Yang Yi's character may be the gentlest emperor in the history of the Sui Dynasty, but this does not mean that he is a weak person. In fact, the most rare thing in the hundreds of years since the founding of the Sui Dynasty is that there has never been a weak emperor. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that the Sui Dynasty did not have the habit of passing the throne to the eldest son. The emperor would always choose the most aggressive person among all his sons to inherit the throne.
Although the process of how to determine which offspring is more aggressive is a bit cruel.
Perhaps this is also the fundamental reason why the Sui Dynasty has not fallen into decline for more than a hundred years. Although it is undeniable that corruption, bribery and even violation of the law existed in local officials and the imperial court, at least in the Sui Dynasty The national strength is so strong that it makes people feel frightened, especially the military force. What the Sui emperor was most proud of, and what he hoped to remain proud of, was the undefeated Sui army.
Perhaps the Sui emperors have not forgotten the history of the decline of the previous dynasty, so they have always paid relative attention to the military. You must know that the previous dynasty was also known as the largest country in the Central Plains before it was destroyed by Yang Jian, the founding emperor of the Sui Dynasty. It's just that in a country that also relied on military force, after a hundred years of peace, the emperors gradually forgot about the need to sharpen the knives in their hands from time to time.
They are used to holding a pen in one hand and writing beautiful and prosperous poems, but they forget that this hand should also hold a cold and sharp knife.
In order to prevent military rebellion, the former emperor who only relied on civilian officials was unable to find a decent general to lead the army when facing the rebels led by Yang Jian. The former army, which was known as a million-strong army, initially had only It quickly collapsed under the devastating offensive of thousands of rebels. The tiger and wolf troops in Yang Jian's hands faced off against the previous army, and every battle was won as heartily as boiling soup and splashing snow.
There has always been a calligraphy hanging on the wall of the imperial study room of Taiji Palace, which was a calligraphy treasure left by Yang Jian, the founding emperor of the Sui Dynasty.
It is as fast as the wind, as slow as the forest, as aggressive as fire, as motionless as a mountain, as unpredictable as the clouds, and as moving as thunder.
This is a passage written on rice paper with the blood of the previous emperor when Yang Jian led his army to defeat the last army of the previous dynasty. To this day, the handwriting that has been framed and hung on the wall is still bright red. If understood carefully, this is a description of how to use troops. But Yang Jian's descendants all believed that this was Emperor Taizu telling his descendants how to be a good emperor.
Yang Yi stood under the bloody words, looking at Yu Donglai, the Minister of the Ministry of War who was kneeling on the ground and not daring to raise his head, and snorted coldly: "If the people from the Qing Yamen hadn't investigated carefully, this matter would have been reported by the Ministry of War. A petition for merit deceived the past. What chills me the most is not that Li Xiaozong, whom I valued at the beginning, failed to live up to my hopes, but that there were so many people in the court who helped him lie and deceived him. My eyes!"
Yu Donglai felt a little aggrieved because he really had not received any benefits from Li Xiaozong. If it weren't for the merit report reported by You Xiaowei General Li Yuanshan, he would have even forgotten about the young general from the Li family who was transferred to the border town as a tooth general. But he did know about Fan Gu. Just because he confiscated the silver doesn't mean that Youhou Wei General Li Yuanshan didn't send the silver. There were two gifts originally sent to the Ministry of War, one from him and one from the Minister of War, Houjun.
?? And the matter of Fan Gu's victory is handled by Hou Junci.
So he didn¡¯t know how to defend himself. Although he was a little unjust, he was really derelict in his duty.
Seeing that Yu Donglai was silent, the emperor's expression softened a little: "Hou Wenji, come and tell our Minister of War, what happened to Fan Gu. I can't say that he still doesn't know after I've been talking for a long time. Where did you go wrong?"
Hou Wenji, the governor of Qingya Town, leaned over and said, "I obey the decree."
He walked not far away from Yu Donglai and whispered: "In February of the eleventh year of God's blessing, the Meng Yuan thieves knocked on the pass, and Fan Gu's defender Li Xiaozong was defeated. As a result, Fan Gu's city was destroyed, and there were 800 frontier troops in the city. They were all slaughtered by the Mongolian rebels. Li Xiaozong fled and hid in the Youxiao Guard Army. After hearing the news, General Li Yuanshan of the Youxiao Guard led his troops to the border and captured Fan Gu after a night of fighting. However, in order to cover up Li Xiaozong's crime of defeat and dereliction of duty, Li Yuanshan concealed the fact that all the people in Fangu City and the border troops died in the battle. "
"ah?"
Hearing these words, Yu Donglai was so surprised that he couldn't help but let out a very soft exclamation. Why is the story Hou Wenji told so different from the truth he knows? He knew exactly what happened in Fan Gucheng. So when I saw the words "Participating in the Military Ministry's knowing but not noticing" written on the memorial, I was so frightened that I didn't dare to continue reading. But as Hou Wenji said, why didn't he know it at all?
So he subconsciously raised his head and glanced at Hou Wenji, trying to find some clues on Hou Wenji's face. But Hou Wenji just continued with a cold face and a calm tone: "On the day Fan Gu city was broken, the imperial envoys who had just arrived at Fan Gu the day before to inspect the imperial court were also surrounded by bandit soldiers. After fighting for half a night, they were finally outnumbered and all died for the country. After the war, General Li Yuanshan of Youxiao Guard cherished Li Xiaozong's talents and bribed officials from the Ministry of War and Qianhu Gao Tianbao, who was responsible for investigating the matter, to change Li Xiaozong's defeat to a victory without retreating. "
There are several key words in this. Li Yuanshan protected Li Xiaozong because he cherished him, not because Li Xiaozong was also from the Li family in Longyou. Plain words that sound like nothing often hide intriguing information.
Hou Wenji looked at Yu Donglai expressionlessly and said, "This is what happened. Did Mr. Yu understand it?"
Yu Donglai is neither a fool nor an idiot. Otherwise, how could he be the Minister of the Ministry of War? Over the years, he had experienced the ups and downs of officialdom and had an extremely accurate grasp of court affairs. If you ask Hou Wenji if you understand what he said, he will know what he should do.
"Sin, I understand."
He bowed his head again and said to the emperor: "The guilty minister is greedy for merit. He clearly knew that there was something fishy in this matter and did not investigate it. This is a dereliction of duty and dereliction of duty. Please be punished by your majesty. I dare not make excuses."
"I ask you"
Emperor Yang Yi sat cross-legged on the Tukang again, looked at Yu Donglai and asked: "How much money did you receive?"
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"I plead guilty, but the truth is that there is no benefit in receiving a copper coin."
Yu Donglai lowered his head to the ground and said in a sincere tone: "I have committed the crime of neglect of duty, but I really dare not accept bribes and bend the law for favoritism. I failed to discover the hidden truth in Fan Gu Li Xiaozong's matter. I am ashamed of Your Majesty for treating me like this." However although my family is not very rich, they are not short of money I will definitely not deceive your majesty because of some yellow and white things. "
Yang Yi took a sip of tea, nodded and said, "These are some truths Your Yu family is indeed not short of money. Even compared to Wu Daodao, the Yu family is not much worse. Then I ask you, Do you know how many people in the Ministry of War Yamen have taken advantage of Li Yuanshan? "
"I really don't know In the past two months, I have been busy secretly mobilizing food and grass to recruit brave men. Other matters of the Ministry of War are under the care of the Minister."
The emperor hummed and turned to look at Hou Wenji: "I never thought that someone in Qingya would betray me."
He used the word betrayal.
Hou Wenji lifted his robe and knelt down. He took off the beam crown on his head with both hands and bowed to the ground: "I have let my master down. I am not qualified to continue to command Qing Yamen."
"Aren't you afraid that I will think you are threatening me if you take off your official title at every turn?"
The emperor asked coldly.
Hou Wenji raised his head and said, "I don't dare, I feel guilty."
He spoke very simply and did not say a word to defend himself.
The emperor snorted and said: "If the people below make one mistake, I will take off the official title of the person in charge, and the ministers and ministers of the various ministries in the Sui Dynasty will not be so safe. If the people below make mistakes, It's hard for you to take the blame, but no one else can do this job well, so you'll have to continue your job with a three-year salary reduction, and then you'll have to write an apology later."
"I thank you, Your Majesty."
Hou Wenji kowtowed.
"That Qianhu Since he is so willing to collect money, let's bury him alive at the door of the household bank, so that he can see countless coins all day long, but he can't catch a penny. The man of the family is sent to the frontier for Slaves, female dependents are sent to the Weaving Department to work as slaves. Each person is paid one copper coin per month. When they have saved enough money, they can be registered as slaves. "
Everyone was shocked. The punishment at the entrance of the corpse bank was to have those thousands of households trampled under their feet at all times. And with a monthly salary of one copper coin, how could he possibly save enough money in this life? Let alone one life, I'm afraid it will be difficult to turn over from generation to generation.
The emperor leaned back and leaned against the wall, rubbing his frowning brows and continued: "Li Yuanshan, the general of the Right Houwei Guard, perverts the law and deceives the emperor. His crime is unforgivable, but when he thinks of his actions over the years, For meritorious deeds, he will be demoted to the rank of fifth-rank general, and will be kept in the army for future use. His residence will be reduced by 300 households, and his salary will be fined for three years. "
"Fan Guya general Li Xiaozong refused to retreat, but after his defeat he abandoned the city and fled. He also tried to conceal his defeat and bribed military officials We were outnumbered and the enemy was outnumbered. I don't blame him for the defeat. How can I blame someone else? The general who fought to the last soldier? When you take down Li Xiaozong, ask him for me Why didn't he have the courage to face an enemy twenty times his own?Do you have the courage to face me? ! "
"I paid special attention to Li Xiaozong when he was in the Yanwu Academy."
The emperor opened the thick talent list on the table, opened it and found one of the pages. He took a red pen and crossed out Li Xiaozong's name: "It's a pity I lost a general who had great promise."
"Leave it to the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple to investigate the crime. Whatever crime should be convicted will be determined."
The emperor put down his ink brush and said lightly, then looked at Yu Donglai and said: "You go back and check for yourself first how many people in the Ministry of War took Li Yuanshan's money. It's not just this time, it's not just Li Yuanshan's bribes, people from the Ministry of War Since I dare to take Li Yuanshan's money this time, wouldn't I dare to take other people's money before? This is not the first time, and I don't have the stomach or patience to let things go. After checking, I will draw up a list of how long some people have been in official positions. It has been too long, and I have forgotten the respect I should have In this case, why should I be stingy with the butcher's knife? "
"I obey the order."
Yu Donglai responded quickly.
"Wait, I haven't finished speaking yet!"
The emperor's eyes lingered on the talent list, and while flipping through the names written by himself, he said: "When Yu Donglai came, he was dismissed from the post of Shangshu of the Ministry of War, and was demoted to the minister of the Ministry of War, acting as the agent for all affairs of the Ministry of War. After returning, he closed his door and reflected. One day, I want to see what you can find out. In addition Li Yuanshan will also be fined for three years. Let me count the bribes received by the Ministry of War officials and tell me the amount."
"I want him to take out another share, plus the share he bribed officials, as well as the salaries you have fined, and send a special person to Fan Gu, where I want to pay for those who fought in the war. The dead border soldiers and the common people built a cemetery, and the remaining money was given to the relatives of the border soldiers as pensions. "
"They are the most loyal and brave soldiers of the Sui Dynasty. They used their lives to tell me their loyalty to me and their feelings for the Sui Dynasty. I feel ashamed of them, and I blame myself in my heart. Hou Wen After Ji reported this matter, I specifically checked how much money the border soldiers received in salary every month. It was so low that it was heartbreaking! They only used that little money to serve the country when they were alive. How can we not bury them in glory?"
"In addition Yu Donglai, after you return to the Ministry of War, send someone to count the number of all the border troops in the Sui Dynasty. What I want is a real number. There must be some who are short-changed, but don't let me know. After the statistics are compiled, I will communicate with you. Let¡¯s discuss with the people at the Ministry and see if we can double the salary of the border troops. They are guarding the border for the country, and I can¡¯t let them go without enough food and clothing.¡±
"To be honest, it's the life money of the border troops!"
When he said this, the emperor raised his head with a stern look: "If I know who dares to embezzle this money again, I will slaughter his nine tribes. If there are not enough people alive to make up the nine tribes, I will kill them." His ancestral grave!"