Under the investigation of the imperial court, more than a thousand people from the Sixteenth Guards of Beiya, eight departments from three provinces, and even the Jinyi Guards and the East Palace were involved in the case.
Among the culprits of the rebellion, Luo Anyuan, the general of the auxiliary state, was executed by the Yi Jiu tribe and the prince's young master Wang Jinman. Gao Zai, the governor of Jinyi Weinan, was imprisoned and took poison in fear of crime. Everyone in the Yuan clan was sentenced to death.
The rest of the rebels, regardless of their official rank or authority, were all executed. The men of the clan were sent to work in the border areas, and the women were sent to Sinong Temple to perform as palace musicians.
Starting from the end of September, a execution ground was set up outside Yanping Gate in Chang'an, and executions continued every day until late October. A total of more than 7,000 people were executed outside the city during this period.
The execution ground was covered in blood, forming a pool of blood that could reach up to the ankles. Later, due to the extremely hot weather, it mixed with the soil to form a swamp-like quagmire, leaving people with no place to set foot.
The court officials in charge of executions had no choice but to execute the prisoners and at the same time command the servants to dig a ditch in the execution ground to guide the blood water into the surrounding depressions and let it seep into the ground.
Over time, the underground springs overflowed, causing the water channels in Chang'an City to be dyed scarlet red, accompanied by a surge of maggots, which surprised the people in the city.
The 8th day of April, the 17th year of the New Yuan Dynasty, the Shuo Dynasty.
Daming Palace, Zichen Palace.
Zhou Jun, dressed in imperial robes, stood in the side hall of the apse, while Fan Jinian and a group of internal servants were preparing the emperor's attire.
Right Prime Minister Kong You held the Kan book in his hand and said to Zhou Jun: "Your Majesty, all states in the Tang Dynasty have reported the list of elected members this year."
Zhou Jun: "Who are they?"
Kong You: "Thirty percent are from business backgrounds, 40% are scholars who have taken the imperial examination, and the remaining 30% include local gentry, military generals, and other miscellaneous people."
Zhou Jun: "If I remember correctly, about 60% of the members' lists in previous years were scholars who came from business and industry and had participated in the imperial examination. They accounted for less than 10% of the members."
Kong You: "Yes, in the early years, members of the House of Commons just followed the government and did not have much power, so the people were not enthusiastic about running for members. In recent years, members of the House of Commons have been involved in legislation, supervision, and administration, whether they are legislative, supervisory, or administrative
, and gradually gained real power, this attracted many scholars who had participated in the imperial examination but failed to pass the imperial examination to give up the path of becoming officials and instead entered the imperial court through the election of members."
Zhou Jun: "If you want to be an official in the Tang Dynasty, you can either go to the upper house or the lower house. This is a good thing. However, if the seats that originally belonged to the industrial and commercial families are now taken away by scholars, will they not object?"
Kong You: "Those congressmen who come from industry and commerce have understood their weaknesses after years of political struggle. First, most of the congressmen who come from industry and commerce have not been exposed to government affairs, and they have no idea how to fight against the upper house and expand the power of the lower house.
Second, the lack of literary talent and poor eloquence make the members of the House of Representatives far inferior to the officials of the Upper House who entered the imperial examination in terms of debate and writing; third, the members of the Lower House are responsible for not only attending court meetings, but also taking care of business.
, being too busy to focus on one thing and not the other, he is not as able to concentrate on his duties as the officials of the House of Lords."
"It is precisely because of these three points that members of the House of Commons began to turn their attention to those scholars who had participated in the imperial examination. Through funding, marriage, or shares in commercial firms, these talented young people were introduced to the House of Industry and Commerce, and then recommended
They run for election as members and fight for their own rights."
Zhou Jun: "The politicization of parliamentarians is just a matter of time."
Fan Jinian on the side presented the ceremonial sword to Zhou Jun and asked: "Your Majesty, in this year's court, the members of the lower house and the officials of the upper house will no longer be separated according to the front and rear courts as in previous years, but will be listed on the left and right in the middle of the court. So the court will
Should the subsequent palace banquet also follow this order and be divided into seats one by one?"
Zhou Jun took the Emperor's Instrument Sword from Fan Jinian's hand, carried it around his waist, nodded and said: "The seats for the palace banquet should be determined according to the order of the court."
After saying this, Zhou Jun looked at Kong You: "Bohong, there is one more thing at the court meeting today. Have you forgotten it?"
Kong You was stunned and quickly said: "Your Majesty has issued a decree earlier, ordering the upper and lower chambers to discuss the revision of the Constitution at today's court meeting. According to your Majesty's decree, I have already drafted a detailed plan, which is written here.
.”
Zhou Jun took the document from Kong You, looked through it roughly, and said: "The Constitution is the law of the country. It is written in flags to make it clear. It is an infinite rule, so we must be careful."
After saying this, Zhou Jun looked at Kong You again: "From now on, no matter who you are, you must have a rule of thumb for everything you do and say. Even I should not be an exception."
Kong You bowed and said yes.
Zhou Jun walked up to Kong You and patted the latter on the shoulder: "I said before that I wanted to amend the Great Constitution, but many people in the court didn't understand the meaning. Bohong should be able to understand it if he puts himself in his shoes... After all
, Machiavellianism is like a tiger in a cage. If people stay with it for a long time, they will become overconfident and forget that tigers can eat people, right?"
Hearing these words, Kong You's body stiffened, and he froze in place, motionless.
Ignoring Kong You, Zhou Jun, who was neatly dressed, stepped out of the palace gate and walked towards the Xuanzheng Hall of Daming Palace.
Fan Jinian led a group of servants and followed behind the emperor, following step by step.
When he reached Wangxiantai, Zhou Jun suddenly stopped and turned his head to look in the direction of the back garden of the Forbidden Palace.
When Fan Jinian saw this, he looked puzzled and asked carefully: "Your Majesty, what's wrong?"
Zhou Jun was silent for a moment, and then asked: "Have you...heard the singing?"
Fan Jinian listened carefully for a while, and finally shook his head and said, "I am deaf, maybe I can't hear you."
Zhou Jun looked at the accompanying chamberlain: "Where are you? Has anyone heard the singing?"
The waiters looked at each other and shook their heads.
Although no one else heard it, Zhou Jun himself heard the singing that was as if it was nothing.
"Weeping willows stand in front of the wind, and the singing of orioles and flowers come from outside. How many times do you see such a beautiful woman in this world... It is destined in your previous life, don't miss your marriage; I hope that all lovers in the world will become dependents... You should say something, Miao
Thousands of miles of clouds, thousands of mountains covered with dusk snow, only the shadows are going to whom..."
The singing voice was high and low, like weeping and complaining.
Zhou Jun felt an inexplicable pain in his heart. Something seemed to appear in his mind, but he couldn't remember it.
After a while, he asked Fan Jinian: "What day is today?"
Fan Jinian: "Reporting to Your Majesty, if I remember correctly, today is the eighth day of April."
Zhou Jun recited this date several times.
Fan Jinian watched from the side and asked carefully: "Your Majesty, would you like me to go to the Chief of Ceremonies to check and find out what day the eighth day of April is?"
Zhou Jun thought for a long time, and finally shook his head and said: "No, I just feel that this day is familiar, and now I have forgotten it. It is probably not an important matter."
After saying that, Zhou Jun sighed unconsciously.
Along with this sigh, the sound of singing that was lingering around Zhou Jun's ears slowly fell, gradually disappeared, and finally turned into nothingness.
The emperor of the Tang Dynasty left his place, abandoned his past, and slowly walked towards the center of the empire to fulfill his obsession engraved in his heart.
In that splendid palace, countless shouts of long live merged into one, resounding throughout the world, shaking the world, pushing the giant wheel of history forward slowly...
