"The future generations are to be feared. How could we know that those who come will not be here now." [The Analects of Confucius·Zihan]
In the dark and dirty dungeon, the new court captain Fa Yan was led by the jailer to a cell. Looking at the beaten and dying palace thief in front of him, Fa Yan had no fluctuation in his heart: "You said he suddenly had a new one.
Confession, but is it true?”
"Yes, this kid was supposed to be punished, but he actually had the habit of talking in his sleep. When the prisoner next to him heard about it, he felt that the matter was serious and immediately reported it to him, trying to get away with it." The warder said respectfully: "My subordinates have done this at night.
I heard him murmuring in his sleep, "Why don't you save Mr. Qingniu?"
I' waited, so I knew that he was closely related to Qing Niujiao, the leader of the assassination case. We interrogated him strictly and took him to identify him with the Yellow Turban thief in the assassination case. Only then did we learn that this person was actually a Yellow Turban thief.
The thief entered the palace to pry into the secrets, but my subordinates did not dare to hide it, so they reported it immediately."
The Yellow Turban thief was so determined that he actually infiltrated the Taoist palace in these years. As a minister, Fa Yan was filled with anger. He suppressed his breath and said: "Since he is a Yellow Turban spy, how did the theft cause such a fuss?
?”
The jailer said: "Although this man is always in the palace, it is difficult to find out useful information because the servants are wary of eunuchs. Over time, his associates outside may have abandoned him. During this period, Mu Huangmen served
He was ordered to rectify the palace officials, but he was afraid that he would not be able to find his accomplices after being dismissed, so he wanted to make a fortune before leaving, so he gathered a group of people to steal the royal objects. Unexpectedly, he was bumped into by the guards, and then the theft in the palace occurred.
"
"He hid in the palace for several days, and the guards searched everywhere but couldn't find him. This shows that he is good at hiding." Fa Yan said slowly, and suddenly felt a chill in his heart: "If he was hiding well, why would he run into His Majesty's palace road and collide with him?
Yujia? Is it possible that there is someone else in the palace who is instigating you behind the scenes, intending to assassinate you?"
"The lower official also asked him about this. Even if he was given a severe punishment, he still said that he just bumped into it accidentally that day and no one was behind it," the jailer replied.
Fa Yan had doubts in his heart, but did not express it on his face. He asked again: "Then does he know where Qing Niujiao and others used to occupy?"
The jailer shook his head: "He only said it was in Beihuanli, but we have checked there several times and found nothing."
The clues seem to have stopped here. The Green Bull Horn has still not been found, and it is not even clear who the Liangzhou General who was connected behind it is.
Fa Yan was not discouraged. After receiving the latest news, he quickly reported it to the emperor.
At this time, the emperor was secretly happy that he had solved Wang Yun. However, seeing this mysterious case that had been unresolved for several days, his good mood was inevitably reduced a lot.
In Shiqu Pavilion, he looked at Fazheng who was studying with him and said with a smile: "Your father gave me a big problem."
Although the emperor used a joking tone, the actual content can be understood as criticizing Fa Yan as a minister for not knowing how to relieve the emperor's worries. Instead, he always wanted the emperor to solve problems when he encountered them.
Everyone in the audience, including Secretary Lang Yangxiu, Wang Fu, and others, all looked at Fazheng, who was usually very high-spirited but was favored by the emperor, in a teasing way, and wanted to see how he would respond.
Fazheng put down the slip and responded calmly: "Whether it is executing criminals or trying suspects, when officials find it difficult to deal with it, they naturally have to report it to Your Majesty. This is a common practice passed down from generation to generation."
While talking, Fazheng thought for a while and realized that since his father was promoted to court captain, Cai Yong was released from prison, Zhang Xi was deposed, and the palace robbers were captured. The cases at hand have been basically decided, and all that is left is nothing more.
The leader of the thieves who stabbed Jia in the village has not yet been captured. The problem the emperor wants to talk about is probably this.
The father and son share weal and woe. If Fa Yan had a bad impression in the emperor's mind that he was not good at doing things, then even if he, the secretary, was favored by the emperor again, there was no guarantee that the Tingwei would not be replaced.
Although it was a bit troublesome, after clearing his mind, it was not difficult for Fa Zheng to answer: "Your Majesty, are you worried about the whereabouts of Qing Niu Jiao?"
Although Fazheng was only sixteen years old, he had already begun to show his talent in strategy. The emperor had a good impression of Fazheng when he read the novel in his previous life. When he heard Fazheng's words, he immediately looked serious:
"Ting Wei reported that the thief in the palace who was arrested a few days ago is closely related to the yellow turban thief who assassinated him. It was even Qing Niujiao who was behind the scenes. However, Qing Niujiao cannot be traced and cannot be traced. In the long run, where will the imperial court's face be?
?”
"What your Majesty is saying is that now that the rebels are approaching, and the imperial court is trying its best to deal with it, it must be more careful about the remnants of the Yellow Turbans in the city. If the rebellion starts in the heart of the city, the overall situation that the imperial court has finally established will be overturned immediately, and the consequences will be dire.
Imagine." Fa Zheng stood up and said.
Yang Xiu, who was on the side, interjected abruptly: "Although what Xiaozhi said is quite logical, who among the people here doesn't know it? What your Majesty wants is a solution. If Xiaozhi doesn't have a good idea in mind, it is useless to talk about it."
Fa Zheng's character is bound to retaliate, and Yang Xiu is not a man of great ambition. Since the two had a disagreement in front of Chengming Hall that day, they have not dealt with each other.
Although the emperor intended to mediate, it was so easy for one person to have a high-spirited spirit and the other to have a narrow-minded spirit. It was so easy for them to end up fighting each other. It was commonplace for people like Yang Xiu to occasionally pick a thorn in Fa Zheng's side, and everyone was used to it.
"That's natural. After the assassination incident, there were Northern troops at each city gate. Yu Lin took over and the city was heavily fortified, especially since Li Jue and other rebels were about to attack the city. This green ox horn is just a wind-watching horn that can recognize stars.
It’s just a monster from history, it’s just a matter of deceiving some common people.
How can he slip away under the eyes of tens of thousands of imperial troops?" Fazheng raised his brows and said firmly: "This person must still be in Chang'an City. The reason why he can be so calm must be because he has something to rely on.
In my opinion, this trust does not lie with the people, but with the imperial court!"
As soon as the words came out, everyone present, all talented people with extraordinary intelligence, fell into deep thought.
Even the emperor was surprised. Only a few people including Tingwei Fayan and his servant She Yangzhong knew about the remnants of the Yellow Turbans such as Qingniujiao colluding with the remnants of Dong Zhuo in the court. Although Fayan was pedantic, he would not take such an important matter seriously.
The matter was told to his son Fa Zheng, so what Fa Zheng said just now was entirely based on his personal inference.
Being able to deduce this step based on clues at such a young age should not be underestimated.
Yang Xiu on the side thought about it and immediately vetoed it: "This is impossible. The ministers of the DPRK and the Central Government are upright and upright, how can they collude with the Yellow Turban Moth thieves?"
"So what? Before the Yellow Turbans rebelled, didn't they still collude with the ministers Feng Zhen, Xu Feng, and the Imperial Guard Langguan?" Fa Zheng glanced sideways at Yang Xiu, and said leisurely: "This time Qingniujiao colluded with the traitors,
It is not unreasonable to intend to overthrow the imperial court."
"Fa Zheng." The emperor stopped the argument between the two that was about to begin, and said calmly: "You stay here while the others disperse first."