The people of Chang'an City discovered that the crazy rumor was actually true!
The emperor issued an edict to kill three sons in one day!
Prince Li Ying, King of E Li Yao, and King of Guang Li Ju were first demoted to common people on the same day, and then ordered to commit suicide at Chengdong Post outside Chang'an City!
The corpses of the prince and the two kings have been hanging on the rafters of Chengdong Station for a whole day, and no one has stopped them.
The reason is not difficult to understand.
Everyone knows that such a display is inappropriate, but without Li Longji's order, who from the prime minister to the postman would be willing to take the initiative to collect the corpses of the former crown prince and the two princes.
Whoever comes forward means that there is a high possibility of losing his official position or even his life.
No one is willing to take such a risk!
This extremely controversial incident was resolved privately by Li Longji through a coup.
Even the right prime minister Zhang Jiuling and the left prime minister Li Linfu were notified by Gao Lishi after the three kings died.
On this day, Li Longji's will is the master of Chang'an City.
The speed of his actions and the cruelty of his methods were rare even during Wu Zetian's reign and the era of ruthless officials. It can even be said to be the first time since the Kaiyuan Year.
Even the notorious Lai Junchen in the Wu Zhou Dynasty, when they killed a minister or prince, they had to interrogate the charges and let the officials of the Ministry of Punishment participate in the show!
Li Longji actually forced the prince and King Guang of Hubei to death without going through any formalities, without the participation of any judicial officials, and with almost no knowledge of the outer court.
He also ordered the body to be exposed in the inn for three days.
This order made everyone in Chang'an City feel an inexplicable suffocation.
Although Li Longji did not say what would happen if someone collected the corpses of the three kings, people who can live in Chang'an are not lacking in eyes.
On this day, not only the officials who had settled in Chengdong Station had moved out in advance, but also no new people had settled in. Everyone passing by had to take a detour.
Even the postmen were gone without a single one left!
In the study room of Qin Zheng Wu's main building, Zhang Jiuling held a memorial in his trembling hands and was hesitating whether to hand it over.
This is a memorial about reducing the expenses in the palace. It has been written for a long time. However, the murder of the prince and the second king disrupted Zhang Jiuling's plan.
His dark face looked like a dying old man, having lost most of his vitality and vitality.
Zhang Jiuling trembled her lips slightly, not knowing what to say to Li Longji.
No matter what he said, the dead prince was completely dead. The dead cannot be resurrected, so what can be done?
It's too late to say anything now!
"Does Mr. Zhang have anything to say to me?"
Li Longji asked calmly.
"Back to the saint, the prince is guilty...but his sin does not lead to death."
Zhang Jiuling said word for word.
"The prince and the two kings cursed Concubine Wu Hui and Prince Shou with witchcraft, and they also cursed me. Isn't this a sin that will not lead to death?"
Li Longji's tone was obviously colder.
"These matters are not clear to the public, and there may be twists and turns. However, the prince is guilty and it is best to leave it to Zong Zheng. Other persons involved in the case should also be investigated by the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment."
Zhang Jiuling said reluctantly.
"Are we going to wait until I die and then you can investigate slowly? Are Mr. Zhang and the prince an accomplice?"
Li Longji angrily yelled at Zhang Jiuling!
Zhang Jiuling and Li Linfu quickly bowed to apologize.
They can feel that Li Longji is really angry now.
"Ge Nu, how is the investigation on Yan Tingzhi going?"
Li Longji suddenly changed the topic. He was clearly talking about the killing of the prince, but he suddenly turned to the matter of Yan Tingzhi.
Zhang Jiuling secretly thought something was wrong, but his face remained calm.
"Wang Yuanyan, who was previously under investigation for corruption and perversion of the law, committed suicide in Yuzhou Prefecture in fear of guilt. Yan Tingzhi's defense was self-defeating. If he was really not guilty, why did Wang Yuanyan commit suicide?
Let the saints decide."
After Li Linfu bowed and saluted, he took out an official letter from his sleeve and handed it to Li Longji.
As a master of power struggle, Li Linfu either doesn't take action, or as long as he takes action, his opponent has no chance to fight back. He has already made Yan Tingzhi's case a solid case.
And this incident will be the last straw that breaks Zhang Jiuling's back.
"Remove Yan Tingzhi from the post of minister of the central government and demoted him to the governor of Jiangzhou."
Li Longji waved his hand gently and said.
Not only did Yan Tingzhi's appointment as prime minister fail, but he was demoted, which Zhang Jiuling had never thought of before.
"If a humble minister neglects his duties, please ask the sage to punish him."
Zhang Jiuling also bowed and saluted.
As expected, Li Longji also waved his hand and said nothing more.
For an old minister who is about to be dismissed as prime minister, what else can he be punished for?
The central court officials, including Li Linfu, seemed to have forgotten that there were three unlucky ghosts condemned to death in Chengdong Post. At this moment, they were hanging on the beams blowing the warm spring breeze.
……
Chengdong Station is the main station in the east of Chang'an City and is very large.
But at this moment, its door is open, and there is not even a shadow of a ghost inside, and there are not even any imperial guards around it.
These people are afraid of being contaminated by "bad luck" and being implicated by the three unlucky ghosts who were sent to death by Li Longji.
Killing three sons in one day was Li Longji's greatest anger since he ascended the throne! It was an unprecedented vicious political event in Chang'an's political situation since Kaiyuan.
Who dares to guarantee that the emperor has completely vented his anger and will not vent his anger on the relevant personnel?
When Li Longji thought that his three sons had died like this, if he felt unwilling to do so, would he find a way to vent his anger on the soldiers on duty?
I have to say that this possibility is quite high, and there is no shortage of similar examples throughout the ages.
After all, sometimes when people are sulky, they like to kick the small stones on the roadside to vent their anger. Did those small stones offend these sulky people?
Why don't these bastards kick the "big rocks"? It's not because they like to express their anger and bully the weak but fear the strong!
At this moment, a group of people drove an ox cart to the east post gate of the city. The leader was an eighty-nine-year-old child. This group of people was watched from a distance by people passing by on the official road, but no one dared to follow them.
They chatted.
There was even a group of soldiers dressed as King Wu Guards watching around, but no one came forward to question him.
"Lang Jun, are our battles too big?"
The strong and burly Fang Dafu lowered his head and whispered in Fang Chongyong's ear.
"No matter how few people there are, we can't move the corpse. After all, a former prince and two former princes are quite heavy?"
Fang Chongyong explained patiently, although what he said was nonsense. What Fang Dafu said was obviously not the same thing as what he explained.
"Mr. Lang, why does the slave hold the gong?"
Fang Laique, holding a gong in one hand and a mallet in the other, asked in confusion.
"You can just knock the gong to clear the way later. Don't ask any questions. Let's move the corpses onto the ox cart first, then walk half a circle around Chang'an City, go out from the Yanping Gate on the west, and go directly to the cemetery to bury these three people."<
/p>
Fang Chongyong explained Fang Laique's mission, and the group walked into the hall of Chengdong Station. They saw three people hanging with white silk on the high beams here, looking like indescribable hanged ghosts. p>
Fang Chongyong held back the vomiting that surged in his stomach, bowed to the three hanging corpses and said, "Today I will take you to the grave for peace. I hope you will not be born in an emperor's home in the next life."<
/p>
Then he bowed his hands and saluted, and said to Zhang Xun and Xu Yuan behind him: "You can still turn back after reaching this point. Are you really willing to do this? Won't you regret it?"
His tone was very solemn. As long as he took the three corpses out of the inn, they would be accomplices, and Zhang Xun and Xu Yuan would naturally not be able to escape!
"It is enough for a saint to kill three sons in one day, but it is really inappropriate to order the corpses to be exposed at the inn for three days. In any case, the three princes have no evidence of rebellion, so it is appropriate to let them die and be buried in peace. The crime of death will be relieved.
Well, why bother humiliating the dead anymore?
Since the young man is willing to go out for justice, what do I, Zhang Xun, have to fear? Is it possible that in this prosperous Tang Dynasty, there is no justice and human ethics?"
Zhang Xun said categorically, obviously determined to advance and retreat with Fang Chongyong.
"That's right, so is a certain person. But instead of saying more here, it's better to quickly load the corpses into bullock carts and send them to the cemetery, so that they can be laid to rest."
Xu Yuan cupped his hands and suggested.
Today, Fang Chongyong proposed early in the morning to help collect the bodies of the three princes, and received strong support from Zhang Xun and Xu Yuan.
In fact, everyone in Chang'an felt that what Li Longji did was outrageous.
However, no matter how outrageous this matter is, it is still a matter of the emperor's family and has nothing to do with the people watching from the sidelines.
Regardless of whether he is a member of a common people or a noble family, who wants to get involved in unnecessary trouble?
Except for people like Fang Chongyong who are full and holding on.
After loading the corpse onto the bullock cart, before Fang Dafu had time to drive back to Chang'an, he saw a group of Jinwu guards wearing red crotchless jackets and lined up to stop them.
These people just surrounded Fang Chongyong and the others, but did not do anything, as if they were trying to avoid a rat.
"My dear fellows, no matter what the prince's crime is, it is still the face of a saint. It is not appropriate to hang him from the beam of the inn.
Now I just want them to be buried in peace, please don't stop me."
Fang Chongyong stepped forward and shouted to many soldiers.
No one paid attention to him, but the expressions on the faces of the Jinwu guardsmen softened significantly. At least they no longer regarded them as thieves.
"If you get out of the way, if the saint holds you accountable afterwards, at most he will hold us and our group accountable for our crimes.
But if you delay the burial of the prince, and if the saint is criticized by the people in the world for this matter in the future, will the saint think of it one day and feel that it is because of your meddling in other people's business that the princes were buried in a deserted station?"
/p>
Hearing Fang Chongyong's words, the group of Jinwu guards were very obedient and consciously moved out of the way.
A group of Jinwu guards are loyal to their duties, so the emperor will appreciate them? Reuse them?
That’s really too much to think about!
For example, one night Li Longji wanted to experience a thrill, so he had to do some indescribable things on the streets of Chang'an while holding a young palace maid in his arms.
At this time, will the "loyal" Jinwu guards also go up for an inspection? Or should they just watch and learn from the sidelines?
This is obviously not the truth. How can people who can hang out in Chang'an City be so stupid?
Now it is obvious that Li Longji killed three sons in one day. Someone helped collect the corpses. As a Jinwu guard, it is fine that you did not help. Instead, you stopped those people from building a ladder for Li Longji to step down.
Then you Jinwu Guards will be tortured to death in the future, and you are just bringing it upon yourself.
Most of the soldiers of Jinwu Guard are descendants of official families from Chang'an City, so they would not do such stupid things!
Dang!
Fang Laique banged the gong fiercely and walked in front of the ox cart to open the way. Fang Chongyong, Zhang Xun and others followed the ox cart. Fang Dafu held the ox cart, and the group headed towards Chang'an Chunming Gate in a mighty manner. Pedestrians who were walking in front and preparing to enter the city gave way, and the Jinwu guards guarding the city gave way. The good-hearted people were wondering how Fang Chongyong and his party would die, while the Jinwu guards wanted them to leave quickly.
After entering the city, groups of melon-eating people in Chang'an City followed the ox cart, all wanting to know how this matter would end.
……
Li Longji, who was working in the Zichen Hall of the Daming Palace, heard Gao Lishi report that someone actually collected the bodies of the former crown prince Li Ying and the two princes, and drove an ox cart towards the Yanping Gate in the southwest.
It is obvious that these three princes are going to be buried!
"There is such a thing!"
Li Longji was shocked out of his wits. There were no twists and turns in the place where there were supposed to be twists and turns, but in the end, a lot of things went wrong after the work was done. This is really frustrating!
A father doesn't go to the funeral of his son, but actually asks outsiders to do it. Is this father worthy of being called a saint by the world?
Why did Li Longji order the corpses to be exposed for three days? Was it because he hated Li Ying and others?
In fact, this is not the case, because there will soon be a new round of fighting among the princes, in order to compete for the position of the prince.
Li Longji did this to show those people his determination and will!
I will never tolerate those who want to rebel, no matter whether you implement it or not!
Li Longji felt that by setting a warning to others, he could at least stop the next prince from having any evil thoughts.
The meaning he expressed should be obvious.
But now that someone with good intentions has come out to collect the corpses of the three princes, the situation has become beyond expectation!
What these people are doing is to give Li Longji a slap in the face and tell the world: You are such a cruel father. Not only did you kill your son, you also ordered his body to be exposed for three days!
Aren’t you going to help them collect the bodies?
Okay, let me collect their bodies for you!
Let’s see if you, a father, have a heart of stone, and see how the people of the world will treat you, a tyrant who is more ferocious than a tiger!
Are you coming to stop me? Then look around and ask the people watching what they think of you?
"Whoever is causing trouble will be killed by me!"
Li Longji gritted his teeth and said to Gao Lishi.
"Sage, this may not be a bad thing. Why don't you let me go over there and take a look.
If the matter of the Three Kings is left to a saint to handle, where will the saint bury them? It is better to leave this troublesome matter to others."
Gao Lishi suggested in a low voice.
Li Longji thought for a moment and said:
"You're right, why not let them bury the bodies of those three traitors."
He suddenly remembered that after the death of a member of the royal family, they would eventually choose a geomantic treasure land for burial.
If you kill three sons in one day and bury them properly, will it make people feel that you regret killing them? This is obviously inappropriate.
If you don’t bury the body, then you can’t keep hanging the body in the inn, right?
Li Longji suddenly felt that it was not entirely a bad thing if an outside force intervened to handle this matter.
"Go and ask them clearly. If they don't make any additional demands... put these people in jail first, and then I will question them face to face."
Li Longji waved his hand impatiently and said.
What he didn't know was that the young man who helped him collect the corpses of the princes would also cause him countless troubles.