In the hall, Zhou Jun was sitting upright, while Liangcheng court officials knelt on the ground.
"Yan Jun, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, committed suicide at home last night." Luo Anyuan put his forehead on the ground, feeling the gaze from above, sweat wet his clothes unconsciously, and said softly: "The Yan family, young and old, are thirty in total.
All three of them took poison and died, and their bodies were left in the hall."
Zhou Jun's face darkened horribly. He looked at Luo Anyuan and asked, "Besides Yan Jun, who else are the officials and craftsmen responsible for building and supervising the mourning hall?"
Luo Anyuan: "In addition to the Minister of Industry, there are twelve other officials, big and small, who were involved in supervising the construction of the mourning hall. The entire clan has been arrested and brought to justice."
Zhou Jun asked again: "Where is the craftsman responsible for building the coffin hall?"
Luo Anyuan hesitated for a moment and then said truthfully: "To build the coffin hall, a total of one thousand craftsmen were recruited. The project was divided into two parts: the Bagua Hall and the inner hall. The seventy-five craftsmen responsible for repairing the inner hall all came from Chaoling craftsmen.
, after the completion, I was recruited by the Ministry of Works and left Liangcheng. I have already sent a fast horse to track down where these people stayed. "
Zhou Jun shook his head. It was a lie that the craftsmen responsible for building the mourning hall had left Liangcheng. Eighty percent of them had been silenced.
Thinking of this, Zhou Jun felt angry and yelled to Luo Anyuan: "I specifically told you earlier that no matter who comes in and out of the palace, there must be well-documented records. How can you just leave and forget about it?!"
Feng Changqing, who was on the side, raised his head and whispered to Zhou Jun: "The construction of the Coffin Hall behind the Chengyu Hall is under the sole responsibility of the Zongfu. The Liangcheng Prefecture originally wanted to investigate and supervise, but because it involves royal dignity, it is not possible.
It is not good to push too hard, so we can only surround and monitor, but unexpectedly a loophole was taken advantage of. This matter is indeed our dereliction of duty and almost caused a catastrophe. Please punish me, Prime Minister."
Zhou Jun frowned when he heard this.
Before this, the security work of the imperial palace in Liangcheng had been extremely thorough.
First, because the security work of the palace in the early days was entirely the responsibility of Shen Shugong and Sun Aying. They were only loyal to Zhou Jun and had no fear of the Li and Tang royal families. They not only dismissed the servants in the palace, but only paid tribute to Cheng.
The Yu Palace provides the necessary supplies for life, and when Zhou Jun is away, no matter who wants to enter or leave the Cheng Yu Palace, they will not be able to do so.
When Uncle Shen led the Western Route Army to attack Dafeichuan, Sun Aying went to Shuofang to serve as deputy envoy of Jiedu, and the task of monitoring the palace was handed over to Luo Anyuan.
There is no need to doubt Luo Anyuan's loyalty to Zhou Jun, but after all, the Luo family once received Li Tang's salary, and in the process of getting along with the clan, they would unconsciously develop a calm attitude.
The second reason is that Li Longji has indeed reached a critical stage after treatment. At this time, the other party proposed to build a mourning hall in Liangcheng in accordance with the ritual system of the Tang Dynasty, which is reasonable and reasonable. If he rashly blocks or takes over by force, it will attract more attention.
Discussions in the palace. Therefore, craftsmen from the outside world became a channel for spreading news in the palace.
Third, during the period before his death, Li Longji acted so well that he almost deceived everyone. He ignored government affairs, drank and had fun every day, and looked like he was just waiting to die. After that,
Knowing that Zhou Jun wanted to usurp power, Li Longji even proposed to accept Zhou Jun as his adopted son and preserve the Tang dynasty on the condition of the Zen throne. It was precisely because of this that after Li Longji's death, Zhou Jun also relaxed his vigilance.
In the end, I almost got caught.
At this time, Wang Hong, the leader of the personal guards, walked into the meeting hall and reported his orders to Zhou Jun.
Wang Hong: "Last night, we went to the palace to search for traitors, and happened to encounter Gao Lishi who was killing the imperial concubine."
Zhou Jun: "Have you caught Gao Lishi?"
Wang Hong: "Gao Lishi originally wanted to escape, but someone shot him in the leg with a crossbow. Seeing that the situation was over, he bit the poison pill in his mouth and committed suicide."
Zhou Jun was stunned: "Where are the others?"
Wang Hong: "When the other servants saw the soldiers, they also wanted to commit suicide by taking poison. As for the imperial concubine, there is still a glimmer of life. She is currently undergoing treatment at the Imperial Medical Office..."
Zhou Jun's face darkened when he heard that Gao Lishi and other servants committed suicide.
Seeing this, Wang Hong quickly added: "One of the chamberlains was afraid when he took the poison, so he moved a little slower. Hong stepped forward and removed his jaw, and locked him alone in a prison under strict guard."
Hearing this, Zhou Jun nodded and said: "Interrogate carefully."
Wang Hong bowed and said hello.
Zhou Jun lowered his head, looked at the courtiers in the hall, and said in a deep voice: "From today on, Liangcheng will strictly guard the city gates. No one is allowed to leave the city without permission. The city will thoroughly investigate the rebels. No matter who they are, once they are suspected, they will be immediately investigated.
Arrest."
All the court officials shouted loudly.
Zhou Jun looked at Feng Changqing and Luo Anyuan again and couldn't help but shook his head.
Feng Changqing is good at government affairs and military affairs, but he is negligent in strategy and is not suitable to be responsible for investigating cases. As for Luo Anyuan, he only got where he is today by relying on his service as a guard, but after a few things are done, the discussion can be realized.
If you are mediocre, you may not be able to become something great in the future.
The current situation in Liangcheng requires someone who is good at planning and absolutely loyal to handle it.
Zhou Jun thought about it and found that only Kong You from Chang'an City could still take the position.
Therefore, Zhou Jun ordered Kong You to go north to Liangcheng and take up the post of Yu Shi Zhongcheng, who would be fully responsible for the investigation and handling of the Chengyu Palace case.
The job transfer order and the inside information of the case were sent to Chang'an by Haidongqing.
After Kong You received the brochure, he immediately started packing his luggage and prepared to go north. Before leaving, he wrote a letter and sent it back to Liangcheng from Haidongqing.
Zhou Jun got Kong You's letter and opened it to read. It contained the following three suggestions.
1. The inside story of the fire in the mourning hall will be kept secret from the outside world for the time being.
Second, the matter of enthroning the throne is postponed.
Third, send out sergeants to closely monitor all clan members in Liang City, and do not let anyone go.
Ten days later, Kong You, who had been dusty and had not slept for a long time, entered Liangcheng. The first thing he did was to visit Zhou Jun at the official office.
Upon seeing Zhou Jun's first words, Kong You said: "It's a blessing that the master's family is fine, otherwise you would have to live without a face."
Zhou Jun saw that Kong You's face and hands were covered with sores from the cold in order to rush on his way, and he couldn't help but sigh: "Bohong's words are serious, and I'm glad that the incident happened suddenly."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Kong You: "Master, you read the whole story in the letter. The emperor pretended to be stupid and crazy when he was alive. When he died, he used the throne as a bait and set the time for the killing.
The points were laid after death. A set of strategies, linked together, really caught people off guard. In addition, the civil and military ministers under the lord did not do anything in their positions, which allowed the enemy to take advantage of them.
Void."
Zhou Jun: "Li Longji was ignorant and incompetent when he was in power. Over time, I really started to despise him when I saw him. Having said that, in this matter, the officials in Liangcheng cannot be entirely blamed. I was also at fault."
After hearing this, Kong You shook his head and sighed: "You said earlier that my master is a man of talents and can see the overall situation, but there is only one weakness. My master is generous and behaves in the world with benevolence and righteousness. When he meets a gentleman, he should be worthy of his talents."
, if you meet a villain, you will suffer losses. Don’t you know that in the field of power manipulation, there is darkness everywhere and everyone is a great evil?"
Zhou Jun: "I also know what you said. There are limits in everything. The top is lenient and the bottom is strict. This is especially true when it comes to power. I have indeed acted in the past."
Kong You: "It's best if the master thinks this way. Let's talk about the case of arson in the mourning hall. The emperor was willing to give up his body but also put the master's family to death, so there must be consequences for this matter."
Zhou Jun: "I think so too. The edict written by Li Longji before his death accepted me as his adopted son and passed it on to me. In addition to this, there must be another hidden edict. If I die in
In the fire, someone will jump out with the Hidden Edict and demand to inherit the throne. The key question is, who is in the hands of the Hidden Edict now? "
Kong You shook his head and said: "It doesn't matter who holds the hidden edict. The key is, does the master intend to continue Li Tang or establish a new dynasty?"
Zhou Jun was stunned and thought to himself, Li Longji designed a mechanism in the mourning hall and wanted to kill himself. With his face so damaged, there was no need to continue Li Tang. It would be better to establish a new dynasty.
But when he thought about it again, Zhou Jun felt something was wrong.
The world is divided into the Northern and Southern Tang Dynasties. If a new dynasty is established at this time, it will be equivalent to drawing all the people who are interested in the Tang Dynasty to the Southern Tang Dynasty.
Moreover, the Northern Tang Dynasty was newly defeated in Tubo. Anxi and Beiting, which were completely loyal to Zhou Jun, had a population less than one-sixth of that of Guanzhong, Hebei, Hexi and other places. If a new dynasty was established, there would be great chaos in the country.
Kong You looked at Zhou Jun's expression and said: "One of the masterminds of this arson case, Yan Jun, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, was a hero of Shuofang earlier. He followed Guo Ziyi in Fenzhou and other places and defeated the Hebei army several times.
Not only that, but further back in time, before the war in Hebei, An Sishun, the governor of Hexi Province, coveted the Liangcheng tea house. He once used his private power to get involved in the tea business, but was dissuaded by Yan Jun, saying that the master's family was the country's.
"Dongliang, this move is bound to attract criticism and eventually nothing will happen."
When Zhou Jun heard this, he somewhat understood what Kong You meant.
Kong You: "Yan Jun previously regarded his master's family as the mainstay of the Tang Dynasty and acted loyally. Later, he was bewitched by others and learned that the master's family had disloyal intentions, so he colluded with the palace and set up a poisonous plan to murder. And like
There are thousands of officials like Yan Jun in Beitangzhou County. They do not understand their master's vision of equal rights in the world, but they only want to maintain the orthodoxy of Li and Tang Dynasties and realize their foolish and loyal goals."
"If the master wants to be self-reliant, he not only needs to cleanse the officialdom and eliminate all those who are loyal to the Tang Dynasty, but he also needs to cleanse the hearts of the people in the world and tell the people that the goal of self-reliance is to eliminate censorship.
Being expensive makes the world equal. It is extremely difficult to accomplish these two things in the short term. Moreover, at this juncture, the risks are also high."
Zhou Jun: "What you said makes sense... now is not the time to stand on one's own feet."
Kong You: "What the master said is very true. It is easy to kill people, but it is difficult to change people's hearts. If the master establishes a new dynasty, except for Anxi and Beiting, civil strife will continue in other areas."
Zhou Jun: "If you want to establish a new dynasty, you must first destroy the Southern Tang Dynasty, so that the Tang Dynasty can be unified, and there will be no more orthodoxy disputes. At the same time, you need to clean up the clans, eliminate the nobles, and change people's hearts so that the people of the world will no longer be stubborn.
Thinking of the Tang Dynasty, but spontaneously exercising power and intervening in the government affairs. At that time, imperial power and civil rights go hand in hand, just like the changes of the four seasons, dynasties and countries will naturally change."
Hearing this, Kong You was a little dazed and looked at Zhou Jun one more time.