In the eyes of the people of Chang'an, the banquet on Junping Street was supposed to be a grand event in which both the host and the guest enjoyed themselves. Unexpectedly, at the end of the banquet, it turned into an out-and-out city-wide arrest operation targeting clan nobles.
According to incomplete statistics, the total number of people arrested this time for colluding with the puppet government exceeds 1,800.
Since no information was revealed in advance, and Zhou Jun ordered the banquet guests to come with their families, almost all the noble clans in the Jingzhao area were wiped out this time.
Almost all the prisons in Thirty-Six Gate Street of the Ministry of Punishment are overcrowded.
There were so many prisoners that some of them were even imprisoned in the palace prison of the imperial city.
Since the Chang'an court had not yet been established, the task of interrogating and screening prisoners ultimately fell on the officials of the Tang Army Dian Division.
Sitting in the other courtyard of the Criminal Department, Guo Ziyi looked at the mountains of cases in front of him. He sighed first, and then asked the busy clerk beside him: "Where is Judge Kong?"
The literary official replied: "Judge Kong is in the Penal Department Prison and has gone to interrogate the prisoners."
Guo Ziyi nodded.
Half an hour later, Kong You returned from prison to the other courtyard of the Criminal Department.
Guo Ziyi saw that there were a lot of blood stains on the hem of the other party's official robe, and there was a smell of blood on his body, so he asked: "Has the principal criminal who conspired with the puppet dynasty confessed his guilt?"
Kong You took the dry cloth handed over by the clerk, wiped his hands, and said to Guo Ziyi: "There are records of the family's wealth and private affairs, letters of secret communication, spies who serve as contacts, and there are witnesses and physical evidence. It's only a matter of time before you plead guilty."
thing."
Guo Ziyi waved her hand and asked others to do their work first.
After everyone around him had gone away, Guo Ziyi picked up a case report from the desk and said to Kong You: "One of the charges among the nobles and nobles in the prison for colluding with the puppet government is to sell the people of the Tang Dynasty to
A slave to a foreign country.”
Kong You looked at Guo Ziyi.
The latter also said: "The case ancestor said that the puppet Yan's internal treasury was empty. In order to fill the tax tribute, the people of Gyeonggi Province were robbed, sold to slave traders, and then transported to foreign countries. Those nobles and nobles were in cahoots, and they were in trouble.
Not only did they make connections, but they even instigated family members to assist the puppet Yan in arresting the people."
Kong You sat next to Guo Ziyi, drank a sip of cold water, and said, "What does General Guo want to say?"
Guo Ziyi lowered his voice: "The Kang family in Shicheng got the instructions from Anxi to conduct slave tooth business with Luoyang. You and I both know this. In other words, has the Prime Minister been secretly planning a long time ago to deal with the capital when Chang'an is restored?"
The aristocratic nobles in the Zhao area?"
Kong You: "Making a living as a servant can not only save the people from misery, but also expose the true colors of the powerful, and find their handles. This is killing two birds with one stone. As for the Prime Minister's dealing with the nobles in Jingzhao, the other party has to come to his door."
Otherwise, if this group of people, as soon as they hear that the Prime Minister has arrived in Chang'an, will immediately disperse like birds and beasts, what will they do?"
Guo Ziyi: "I have something unclear. Why did the Prime Minister expect that the Jingzhao nobles would come to ask for an official?"
Kong You: "The time is different, and the natural situation is different."
Guo Ziyi: "What do you mean by this?"
Kong You: "General Guo, you have a question: Why did the prime minister risk the disapproval of the world and issue decrees such as the order of good and bad, the order of promoting the virtuous and so on?"
Guo Ziyi: "The Northern Territory has experienced several years of war. The population has been depleted and everything is in need of revitalization. The prime minister abolished the good and the lowly and recommended the virtuous in order to attract talents from many aspects, so that the Northern Tang Dynasty could recuperate and prepare for the next war as soon as possible.
be prepared."
Kong You: "General Guo's remarks are analyzed from the perspective of military affairs. At best, they can only be regarded as half correct... The real purpose of the Prime Minister's alienation from the gentry and the promotion of industry and commerce is to equalize rights and enable the people of the world to enlighten their wisdom and know their family.
The true meaning of the country.”
"Throughout the dynasties, every few decades, the world would be in chaos. The people first became refugees, and then they were coerced by the nobles and became chaotic people. The country continued to fight and was in chaos. If you want to end the civil strife, you must first make the people clear their eyes and ears.
Let them recognize the reality and know who they are fighting for."
Guo Ziyi: "I have heard you say something similar before. The prime minister wants to get rid of the nobles, so that the people in the world will no longer be distinguished by high or low. In this way, the people will no longer be restricted by their origins when entering officialdom, engaging in politics, getting married, etc.
If you have independent power in other aspects, you will naturally be loyal to the court and no longer be coerced by others."
Kong You nodded and said: "Of course we can understand the Prime Minister's painstaking efforts, but after the nobles in the world learned about the laws such as the Order for the Promotion of Virtue, the Order for Good and the Bad, etc., what they thought in their hearts was that the Prime Minister was trying to buy people's hearts in order to seek great power in the future.
."
Hearing this, Guo Ziyi frowned and asked: "The Tang army under the Prime Minister recovered Chang'an. Seeing that the Northern Tang Dynasty was gaining momentum, the Jingzhao nobles gave up their confrontation and planned to make peace with the Prime Minister. The conditions for peace were firstly
The nobles recommended their daughters as concubines, allowing the prime minister to marry the Xian clan, thereby elevating the Zhou family to the rank of nobles. Second, the nobles entered the court as officials and formed an interest alliance with the prime minister, ensuring that the nobles regained their voice in the court.
Quan. But why do the nobles and nobles think that the prime minister will agree to their plan?"
Kong You: "In the past, those nobles and nobles thought that the prime minister was from a humble background and was not worthy of being ranked among the nobles. But as the war progressed, the Southern Tang lost its city and land, and the Yan Kingdom lost Chang'an. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the prime minister
My wings are full. Rather than confronting me again, it is better to accept me as the entry-level member of the Zhou family."
"In the view of those nobles, as long as the aristocracy is willing to accept the Zhou family, then the prime minister should consider the situation and accept it happily. It is impossible to have other ideas."
"However, they did not expect that the prime minister upholds righteousness in his heart, not for the honor and disgrace of the family at all, but for the sake of the common people in the world."
Guo Ziyi: "In this way, the Jingzhao gentry lifted a rock and shot themselves in the foot this time, so they deserved it themselves."
Just as Kong You was about to speak, a prison officer came outside the door and asked to see him for something.
Guo Ziyi asked him to come in.
The prison officer sang Nai to the two of them, and then said: "There is a prisoner in the women's prison who says that he is an old acquaintance of the Prime Minister."
Kong You shook his head and said with a smile: "When I was interrogating prisoners in prison, I used such rhetoric. There are too many people who want to avoid prison."
The prison officer hesitated for a moment, took out a stack of paper from his arms, and said to Guo Ziyi and Kong You: "The female prisoner brought a manuscript with her, which she said was the prime minister's original work. After comparing it, the villain felt that it was somewhat similar, but she also
I'm not good at making opinions, so I plan to..."
Guo Ziyi stretched out her hand: "Bring it to me and show it to me."
The prison officer handed over the manuscript. Guo Ziyi and Kong You took a closer look, and both of them looked surprised.
Kong You took a long breath and continued: "Although the paper is old and old, the documents on it are actually the handwriting of the Prime Minister."