Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 621 Disintegration
The Minister of Revenue Xizhe and the Minister of Works Hou Keyi were slow to come to the end and thus missed the wonderful scene where Tang Shitui fell to his knees in a trance.

But the two of them deliberately delayed until later because they were full of confusion and needed Shen Gai to answer their questions.

"Mr. Shen, why do you reject Mr. Tang's proposal?"

It was obvious that these two ministers had a special relationship with Shen Gai, and they asked him questions directly.

However, after Shen Gai expressed his stance just now, they followed suit without hesitation, even though they did not understand.

It was not until this time that they privately asked Shen Gai for the reason, and it was obvious that they had some kind of tacit understanding with Shen Gai.

"The emperor will be back in a month or so. There are some things that the two ministers should prepare in advance."

As Shen Gai spoke, he handed them a notebook on the table.

Hou Keyi took it curiously, opened it and saw that it was a transcribed confession of a Jin spy.

Minister Xi was also standing by and watching with him.

The more they looked, the uglier their faces became.

Da Bu, who used the pseudonym Gong Jinquan, also explained in detail in his confession how they infiltrated the Song Dynasty and disrupted its economy step by step.

How they got samples of special ink from the Ministry of Revenue and how they used craftsmen sent from Yanjing to imitate them.

In order to steal the most difficult to imitate bronze engraving, what did they do before and after, and through whom did they contact and bribe Yang Leifeng and others.

They built a fake association office in Longshan City. This semi-official association office had to be built by the Ministry of Industry and could not be built by the public at will.

How they forged the documents from the Ministry of Revenue, concealed the truth from the Ministry of Works and used it to build for them, etc.

Some of the confessions here are true, some are false.

The true part is that they did bribe and use some people in the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works, so they were able to successfully complete these operations.

The false part is that Da Bu also deliberately exaggerated the extent of their infiltration and falsely implicated many officials from the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue.

If the imperial court really wanted to investigate based on this confession, the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue would collapse immediately, just like the Ministry of Personnel.

The two ministers' faces changed. Minister Hou said with trembling fingers, "Mr. Shen, it is impossible to involve so many officials from the Ministry of Revenue."

Shen Gai said calmly: "There is no evidence that Yang Yuan is a spy from Xinjin."

He pointed at the confession in Hou Keyi's hand: "And this confession, at least there are witnesses, and there are some things that can serve as evidence."

Hou Keyi said nothing more.

He now understood why Shen Gai suddenly expressed his stance and stood on the side of King Jin.

What on earth was Yang Yuan doing in the Council of State?
If they had not launched a siege against Tang Shitui today, then that madman Yang Yuan would have repeated the "Hening Gate Incident" and arrested people from the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue at the first opportunity, right?

If something happens to the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue again, it won't just be these three ministries that will collapse, but half of the entire six ministries will collapse. The consequences of the turmoil are terrifying to think about.

Who would be willing to die together with Yang Yuan, that reckless madman?

Xizhe now understood Shen Gai's difficulties. With this confession, Prince Jin had the leverage to control the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works.

The Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue are Mr. Shen’s base.

Therefore, between agreeing to King Jin to join forces to encircle and suppress Tang Situi and fighting to the death, Prime Minister Shen could only protect them and make concessions.

"You two should draw a clear line between yourself and Tang Jinzhi as soon as possible."

Shen Gai took the note back from Minister Hou's hand and said calmly, "You must also handle the beginning and end of this matter as soon as possible."

Minister Hou and Minister Xi bowed to Shen Gai and left without saying a word.

Shen Gai smiled faintly, feeling quite pleased.

In a sense, he and Tang Situi advance and retreat together.

Both are conservative, emphasizing the adherence to ancient systems and governing a large country like cooking a small fish.

However, in terms of personal interests, there is also a subtle competitive relationship between these two big guys in the same camp.

Moreover, as the government shortened the prime minister's term of office and divided the prime minister's power with the political councilors, Tang Shitui's pace in plotting the position of prime minister began to accelerate, and the secret struggle between the two began to subtly intensify.

Tang Situi was promoted too quickly and his foundation was unstable. Even so, not only was the Minister of Personnel his staunch ally, but some officials from the six ministries were also getting closer to him, such as the Vice Minister of War Zhang Shuning.

For Shen Gai, these were all very dangerous signals and very urgent crises.

He is already very old, it's not that he can't retire.

But arranging everything and retreating on your own is different from being kicked out by others.

Therefore, when he saw that there were problems with his base that could be exploited by King Jin, his change of position was so smooth.

……

As the tone was set for the "side hall political meeting" of Prince Jin this time, and all the criticisms about Yang Yuan were thoroughly investigated, the senior officials of various departments who had already made their positions clear began to tacitly cut ties with Tang Shitui and instead joined the encirclement and suppression of Tang's faction.

The already dilapidated Ministry of Personnel was of course the main target of everyone's criticism.

Once the Ministry of Personnel, the most powerful of the six ministries, completely collapses, anyone can take advantage of it.

In Huzhou, the Fang family has been under increasing pressure recently.

The last time Yang Cun Zhong watched the tide in Qiantang, in order to cooperate with Emperor Zhao Gou in "luring the snake out of its hole", he took the initiative to resign and left the Sansi.

Zhao Gou gave him a manor in Huzhou, named "Shuiyue".

If there is a manor, there must be matching farmland. Otherwise, do you think it is just a villa where you live occasionally?
That was where Yang Cun Zhong would live out his days after retirement, and he wanted to provide a source of income.

Among the large number of farms and fields, there were villages where the Fang clan lived.

Too many members of the Fang family have to rely on the Yang family's farm for their livelihood.

Not only did they rent and cultivate many of the Yang family's farms and fields, but many members of the Fang family also served as managers, village heads, etc. on the Yang family's farms and fields.

But now, the Fang family and even the Fang family’s relatives have begun to be excluded and suppressed.

If only one or two people were treated like this, it might be that they had done something to make the Yang family unhappy.

But if the impact is so wide, there must be a special reason.

Soon, a group of people who worked as the owner, village chief, and manager of Yangjiazhuang received a common message from their respective channels.

"Prime Minister Yang Shu thinks highly of Yang Yuan, this junior."

……

"Nianhua Cottage" was investigated.

The Dali Temple officials who were ordered to investigate invited the most experienced female official in the palace to examine the women in "Niaohua Xiaozhu".

Now some of the Hu women have been sent to other places. There are a total of 19 people, including those in Beijing and those detained nearby for investigation.

The result shocked them greatly; those beautiful and charming foreign girls were actually still virgins.

They finally found out that a girl named Emmanuelle Belle was no longer a virgin, and they were overjoyed.

After a careful investigation, it turned out that she was Yang Yuan's concubine, and had been registered half a year ago.

The disappointed Dali Temple officials had just returned when the eighteen Hu women from "Nianhua Xiaozhu" chased them to the Dali Temple.

Each of them held a piece of white silk in their hands, crying out that their innocence had been humiliated and that they wanted to be hanged in front of the Dali Temple to prove their innocence.

This is going to be a big deal. If they were really hanged at the gate of Dali Temple, let alone eighteen people, even the death of one would be unbearable.

The Dali Temple was in a state of panic and wanted to forcibly disperse these Hu women.

As a result, the number of beautiful women hanging themselves had caused a sensation in the entire city of Lin'an. Every day, crowds of Lin'an people gathered to watch the excitement.

It's not easy to use force in front of so many people, and it's impossible to persuade them.

The Dali Temple Minister Wu Shu had no choice but to arrange officials to be on duty every day and guard the yamen day and night, for fear that someone would be hanged at the door if they were not careful.

On this side, eighteen Hu women wanted to hang themselves in the Dali Temple, and on the other side, the three members of the Fang family ran to the gate of Prince Jin's mansion to cry and appeal for justice, and the Prince Jin also asked someone to accept the petition.

We accepted the call, but the fact that they spread rumors in front of the door and humiliated Princess Jiaguo and the daughter of Minister Li Dao must be dealt with separately.

After Zhao Ning'er ordered his men to slap them in the face, he sent them to Lin'an County and returned them to the hands of County Magistrate Xu Haisheng.

County Magistrate Xu was very happy and said... let's start with the punishment.

After this torture, County Magistrate Xu discovered that Fang Jiao had become stupid.

I don't know whether he was stunned by the big mouth or hit on the back of the head by Li Fengniang's sword sheath, but he was stunned anyway.

In addition, Old Master Fang can no longer hear clearly in one ear.

County Magistrate Xu did not dare to use torture. If he did, some things would be difficult to explain later.

He quickly put these people in jail, and then cleverly sent people to visit Huzhou.

The clever visitor met the clever Fang family, and the two of them "made a clever move". When the visitor came back, he got a certificate with densely stamped fingerprints:

Fang Jiao...was stupid to begin with.

Old Master Fang...one of his ears has long been deaf.

Moreover, the Fang clan members also sent people to Lin'an County, bringing the clan's request to ask the old clan leader Fang not to be blinded by greed, not to be used by villains, to withdraw the lawsuit as soon as possible, and to return home to enjoy his remaining years.

After this incident, the Fang clan members found that the Yang family's exclusion and suppression of them seemed like a dream, and the incident was gone without a trace.

At this time, the situation in front of the Dali Temple reached a new climax.

Those Hu women claimed that the reason they hanged themselves to prove their innocence and remained chaste was because after arriving in the Song Dynasty, they were educated by the Song State, which emphasized being faithful to one man and being faithful to one man. A loyal minister would not serve two masters, and a good woman would not serve two husbands.

As soon as these remarks were made, the men in Lin'an who were watching the fun immediately became their most staunch supporters. They were outraged and demanded that the court give an explanation.

The students of the Imperial College, Imperial University, and Military Academy were also excited. They immediately began to write articles, hold rallies, submit petitions, and express their support.

These reserve officials originally had the right to submit petitions to the imperial court to discuss state affairs, and public opinion was abuzz for a while.

The officials who followed the footsteps of Lu Xueshi and Ye Xueshi and attacked Yang Yuan for setting up a "flower-picking cottage" and keeping girls to satisfy his lust were quickly dealt with and demoted to Huizhou, Chaozhou, Danzhou, etc. Others who attacked Yang Yuan for using his power to bring women into the prison, open the curtains, and indulge in lust, and those who attacked Yang Yuan for accepting girls offered by ministers, became anxious all day long.

They were sure that the royal family and Li Dao, the provincial governor, valued their reputations. Anyway, the impeachment was vague and did not name anyone, so the other party could only play dumb.

Moreover, they wrote very subtly, using the style of the Spring and Autumn Annals. You knew clearly what he was talking about, but when you got serious, he didn't say anything that could give you any evidence.

But some people could not help but fan the flames, make it concrete, and publicize it everywhere.

Just like Fang Jiao and Fang Hu who spread rumors without restraint at the gate of Prince Jin's mansion.

And the other person didn't act stupid as they expected.

Li Fengniang was very young but very hot-tempered. She didn't care about these things at all and just wanted to make a fuss.

With this example, Zhao Ning'er felt that Sister Feng Niang was so cool. If I didn't stand up to seek justice for my uncle, I would be embarrassed to enter the Yang Mansion in the future.

They are certainly not suitable for showing up in public, especially Princess Jia.

Therefore, the Prince of Jin, who was not afraid of big trouble, invited Prime Minister Shen Gai, Minister of Rites Qu Mo, Minister of Punishments Zhang Fangxun, Supreme Court Minister Wu Shu, Chief Censor Zhu Zhuo, and Prefect of Lin'an Qiao Zhen to his mansion to accept the crying complaints of Zhao Ning'er and Li Fengniang.

Li Fengniang is not only cool and crazy, but she can also cry.

When Li Fengniang cried, Zhao Ning'er felt wronged, and the little princess also wiped away her tears.

All the ministers listened to their crying and were as dumbfounded as chickens.

Such a young girl...

Li Fengniang was fine, she was one year younger than her and was also favored by the late emperor, although it was against the law and was kept secret.

But as for Zhao Ning'er, not to mention her royal identity, she is too young.

Is he still a human being if he even spreads rumors about such a young girl?
Even Qiao Zhen, the prefect of Lin'an who was always smooth and unwilling to take sides, was so angry that he cursed, "You are not a human being!"

You can imagine the power of these two little girls' crying.

Therefore, without a public trial or public verdict, and with too many people outside the world being unaware of the situation, those corrupt officials who wrote in a style similar to that of the Spring and Autumn Period and were self-satisfied were also swiftly executed.

They were also exiled to Huizhou, Chaozhou, Danzhou and other places. The previous officials were demoted, and they were exiled.

Moreover, the King of Jin added a vicious sentence in the final verdict: If you don’t pardon him even if you are eligible for pardon, you will never be allowed to return!
……

Yang Wenjing, the prefect of Jiangling who stayed in Beijing waiting for his new post, was quickly promoted to Deputy Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate.

Without being appointed by the Ministry of Personnel, the Regent Prince of Jin exercised his privilege and gave him the title of "Quanzhi" first, acting as Deputy Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate.

As soon as Yang Wenjing took office, he was directly responsible for the Xiao Hongji case.

The current one is trying the predecessor, but he has never worked with Xiao Hongji, so there is nothing wrong with that.

All these things have made the Ministry of Personnel’s counterattack a joke.

The atmosphere in the Ministry of Personnel was extremely depressing. Every day when they went to the government office, everyone had a gloomy face.

Originally this was the government office of heaven, but now it looks like the underworld, dead and gloomy.

This extremely depressing atmosphere accumulated day by day, and the Minister of Personnel Mu Xinyang could no longer bear it.

On this day, he left the Ministry of Personnel and came to the Council of Government, where he met with Shen Gai, the Right Minister and the Co-Prime Minister.

The two men talked for a full hour and a half. No one knew what they talked about, but too many people in the government hall saw it.

So this matter could not be concealed at all. Once the news came out, the officials in the Ministry of Personnel collapsed.

Even the most stubborn officials of the Ministry of Personnel who were detained in the Censorate loosened up at this time.

The officials who were not implicated and are still serving in the Ministry of Personnel are now running around to seek their own future.

Even the minister is trying to find another way out, so why should they stick to the same path?

The defeat of the army was like the collapse of a mountain.

……

The last straw that broke the camel's back for the Minister of Personnel Tan Yingwen was his assistant minister Mu Xinyang.

Minister Mu openly requested to see Prime Minister Shen in the government hall, and the secret meeting lasted for an hour and a half.

After this matter was reported back to the Ministry of Personnel, Tan Yingwen became "ill".

Tan Yingwen took sick leave, stayed at home, and no longer sought promotion.

Shen Gai and several councillors immediately went to see Prince Jin to discuss arrangements for the Ministry of Personnel.

The Ministry of Personnel has been almost at a standstill during this period, and now the Shangshu has dropped the ball again.

However, the assessment of officials across the country must begin before the last quarter.

Otherwise, there would be no time to complete the year-end assessment of officials across the country.

Therefore, after some discussion, it was decided that Minister Mu would temporarily take over the position of Shangshu until Shangshu Tan recovered from his illness.

At the same time, Prime Minister Shen was responsible for selecting capable officials to fill vacancies in the Ministry of Personnel and immediately launching the Ministry of Personnel's performance evaluation in the first year of Longxing.

Prime Minister Shen also returned the favor by extending an olive branch to the radical camp led by the Censorate.

A group of outstanding censors, including Xiao Yiran and Lu Chengze, were quickly added to the Tianguan Yamen.

After they took office, the first thing they did was to complete the final procedures for the transfer of several officials that had been pending for a long time and have them issued by the Official Prosecution Office of the Ministry of Personnel.

That was the transfer order regarding Lu You, Fan Chengda, Yu Yunwen and Yang Wanli.

At this point, the attack on the Ministry of Personnel came to an end, and the Censorate could settle accounts with its achievements.

The trials of the relevant personnel have begun to be concluded one after another.

This struggle is essentially a struggle over the line behind it.

Now it seems obvious that Yang Yuan first entered the game with his own hands, and then made a small bet for a big gain, and he won the bet.

Tan Yingwen's leave means that he admits his failure.

At this point, it seems that Tang Situi, the once most successful politician, has become a lonely man.

However, given his rank, as well as the rank of Minister Tan, not even the Prince of Jin, the Regent, could make arbitrary decisions on their appointments and dismissals.

Not to mention making adjustments to their appointments and dismissals, even if King Jin wanted to investigate them, it would not be convenient for him to use this power.

For high-ranking officials at this level, their stay or departure can only be decided by the government.

Therefore, Tang Shitui was almost isolated and helpless at this time. His best choice was to take leave like Minister Tan and give up power.

This initiative can, to the greatest extent possible, allow him to get a decent ending when he is liquidated.

Tang Situi was indeed ill and was seriously ill for three days.

The leaders from various departments who went to visit him could see that he was really sick and not faking it.

After such a heavy blow, it is normal to suffer a serious illness.

But when everyone thought that Tang Shitui would continue to take sick leave and wait until the emperor returned to Beijing and then leave with dignity, Tang Shitui dragged his sick body back to the Council of State.

Anyone could tell from his complexion that he was not fully recovered.

He refuses to admit defeat.

Even if he had to retreat, he would never surrender voluntarily.

What kind of decency? In his opinion, that kind of decency is the greatest disgrace.

He will be forty years old this year, and his birthday is in about half a month.

After that day, he will be forty years old.

But he has reached the age of forty in advance. Even if he is to be purged and leave the officialdom while he is young and strong, he will leave without giving in.

Leaving behind a proud and unyielding figure to the Song Dynasty!

He didn't believe that Yang Yuan would have a good ending.

For him, the biggest reason for his defeat in this battle was that he was promoted too quickly and did not have enough time to build a solid and stable team.

But how could Yang Yuan be any better than him?
This little "Tang Jinzhi" is younger than him, was promoted faster, was more radical in his actions, and made more enemies. His future fate will definitely be ten times worse than his.

In particular, Yang Yuan sneaked to the north at the age of thirteen, entered the Jin Kingdom's Jiage Treasury at the age of seventeen, and became a horseman in the Yanjing Jiage Treasury at the age of twenty. He spent ten years in the Jin Kingdom. Was he really not instigated to rebel by the Jin people?

Many of the stigmas on him can be washed away, but the shadow of his relationship with Xin Jin cannot be washed away.

Now that the government needs him, these things are no longer a problem.

But one day, when this sharp knife is about to cut the official's fingers, it will become a sharp blade hanging over Yang Yuan's head.

I, Tang, am still young, and I have plenty of time to wait and see you suffer a worse fate than me.

The reluctance turned into immense hatred in Tang Shitui's heart.

But this unwillingness in my heart cannot become the strength to support my sick body.

Although he was still seriously ill, he struggled to continue going to the yamen. As a result, that afternoon, he fell headfirst in front of the desk and broke a corner of his forehead. He was carried back to the mansion with blood gushing out.

His unyielding intention to fight to the end became a big joke in the Lin'an officialdom.

That night, his cousin heard the news and rushed to visit him.

Beside Yan Shen was a fifty-year-old man with a dark complexion.

Tang Situi knew him. He was Yan Shen's manager and he was in charge of all Yan Shen's business.

But what puzzled Tang Situi was that after Yan Shen said that he had something private to tell him and asked him to leave his family behind, the position of "master and servant" turned into "master and servant".

(End of this chapter)