The Prodigal Son of Zhenguan

"Lawyer Pei, we have no grudges in the past and in the present. You have slandered me and even dragged the emperor into it. You are good, you are really good!" Li Fu scolded Lawyer Pei.

"You want His Majesty to spare your life for the crime of deceiving the emperor. Even if you die, this matter will not only implicate you. Throughout history, the crime of deceiving the emperor has implicated the entire family. Who in your Pei family can be immune to it!"

Li Fu's tone was cold and his expression was grim. If his eyes could kill, Lawyer Pei would have died in this court long ago.

"Prince of Jingyang, this matter is indeed the fault of my child, but."

"No buts." Li Fu interrupted Pei Ji directly: "The crime of deceiving the emperor, where do so many buts come from?"

Li Fu doesn't know anything else, but he doesn't need to be taught to beat a drowning dog.

There was already a deadly feud between him and the Pei family. It has come to this point. Do you still expect him to speak nicely? Who do you think you are and need me to speak nicely to you?

I didn't stab you to death on the spot to avenge you, which means I have a good temper.

"I have forgiven you once before, and I forgive you again today. So from now on, the crime of deceiving the emperor should be deleted from the law. Why should we revise the law?"

"Prince of Jingyang, the Book of Rites says that doctors should not be punished..."

Someone else stood up to speak for Lawyer Pei.

"Don't confuse concepts in front of all the officials in the court. We are all educated people." Li Fu sneered: "If you say that, others will think that you think everyone is uneducated and uneducated. The whole court, all the officials, are just idling away their time."

"The so-called punishment does not apply to doctors only means that corporal punishment does not apply to doctors, not death penalty. From ancient times to the present, the concept of punishment sometimes has a very wide extension, including all punishments... In more cases, the extension of the word punishment is limited, often only corporal punishment. Corporal punishment is called punishment or criminal crime, and death penalty is called killing or death penalty. Punishment does not contain the meaning of killing, and killing is not called punishment. Punishment and killing are different, and each has its own meaning. This is almost the general practice of ancient people in writing."

"In the Han Dynasty, the writing method of separating punishment from killing became more strict and clear. , which refers to corporal punishment. The death penalty is not called punishment but killing. The two are rarely mixed. You are not uneducated, are you? "

Li Fu looked at the man who stood up to speak for Lawyer Pei with contempt: "How can an uneducated person stand here as an official?"

"And Lawyer Pei committed the crime of deceiving the emperor, which is a capital crime! It is not corporal punishment."

Then, Li Fu looked at Li Shimin, bowed his hands and said: "Your Majesty, I have two demands. One is to punish Lawyer Pei for deceiving the emperor and make the canonical punishment clear. Second, the officials in the court who have not been educated should be purged to avoid harming the country. It is not easy for the Tang Dynasty to have what it has today."

Li Shimin closed his eyes. Li Fu's words were weird and unpleasant to listen to.

However, it is certain that Lawyer Pei will be punished for deceiving the emperor.

As for the others.

Li Shimin lowered his eyes, his expression was uncertain.

"There are witnesses and evidences in this matter, so there is nothing to discuss. The crime of deceiving the emperor is punishable by death. In three days, Lawyer Pei will be beheaded." Li Shimin said: "Pei Ji, for not disciplining him strictly, he will be dismissed from his post as Zuo Pushe and Sikong, his property will be confiscated, and he will be exiled to Guangzhou. The rest of the Pei family, all officials in the court, will be demoted by three levels."

"Your Majesty, think twice. Is this punishment too severe?" Someone stood up and said.

"What? Do you also have the idea of ​​deceiving the emperor?" Li Shimin asked.

"I dare not."

"Oh?" Li Shimin sneered: "You dare not? Go back and read the law carefully. How to determine the crime of deceiving the emperor? Don't be like what King Jingyang said, as if you are a person who has never read books.

If you don't know what reading is, there is no need to be an official in the court. Send the resignation memorial to Liangyi Hall and I will approve it."

After Li Shimin finished speaking, he stood up and waved his robe sleeves.

"Dismiss the court." Li Shimin said.

After saying that, he turned and left.

"Farewell, Your Majesty." The court officials bowed their hands one after another.

Pei Ji's face was pale, and Lawyer Pei had some mental problems. After hearing the verdict, he went crazy on the spot.

Li Wu and two people from the Hundred Cavalry Division directly dragged Lawyer Pei out.

At this time, Pei Ji reacted, got up and chased out of the hall.

"My son! My son!" Pei Ji's call was so sad that it was unbearable.

After the court was dismissed, the court officials walked out, gathered in twos and threes, and also discussed the matter privately.

"The Pei family is finished this time."

"Who said it wasn't? I can only say that what Lawyer Pei did was indeed stupid."

"That's right, the emperor protected the Pei family a lot before, and the palace had already let it go last time, so why did it happen again?""This time, it was the Emperor who gave the crime. Even the Emperor abandoned the Pei family."

"I can only say that the Pei family deserves it, and so does Pei Ji. He is old, why can't he let it go? Now, his son is gone, and the Pei family is also ruined."

"Maybe, His Majesty has long disliked the Pei family..."

"Be careful with your words."

The court officials gradually walked away. Li Fu stood at the door of Taiji Hall and glanced down at Pei Ji.

Pei Ji seemed to sense something and looked up at Li Fu.

"Li Fu! Are you satisfied with the current state of the Pei family?"

"Pei Ji, you are really interesting. You don't know who to hate, right?" Li Fu looked into the distance: "Did I ask Lawyer Pei to spread rumors during the locust plague? Did I ask Lawyer Pei to spread rumors about the relationship between the emperor and me?"

"Neither." Li Fu sneered: "All the things are caused by you. From the beginning, it has always been you who pushed all this behind the scenes. It was you who asked Lawyer Pei to do it. It was you who made him understand that it was possible to do this. It was you who did not teach your son well and let him go down this path.

Everything is you!

You have done a lot of wrong things. During the Wude years, when the emperor was in power, he knew all these, but he didn't care about you.

No But what do you think? Do you really have the ability to govern the country?

It is the retired emperor who has been praising you.

Your so-called merit of following the emperor was worn away by your actions as early as the Wude years.

Pei Ji, you are mediocre in intelligence, but you always want to maneuver in the court and win over this and that.

Relying on your good relationship with the retired emperor, some noble families in Chang'an City have been blackmailed by you. You are in this situation today because of the causes you planted in the past.

Look at those people who sent you IOUs, they are the ones who wish you dead the most. "

"When you die, the things that happened back then will be completely revealed. Otherwise, the IOU written when you escaped from Chang'an will always be mentioned by others."

"IOU?" Pei Ji's turbid eyes were filled with some doubts.

"That's right, IOUs. When the Turks marched southwards and aimed at Chang'an, you forced His Majesty to move the capital to avoid the Turks. At that time, the emperor gave the matter to you and Prince Xi to handle. In other words, if the capital was really moved, you had the final say on who would be on the first list of people to leave Chang'an.

Those noble families must have visited you in order to be escorted out of Chang'an earlier, right? Or they brought valuable gifts to visit you.

But in order to make it easier to carry them when you were fleeing, you did not accept the gifts they gave you, but asked these noble families to write IOUs, saying that they would pay you back after you left Chang'an and settled down."

"Although the matter of moving the capital was not resolved later, those IOUs are still in your hands, right?" Li Fu sneered and said, "Pei Ji, have you ever thought that these IOUs would one day come back to claim your life? They would become the reason why those noble families abandoned you and wanted you dead."

Suddenly, Pei Ji stared at Li Fu viciously.

"How do you know this?!" Pei Ji questioned Li Fu. "How do I know?" Li Fu sneered, "Why don't I know? This matter is not only known to me, but also to His Majesty and the Emperor. Do you think that what you did is unknown to the gods? Too many people know, Pei Ji. This time, your foolish son's trouble has only opened a gap. However, once this gap is opened, it can't be closed. The Emperor's patience with you has reached its limit, and his affection for you has been worn away by one thing after another. Don't you know it?" "Do you think that if you send the land deed of the Pei family's farm in Jingyang County to the Emperor, the Emperor will remember this matter? This is the Emperor giving you a chance, giving you a , giving you two brothers a chance to go back to the past.

It's just that you didn't cherish it. "

"Lawyer Pei spread rumors about me and even took the emperor to jail. He just relied on this incident and Princess Linhai to think that neither the emperor nor His Majesty wanted Princess Linhai to be a widow.

But Pei Ji, have you forgotten? His Majesty issued an imperial decree to encourage women to remarry after divorce or widowhood. This is true for ordinary people, and even more so for royal princesses.

Royal princesses can even take the lead in remarrying and influence the people. "

In order to increase the population of the Tang Dynasty and restore productivity, such an imperial decree is particularly appropriate at the moment.

"Even if the royal family wants to take care of Princess Linhai, even the emperor has been rumored to be in jail, and Princess LinhaiDon't you need to consider the issue of filial piety?"

"Since Princess Linhai was confined to her house as soon as she returned to Chang'an, you should have realized that Princess Linhai's path was no longer feasible. "

Pei Ji looked dejected.

It turned out that the emperor knew everything.

Even after he moved to Da'an Palace, he repeatedly persuaded himself, which was also a warning to himself. However, he had already sat in the position of Zuo Pushe and Sikong in the court, and was blinded by power and interests.

By the time he reacted, he was completely unable to extricate himself.

There were too many people standing behind him, pushing him forward to do those wrong things... and the wrong things he did, as Li Fu said, affected his son and made his son think that such things could be done.

In order to return to Chang'an City, Lawyer Pei was like crazy. Even if he returned to Chang'an City and did not serve as an official, he was willing. Anyway, after a few years, when the limelight was over, he could still serve as an official in the court with the title of Fuma Duwei.

Everything seemed to have never happened.

So, he took a risk.

He brought down the Pei family.

"Pei Ji, Guangzhou is a good place. "Li Fu sneered.

"Is King Jingyang trying to add insult to injury?" Pei Ji asked.

Li Fu did not give a clear answer to Pei Ji's question.

"Pei Ji, in your opinion, there doesn't seem to be such a big hatred between me and your Pei family, right?"

Pei Ji smiled: "Just my opinion, is it useful? It's useless. I know that when you were not King Jingyang before, you lived in the manor, and the people in my manor bullied you. The hatred was formed at that time."

"Just bullying?" Li Fu sneered: "Life-threatening matters are considered bullying? Pei Ji, you really know how to make excuses for your people. The behavior of your people is not out of your style."

"I was born in that manor. Since I was sensible, my mother died. The housekeeper brought me up with difficulty. On the one hand, he had to raise me, and on the other hand, he had to guard against the people in your manor.

Everyone over there knows that your Pei family wants to annex my manor and connect them together as your Pei family's property. "

"Even after Princess Linhai married Lawyer Pei, it was said that Princess Linhai was in charge of the manor. In fact, even Princess Linhai didn't know what you did outside. If Princess Linhai knew, he wouldn't have been brought back to Chang'an and confined in the princess's mansion. "

"Li Fu, Li Fu, you are really smart. "Pei Ji said: "I never thought that you were not a person who grew up in a deep mansion, but were found by the emperor halfway. How could you be so smart? "

"Of course it's all thanks to you." Li Fu smiled and said: "I almost died in the fight between the two manors for water during spring plowing. Pei Ji, the hatred between us was formed when I saved my life. "

"As for the little conflict between Lawyer Pei and me later, it was nothing. "Li Fu smiled and said, "If the Pei family had left room for the two manors, I would never hate you Pei family."

"In the past few years, for the sake of the emperor, I never took action against your family. As a result, your son killed himself. I can only say that God has eyes."

Li Fu himself was also very confused. He didn't know what happened. The Pei family killed himself all of a sudden.

He really didn't do anything.

"Do you hate the Pei family for this? Those were all done privately by the servants outside. What's more, it is normal for the two manors to grab water during spring plowing. It's not just the two manors in Jingyang County. Isn't it the same for other manors?" Pei Ji asked.

"Yes, it's normal to grab water." Li Fu smiled and said, "I rely on my ability to farm for a living, but the Pei family is thinking about my manor and not giving me a way to live. This is wrong!"