Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 181 Fighting for entry
The officials of Henan Prefecture waited in the prefectural office for a long time, but instead of seeing the Grand Magistrate Meng Wenli return, they were greeted by an official from the Ministry of Justice, Pei Kuan, the Assistant Minister of Justice.

"When Magistrate Meng went to report to the capital, he caught a cold and almost fainted. After being treated by the imperial physician, he was sent back to his residence to recuperate. Because he was concerned about the affairs of the prefecture, he left a letter to the Vice Magistrate and his colleagues, instructing the Vice Magistrate to temporarily take charge of the prefecture's affairs, and all departments to perform their duties and not to be negligent or delay official business!"

When Pei Kuan arrived at the yamen, he showed everyone the letter Meng Wenli had left for the Ministry of Justice, and said aloud.

Upon hearing this, the people in the yamen exchanged bewildered glances. They had waited anxiously for so long, only to be met with this unexpected outcome, leaving them all dumbfounded. The magistrate had gone home to recuperate; what were they, his subordinates, supposed to do? And what about the two纨绔 (playboys) still imprisoned in the detached residence?
Fortunately, after explaining Meng Wenli's situation, Pei Kuan continued, "The criminal cases brought by Magistrate Meng into the Advisory Office have not yet been prosecuted. Knowing that this matter is of great importance, Minister Lu of the Ministry of Justice ordered me to come here to inquire about the details. May I ask where the officials involved are now?"

Everyone was worried about how to handle the matter when they heard Pei Kuan bring it up. They immediately led Pei Kuan to the villa, hoping that he would simply take the two of them to the capital for questioning.

However, Pei Kuan was only ordered to inquire about the case and did not have the authority to escort the criminals.

He first went to Zhang Dai's room, introduced himself, and then said to Zhang Dai, "Minister Lu found some incomplete information in the documents, so he sent me here to ask. May I ask, Zhang Lang, why do you assert that Huiwen Mountain Garden was burned down by the Crown Prince's servants?"

"I am not certain about this matter, because when the Crown Prince's servant led a crowd into the house, my family was in a state of panic..."

While answering Pei Kuan's questions, Zhang Dai sized up the man.

Pei Kuan was also a famous minister during the Kaiyuan era. Because of his seniority and high reputation, he was regarded as a rival by Li Linfu and was repeatedly framed. He was even forced to become a monk to avoid further political persecution.

Meanwhile, Pei Kuan's wife was from the same clan as Wei Jian, but their relationship was not close. Therefore, Pei Kuan did not harbor any prejudice against Zhang Dai or treat him coldly because of this. Instead, he asked about the things that were not clearly described in the case file one by one in a businesslike manner and carefully recorded them.

Because of Pei Kuan's arrival, Zhang Dai also learned that Meng Wenli had reported the matter to the Ministry of Justice. He couldn't help but sigh that these officials were all shrewd and capable. Seeing that they couldn't get away with it, they simply made things bigger and muddied the waters.

The Minister Lu mentioned by Pei Kuan is Lu Congyuan, the current Minister of Justice. In the middle of last year, the former Minister of Justice, Wei Kang, passed away, and Lu Congyuan, the Minister of Works, succeeded him as Minister of Justice.

Lu Congyuan is a very interesting person, especially in some related academic discussions in later generations.

Lu Congyuan once served as the examiner of officials in the capital. Yuwen Rong, the vice censor-in-chief, was evaluated as a superior or inferior candidate by his department for his merit in collecting land households, but Lu Congyuan did not agree and refused to give him a superior evaluation, thus incurring Yuwen Rong's wrath.

Later, Yuwen Rong secretly reported that Lu Congyuan had seized a large amount of fertile land, which made the emperor dislike him. So much so that when selecting ministers to serve as prime ministers, if someone recommended Lu Congyuan, the emperor would refuse to use him because he was not honest.

Because of these related deeds, in later generations' "literature and governance" studies, Lu Congyuan was often categorized by some as a member of the literary faction who opposed and suppressed Yuwen Rong, who was confiscating land and households, and who himself occupied a large amount of fertile land. He was practically the epitome of the elements that Yuwen Rong was there to uproot them!
But in reality, according to this definition, Lu Congyuan was precisely a member of the bureaucrat faction, and even more upright and righteous than Yuwen Rong!
Firstly, Lu Congyuan served as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel for a long period during Yao Chong's administration and presided over the selection of officials. As a prime minister, or a powerful minister, he had to firmly grasp the power of personnel appointments.

Just as Zhang Yue, when he served as Chancellor, became close friends with Pei Cui, who was serving as Minister of Personnel and was also Pei Kuan's cousin. Shortly after Zhang Yue was dismissed from his post as Chancellor, Pei Cui was also removed from office.

Lu Congyuan presided over the selection process for six years, completely covering Yao Chong's four-year reign. Yao Chong's political ally, Lu Huaizhen, known as the "paramount prime minister," even submitted a memorial recommending Lu Congyuan and others in his dying words.

The so-called "officialdom faction" was led by Yao Chong, and Lu Congyuan was a key figure in Yao's faction for a long time, and he was quite at odds with Zhang Yue.

In the eleventh year of the Kaiyuan era, Zhang Yue was appointed as the Grand Chancellor. He immediately removed Lu Congyuan, who was then serving as the Vice Grand Chancellor, from the Grand Chancellery and even from the Chang'an court. Lu Congyuan was appointed as the Minister of Works and concurrently the Governor of the Eastern Capital. Their mutual prejudice was so deep that they could hardly work together.

During Zhang Shuo's reign, Lu Congyuan was essentially sidelined. Even so, because of his conflict with Yuwen Rong, he was still categorized by some as a member of the so-called "literary school," demonstrating the absurdity of this viewpoint.

If this far-fetched interpretation continues, even Yao Chong might be expelled from the officialdom faction, leaving Li Linfu as the legitimate successor. After all, Yao Chong was a candidate for the imperial examination and was known for his literary talent, while Li Linfu was promoted purely through family connections.

In short, Lu Congyuan, the then Minister of Justice, not only had a strained relationship with Zhang Shuo, but also harbored hatred towards Yuwen Rong's faction. However, now, the three parties are linked together because of this case and need to share the pressure from Mao Zhong, the Prince of the Northern Court, which makes the situation quite interesting.

While Pei Kuan was still questioning Zhang Dai, someone else entered – Zheng Yan, Zhang Dai's uncle. Zheng Yan was then serving as a senior official in the Ministry of Justice, making him Pei Kuan's direct superior. After learning of the matter, he rushed to the Kangsufang mansion to find out what was going on, and was later sent by Zhang Shuo, along with other members of the Zhang family and servants, to protect Zhang Dai in Henan Prefecture.

Upon learning that Pei Kuan had come here to inquire about matters, Zheng Yan hurried over and simply stood aside waiting for the two to continue their questioning.

After Pei Kuan finished questioning him, Zheng Yan stepped forward, took the written testimony from Pei Kuan, and read it through. Seeing that there was nothing wrong with the answers, he handed it back to Pei Kuan.

Pei Kuan, needing to inquire about Wang Shouzhen, took his leave and went to another courtyard of the villa.

"Sixth Brother, don't worry. All the able-bodied men of the clan outside are guarding here. Even if the official at the North Gate tries to use force again, he will not be allowed to enter and harm you!"

After seeing Pei Kuan off, Zheng Yan turned back to Zhang Dai and comforted him, telling him not to be nervous.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Dai nodded, though to be honest, he wasn't really afraid.

The Wang family, father and son, were feared for two reasons: first, they were favored by the emperor and controlled the Northern Army; second, they were arrogant, domineering, and unscrupulous, disregarding the rules. But as long as they followed the rules, they were nothing to be afraid of.

If Wang Shouzhen had truly arranged for fugitives to kidnap him and then exact revenge, it would have been incredibly difficult to defend against. However, the fact that they used false accusations against him for taking in his runaway slaves as a means of retaliation shows that the father and son were somewhat wary in this matter and dared not completely disregard the rules.

As things stand, the conflict is no longer between Zhang Dai and his father and son, but rather between Wang Maozhong and the Northern Army group—whether they should abide by the national law and the Tang Code can still restrain them!
Currently, law enforcement agencies such as the Left Jinwu Guard, Henan Prefecture, and the Ministry of Justice have been drawn into this matter.

Previously, Wanqi might have dared to act arrogantly because of his close personal relationship with the Left Jinwu Guard, but now that the person has been taken in by the Henan Prefecture and registered with the Ministry of Justice, if Wang Maozhong sends troops to forcibly take the person away, then we have to ask him if he wants to rebel!
As Zhang Dai had predicted, when the latest news reached the North Gate, Wang Maozhong's face turned ashen. He angrily pointed at Ma Chong, the commander of the Wanqi Camp, who had returned empty-handed, and shouted, "You are all truly useless! Since you have already used force, how can you allow my son to be led away to another place!"

"We never expected that this eunuch Yang Sixu would dare to incite his servants to fight amongst themselves. Afterwards, Prince Xin'an even gathered street thugs to surround and capture us. We only managed to escape because we were secretly released. Now, several of our men are still detained in the Imperial Guard..."

The battalion commander, Ma Chong, said dejectedly. Seeing that Wang Maozhong's face was becoming increasingly grim, he quickly added, "We now know that the Crown Prince's servant has been taken to Henan Prefecture. There aren't many street thugs or soldiers stationed there. I will lead my trusted men to rescue the eldest son today!"

"What nonsense are you spouting! Attacking the government office? Are you trying to start a rebellion?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Maozhong became even angrier and slammed his fist on the table, shouting in anger.

Previously, he sent troops to the Jinwu Guard, hoping to help Wang Shouzhen out from within and without, but he did not dare to openly attack the Jinwu Guard's office. Now that the man has moved to Henan Prefecture, if he were to repeat the same trick, it would undoubtedly be even more suicidal.

He hadn't expected that simply disciplining a young boy would make things so complicated. While he was still pondering what to do next, a subordinate suddenly reported: "Reporting to Lord Huo, Lord Guo entered the inner palace through the North Chongguang Gate and the East Palace!"

With the Crown Prince's mother deceased and in mourning at the Imperial Palace, the Eastern Palace is currently empty. Yang Sixu's entry into the Imperial Palace via the Eastern Palace at this time is undoubtedly to avoid his spies and meet with the Emperor to report on matters.

However, Yang Sixu had been frequently in command of troops in recent years and was unaware that he also had a deep understanding of the Eastern Palace guards, so he exposed it in advance.

Yang Sixu's actions reminded him that his son was still serving as the Crown Prince's servant. So he quickly summoned his second son, Wang Shoulian, who was serving as the Crown Prince's Household Steward, and instructed him: "Go to Henan Prefecture immediately and tell the Henan Prefecture officials that your brother needs to be in charge of the Crown Prince's servants' quarters. Please arrange for him to be placed in the Crown Prince's servants' quarters in the North Ward for trial."

If Wang Maozhong were to leave his son in the Henan Prefecture office, he would worry that his son might do something inappropriate, and he would also feel it would be too shameful. Therefore, he planned to use his position to get his son out of the office temporarily. The Crown Prince's Office was located in Gong'an Ward, north of Henan Prefecture, and was close by. He thought the officials of Henan Prefecture would probably give him face.

At the same time, he was worried that Yang Sixu would slander him before the emperor, so he hurriedly went to Xuanwu Gate and asked an official to come and request an audience.

(End of this chapter)