Chapter 4974 I Never Ask

Chapter 4974 I Never Ask
But what if it's a muddy beach?

Li Xiaogong's foundation is in the royal family, and he is involved in interests all around him. Once the case of treason involves a large number of people, even he himself is not sure if he can get away with it. It is better for him to intervene in it with an appearance of selflessness, to pull himself out of this quagmire, while also saving some people who are not deeply involved and leaving some vitality for the royal family.

He has a duty both in public and in private.

He patted Li Xiaoyi on the shoulder, pulled him up, and said with emotion: "Prince Huai'an helped me and protected me in the past. How can I stand by and watch indifferently when your brother is in great trouble today? I dare not say anything else, but I will do my best."

Li Xiaoyi wiped his eyes and choked up, "Thank you, Uncle King!"

Then he stood up and sat down again.

Li Yuanjia looked at Liu Li and asked, "Your Majesty has ordered the Zhongshu Ling to investigate this case, but I don't know how the Zhongshu Ling intends to investigate it, what are the rules and what is the bottom line?"

Although the fact that he came together with Li Xiaogong had already shown part of Liu Li's position, he still needed to confirm it before cooperating.

Liu Li said: "The royal family is the cornerstone of the empire. Even if many people make mistakes, we cannot generalize. Otherwise, it will only shake the foundation, causing pain to relatives and joy to enemies. Therefore, I plan to execute only the main culprit and not the rest. I will quickly interrogate a group of participants and draw up a list for your majesty to decide."

His Majesty's intention still needs to be tested. If His Majesty is determined to be strict and severe, then he will have no choice. Even if it offends people, he will have to obey His Majesty's wishes.

Li Yuanjia and Li Xiaogong looked at each other, and the latter nodded and said, "This is the safest way. If Your Majesty stops here, everyone will be happy. But if Your Majesty is not satisfied, then we can discuss it again."

How to negotiate?

Naturally, we will continue to add people to the list until Your Majesty is satisfied.

Of course, the candidates on the list need to be discussed and decided by the three clan leaders. Liu Li is only responsible for submitting the list. This is also the reason why he took the initiative to find Li Xiaogong - the list was drawn up by you, and no one can blame him, Liu Li, afterwards.

Li Xiaogong said: "Since this is the case, then there is no time to lose. Imprison all the prisoners in the backyard of Zongzheng Temple and interrogate them immediately."

"Here!"

……

The interrogation was conducted very quickly, with Li Xiaogong in charge, Liu Li presiding over the trial, and Li Yuanjia and Li Xiaoyi supervising from the side.

In half a day, dozens of royal family members who participated in the mutiny were interrogated one by one and had to sign and seal their names.

Later, when sorting out the confession, Li Yuanjia discovered a problem.

"How about Duke Xun?"

According to almost everyone's confession, Li Shenfu was undoubtedly the main culprit. Li Daoli and Li Xiaoxie provided him with advice and contributed manpower. These three were the masterminds and should be sentenced to death no matter what.

But before the "Zhaoling Case" broke out, Li Xiaoxie was arrested and detained in Wannian County Prison until now. He did not follow Li Shenfu to lead an army into the East Palace to launch a mutiny like Li Daoli did...

Li Yuanjia frowned, "Duke Xun is indeed the mastermind, but even if he is the mastermind, whether he personally participated in the mutiny should be considered a different crime, right? If the Prince of Xiangyi and the Prince of Gaoping are both sentenced to death, can Duke Xun be given a lower sentence and spared his life?"

After these words were spoken, the other three people remained silent.

This logic makes sense. It is impossible that someone who did not personally participate in the mutiny could be guilty of the same crime as Li Shenfu and Li Daoli who broke into the East Palace and Taiji Palace, right?
If this is the case, wouldn't everyone be dead for sure?
Li Xiaogong looked at Liu Li and said in a deep voice, "This matter still needs the Minister of the Central Secretariat to mediate in front of Your Majesty. Let's first reduce Li Xiaoxie's crime to a lower level, and propose to deprive him of his title and imprison him, and see what Your Majesty thinks."

Liu Li hesitated for a moment and said, "Even if the crime of treason can be reduced to a lower level and exempted from the death penalty, Duke Xun was also involved in the Zhaoling case. If he is punished for both crimes, I'm afraid he will still not be able to escape with his life."

Li Xiaogong shook his head and said, "Not necessarily. Although the Zhaoling case made Your Majesty furious, it was not the fault of one person. Many members of the royal family and the court were involved. It had a bad impact but there was no mastermind. Your Majesty cannot kill them all."

After all, the Zhaoling case was not about one person embezzling money and passing off inferior goods as good ones, but a top-down feast. Many people involved in the case, either spontaneously, in collusion, or by tacit agreement, all attacked the building materials and projects of Zhaoling. There were so many people involved in the case, but no mastermind, so the Zhaoling case ultimately ended up in nothing.

You can't kill them all up and down, inside and out, right?

Politics is not a joke. We must consider the overall situation and not take revenge.

Li Xiaoyi tried to hold back, but couldn't help asking curiously, "Duke Xun wouldn't have escaped because of the Zhaoling case, right?"

The mastermind of a treason case was thrown into prison because he was involved in another major case beforehand, but he was unable to participate in it personally and thus escaped...

Very ironic.

Li Xiaogong sighed: "The current situation is not the time to judge right and wrong, good and evil. We should do our best to preserve the vitality of the royal family."

Good guys, bad guys, guilty or innocent, are not the key points that need to be considered at this time. The most important thing is how to protect more members of the royal family and ensure the stability of the Li Tang dynasty.

Li Xiaogong, Li Yuanjia and Li Xiaoyi looked at each other, and a sense of absurdity arose in their hearts: Logically speaking, it should be His Majesty who is trying hard to maintain the Li Tang dynasty, he is the master of the world, the emperor, but now His Majesty is furious and wants to wipe out all the evil spirits in the royal family to relieve his hatred, not caring whether the country will be in turmoil or whether the Li Tang rule will perish because of this. Instead, they, the royal family, have to do their best to reverse the decline and avoid a catastrophe.

Liu Li stood up, clasped his hands and said, "I will go to the palace to see you now. Please wait for my news."

The three members of the imperial clan stood up at the same time, and even Li Xiaogong bowed and said earnestly: "The Minister of the Central Secretariat is the pillar of the empire and your majesty's right-hand man. This time the imperial clan has suffered a devastating disaster. I hope the Minister of the Central Secretariat will do his best to help. No matter what the result is, the entire imperial clan will be grateful for your kindness."

Liu Li suppressed his joy and said with a look of regret: "It's not that I'm asking for favors, but I'm really thinking about the foundation of the empire and I dare not show favoritism."

It was originally a difficult task, and no matter how it was done, it would offend countless people, but this time, it gained favors from the royal family...

After saying this, he led a few clerks holding dozens of confessions out of the Zongzheng Temple and drove to the Taiji Palace.

After Liu Li left, the three of them sat down again, the clerk replaced the tea with freshly brewed tea, and then left the hall.

Li Yuanjia took a sip of tea and said, "Liu Sidao is a hypocrite. He may not really care about the royal family this time. We cannot trust him completely and should be on guard."

Li Xiaoyi was surprised: "Will he turn around and sell us out?"

"That's not the case," Li Xiaogong shook his head. "This man is quick-witted and self-respecting. He doesn't want to offend the royal family because of this case, so he came to me to ask me to take the responsibility. If it's what Your Majesty wants, the credit will be his. If Your Majesty is not satisfied, then the responsibility lies with me. No matter what happens, he will be unscathed."

Li Yuanjia sighed and said, "Liu Sidao has outstanding talents but lacks courage. He holds the position of Zhongshu Ling, but does not have the heart to care about the world. Not only is he not as good as 'Fang Du', he is also inferior to the Duke of Hedong, the Duke of Song, the Duke of Shen, the Duke of Yu, etc. He sits and watches the military grow stronger but is helpless. He is not a famous minister."

Pei Ji, Duke of Hedong, Xiao Yu, Duke of Song, Gao Shilian, Duke of Shen, and Wen Yanbo, Duke of Yu, were all prime ministers of the Tang Dynasty. Each of them was famous and had outstanding achievements. They were all famous officials of their generation. In comparison, Liu Li was far inferior.

Not to mention compared with "Fangmou Duduan"...

Li Xiaogong was also worried: "The military is developing too fast now. On land, they have not only opened up several protectorates in Hanhai and Andong, expanding their territory for thousands of miles, but also included Suiye City in the west, almost bordering the Kingdom of Daqin. On the sea, it is even more amazing. Wherever the sea water reaches, the countries in the East, South, and West have ports of the Tang Dynasty. Merchants are all over the world with the navy's warships. The rich profits brought by maritime trade feed back to the navy. They are constantly building ships and warships, making guns and cannons all day long, and their power is growing by leaps and bounds... Sooner or later, disasters will arise."

He and Fang Jun jointly run the Jiangnan Shipyard. No one knows better than him how huge the today's navy is. The docks are filled with huge warship keels, thousands of craftsmen toil day after day, and countless warships are launched one after another.

In the long run, no one can estimate how large the navy will grow to.

If someone told him one day that wherever the sun shines, there are Tang navy, he would believe it without a doubt...

Relying on civil officials is no longer enough to restrict the expansion of the military. Liu Li is a man of great ambitions but little talent, and is manipulated by Fang Jun. He can only watch the military grow stronger without any means of restraining it.

The only ones who could restrain the military were the royal family. However, after the "Zhaoling Case" and the "Treason Case", the royal family was bound to suffer heavy losses. Even if they were to recuperate, it would take more than ten years. By that time, the military would have grown to an unknown extent.

Changing a dynasty may only require a military general to raise his arm...

He sighed and said, "Don't worry about it, let's get through this disaster first."

*****
Wude Hall.

Li Chengqian took the confession presented by Liu Li and read it carefully one by one. Then he raised his head and said expressionlessly: "In your opinion, how should we deal with it?"

Liu Li said cautiously, "Your Majesty, I think this case should not involve too many people. We should only punish the main culprit and not ask any questions about the rest."

"Haha," Li Chengqian sneered, his eyes flashing with ferocity, "You are all my uncles and brothers, but instead of being loyal to the emperor and serving the country, you are plotting treason and poisoning me. What did you tell me that I never ask?"

Liu Li was terrified, but he had no way to retreat. He knelt down and bowed his head, saying, "Your Majesty, even if these people deserve to die, they cannot be killed together. Otherwise, the royal family will suffer a heavy loss. With one gaining and the other losing, who will be able to restrain the military?"

Li Chengqian looked unhappy and remained silent.