At the court meeting a few days later, after the monarch and his ministers had finished talking about political affairs, one of the chamberlains sang: "If you have something to do, come early, but if you have nothing to do, leave the court."
Li Longji planned to get up from the throne, and all the officials also bowed and followed suit.
At this moment, someone in the row suddenly said: "I have something to report!"
Li Longji was stunned, looked up, and saw that the speaker was Yang Zhao, and asked curiously: "What do you want to tell me, Aiqing?"
Yang Zhao took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: "I am reporting that my consort, Zhou Jun, embezzled the palace property!"
When Li Longji heard this, he staggered and almost fell to his seat.
All the officials were even more astonished and could hear whispers.
Right Prime Minister Li Linfu lowered his head, squinted his eyes slightly, smiled and said nothing.
He has known for a long time that Yang Zhao has deeply hated Zhou Jun since the day when the Daquishang Road tax was put into the treasury. Even if the Yang family had a good relationship with Zhou Jun, this hatred would not disappear even if the Yang family had a good relationship with Zhou Jun.
As long as Yang Zhao is given a bait, the opponent will definitely take the bait.
Now that the Anshengyuan house sale case has been exposed in public, the conflict between the Yang family and Zhou Jun has been revealed. Even if they reconcile in the future, there will still be a gap.
After the initial shock, Li Longji stared at Yang Zhao and emphasized his tone: "Zhou Jun has made great contributions to the business development. Please speak carefully and don't lie."
If a person with a flexible mind found that the emperor not only did not get angry at this time, but started to defend Zhou Jun, he would probably realize that there was something hidden in the matter, and most of them would immediately change his words or shut up.
But who is Yang Zhao, how can he be so quick-witted?
In front of hundreds of officials, the officials of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Affairs accidentally discovered that there were discrepancies in the deed book. After some inspection, they discovered that Zhou Jun secretly took over ten houses in Ansheng Garden, and also completed the deeds, house certificates, etc.
Everything was told.
All the officials were in an uproar when they heard this.
Someone in the palace shouted that Ansheng Garden was a palace property and that the consort’s occupation was a major disrespect among the ten evils. Some people asked the Ministry of Household Affairs to investigate and handle the case quickly to set the record straight.
Li Longji listened to the words of the officials, his face turned blue and white, and he was very angry.
When Yang Zhao saw this, he thought that the saint was angry with Zhou Jun, so he said proudly: "Zhou Jun is a slave. Fortunately, he received the emperor's favor and became the consort. But after all, he is just a common man due to his background.
"
This is rude and even foolish to say.
Yang Zhao criticized the consort Zhou Jun's background, but upon closer inspection, he was saying that the saint's vision was not good enough.
When Li Linfu heard this, he kept shaking his head, and he was even more certain in his heart that Yang Zhao was just a pile of mud that couldn't hold up the wall and was not something to be afraid of at all.
Fortunately, Li Longji was thinking about how to deal with this matter at this time and had no time to care about what others said.
At first, Li Longji thought that Zhou Jun was careless and leaked the news.
After Yang Zhao explained that it was an official from the Ministry of Household Affairs who dropped the deed and broke the seal, Li Longji realized that this matter had nothing to do with Zhou Jun.
At this time, Li Longji turned all his anger on Yang Zhao, believing that the latter was ignorant of the general situation and acted arbitrarily, even though he could keep it secret and pointed out the matter in front of hundreds of officials.
Just as the officials were waiting for the Holy Judge, Li Longji suddenly flicked his sleeves and said angrily: "Quit the court!"
Seeing the emperor leaving, all the officials in the palace were surprised.
Li Longji stood up and left without making any decision as to whether the case of the consort embezzling palace property was to be arrested or tried.
Is it possible that this matter can just be settled like this?
After the dispersion of the dynasty, Li Longji returned to Xingqing Palace and ordered Yang Zhao and Zhou Jun to be summoned to the palace.
While waiting for the two of them, Li Longji was so angry that he smashed several glass cups. When the maids and maids saw this, they all remained silent and did not even dare to express their anger.
Yang Yuhuan heard about this from his servants, rushed to the side hall, and asked Li Longji, who was furious: "Sanlang, what happened?"
Seeing Yang Yuhuan, Li Longji said sadly: "That clan brother of yours!"
Yang Yuhuan: "Brother? Sanlang is talking about Yang Zhao? What's wrong with him?"
Li Longji hesitated to speak, and finally said to Yang Yuhuan: "When he comes, you can ask him yourself!"
Yang Zhao was in the city after leaving the court meeting, so he arrived quickly.
After entering Xingqing Palace and walking along the corridor to the side hall, Yang Zhao couldn't help but be startled when he saw Yang Yuhuan waiting in the hall.
Before Yang Zhao could salute, Yang Yuhuan asked in a deep voice: "What did you do at the meeting today?"
Yang Zhao said it clearly.
After Yang Yuhuan heard everything, he was shocked at first, then confused, and finally thought about it carefully and felt that there might be something else going on.
After Yang Zhao finished speaking, he still said that Zhou Jun was guilty without knowing it.
Yang Yuhuan said softly: "Brother, if you want to protect yourself, please listen to me. Then enter the hall and don't say a word unless the saint asks."
Yang Zhao stayed where he was and asked: "What does your concubine mean by this? Why do you want to protect yourself?"
Not long after, Zhou Jun got the news and rushed to Xingqing Palace.
Under the guidance of Gao Lishi, Zhou Jun rushed along the corridor to the inner garden.
Gao Lishi, who was walking in front, whispered to Zhou Jun seemingly unintentionally: "Taifu Yang is here too." Zhou Jun was stunned, cupped his hands and said: "Teach me."
Entering the side hall, Zhou Jun found Yang Yuhuan and Yang Zhao were there, and saw Li Longji, who was sitting in the seat with a dark face, and knelt down first, shouting "Long live."
When Li Longji saw Zhou Jun, his face brightened a little, and he nodded and said, "Get up."
Zhou Jun stood up and carefully walked aside.
When Yang Zhao saw Zhou Jun entering, he was about to speak, but when he saw Yang Yuhuan glare at him, he could only lower his head and remain silent.
Li Longji first gave an overview of what happened in the court today, and then sighed: "Since Ansheng Garden started to be sold, many people in the palace have asked to live in the garden. I can't hinder the favor, but I
Worried about not being able to take care of all aspects, I can only ask Zhou Erlang to take possession of the house and then give it away privately."
Hearing this, Yang Zhao suddenly woke up.
Only then did he realize that he had done something stupid, and he quickly knelt on the ground and apologized.
Li Longji snorted coldly.
Seeing this, Yang Yuhuan also stood up to plead for Yang Zhao, saying that those who did not know were not guilty.
Li Longji pointed at Yang Zhao on the ground, raised his eyebrows and said to Yang Yuhuan: "How could he not be ignorant? He had his own selfish thoughts, and that's why he did the wrong thing!"
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! After saying this, Li Longji shouted to Yang Zhao: "You and Zhou Jun, I regard you as family members, and I wanted you two to work together."
Help, help each other...unexpectedly, you turned a deaf ear to my words!"
These words were so serious that not only Yang Zhao was so frightened that he kept kowtowing, but even Yang Yuhuan also tried to persuade him.
When the situation developed to this point, Zhou Jun naturally could not sit idly by and ignore it.
He stood up, bowed to Li Longji and said: "Your Majesty, Yang Taifu is in charge of money and money, so he is naturally very concerned about the internal government's revenue and expenditure. The house in Anshengyuan is sold for a huge amount and there is an emergency. If
It was handled too late, and if the people knew about it, it might cause changes. Therefore, I speculate that Taifu Yang had no time to think about it carefully, so he had to tell the matter at the court meeting. Although it was done illegally, his loyalty to the emperor and patriotism still made him proud.
But it can’t be faked.”
Yang Zhao and Yang Yuhuan looked at Zhou Jun together, their eyes full of gratitude.
The latter not only did not fall into the trap, but actually excused it. This move was really repaying evil with kindness and giving trouble in the snow.
After listening to Zhou Jun's words, Li Longji took a long breath, as if he had expected that the latter would say this, and said with emotion: "What Zhou Jun said makes sense. Yang Aiqing usually does her best in everything she does, and never shirks it. Occasionally,
His reckless behavior may be due to his personality."
Yang Zhao knelt and crawled to Li Longji's feet, sobbing and said: "Zhao is loyal to Your Majesty. He heard that there was a change in the uterine delivery. He didn't have time to think about the twists and turns, so he reported it rashly and spoiled your important event. I shall be punished by death!"
Li Longji sighed and said to Yang Zhao: "Zhao is a man of gold, but his character is strong but his nature is weak. He still needs to be tempered."
Yang Zhao hugged the hem of Li Longji's robe and said plaintively: "My name is Zhao, which means golden sword. I am too violent and conflict with the prophecy. Please give me a name to warn me about my words and deeds."
Li Longji lowered his head and looked at Yang Zhao. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "Okay, I will give you the word 'national loyalty', which means that you will not forget your loyalty and serve as a warning."
When Yang Zhao heard this, he burst into tears of gratitude and kowtowed to Li Longji: "Thank you to the saint for giving me the name!"
Li Longji waved his hand: "Okay, please step aside first. I have something to say to Zhou Erlang."
After the others left the side hall, Li Longji asked Zhou Jun: "How is the sale of the house going?"
Zhou Jun: "Half of it has been sold, and the profit now totals more than 578,300 yuan."
Li Longji sighed and said with emotion to Gao Lishi beside him: "A few days ago, the Ministry of Internal Affairs proposed to repair the water conservancy of Forbidden Garden, and the Ministry of Household Affairs had a fierce quarrel with you for the expenditure of 400,000 yuan. Now, Ansheng Garden is open
The sale lasted less than a month, and the funds obtained were enough to solve the problem."
Gao Lishi responded.
Li Longji asked Zhou Jun: "Since Ansheng Garden can benefit, wouldn't it be equally popular to find another place in Bachuan and build another garden?"
Zhou Jun knew in his heart that the emperor was involved in real estate, so he advised: "Your Majesty, you can't sell the house too hastily. Only when Ansheng Garden is properly managed and has a good reputation can you plan the next garden."
Li Longji nodded and asked: "How to manage the reputation of Anshengyuan?"
Zhou Jun: "It won't take long for the buyers who have purchased the house to settle in Ansheng Garden. Everything advertised before selling the house, such as the kitchen, medical clinic, farm help, security guards, etc., will all fall into the trap."
In fact, this can establish the name of the royal residence so that the next garden can be sold."
Li Longji: "It makes sense."
Zhou Jun: "Everything is ready now, but there is only one thing I want to ask your Majesty for instructions."
Li Longji: "What's the matter?"
Zhou Jun: "First of all, Ansheng Garden covers an area of thousands of acres. It not only has houses, but also landscapes, shops, long streets, etc. It is a vast area; secondly, the people who live in the garden are either rich or noble, and everyone
No mistakes can be made anywhere; thirdly, Ansheng Garden is not like Chang'an, there is no curfew. Therefore, the protection of the garden is extremely important."
Li Longji nodded.
Zhou Jun: "Ansheng Garden is a royal garden, and the guard work should be undertaken by the Yulin Army and other Beiya armies."
Li Longji frowned after hearing this. The Yulin Army and other Bei Ya armies were the emperor's forbidden troops. If they were sent to protect a group of merchants and prominent families who had bought a house, wouldn't it be detrimental to the dignity of the royal family? He shook his head and said, "That's inappropriate."
Zhou Jun first pretended to be in trouble, then thought for a while and said: "If the troops in Beiya are unable to bear the responsibility of guarding, I suggest that it is better to train some troops to be responsible for the protection of Ansheng Garden. The number of people does not need to be too many, two people
Three hundred people are enough."
This proposal brought up another problem. The Tang Dynasty had always prohibited private soldiers.
Although among the princes and nobles of the Tang Dynasty, there were many people who supported the tribes and guards, and the number was hundreds or even thousands, after all, these are things that cannot be brought to the table...
If the matter is exposed, it will lead to death. For example, Zhang Liang, the Duke of Yun, one of the "Twenty-Four Heroes of Lingyan Pavilion", was executed for raising five hundred private soldiers.
Therefore, Zhou Jun added: "These tribes can be registered with the Ministry of War and then organized into the side wings of the Yulin Army, under the control of the captain of the Forbidden Army."
In this way, the department responsible for the security of Ansheng Garden has a formal establishment in the army, and is nominally part of the Beiya system. However, it is different from the Forbidden Army, and it is not considered to have lost the name of the royal family.
Li Longji thought about it carefully, nodded to Zhou Jun and said: "I think this matter is feasible. You can make a charter and submit it to the Ministry of War."
