Although the process of defeating the coup was extremely easy, for Chen Chong, this can only be said to be a fluke, and it was more attributable to Liu Dan's omissions.
The biggest mistake Liu Dan made was not evacuating the relevant personnel in time. After Liu Xie's death, logically speaking, since the witchcraft had achieved its purpose, Liu Dan should evacuate as soon as possible. But he thought that no one would notice the arrangement.
, the transfer of personnel will reveal something strange, and the result remains the same. But having said that, if Zhang Lanzhi and others were not greedy for money and theft, Deng Ai did find out the unexpected clues. And after secretly arresting Zhang De, Zhang De happened to know a little bit about Liu Dan's previous
The arrangement gave Chen Chong an opening to explore Liu Dan's coup plan. If one part did not go smoothly, I am afraid that Chen Chong himself would be the prisoner now.
But the trouble has just begun. In the Double Ninth Incident, the number of officials involved ranged from Qi Gong and Jiu Qing to Gyeonggi County officials and petty officials. The number of people involved was as many as hundreds, and the number of soldiers involved was countless. If we want to delve deeper,
It will definitely become the biggest case since the founding of the country, and the court will almost be turned upside down. At this time when the old and the new are changing, if you are not careful, it will turn into a catastrophe that shakes the country. But now that the matter has come to this, how can we not pursue it?
Woolen cloth?
But compared with the embarrassment, Chen Chong felt more sad. There were thirteen veterans involved in the case. Speaking of which, these people had made great contributions to the country. They were either comrades who had fought with Chen Chong in blood.
, or they are virtuous people who are in charge of local affairs and bring peace to the people, and some are even relatives of the emperor. They have been together for so many years, and they have to draw swords to meet each other? Chen Chong is not unable to understand the reason.
But precisely because of this, he felt even more discouraged.
Tingwei Yu Fan has begun to interrogate the prisoners to find out how many accomplices there are. Some people confessed that Pingyang King Liu Dan had dozens of assassins and had a plan to assassinate the prime minister; some people confessed that Yanshi ordered Ding Gu and
Liu Dan colluded, so he was able to secretly raise two thousand dead soldiers; he also found correspondence from the residences of Zhong Yao and Fazheng, and found out that Yuan Tan, the governor of the East Prefecture, and Ma Chao, the governor of the West Prefecture, were also involved. The letter stated that the Luoyang incident occurred
After the success, I hope they can voice their support at the local level, force the Nanfu and Beifu to admit the facts, and promise them to go further. Gao Tanglong's cronies also reported that there was an undercover bribed by King Pingyang around the prime minister, who also participated in the rebellion, but
Only King Pingyang knows who it is.
The most worrying thing was the confession by Wu Zhi, Liu Dan's aide, who claimed that King Zhao Liu Cheng and Ji Nu General Guo Huai were also involved in the rebellion. Chen Chong then flew on horseback to track down Liu Cheng, who had surrendered to the vassal, and captured him five days later.
When he saw Chen Chong again in the capital, Liu Cheng had already been paralyzed with fear. He lay on the ground and kept complaining, saying that Liu Dan had contacted him, but he did not dare to participate and did not know the details. As for Guo Huai, Chen Chong sent a letter to ask, and Guo Huai
He immediately wrote a letter to defend himself and took out the letters he had exchanged with Wu Zhi to prove that he was not involved in the chaos.
This has been going on for half a month, and except for the two governors of the east and west, all the others have been arrested. This was also considering that it might affect the military situation on the front line, so Chen Chong did not deal with it easily, but urgently promoted Zhang Ji to be the guard of the West Mansion.
Zhao Yun served as the guard of Dongfu, checking and balancing each other with Ma Chao and Yuan Tan, and observing their subsequent actions.
At this point, the imperial prison in the capital can be said to be overcrowded. On the surface, all the officials in the imperial court remained silent about this, but privately they criticized it: King Pingyang's rebellion was naturally a treasonous act. But if the prime minister hadn't gone too far, how could even the Taifu and Taiwei have been arrested?
Complicit in the uprising? At present, the foreign troubles have not been eliminated, and if the Prime Minister still cares about the overall situation, it is best to take a lighter punishment.
Chen Chong heard about this, but he didn't take it to heart. For him, the most important opinions came from the palace. After Liu Dan's death, Queen Mother Liu Jia kept herself confined in the palace and saw no one.
But her opinion is very important. But what should Chen Chong say? There is no greater sorrow than death. After Liu Jia lost two sons one after another, who will he blame? The answer is self-evident.
But Chen Chong had to go to see Liu Cheng. On the night after asking about Liu Cheng, he went to inform Liu Jia of the details. When they met again, Liu Jia's face had changed drastically. After half a month of sad time, she looked as haggard as thin gold paper.
Their eyes were as dim as turbid currents under the moonlight, and the white hair added to them was countless. In this melancholy atmosphere, the two of them just spoke a few words, and they both felt a little unsustainable. Facing Liu Jia
Looking closely, Chen Chong briefly talked about the investigation process and the planned punishment for those involved. The Queen Mother was obviously not in the mood to listen anymore. While playing with a dagger in her hand, she said coldly to Chen Chong: "
Since my son has died, my brother will be in charge of the country. It is enough for him to make his own decision. There is no need to talk to me. Go back to the house first. It is a cold night, so don't catch a cold."
Chen Chong said goodbye silently and walked down the hall slowly. On the way, he kept feeling eyes following him, but he did not look back. He knew he had no choice.
However, he made the last decision due to the distance. He still wanted to see Zhong Yao again.
Early the next morning, Chen Chong asked Zhao Qiu to help prepare the horses, and informed the imperial edict that he would visit Zhong Yao after lunch and asked them to prepare in advance. After doing some business, Tingwei Yu Fan sent an envoy back to say,
After being prepared, Chen Chong took a few guards and rode to the imperial prison. When he arrived at the door, Chen Chong hesitated a little, turned to the jailer and asked: "How are you doing these days, Taifu?" The disciple replied: "Food and drink."
As usual, nothing unusual."
Chen Chong let out a breath and then continued to walk in. At this time, the prison was full of dignitaries, and everyone knew Chen Chong. As soon as Chen Chong came in, the prisoners began to cry out to him and plead for mercy, and only a few people did not move.
Zhong Yao was naturally one of them in terms of appearance and appearance. When Chen Chong approached his cell, he was sitting upright with his eyes closed, probably because he was not tortured, and his expression was relatively healthy, which showed that the disciple was not lying.
After the jailer opened the cell door, Zhong Yao finally opened his eyes. After looking at Chen Chong for a moment, he smiled and said, "Is Ting Jian okay?" Even as a prisoner who failed in the coup, Zhong Yao still maintained the attitude of a celebrity.
, he still spoke as if he were at the Chancellor's desk. But Chen Chong knew that this was his last dignity. Even if he could not sit on an equal footing, he did not want to be at a disadvantage with his former friends. Chen Chong was not a person who liked to show off his power, so after he sat down,
, he let the guards behind him exit, and then smiled as if it were normal: "I should be asking you this, have you slept peacefully these days?"
Zhong Yao looked up at him, suddenly smiled, and then leaned back, showing an extremely relaxed posture. He said: "Thanks to your care, I was not tortured, and my meals were as usual every day. How could I be unsafe? If someone else is in power,
, I may still worry about the lives of my family, but since it is you, what else do I have to think about? I grew up with you and know that you are the only gentleman in the world."
When Chen Chong heard this, he felt a pain in his heart. Yes, he and Yuan Chang's family were family friends, and they were friends who had played together since childhood. Later, when they served as doctors in Luoyang, they had no time to spare.
They would discuss family and country affairs together, often from morning until dusk. At that time, both of them were known for their innocence and uprightness. Their colleagues called themselves "Nanyan Jijiu", and Yuan Chang was called "Buqing Shangshu".
Xun You was compared to the "Three Beauties of Yingchuan". When did you and Yuan Chang become so far apart?
This sigh finally came out, which made Chen Chong stand up involuntarily, looked at Zhong Yao and said: "Yuan Chang, when I went to your house, I had mixed feelings! You are already this old, and you have fourteen beautiful wives.
, the wealth received by the government is hundreds of millions of dollars, not to mention the acres of land on your account that have already exceeded the land limit order several times. There is also uncle Zhi (Zhong Yu), I don’t want to see it! I still remember that year
, you and I talked about rectifying the administration of officials in Imperial College, is this how you did it?"
Zhong Yao replied calmly: "Otherwise?" He paused and continued: "You are right, you and I are at this age, how can we not see through anything? What kind of reputation, what kind of ambition, in fact
They are all fictitious, only wealth is real. Huo Guang assisted Emperor Zhao and Xuan, worked hard on Zen, and finally became the great Han Dynasty. Where are the descendants today? Zang Ziyuan was in Dingtao, killed his concubines and cooked his children, and in exchange for things reversed,
Who still remembers it today? The day I was forced to resign by His Majesty, I understood clearly that even if you don’t seek government for yourself, you should seek it for your children and grandchildren. This is always right."
Zhong Yao spoke very slowly, but for Chen Chong, every word made him feel painful. He could not imagine that Zhong Yao, who was so enterprising back then, would now become such a vulgar person. Vulgarity belongs to everyone.
On the way home? Or are you just pretending to be noble?
He was no longer in the mood to continue discussing with Zhong Yao, so he directly raised the core question and asked him: "So this time, how do you plan to end the discussion for the sake of your children and grandchildren?"
"Oh" Zhong Yao had no expression on his face, holding his knees with one hand as if he was deep in thought, but in fact his heart was surging and he just suppressed it.
He looked at Chen Chong's eyes, and after a while he showed a look of relief, and slowly replied: "Ting Jian, they say that a gentleman bullies others. It is true that I can't help you, but this is all my fault. The rest are my fault."
It's because of my kindness, so I hope you can let Xiaozhi and the others go. You also watched Uncle Zhi grow up, so give him another chance to change his ways." Zhong Yao expressed his attitude of committing suicide.
Chen Chong looked at him for a long time, with mixed feelings in his heart. Finally, he just nodded slowly, turned around and left.
In early October, the formal punishment was finally decided. The Prime Minister's Office officially ordered to clear the name of King Pingyang and deal with his accomplices: King Pingyang Liu Dan was charged with treason and witchcraft, and was buried as a commoner.
, his eldest son Liu Ren was renamed as Yancihou; King Liu Cheng of Zhao, General Jinu Guo Huai did not report the knowledge, and was fined for three years without further investigation; Taiwei Fazheng, Shaofu Liu Bao and other kings of Pingyang were accomplices, but they were still remembered.
For high merit, he was deposed as a noble, deprived of his family wealth, and imprisoned at home until the end of his life. The chief conspirators, such as Taifu Zhongyao, Wu Zhi, and Kong Gui, the aides of King Pingyang, committed heinous crimes, ordered him to commit suicide, and his family members were sent to Youzhou.
He is not allowed to enter the official position within three generations.
At this point, this major coup case involving the entire government and opposition parties finally ended in a gentle way.