Sitting on the throne, Li Longji stared at the account books placed on the desk and did not move for a long time.
Gao Lishi stood by and said softly: "Your Majesty, it's late at night, it's time to go back to the palace to rest."
Li Longji opened the account book, looked at the dazzling figures one after another, and said in a deep voice: "Wang Fei has only been in office for more than a year, and he has amassed so much wealth! This man is really the leader of the Tang Dynasty.
Damn it, why didn’t I see it before?”
Gao Lishi lowered his head and said nothing.
Li Longji: "It is written in this account book that the wealthy families wanted to buy properties on the Daqi Trade Road, so they paid bribes to Wang Xian one after another, ranging from thousands of guan to tens of thousands of guan.
The king has gained countless wealth."
Gao Lishi: "The king's crime is extremely heinous."
Li Longji said puzzledly: "This account book also details the accounting transactions between Wang He and Li Linfu. Unlike those aristocratic families, the Li family business ran the Daqi Trading Road and did not give a penny to Wang He. Instead, Wang He presented Li Linfu to Li Linfu.
A large amount of wealth was given away, why is this?"
Gao Lishi: "Wang Zhi was in charge of Daqi Commercial Road back then. Thanks to the recommendation of his right minister, it is normal to reciprocate favors."
Li Longji: "There is also the last part. The king secretly sends money to the palace. Among the recipients are the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Yeting Bureau, the Sinong Temple, and even the Forbidden Palace. The most bizarre thing is that these
All expenditures were recorded in Li Linfu's account."
When Gao Lishi heard this, his heart trembled and he remained silent.
Li Longji rubbed his forehead and continued: "Wang Zhun said just now that more than half of the money Wang Zhen collected was spent on Li Linfu. What does the right minister want to do with so much money? Those
What happened to the item that was given to the palace maid but recorded in Li Linfu's account?"
Gao Lishi said carefully: "Your Majesty, if you want to find out, it's easy."
Li Longji looked at Gao Lishi.
The latter said: "According to the roster in the accounts, we will check them one by one. If a large amount of money is found and the other party cannot explain its origin, we will take him to the palace prison and interrogate him, and the truth will naturally come to light."
Li Longji pondered for a moment, nodded and said, "That's it."
Just after the Lantern Festival, the emperor sent a large number of palace guards to conduct a thorough search of the residences and duties of those listed in the royal palace, regardless of whether they were in the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the Forbidden City.
The final result was indeed as stated in the account books, and a large amount of money with unknown origins was found.
After a preliminary trial, the criminal palace officials revealed their accomplices, and then followed the clues, and through these serial offenders, the case was led from inside the palace to outside the palace, and finally burned to three provinces, six ministries, and many prisons and temples.
When the case reached this point, Gao Lishi, who was in charge of the trial, knew that the matter was of great importance and did not dare to continue. He could only go back to the palace to report to Li Longji and ask for instructions on the next step.
Li Longji listened to Gao Lishi's report. On the one hand, he was shocked. He did not expect that the account books could involve so many ministries. On the other hand, he was also furious. The emperor was hiding in the forbidden garden.
The gangrene that is so hidden and voyeuristic is really chilling and makes your scalp numb.
Therefore, the sage issued an edict and ordered a thorough investigation.
Gao Lishi held the imperial edict and went to court personally. He also summoned many officials from the Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple, Yushitai, etc. to set up a separate court to specialize in the matter of Daqi's account books.
Because the case originated from a Shouyi, it was recorded as the "Shouyi Collection Case" in subsequent history books, and became the case with the greatest influence and widest influence during the Tianbao period.
The trial of the case took a total of more than 80 days, interrogating more than 4,000 prisoners, involving three provinces and six ministries, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Palace and Garden Bureau and many other ministries and departments, covering almost all the bureaucracy of the Tang Dynasty.
When the results of the case were finally announced, the severe cold had long since receded in Chang'an City, and it was warm spring outside the window. The snow in the city had dissipated, and sprouts symbolizing hope were sprouting out of the ground one after another.
In the Government Hall, Li Longji first looked at the many officials kneeling under the desk, then looked at the memorial signed by the three departments on the desk, took a deep breath, and finally picked it up and slowly opened it.
Even though he was mentally prepared, Li Longji just took a quick glance, closed his eyes, dropped the memorial, supported the desk with his hands, and felt his mind spinning.
Seeing this, Gao Lishi on the side quickly stepped forward to support him and said with concern: "Your Majesty, please be careful about the dragon body."
Li Longji waved his hand vigorously, endured the discomfort, and opened the memorial again. Through the trade on the Daqi Trade Road, Wang Zhi took advantage of the price difference of the traded goods. For more than a year, he secretly transferred more than 50 yuan to Li Linfu, the right minister.
Wan Guan's wealth was donated to the Palace Chamber of Commerce, Yeting Bureau, Forbidden City, etc. in the name of charcoal fuel, medicine, clothing, etc., and the value of the two sides exceeded one million Guan.
.
Of course, giving and receiving bribes is just a trivial matter. The key lies in what the money is used for.
According to the testimonies of those who were captured in the palace, there were only two things that the prisoners had to do to accept the bribes. The first was to provide information from the palace, such as where the emperor went, what manuscripts were written in the royal study, and which ministers
If you meet and talk about something, write it down in secret and pass it out; secondly, give a little "little favor" at the right time.
Next, based on the information provided by these palace people, the imperial guards were dispatched and arrested all the contacts who exchanged information with the palace people. They were arrested and taken back to prison for torture and interrogation.
These contacts were of all kinds, including traders who brought goods to the palace, Zhang Gu who was the manager of the warehouse, guards who guarded the palace gates, and even officials from the three provinces and six ministries.
After the execution, one after another the contacts couldn't bear it anymore and confessed the whereabouts of the information one by one. In the end, all the sources pointed to one person, the current right minister of the Tang Dynasty - Li Linfu.
At this point, an intelligence network that spread all over Chang'an, from the forbidden gardens to the marketplace, criss-crossing like a spider palace, was exposed to broad daylight.
According to the results of the trial, it is conservatively estimated that there are more than 3,000 people in the entire Chang'an City who directly or indirectly provided intelligence to Li Linfu.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! There are twelve pavilions in the Right Prime Minister's Mansion, which are used to store intelligence from all over the country. They are the top of the intelligence network.
Under this, the intelligence network is divided into many internal departments according to the city, palace, imperial city and other areas. Within each internal department, there are also stewards, governors, code officers, patrols and other positions. In addition to the internal department,
, there are also external departments such as Luokou and Zheren, as well as escorts, superintendents and other organizations that are similar to tribes of private soldiers.
Through the interrogation of these people, several conspiracies that Li Linfu once presided over were completely exposed.
The first one to bear the brunt was the affair between Zhou Jun and the imperial concubine. The palace maid Xiuchuan allegedly committed suicide in jail in gratitude for the emperor's favor, but it was just that the jailer was bribed and turned away others. First, threats and inducements were used, causing Xiuchuan to write a blood letter, and then another
He strangled this maid with poisonous hands and finally gave the illusion of suicide. Read the book
In addition, there were many unknown conspiracies that were revealed together, some of which even involved secrets in the palace.
In the eleventh year of Tianbao, at the beginning of April, I went to the residence of Youxiang.
In the Yanyue Hall, Li Linfu, who had been confined for several months, had gray hair and a haggard face. His eyes were unfocused and he was in a trance due to the big change.
Li Xiu held a bowl of porridge, entered Yanyue Hall, knelt in front of Li Linfu, and begged in a pleading voice: "Father, please take a bite."
Li Linfu raised his head and looked past Li Xiu to the courtyard.
In the courtyard, weeds are overgrown, the running water has dried up, snakes and rats are rampant, and the prosperity of the past is no longer there.
Reaching into his arms, Li Linfu tremblingly took out something and placed it on the ground.
Li Xiu looked closely and saw that the object was a pair of yin and yang bamboo shoots used in Taoist divination.
Li Linfu stared at the Yin and Yang Shuangzi with hesitation on his face. After hesitating for a long time, he finally made up his mind.
I saw him first reciting "Infinite", then picked up the two wild rice plants, placed them in the palm of his hand, and finally threw them down gently.
Two bamboo shoots are settled, two yin (double convex), this is a very bad sign.
Li Linfu's cheeks twitched, he picked up the wild rice plants again and threw them down again. He was reading a book.
The second time there were two Yins again, which was very bad.
Li Linfu, whose fingers were trembling and looking desperate, threw the double bamboo shoots for the third time.
The two wild rice plants kept spinning on the ground, and finally slowly came to a stop. The hexagram displayed once again showed the two yin phases.
Li Linfu slowly closed his eyes, and his whole body seemed to have been drained of strength. The corners of his mouth trembled, and he just said two words softly: "God's will."
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