Emperor Taizong's Growth Plan

Chapter 396 Detective Alliance
Tubo, in the royal palace of some cities.

Tubo Zanpuqi Nieqi looked around at the many dignitaries in the hall, and asked in a low voice:
"Do you have any objections to my arrangement?"

All the Tubo dignitaries shook their heads again and again, stroked their chests together and saluted, bowed and said:
"I have no objection, I respect Zanpu's order!"

Qi Nieqi nodded and said in a deep voice:
"Go down and get ready!"

Hearing the words, all the dignitaries touched their chests again and saluted before exiting the hall.

Qi Nieqi rubbed the center of his brows, leaning on the throne, showing a trace of tiredness on his face.

"What's the next step?" Qi Nieqi asked the nearby official.

"Zanpu, you still need to summon the great master of the Bon religion today to discuss the ritual of offering sacrifices to the gods at the end of the year..."

When Qi Nieqi heard the words, a trace of disgust and irritability flashed in his eyes, and he snorted coldly:
"Hmph, I let them explore and pursue. The world's national destiny uses the method of scheduling, and they have found nothing for so long. But let them ask me for gold and silver money under the guise of sacrificial ceremonies, but they will never tire of it! If the world If there really are any gods, why do you choose a group of such people to serve as sacrifices?"

All the Tubo officials around Qi Nieqi lowered their eyebrows at this moment, as if they didn't hear Qi Nieqi's complaints.

With a cold face, Qi Nieqi said in a deep voice:
"This year I have frequent major events in Tubo, and the sacrifice fee can only be [-]% of previous years. Let Suo Muqi go to see them, and tell Suo Muqi for me, if you can't complete this matter, don't come out to deal with government affairs within three years!"

Qi Nieqi's son, Suomuqi, is now an adult and is regarded by the dignitaries and common people as the next Zanpu of the Tubo Dynasty.

Hearing the words, the servant beside him hurriedly responded with a deep voice.

"Then today's matter, the only thing left is to meet the envoys of Xia Kingdom... At this time, they are already waiting outside the palace. Will Zanpu summon him now?"

Hearing people from Xia Guo, Qi Nieqi's eyes moved slightly, and after a moment of contemplation, he said in a deep voice:

"Let them in!"

"Yes!"

After a while, several Xia Guo embroidered envoys who disguised themselves as merchants to deceive others walked quickly into the hall and bowed to Abandoned Nie Qi on the throne.

"Envoy of Xia Kingdom, pay homage to Tubo Zanpu!"

Qi Nieqi looked at the embroidered clothes envoys in front of him, and after a moment of silence, he spoke directly:

"I know the purpose of your coming here, but the current situation in Tubo prevents me from easily mobilizing troops! So, please take my apology and report back to your majesty the emperor."

Before the embroidered clothes envoys could speak, they were flatly rejected by Qi Nieqi, and their expressions changed immediately.

The leader hurriedly stepped forward and said:
"Zanpu, don't rush to refuse! Now Yun Kingdom's elite troops are all in our Daxia territory, and the country is extremely empty. Back then, Yun Kingdom made an emergency landing on Li Dynasty, which caused dissatisfaction from the Li Dynasty and the public."

"As long as Zanpu raises his troops to go south at this time, and cut off the return route of the Yun army. The Li Dynasty Restoration Army goes north and directly hits the hinterland of the Yun country. At that time, our Great Xia army will counterattack, and all the elite of the Yun army will be trapped, and it is difficult to escape the annihilation of the entire army. At that time, the three families can calmly carve up the territory of Yunguo."

"At that time, my Great Xia only needs the capital of Yunguo, and the rest of the country will be divided equally between Tubo and Li Dynasty!"

The country of Yun is not small, and compared to the land of Tubo, it is more populous, prosperous and prosperous.If it succeeds, the ambition of the Tubo army to leave the plateau will finally be realized in the hands of Qi Nieqi!

With such a condition, it stands to reason that Qi Nieqi would not refuse no matter what.

But at this moment, he sighed regretfully and said:
"If you don't want to, you really can't!"

Having said that, Qi Nieqi looked at the embroidered emissaries in the hall, and said in a deep voice:
"In the southwestern part of Tubo, there is a tribe named Yangtong, who has great prestige in the local area. Before that, the emperor of Yun Kingdom appointed its leader, Nie Chi, as the envoy of Yangtong. All the strange beasts, snow lions, were given back to the same tribe of Yang!"

"Now, Nie Chi uses the banner of Yang Tong Jie Du Envoy, and the exotic animal snow lion as auspicious, falsely claiming the will of the gods of Chengxue Mountain, and recruits the tribes in the southwest of Tubo to serve under his command. In our southwest of Tubo, the prestige is gradually growing. In the middle of the country, large tribes such as Supi and Niangshi also have many connections with them..."

Speaking of this, Qi Nieqi looked even more dignified and authentic:

"Just now when I summoned my ministers, I was arranging soldiers, horses, and manpower to garrison, to guard against the sheep's tribe, to respond to Yunguo's order, and to raise troops to seek rebellion... So, it's not that I don't want to respond to His Majesty's sending troops, but that once I Sending troops, the many big tribes who are dissatisfied with me will inevitably collude with the same tribe to rebel and seize power!"

Hearing this, the envoys of Xia Guo's embroidered clothes froze immediately.

I thought it would not be difficult to persuade Qi Nieqi to send troops with such a moving condition.But I never expected that it was because of the struggle between the royal power in the Tubo Kingdom and the local tribes that the success fell short!
Qi Nieqi sighed again, and said in a deep voice:
"After I go back, please, apologize to the Emperor of Great Xia Kingdom for me!"

The embroidered clothes envoys had no choice but to bow and leave.

But just after they left, the close minister who abandoned Nie Qi couldn't help but say:
"Zanpu, this is a good time for me, Tubo, to extend my power beyond the plateau! If I don't take advantage of this opportunity of the internal struggle in the Central Plains, I'm afraid I, Tubo, will never have another chance!"

At this time, Abandoned Nie Qi had a calm smile on his face, which was quite different from the regretful look just now.

Hearing the regretful words of the ministers around him, he shook his head slightly and said:

"This is a good opportunity? Hehe, the Yun army is elite and brave, and I, Tubo, have experienced it before. Xia Guo said it simply, but with the strength of our Tubo, can we really cut off the Yun army's retreat so easily? When the time comes , I am afraid that the most likely thing is to benefit the Xia Kingdom. In the end, Tubo will gain nothing except for enmity with the Yun Kingdom!"

As soon as this remark came out, the ministers around Qi Nie Qi couldn't help but froze.

Eat as much rice as you have an appetite.

The central royal power of the Tubo Kingdom and the local tribes are intertwined with each other, the national power is not strong, and the people are few.Soldiers lack armor and ironware, and their combat power can only be described by words like "vulnerable".

With such strength, it's better not to get involved in the battle between the great powers of the Central Plains for the time being!
At this time, the main hall was full of trusted confidantes of Abandoned Nie Qi, and they did not hide it.After looking around at everyone, Qi Nieqi continued:

"Xia Kingdom has a vast territory, and Yun Kingdom cannot swallow it for two years! Just wait, when the wars between the Central Plains countries become more intense and all the nobles in the country have surrendered, it will be my Tubo soldiers who leave the plateau. Time to occupy the rich land of the Central Plains!"

When everyone in the hall heard the words, they were sincerely convinced, and immediately stroked their chests and saluted, and said loudly:
"Zan Pu is wise!"
-
Yunguo, in the government office of Weichu Mansion.

Hai Rui, who was seriously injured by an assassin two months ago, is now able to walk on the ground under the meticulous care of the imperial doctor and the treatment of the precious medicine in the palace.

With a slightly healthy body, Hai Rui couldn't stay any longer. Regardless of the dissuasion from the imperial doctor and his attendants, he insisted on coming to the government office to intervene in the investigation progress of this imperial examination fraud case.

Hearing that Hai Rui came with a sick body, Di Renjie didn't dare to neglect, and immediately led a group of officials from the third division to greet him.

As soon as everyone arrived in the courtyard, they saw a man with a resolute face, a slightly pale face, and a thin figure walking quickly.

This person in front of him is the imperial censor, Hai Rui, who is famous for being upright and upright.

Di Renjie stepped forward, nodded slightly, and said in a deep voice:

"Di Renjie, Minister of Dali Temple, met Mr. Hai!"

"I've met Mr. Hai!" All the officials of the third department also bowed down to salute.

Although Hai Rui could see that his body was still weak, he acted in the same manner as in the past. He immediately bowed his hands and returned the salute, saying:

"I have seen you, my lords! I came here today to ask how the case has progressed."

Without waiting for the officials to reply, Hai Rui continued:

"I was born as an ordinary citizen. If His Majesty hadn't promoted the imperial examinations and selected scholars based on talent instead of birth, I'm afraid it would be difficult for me to enter the official career in this life!"

"Nowadays, there are people who secretly manipulated the imperial examinations, betrayed His Majesty's trust and reuse, and cut off the official career of poor scholars. No matter who is behind such a bold person or how powerful they are, I ask you to investigate to the end and never let him go. No, I will bear all the consequences!"

Hai Rui's tone was rather tough, as if he wanted to get to the bottom of it no matter what.This paranoid and stubborn appearance made all the officials present vaguely understand why many high officials in the court are extremely afraid of this Hai Rui!
When Di Renjie heard the words, he continued:

"Please rest assured, Mr. Hai, His Majesty has issued an order to investigate it to the end... As for the progress of the case, you might as well invite Mr. Hai to go in, and let's talk about it slowly!"

Hai Rui nodded slightly when he heard the words, and then walked into the hall.

After everyone was seated, Di Renjie coughed lightly and said:

"There are many people involved in the tampering with the quotas of the imperial examinations, the teaching of the academy in charge of the quotas, the students who purchased the quotas, and the people in the middle. The clues are not difficult to find. Although these people have all been arrested by others now. Killed, but still left clues that can be traced... Master Song!"

Song Ci, the Lang Zhong of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, stood up slightly, saluted happily, and said:

"The school's teaching staff, the person in charge, and the student who purchased the quota, all three people are dead now, and it seems that all clues have been broken. But after a thorough investigation, their causes of death and the time of casualties are different! Before I was ordered to arrive, I died suddenly. I faked my death by accident, although the method was a bit rough, but I still eliminated the traces, and I’m afraid I won’t find too many if we continue to investigate.”

"But the student who purchased the quota was killed in the academy on the second day after the fraud case broke out. The murderer acted hastily and left many clues. There are a lot of clues!"

Upon hearing this, Hai Rui immediately nodded and said:

"The student's native place is Lanxi County in the north. Not long after he entered Nanhua Academy in Weichu Prefecture, he became a blockbuster in the academy's promotion of exemptions and won the imperial examination exemption quota. After he was drunk, he once told others triumphantly that his quota was It was bought with money. It just happened that the official’s carriage arrived at Weichu Mansion, and some disciples of the academy filed a complaint, which led to the fraud in the imperial examination!"

"He must have been hastily assassinated after the incident was exposed. Starting from him, it is indeed easier to find clues!"

Di Renjie nodded, and continued:
"According to Mr. Song Ci's autopsy and investigation of the scene, we probably drew the figure of the assassin. After a few days of investigation, we found nothing. But I thought about it, this Nanhua Academy is a government-run academy. It is not easy for ordinary people to enter at will. Start to pay attention to the people in the academy. Finally, one person was finally locked!"

When Hai Rui heard this, his eyes sharpened, and he asked quickly:

"who is it?"

"Inspector of the Ministry of Rites, professor of Wei Chu Mansion, Chang Min Xue!"

Chang Minxue's figure was similar to the murderer's figure that Song Ci deduced from the traces at the scene.On the day of the incident, he stayed in the academy.Moreover, the number of exempted places in the imperial examination also needs his seal approval in the end.

With the addition of many clues, the suspicion is even greater!

Hai Rui's eyes sharpened, and he said in a deep voice:
"As far as I know, this imperial examination fraud case involves more than just Nanhua College in Weichu Mansion! Changmin is no more than a mere inspector and professor of the government. He doesn't have such courage, and he has no ability to promote it!"

Upon hearing this, Di Renjie agreed:

"That's right! When I continued to investigate, I found out that Chang Minxue, when he was in Beijing, had a close relationship with Gao Fang, the doctor of the Ministry of Etiquette and System. It was also thanks to Gao Fang's that he was able to be released as a professor and supervisor of a government. Operation... and within a few days after the incident, Chang Minxue resigned due to illness and disappeared!"

The Ritual System Department of the Ministry of Rites is now the department in charge of the imperial examinations!
Although the official position of the Secretary of Yizhi is not high, after all, he is in charge of the imperial examination and has the power to supervise the local government schools. As long as Gao Fang has enough courage, it is not difficult to manipulate it into the current situation.

Hearing this, the manipulator behind this has actually been confirmed without a doubt!
But at this moment, neither Di Renjie, Song Ci, nor Hai Rui showed any signs of happiness on their faces.

Hai Rui frowned, and said in a deep voice:
"Whether it's Chang Minxue who killed people in a hurry to cover up the clues, or later, used a charlatan to assassinate the official, it can be seen that the people behind the scenes are not good at assassination methods!"

Di Renjie nodded, and also said:
"Although the methods of the academy's instruction and middlemen who were killed afterwards were still a bit rough, they were by no means what ordinary Jianghu people and disciples could do. It is obvious that there are other people behind Gao Fang. The official has sent a letter Jingzhong, please make an order immediately to arrest Gao Fang, lest Gao Fang's accomplices abandon their soldiers and protect the commander, and start killing people!"

Hai Rui looked at Di Renjie, Minister of Dali Temple in front of him, but his heart was already relaxed.

He calmed down a little, nodded slightly and said:
"It's difficult for me to return to Beijing right away due to my body. Please continue to investigate the matter afterward, Mr. Di!"

Di Renjie nodded slightly, and said in a deep voice:
"Lord Hai, don't worry!"

(End of this chapter)