A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 994 The crime has been punished

Governor's Mansion.

Liu Dewei looked at the things presented by his son and couldn't help but take a deep breath.

"Hundreds of thousands?"

Liu Shenli nodded to his father, "It's really amazing. I thought Dang Renhong only embezzled millions, but who knew it was hundreds of millions."

"It's unbelievable. How long has Dang Renhong been in Lingnan?"

Liu Dewei has served in Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment for a long time, and has tried many corrupt officials. This is the first time that Renhong of this party has committed so much corruption in such a short period of time.

"Aye, Dang Renhong only embezzled millions of money, and more of it was stolen by him through clever means."

Liu Dewei sighed, "Dang Renhong handed over these hundreds of thousands of coins so happily?"

"Dang Renhong went to the ambassador's house to see Duke Wu. After a conversation between them, Dang Renhong was taken into the military camp by Duke Wu. Then Duke Wu gave us a book to check."

"Aye, I want to try,"

"People in Chang'an say that Lingnan is barbaric, but in fact, Lingnan is full of gold and silver. The copper leached in Shaozhou Copper Factory accounts for eighty-nine percent of the world's copper every year, and the copper coins minted by Shaozhou Money Supervisor every year account for eighty-nine percent of the new coins minted by the imperial court. Nine points, more than 3 million yuan of new money a year.

"Aye, I am a seventh-grade student. I have a salary of seventy dan per year, a monthly salary of 1,750 dan, and food and miscellaneous supplies of 350 dan. My annual salary is only 25,000 dan, and my annual salary is 70 dan. I have a job field. Three and a half hectares, one acre can be rented for less than six dou.

Observe the ambassador's house,

How many years can I save without eating or drinking? "

······
Dang Renhong's property was confiscated and registered one by one, but Wu Huaiyu didn't get a cent.

"Aye, this is hundreds of thousands of money and property. If Dang Renhong really wants to give it to Duke Wu, will Duke Wu really refuse to accept it?"

In his heart, he felt great admiration for the Duke Wu.

Liu Dewei reached out and patted his son on the shoulder, "Now that you have come to Lingnan and are still under Duke Wu, then study hard. He is worth learning from me."

He also allocated a sum of money and food from the envoy's treasury to provide subsidies to the officials and soldiers responsible for the inspection.

He asked the staff of the ambassador's office to form an investigation team to thoroughly investigate the ins and outs of Dang Renhong's property. Those who came from corruption were returned to the public, and those who were robbed were returned to their owners.

Liu Shenli looked at the book. They had also participated in the inspection at the rear camp. The entire inspection was not over yet. He saw with his own eyes that every property and sum of money was inspected and registered. It was countless wealth.

Liu Shenli was still amazed that Wu Huaiyu could refuse the hundreds of thousands of dollars offered to him, "Wu Gong is really a very human being. Lingnan was able to undergo such great changes during the Zhenguan Dynasty, all thanks to Wu Gong."

"In fact, if Dang Renhong had not broken the rules so recklessly and angered the public, with his official position and title, he could have learned to manage finances like Wu Gong in Lingnan. Even if he was not greedy or robbed, he would have no problem making a million dollars a year. Unfortunately, he was too greedy and ruthless. He robbed so much in such a short time. You can imagine how many people he offended, so it's no wonder he ended up like this."

"Aye, what will be the final outcome of Dang Renhong?"

There were too many people in the family, so it was a bit hard just to rely on the salary of the two fathers and the dowry from their stepmother Pingshou County Lord. After coming to Lingnan and seeing the methods and speed of making money like Dang Renhong, Wu Huaiyu and others, Young Liu Shenli couldn't sit still.

The Prince of the Supervisory State saw the memorial a few days later. Cheng Qian read it and handed it over to the prime ministers of the Zhengshitang Hall for discussion, and then had it sent to Jiucheng Palace in Qizhou to give it to the saint.

"Dang Renhong, he is also the founder of the country, but he is in danger of death." Liu Dewei sighed in his heart.

······
Wu Huaiyu's memorial was rushed all the way to Chang'an with the Yiqi.

Liu Shenli couldn't help but said, "Aye, you are now the governor of Guangzhou, so if we abide by the rules, can we buy a property in Lingnan?"

Summer in Jiucheng Palace is much cooler than Chang'an Taiji Palace.

There was a long queue, and they were all victims who had been robbed, extorted, and forcibly bought shares by Dang Renhong. They heard the announcement and came to register. As long as they passed the review and verification by the Embassy, ​​they could enter the refund process.

Also, how many ships come in and out of Guangzhou Port every year? Some large ships carry goods worth hundreds of thousands of dollars."

The implication of his words is that he still doesn't agree with his son's idea of ​​making money.

Wu Huaiyu sent someone to check Dang Renhong's property and sent a copy of the book to the Governor's Mansion. He had no intention of coveting the money and asked him to participate and supervise it.

"In the future, you no longer need to give your salary to your family. You can keep it in your own hands."

Everyone came with a skeptical attitude, looking forward to but also a little uneasy.

Many people heard that Dang Renhong was captured and that Duke Wu wanted to return his money and property. They didn't believe it at first. How could anyone spit out the fat meat that had been eaten? Even if Dang Renhong was convicted and fell down, it would still be unreasonable. This meat must have been rotten in the pot.
I didn't expect to be able to withdraw.

Liu Dewei looked at his son guiltily,

Many people had no way to appeal before.
There are also people whose families have been broken up and their families have died.
They queued up at the door of the ambassador's office with nervousness, carefully and ingratiatingly presented money to the subordinate officials of the ambassador's office, and inquired with excitement.

"Dang Renhong's money is actually not that easy to get, so why should Duke Wu get into trouble for it?"

The wealth of hundreds of thousands of guan is indeed a huge sum. Even if it is placed in Chang'an, it can far surpass many wealthy families, but Wu Gong is the one who is not short of money. "

Liu Dewei took another sip of tea, becoming more and more sure of his judgment. He said to his son, "Didn't you hear the rumor about Duke Wu's wealth when you were in Chang'an? It was said that the silk and silk from Duke Wu's family were tied to the trees in Zhongnan Mountain. , Zhongnan Mountain is full of trees and there is still some silk from Duke Wu’s family.

The young Liu Shenli was still shocked by that figure. Apart from a few farms, his family had no other property, and his main income came from his salary. Since he became an official, his salary has been handed over to his stepmother to help support the family. The family supports more than 200 people, and they often have to support relatives and friends.

Until now, Liu Shenli had maintained a simple living habit. It was really hard for him to imagine that someone could steal so much money.

Liu Dewei picked up the tea cup and took a sip, "Could it be that Dang Hongren gave the booklet to Duke Wu and wanted to cut off its tail to survive, but Duke Wu confiscated it?"

Liu Dewei said to his son, "You can barely support your family with a small official's salary, but you can't make a fortune relying on your salary."

Liu Dewei held the tea cup and said, "Gong Wu left a way for Dang Renhong to survive. Even if he took the initiative to explain the return of the stolen goods, and His Majesty is nostalgic for old friendships, the final result is probably that he will be deprived of his official title and exiled to Annan. It probably won't implicate him." family."

"Dang Renhong used all kinds of tricks and plunders in Lingnan to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, but Wu Gong's financial management methods are faster than robbing money. For more than ten years, it is no exaggeration to say that wealth can be rivaled,"

"Do you have the capital?" Liu Dewei asked.

"You are lucky. Duke Wu is back. Duke Wu told you to register carefully here. Someone from the Embassy will check it carefully. As long as it is found out, your money will be returned to you."

After nearly a year of conditioning by Wu Huaiyu, the emperor could now stand up straight in the morning occasionally. Although he still kept in mind Wu Huaiyu's words, it was best not to visit his concubines for a year. After one year, you can slowly recover, from once a month to once every ten days. After three years, there will be no serious problems.

"Your Majesty, the memorial sent by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince,"

The emperor looked good today. He went to the mountains to shoot birds in the morning and went for a swim in the river when he came back.

"Leave it there,"

The emperor was leaning on the recliner while the palace maid wiped his hair.

After finishing cleaning up, the emperor picked up the memorial on the case while eating tea and snacks.

But after just two glances, I couldn't eat anymore.

The emperor threw a piece of peach cake on the plate and stood up with the memorial.

Wu Huaiyu’s urgent memorial and Dali Temple’s opinions on how to deal with it.

It was all beyond Li Shimin’s expectations.
Doulu Kuan had previously reported Dang Renhong's corruption, saying that he had embezzled millions of dollars. A million dollars would cost a thousand yuan. In Chang'an, one could buy a small courtyard of two to three acres in the west of the city.

It wasn't a lot of money, but it was corruption after all. Li Shimin also knew that Dang Renhong might not only be corrupt, but also acted a little recklessly there, causing a lot of complaints, so he decided to recall him.

But the emperor didn't expect that he actually embezzled hundreds of thousands of yuan.

Before Wu Huaiyu returned to Lingnan, he paid a tribute of 40,000 yuan to the emperor. Li Shimin was particularly happy, but he did not expect that Dang Renhong would be greedy so much.

It's hard to believe, but the evidence is conclusive: Dang Renhong himself gave the booklet to Wu Huaiyu.

Angry, disappointed.

Liu Dewei, Dali Temple, the supervisory censor, the Guangzhou shipping envoy, as well as the Baiqi secret agents and the secret agents of the Criminal Xian Division, all confirmed Dang Renhong's crime.

at dinner,
Li Shimin was so angry that he couldn't eat, so Empress Changsun personally made locust leaf cold pottery and two cold side dishes. "Your Majesty, is it too hot and you have no appetite?"

"It was Dang Renhong and Wu Huaiyu, the governor of Guangzhou, who reported that Dang Renhong had embezzled not just one million yuan but hundreds of thousands of yuan in Lingnan. The outrage he caused in Lingnan was not only the revolt of the barbarian tribes in Luo Dou Cave, but Many maritime merchants who came to Guangzhou Port to trade were blackmailed by him,"

"Hundreds of thousands?" Queen Changsun was also shocked.

"Yes, during the Wude period, the imperial household tax was only 400,000 guan a year. Not long after his party, Renhong, went to Lingnan, he had already collected hundreds of thousands of guan."

"During the Wude period of the imperial court, there were one hundred money-making furnaces across the country, working hard to cast money, but they could only cast 330,000 Kaiyuan Tongbao in a year."

"What does Your Majesty plan to do with him?"

"Wu Huaiyu said that Dang Renhong took the initiative to confess and actively withdraw the stolen goods, but Dali Temple ruled that Dang Renhong should be killed."

Queen Changsun said nothing.

Li Shimin sighed, "I saw the evidence of Dang Renhong's crime today and was very angry. But then I remembered that when Dang Renhong followed me in the east and west, I thought of Dang Renhong's two sons, three brothers and five My nephews all died fighting for the Tang Dynasty.
Especially Dang Renhong's second son, who died to protect me in the Battle of Wulaoguan, and finally died in front of me and died in my arms.

Now Dang Renhong also has white hair. I feel very sad when I think of him killing his head when it turns white. How can he still eat?
Maid Guanyin, you said that Dang Renhong was born and died for the Tang Dynasty, and the Dang family also made many sacrifices for the country, but the court treated him well. He is now also the founding prince and three-term governor, why is he still so greedy? "

"I was very disappointed with him, and I was very angry just now. I wished I could kill him immediately in front of him, but then I remembered those past events.
I can't bear it.

I wanted to find a way out for him, but I never found a convincing reason.

Guanyin maid, Dang Renhong has indeed committed a capital crime, and the crime is extremely heinous, but I don’t want to kill him. I will immediately follow Gaozu to conquer the country. I know that conquering the country is not easy,

Dang Renhong and other military generals fought their way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. It was extremely difficult for them to have contributed to the founding of the country.

I don’t want to be said to be an emperor like Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty one day, saying that I am a good bird but a good bow, a cunning rabbit and a dead lackey.

I hung the portraits of those heroes and scholars in Lingyan Pavilion to remind me that conquering this country is not easy. "

The queen just stayed with her quietly, listening to her husband's true feelings. Her husband was a passionate man. Dang Renhong had committed a crime, but his past achievements could not be erased.

"Mr. Guanyin, I want to go back to Chang'an and discuss the matter with the courtiers in person. I want to personally seek a way out for him."

The queen just persuaded her husband to eat something.

Early the next morning, the emperor, who had been restless and sleepless all night, with dark circles under his eyes and a mouthful of bubbles, rode back to Chang'an with the imperial army's light cavalry.

Rushing all the way back to Chang'an, not caring about the dust.
The emperor immediately summoned the officials of the fifth rank and above in Beijing to come to the Tai Chi exhibition.
"I just came back from Jiucheng Palace, specifically for Dang Renhong's matter.
The great law of the country is received by the ruler from heaven and has supreme authority. It cannot be regarded as a private property and cannot be made at will and broken by the world.

But I want to say that whether the law is law or not has nothing to do with human relationships.

Dang Renhong committed a crime, but he fought for the Tang Dynasty in the east and west, and made great military exploits for the court. Moreover, the Dang family sacrificed many of their children for the country.
Now he is gray-haired and old, and he may have made a big mistake in his later years.
Dali Temple said that he would be killed.

I couldn't bear it. Whenever I closed my eyes, I thought of Dang Renhong who had served the imperial court for twenty years, and of Dang's sons who died in the battle.
Now I want to ask for a favor for Dang Renhong and pardon his death penalty.

But this is an act that violates the laws of the country. This is inappropriate and is a disgrace to heaven.

But I can't bear to kill Dang Renhong. He has also realized his crime and actively confessed and took the initiative to return the stolen goods. I ask you, can you pardon Dang Renhong's death penalty? "

The atmosphere in the hall was a bit heavy.

Rumors of Dang Renhong's crimes have spread to Chang'an, and the fact that he embezzled and plundered hundreds of thousands of dollars has also been widely spread. This can be said to be the largest corruption case since the founding of the Tang Dynasty.

The Dali Temple, the Ministry of Punishment, and the Yushitai jointly conducted a joint trial, and the verdict was death.

The result of the discussion among the prime ministers of the Political Affairs Hall was that he should be killed.

This case involves a huge amount and has extremely bad influence, and must be severely punished.

They even thought that Dang Renhong should be deprived of his privilege of commutation in the Eighth Meeting.

This case must be made a model.

No one expected that the emperor would plead for Dang Renhong like this.

Very inappropriate.

The emperor was too indulgent towards those heroes,
In the past, Yuchi Gong injured Li Daozong, the king of Jiangxia, nearly blinding one eye while fighting for a seat at the palace banquet. Later, Qiu Xinggong killed people in Lingzhou and fried their hearts and livers in the street. There was also Hou Jun who framed him and falsely accused him of treason.
There were also cases such as Changsun Shunde, Liu Hongji, Zhang Shigui, etc. who occupied local people's land and took bribes. The emperor always raised them high and put them down gently.

Now Dang Renhong is like this,
In front of the Taiji Hall, countless Zifei ministers remained silent and expressed their opposition with silence.

Li Shimin looked at this scene blankly,

"I want to spread grass in the southern suburbs and kneel down,

He ate only one vegetarian meal every day and apologized to God for three days, just in exchange for Dang Renhong's death. "

Seeing the emperor's sad voice,
Fang Xuanling, who was deported last time and had just returned to her post, took the initiative to stand up.

"No, Your Majesty. The power of life and death is reserved exclusively for the Emperor. Dang Renhong has indeed made great contributions to the country. Now His Majesty wants to pardon his death penalty. It is just a decree. Why do you need to belittle yourself?"

"Your Majesty, it was Dang Renhong who committed the crime. Why should your Majesty suffer on his behalf?" Yang Shidao, the attendant, also said quickly.

On the other hand, Wei Zheng, who was a disciple of Tongzhi and was a troublemaker, criticized the emperor rudely, "Dang Renhong died unjustly. If he doesn't kill him, it won't be enough to uphold the law of the country. If he doesn't kill him, it won't be enough to make the people angry. Why does your majesty confuse private affairs with the law?"

Li Shimin sighed, "I can't bear to kill the hero, I want to apologize to God."

The ministers persuaded the emperor to give up the move, but Li Shimin refused to give in.

There was a stalemate for a while.

I kept persuading until sunset, and the closed-door drums in Chang'an rang.

Li Shimin sighed helplessly,
"Since the civil and military officials of the entire court do not support it, I will no longer hold an apology ceremony."

After a pause, the emperor continued, "I have punished the world with one crime. In the case of Dang Renhong, I have three crimes. Knowing people without knowing them is one, violating the law for private reasons is the second, and unclear rewards and punishments are the third.

I must keep these shortcomings in mind and try my best to overcome them.
If something like this happens again in the future, I will not make this mistake again, and I hope to ask for your advice. "

The emperor personally issued the edict, which was unexpected by everyone.
Things have developed to this point,
At this time, the emperor made the final decision on Dang Renhong, "depriving him of all official positions, titles and residences, demoting him to a commoner, and living in Annan forever."

Dang Renhong deserves to be punished for his crime.

However, the emperor's convict decree meant that he shared part of the blame for Dang Renhong. The emperor exempted him from the death penalty, which can be regarded as paying off part of the crime and punishment with his meritorious service.

The ministers could no longer stop a man who was demoted to a commoner and lived in Annan.

Even Wei Zheng did not give any advice. The Duke of Zheng looked at the emperor and even suddenly had a guess in his heart. The emperor rushed back to Chang'an from Jiucheng Palace.

There was such a big commotion,
He summoned all the officials of the fifth rank and above in Chang'an, asked Nanjiao to plead guilty, and issued a criminal edict.
It seems that the emperor is very nostalgic for old friendship and meritorious service, but he feels that the emperor's move is not more about personal feelings, but to formally declare to the world,
The emperor who always cared about old friendships will no longer exist in the future.

The case of Dang Renhong was the last time the emperor acted selfishly.

From now on, we will no longer pursue selfish interests, even those who have made great contributions to the country.
Just like the three crimes listed in the imperial edict, the emperor also said that these shortcomings will be overcome with all efforts.

Wei Zheng looked at the emperor,

He became more and more sure of his guess.

The emperor's move not only won him nostalgia and Gu Gongxun's reputation as a benevolent monarch, but also drew a red line. If anyone crosses the line in the future, he will not be treated like this.

Wei Zheng felt that the emperor was becoming more and more unpredictable.

Although he spent most of the year in Jiucheng Palace, the emperor's control became more and more remarkable.

(End of this chapter)