The Gobi Desert seemed to be splashed with golden ink as the sun set, and the rocky mountains isolated in the sand were blown by the wind and made a hissing sound.
Xiao Hua and Yuan Zai were riding horses in front, making a clicking sound on the hard ground with their hooves. Behind them were two oxcarts loaded with account books and the escorting team.
When he decided to bring these account books back to Chang'an, he had already planned what to do next. First of all, the account books must not be handed over to Yang Guozhong, otherwise the meaning of bringing them back would be lost. Secondly, he wanted to confuse the people who returned to Chang'an.
date, and choose a person who is not involved but can directly enter the palace to help him realize his wish. But where can he find this person? Even if there is such a person, when he sees the part of the account book involving the concubine and the saint, he will choose not to touch it.
This bad guy.
In fact, there is such a person. This person is outside the northwest vassal town and Yang Guozhong's party in Chang'an. That is An Lushan, the prince of Dongping County who is in charge of Youyan. If these account books can be brought to Fan Yang to enter the Memorial Hall, An Lu will
Shanbao summoned him to the palace. He went to the palace to admonish the saint. If your majesty can repent, he will ban the Western Region Chamber of Commerce, abolish the pepper trade route, and completely eliminate the money-making machine in this northwest feudal town.
Xiao Langzhong's thoughts were too beautiful and naive, but he forgot that he had a partner like Yuan Zai beside him. Yuan Zai was such a shrewd and well-rounded person, how could he be willing to be led by him on the road of self-destruction?
During the first half month of the journey, Xiao Hua remained vigilant. He had to get up three or four times a night, always watching out for those around him, and protecting the account books in the car from being damaged.
But how can one person's energy last two months to cover everything? Late at night, when Yuan Zai was not paying attention, he secretly wrote a long letter to Right Minister Yang Guozhong in his room at the Inn, describing the process of the investigation.
I wrote down the results in detail so that Yang Xiang could be mentally prepared and let him know that he had shot himself in the foot.
After he finished writing the letter, he put it in an envelope, sealed it with beeswax, then crept downstairs, and in the servant's room woke up the postman who had chatted with him a few words during the day.
The postman opened his eyes drowsily and saw a blurry black figure standing in front of the shop. He was about to scream but someone covered his mouth. Yuan Zai leaned into his ear and whispered: "Don't scream, it's me.
Yuan Si Nao."
The postman hurriedly wanted to go down to the ground to salute, but Yuan Zai stopped him.
"Yuan Si came down to see me late at night, but do you have something important to tell me?"
"That's right. I would like to ask you to deliver a letter to Chang'an for me and deliver it to the residence of Yang Guozhong, the right prime minister in Kaihuafang." He took the envelope out of his arms and handed it to the postman ten taels of pig waist silver.
The postman hurriedly resisted: "Sending letters to Sizhi is my unshirkable duty. How dare I ask for reward money?"
Yuan Zai forced the silver collar into his hand: "Keep it, it's not easy to eat and sleep in the open on the way back and forth. Besides, you have never been to Chang'an in your life. After you arrive in Chang'an and send the letter to the Prime Minister, you should eat and play.
Your wife used her thick clothes to buy some rare food and toys for your children."
When the postman heard this, he almost burst into tears. He crossed his hands and knelt on the ground and said movedly: "Don't worry, Si Zhi, I will definitely deliver the letter to the right prime minister's mansion in Kaihuafang, Chang'an."
"Okay, just go with peace of mind. I have opened up your joints here, postmaster. You will still have your errands when you come back."
"Thank you Sizhi!"
The postman took advantage of the starry night to pack up the package, took out the horse from the stable and climbed on the horse. He turned around from the horse, saluted Yuan Zai, who was standing at the steps of the thatched hall with his hands crossed, and then shook the reins and quietly got into the carriage.
Entering into the vast starry night.
In the early morning, Xiao Hua and Yuan Zai packed up and prepared to embark on the journey. He did not notice that there was no one missing at the inn. The soldiers responsible for escorting the vehicles were also sent by the Hexi Doulu Army, and they did not care about what happened last night.
Yuan Zai still kept a respectful distance from him. If Yuan Zai was somewhat fawning over him before the audit, now Yuan Zai has regarded him as a useless person, offending Li Siye, offending Yang Guozhong, and even more.
The concubine and the saint are in this situation, even gods can't save them.
…
…
"Snapped!"
Yang Guozhong slapped the letter in his hand on the desk angrily, and cursed angrily: "Xiao Hua, that bastard, asked him to investigate Li Siye, and after searching, he actually found the Yang family! He even wanted to hide it.
Zhu went to Chang'an with his account books! I chopped off his head first!"
Dou Hua, a member of the Zhongshu House, quickly stepped forward and bowed and asked: "Right Minister, what happened?"
"See for yourself! This is the person you recommended!" Yang Guozhong waved his sleeves and picked up the letter on the case, shaking the paper and raising it in the air. Dou Hua quickly caught it with both hands, stretched out his hands and read it carefully, and his eyes widened.
His eyes were secretly frightened.
As one of Yang Guozhong's think tanks, he was able to calm down quickly. He stepped forward with his waist slightly crouched and his hands on his hands and said: "The right Prime Minister clearly knows that investigating cases still requires an upright minister like Xiao Hua. If he is a smooth and sophisticated person,
If we dare not offend Li Siye, how can we talk about going deep into the hinterland of Hexi to investigate the Western Region Chamber of Commerce?"
Yang Guozhong turned his back to him and clasped his hands and said angrily: "Are you satisfied with the results of this investigation?"
Dou Hua lowered his head and rolled his eyes, complaining that you can blame me for this? You and your family are not clean, and you still dare to go out and check others in a big way. Isn't this a flaw in your mind?
He bowed his head and folded his hands sincerely to admit his mistake: "What the Prime Minister taught me is that I did not expect that Li Siye would use the money of the Western Region Chamber of Commerce to deal with you and the three ladies. But why do you need to worry? Even the prince and the prince are involved.
Both the empress and the saint use sandalwood brought by the Western Regions Chamber of Commerce."
"Hmph!" Yang Guozhong just raised his head and snorted, as if his anger level had dropped slightly.
"Fortunately, my subordinates also arranged for Yuanzai, the director of Dali Temple. Yuanzai is shrewd and worldly, so how can we destroy ourselves with him. With this letter from Yuanzai, we can respond in advance. The first step is to send someone
Go to Huaqing Palace and ask if it is really building a sandalwood bath for the imperial concubine. If it is true, then the red sandalwood alchemy hall in the Jiaotai Hall of Xingqing Palace is also true. The second step is to go from the right side of the Imperial City
Xiaowei sent a team of troops to Hexi to meet the two of them, and took control of all the account books. When they passed the Yellow River Floating Bridge in Lanzhou, they sank two carts of account books into the river. This not only eliminated the evidence, but also saved His Majesty and the Empress from worrying.
"
"Besides, even if the account books are transported to Chang'an, he will still be able to escape the hands of you, the right minister, and they will all be destroyed when the time comes. And..."
Yang Guozhong's brows relaxed slightly: "And what?"
"Furthermore, Li Siye used the Western Region Chamber of Commerce Station to transport sandalwood as an offering to His Majesty and the Empress. This was a good thing to seek credit and favor. What did he mean by asking the Chamber of Commerce to record it in the account books? Is it not possible for the Saint and the Empress to owe him a favor? So this part
I think the account book can be kept and given to the saint and empress to see how he will explain it then!"
"Yeah." Yang Guozhong reluctantly held back his pride, raised his hand and tugged at his beard and said, "You are the one who can turn disadvantages into advantages."
Dou Hua felt a little proud in his heart, where was he?
He walked up behind Yang Guozhong in two steps, bowed his waist and put his hands on his hands and said, "Do you still remember who encouraged you to investigate Li Siye's Western Region Chamber of Commerce?"
Yang Guozhong suddenly turned around, raised two fingers and said: "Pinglu Marching Secretary Gao Shang and Fan Yang are entering Liu Luogu of the memorial hall!"
"Yes, these two people are An Lushan's confidants, so this matter came from An Lushan's instruction, and his intentions are so sinister. Assuming that An Lushan does not know that the contents of the account book involve his majesty and the imperial concubine, why don't you, right minister,
How about counterattacking others?"
Yang Guozhong's eyes flashed, he lowered his head and approached him and asked: "How to counterattack!"
"The right minister wrote a letter to An Lushan who was far away in Fanyang, saying that the evidence that Li Siye was corrupt, perverting the law and dominating the trade routes had been obtained, and invited him to write a memorial to impeach Li Siye. We only handed over part of the account books involving the saint and the imperial concubine.
When An Lushan's memorial is submitted, you will keep it silent. Therefore, An Lushan impeached the governor of Hexi alone while he was in Youyan. Is this an attack on dissidents? What would the saint think?
At that time, An Lushan and Li Si will be in the same position of water and fire, and you, the right minister, will be in the middle to balance them, and the fisherman will benefit."
In this way, everything has returned to its original point. Li Linfu's heartfelt words before his death asked him to expand and exploit the contradiction between Anlu Mountain and the northwest feudal town. The prime minister can balance the situation and ensure the overall stability. Unfortunately, Yang Guozhong did not listen and temporarily targeted An Lushan.
Lu Shan, for a while, targeted Li Siye, causing him to go back to this road after making a big circle.
It's a pity that he still doesn't know his own ability, thinking that he can defeat the two major vassal forces by himself.
Until now, he just nodded and said: "Well, it's feasible, let's do it like this!"