Tibet

Li Xun sneered and said: "I heard what Li Yu said. He has been keeping an eye on Li Huai. He told me that Li Huai's stepfather Yu Wenhui is now serving as Fanyang Juncang Cao to participate in the military affairs. Cao Cao is in charge of money and food. Generally, only confidants can take this position. , Yu Wenhui actually took up this important position, which shows that the Yuwen family has taken refuge in Anlu Mountain."

Li Ye could understand the Yuwen family's defection to Anlu Mountain. Without hope in the court, they would naturally defect to the Ming Dynasty. Li Ye hesitated and said, "What do you mean by saying that Li Yu has been eyeing Li Huai?"

"Did Brother Xian not know what happened at the end of January?"

Li Ye shook his head and said, "I don't know anything. What happened?"

"Your father Ding You was reinstated a year ago. This matter was instigated by Li Huai. Li Xiu and several of his legitimate sons and elders were furious and came to attack your father. Li Linhao made rude remarks to your mother and was severely beaten by your mother. For Li Yu and his father had a big quarrel about this matter. He came to me to complain. He suspected that Li Huai was sent by the Yuwen family to be an undercover agent of the Li family. He wanted to find evidence. He had been secretly watching Li Huai for the past few months, but... I unexpectedly discovered that Li Huai’s stepfather actually became An Lushan’s soldier.”

Li Ye nodded, "I didn't expect that my grandfather's eldest grandson is very sober, takes the overall situation into consideration, and knows that the interests of the family are the most important thing. I saved him in Heyang in vain."

Li Xun sighed and said: "The situation in the imperial court is very chaotic now. It is said that there are five major forces, but in fact there are more than a few, such as several princes, Di Wang Li Yan, Rong Wang Li Wan, and Yong Wang Li Lin. These three secretly formed a faction to fight against the prince. They have many warriors under their command. There are no The emperor secretly supports it, how can it be possible? There is also Ge ​​Shuhan. It is rumored that he supports Li Wan, but he prides himself on being loyal to the emperor!"

Li Ye thought for a moment and said, "Whenever you have time, bring Li Yu to see me. I want to have a chat with him."

When Li Ye returned home, he unexpectedly found that his father was back.

"Mom, why is daddy back?"

Pei Sanniang shook her head and said worriedly: "I don't know, he seems to be in a bad mood. He stayed up all night on the road and fell asleep when he came back. He has to go to the court in the afternoon."

"Ye'er is back?" Li Dai's tired voice came from the yard.

Li Ye walked out of the inner hall and saw that his father looked tired and his eyes were red. He quickly stepped forward and asked, "Father, what happened?"

"Go to my study and talk!"

The father and son came to the study. Li Dai sat down tiredly and waved his hand for Li Ye to sit down too.

"Ye'er, do you have money?"

"Whatever my father wants, tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands are available."

Li Dai smiled bitterly and said: "Why do you need so much? I only want one thousand guan. One of my officials died unjustly. I left a step too late. His family was not well off. He was old and young, so he was the only one to support the family. What will happen to the family once he dies? We pooled together more than ten thousand dollars to buy him a thin-skinned coffin for burial."

"OK!"

Li Ye agreed immediately, "Father gave me the address, and I asked my men to go to Chencang County. One thousand guan is a little less, so it would be better to give 2,000 guan."

Li Dai wrote an address note and a text message, sighing: "Of course two thousand guan is better, hey! Cao Jingyao died because of me, I feel heartbroken!"

"Why did he die?"

"He was careless and regarded last year's Zhengshitang approval as this year's, because the format and content are exactly the same, except for the date below. Thirty-five people were admitted to the economics department last year, and 32 people were admitted this year. The number of Jinshi students is the same. There were fifteen people, so he compiled an admissions outline and gave it to the examination committee.

The examiner was Zhang Bian, and he admitted thirty-five people. The Ministry of Rites approved it, and the Political Affairs Hall approved it. No one noticed this problem. Finally, the Ministry of Personnel discovered that there was an error. I traced it down and found that it was Cao Jingyao, a member of the Communist Party of China. It became last year’s approval document.

It was originally a trivial matter, but Zhang Jun refused to forgive it. He insisted on saying it was imperial examination fraud. What kind of fraud was it? His brother is responsible for the admission of Jinshi, and if he wants to commit fraud, it is his brother who commits fraud. "

Li Dai's chest heaved with anger, and Li Ye asked calmly: "What next?"

"Then he talked nonsense in front of the emperor. The emperor was bewitched by him and approved a 'investigation to the end'. He personally sat in the Ministry of Rites to investigate the case, and passed the trials one by one. From April to early June, everything in the Ministry of Rites was ignored. It stopped. Cao Jingyao was arrested by Dali Temple. He was sent back to his hometown a few days ago. He died shortly after returning home. I heard that he was beaten and tortured in prison, but he always said that it was his own responsibility and did not pass the responsibility to I."

Li Ye said coldly: "Father is too passive in this matter. Listen to me and submit your resignation letter to the Political Affairs Hall tomorrow morning."

"Wouldn't my resignation play into his hands? It would be too advantageous for him."

"Father, this is retreat in order to advance. If the Minister of Rites resigns, it will go to Gao Lishi. He will not agree, and neither will the emperor."

"They will transfer me away, and His Royal Highness the Prince's Department of Etiquette will be lost."

Li Ye sneered, "Even if my father doesn't resign, they will use this matter to transfer him away. Once my father resigns and makes the matter bigger, this matter can be resolved according to his wishes."

Li Dai gritted his teeth and said: "You are right. The more afraid they are, the more aggressive they will be. I will resign early tomorrow morning and I will explain to the prince."

Li Ye thought for a while and said, "Father, please don't come forward. The prince is here, and I will go and explain to King Guangping."

Li Ye immediately asked two of his men to rush to Chencang County with two thousand gold coins.

It was still early, so Li Ye immediately came to Gao Lishi's house. He was not looking for Gao Lishi, but for Gao Lishi's adopted son Feng Qunong.

Of course, Li Ye couldn't go directly to King Guangping. He was not an ordinary person, he was a foreign vassal. Li Ye knew very well that the emperor would not pay attention to such trivial matters such as showing off his power in the capital, killing a lot of people, and hiding the devil's nickname in a down-to-earth manner. , but if you go to visit King Guangping privately, it will be more trouble than killing hundreds of people. It violates the emperor's bottom line and the emperor will never tolerate it.

For example, Yuwen Siwu did all kinds of evil in the capital, harming the people and causing public resentment. However, the emperor Li Longji did not take this kind of thing to heart at all, and promoted his grandfather Yuwen Jing to the position of prime minister. However, the Yuwen family secretly hid weapons and secretly Lian Zhuangbing immediately violated Li Longji's bottom line, forced Yu Wenjing to death, and demoted the Yuwen family to the end.

Seeing this, Li Ye knew what he could do and what he couldn't do.

But Li Ye knew there was a way to meet King Guangping, and that was through Gao Lishi. They had both played for Gao Lishi's Tianpeng polo team before.

Feng Quannong was very enthusiastic. He invited Li Ye into the house and asked with a smile: "When did Governor Li come back?"

"I just came back the afternoon before yesterday!"

"No wonder my father didn't know you were coming back. He was talking about you yesterday. Since the wedding date has been set, it's time to come back."

"I should have come to visit Gao Weng yesterday, but there were too many things at home. My father encountered a little trouble. Uncle Feng knows about the imperial examination!"

Feng Quannong nodded, "I heard it, it shouldn't be a big problem! It has nothing to do with your father."

Li Ye sneered and said: "The blunt knife cuts the flesh, Zhang Xiangguo keeps tossing it, and my father's body is about to collapse."

"My father also said that that person is looking for trouble. If Governor Li has anything to do, just say it and I will help if I can!"

Li Ye whispered: "Uncle Feng, I want to meet His Royal Highness King Guangping!"

Feng Qunong thought for a moment and said, "Okay! Just stay here and don't go anywhere. I'll invite him to discuss the polo matter. You guys can meet me here."

Feng Quanong immediately took a carriage to the Guangping Prince's Mansion. Half an hour later, Feng Quanong came back with Guangping Prince Li Chu.

As soon as he entered the inner hall, Li Chu laughed and shouted: "Where is that brat? Why haven't you come to see me yet!"

Li Ye quickly came out and saluted, "See you, Your Highness!"

Li Chu punched Li Ye on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Mysterious, you coaxed me to come here to meet you. If you want to see me, just go directly to my house!"

"I am a foreign vassal, so it's inconvenient!"

"It's inconvenient now, but I can ask the emperor's grandfather to teach my son archery. You can come to my house openly."

Li Ye nodded, "It will take a few days, but I have something urgent today."

"What's the matter?" Li Chu stopped laughing.

Li Ye waved his hand, "Let's talk about it in the hall!"

The two of them walked into the inner hall and sat down. Li Ye said, "My father is in trouble with the imperial examination. Your Highness, please know!"

"Of course I know. My father is also very angry and calls Zhang Jun despicable. Your father has endured the humiliation for the past two months, which is admirable."

Li Ye said calmly: "But I'm back. I asked my father to fight back and resign early tomorrow morning!"

Li Chu was stunned, "Why?"

Li Ye said slowly: "This is called retreating in order to advance! Only in this way can the Ministry of Rites be preserved."

Li Chu frowned, "Did something happen?"

"The Yuanwai Lang was sent home, and he died shortly after arriving home."

"Wouldn't it be over once he dies?"

"Your Highness, if Zhang Jun doesn't get what he wants, will he let him go home? I heard from my father that Cao Jingyao couldn't survive the torture in prison, so he admitted that he had cheated on the imperial examination, but he refused to admit that it was me. At the instigation of his father, after he was beaten to death, Dali Temple sent him back to his hometown in Chencang, but he died shortly after returning home."

Li Chu slammed the table and cursed with a livid face: "Those bastards from Dali Temple!"

He said in a deep voice: "You mean, Zhang Jun has obtained the confession and is planning to attack your father?"

Li Ye nodded, "The subordinates engaged in malpractice for personal gain, and the chief officer cannot escape his responsibility. Even if they cannot convict my father, they still have sufficient reasons to transfer him from the Ministry of Rites and give him a casual job to support him in his old age."

Li Chu nodded slowly, "I understand, so your father resigns, becomes a guest, and makes things worse."

"That's why my father would resign on the grounds of being persecuted by the Prime Minister and make the matter bigger."