Li Chengqian of the Tang Dynasty: Please say long live His Majesty

Chapter 580: A major case breaks out, and the head is beheaded in an instant (Part )
The first day of October.

The north wind howled throughout Luoyang all night long.

The palace stands.

Early in the morning, East Pavilion of Taiji Hall.

Li Chengqian stood in the pavilion with a calm expression and his arms outstretched.

Izumi Zhixiu, with a timid look on her face, stood in front of Li Chengqian and carefully helped him adjust the crimson dragon robe.

As her fingers moved, a hint of confusion appeared in her eyes.

Li Chengqian glanced at her lightly, a hint of pride flashing in his eyes.

Quan Zhixiu is indeed Quan Gaisuwen's daughter.

She has been telling the truth these days.

But she was not Quan Gaisuwen's legitimate daughter, but a illegitimate daughter born to a maid.

And she is a daughter that is not liked by Quan Gaisu Wenzheng's wife.

Even Quan Gaisuwen might not remember this daughter.

Goguryeo and the Tang Dynasty went to war, and a large area of ​​grain-producing areas north of the Taedong River was destroyed, causing Goguryeo to suffer from a serious food shortage.

Even though she was the daughter of Quan Gaisuwen, she could only have enough food and clothing.

It would have been fine for Izumi Chihide herself, but she had a younger sister who was less than ten years old and ate a lot, so she had no choice but to go out and find food for herself, and she was accidentally abducted.

But now that she has come to the Tang Dynasty, it is not a bad thing.

As long as the news of her disappearance can attract Quan Gaisuwen's attention, her sister can be well taken care of.

Of course, although she was the daughter of Quan Gaisuwen, she was still a Baekje woman when registered with Li Chengqian.

Baekje presented as tribute eleven beautiful women, three boxes of treasures, and one box of gold.

She was just the first Baekje woman favored by Li Chengqian.

Izumi Chihide quickly tidied up Li Chengqian's dragon robe, and he gently lifted Izumi Chihide's chin.

Looking at her blushing cheeks, Li Chengqian smiled smugly, then walked past her.

Izumi Chihide stepped aside and bowed meekly.

Li Chengqian glanced at it and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

Sometimes we have to admit that when facing a strong man, the women of the peninsula can always obey quickly.

Li Chengqian took a step forward and walked out of the Dongshang Pavilion.

All the emotions behind him were completely killed in Li Chengqian's mind in an instant.

Looking up, his eyes were already cold.

……

In the Zhenguan Hall, all the civil and military officials of Luoyang were already in line, holding their tablets and bowing solemnly.

Li Chengqian walked in front of the crowd, then calmly walked up to the steps and sat down on the imperial couch.

All the ministers knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Your Majesty, we pay our respects to you. May your Majesty live forever."

Li Chengqian's eyes swept over Niu Jinda on the side.

Niu Jinda, dressed in red and golden armor, stood at the head of the generals, knelt on one knee and kowtowed.

Behind him were Li Anyan, Tian Renhui, Xue Gu and Wu Ren, Xue Rengui, Qiu Xiaogong, and other military generals.

On the left side of the main hall were a group of civil officials including Tang Jian, Lai Ji, Liu Dewei, Cui Dunli, Changsun Xiang, Li Qianyou, and Yang Sina.

Li Chengqian raised his hand calmly, and the eunuch on the side of him immediately stepped forward and shouted, "Xing!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" All the ministers stood up and stood solemnly.

Looking at the ministers, Li Chengqian spoke calmly, "My Lords, it has been a full month since we arrived in Luoyang at the end of August. How is the investigation going on with the flood relief work in the prefectures and counties?"

Tang Jian, the Minister of the Central Secretariat, stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, the severely affected prefectures and counties in Henan, Hebei, Shannan, and Huainan have all been thoroughly investigated. The provincial governors and county magistrates of three prefectures and twelve counties were found guilty of neglecting their duties, engaging in corruption, and perverting the law. They have all been imprisoned and await trial."

Xu An quickly walked down the steps, took Tang Jian's memorial, and then held it in front of Li Chengqian.

Li Chengqian took it and read it carefully.

Even though he had many requirements for local officials in his imperial edicts, in reality, local officials always forgot his strict requirements when performing their duties locally.

Nowadays, if you break the law, you will be sent to jail immediately.

There will be no tolerance.

After a moment, Li Chengqian put down the memorial, nodded to the ministers and said, "You have worked hard. For the past month, you have traveled to countless prefectures and counties, investigating lawlessness and delivering imperial edicts. I will reward each of you with fifty pieces of silk as a reward for your efforts."

"Yes!" Xu An stood aside and bowed.

Li Chengqian raised his head, looked at the ministers, and said, "My Lords, is there anything else you would like to report?"

"Your Majesty!" The Censor Su Liangsi stood up from behind the ministers.

All the ministers in the hall turned sideways at once.

Su Liangsi has not easily impeached others in the past two years. Because he is the queen's cousin, he tries not to take action to avoid affecting the queen.

But once he made a move, the impeached person was either removed from office or exiled. His moves were extremely accurate and he never made a mistake.

"Speak!" Li Chengqian nodded calmly.

"Your Majesty!" Su Liangsi held up his hu tablet and bowed, saying, "I impeach Lu Wencao, the military officer of the Luozhou Treasury, for stealing and selling grain from the Luoyang treasury. This is illegal. Your Majesty, please investigate."

Li Wenliang and Xiao Jun turned their heads in surprise at the same time.

The two of them really didn't expect that this incident was directed at them.

Li Wenliang turned slightly and glanced at Xiao Jun with a look of surprise. Xiao Jun had been the Crown Prince's Secretary when the Emperor was in the Eastern Palace. Why was the Emperor targeting him now?

It must be aimed at Xiao Jun.

Li Wenliang, the governor of Luozhou, had only been in office for a short time and was not familiar with everyone yet.

Li Chengqian looked up at Su Liangsi and asked, "How much grain was stolen from the warehouse?"

"Three large warehouses, totaling 150,000 dan, will fetch 5 million coins."

After Su Liangsi finished speaking, the ministers in the hall could clearly hear the emperor's heavy breathing on the imperial couch.

"Your Majesty, please calm down!" Xiao Jun quickly stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, I'm afraid there's something fishy about this matter. The Luozhou granary is guarded by countless soldiers, and we inspect the granary three times a month. The last time we did that was ten days ago, and we found no problems. All the grain is there. There's no evidence of grain being sold, nor of old grain being substituted for new. Your Majesty, please investigate again."

"Your Majesty!" Chief Censor Gao Zhizhou stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, Lu Wencao certainly didn't replace old grain with old grain. He simply borrowed enough new grain from six grain merchants in Luoyang to temporarily fill the treasury before Your Majesty's eastern tour. As for the future..."

Gao Zhizhou glanced at Xiao Jun, a hint of mockery flashing in his eyes before he continued, "As for whether to completely empty the warehouse or use old grain as a replacement, that's all up to him, the General of the Treasury, to decide."

"Someone come here!" Li Chengqian looked up immediately.

"Your Majesty!" General Li Anyan of the Left Qianniu Guard and General Tian Renhui of the Right Jinwu Guard stood up at the same time.

"Seal the treasury, confiscate the property, and arrest the person." Li Chengqian looked at the two men and said coldly, "If anyone obstructs me, I will execute them first and report to you later."

"Yes!" Li Anyan and Tian Renhui bowed at the same time, then quickly turned around and walked out of the hall.

Yang Sina was standing behind the ministers and didn't notice that at this moment he couldn't help but shiver.

This time, things got serious.

He didn't know how the emperor found out about this matter, but this matter was the deepest clue buried by the Yang family.

The emperor's inspection trip to Luoyang was intended to inspect the granary.

In order to prevent the emperor from finding out the problem, the Yang family worked secretly to get the six granaries to agree to lend them grain.

Otherwise, with his status as a military officer in Luozhou Ku Cao, how could he have gotten the six granaries to agree so readily?

Of course, Lu Wencao didn't know about the Yang family's involvement in this matter. The Yang family had their own methods.

Moreover, they kept a close eye on the entire Luoyang city, fearing that the emperor would suddenly find out about this matter.

They even kept an eye on Du Gou, who had suddenly returned to Luoyang, because he appeared in Yongtaifang, the residence of Lu Wencao's concubine.

However, in the end, Du Gou only stayed in Luoyang for a few days before returning to Chang'an, so they let down their guard.

Who could have thought that the emperor would suddenly attack?

……

Li Chengqian sat on the imperial couch, looking at the account books laid out on the table. He turned sideways to look at Tang Jian, who was standing at the head of the ministers, and said, "Prime Minister Tang, you're a veteran of the Ministry of Revenue. Take a look at these account books and IOUs from six grain merchants. Do they match what's in the Treasury?"

"Yes!" Tang Jian bowed solemnly.

Zhang Ananda took the account book away from Li Chengqian and handed it to Tang Jian.

Tang Jian began to look at it carefully.

He served as the Minister of Revenue for many years, so it is not difficult for him to compare these.

Li Chengqian looked up at Liu Dewei, who was standing not far behind Tang Jian, and asked, "Duke of Pengcheng, you've been the Minister of Justice for many years. Tell me, how can it be reasonable that you can't find anything in your own home, but you can find all the account books and IOUs with his handprint in someone else's home?"

"Your Majesty, that makes sense." Liu Dewei stood up and saluted, saying, "Not everyone trusts everyone, especially since behind the six grain merchants stand the Wei, Du, Yang, Liu, Wang, and Lu families. They are not afraid of a Luozhou soldier."

"Six families." Li Chengqian narrowed his eyes and continued, "This kind of situation violates Tang law. Aren't these six families afraid at all? And among the six families, isn't Lu Wencao worried that one of them will suddenly leak the news?"

"Your Majesty!" Liu Dewei raised his head slightly, looked at Li Chengqian and said, "This shows that these six families have been involved in these things from the very beginning, and I'm afraid they have been doing this for many years."

All the ministers in the hall looked stern at once.

many years.

It's not just three large warehouses, 150,000 shi, and 5 million coins.

"Xiao Jun!" Li Chengqian suddenly shouted coldly, staring at Xiao Jun.

Xiao Jun stood up with a tingling scalp, and bowed to Li Chengqian, saying, "Your Majesty!"

"I'm asking you, how much do you know about these things? Were you involved?" Li Chengqian clenched his fists lightly.

"Your Majesty, I never knew anything about it." Xiao Jun cupped his hands and said firmly, "Although I am guilty, I have never been involved."

Li Chengqian unclenched his fist and said calmly, "So you don't know about Lu Wencao having three concubines and four mistresses?"

Xiao Jun felt a chill run down his spine. The emperor had thoroughly investigated Lu Wencao's affairs.

He quickly bowed and said, "I know that he has three concubines, but I really don't know about the four mistresses in the family."

"The fourth concubine!" Li Chengqian looked at all the ministers in the hall and said softly, "My lords, how much do you think he will need to spend this year?"

All the ministers bowed their hands.

Now, the evidence loop is closed, and Lu Wencao’s affair has been completely investigated.

"Someone come here." Li Chengqian looked towards the entrance of the palace.

Two imperial guards in red and golden armor stepped forward, walked into the hall from outside, and bowed to Li Chengqian, who was sitting on the imperial couch, and said, "Your Majesty!"

"Issue an order to immediately take Luozhou Ku Cao Lu Wencao out of Duanmen and behead him." Li Chengqian's face turned completely cold.

"Your Majesty!" Before the two guards could speak, Xiao Jun on the side could not help but look up.

Li Chengqian turned sideways to look at Xiao Jun and asked indifferently, "Why, Xiao Changshi, do you have anything else to say?"

The word "Xiao Changshi" made Xiao Jun's scalp tingle.

The other ministers in the hall also looked at Xiao Jun in surprise. He could hardly protect himself now, yet he still cared about others.

Only Yang Sina, who was standing at the side, frowned slightly as he looked at Xiao Jun.

(End of this chapter)