Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Three: One Step Back While Going Further
The imperial city of Chang'an during the Wude period can be divided into two parts: the inner and outer parts. The inner court is the inner courtyard of the palace, and the outer court is where various government offices are located, such as the Ministry of Secretaries, the Ministry of Secretaries, Taichang Temple, General Prison, etc.
Oh, by the way, Kong Qing’s current workplace, the Taishi Bureau, is also in the outer courtyard of the imperial city.
The palace can be divided into three parts. The west is called Yeting Palace, where the maids and chamberlains live. The middle is the real palace, where His Majesty Li Yuan handles government affairs and lives. The east is the East Palace.
This is where Prince Li Jiancheng lived.
The architectural structure and style of the East Palace are very similar to those of the Imperial Palace. There are also offices in the front and living in the back. However, the shape is slightly reduced compared to the Imperial Palace. It is considered a smaller Ouchi.
For example, the names of the main halls in Ouchi are the domineering Taiji Hall and Liangyi Hall, while the east palace is named the humble Jiade Hall and Chongjiao Hall.
It was already dark, but the Jiade Hall in the East Palace was brightly lit. A group of officials from the East Palace were gathering around the recording pen brought back by Prince Li Jiancheng, checking it over and over again.
"This thing is indeed exquisite. I am ashamed that I cannot tell what material this thing is made of..."
The speaker was Prince Zhongyun Wang Gui. With a look of shame on his face, he respectfully put the recorder in his hand back on the cases in front of Prince Li Jiancheng. "But from what I can see, even if this thing was not given by His Majesty,
It should also be made by the Immortal Family, why don't His Highness the Prince invite Su Yuanlang, the Taishi Ling, to come and taste it."
"The prince is joking, what kind of person is Qingxiazi..."
As soon as Wang Gui finished speaking, a plain-looking man in a purple robe sitting next to him chuckled twice.
"Since this object records evidence of secret collusion among Buddhists, even if it is not a supreme object, Su Yuanlang will turn it into a supreme object, and then ask the prince to search for people according to pictures and sounds, and arrest them one by one...
…How will you let the prince deal with himself then?”
"Xuancheng, you are right..."
Wang Gui tapped his temple with his hand and frankly admitted his mistake.
"I thought wrong at some point. His Highness the Crown Prince really cannot let Qingxiazi come over!"
"But since the saint handed over the matter to the prince, doesn't he tacitly allow the prince to show mercy?" An official wearing a green robe said cautiously. "Even if it is Qingxia Zhenren, can he go against His Majesty's wishes?
?"
The purple-robed man named Xuancheng glanced at the green-robed official contemptuously, wiped his hands with his robe sleeves, and didn't even bother to explain.
Suddenly the green-robed official's face turned red!
"There is no need to mention the matter of finding Qingxiazi. There is no need to mention whether this thing is a supreme thing."
The speaker was another man wearing a green robe. He was spinning a string of rosary beads in his hand and spoke slowly.
"Since the Saint has clearly told His Highness the Crown Prince that this thing is a gift from the Supreme Being, it must be a gift from the Supreme Being. Does His Highness the Prince still plan to tell the Saint that you are mistaken, that this thing is not a gift from the Supreme Being?
Grant it?"
After the man finished speaking, Li Jiancheng nodded slightly to express his approval of what he said.
"Hong Zhiqing, if you have any ideas, please tell me quickly. I am all ears."
After hearing Li Jiancheng's words, the man holding the rosary, that is, Zhao Hongzhi, the chief secretary of Zhan's Office in the East Palace, still twirled the rosary in his hand unhurriedly, and his tone of voice did not change at all.
"One thing Wang Shugeng said just now is right. The saint did hand over the matter to the prince with the intention of letting the prince show mercy, but at the same time, this matter is also an inspection by the saint to His Royal Highness."
"good!"
Prince Zhongyun, Wang Gui, twirled his beard with his hand and nodded slightly.
"What Hongzhi said is absolutely correct. Favor must be extended, but the case must also be investigated. Guanzhong cannot be in chaos yet. Your Majesty just wants to examine the prince's ability to regulate yin and yang."
"Wang Qing, Hong Zhiqing, I don't understand what you two mean."
Li Jiancheng felt a little confused when he saw that Zhao Hongzhi, the chief secretary of Zhanshi in the East Palace, and Wang Gui, the prince Zhongyun, had reached a consensus in a few words.
Obviously I understand every word they say, so why can’t I understand them when they are connected together?
Also, since Aye left this matter to himself, it was probably to let those great monks off the hook, so why did it turn into an investigation?
"Your Highness, the reason why the saint chose to hand over this matter to His Highness instead of to King Qin is because the saint has keenly discovered the problems underlying this treason case."
In response to Li Jiancheng's inquiry, Zhao Hongzhi, the chief clerk of the East Palace Zhan, did not dare to neglect and explained carefully.
"At first glance, this case seems to be just a few monks colluding in private to conspire against each other. But if you find out their identities based on the voices and names of these monks, you will find some terrible things..."
As he spoke, he raised his right hand and bent one finger.
"First of all, of course, it is the eminent monk of the Fahua Sect and the presiding monk of Zhuangyan Temple, Faya. But since the saint has already sent the Yuan Cong Imperial Guard, he no longer needs to consider it."
As he spoke, he bent a second finger.
"The person who said he would publicly submit a letter to refute Fu Yi is also a distinguished monk of the Fahua Sect and the abbot of Jifa Temple, Monk Fa Lin."
Then he closed the third finger.
"The person who said that the saint and His Royal Highness are Hu'er is the eminent monk of the Chengshi Sect and the abbot of the Zongchi Temple, Monk Puying."
He pulled off the fourth finger with his hand.
"The person who said that I can support His Majesty and donate some money appropriately is the eminent monk of the Kusha Sect and the monk Daoyue of Zending Temple."
Then, Director Zhan Zhao Hongzhi clenched his fists expressionlessly.
"Chengshi Sect, Kushe Sect, plus Fahua Sect, does your Highness know what this means?"
"What does it mean?" Li Jiancheng asked.
"It shows that all the Buddhist sects with a relatively large size in Guanzhong have been involved in this treason case. However, Zhuangyan Temple, Zongchi Temple, Xingshan Temple, Ci'en Temple, Jianfu Temple, Anguo Temple, etc., in Chang'an, are slightly larger.
All the temples in the Tang Dynasty were also involved, which means that almost all the Buddhist believers in the Jingzhao area of the Tang Dynasty were involved in this treason case..."
Director Zhan Zhao Hongzhi put down his fist.
"Has His Highness the Crown Prince ever heard of the rebellion case involving Lian Zong in the sixth year of Daye?"
After Li Shimin thought for a while, he nodded.
"I know something..."
"At that time, only the Lian Sect was involved in the rebellion, but in the end, more than a thousand people were implicated and questioned. Thousands of people died and tens of thousands were imprisoned."
Zhao Hongzhi raised his head, his face solemn.
"And if this rebellion case is really pursued, I am afraid that not only tens of thousands of families will be involved in this case, but at least hundreds of thousands of people will be involved."
"At that time, the entire Jingzhao land will be in chaos..." Prince Zhongyun Wang Gui explained at the side. "At that time, the saint will definitely be very disappointed with His Royal Highness."
"But it won't work if we don't investigate further..."
Zhao Hongzhi continued with a serious look.
"Now the King of Qin is watching His Highness the Crown Prince with eager eyes, waiting for His Highness to make a mistake so that he can replace him. If His Highness the Crown Prince lets this treason case pass lightly, it will be a case of giving someone a handle."
"What?"
Li Jiancheng blinked in confusion.
You've been talking for a long time, but it's not right even if you check it, and it's not right if you don't check it!
"Then what good advice do you have?"
"Ha ha ha ha……"
At this moment, the man in purple robe sitting on the side, whom Wang Gui called Xuancheng, laughed.
"Everyone, you are thinking too much! This matter is actually very simple. When the saint handed over the task to His Highness the Crown Prince, he had already told His Highness what to do. All we have to do is follow it.
"
"Wei Qing, Aye has an explanation?"
Li Jiancheng thought hard, but he still looked confused.
"His Royal Highness,"
The purple-robed man Xuancheng, later the famous troll Wei Zheng, bowed his hand to Li Jiancheng.
"Please repeat what you said when the saint handed you the artifact and asked you to handle this case."
"Aye said..."
Li Jiancheng thought about it seriously and then repeated it.
"I'll leave this treasonous matter to you. Remember not to indulge in wrongdoing. You must get to the bottom of it so that the people of the world can be at peace."
"That's right! Didn't Your Majesty say that? We must calm the hearts of the people in the world. Now the monk wants to rebel. How can we calm the hearts of this person?"
Wei Zheng clapped his hands and said with a smile on his face.
"Naturally, I want to show His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the distant ancestors of the saints, expose the conspiracy of rebellion, and talk about the matter of preserving our country of the Tang Dynasty. It is best to let everyone in the world know that our royal family of the Tang Dynasty has the protection of the Supreme Being. Some
There is no escape from any treacherous and evil deeds."
Li Jiancheng blinked, still looking confused.
Wei Zheng's turn was too fast, and he still hasn't reacted.
We weren't just talking about how to investigate this treason case, why did it suddenly become a matter of publicizing the Supreme Lord's manifestation everywhere?
"But His Majesty also said that if you don't want to be in vain, you must get to the bottom of it, right?"
The speaker was Wang Hao, the prime minister who had been ignored by Wei Zheng just now and turned red in the face. "If His Highness the Crown Prince pursues the investigation further, won't it cause chaos in Guanzhong?"
"You are so rotten, you can't even understand what you are saying..."
Wei Zheng glanced at Wang Hao contemptuously again.
"What Your Majesty said is, don't do it in vain, don't let it go. You must get to the bottom of it. What do you mean, don't do it in vain? Don't arrest a good person, don't let a bad person go... But let me ask you, even if you capture all the people in the prison,
Arrest him as a treasonous criminal, can you not let a treasonous villain go?"
"of course……"
"Pooh!"
Before Wang Hao could finish his words, Wei Zheng had already sprayed him in the face without hesitation.
"The Fahua Sect still has thousands of monks in Tiantai Mountain. Do you dare to say that they are not involved in this rebellion? There are several Fahua brothers who are promoting Dharma in Shu. Are you going to Shu to arrest them?"
Catch him too?"
"Wei Qing..."
After listening to Wei Zheng's words, Li Jiancheng vaguely had an answer in his heart. He leaned over eagerly and said to Wei Zheng.
"Then if you look at it quickly, what does Aye mean by saying, "Don't do it in vain, don't let it go, the truth must be revealed?"
"This kind of treason case should not be done in vain, no one can do it!"
Wei Zheng replied categorically. "So your Majesty's intention is very simple. If it can neither be justified nor tolerated, then we can just not close the case..."
"Not closing the case?"
Li Jiancheng murmured and repeated Wei Zheng's words.
"If the case is not closed..."
"good!"
Wei Zheng stood up calmly, clasped his fists with both hands, saluted Li Jiancheng, and said respectfully.
"We will hang up the treason case here. If anyone asks, we are investigating. From time to time, we will invite the few great monks whose names are on the artifacts to come to the East Palace for questioning. It is enough to pretend that we are working hard. Because we have no
The verdict is finalized, so there is neither wrongdoing nor manipulation..."
"I understand!"
After hearing Wei Zheng's words, Li Jiancheng suddenly became enlightened.
"So that's what Aye meant!"
"Then what the saint said must come to light?" Wang Hao said again anxiously.
"When the water falls, the stone will naturally come out, but now the water has not fallen, so why talk about stones?" Wei Zheng waved his hand contemptuously. "If you want the stone to come out, wait until we finish the case!"
"But it's not like you won't close the case..."
"yes!"
Wei Zheng looked at Wang Hao as if he were a fool. "This major conspiracy case is so serious. You want to close the case in such a hurry. Do you want to be in vain or indulge in it?"
"You are just quibbling..." Wang Hao pointed at Wei Zheng in a somewhat glum manner.
"Pooh!"
Wei Zheng sprayed back without mercy.
"There is nothing more than a plan!"
Looking at Wang Hao who was trembling but didn't know what to say, Wei Zheng shook his sleeves, turned to Li Jiancheng and said.
"Your Highness, what Mr. Zhao and Wang Zhongyun said just now are not wrong. This case is indeed a dilemma, but we cannot stand still, so for the current plan, we can only take one step forward and one step back at the same time..."
"Take a step forward and take a step back at the same time!"
Li Jiancheng nodded slowly.
"But in fact, this case is not important. For a saint, the most important thing is that the Supreme Being shows his saintliness, protects the royal family, and exposes the conspiracy, not which monk plans to rebel. The difference between priority and priority must be noted!
"
After listening to Wei Zheng's words, Li Jiancheng stood up excitedly and reached out to take Wei Zheng's hand.