Chapter 4762: Wind and Clouds Gather

Chapter 4762: Wind and Clouds Gather
As expected, at the court meeting in Taiji Palace the next morning, the censors rushed to the front and were in an uproar, accusing the children of royal family and nobles of ignoring the law of the country and acting recklessly. If this continued, it would breed lawless criminals and disloyal and unfilial ministers, and the foundation of the empire would be shaken and collapsed. They must be severely punished to serve as a warning to others, and these unhealthy tendencies must be killed and the ranks of royal family and nobles must be purged.

The position of Censor was a noble one. The censor was not afraid of power and did not collect money. Even when facing a first-rank official or a super-rank prince, he could speak up for justice. He could even dare to make direct criticisms in front of the emperor. He was considered a clean stream among the civil servants.

But no one wants to be a censor for life. As long as one has made achievements, one can use it as a stepping stone to step out of the Censorate and become a pragmatic official in the three provinces and six ministries, as well as prefectures and cities across the country. One can often be promoted across levels. From a Censor of the sixth rank, one can jump to become a Chief Clerk of a lower prefecture under the sixth rank, a Sima of an upper prefecture, or even a county magistrate of Jingzhao, Taiyuan, or Henan prefectures, which is a higher rank. One has a bright future and a limitless official career.

Follow the rules, this is the rule of officialdom.

However, members of the royal family and nobles were the rule breakers. Relying on the merits of their fathers and grandfathers to live a life of luxury and extravagance, these playboys ignored all the rules. Just by being favored by the emperor, they could rise to the top in their official careers, leapfrogging the path that ordinary civil servants would take more than ten years or even decades to travel.

Therefore, in the eyes of civil servants, royal family members and nobles are equivalent to "flatterers" and "lucky ministers". They break the rules, trample on the rules, and go beyond the rules. They are targets that must be kept a close eye on at all times and severely punished once they are found making mistakes.

Now these royal family members and playboys actually dared to attack Jingzhao Prefecture, the most powerful prefecture in the world. What should we do?

If they are not severely punished, will the censors who become local officials in the future have to bear the attacks of these "lawless elements" all the time?

……

Faced with the offensive of the censors, who were backed by the big civil officials, those who wanted to intercede for the sons of royal family and nobles were kept silent and stood in the hall without daring to say a word.

Whoever dared to stand up at this time would be subjected to the "concentrated fire attack" of the censors. Looking around the court, except for a few people, no one could resist this tidal offensive, so they could only watch His Majesty issue an edict, ordering the Zongzheng Temple and the Three Law Departments to jointly try the two cases of "attack on Jingzhao Prefecture" and "sudden death of Li Jingshu".

It is worth mentioning that in addition to these four highest law enforcement agencies of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shenfu, a prince of the imperial clan who did not go to the palace, participated in the trial of the case as the "Emperor's special envoy" and supervised it from the side...

Everyone in the palace had fought their way through conspiracies and intrigues, and they all understood the meaning of the music. They all understood that this was a warning from His Majesty to Li Shenfu. After all, everyone knew that Li Shenfu was definitely behind the whole thing. It seemed that His Majesty's patience had reached its limit, and no matter how generous his character was, he could not stand his own relatives stabbing him in the back. In this way, Li Shenfu was made to draw a clear line between himself and the royal family and nobles who participated in the attack on Jingzhao Prefecture, so as to dispel Li Shenfu's prestige within the royal family.

This old ancestor of the royal family has had a hard time...

After the court meeting, Fang Jun took two quick steps and walked side by side with Dai Zhou. He whispered a few words to Dai Zhou, who kept frowning and whispered back, "Erlang, isn't this clearly asking me to be partial to my own interests and bend the law? Besides, this case is not decided by me alone. The three courts are jointly trying the case. Even if I want to be partial to my own interests, I can't do it."

"How can it be called partiality? That kid is just a fool. He was bewitched and rushed forward. He is extremely stupid and has average ability. He is neither the first offender nor the wanted criminal. Besides, I am not asking you to let him go. You should punish him at the lowest level."

"I'll figure it out. You really are giving me a hard time."

"I can't help it. The Prince of Hejian has asked me to do this. I can't refuse. There is nothing I can do. I can only trouble you, old man."

"Hehe, I can't give you any guarantees, just do your best."

"Thank you very much. I appreciate your kindness."

"Stop talking nonsense and walk a few steps faster. Don't you see how many people are staring at us? You can just pass on the message in private. Why do you have to come here in public? Are you dissatisfied with the censors for not impeaching you recently?"

"Would I be afraid of them? They should be afraid of me!"

"You're not afraid, but I am! Let's go quickly..."

"It's true that the longer you are in the officialdom, the smaller your courage. How can you, Dai Siqing, who is upright and incorruptible, be afraid of those barking and biting censors? Could it be that you have been caught doing something corrupt or even immoral?"

"Nonsense, get out of here!"

……

Imperial Censor Liu Xiangdao is a man of few words and only listens to His Majesty's words. He is impartial and fair in all other matters. The newly appointed Minister of Justice Han Yuan is an old friend of his, but they have been in different camps and have different interests over the years, and have drifted apart. Prince of Han Li Yuanjia has made up his mind not to get too deeply involved in this case...so he can only ask Dai Zhou to take care of Li Chongxu, which Li Xiaogong entrusted him to do.

Fortunately, Dai Zhou is a fair but humane person. He will not trample on the rules but will always make things convenient for others within them. He is a good person. His nephew Dai Zhide has a very good relationship with Fang Jun, and they can be considered close friends.

Dai Zhou is a reliable person, and since he has agreed, Fang Jun doesn't need to worry about it...

He returned to the general's tent outside Mingde Gate and handed over all his generals to him and warned them not to be negligent and slack just because those dandy young men from royal families and nobles were arrested and imprisoned. Li Shenfu was forced by His Majesty to "supervise" the trial of the case, which was a move that would extremely consume his prestige. Li Shenfu had built up his prestige for most of his life and had regarded it as his lifeline. If this old thief took the risk, the situation would change suddenly, so he had to be on guard.

It was already the first quarter of the day when they arrived outside Mingde Gate. Fang Jun, who was starving, had someone cook him a bowl of noodle soup with pickled vegetables and vinegar celery. He rinsed his mouth. Cen Changqian had already brewed a cup of tea and put it on the table. Fang Jun picked up the teacup and took a sip. Suddenly, he remembered something: "Where's Zhang Liang?"

General Cheng Wuting of the Left Jinwu Guard was stationed outside the Xuanwu Gate with his troops to defend the area from Xuanwu Gate to Weishui. Fang Jun was afraid that Zhang Liang would cause trouble in the Right Jinwu Guard, so he personally commanded the Right Jinwu Guard to station his troops outside the Mingde Gate. But why did Zhang Liang, the general of the Right Jinwu Guard, never show up?

Cen Changqian poured himself a cup of tea and sat down at Fang Jun's side. Hearing this, he smiled and said, "Chang'an is hot, and even hotter than a steamer when there's no wind at night. Duke Yun kicked off the quilt while sleeping and caught a cold and has been bedridden. This morning, he sent someone to say that he wants to take a few days off. All military affairs are under your full authority, and he agreed."

"Heh, pretending to be sick is a way to stay out of these troubles. This guy is really smart."

Fang Jun sneered and said disdainfully: "It stands to reason that Duke Yun is a talented person, especially good at naval warfare, otherwise Emperor Taizong would not have entrusted him with important positions. However, he is narrow-minded, short-sighted, and has a weak and wavering stance. Such two-faced people who betray their own people are the most annoying in the officialdom. If it weren't for his meritorious service in the past, he would have been dismissed long ago."

"Although he is not idle now, everyone in the Right Jinwu Guards lacks respect for him. He has an empty title but cannot command anyone. The funniest thing is that he was replaced by Han Yuan right after he resigned as the Minister of Justice. He cannot go back to the Ministry of Justice even if he wants to. It's too late to regret."

"Humph, you're always thinking about what's in the pot while you're eating from the bowl, you're always aiming high and greedy, who can you blame for what's happening today?"

The reason why Zhang Liang has fallen into his current dilemma and is being bullied by both sides is all because he coveted the military power of the Right Jinwu Guard. But doesn't he think that how can he be allowed to get involved in the army that was formed and organized by others?

Do not live by committing sins.

After checking the sky, Fang Jun ordered, "Send someone to the Imperial Hospital to find two imperial doctors to diagnose Duke Yun. If he is really ill, that's fine. If he is not ill at all, tell him to report here before 5 p.m. If he is late or does not come, he will be punished by military law."

If you want to pick peaches, rush forward; if you don’t want to get into trouble, hide away?
Want to be beautiful!
Cen Changqian smiled and said, "Yes!"

He felt that Fang Jun's move was a bit excessive. After all, Zhang Liang was one of the few meritorious officials of the Zhenguan period who was still active in the officialdom. Such an old official who had conquered the world needed to be respectable. But this was the best way to continuously undermine Zhang Liang's prestige, wear down his confidence, and make him completely lose his ambition to control the Right Jinwu Guard. In the officialdom, he would do anything to attack his political enemies. How could he be gentle, respectful, frugal and modest?
Wang Xuance's challenge and suppression of Zhang Liang was almost fatal to Zhang Liang.

Fang Jun called the leader of his personal guards, Wei Ying, over and said, "Go to Jingzhao Prefecture and sit down to investigate the progress of the trial. Report back if you have any news."

"Here."

Wei Ying and two of his companions rode quickly around most of Chang'an City, entered the city from the Jinguan Gate and went straight to the Jingzhao Prefecture government office.

During the grand event held by Buddhism and Taoism, Chang'an was crowded with people and vehicles, but the West Market was not as noisy as before. All the merchants tried to keep quiet, walked close to the wall, and even spoke in a low voice. They were scared by the noise in Jingzhao Prefecture last night. Merchants are the most sensitive group to political trends. After all, in this era of imperfect legal system, a government decree can make them lose everything. How can they not pay attention to and analyze it from time to time?
Those who are rich and live long are all those who have mastered and adapted to the political situation...

As an accessory to the political struggle, a power struggle between different classes would cause countless merchants to either make a fortune or lose everything. The Hu merchants, who were at the bottom of the entire Tang Dynasty's business community, were terrified of this. They would rather not rely on powerful assistance to get rich, and would never want to become victims of the power struggle for no reason.

Once the power structure of the Tang Dynasty became unstable and the situation became turbulent, the Hu merchants began to flee as far away as possible, avoiding them as much as possible...