Chapter 143 The Rise of King Jin
Chapter 143 The Rise of King Jin
In the warm room, Yang Jian listened to Gongsun Sheng's report, pondered for a moment and said slowly: "Qimin Khan has already established a firm foothold, and the Turks are no longer a concern. Although Datou Khan has only a few thousand people left, Tuyuhun has always been restless. I am worried that the combination of the two will become a major threat to Hexi. My dear minister, this mission is arduous, and I hope you can bring me good news."
Gongsun Sheng bowed and said, "There is no room for two tigers in one mountain. This is my greatest confidence. As long as I can prevent the Tuyuhun people from being deceived, they will definitely wake up. Although there are risks, I will not put myself in danger. Please don't worry, Your Majesty."
After hesitating for a moment, Gongsun Sheng continued, "The only thing I am worried about is Qilang. Your Majesty asked him to follow me to gain experience, but the risk is too great this time. Can you let him follow me on my mission next time?"
Yang Jian shook his head and smiled, "If he doesn't fight in the wind and rain, how can he grow up and become my Lingyan Pavilion warrior? Just use him and let him help you well."
"I obey your order!"
"Go! I look forward to hearing good news from you."
Gongsun Sheng bowed and retreated.
Yang Jian originally planned to confer the title of Duke of a county on Xiao Xia, but now he has changed his mind and will wait until Xiao Xia returns from Tuyuhun.
As soon as daybreak, three hundred cavalrymen had gathered at the Suzaku Gate, along with the chief envoy Gongsun Sheng, the deputy envoy Yu Renxiao, and Gongsun Sheng's apprentice Xie Yingdeng. In addition, there were a dozen large carts filled with silk and porcelain, which were gifts from Emperor Yang Jian to Tuyuhun King Murong Fuyun, as well as their tents and other items.
Everyone was waiting for Xiao Xia. Yu Renxiao whispered, "Envoy, will he not come?"
Gongsun Sheng shook his head, "It's not the agreed time yet, wait a little longer!"
Just as the hour of Mao arrived, someone came on horseback. Xie Yingdeng said excitedly, "Master, he's here!"
As expected, Xiao Xia came. Gongsun Sheng's eyes lit up. He saw that Xiao Xia was wearing an eagle-shaped helmet, a Ming Guang armor, a straight sword on his waist, a bow and arrow hanging behind the saddle, a steel whip on his back, a long spear in his hand, and an extremely strong red horse under his crotch.
Gongsun Sheng gave a thumbs up and praised: "What a heroic young general!"
Xiao Xia apologized, "Putting on the armor took a little time, I hope I'm not late!"
"You're on time, let's go!"
The team marched along West Street towards the Jinguan Gate.
The team traveled along the official road on the north bank of the Wei River and arrived at Shiping County in the afternoon. The team did not enter the city, but stayed overnight at an inn outside the city.
The leader of the three hundred cavalrymen was a general of the imperial guards named Song Laosheng. He was about thirty years old, tall and strong, and wielded a eighty-jin machete. He was brave enough to defeat ten thousand men.
Xiao Xia certainly knew Song Laosheng, a famous general in the late Sui Dynasty who eventually died at the hands of Li Shimin.
The team stayed at the post station to rest, and Song Laosheng found Xiao Xia.
"Mr. Xiao, your spear is quite good. Can you let me try it out?"
Xiao Xia smiled slightly and said, "Please do as you please!"
Song Laosheng grabbed the spear and was immediately surprised, "This is a solid iron pole!"
The general spear handle is made of thin wooden strips glued together and then repeatedly soaked in oil, making it extremely light, strong, and very flexible. It has always been highly praised by military generals of all generations.
But not all lances are designed to be light and flexible. With the rise of iron armor, the requirements for weapons to penetrate armor became increasingly higher.
The ability to stab and chop gradually became the mainstream of the lance, and it had to be heavy enough to penetrate armor.
Emperor Wu of Liang's broken-tree spear was a typical armor-piercing spear. The spear head alone weighed more than 30 kilograms and was one and a half feet long. It had a sharp front end, a thick spine, and blades on both sides. It was made of extremely high-density iron and could easily pierce and split the enemy's armor.
After Xiao Xia's spear used a solid iron rod, it no longer had a top-heavy feeling, but the overall weight increased, which required a lot of strength from the general.
"Excuse me, Master Xiao, how heavy is this spear?"
"About 120 pounds."
Song Laosheng was secretly shocked. A 120-jin iron spear, this young man must be a fierce general! How come I have never heard of him?
As expected, Song Laosheng struggled to swing the spear. He put it back and looked at Xiao Xia with a new eye. "Is the young master from the Xiao family in Jiangdu or the Xiao family in Jinling?"
Xiao Xia smiled and said, "Jiangdu Xiao Family!"
Song Laosheng immediately understood that the young man's family, the Princess of Jin's family, must have been arranged by the King of Jin to follow him to Tuyuhun.
Song Laosheng clasped his fists again and said with a smile: "I am Song Laosheng, the general of the imperial guards. It is an honor to travel with Xiao Xia!"
"Same here, I've heard of General Song before!"
Before dawn the next day, the team set out again and headed towards Longyou.
At the Taiji Palace in Chang'an, Prince of Jin Yang Guang said to his father Yang Jian: "Regarding the murder of Yuan Shitai on Shangyuan Night, I asked the Dali Temple Minister Zhang Guo to conduct a thorough investigation. I also gave him time, and he finally submitted a formal investigation report. Has your Majesty seen it?"
Yang Jian nodded. "It's on my desk. I haven't had time to read it yet. Is there anything wrong with the report?"
Yang Guang endured for three days, and after the formal report was submitted to the emperor, he began to take action.
"Your Majesty, Zhang Guo concluded in his report that Yuan Shitai was killed by the Fengxiang thief Liu Huan, and then listed a lot of evidence. Regardless of whether it is reasonable to put the blame on Liu Huan, I found that Zhang Guo falsified the evidence during the review process, and it was the most crucial piece of evidence."
Yang Jian took the report from the table, flipped through it and asked, "Where is the forgery?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, the first reason listed as the murderer is Liu Huan. The eyewitness saw a three-inch long scar on the left cheek of the murderer, which matched the identity of the great thief Liu Huan. The eyewitness's confession was also attached to the report given to me, but I found that it was a tampered confession. I found the most original recorded confession, which did not show a three-inch long scar on the face. Later, I found another witness, a small vendor. When I asked him about it, he denied it and said that he did not see the three-inch long scar at all. In other words, Zhang Guo forged evidence in order to get the job done. Your Majesty, it is normal that the case cannot be solved. Many major cases are left unsolved and even become historical mysteries.
But fabricating evidence and making up a fake murderer is a very bad thing, especially handing the report to the emperor. This is deceiving the emperor. I hereby impeach Zhang Guo, the Minister of the Supreme Court, and implore the emperor to remove him from office."
As an emperor, Yang Jian paid great attention to the balance of power. He re-employed his second son and made him in charge of criminal law, hoping that he could check and balance the crown prince, or compete with the crown prince. This is the most commonly used tactic of all emperors, also known as the emperor's mentality.
He even gave his sword to Yang Guang. Although the sword was not the Shangfang Emperor's Sword and did not symbolize any power, it was an attitude, which showed that Yang Jian supported his second son's control of the Dali Temple.
He absolutely did not want the Crown Prince to continue to control the Dali Temple. His attitude had been made clear. It depended on whether his second son, Prince Jin, had the skills to take down the Dali Temple. If he couldn't even take down the Dali Temple, how could Prince Jin continue to fight against the Crown Prince?
Yang Jian nodded, "Leave me the impeachment letter and evidence. I will take a good look at it. If it is true, I will never let you off easily!"
Yang Guang presented the evidence to Yang Jian, who praised him again, saying, "The Imperial College has done a good job in its investigation. They have caught a group of corrupt officials and saved the court from losing tens of thousands of guan. I have issued an order to have Li Ruyi, the chancellor of the Imperial College, beaten to death. The rest of the officials who embezzled more than 3,000 guan will also be executed. This will be a great deterrent to all officials in the court."
"Thank you, father, for your recognition!"
Yang Jian laughed again and said, "If Zhang Guo is lying, I will not forgive him. Do you have any new candidates for the Dali Temple to recommend?"
"Reporting to the Emperor, Wang Qiu, the Junior Official of the Dali Temple, has performed outstandingly in investigating the corruption case of the Imperial College and has made great contributions. I admire his talents very much and I recommend him to take over as the Junior Official of the Dali Temple."
Yang Jian thought for a moment and said, "I remember that Wang Qi was originally the magistrate of Chang'an County. It was Yang Su who recommended him to be the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple!"
"Father has a good memory, that's right!"
"I understand. I will consider it. You can leave now!"
"My son, please retire!"
Yang Guang stood up to take his leave. When he reached the door, Yang Jian stopped him and said with a smile, "It was actually my arrangement to let Xiao Qilang go with me on the mission to Tuyuhun. Let him have some time to hone his skills!"
Yang Guang was shocked and bowed quickly, saying, "Thank you, father, for your cultivation!"
That evening, an imperial decree was issued from the palace, stating that Zhang Guo, the Minister of Dali Temple, had committed fraud in the investigation of Yun Shitai's murder and was suspected of deceiving the emperor. He was dismissed from his post as Minister of Dali Temple and demoted to the position of Lieutenant of Chencang County. The Minister of Dali Temple was succeeded by Shaoqing Wang Qiu.
The Shaoqing of the Dali Temple promoted Xiao Yu, the Jiangdu County Magistrate, to take over the position.
This news shocked the government and the public and was even more intriguing than the previous Imperial College corruption case. Many people realized that the Prince of Jin had truly risen again this time.
(End of this chapter)