In the study, Su Weizheng and Han Shouzhong were chatting. Su Wei valued Han Shouzhong very much... not only because they were from the same hometown. Han Shouzhong was from a poor family and could not afford to study, but he was smart and studious, and was admitted to the Su Family School and received financial support from the Su family.
, which enabled him to embark on an official career step by step.
Moreover, Han Shouzhong was an honest and self-disciplined official, not afraid of the powerful people in Guanlong. In the fifth year of his great career, when he was a county lieutenant in Lantian County, he punished the son of Yuan Shou, a powerful official who violated the law. Yang Guang praised him and promoted him to the rank of Sima of Hanzhong County.
.
Integrity and self-discipline - not afraid of the powerful. Although it is easy to offend people, in a newly established dynasty, this is definitely a golden sign in the officialdom. Su Wei is well aware of this truth, so he recommended him to Yang Yuanqing, and he was indeed favored by Yang Yuanqing.
, appointed Han Shouzhong as the extremely powerful censor.
Although Han Shouzhong was honest and self-disciplined, he was not an official idiot. He also needed to find his own backing, and his backing was naturally Su Wei.
"Last time, the King of Chu and I talked about the plan to gradually reform the imperial official system. The imperial censor is going to be promoted from the fourth rank to the third rank. As a pacifying position for the hero, there is no real power. The official name of the censor will be changed to the censor Zhongcheng.
If you master the real power of the Yushitai and be promoted to a fourth-rank official, the Yushitai will become more and more important. Shouzhong, you have a bright future!"
Su Wei's narrowed eyes flashed. Although he was leaking some information to Han Shouzhong, he was also hinting to him that he needed to stand in line.
Han Shouzhong understood what he meant, and quickly leaned forward and said: "Without Mr. Ge's love, I would not be where I am today. I will always remember the kindness of Mr. Ge."
Su Wei laughed with satisfaction, the wrinkles on his old face relaxed, and he said slowly: "I brought you here today because I actually have some things I want to talk to you about, so that you can understand King Chu's intentions.
, then you can follow his intention step by step without going astray."
Han Shouzhong nodded silently. Although Su Wei was very kind to him, he did not agree with some of Su Wei's actions. Su Wei had no backbone and only speculated on his superiors. He was too selfish and could not become a real prime minister, so Han Shouzhong
For Solvay, it is more of respect than obedience.
However, he had to admit that Su Wei had a sharp eye and could see through the political situation, which was extremely important in the officialdom. He remained silent and listened quietly to the revelations Su Wei gave him.
"You should understand that now the King of Chu is basically trying to win over all the famous families. The five prime ministers of Ziwei Pavilion, except me, are all famous noble families, including other important official positions. Most of them are held by
It is occupied by all the famous noble families, but this does not mean that the King of Chu wants to establish such a dynasty. On the contrary, he does not want to, and now he just has to do it."
"I can understand this.
Han Shouzhong said solemnly: "Now the Sui Dynasty must get the support of the Shandong nobles in order to compete with the Tang Dynasty, which has the support of the Guanlong nobles."
"But the problem is that the power of the Pei and Wang families in the imperial court is now too great, and it has already surpassed other noble families. If this problem is not handled well, it is likely to cause dissatisfaction and hostility from other noble families, which will cause the Sui Dynasty to lose
The nobles support it, so it is urgent to weaken the power of the Pei and Wang families."
Su Wei paused for a moment, and when he saw the look of surprise in Han Shouzhong's eyes, he knew that he understood what he meant. He couldn't help stroking his beard and smiled proudly, and continued: "In the past, it was because the foundation of the imperial court was Hedong, so we had to
He relies heavily on the Pei and Wang families, so King Chu has always been patient. But now that he has taken Hebei, with the addition of the major families in Hebei, the court will have to re-adjust the balance of power, turning the two dominant families into the dominant ones.
By standing side by side, this is actually weakening the family's power in disguise."
"I understand what Ran Lao means. After King Chu returns from Hebei, his next step will definitely be to suppress the Pei and Wang families, is that right?"
Su Wei smiled and nodded, "That's right. At this time, your role as the Censor is very important..."
Han Shouzhong was silent for a moment. He already fully understood what Su Wei meant. Su Wei came to him to be his vanguard and suppress the Pei and Wang families. After a while, he said in a deep voice: "But you can't make things out of thin air and make lies!
As a censor, the most important thing is to be based on facts."
Su Wei felt that Han Shouzhong was good at everything, but his only shortcoming was that he couldn't adapt. He had to pay attention to evidence in everything. How could there be so much truth in the officialdom? As long as it was necessary for a power struggle, even if there was no evidence, evidence would have to be produced.
.
Of course, Su Wei studied the current situation for his own benefit. His Soviet Party was too weak. He wanted to profit from Yang Yuanqing's suppression of the Pei and Wang families, so that his Soviet Party would gradually grow stronger.
At this time, he needed to cooperate with Yang Yuanqing's actions in order to be reused by Yang Yuanqing. It was precisely because of this that he paid special attention to Han Shouzhong.
But Han Shouzhong's stubbornness made him a little helpless, so he could only sigh secretly and said: "Of course I will not let you do anything against morality. Does the assassination of Princess Chu really have nothing to do with the Wang family?"
Han Shouzhong shook his head, "I haven't found any evidence that this matter is related to the Wang family."
Su Wei's face darkened, he felt a little displeased, and his voice became louder, "Why doesn't it matter? As Jing Zhaoyin, shouldn't Wang Su be responsible for this matter? We can't just let it go, no one is responsible, etc.
When the King of Chu comes back, how can we each explain to him?!"
Su Wei looked at Han Shouzhong sternly, his tone full of dissatisfaction and threats. Han Shouzhong felt the tremendous pressure Su Wei put on him. He thought for a long time and finally nodded, "Jing Zhaoyin is indeed responsible for this assassination."
.”
……….
Early the next day, Han Shouzhong formally proposed an impeachment case to Ziweige, impeaching Jingzhao Yin Wangsu for being responsible for the assassination of Princess Anjin Temple.
Although Wang Xu repeatedly concluded that Jing Zhaoyin was unable to prevent such incidents from happening, and the people responsible for protecting the safety of the princess and the crown prince at that time were the army, not Jing Zhaoyin and the county government.
However, Ziwei Pavilion still held that Jing Zhaoyin was responsible with a majority of three votes in favor, one vote against and one abstention.
The princess's housekeeper had notified the county government two days in advance that the princess would go to Anjin Temple to perform rituals, but the government did not send anyone to Anjin Temple to inspect. This in itself was a dereliction of duty by the government, and dereliction of duty cannot be used as a reason for exemption.
Ziweige immediately put forward a proposal to remove Jingzhao Yin Wangsu, which will take effect after Yang Yuanqing approves it.
At noon, a carriage, escorted by more than a dozen followers, drove out of Jinyang Palace and headed for Taiyuan City.
In the carriage, Pei Ju silently watched several children chasing each other on the street. The bright smiles on the children's faces reminded him of his childhood. It seemed that his childhood had never been so happy. In his childhood memories, he only had his father.
The stern eyes, the cold ruler, and the mountains of books.
Several old farmers who had finished selling vegetables and were about to leave the city walked towards him on the street. The satisfied smiles and carefree expressions on their faces also made him feel a little bit sad. Although he had been the prime minister for more than ten years, he was still the prime minister.
Although he has high authority, he has never had such a carefree smile.
Pei Ju felt an indescribable feeling of fatigue in his heart. This feeling of fatigue came from an anxiety about his own destiny.
In today's Ziwei Pavilion voting, he abstained from voting. When the final result of the recall case came out, he knew that the Wang family was finished. Wang Su was just the first step. The next one would be Wang Xu. After the Wang family was over,
, it was the Pei family’s turn.
In fact, Pei Ju had already known that there would be such a result. Half a year ago, Yang Yuanqing promoted Pei Qingsong to serve as a reporter to join the army, which already hinted to him that the person who would succeed him as prime minister in the future would no longer be a descendant of the Pei family. Yang Yuanqing had already used the reporter's office to join the army.
Joining the army as compensation for the Pei family.
As a veteran prime minister, Pei Ju knew in his heart that the Pei family was too powerful in the new Sui Dynasty and had threatened Yang Yuanqing's power. If the Pei family continued to fail to understand the situation, the consequences would be serious, and the future queen would probably not be able to do so.
Then there’s Minqiu.
This is a consequence he cannot accept under any circumstances.
The carriage crossed the Huzhai River and slowly stopped in front of the gate of Prince Chu's Mansion. His daughter Pei Minqiu was assassinated and he had not come to visit her yet. This was a bit unreasonable.
"Xiangguo Pei is visiting the princess and the prince?" The housekeeper came out after hearing the news, stepped forward and saluted with a smile.
Pei Ju nodded and asked, "Is the princess here?"
"The princess is here, and so are the master and his wife."
"Which master and lady?" Pei Ju asked with some confusion.
"They are...the princess's parents."
It turned out to be his own son. Pei Ju laughed and said, "Just in time, report it to the princess for me."
Although Pei Ju is Pei Minqiu's grandfather, his identity is the prime minister and a minister after all. He cannot be as casual as in the past. Being too casual will disgust Yang Yuanqing. For some reason, Pei Ju is a little afraid of Yang Yuanqing.
After a while, the housekeeper came out and said with a smile: "Xiangguo, the princess has invited you!"
Pei Ju walked into the palace and soon came to the inner hall. He saw his second son Wenyi and his daughter-in-law Wang sitting in the inner hall, talking to Minqiu.
Pei Ju coughed heavily and walked into the inner hall. Pei Wenyi and his wife quickly stood up, bowed and saluted, "Father!"
Pei Ju smiled and waved his hand, "Don't be so polite. This is not Pei's house. Sit down!"
Pei Minqiu smiled and said, "Grandpa, please sit down, too."
Pei Ju sat down and asked with concern: "Min Qiu, are you and Ning'er okay?"
Pei Minqiu shook his head, "We're fine. Thanks to Chuchen's quick reaction, he saved our lives at the critical moment. Otherwise, both our mother and son would have been ruined. I'm scared to think about it now."
Mrs. Wang next to her was so angry that she gritted her teeth and said, "Who did this? Can't the government find out?"
She seemed to be talking to herself, but in fact she was asking Pei Ju about the so-called sutras that are difficult for every family to recite. Wang is Pei Ju's daughter-in-law, but her relationship with Pei Ju is not good because her husband is in Pei Ju's house.
She had been treated unfairly and had ignored her father-in-law for many years.
Pei Wenyi was afraid of causing further unpleasantness, so he quickly asked: "Father, do you have any clues about this case?"
Pei Ju shook his head and smiled bitterly and said: "This matter is being investigated by the Yushitai. Today, Yushi Han came to report that there are no clues behind the two dead assassins. The government has drawn a picture and offered a huge reward for their identification.
This case will take some time."
Pei Wenyi sighed and said: "We all hope that the government can catch the murderer behind the scenes as soon as possible, otherwise our hearts are always hanging in the air, wondering whether there will be another time."
Pei Ju nodded, "The government will try its best to catch the murderer. There will be no next time!"
At this time, he saw a resume on the table next to Min Qiu. He couldn't help but feel a little strange, so he asked: "Whose resume is that?"
Pei Minqiu showed embarrassment on his face, but he didn't dare to say it. Pei Wenyi quickly leaned forward and said: Report to father, we want to find something to do tomorrow..."
Before he finished speaking, Pei Ju suddenly changed his expression, "This is absolutely not possible!"