In early August of the second year of Yuanzhen of the Tang Dynasty.
After a joint trial by the Dali Temple, the Ministry of Punishment, and the Yushitai, the case of Gao Shen, the minister of household affairs, finally came to a conclusion, and a total of more than 20 charges against Gao Shen were listed.
Li Gang and others submitted a letter requesting that six people including Gao Shen be beheaded, more than ten people be exiled, and forty-seven people be deprived of their official titles. It was truly a major case.
However, when he arrived at Menxia Province, he was rejected and ordered to re-examine the case one by one, which showed that the emperor was not satisfied with the result of the joint trial.
Therefore, as a major case during the Yuanzhen period of the Tang Dynasty, it was postponed. Gao Shen and others went to and fro in prison to appeal, but there was no response.
The scene displayed in front of people became more and more unbearable, and then Gao Shen and others bit him everywhere in order to die quickly, but to no avail.
The verdict of this case was passed around in the three provinces of Zhongshu, Shangshu, and Menxia, and was pushed back and forth. The case was never concluded. Gao Huan's descendants kept wailing, which made everyone more vigilant and unwilling to get involved.
No one knew what outcome the emperor or his close ministers wanted. With such a delay, the reputation of the Gao family in Bohai, let alone others, suffered a heavy blow.
The effect of this case was almost equivalent to hanging a corpse on public display. Some smart people finally understood it in August and could not help but be shocked by the emperor's heart and methods.
Everyone knows how to kill chickens to scare monkeys, but those who can do this... Yang Guang, Li Yuan and others are probably going to be the ones to follow.
Although no one said a word of fear, they were much more cautious when discussing government affairs in private. No one dared to make fun of the emperor's origin, governance, and employment.
Even the romantic affair between the emperor and the princess, which everyone likes to talk about, has become less common. Even if someone talks about it, the people around you rarely agree. Most people will think that you are not stable enough and you should have less contact in the future, otherwise you will be in trouble one day.
How unjust it is to be imprisoned.
The imperial power had achieved a complete victory, and as Gao Shen's case gradually became more stable, it was also subtly changing the behavior of the nobles.
The common people don't care so much. The embarrassment of the nobles is the scene they like to see the most. People in the streets have a lot to talk about.
In August, the weather gradually turned colder, and considerable changes occurred in the court hall.
Wang Qing, the Minister of War, was recalled to the court and transferred to the position of Minister of Hubu. Dou Gui succeeded him as Minister of War and continued to supervise the transportation of grain and grass for the army.
Li Daozong, the Minister of Honglu Temple, has only been in office for a few days, and now he is transferred to the Minister of War, which shows that he has gradually gained the emperor's trust. At such a young age, he has already served in key positions such as the General Manager of Lingzhou, the Minister of Honglu Temple, and the Minister of War.
It shows that an upstart officialdom is rising.
Gao Biaoren, the new head of the Bohai Gao clan, went to the palace several times to ask the emperor to settle Gao Shen's case, but failed. However, he was promoted to minister of Honglu Temple at this time.
This made Gao Biaoren not happy at all, but secretly he was complaining endlessly.
At a time when Gao Huan's family is complaining, he has been promoted. What do others think? This obviously means that the Gao family's split is irreversible.
Of course, the Bohai Gao family has never been a whole. They have too many branches. Even when the Gao Huan lineage gained power, they could not truly lead the Bohai Gao family and make all the descendants of the Gao family bow their heads and obey orders.
Especially now.
Now there is just an irreparable rift between the two mainstream families of the Gao family in Chang'an. Of course, there has been a gap between the two sides for a long time, but now the conflict is just deeper.
Later, Dou Jing, the secretary-prisoner, was released as the prefect of Hedong County. Wen Yanhong, a doctor in the Ministry of Rites, was promoted to secretary-prisoner and took charge of compiling the history of the Sui Dynasty.
General Dou Cong of Youxiaowei escorted the witnesses and witnesses in Gao Shen's case back to Beijing, and was transferred to General Youtunwei, taking charge of the Chang'an garrison together with Yu Chixin.
Chen Yuan, the former General of Youtunwei, was transferred to General of Youxiaowei.
In the palace, Dou Meiren became Dou Zhaoyi.
The Dou family of Fufeng had taken some detours, but now it has made a comeback. Although it is not as prosperous as when Li Yuan was there, in the eyes of everyone, the Dou family of Fufeng, as the emperor's country party, has taken advantage of it.
His "meritorious service" in Gao Shen's case was not small. He stepped on the Gao family and presented a certificate of surrender, which made many people despise his behavior, but also made many people's eyes turn blue with envy.
During this period, Jinyang's old people entered the household department in large numbers, and together with the Guanxi family, they divided up all the positions left by the Gao family. There were many people who benefited, and it was considered a small-scale political carve-out.
At the beginning of August, the war with Dou Jiande and Xiao Xian was still in a stalemate, but unexpected news came back from Liangzhou.
Pang Yu, the general of Zuojianmen, led 4,000 soldiers to defeat Tuyuhun in Zuoliangchuan. More than 100,000 Tuyuhun troops were defeated by the Tuyuhun army. More than 10 Tuyuhun leaders were captured, and a large number of them were captured. The battle became famous in Hexi, and Liangzhou was to be conquered.
The turbulent situation calmed down.
When the news of victory came to Chang'an, Li Po and his ministers couldn't understand how this battle was fought. Four thousand people defeated an army of more than 100,000. The scene was simply unimaginable.
If it were the elite of the army versus the rebels, it would not be difficult to understand.
The Great Victory of Liangzhou had little impact on the war in the Central Plains, but it meant that Tuyuhun, who had once ravaged the northwest and remained unrepentant, was slowly declining under the influence of enemies from both sides and could no longer compete with others for control of Hexi.
The rise of Tubo on the plateau began to make Li Po wary. While convening his ministers to formulate some ethnic policies to ease the conflicts among the ethnic groups in the northwest, he issued an edict to commend Fan Wenjin, the general manager of Liangzhou, Pang Yu, the general of Zuojianmen, and others.
At the same time, they were ordered to explore the situation in the highlands and prepare to send troops to expel the Tibetans.
At this time, Tibet had not yet gained a firm foothold on the highlands, so it was a good time to strike them in the face. However, Tibet was tired of the ongoing war in the Central Plains and could not mobilize many troops, so it was impossible to become the focus of the next deployment of troops.
The preparations Li Po mentioned were actually decisions made to better manage Hexi in the future.
What is even more surprising is that not long after the good news came, the remnants of Shekui Khan who rested in the Dunhuang area sent an envoy to Chang'an via Liangzhou.
He presented some random local specialties from the Western Regions, expressed his submission, and requested to enter the Zhangye area to rest.
They didn't know much about the changes in the Central Plains dynasties. Since the war at the end of the Sui Dynasty, the territory of the former Sui Dynasty had shrunk greatly. Zhangye, Xihai, Dunhuang and other places used to be the sphere of influence of the former Sui Dynasty.
But now, contact with many places has been lost. Neither Li Yuan nor Li Po have time to care, let alone send troops to garrison.
Maybe it was because the pursuers were approaching, or maybe life in the Dunhuang area was too difficult, so the Turks' request was more like being attached to the Central Plains dynasty, but a bad request would lead to a wolf entering the house.
Moreover, the Turkic people's lack of sincerity is obvious. They want to occupy half of the Hexi Corridor just to give some gifts, which is a pretty idea.
Li Po had no intention of keeping these bereaved dogs, but asked Gao Biaoren, the minister of Honglu Temple, to tell them that if the descendants of Shekui Khan were invited to come to Chang'an to meet them, they would definitely receive the emperor's warm hospitality.
Will give them a satisfactory answer.
The Turks did not get what they wanted and left in dismay. As for whether they would run away as a whole like Chuluo Khan, it probably depends on whether their enemies can help.
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In August, it rains heavily in Nanyang.
The Tang army no longer attacked the city, but once again stormed the camp outside the city. The Liang army struggled to resist, and the signs of collapse became more and more obvious. Many Liang soldiers outside the city complained, and the generals also did not want to face the fierce enemy again.
Please allow me to enter the city and rest.
Zhou Faming tried his best to suppress it, but without any backup, he was unable to do anything.
What's even more frightening is that when the Tang army saw that Liang's army was failing, they did not step up their offensive. Instead, they divided tens of thousands of troops and marched south to Xinye and surrounded Xiangyang.
More than 200,000 Liang troops could not hold back the main force of the Tang army. Xiangyang's request for help went to Jiangling. There was a lot of discussion in the Liang Dynasty and rumors spread. Rumors that Zhou Faming had led his army to surrender spread and soon reached the emperor Xiao Xian.
inside the ear.
Xiao Mian was so frightened that he almost instinctively ordered Zhou Faming's house to be ransacked. The courtiers tried to persuade him, but they could not stop Xiao Mian, who was becoming more and more stubborn.
In mid-August, Xiao Mian killed more than thirty members of Zhou Faming's family. Even Xiao Lang, the internal secretary, was frightened by him and did not dare to mention Zhou Faming's name in front of Xiao Mian. The other ministers were frightened and did not dare to say anything.
Only Zhou Faming's good friend, the Minister of War, Wang Gu, wrote a letter to defend Zhou Faming. He even said that the emperor did not have any complaints and did not pay close attention to the details. He killed Zhou Faming's family members just because of rumors. This was really a cowardly act.
When Xiao Mian heard this, he was furious. He demoted Wang Zhi's position, seized his title, and sent him to prison. Wang Zhi died violently in prison soon after. Xiao Mian was still unwilling to accept it, and ordered people to raid Wang Zhi's home and kill him on the pretext of bribery.
The Wang family.
It is obvious that this king has become red-blooded. The surliness of the king in the troubled times of the late Jin Dynasty is very concretely reflected in him. It also means that the military defeat has completely defeated the will of this descendant of the Xiao family, leaving him in chaos.
A true tyrant.
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In fact, Wang Jin did die unjustly. Zhou Faming betrayed his trust. Not long after the Tang army divided its troops, Zhou Faming led his troops to surrender to the enemy.
This was not a temporary decision. Zhou Faming hesitated for more than half a month. Seeing that the situation was irreversible and worried about Xiao Mian's harshness and unkindness, he made a choice in mid-August and led more than 100,000 Liang troops to surrender.
.
Yu Chigong and others breathed a sigh of relief. If Zhou Faming could not defend the city with all his strength, the tens of thousands of Tang troops left in Nanyang would no longer be enough to capture Nanyang.
When the war reached this point and the casualties were heavy, Yuchi Gong had already planned to submit a letter to plead guilty. At this time, the strategy of sending troops south seemed more like a gamble.
Yuchi Gong could imagine what kind of anger the emperor would have waiting to be vented. Whenever he thought of himself returning to the capital after being convicted, and the emperor showing him that iconic bright smile, he shuddered, and the fear in his heart was not much worse than that of Zhou Faming.
Zhou Faming finally gave him a hand at the critical moment...
This chapter has been completed!