangguan Wan'er, and Li Zhi released Zheng and Shangguan Wan'er from the palace in accordance with the agreement.

Chen Qingsi wanted to adopt them, but Zheng was strong-willed and decided to raise Shangguan Wan'er alone.

Chen Qingsi respected Zheng's decision.

Zheng was grateful to Chen Qingsi for rescuing her and her daughter from the palace, and she also gave him some calligraphy and paintings collected by Shangguan Yi, including some strategies for flood control and canal digging.

After reading it, Chen Qingsi felt that it had great potential, but at that time the court was busy with the Fengshan ceremony and did not have extra manpower and financial resources, so it was put on hold. Later, Li Chongde proposed to control the water and open canals in advance, which surprised Chen Qingsi, so he did not mention it again.

The imperial court controlled floods and dug canals in order to transport food and fodder, and Chen Qingsi also paid attention to the progress from time to time. As a result, he discovered that the method used by Li Chongde to control floods and dig canals was 70% similar to Shangguan Yi's previous suggestions.

Chen Qingsi felt relieved instead and didn't ask any questions.

As long as it is effective and beneficial to the country, it doesn't matter whose method is used.

Chen Qingsi originally did not intend to talk about the water control and canal opening to avoid affecting the progress of the project. However, compared with the progress of the project, which was already in the final stage, the matters of Li Yifu and Li Chongde were obviously more important.

Chongxianfang, Di’s house.

Di Renjie came from a family of officials and had a wealthy family background. Once he had settled in Chang'an, it was natural for him to buy a house to live in.

As soon as he got home, Di Renjie couldn't wait to ask, "Has anyone handed over Li Chongde's false accusation letter?"

"Yes!" A young man dressed as a servant handed a silk book to Di Renjie.

Di Renjie didn't look, but asked: "Did you find any trace of people?"

The attendant shook his head and said, "The person who sent the letter is quite capable. I only caught a shadow and don't know who it is."

Di Renjie frowned and said, "I couldn't even catch up with you?"

The attendant was called Di Wu. A wealthy family like the Di family would adopt orphans or children of tenant farmers, either as book boys or guards.

Di Wu was a guard trained by the Di family. He had good martial arts skills, especially running skills.

In order to find the person who wrote the letter, Di Renjie specially arranged Di Wu to wait in ambush, but he still failed to catch the person behind it.

Di Renjie took the silk book and looked at it carefully. His pupils shrank. Compared with the previous times, this time, there was something real!

After reading the content word by word, Di Renjie's eyes showed a hint of confusion.

In fact, Chen Qingsi was a little wrong.

Chen Qingsi thought that Di Renjie didn't care about Li Chongde at all, but he was wrong.

Di Renjie noticed that Li Chongde arrived much earlier than Chen Qingsi had imagined.

After Di Renjie entered the Censorate, the first thing he did was to review all the files in recent years.

Hidden in a pile of old cases was a file accusing Li Chongde. However, the contents of the file were blurred, and ink was spilled on the key parts, so it was difficult to read the contents and what the situation was.

The only thing we know is that the case was personally handled by the then Chief Censor Yuan Gongyu, who was a member of Li Yifu's family.

Di Renjie was so smart that he immediately thought of Li Yifu. The reason was of course the well-known incident of the genealogy. Di Renjie was born into a family of gentry, so he knew what the genealogy meant to aristocratic families like the Zhaojun Li family.

Li Chongde was able to compromise Li Yifu to the point of including him in the family tree. There must be a deep relationship behind this.

If Chen Qingsi could sense this, then Di Renjie could naturally sense it as well.

Di Renjie immediately understood that the reason was in this file.

However, Di Renjie put him aside, and there was no way to investigate. Li Chongde was the person involved, and he would definitely not tell anyone if asked. Li Yifu had died in Xizhou, and the only person who knew the details was Yuan Gongyu, the Chief Censor. Yuan Gongyu was demoted to Lingnan because of Li Yifu's involvement, and served as a Sima in Bianzhou.

It would not be appropriate to mobilize a large number of troops to go to Bianzhou in Lingnan just for this old case.

Di Renjie decided to put this case aside for the time being. After all, it was a ten-year-old case and he had a lot of new and old cases on hand.

Manpower is limited, so take it one piece at a time.

But as people continued to falsely accuse Li Chongde, Di Renjie smelled something unusual.

Does anybody know anything?
Di Renjie didn't investigate because he had no clues and the key evidence would be smeared out by ink. If there was real evidence, Di Renjie would never give up.

So Di Renjie asked Di Wu to keep watch and wait for the opportunity.

In the end, he was not caught...

As Di Renjie looked at the new "narrative" against Li Chongde in his hand, all kinds of thoughts instantly popped into his mind.

He always thought that the person behind the scenes did not dare to show up because of fear, but now it seems that it is not because of fear, but a deeper motive: at least the other party knows Shangguan Yi, knows Shangguan Yi's flood control and river dredging, and also knows that Li Chongde adopted Shangguan Yi's river control strategy.

This is not something that ordinary people can access, and there are only a handful of people in the government who can understand it so deeply.

Di Renjie frowned in thought.

Seeing this, Di Wu was a little uneasy, thinking that he had ruined the situation, and said, "Young Master, give me another chance, I will definitely catch him next time."

Di Renjie shook his head and smiled, "No need, he won't come. There's no need to see him. If he really wanted to know some clues, he wouldn't use this trick to make me focus on Li Chongde."

He shook his head and walked into the house, thinking to himself: "What secrets does Li Chongde have? Why is it like this for an old case from ten years ago? Or is there another secret about Li Chongde? Yes, Li Chongde's files are hidden deep in the warehouse of the Censorate, and ordinary people cannot know them. What the target wants to investigate is not the old case, but the secret that Li Chongde is hiding now..."

"Where did Li Chongde get Lai Shangguanyi's method of water control and canal digging?"

Di Renjie suddenly thought of a flaw. Who is Shangguan Yi?

The founder of Shangguan style and a leading figure in the literary world in the past, if it were not for the emergence of Chen Qingsi, he would have been a master of poetry.

Di Renjie had no contact with Shangguan Yi, but he had heard of each other's character.

If it was Li Chongde before Li Yifu was included in the family tree, it is possible that Shangguan Yi had a close relationship with him. But after such a shameful incident, Shangguan Yi, with his pride, would never associate with such a person.

It was impossible for him to obtain Shangguan Yi's method of water control and canal digging.

Di Renjie noticed the clue, so this can be tried.

Chen Zhai.

Zhou Kui, still in shock, told Chen Qingsi how he almost got discovered.

"Master, Master Di is too cunning. He has long been on to this and has arranged for his men to squat. Fortunately, I know some tricks to avoid it."

Chen Qingsi was stunned for a moment, then he laughed and said, "This kid, it turns out he was just pretending. I wonder if he will figure it out, but he probably will. Well, since he has taken over, we don't need to pay attention to it, and we'll see the result."

Zhou Kui asked, "What should we do next? Should we tell Di Langjun about our suspicions about Li Yifu so that he can investigate?"

Chen Qingsi thought for a moment and shook his head, "Not for now. We have to investigate Li Chongde's case bit by bit. If the man behind the scenes is really Li Yifu, unless Empress Wu has the same power as Your Majesty, he will always have to live in the shadows. He needs someone to stand in the open, and Li Chongde should be the person he chooses. If Di Renjie investigates Li Chongde, Empress Wu and Li Yifu will be anxious, and they will make mistakes when they are anxious, and then there will be a chance. On the contrary, if you tell Di Renjie too early, his target will become Li Yifu."

"Once Li Yifu is frightened, he won't show up. Neither Empress Wu nor Li Yifu can bear this result... You can tell him when necessary, but not now."

Chen Qingsi knows how to play the game.

The current situation is that he is playing chess with Empress Wu and most likely someone from Li Yifu, and the referee is Li Zhi, the almighty Emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

If you want to win this game of chess, you must have hard evidence, not just guesswork.

All the information they have now is based on speculation and is meaningless.

It would be most appropriate to let Di Renjie, who is outside the chess game, make the charge.

"Master, Master Di wants to see you outside..."

Chen Qingsi and Zhou Kui looked at each other.

Chen Qingsi was very calm, but Zhou Kui was a little surprised, even a little flustered.

Chen Qingsi smiled and said, "Go and invite him here. Stay calm. Di Renjie is not a man-eating beast."

Zhou Kui took a deep breath and walked out.

After a while, Di Renjie's voice sounded outside the house: "Mr. Chen!"

"Come in!" Chen Qingsi said, "Huaiying came at the right time. I'm craving tea. I've made some tea, but I'm just in need of someone to taste it."

Di Renjie entered, bowed, and sat respectfully aside.

Chen Qingsi handed the brewed tea to Di Renjie and said, "But did you encounter any trouble at work?"

Di Renjie tasted the tea in his hand first, and then said, "I am indeed worried about a case."

Chen Qingsi asked: "Is there anything I can help you with?"

Di Renjie said, "I found a half-destroyed file in the old files of the Censorate. I can't tell you the content, but I just need a few good people to go to Bianzhou. Zhou Zhuangshi is the best. I am amazed by his ability and I still remember him clearly."

When heading north, Chen Qingsi asked Di Renjie to investigate first and asked Zhou Kui to follow him to protect him and facilitate communication.

Bianzhou?

Chen Qingsi had just sent someone to Bianzhou to see if Yuan Gongyu was there, and he knew at the first moment that Di Renjie was planning to start with Yuan Gongyu.

He said calmly, "I can lend you the others, but Zhou Kui and I are nominally master and servant, but in reality we are friends. I cannot be his master... I will call him over, and you can talk to him in person."

(End of this chapter)