Chapter 1445 Kill one to serve as a warning to others
On the ninth day of the first lunar month, Wei Jiansu, the right minister, was reviewing documents in his court room. Since the queen did not participate in politics, Wei Jiansu was the real leader of the Tang Dynasty.
It was up to him to review and approve the affairs. He was very busy with government affairs and was actually much more tired than the emperor Li Ye, but Wei Jiansu also enjoyed the power to handle state affairs.
At this time, an official reported at the door of the official room, "The prime minister and the internal guard Liu Dutong sent someone to deliver a letter in a silver tube!"
Letters from the internal guards are sent directly to the required departments without going through the White Tiger Hall. They are also placed in different mailboxes according to their levels.
Silver tube letter is a special communication method for internal guards. It evolved from pigeon letter and represents top secret.
Wei Jiansu nodded, "Send it up!"
A guard soldier came in, bowed and presented a silver mailbox. The tea boy presented it to Wei Jiansu, and the messenger bowed and left.
The seal of the silver tube is surrounded by a silver ring. The silver ring can be torn off, but once it is torn off, it cannot be repaired. This is a safety measure to ensure that the letter will not be dismantled.
Wei Jiansu pulled off the silver ring, opened the seal, and poured out a volume of letters. He slowly opened it and read it. He was really shocked. Zhang Hao actually hid fifty slaves in Longzhou Manor.
Internal security seized it and the evidence was conclusive.
No wonder the internal guards use silver cylinders. This is the biggest case of the abolition of slavery.
Wei Jiansu thought for a moment and stood up and said: "Please tidy up for me, I'm going to meet the saint!"
Soon, Wei Jiansu met the Emperor Li Ye. Li Ye said slowly: "This morning, Liu Wutong has already reported to me. What does the Prime Minister think of this case?"
Wei Jiansu said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, I think there is something fishy in this."
"What's weird?"
"Your Majesty, fifty slaves are not five hundred or five thousand. What benefits can fifty slaves bring? Can it be compared with Zhang Shilang's decades of hard work in officialdom, and can it be compared with his reputation for generations?
Zhang Xiangguo has always been cautious, and he will not fail to understand this basic common sense. Moreover, all the slaves in his house have been converted to civilians, which shows that he does not disagree with His Majesty's abolition order."
"You suspect that Zhang Hao doesn't know anything about it?"
"Exactly!"
Li Ye shook his head and said: "It doesn't matter whether Zhang Hao knows about this matter. What's important is that I need to kill him as a warning to others. He happened to bump into him."
"His Majesty."
Wei Jiansu wanted to beg for mercy again, but Li Ye interrupted him with a wave of his hand.
"Wei Xiangguo, you didn't see the crux of the problem. Why is it not someone else but him? This is the most important thing. Maybe it's because he didn't teach his children well, maybe he indulged his domestic slaves, maybe he was lucky, Wei
Prime Minister, I will never unjustly accuse innocent people!"
Wei Jiansu said helplessly: "Your Majesty, can you let Wei Chen talk to him so that he can be mentally prepared? Maybe he doesn't know yet."
"Okay, I will give him one day. If he finds that he has been wronged, he can appeal at will!"
Wei Jiansu bowed and hurried away.
Wei Jiansu immediately came to Danfeng Restaurant. If it was not meal time, you could also drink tea here.
After waiting for a short time, Zhang Hao hurried to Danfeng Restaurant Bie Xueyuan and entered the room as warm as spring. Zhang Hao took off his cotton robe and said with a smile: "Why did the Prime Minister think of inviting me to drink tea?"
Wei Jiansu said calmly: "I'm afraid we won't have many opportunities to drink tea here in the future."
Zhang Hao was startled, "Where do you start talking about this?"
Wei Jiansu waved his hand, "Sit down first!"
Zhang Hao felt a little uneasy. He sat down and asked, "What happened?"
Wei Jiansu handed him the silver mailbox, "This is what Liu Dutong, the inner guard, sent to me this morning. Take a look!"
Zhang Hao took the silver tube, took out the letter and looked at it carefully. It was like a bolt from the blue. He was stunned. After a while, he shook his head and said: "No! There must be something wrong. I have asked Quanzi to handle them all, and all fifty slaves have recovered."
It's normal, why is it still there? The internal guards must have made a mistake."
Wei Jiansu said calmly: "Since the inner guard sent me the silver letter, it means that they have obtained the evidence. Zhang Shangshu, the problem probably lies with the Young Master."
Zhang Hao's body was a little shaky. He quickly supported his head with his hands. After a long time, he asked in a low voice: "Does the emperor know?"
Wei Jiansu nodded, "The emperor knows. I explained to the emperor that you can't sacrifice your reputation and eunuch career for dozens of slaves, but the emperor only said one sentence, leaving me speechless. His Majesty said
, why not someone else?”
Zhang Hao let out a long sigh: "The emperor is right, why not others but me? Because others have dealt with it, why didn't I deal with it well? Because I have a stupid son, but I believe him again. I want to
Pay a heavy price for your choice."
"Go back! Be mentally prepared for the worst, but you must also believe that the emperor will arrange the rest of your life well.
"Will my eldest son be implicated?"
Wei Jiansu shook his head, "The emperor has abolished the implication. The key depends on whose name the slave is in and who is the beneficiary. If it is in your name and your eldest son does not benefit from it, then your eldest son will be fine!
"
Fifty slaves are all in Zhang Hao's name. The eldest son Zhang Boyun has been an official in Bashu for a long time and has not benefited from the slaves. This gives Zhang Hao some peace of mind.
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for abolishing the implication!"
Zhang Hao stood up and left the restaurant.
Zhang Hao returned to his house and saw his second son, Zhang Zhongyun, kneeling on the ground to plead guilty. He had received news that the manor had been sealed off by the internal guards. This news frightened him.
Zhang Hao sighed, "What's the use of pleading guilty now? The emperor is already planning to use me to establish his authority. He wants to kill me as a warning to others. You idiot got me killed!"
Zhang Zhongyun felt so remorseful that he choked and cried, "My son is lucky. He always thinks it's a gust of wind. He always feels that we can't be found. My son deserves to die! He deserves to die!"
Zhang Zhongyun knelt down and kowtowed so hard that his forehead bled. Zhang Hao couldn't bear it and shouted: "Okay, you can't change the result even if you knock your head to pieces. The matter is now over. Go to Longzhou to handle the matter and release him immediately."
Slave, at least your father can save his life. The internal guards have opened a case. If you don’t deal with it within ten days, it will be a serious crime of deceiving the emperor. I will be exiled to Lingnan!"
"Child, go right now!"
Zhang Zhongyun hated the housekeeper with all his heart, but the housekeeper had disappeared.
Zhang Zhongyun took several servants and rode to Longzhou to deal with the slave matter.
There are two types of abolition of slavery. One is where the government has records. For this kind, you need to take the deed of sale to the government to cancel the record. However, after the abolition of slavery was launched, the first slaves to be rectified were those with government records, including official slaves and slaves from other wealthy families.
There are no slaves recorded by the government now, but there were no more slaves the year before last.
Now let’s start to rectify the second type of slaves who have no official records. This kind of investigation is more difficult. For example, someone is from Hebei, fled to Xiangyang during the Anshi Rebellion, and was taken in as a servant by a family in Xiangyang. The Xiangyang government definitely does not have a household registration record for this person.
Because his household registration is in Hebei, how to determine whether he is a slave?
The Slavery Abolition Order clearly targeted this situation. First of all, the owner must register with the government. It is strictly forbidden to hide the household. If a foreigner is hired to work without registering with the local government, this situation is called hiding the household. Once found, he will be fined five days.
More than ten passes.
Even if you are coming to visit relatives or friends, you must register, otherwise you will be punished equally severely if found out.
After registration, the government will come to investigate and determine whether the person is a slave. There are only two criteria: did you pay the slave? Did you restrict the other person's personal freedom?
Especially now that there are heavy rewards for reporting, neighbors will report you, and the government's purpose is very clear. The gain outweighs the loss by letting you keep slaves.
In the afternoon of the same day, the internal guards handed over the materials and evidence of Zhang Hao's slaveholding to the Yushitai, and the Yushitai launched an impeachment on the same day.
On the morning of the next day, Emperor Li Ye issued an order that Zhang Hao, the Huangmen servant, violated the slave abolition order and was deprived of all his official positions and titles, demoted to a commoner, and took back his official residence and security treatment.
The news that Zhang Hao was dismissed from his post as a civilian was like a bomb that exploded in the court. Before everyone could react, the Political Affairs Hall announced at the same time that seventeen minor officials of the sixth and seventh grades had been dismissed from their official positions for violating the abolition order.
This series of news shocked the officialdom, especially Zhang Hao's report, which turned out to be a whistleblower in his house, and the servant had received a heavy reward of 500 coins. This made all officials panic and everyone was in danger. They concealed the secret.
He can get away with outsiders, but he can't hide it from his servants.
Officials in the DPRK and the Central Government took leave to go home one after another to deal with slaves, including retired officials and false officials. As long as you still want court treatment and official titles, you have to implement the abolition of slavery to the letter. There is a long queue in front of the county government office.
In just three days, all officials in Chang'an completed the abolition of slavery, and no one would lose their reputation for a few slaves.
Zhang Hao finally received special accommodation from Li Ye. He was invited by Taixue to be a professor, participated in the compilation of history, and moved into a house provided by Taixue.
After the inspection of the abolition order ended in Chang'an, it continued to advance to local government offices. Each state capital in the Tang Dynasty dispatched internal security inspection teams to continue to strictly investigate the abolition order in local government offices.