Chapter 338: If you don’t tell the master, you will only have to suffer for your junior brother.
"King Poyang...rebelled in Jiangnan?"
The news from the interrogation reached Li Yan immediately.
Not to mention that Qiu Shenji didn't know who this person was, Li Yan thought about it for a while and realized that this Poyang King was Li Sujie.
Li Zhi's eight sons were all very miserable in history. Whether they were direct sons or concubines, they could not avoid Wu Zetian.
The eldest son, Li Zhong, was born to a palace servant. Li Zhi was already the prince at that time. After the birth, Li Shimin was very happy and ran to the East Palace to take the lead in dancing.
Later, Empress Wang was still infertile, so she adopted Li Zhong in her name and became the first prince after Li Zhi ascended the throne.
When Empress Wang was deposed and Wu Mei was established as empress, Li Zhong's position as prince could no longer be maintained. He was demoted to Liang Wang, and later demoted to a commoner and imprisoned in Li Chengqian's former residence.
The implications of this place were so obvious that Li Zhong was so frightened that he was afraid that Empress Wu would kill him, and he even wore women's clothes to protect himself from assassins.
But with all precautions, when Shangguan Yi fell, Empress Wu still implicated him and executed him together. He was only twenty-two years old when he died, and he didn't even have any heirs.
In comparison, the second son Li Xiao died of illness early, which is considered good.
The experiences of the third son, Li Shangjin, and the fourth son, Li Sujie, were similar. They were first crowned king and later demoted. When Wu Zetian was about to ascend the throne, Wu Chengsi asked the cruel official Zhou Xing to fabricate charges, falsely accuse the two princes of treason, and have them executed.
Among them, the fourth son, Li Sujie, was the King of Poyang.
Compared to the first three whose mothers were all palace people, he had the best background, being born to Concubine Xiao Shu, with the Xiao family of Lanling as his maternal clan. When Concubine Xiao Shu was fighting with the Queen, she wanted to promote Li Sujie as the crown prince.
But if you say you have your back to Jiangnan, you want to rebel?
Take a shower and go to sleep!
The Xiao family of Lanling waited until after the Anshi Rebellion, when the central government almost relied on water transportation for supplies to the south of the Yangtze River, then they took the opportunity to rise again. Now they have completely stepped aside.
They may be deeply rooted in Jiangnan. There are only seven Zhechong Mansion in Jiangnan Road, none of which can compare with the garrison in Lingnan. However, raising an army to rebel does not mean taking over the mountain and becoming the king. What is the difference between relying on that piece of territory and seeking self-destruction?
Not to mention Li Yan's disbelief, Yang Zaiwei knew it was unrealistic: "This old thief is really talking nonsense. No matter how hard I beat her, I'm not afraid that she won't confess!"
Li Yan frowned and said: "Shenji has seen that Shang Gong's willpower is not strong. He will definitely be able to dig out all her secrets, but this delaying strategy is really vicious."
"Anything involving rebellion is a top priority. Even though we know the possibility is slim, we cannot ignore it."
"The key is that there have been rebellions in the areas south of the Yangtze River. For example, Xiao Ling of the Xiao family in Lanling and Cui County Magistrate of Guzang in Liangzhou have collaborated with the enemy. If the thieves use this to incite public disobedience and start small-scale rebellions, it will be really serious.
There's going to be trouble..."
Thinking of this, he looked at Rong Niang behind him and asked, "When you were with Shang Gong's confidants, did you hear any of their accents from Jiangnan?"
Rong Niang had changed her clothes at this time, and her appearance was much more dignified. She spoke very slowly after not speaking for a long time, and said slowly: "They usually pretend to have Xiangxiu's hometown accent. When they occasionally talk, they don't hear anything.
Jiangnan accent.”
Li Yan was not surprised: "Shang Gong's confidant has been caught. She will not tell lies that can be easily exposed, but the information she gave has inadvertently exposed the camp."
He looked at Yang Zaiwei: "This Shang Gong is probably biased towards your master."
Rong Niang was confused by what this Shang Gong meant, but Yang Zaiwei understood after thinking about it: "Yes, if she was loyal to the saint, she would not dare to spread such rumors..."
A prince's rebellion is a big deal, especially in the Tang Dynasty. From the Xuanwu Gate incident to Li Chengqian's rebellion, such matters were the most sensitive.
In the history of Gaozong's reign, there was actually no real rebellion. There were two political rebellions. The first was the conspiracy between Fang Yiai and Princess Gaoyang. Changsun Wuji handled it and implicated Li Ke.
A large number of people were killed, and the second case was the Changsun Wuji conspiracy case. More people died. God's way is reincarnation. Changsun Wuji, who framed others back then, was framed instead.
These two rebellions, as well as the later so-called rebellion by Shangguan Yi, Li Zhong and others, were all means of attacking political opponents. Everyone in the government and the opposition knew that they had been wronged, so they did not speak out.
But now, according to Shang Gong's explanation, King Poyang wants to raise troops in the south of the Yangtze River, but the nature is completely different.
Shang Gong, who is loyal to the saint, would never dare to slander him with such things, unless she also wants to rebel!
Yang Zaiwei looked uncomfortable when he realized this.
Naturally, he hoped to arrest Shang Gong, who was loyal to the saint, otherwise it would become a fight between one camp and another.
More importantly, if Shang Gong, who is biased towards Master, runs the Yaren organization, does Master know about it?
At this time, Li Yan said: "It may come out of nowhere, but it may not be without reason. Do you have any plans for the land south of the Yangtze River?"
Yang Zaiwei was upset and said without thinking: "I have been in the Western Region of Tubo all year round. I don't know these things. Ask my junior sister!"
Li Yan's eyes moved: "Okay, let's ask Jin Zhizhao."
He ordered the inner guards to continue searching Yaren and took Yang Zaiwei back to the inner prison.
Jin Zhizhao was in a daze in prison. Her face was still pale and her expression was even more dazed. She had not recovered from her serious injuries.
Whenever someone passed by the door, she would flinch, and gradually she began to murmur: "Since my senior brothers have rebelled, what else am I going to do? Just tell me!"
"No, my master is very kind to me, and my father even warned me that I must listen to my master. If I betray my master, Silla will suffer!"
"But if I don't betray, can Silla be supported by the Heavenly Army of the Tang Dynasty? The gap between the two countries is so huge, and Silla has covered its own eyes, but it still can't change the fact of strength and weakness!"
"And that fat man...I can't hold it anymore...wuwuwu..."
As she thought about it, she started crying.
The Tang Dynasty was so scary, she wanted to go back to Silla.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! If Silla is destroyed, it will be the Tang Dynasty again.
Thinking about it this way, I cried even more sadly.
While I was crying, the cell door suddenly opened, and the people outside were not passing by, but actually walking in.
Jin Zhizhao's color suddenly changed and his body tensed up, but when he saw that the shadow was not wide, he relaxed slightly.
But when she raised her head and saw Li Yan and Yang Zaiwei coming in, she quickly wiped away her tears, pursed her lips, and her face became extremely complicated.
Observing the change in her expression, Li Yan knew that this woman was on the verge of collapse.
Xue Chuyu's historical offensive during these days was very effective. Qiu Shenji turned to interrogate Shang Gong, but inadvertently let her go again, which further caused her psychological defense to collapse.
People are like this sometimes. If they hold their breath, they can hold on. Once the breath is released, it will plummet and never return to the past.
But at this moment, Jin Zhizhao was the first to ask: "Brother, how can you betray Master?"
Yang Zaiwei frowned: "I did not betray Master!"
Jin Zhizhao was even more disappointed: "Senior brother, why do you still dare to do so? If you had not betrayed Master, how could he take you out?"
Li Yan smiled and took the initiative to explain: "You misunderstood. Yang Zaiwei went out with me mainly to find out the truth about his abduction. We were dealing with Ya Ren Shang Gong, who did not disclose the situation of your master.
"
Yang Zaiwei nodded.
Although he betrayed many of his own people, assisted in the arrest of Shang Gong, who was biased towards the master, and even searched the city for the remnants of his party, he was still a good disciple.
At least until now, he has gritted his teeth and has not betrayed any information about his master.
Jin Zhizhao looked at the senior brother with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and chose to believe: "Oh, so that's it!"
Her voice didn't sound happy, but rather disappointed.
If Yang Zaiwei surrendered first and confessed later, she would feel much less guilty, but now she really has no confidence to survive the Qiu Shenji Dao interrogation, seeing that she is about to be the first to surrender...
Subconsciously, Jin Zhi looked at his senior brother with a faint look of pleading.
Can't you help me rebel?
Yang Zaiwei was stared at strangely by this look, and without thinking much, he asked directly: "Do you have any news about Jiangnan? Will there be a rebellion there?"
Jin Zhizhao was stunned, shook his head and said: "I don't care about the affairs in Jiangnan. I am mainly responsible for Liaodong. Jiangnan is managed by my junior brother."
Li Yan raised his eyebrows: "The junior brother you are talking about, is there a mountain stronghold near Tongguan, which was once a stronghold built by the inner guards?"
Jin Zhizhao whispered: "That's him."
Li Yan said calmly: "It seems that you each have a great use. Yang Zaiwei is in charge of Tubo in the west, you are in charge of Silla in Liaodong, and there is a junior brother in charge of Jiangnan. Can you recommend this junior brother to me?"
If you want to arrest people, arrest them. As for using the word "recommendation"?
Yang Zaiwei fell silent, while Jin Zhizhao's eyes flickered slightly.
Li Yan began to analyze: "If the rebellion in the south of the Yangtze River was part of your master's plan, Shang Gong has now revealed that he actually betrayed your master in order to protect himself."
"She also knows that the land of Jiangnan is limited. It is impossible for a rebellion to be successful in the first place. At most, it will cause temporary chaos. Now she explains one step ahead of time. The role it can play is to delay as much as possible to harm others and not benefit oneself.
That’s all.”
"This is harmful to both of us."
"As far as the imperial court is concerned, if there is chaos in the south of the Yangtze River, innocent people will suffer unreasonable disasters, and the transportation of rice and grain will be affected. Scholars from the south of the Yangtze River will finally have a chance to raise their heads and return to the past."
"As far as you are concerned, your planning probably lasted for several years or even more than ten years, and you put in a lot of hard work. In the end, it was used by a vicious old woman, and it was further exposed and lost manpower. Is it worth it?"
Finally, he promised: "If your junior brother has not done anything to harm the land of Jiangnan, as long as he is willing to eliminate this war, I will let him go this time, how about it?"
Hearing this, Yang Zaiwei and Jin Zhizhao were moved.
When they got down the stairs, the two looked at each other again, and this time they both understood each other's thoughts.
Things have come to this point. If I don't explain to Master, I will only suffer a lot for my junior brother...