Above the Golden Palace, the Duke of Yongning County and the Attendant Wang Gui made an impassioned speech.
As soon as these words came out, the whole hall was silent.
Wu Huaiyu was stunned.
How have I offended you, Wang Gui?
The emperor on the throne seemed to be caught off guard. He pondered for a long time before asking, "Why?"
"Your Majesty, great treachery seems like loyalty, great deceit seems like trust. Wu Huaiyu is such a simple and loyal person on the outside, but harbors treacherous officials in his heart."
Wang Gui listed Wu Huaiyu’s ten major crimes.
"The number one sin is arrogance and rudeness, ignoring the rules of the court!"
"The second most deadly sin is to be arrogant at first and respectful at the end, and to be full of ambition."
One after another, they often met with saints privately, were even too casual with the emperor, often went in and out of the harem and dormitories, and even stayed in the palace, and disrespected the emperor. They were engaged in a one-spoken court in the yamen, being overbearing to colleagues and unable to listen to other people's opinions.
They even substitute emotions for the law, bend the law for personal gain, and use the public for personal gain.
Jealous of the virtuous and capable, the virtuous and upright people are not used, but a group of treacherous and evil people are recommended.
Exerting power, forming cliques, and seeking selfish interests.
Anyway, Wang Gui attacked Wu Huaiyu from all aspects, including his moral character, conduct, political opinions, new financial policies, etc., and directly said that Wu Huaiyu was a traitorous minister.
The emperor's face was gloomy and a bit scary.
Just now, Wu Huaiyu was making a financial report to the emperor. Under the leadership of Wu Huaiyu, the prime minister who specializes in judging expenditures, the treasury of the Tang Dynasty is now filling up at a speed visible to the naked eye. Not only has the deficit been filled, but all maturing bonds have also been fulfilled.
Redeem it to the people.
Moreover, the opening of the Salt Law has also achieved good results. Many businessmen have applied to accept bids and transport grain to the border areas in exchange for salt, Ling, Yan, Xia, Bing, You, Yun, Shuo, Ying, Liang, Lan and other border states, as well as military supplies and weapons.
Reserves are increasing and are still being shipped into warehouses.
Even Chang'an's market renovation plan is going well. Not only did it not take any money from the national treasury, it also made a lot of money immediately.
The emperor was just happy when Wang Gui suddenly came.
"Wu Huaiyu's ten major crimes, please kill Wu Huaiyu!"
"If Wu Huaiyu is not killed, the country of the Tang Dynasty will be in trouble!"
The emperor was very angry. Although Wang Gui was now his son and daughter's in-laws, Li Shimin married his third daughter, Princess Nanping, to Wang Gui's youngest son, Wang Jingzhi, and specially gave Wang Jingzhi the title of Baron of Nancheng County.
Li Shimin took the initiative to marry. Firstly, Wang Gui was the prime minister of the dynasty and wanted to win over him. Secondly, the Wang family belonged to the Wang family in Taiyuan, a famous family in the seven sects with five surnames. The Wang family in Taiyuan and the Fangwuwan family in Qixian County also gave support to the old Li family.
Gold.
Even though Wang Gui was Jiancheng's confidant back then, Li Shimin has been very kind to him in the past two years.
But Li Shimin was very dissatisfied with the current attack on Wu Huaiyu. He gave Wu Huaiyu the title of Emperor's Heart, and Xuanma paid homage to the prime minister to judge Duzhi. This was to show the world that he was the emperor's pawn. The new laws Wu Huaiyu was implementing now were all the emperor's.
Supported.
Wang Gui's attack on Wu Huaiyu was deliberately going against the emperor, which is not allowed.
Just as the emperor was about to speak, Wu Huaiyu came out to invite him.
"Your Majesty, as a prime minister, I specialize in judging branches, and I am deeply trusted by your Majesty. Now the king's servant lists my ten major crimes in the palace. Although I do not agree with it, but to show fairness, I resign and recuse myself. I am willing to reflect at home and accept investigation.
Let’s wait until the matter comes to light.”
Faced with Wang Gui's sudden impeachment, Wu Huaiyu reacted very fiercely and gave up his job directly. I will not argue with you Wang Gui and kick the ball to the emperor.
Xiao Yu, the imperial censor, went to work at the right time. "I think the attitude of Prime Minister Wu is commendable. Since Wang Xiang has listed the ten major crimes for impeachment, then the imperial censor should come forward to investigate, and it is also appropriate for Prime Minister Wu to temporarily suspend his duties and evade."
Wei Ting, the minister of Huangmen, also stood up and praised Wu Huaiyu's performance. In fact, everyone knew that this guy had impeached Wu Huaiyu several times before. This was a deliberate superficial praise, but in fact he wanted to force Wu Huaiyu to suspend his post or even resign himself.
Wu Huaiyu also said again that he would go home to reflect, accept the investigation, and wait for the results.
Wei Zheng stood up to speak for Wu Huaiyu. He believed that both Wang Gui and Wu Huaiyu were prime ministers. Now that the prime minister is impeaching the prime minister, this is a very serious matter. Although Wang Gui listed the ten major crimes, he has not yet produced any substantial evidence.
It means that as Wang Gui is the prime minister, this impeachment is unfair. Even if he is impeached, there must be more practical evidence.
More and more ministers came out to report.
Qin Qiong, the right servant of the Chancellor of the Inspection Commission, rarely spoke at all. At this time, he stood up unceremoniously. He first asked to resign, saying that he was Wu Huaiyu's adoptive father. Now that he was also the prime minister, he should also avoid it.
Then Qin Qiong glared at Wang Gui very rudely and said, "This matter must be investigated, thoroughly investigated, and thoroughly investigated. If the ten crimes impeached by Mr. Wang are true, then Wu Huaiyu will be convicted and punished. Qin
I am also willing to bear the guilt together,”
"But if it is found to be false, I hope Mr. Wang will also bear the crime of false accusation!"
Seeing that the situation was about to get out of control, Li Shimin finally spoke.
"Retreat!"
No one expected that the last words the emperor said were these two words.
The emperor threw up his sleeves and walked away, but everyone knew that the storm had just begun.
After resigning from the court, Wu Huaiyu went home directly and wrote a resignation letter, saying that he was ill and unable to serve, and requested to resign from all positions.
Wu Huaiyu's resignation letter had just been sent to the palace, and Qin Qiong's illness had also arrived. He said that his old illness had recurred and he was unable to serve as prime minister.
Immediately afterwards, Ma Zhou also resigned.
The reason is that he is the second assistant of Yushitai. Now that his wife's brother is impeached, his position is sensitive, so he resigned to avoid it.
Then Li Jing, the Secretary of the Ministry of War, also resigned. The reason was of course that he was Wu Huaiyu's teacher. Now among the ten major charges against Wu Huaiyu was the crime of forming a party for personal gain. Li Jing was among the martial arts parties listed by Wang Gui, so he also resigned and recused himself.
.
The resignation of four important ministers in a row seems to have confirmed Wu Huaiyu's formation of a party.
The servant Wang Gui and the Huangmen servant Wei Ting were gearing up to confront Wu Huaiyu. This sudden attack was actually well prepared.
Wu Huaiyu's behavior indeed offended many people.
Recently, all parties have been gradually connecting together, and even through public opinion, they are preparing to use public opinion to overthrow Wu Huaiyu in one fell swoop and abolish his messy policies.
It's just that Wang Gui seems to have forgotten the most important person.
That is the emperor.
He also seemed to have forgotten that Wu Huaiyu was just a vanguard charging into the battle, and the real commander was Marshal Li Shimin.
In the palace, Li Shimin was very angry.
Since he took the throne, he has been forbearing and has been thinking about reuniting all the forces in order to bring the Tang Dynasty to greater stability and prosperity. For this reason, he endured Wei Zheng, Du Yan, Wang Gui, and even people like Xue Wanche and Xie Shuli.
, Feng Li and others all endured it.
If Li Yuan, Wang Junkuo, Luo Yi, Li Shuliang, Li Xiaochang and others were not determined to rebel, he would have been able to endure it. He even endured Pei Ji for a long time, until he had to contact everyone on behalf of the Supreme Emperor.
"I'm going to kill Wang Gui!"
In front of the emperor, Empress Changsun and her brother Changsun Wuji were sitting. It was rare for them to see the emperor so angry.
"Your Majesty, calm down."
"The situation finally got better, but some people couldn't sit still anymore, and started to plot, start to engage in internal strife and party fighting. Can't his mother live in peace?" The emperor rarely used violent words, "Thieves!
"
The queen's ears were dirty with these dirty words.
"Your Majesty, let's have some watermelon first, it's been chilled." Changsun Wuji persuaded.
The emperor was not in the mood for trouble now. During this period, there were many memorials attacking Wu Huaiyu, but he ignored them all. He even specially gave Wu Huaiyu the title Emperor's Heart. He thought that the message conveyed was clear enough, but some officials couldn't figure it out.
, Wang Gui is like this too?
After much persuasion, the emperor finally calmed down a little bit of his anger.
At this time, Changsun Wuji also said that there is such a force in Chang'an now, which is colluding and inciting.
"Some people are teaching children to sing nursery rhymes, and some people are quietly spreading small articles in the streets and alleys. Rumors are spreading. Monks, nobles, businessmen, officials, and even military officers are also involved."
Changsun Wuji's words were like adding fuel to the fire.
Li Shimin's anger rose again.
"What do they want to do?"
"In fact, their purpose is very obvious. They want to oust Duke Yi Guo. It is best to exile him to Lingnan, and then invite him to abolish the policies he proposed, such as the two liters of free grain per mu, and the demolition of houses and walls to build
Markets, such as the monks’ exams, Baiguanyiyi, prohibiting monks from engaging in industrial and commercial lending, etc.”
"Wang Shizhong has always opposed the collection of free grain grains per acre, and even proposed that free grain grains should be voluntarily donated by the people. If a tax were to be imposed, it could only be collected on a per-household basis, with a maximum of two dan per household, and if the princes and other households did not tax, no tax would be levied."
······
The next day, everyone discovered that Wu Huaiyu, Qin Qiong, Li Jing, and Ma Zhou had not gone to court.
At the court meeting, Wang Gui still impeached Wu Huaiyu again.
The emperor named Xiao Yu, "Xiao Xiang led the Yushitai to investigate the matter of Wang Gui's impeachment, find out clearly and report it."
Xuanyangfang.
Wu Huaiyu and his brother-in-law Ma Zhou were playing chess.
"Brother-in-law, there is no need for you to resign. Since we are all gone, aren't we taking advantage of Wang Guiwei's support for them? Then wouldn't it be easier to start the investigation?"
Huaiyu sighed, "I think this old man, Xiao Yu, has already had a problem with me, especially since I didn't give him face when he reviewed Buddhism last time. I think he will take the opportunity to get at me this time."
"No way, Mr. Xiao seems to be a very loyal and upright person."
"People all have selfish desires and opinions. It is difficult to be truly selfless. What's more, being a prime minister is easy. No matter whether you are intentional or not, you will inevitably have to fight along the way."
No one who can become a prime minister is simple. Prime ministers must not only be talented, but also have the necessary skills, which is to be ruthless and able to attack political opponents at critical moments. Otherwise, how can they stand out?
Xiao Yu had already become prime minister three times during the Zhenguan Dynasty, and he was even more of a master of struggle.
"But if Old Man Xiao dares to do something dirty to me this time, he just didn't see the situation clearly and is too confused. He will be the one who suffers in the end."
