Chastity Layman

"Grand Master, Li Pingzhang pays his respects."

Di Renjie announced at the door.

Qin Lang raised his head, and instead of asking him to invite Li Yifu in, he beckoned Di Renjie to come over.

There is a stove burning in the prime minister's office, which is very warm.

There is also a kettle sitting on it, and taro is roasted.

Qin Lang poured a cup of tea for Di Renjie, picked up a taro that was still warm from the stove, "Have one?"

"Thank you, Mr. Qin."

Qin Lang also dragged a chair and sat in front of the stove with Di Renjie. During the first lunar month, Luoyang was still very cold, but the walls of the prime minister's office in the Zhengshitang were originally fire walls, and there was a flue for heating. Added a stove, the house is very warm.

The doors and windows are inlaid with glass lighting, which is very comfortable.

"I heard that the students and scholars in the school city are very active recently?"

Di Renjie was surprised, but after thinking about it, he still didn't hide it. After all, they were connecting with students and scholars. Although their actions were kept low-key and secretive, how could they hide this kind of thing?

Nod now.

"Many students of my generation felt that the eldest grandson, Chu Gong, etc. had suffered unjust injustice. Now that the new emperor is on the throne, and the virtuous ministers are in court, so my generation feels that this is a case of redressing the injustice of the elder grandson and others."

The eldest grandson Wuji is Qin Lang's father-in-law, and the two were also close political allies in the past.

After he returned to court, he was actually thinking about this matter.

It's just that this matter is not simple.

After all, the case was handled at the will of the Supreme Emperor Li Yin, Cui Yixuan, Yuan Gongyu and others from Xu Jingzong's Li Yifu. Now the most important thing to reverse the case is not the evidence.

But this case was decided by Li Yin. Now that the new emperor has just succeeded to the throne, Li Yin is still the Supreme Emperor. At this time, this case will be overturned, so the political impact will be huge.

Another one is that Xu Jingzong and Li Yifu, the sponsors of this case, are still prime ministers now. Although Yuan Gongyu and others in Cui Yifu have been demoted, these two current prime ministers and many officials are still involved after all.

Everyone knows that it is not Xu Jingzong and Li Yifu who are involved in Changsun Wuji, but the original emperor.

But if the case is overturned now, the only ones responsible for the unjust and wrongly decided cases will be Xu Jingzong, Li Yifu and others. The new emperor has just succeeded to the throne. As the prime minister in charge of the government, what Qin Lang needs most now is the stability of the court.

At this time, if the case of Changsun Wuji is vindicated, there will definitely be demonic winds.

He didn't have to protect Xu Jingzong and Li Yifu, these two people have indeed behaved a lot of irregularities in recent years, and even acted very arrogantly.

For example, Xu Jingzong is a little greedy and extravagant.

He also dotes on his concubine as his wife, but his family education is not strict. After the concubine who married his wife changed his surname to his successor, he actually had an affair with his eldest son. Xu Jingzong was so angry that he deposed the Yu family, and even personally went to the court to accuse him of being unfilial. , He was exiled to Lingnan, and later he went to the imperial court to ask the imperial court to recall the son and arrange an official position.

Xu Jingzong likes to marry. He is willing to marry as long as he is powerful or wealthy, as long as he is a member of the imperial family or a local tycoon.

After so many years, Xu Jingzong has indeed amassed a lot of money, but not many of them are really corrupt, some of them are bribes, and most of them are investment and shareholding with Qin Lang to make money. And these, in the eyes of many people, are the use of power for personal gain, greed and corruption.

Even because he has been a prime minister for many years and also studied history books, he often revises history books to vilify political opponents, while his in-laws deliberately beautify them.

Compared to Xu Jingzong, Li Yifu performed worse.

For example, there is a Chunyu family in Luoyang who was imprisoned for a crime, but after hearing that she was very beautiful, Li Yifu secretly ordered Dali Cheng to release her, and then took her as a concubine. According to the facts, the Minister of Dali Temple reported that Li Yifu was afraid that the matter would be revealed, so he forced Dali Chancellor to commit suicide in prison in order to destroy the evidence.

When Wang Yifang, a censor and famous Confucian, impeached him, he avenged his personal revenge, deliberately framed Wang Yifang, and demoted him from the court.

Although Li Yi's mansion had not been the prime minister for a long time, he formed many cronies and arbitrarily placed his children in important official positions, and his wives, concubines, and son-in-law also sold out officials and nobles wantonly.

When he was just a disciple of the Nine Grades, Du Zhenglun was the servant. Because he was reprimanded by Du Zhenglun, he always held a grudge. Later, Li Yifu finally became the prime minister, so he secretly searched for Du's excuses and slandered him in front of the emperor. , Du Zhenglun dismissed from office.

When he was not the prime minister, Li Yifu took the initiative to curry favor with Li Chongde, who was the son of the Li family of Zhaojun, and tried every means to get Li Chongde to include him in the family tree of the Li family of Zhaojun. Later, after Li Yifu became prime minister, he didn't miss the old love. Li Chongde was angry and removed Li Yifu from the genealogy.

After his death, he confiscated his wife and daughter into the teaching workshop, and then used his power for personal gain to buy his wife and daughter into the mansion as slaves.

There are many such things.

Previously, Li Yin favored and trusted Li Yifu, and specially promoted him to be Prime Minister, because Li Yifu was capable and witty, and knew how to cooperate with the emperor, so although Li Yifu was often impeached, Li Yin did not pursue it.

It is said that Li Yifu has only been prime minister for a few years, and his corruption has exceeded 20,000.

As for the gray income obtained by using power for personal gain and taking dry shares everywhere, there are even more.

Qin Lang removed Li Yifu and Xu Jingzong from their positions as three high-ranking officials, and only left a Tongpingzhangshi to be a minister in the Zhengshitang. This is also the reason.

The reason why they didn't dismiss them directly is because these two people can still be used after all, and this is a special period of transition.

Originally, Qin Lang also planned that before he left, he would definitely let Xu and Li become officials.

Xu Jingzong was already seventy, and Li Yifu was only forty-nine, younger than Qin Langdu, but as long as he passed the handover period and stabilized, they would not dare to refuse if he asked them to retire.

It's just that I didn't expect that the students in Xuecheng suddenly started making troubles.

These students said that they were young and passionate, or that they had the heart to participate in politics, but it really messed up Qin Lang's plan.

If these students make a big fuss right now, the court will be very passive in the end.

Directly overturning the elder grandson Wuji's case will make the new emperor appear unfilial, and he will overturn his father's case and change his ways.

Furthermore, Xu Jingzong and the others will definitely be burned when the case is overturned. No matter what, both Xu and Li are still members of Qin Lang's cabinet, which will endanger Qin Lang's cabinet.

Politics are never easy.

Perhaps the starting point of the students is very simple, but when things come up, there will definitely be people who fish in troubled waters. Now it is precisely because Qin Lang and the others are in charge of the situation that they can settle down the fastest.

Once there is a mess, it will be a mess by then.

It is even possible that what the students did this time may be manipulated and instigated by someone behind it.

Young students are the best cannon fodder and tools.

Qin Lang knew that Di Renjie had a high reputation among the students because of his name as the Six Gentlemen, but he didn't expect that Di Renjie would tell the truth as soon as he asked. He was actually one of the masterminds of this plan.

Of course, Di Renjie also chose to tell him, he just said that Changsun Wuji and the others were wronged, and they wanted to vindicate the wronged case, but he didn't say that they did this because Qin Lang was the dominant party in the court, and they wanted to protect the Tang Dynasty.

Qin Lang was thoughtful after listening.

"Seeing you now, I can't help but think of the summer in the ninth year of Wude, when Cheng Shumi and Niu Shumi and I were younger than you, but we were also full of blood and running for the Great Tang... ·" Qin Lang patted Di Renjie on the shoulder, encouraging their behavior.

"National supporters, who can care about the world so much, are not in vain."

Di Renjie was a little surprised, he didn't expect Qin Lang to have such a supportive attitude.

"Does the Grand Master also support overturning the case?"

"Well, there was indeed a problem with the original treason case. In fact, I have reported it to the saint before, and I have also begun to communicate with the Third Judicial Department of the Criminal Department of the Yushitai of Dali Temple. A thorough investigation should be conducted, and only after sufficient evidence has been obtained can it be turned over, not hastily."

"Then we disrupted the Grand Master's plan."

"It doesn't matter, if you do what you want, the imperial court will continue its investigation. You represent the voices of the students and scholars. It is also very good for the imperial court to let the saints be seen by the people of the world."

"Huaiying, I appreciate you very much. With your talents, you will definitely be able to get in the list in the March examination. You may even be a first-class Jinshi after the palace examination. Your future prospects are limitless. Even after 20 or 30 years, I will come to my position and become the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty."

"I appreciate the enthusiasm of you scholars, but I also make two requests. First, you will be able to take the exam soon. Don't delay it. So I welcome everyone to write to the imperial court. What do you want to say? , you can write it down directly, and then submit a letter. I will send someone to set up a reception room in the Imperial College of Xuecheng. The students’ letters can be handed over to the reception room. They will be registered and recorded in the file one by one. Then these letters will be transferred to The government affairs hall is read by the ministers and will give a reply, and if it is well written, we will present it to the emperor."

"As for you, give the court some time. Don't be in a hurry, let alone make a mess. Since I have promised you this matter, I will definitely give you an explanation. If there is trouble in the end because of the chaotic parade, even It is a delay in the test, which is too inappropriate."

Di Renjie hesitated.

"Is the grand master telling us to cancel the parade?"

"No, I meant to be organized. Here in Xuecheng, I hope that you six gentlemen will take the lead. Finally, some teachers from the Imperial College and other schools will also be invited to form a temporary leading organization. There is discipline in the organization, not a swarm of chaos."

"Similarly, the imperial court will send corresponding officials to communicate and assist. In addition, we will plan the street venues for the parade in advance, and send yamen guards, Jinwu Guard patrols, etc. to maintain law and order, etc. What you have to do It’s a good thing, and I’m very supportive.”

As soon as these words came out, Di Renjie suddenly felt that Grand Master Qin really had a broad mind, and he was worthy of being a veteran of the four dynasties.

"Everyone, don't worry, take it step by step, go back and think about what you want to say to the court, write a letter to the court, and after the test is over, everyone is organized, and you can come to a formal Luoyang street parade Petition, the imperial court will definitely give everyone a better answer at that time, right?"

Di Renjie thought for a while, now it is almost February, and the test will be held in March, that is to say, just wait for more than a month. Now everyone will write the letter first as Qin Gong said, and at the same time organize popular activities in advance. You can wait a month or so.

"Alright, let's invite Li Pingzhang in now." Qin Lang patted Di Renjie's shoulder again.