Tibet

Fang Guan asked thoughtfully: "Brother Du Xian was a local official before, right? I have an impression of this name."

Du Kuan smiled and nodded, "From the eighth year of Tianbao to the twelfth year of Tianbao, I served as the governor of Sui. I was originally going to be transferred to the governor of Jingzhou. It happened that my mother passed away. I, Ding You, resigned and stayed at home for three years. Originally, I, Ding You, will be the governor in August this year. He was fully reinstated, but the situation is chaotic, so he has been staying at home."

Fang Guan smiled and said: "I remembered, Du Changshi of Suizhou, the Ministry of Civil Affairs originally transferred you to Beijing to serve as the Shaoqing of Guanglu Temple, but you wanted to continue to be a local official, so you were changed to the governor of Jingzhou. This has been three years. What happened before, I said why there is no news from you, it turns out that you are at home."

Du Kuan smiled slightly and said, "Although Ding You is at home, I am also very concerned about the situation in the court."

The two exchanged a few words and then got down to the topic. Fang Guan pondered for a while and said, "What happened to Li Ye's occupation of land?"

Du Kuan said slowly: "Li Ye forcibly converted 300,000 acres of official land in Xiangzhou and Dengzhou into military land without authorization, and then distributed the land to the families of his officers and soldiers. He was a local official in his humble position. He knew that there was no official land. With the approval of the imperial court, the ownership will never be changed, let alone distributed to private individuals.

But Li Ye did not dare to make changes without authorization, and he also changed as much as 300,000 acres, all of which were given to private individuals. As far as I know, he did not get any approval from the court. "

Fang Guan sighed, "In times of trouble, there are too many such things, and the court can't even take care of them!"

In fact, Fang Guan knew very well that the Supreme Emperor approved Li Ye's conversion of official land into military land as a resettlement land for the families of soldiers in the Hezhong Army, but it was only a verbal approval without an edict or handwriting. There is something to be said for this. .

"What other evil deeds did he do in Xiangyang?"

Du Kuan was slightly startled, 'Evil deed? ’ Fang Xiangguo actually used such rude words?

"Some things may not be considered evil to the people, but they are outright evil to the court. There are so many illegal things that it is difficult to describe them. For example, local officials are appointed by him, from the governor to the county. Ling, it's totally nepotism.

Another example is that he was clearly just the observer of Shannan East Road, but he went to war with Yongwang Li Lin without authorization and seized the territory of Jiangnan West Road. Now the entire Jiangnan West Road except Xuanzhou in the east has been occupied by him. He has also continued to recruit soldiers and train them into private soldiers. The army, Fang Xiangguo, and we local officials can feel that he has supported the army and is self-reliant. "

Fang Guan nodded, "Do you have a written statement?"

"have!"

Du Kuan took out a petition and handed it to Fang Guan, "This is a joint indictment of our eighteen gentry families in Xiangzhou. We strongly demand that King Lu be transferred and the normal order of the imperial court in Xiangzhou and even Shannan East Road be restored."

Fang Guan nodded, "I will accept it, and I will report it to the emperor later, but you must be mentally prepared. This matter cannot be rushed, and must be considered in the long run."

"We know that we firmly support the imperial court and stand on the side of the imperial court."

Du Zhen and Du Kuan stood up to say goodbye. Fang Zongyan sent them out of the house, put them on the carriage, and watched the carriage drive away.

In the carriage, Du Kuan whispered: "Should we mention the one hundred thousand acres of land today?"

Du Zhen smiled slightly and said: "Today is just a statement, don't rush to make demands. When the imperial court sends people to find you, it won't be too late for you to make demands again. I think the imperial court will definitely agree to it for a mere 100,000 acres of land. It is very likely that it will be granted." Let your wise brother serve as the governor of Xiangzhou."

Fang Zongyan also hurried back to his father's study and saw his father carefully reading the complaint submitted by Du Kuan. Fang Zongyan did not dare to disturb his father and stood aside. Fang Guan put down the complaint and asked, "Du Kuan said something when he left. What?"

"Du Kuan just said that he would stay in Chang'an for a few more days."

Fang Guan nodded, "He actually went to Beijing to complain. Li Ye must have intensified the conflict with these Xiangzhou gangsters on something. I guess it has something to do with land. This is an opportunity!"

Fang Zongyan was stunned, "Father, could it be that the imperial court wants to take action against Li Ye? He has just made a great contribution!"

"what do you know?"

Fang Guan's face sank and he said: "Mount Anlu is in Luoyang. Money and grain from Jiangnan can no longer be transported by water from the Central Plains, but can only be transported by Shannan Road. However, Li Ye occupied Jingxiang, which is equivalent to blocking the neck of the imperial court. Money and grain from Jiangnan have to pass through. When Jingxiang comes over, the next step for Bashu's money and food is to go through the Yangtze River and around the Han River. If the most important Jingxiang passage is not controlled by the imperial court, the entire imperial court will have to live according to Li Ye's face. Can the emperor tolerate it?"

"But local snakes like Du Kuan are too weak. How could they possibly move Li Ye? Li Ye would crush them to death with just a finger."

Fang Guan sneered and said: "Local snakes are very useful! They are hundreds of years old, with roots all over Jingxiang. They can influence low-level officials and local officials. If low-level officials are passive and slack, Li Ye will also be in Xiangyang." Unable to sit still.

Local snakes can also monitor Li Ye for the court, and even local snakes can influence the army. Almost all low-level generals are locals, and even Li Ye and the servants and maids in his high-ranking officials are locals, so they can easily be bribed by local snakes.

Once the local officials and wealthy families in Jingxiang turned to support the imperial court, how much money did Li Ye still have to fight against the dynasty? "

Fang Zongyan thought for a moment and said, "But what if Li Ye starts to win over these aristocratic families?"

Fang Guan shook his head, "Li Ye will never be able to give the benefits that the imperial court can give to the family, unless he marries the Jingxiang family, but Li Ye has already given the letter of surrender to the Dugu family, and he will never offend the Jingxiang family by trying to win over them. The Dugu family.”

Fang Zongyan nodded silently. He remembered a rumor in the Chang'an market. The rumor said that the emperor ordered Li Ye to send troops to Chang'an, but in fact he wanted to use An Lushan's hand to kill Li Ye.

At least the crane and the clam fight, and the fisherman benefits.

Fang Guan no longer had the intention to clean up the study. He was thinking about how to use this matter to persuade the emperor to take action against Li Ye.

Of course Fang Guan had his own selfish motives. He had already set his sights on Li Dai's position as left prime minister. Once the emperor decided to attack Li Ye, he would first remove Li Dai as prime minister, and his opportunity would come.

Time is gradually approaching the end of the year, but the case of burning the warehouse has still not been solved. In fact, everyone knows the truth of the case, but there is no way to close the case.

That morning, Li Chenghua hurried to the Jiedushi Mansion to report the latest progress of the case to Li Ye.

The chief of the internal guard who went to Hanyang to arrest the arson suspect Yu Ze was deputy chief Yuan Zhennan. He and ten of his men had already captured Yu Ze.

However, they were attacked by ships of unknown origin on their way back. Seven of the ten internal guard soldiers were shot and killed. Yuan Zhennan and three other internal guard soldiers jumped into the water to escape, but Yu Ze was snatched away by the other party.

This news really shocked Li Ye. This was the first time that his army was attacked in his own territory, and seven people died.

"Did Huang Xinwu do it?" Li Ye asked coldly.

Yingyang Lang General Huang Xinwu is currently serving as the garrison of Hanyang, leading 5,000 people to guard Hanyang County. Li Ye thought of him first.

Yu Ze is the niece-in-law of the head of the family, Huang Kai, and the Huang family will definitely try to protect it, but they never expected that they would dare to kill the internal guards, which violated Li Ye's bottom line.

Li Chenghua said calmly: "I have no evidence that Huang Xinwu was the instigator, but the other party must be the navy, and the warship is also a sailboat of the navy, with about thirty people on it."

"Is Yuan Zhennan back?"

"He's back. He was injured by an arrow and is still recovering!"

"Is it convenient for him to come and see me?"

Li Chenghua nodded, "I'll bring him here right now!"

Li Chenghua hurried away, while Li Ye paced back and forth in the official room with his hands behind his hands. Only now did he realize that these aristocratic families were not the low-key and silent people he imagined. They were fierce, arrogant, and dared to strike. They did not put themselves at all. In eyes.

Not long after, Li Chenghua hurried over with Yuan Zhennan. Yuan Zhennan was about thirty years old and a native of Jingzhao Wannian County. He had been serving as a scout and was appointed as a scout general. When the internal guards were short of men, they selected them from the army. Pei Xiu then He recommended Yuan Zhennan to Li Ye as the deputy commander of the internal defense. He was bold and careful, daring to act, and at the same time not lacking in forbearance.

He went to Hanyang County to endure it for a month, but he caught Yu Ze as soon as he showed his face.

"This is a humble post, Your Highness!"

Li Ye asked him: "Don't have any fears. I don't need any conclusive evidence. Just tell the truth. Who do you think attacked you?"

Yuan Zhennan pondered for a moment and said: "I think it was Huang Xinwu who sent people to attack us."

"Is this how you feel, or did something happen before? That made you think so?" Li Ye asked.

"When Beizhi captured Yu Ze, Huang Xinwu came to Beizhi to plead for mercy. I only promised him that I would not kill Yu Ze and would escort Yu Ze back to Xiangyang for His Highness to deal with."

"Then what?"

"Then he left without saying anything. He said that you should leave a thin line in your life so that we can meet each other easily in the future. If you try to get things done, you can only seek your own death!"

Li Ye narrowed his eyes. This Huang Xinwu really dared to say and do things. Now that he has done everything, what will happen?