Wang Xiaoniu told the story of the time when he was trapped in the prison of the Ministry of Punishment. The more Liu Ling listened, the angrier he became. Before Wang Xiaoniu and his group of death row prisoners were executed, three groups of people had already been taken out of the city gate and beheaded in public. Who knew?
,How many innocent people are there in these three groups of people?
The prisoners on death row who were in the same group as Wang Xiaoniu were brought back to the Ministry of Punishment. After an investigation by the Minister of Punishment, Si Sima Lu, a few more innocent people were found to be guilty of the crime. Those death row inmates were later acquitted. Where did they go? It was announced.
The text only said that the money was sent back to the place of origin, but no one knows whether this is the case.
It's just that Sima Lu can actually find someone to blame, which makes people talk a lot. There are some gossips among the high officials in the court, saying that Sima Lu is the only one in the punishment department who is clear and fair, and everyone else is corrupt and perverts the law.
Scum. In particular, there is a saying that I don’t know who said it. It points the finger directly at Pei Hao, the Minister of Justice, and directly points out that Pei Hao is the mastermind behind this corruption case!
Sima Lu once expressed his position in public, but the case is still unclear. Don't blame him for slandering an important official of the imperial court. He was actually standing up for Pei Hao. From this, we can see how fair and selfless Sima Lu is.
It stands to reason that Sima Lu must have been guilty of dereliction of duty in the previous case, but people seemed to only see his benefits and forget his culpability.
It was a well-known fact that Pei Hao was at odds with him, and Sima Lu took the initiative to stand up for Pei Hao, which was greatly appreciated. How about disregarding past grudges, how about being fair and strict, and so on. Praises like these can fill several carriages.
.On the contrary, Pei Hao, the minister of the criminal department who was in charge of interrogating the prince's rebellious party, received a wave of condemnation!
Public opinion was like a tiger, but Pei Hao, who was at the cusp of the storm, behaved unusually calmly. He remained silent in response to the questions and condemnations of the imperial censors, and even kowtowed to apologize to Emperor Xiao's inquiries. I don't know why, but he was so calm that people felt
Somewhat scared.
No one can guess how Pei Hao will defend himself or how he can regain his lost credibility or even his official position. Only Sima Lu is worried about Pei Hao's performance. If there is anyone in the Northern Han Dynasty who knows Pei best
Hao, he is the only mentor of Pei Hao, not even Pei Hao’s father!
Sima Lu didn't say it out loud, but he secretly took precautions!
If a biting dog doesn't bark, Sima Lu doesn't need to check. Just by looking at Pei Hao's performance, he can already guess who is secretly attacking him. These two people were once the best masters and disciples, but now they know each other best.
enemy.
Emperor Xiao didn't seem to care too much about the case of the Ministry of Punishment. He just questioned Sima Lu and Pei Hao in court in the morning and told the two men to thoroughly investigate the case and not allow any more innocent people to take the blame and die! This is simply a joke.
This is an unimaginable thing. As those involved in the case, Sima Lu and Pei Hao were not isolated, but the case was sent back to them for retrial! Is it possible that in the Northern Han Dynasty, apart from the Ministry of Punishment, there was no yamen to review the case?
Of course not! This is a signal that Emperor Xiao wants to express. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that His Majesty is turning a major issue into a trivial matter. The Emperor does not really want to hold on to this matter, but gives it to him.
Sima Lu and Pei Hao are both on the same big step.
What Emperor Xiao wants to express is, I don’t want to touch you!
Sima Lu and Pei Hao are not fools, and they naturally understand the emperor's intention. Sima Lu was originally worried that the emperor and Prince Zhong would suppress the Ministry of Punishment and even sanction him as the Minister of Punishment. As a result, the emperor had no such idea at all, which made
How could Sima Lu be unhappy?
Now that Emperor Xiao has just become emperor, he does not want to destabilize the court situation. This is one of the major prerequisites. And another factor is that the emperor must establish the image of a benevolent monarch!
It was precisely because of this that Pei Hao felt desperate!
He originally thought that with the wise Emperor Xiao and the just Prince Zhong, he could finally realize his thoughts over the years. But when Emperor Xiao showed his attitude, he gave up again, and this
Once, his heart was completely shattered.
Sima Lu appreciated him, promoted him, and promoted him to his most trusted person in the Ministry of Punishment. At a certain period, Pei Hao was even like Sima Lu's biological son. And the more this happened, the more secrets Pei Hao came into contact with.
The more! Gradually, he was led into an extremely dark world by the seemingly honest Sima Lu. Sima Lu opened two doors for him. The first was the door to official career. The opening of this door made him famous.
The second one was a gray door of sin that made him feel cold. This door was filled with shuddering desires! He had never thought that a person could have such a dual personality!
The loyal minister in everyone's eyes turned out to be such a sinful villain!
As a student, one can imagine the pain in Pei Hao's heart. He is a person who attaches great importance to feelings and friendship. It is precisely because of this that Sima Lu shows another side of himself to Pei Hao.
In front of him. Because he was sure that he was kind to Pei Hao, and Pei Hao would definitely not retaliate!
It's a pity that he still underestimated Pei Hao's conscience. After discovering Sima Lu's true identity, Pei Hao couldn't sleep for many days in pain, and even now he is awakened by nightmares! His mentor turned out to be a man who wanted to
A villain who uses all means to make money! How can he not feel heartbroken by this?
When he understood the meaning of Emperor Xiao, Pei Hao, who originally placed his hope on His Majesty the Emperor, finally knew that he was disappointed again, and it was the same kind of complete disappointment. After enduring for so many years, he finally saw hope, but it was shattered so heavily.
!
In the end, Pei Hao chose a path of no return.
Since the laws of the imperial court cannot sanction Sima Lu, since His Majesty the Emperor has no intention of sanctioning Sima Lu, and since the loyal prince Liu Ling is unwilling to offend Sima Lu, then fine! Let me do it for this evil person, and let me bear this infamy!
In order to repay Sima Lu's appreciation, Pei Hao decided to kill Sima Lu and then commit suicide to apologize.
He killed Sima Lu for the sake of righteousness. Then he committed suicide for the sake of righteousness.
As Pei Hao's most loyal subordinate, Fan Yuanshan, who has been following Pei Hao for so many years, must implement Pei Hao's orders, and he also knows the pain in Pei Hao's heart best. He understands that some
At that time, unspeakable suffering is real suffering. And how could he describe Pei Hao's suffering? Who would believe it? Even if someone believed it, what would happen?
When Pei Hao ordered Fan Yuanshan and several others to assassinate Sima Lu, people as straightforward as Fan Yuanshan actually guessed what Pei Hao was thinking. However, they had no way to stop it.
When Zhou Yangong and Fan Yuanshan drank three pots of good wine, Fan Yuanshan, a straightforward man, poured out the anguish in his heart. Sometimes, a person who can talk to each other and a few glasses of good wine are far more powerful than any punishment.
It is easier to tell the truth.
Fan Yuanshan fell drunk at the dinner table, while Zhou Yangong looked at this respectable man in silence.
As tragic as Pei Hao, how could he not be touched?
Zhou Yangong looked at Fan Yuanshan who was sleeping soundly. He sighed deeply. He picked up half of the wine in his wine glass and drank it all in one gulp. He was not from the Northern Han Dynasty, but came all the way north from the Southern Tang Dynasty.
Came here. Relatively speaking, the environment in the Southern Tang Dynasty was much better than that in the Northern Han Dynasty. The second emperor of the Southern Tang Dynasty, Li Jing, was quite wise, and the people in the thirty-five states under his rule lived a relatively prosperous life. But even so,
Injustice is everywhere, not to mention the barren and chaotic Northern Han Dynasty in the north?
Little did he know that the current situation in the Northern Han Dynasty was due to the appearance of Liu Ling. Because Liu Ling, a later generation, appeared in an era when he would never have appeared, the current situation in the Northern Han Dynasty was already better than the normal historical trajectory.
There are more.
If we follow the original history, the 12 states in Hedong occupied by the Northern Han Dynasty had more than 279,110 households during the prosperous Tang Dynasty. After the establishment of the Northern Han Dynasty, wars were frequent, military service was heavy, and the rulers forcibly recruited ten
Men over the age of seven served as soldiers, leaving the fields barren and unable to find a single strong man in the village. Taxes were also levied to pay tribute to the Liao Dynasty, and the people were forced to flee to avoid war and harsh government. When the Northern Han Dynasty fell, there were only three registered people.
There were 15,200 households per household, one-eighth of those during the prosperous Tang Dynasty.
Among the ten countries, the territory of the Northern Han Dynasty is the smallest. It is one-tenth of the Later Zhou Dynasty and one-twentieth of the Daliao Kingdom. Even the weakest Min Kingdom in the south has a territory twice the size of the Northern Han Dynasty.
Even more times!
It was precisely because of Liu Ling's appearance that the people of the Northern Han Dynasty lived a life that was better than normal in history. Because of Liu Ling's existence, the army of the Later Zhou Dynasty in the south did not cross the border to burn, kill and loot. It also assisted Liu Zhuo in his ascension to the throne.
Give the Northern Han Dynasty a wise and good emperor!
However, the shortcomings of the government cannot be changed overnight, not even Emperor Xiao, nor Liu Ling!
This is the tragedy of this era, and it is also the tragedy of the people of this era. As the weakest Northern Han Dynasty during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, it lived in the cracks and struggled to live with the desire to become a powerful country. As an emperor, Liu Zhuo could not afford to bother
Sima Lu is not as simple as he seems. Not to mention that there are many of his disciples in the Ministry of Justice, even Su Hubao, the general of the Zhu Kingdom, has a close relationship with him. If this person is touched, I am afraid that it will really happen.
This shook the situation of the Northern Han Dynasty, which was already in danger.
Although Zhou Yangong is an outsider, he can see extremely clearly!
He drank the remaining wine in the cup, looked at Fan Yuanshan who was sleeping soundly, let out a long sigh, got up and left Liu Ling's study. At this time, Wang Xiaoniu had already told Liu Ling exactly what he had experienced in the Ministry of Punishment, which was the most disturbing to Liu Ling.
What shocked Ling was that he gradually guessed who the mastermind behind Long Tingwei was from Wang Xiaoniu's words!
This person, even Liu Ling, can't move if he wants to!
Liu Ling finally understood why Emperor Xiao was so indulgent in the corruption case of the Ministry of Punishment, and finally understood why Long Tingwei, who should have disappeared, appeared again. Finally he understood that if he wanted to do something that would benefit the country and the people,
How difficult it is!
If this case continues to be investigated, it may really push the Northern Han Dynasty onto the road of accelerated destruction! (To be continued)