On the slightly yellowed bamboo paper, the four large characters are elegant and graceful, and the stipples are beautiful.
Li Longji casually put down his imperial brush, admired his calligraphy, and said with a smile: "General Gao, what do you think of my calligraphy?"
Gao Lishi sincerely said with emotion: "The saint is truly an all-rounder. He is a master of statecraft, civil and martial arts, chess, calligraphy and painting. He is perfect in everything. I only hope that future generations will be able to see his grace and admire him forever."
Even with this level of praise, Li Longji felt it was normal and felt more satisfied with himself.
"I have managed such a magnificent and prosperous era. Although it has never happened since ancient times, it is only the work of a generation of kings. And my achievements are not only this. I destroyed Tubo and Khitan, made the Tang Dynasty vast and boundless, and this..."
Li Longji said, lightly tapping the calligraphy on the imperial desk with his finger.
"The article is an eternal story. The dazzling and prosperous culture of the Tang Dynasty will benefit future generations. My achievements will last forever and will not be covered up by the time of heaven and earth!"
He almost blurted out, but humbly did not say a word about his inner evaluation of himself——
"I am the mortal god!"
Gao Lishi was startled and quickly knelt down to show his respect. He said loudly: "The merits of the saint will last forever! He can compete with the glory of heaven and earth!"
The people in the palace also prostrated themselves and praised him.
"Ha ha ha ha……"
Li Longji was in a good mood. This was not a matter of saving a little money, but a new level of achievement for the emperor.
It's not just a piece of bamboo paper that can make him feel like this. He has already become a sage. The bamboo paper is the icing on the cake. It is the auspiciousness that will naturally appear in the splendid and prosperous era governed by the wise king through the ages. It is his achievement.
As for Xue Bai, who made paper, he also took part of the credit. Of course, it is a great achievement in the world.
"General Gao, get up. We still need to find out whether the cost is really low."
"Old slave obeys the order."
Gao Lishi knew that Xue Bai would not lie about this kind of thing, so he stood up and said with a smile: "In this way, this matter is really a great achievement."
"Otherwise the general thinks that Brother Nu is spending so much time just to steal Xue Bai's money?"
"I see."
Gao Lishi suddenly realized.
With Li Linfu's family business, Xue Bai would not be involved in a major case just for the benefit of bamboo paper craftsmanship. It only makes sense that the purpose is to achieve great achievements that can affect future generations, and it is indeed a narrow-minded man.
What can be done.
He was greedy for merit, worried that Xue Bai would make meritorious deeds, and even more afraid that Yang Hao, who was behind Xue Bai, would use this to covet his position.
~~
"Right Prime Minister, please take a look."
A stack of bamboo paper was handed to Li Linfu. He was stunned and reached out to take it.
The paper is yellowish, a little rough when rubbed, and not smooth enough, but it is not as brittle as the original bamboo paper. After smelling it, there is indeed a hint of bamboo fragrance.
Li Linfu was knowledgeable and was surprised that the hard texture of bamboo could become so tough.
He thought to himself that if he had known about this earlier, he would have dealt with Xue Bai harshly and got rid of Yang Zhi as well. After all, Xue Bai's property was in the name of the Yang family. This incident together posed a threat to the phase.
too big.
But, he really doesn't know.
Before he could recover from the shock, Li Longji came closer and asked with a smile: "Juro, what do you think?"
"Your Majesty." Li Linfu was caught off guard and said hurriedly: "This is the first time I have seen bamboo paper today. I have never heard of it before!"
“That’s unheard of!”
Xue Bai's counterattack had just begun, and he immediately said: "You encouraged Yuan Zhen to come to my papermaking mill to cause trouble, and forced me to sell the papermaking mill to him. Is it because you have too many sons-in-law, and you have never heard of Yuanzhen?"
"Sharp teeth and sharp mouth."
Li Linfu only replied to Xue Bai, and quickly turned towards the saint, saying solemnly: "Your Majesty, everything I said is true. As Prime Minister, I uphold national laws and regulations. Jingzhao Mansion handled the case with iron face and found out Xue Bai's major crime. He
So I deliberately confuse the public and I beg your Majesty to investigate clearly."
Everything he said was true.
Therefore, Xue Bai failed to get rid of Xue Bai after repeated attempts. He realized that the saint was not easy to fool, so he carefully and seriously found out the truth this time.
At this moment, he is very sincere, just like when countless people said to him in the past, "I really don't have a good relationship with the East Palace."
"I beg your Majesty to investigate clearly." Xue Bai immediately added.
Li Linfu was finally angered by this attitude of hiding evil intentions, and quickly glanced at Xiao Jiong, signaling him to come forward.
At present, the war of words will only be led by Xue Bai. The best way is to ignore the bamboo paper and commit Xue Bai's crime.
"Your Majesty, I don't know about bamboo paper." Xiao Jiong gritted his teeth and spoke immediately, "I judged the case impartially and found many supporting evidences before I dared to doubt Xue Bai. For example, Xue Bai and Pei Mian seemed to have nothing to do with each other.
In fact, according to the servants of Pei Mansion, Fengweilou often sends food boxes there..."
"You still dare to frame me." Xue Bai said: "If you investigate the case like this, how can I tell you the evidence that your right minister killed Pei Mian?"
The argument with Xiao Jiong just now was to wash away his sins, but now it was Xue Bai's attack.
Xue Bai was not worried that Jingzhao Mansion would be able to find evidence of the crime from the beginning. There were only two people and two Mo knives. How could he not even be able to hide these? The key was that he saw that Lu Qi's clues were given by the East Palace.
It's a pity that Lu Qi did not dare to come to the court to testify, otherwise he would have counterattacked Lu Qi and contacted him between the East Palace and the Right Prime Minister's Mansion, pointing out that the Crown Prince and the Right Prime Minister were cooperating. And who died when he saw it?
The only thing I didn't expect was that the kid couldn't stand the scare and actually found a way to escape.
But it doesn't matter, this way, the fire can't burn Xue Bai anymore, and he can burn as much as he wants.
"Pei Mian was Wang's man and had been in and out of Youxiang's house many times. Youxiang was jealous of Wang's talents and worried that he would replace Youxiang if he became the imperial censor. He wanted to get rid of Wang Zhi, so he killed Pei Mian first...
…”
"Nonsense!" Xiao Jiong interrupted quickly, "You are so bold, do you dare to bite in front of the emperor?"
"Only Jingyin is allowed to provide evidence, but not to tell the truth?" Xue Bai said: "Let's talk about Pan bite, what does this matter have to do with me? I have no selfish motives."
"The right prime minister never kills people." Xiao Jiong was so angry that he said what he meant, put on a righteous look, and shouted: "No matter how sweet you talk, it's hard to change the facts!"
"Whether it's true or not, the evidence speaks for itself. Your accusations are groundless. As for whether I'm 'obfuscationing' or not, do you dare to look at my credentials?"
Xiao Jiong was shocked.
He had no hesitation when he came, thinking that even if he could not convict Xue Bai, there would be no other trouble.
But there are some things about the paper that the Right Chancellor may not know the details of, but he knows them very well.
Although Li Linfu didn't know the details, when he saw Xiao Jiong so surprised, he immediately had a bad feeling in his heart. Although he had no selfish intentions, he couldn't stop his men from setting himself on fire.
What we have to consider now is no longer how to deal with Xue Bai, I'm afraid we have to put out the fire first...
~~
Imperial City, Shangshu Province, and Punishment Department.
The door to the class room was opened. Du Wulang looked up and asked, "Why is it so early for the punishment department to serve dinner? Has someone come to hand over our food books?"
"What kind of food is there? It's being interrogated."
Du Wulang was stunned for a moment, then turned around and saw that a junior official was about to take Da Xi Yingying out. He was a little worried and said: "Chief official, just ask me if you have anything to do. I was the one who beat Yuan Zong."
The officials of the Ministry of Punishment even had a better attitude. They actually took Du Wulang to the side for questioning and left Da Xi Yingying behind.
"Tell me, why did you beat the officer?"
Da Xi Yingying responded: "When I was fighting, I didn't know that the man was Jing Zhaohu Cao. I saw him bullying Wu Lang, so I asked someone to help me without thinking."
"Yuan Miao was already held down, why did Xue Bai go up and kick him hard?"
"Lang Jun, he..."
"Explain it carefully, don't think that we don't know that you are Xue Bai's confidant."
Hearing this sentence made Da Xi Yingying feel proud. She thought for a moment, knowing that Xue Bai had not ordered it to be kept secret, so it could be said, so she smiled slightly and uttered one word.
"Paper."
"Paper? What do you mean?"
"Yuan Ming seems to be here to steal the shop, but he is actually here to steal our papermaking technology." Da Xi Yingying said: "I am Lang Jun's confidant, so I know how amazing this technology is."
…
On the other side, Du Wulang was even more indifferent and told the truth.
The official was already somewhat familiar with him, and finally asked jokingly: "So, your papermaking technology can make a lot of money, Wulang, can you tell me a little bit about it?"
"Okay." Du Wulang chuckled and replied, "The secret is that you need to soak the bamboo with children's urine to make it pliable."
"Hahaha, so it turns out that Motodo Cao was beaten for trying to steal the boy's urine formula?"
"Isn't that exactly what it is?"
As soon as Du Wulang saw this cheerful atmosphere, he knew that Xue Bai had taken action again. Since the Liu Ji case, he had gradually become accustomed to this kind of thing. He no longer had the fear at that time, and instead became a source of conversation for others to admire him.
After the news was reported, before evening, the door to the class room was pushed open again.
"Is dinner served?"
"What's the food for? Go out, you go to Dali Temple tomorrow."
Du Wulang was very surprised and said: "Just one case, how could it be moved around?"
"Hey, are you talking nonsense? The case of assaulting an official will be adjudicated by Jingzhao Prefecture, reviewed by the Ministry of Punishments, and the case will be closed. You can wait and see. Tomorrow, the case of bamboo paper will be tried in Dali Temple."
"Move me to Dali Temple Prison?"
"What kind of prison is this? Tomorrow you will be the accuser, as you have been since the past. Go home."
"I am now the plaintiff."
Du Wulang looked back at the Ministry of Justice and waved goodbye to the officials.
After leaving Shangshu Province, Da Xi Yingying whispered: "We beat Yuan Miao. Now that we are out, he must be going in."
~~
Yushitai.
Wang Zhi walked through the long corridor, and a small official came towards him and said: "Zhongcheng is back. The right minister sent someone to deliver a message yesterday, ordering the false accusation of Yuanhu Cao to be resolved as soon as possible."
"Where is the complainer?"
"In the council chamber."
"Let's go."
Wang Fei has long wanted to wear a purple robe. He has been eyeing the position of imperial censor for a long time and cannot give it to Zahu. Zahu is the favorite of the saint, and he is not bad at it. He can compete for it.
Therefore, when he learned that the Yan brothers were suing Yuan Ming, he avoided it and did not solve it for Li Linfu, just to show his importance in a small way.
But he had no plans to fall out with Li Linfu for the time being. Seeing that the heat was almost over, he came back to ease the situation. He was ready to put aside this trouble for Yuan Zhen.
There were many people in the meeting hall, including Pei Kuan, Yang Zhao and others, as well as several supervisory censors who had already stood up to salute him.
"I've met Wang Zhongcheng."
This means that the Yushitai is still in the hands of Wang He.
He glanced at Yan Quanming and Yan Jiming brothers, and said, "You are the ones suing Cao Yuanming of Jingzhao household."
"Exactly."
"Do you have an official status?"
"I will be a long history under the judge's court in Yingtian, Hebei Province." Yan Quanming responded.
Wang Xian raised his hand, showing off his official authority, and was about to say that the officials in Hebei still had no control over the affairs of Jingzhao Mansion.
Suddenly, a clerk hurriedly arrived.
"Zhongcheng, the sage issued an edict, ordering Yushitai, the Ministry of Punishment, and Dali Temple to review the Yuan Ming case."
Wang Fei's expression remained unchanged, but he was actually stunned for a moment, and even forgot to put down the raised hand.
He was wondering, if the son-in-law of the right prime minister was investigated, would there be a rift in the relationship with the right prime minister?
But the sage issued a decree and it was impossible not to check it.
~~
"Search for me!"
Yuan Zhen was assigning his officials to search Fengwei Building.
According to the clues given by Lu Qi, the two murderers who used Mo Dao to kill people were hiding there.
He heard that these two people were very fierce, so he brought many people here specially for fear of hurting himself.
When he stepped into the lobby, he looked up and saw hanging the painting "The Story of Horses" signed "Han Yu". The last time his father-in-law dealt with Xue Bai, it was because of this matter.
This time it was a little different, after all, he took action.
Suddenly, someone tapped him on the shoulder.
Yuan Ming was startled, and while shrinking, he shouted: "Protect me!"
Looking back, I saw several officials from Dali Temple.
"Are you here to get someone?" Yuan Miao frowned, a little arrogantly, and said, "The murderer hasn't been found yet, so we have to wait a little longer."
The officials of Dali Temple looked at each other.
"Motodo Cao, the criminal we want to take has been found."
"what for?"
Yuan Zhen was still asking questions, but they suddenly pounced on him and held him down.
"take away."
"What are you waiting for?" Yuan Zhen couldn't react for a moment and kept yelling and scolding, "Do you know who I am?!"
"People from Jingzhao Mansion, stop! How dare you search if you know whose property this is? Go to Xuanyangfang to apologize!"
"Let me ask you a question!" Yuan Miao was furious and scolded: "If you dare to touch me, I will remember your faces, and none of you can even think of running away."
At this time, the Dali Temple officials were still very polite. Someone saluted and said, "Forgive me, Cao Yuanhu. I will do what you are told."
Seeing this gesture, Yuan Zhen became even more arrogant and shouted: "I am the son-in-law of the right prime minister. I know who is instigating you, so just wait for me!"
…
In Dali Temple Prison, the execution room was dark and filled with a fishy smell.
This was the first time that Yuan Zhen was imprisoned, so he was inevitably frightened and became more and more panicked.
He could only keep shouting about his only support.
"Let me out! I am the son-in-law of the right prime minister!"
Shouting is useful. After a while, several officials indeed entered the execution room and stood still according to the color of their official robes.
Yuan Zhen was well-informed and knew many of them.
Yang Shaoxuan, the young minister of Dali Temple, Wang Xuan, the chief minister of the imperial censor, Xu Hao, the doctor of the Ministry of punishment, and several other minor officials, Deng Jingshan, the Dali judge, Luo Xishi, the censor...
"Wang Zhongcheng, it's me." Yuan Zhen said with a flattering smile, "Is there a misunderstanding?"
Wang Fei ignored him, his face was gloomy, and he slowly sat down in the darkness, with only the red official robe looming.
Seeing this, Xu Hao, a doctor in the Ministry of Punishment, stepped forward without hesitation.
Xu Hao is Zhang Jiuling's nephew. He was previously involved in the Zheng Qian case because of Zhang Jiuling's Shinto inscription. Now that he has been reinstated and is back in charge of the case of the Ministry of Justice, the direction of the case is self-evident.
"Yuan Ming, are you the right prime minister's son-in-law?"
"Since you know this, why don't you let me go?"
Xu Hao had a straight face and scolded: "The third division is investigating the case. Your crime is not small. Be honest! You want to rob Chengxin Bookstore by force. The evidence is conclusive. Do you want to confess?!"
This way of questioning made Yuan Ming dare not quibble, so he simply refused to answer.
"You learned that the price of paper is getting more and more expensive, and the cost of paper for official documents of the imperial court is huge. You used this matter for personal gain. Do you confess?"
"..."
Suddenly, Xu Hao said in Yuan Miao's ear: "Did you see it? Wang Zhongcheng can't protect you. In only half a day, you have been found out clearly. The saint is so angry that he still dares to resist. Aren't you afraid of a big disaster?"
Yuan Zhen was startled and saw that Wang Xian had walked out of the execution room.
His eyes finally turned frightened.
In fact, Wang Zhi saw a trusted official peeking outside the execution room, so he got up and walked out, turning around the corridor to a deserted place.
"Zhongcheng, Li Julang of the Right Prime Minister's Office has sent you a message. If Yuan Zhen cannot be saved, please convict him as soon as possible. Don't let the fire burn others."
"You reply to Juro, I will do my best." Wang Zhi asked: "Why wasn't the right minister giving the order?"
"The Right Prime Minister has not returned to the palace yet. It seems that he left the palace and went to Taiwan Province. He has not given any orders."
Wang Fei's expression changed, and he had a guess. The saint wanted to see the truth clearly and prevent the right minister from controlling the case.
He sent someone to call Luo Xixi over and gave instructions in a low voice.
"You will be responsible for the torture in a moment. Please grasp the appropriateness of the torture and let the case end until Yuan Ming."
"Zhongcheng can rest assured of my ability to use torture."
Luo Xishi thought that Yuan Ming would not explain immediately. When Xu Hao was speechless, he would immediately take over and kill Yuan Ming.
Then, he walked into the Criminal Department and heard Yuan Zhen's confession.
"I, I knew that the imperial court was going to purchase official document paper, and used the rent money from Jingzhao Mansion to purchase all the rattan materials in Chang'an. The rattan materials were already reduced, and the paper merchants had no time to supply the rattan paper. I was convicted, so I took the opportunity to ask them for money.
"There was a shortage of rattan paper, and the government had to issue official documents. The price of paper soared. I tripled the profit, but I returned the taxes to Jingzhao Mansion..."
"Does Jingzhao Yin Xiaojiong know about this?"
"Jingyin, he..."
"Say! How could he not know?!"
"He, he, he, he knows, I gave him 30% of the profits..."
Luo Xishi was furious and was about to step forward when someone suddenly stood in front of him. It was Dali Judge Deng Jingshan. This man was close to the East Palace and had an expression on his face that he was watching a good show.
~~
It's night in Jingzhao Mansion.
One of Li Xiu's followers hurried over with Nanya's talisman and found several of Yuan Zhen's confidants.
"Quickly, go and burn all Hucao's accounts."
"This way..."
In the darkness, a group of people hurried towards Hucao.
Suddenly, the light of the torch illuminated several people standing there in front of them. The leader was none other than Cao Peichen of Jingzhaocang.
"Why are you visiting Jingzhao Mansion late at night?" Pei Chen asked.
"this……"
"Take it!"
The government officials rushed out from the darkness.
Afterwards, torches were lit one by one, illuminating the entire Jingzhao Mansion.
Someone kicked in the door and entered Yin Xiaojiong's apartment in Jingzhao. They found books of accounts and moved them to Dali Temple.
…
In Dali Temple Prison, the sweat on Yuan Miao's face had begun to flow down. Faced with various questions, he no longer knew how to answer them.
"Do you know about bamboo paper?"
"I...I don't know."
"Since I don't know why Xue Bai beat you, the Jingzhao Mansion dared to take him to jail? Don't you know he is the adopted brother of the imperial concubine?"
"I don't know. I don't know why Xiao Jiong dared to do this. I have always told him to forget it. Really." Yuan Ming said: "Believe me, I didn't mean to offend Xue Bai. I said to settle the matter, but they refused. Those
It’s all what they said, I really don’t know.”
"Do they know about the bamboo paper?"
Yuan Zhen was stunned for a while and looked at the stunned people in the execution room. Faintly, he seemed to hear Xiao Jiong's voice coming from next door.
He finally spoke and said: "I think they should know that I am being used! Yes, they know!"
Xu Hao asked: "Does this 'they' include the Right Prime Minister?"
Yuan Ming was startled and said in surprise: "I, I..."
The whole night passed in a hurry.
At daybreak, an official from Dali Temple came over and brought the yuan to the hall.
At this time, Yuan Zhen no longer had his original arrogance, but those government officials who had killed many high-ranking officials and ministers under the orders of the Right Prime Minister showed their ruthless side.
Someone even pinched Yuan Ming's face and said with a smile: "You're such a good-looking whore, clinging to your skirt..."