Tibet

On the ninth day of the first lunar month, Wei Jiansu, the right minister, was reviewing documents in his court room. Since the queen did not participate in politics, Wei Jiansu was the real leader of the Tang Dynasty. It was up to him to review and approve. He was very busy with government affairs and was actually much more tired than the emperor Li Ye, but Wei Jiansu also enjoyed the power to handle state affairs.

At this time, an official reported at the door of the official room, "Prime Minister, Internal Guard Liu Dutong sent someone to deliver a letter in a silver tube!"

Letters from the internal guards are sent directly to the required departments without going through the White Tiger Hall. They are also placed in different mailboxes according to their levels.

Silver tube letter is a special communication method for internal guards. It evolved from pigeon letter and means top secret.

Wei Jiansu nodded, "Send it over!"

A guard soldier came in, bowed and presented a silver mailbox. The tea boy presented it to Wei Jiansu, and the messenger bowed and left.

The seal of the silver tube is surrounded by a silver ring. The silver ring can be torn off, but once it is torn off, it cannot be repaired. This is a safety measure to ensure that the letter will not be dismantled.

Wei Jiansu pulled off the silver ring, opened the seal, and poured out a volume of letters. He slowly opened it and read it. He was really shocked. Zhang Hao actually hid fifty slaves in Longzhou Manor. They had been Internal security seized it and the evidence was conclusive.

No wonder the internal guards use silver tubes. This is the biggest case of the abolition of slavery.

Wei Jiansu thought for a moment and stood up and said, "Take care of yourself, I'm going to meet the Holy Spirit!"

Soon, Wei Jiansu met the Emperor Li Ye. Li Ye said slowly: "This morning, Liu Wutong reported to me. What does the Prime Minister think of this case?"

Wei Jiansu said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, I think there is something fishy in this."

"What's weird?"

"Your Majesty, fifty slaves are not five hundred or five thousand. What benefits can fifty slaves bring? Can it be compared with Zhang Shilang's decades of hard work in officialdom, and can it be compared with his reputation for generations? Zhang Xiangguo has always been cautious, and he will not understand this basic common sense. Moreover, all the slaves in his house have been converted to civilians, which shows that he does not disagree with His Majesty's abolition order. "

"Do you suspect that Zhang Hao doesn't know anything about it?"

"Exactly!"

Li Ye shook his head and said: "It doesn't matter whether Zhang Hao knows about this matter. What matters is that I need to kill him as a warning to others, and he just happened to hit him."

"His Majesty."

Wei Jiansu wanted to beg for mercy again, but Li Ye interrupted him with a wave of his hand.

"Wei Xiangguo, you didn't see the crux of the problem. Why is it not someone else but him? This is the most important thing. Maybe it's because he didn't teach his son well, maybe he indulged his domestic slaves, maybe he was lucky, Wei Prime Minister, I will never accuse innocent people unjustly!"

Wei Jiansu said helplessly: "Your Majesty, can you let Wei Chen talk to him so that he can be mentally prepared? Maybe he doesn't know yet."

"Okay, I will give him one day. If he finds that he has been wronged, he can appeal at will!"

Wei Jiansu bowed and hurried away.

Wei Jiansu immediately came to Danfeng Restaurant. If it was not meal time, you could also drink tea here.

After waiting for a short time, Zhang Hao hurried to Danfeng Restaurant Bie Xueyuan and entered the warm spring-like room. Zhang Hao took off his cotton robe and said with a smile, "Why did the Prime Minister think of inviting me to drink tea?"

Wei Jiansu said calmly: "I'm afraid we won't have many opportunities to drink tea here in the future."

Zhang Hao was startled, "Where do you start talking about this?"

Wei Jiansu waved his hand, "Sit down first!"

Zhang Hao felt a little uneasy. He sat down and asked, "What happened?"

Wei Jiansu handed him the silver mailbox, "This is what Liu Dutong, the inner guard, sent to me this morning. Take a look!"

Zhang Hao took the silver tube, took out the letter and looked at it carefully. It was like a bolt from the blue. He was stunned. After a while, he shook his head and said: "No! There must be something wrong. I have asked Quanzi to handle them all, and all fifty slaves have recovered." It’s normal, why is it still there? The inner guard must have made a mistake.”

Wei Jiansu said calmly: "Since the inner guard sent me the silver letter, it means that they have obtained the evidence. Zhang Shangshu, the problem probably lies with the Young Master."

Zhang Hao's body was a little shaky. He quickly supported his head with his hands. After a long time, he asked in a low voice: "Does the emperor know?"

Wei Jiansu nodded, "The emperor knows. I explained to the emperor that you can't sacrifice your reputation and eunuch career for dozens of slaves, but the emperor only said one sentence, leaving me speechless. His Majesty said , why not someone else?"

Zhang Hao let out a long sigh: "The emperor is right, why not others but me? Because others have dealt with it, why didn't I deal with it well? Because I have a stupid son, but I believe him again. I want to Pay a heavy price for your choice.”

"Go back! Be mentally prepared for the worst, but you must also believe that the emperor will arrange the rest of your life well.

"Will my eldest son be implicated?"

Wei Jiansu shook his head, "The emperor has abolished the implication. The key is to see whose name the slave is in and who is the beneficiary. If it is in your name and your eldest son does not benefit from it, then your eldest son will be fine! "

Fifty slaves are all in Zhang Hao's name. The eldest son Zhang Boyun has been an official in Bashu for a long time and has not benefited from the slaves, which gives Zhang Hao some peace of mind.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for abolishing the implication!"

Zhang Hao stood up and left the restaurant.

Zhang Hao returned to his house and saw his second son Zhang Zhongyun kneeling on the ground to plead guilty. He had received news that the manor had been sealed off by the internal guards. This news frightened him.

Zhang Hao sighed, "What's the point of you asking for forgiveness now? The emperor is ready to use me to establish his authority and kill me as a warning to others. You, a fool, killed me!"

Zhang Zhongyun was filled with remorse and choked with sobs. "My son was lucky and always thought it was just a gust of wind. He always thought he couldn't find us. My son deserves to die! Damn it!"

Zhang Zhongyun knelt down and kowtowed. His forehead was bleeding. Zhang Hao couldn't bear it and shouted, "Okay, even if you kowtow your head, it won't change the result. Now that things have come to this, you go to Longzhou to deal with the matter and release the slaves quickly. At least your father can save his life. The inner guards have filed a case. If you don't deal with it within ten days, it will be a crime of deceiving the emperor. I will be exiled to Lingnan!"

"I'll go now!"

Zhang Zhongyun hated the housekeeper, but the housekeeper had disappeared.

Zhang Zhongyun took a few servants and rode to Longzhou to deal with the slaves.

There are two types of slavery abolition. One is that the government has records. For this type, you have to take the indenture to the government to cancel the records. However, after the abolition order was issued, the first slaves to be rectified were those that the government had records of, including official slaves and slaves of other wealthy families. Now the slaves that the government has records of disappeared two years ago.

Now we are starting to rectify the second type, slaves that the government has no records of. This type of slaves is more difficult to investigate. For example, someone is from Hebei and fled to Xiangyang during the An-Shi Rebellion. He was taken in by a family in Xiangyang as a servant. The Xiangyang government certainly does not have this person's household registration record because his household registration is in Hebei. In this case, how can we determine whether he is a slave?

The abolition order clearly targets this situation. First, the owner must register with the government. It is strictly forbidden to hide the household. If you hire outsiders to work and do not register with the local government, this situation is called hiding the household. Once found, you will be fined more than 50 strings of cash.

Even if you come to rely on relatives and friends, you must register, otherwise you will be punished equally if you are found.

After registration, the government will come to investigate to determine whether this person is a slave. There are two criteria: have you paid wages? Did you restrict the other party's personal freedom?

Especially now that there is a reward for reporting, your neighbors will report you, and the government's purpose is also very clear, making it more difficult for you to keep slaves.

That afternoon, the inner guard handed over the materials and evidence of Zhang Hao's slavery to the Censorate, and the Censorate launched an impeachment on the same day.

The next morning, Emperor Li Ye issued an order that Zhang Hao, the Yellow Gate Minister, violated the abolition order, and all his official positions and titles were removed, demoted to a commoner, and his official residence and guard treatment were taken back.

The news that Zhang Hao was dismissed from office and became a commoner exploded in the court like a bomb. Before everyone could react, the Political Affairs Hall also announced that 17 officials of the sixth and seventh ranks were dismissed for violating the abolition order.

This series of news caused a shock in the officialdom, especially in Zhang Hao's report, it turned out that it was his servant who reported it, and the servant had received a reward of 500 strings of cash, which made all officials panic and everyone was in danger. They could hide it from outsiders, but not from their servants.

Officials in the court asked for leave to go home and deal with slaves, including retired officials and empty officials. As long as you still want court treatment and official titles, you must strictly implement the abolition order. There was a long queue in front of the county government.

In just three days, all officials in Chang'an completed the abolition of slavery. No one would ruin their reputation for a few slaves.

Zhang Hao finally got a special arrangement from Li Ye. He was invited to be a professor at the Imperial College and participated in the compilation of history. He moved into the house provided by the Imperial College.

After the inspection of the abolition order was completed in Chang'an, it continued to advance to the local government. Every state in the Tang Dynasty sent an internal security inspection team to continue to strictly investigate the abolition order in the local government.