Qian Song

Chapter 464 Li Cun teaches Li Biao the imperial art (please vote for me!)

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Corruption will seriously harm the interests of the court, affect social justice and stability, and hinder economic development and progress.

This is one of the things Li Biao cannot tolerate the most.

Therefore, after receiving the irrefutable evidence that Li Cun gave him, Li Biao immediately investigated the case personally.

This incident also caused great indignation among the people!

——The people of Daqian, who have been baptized by the flames of war, cherish their current paradise-like life very much, and do not want their beautiful and happy life to be ruined by these moths.

It is worth mentioning that the royal family and clan of the Zhao and Song dynasties learned that their ancestors' imperial mausoleums had been stolen by Liu Yu, a rebellious minister. They jointly wrote a letter in blood, requesting Li Cun to severely punish Liu Yu, the daughter of the royal family of the Zhao and Song dynasties. The daughter of the He clan also cried to Li Cun and told Li Cun how hateful Liu Yu was.

Until this moment, Liu Yu was still arguing that the common man was not guilty but that he was guilty of possessing the jade. Since the Zhao and Song dynasties had perished, they should no longer let the gold and silver jewelry be kept in the Song mausoleum, otherwise it would definitely lead to disaster. And he just took the gold and silver treasures in the Song Tomb, put back the corpses of the emperors of the Zhao and Song dynasties, as well as the royal family and clan intact, and really spent a lot of money to repair the Song Tomb. To put it bluntly, he also protected the Song Tomb. If it were other tomb robbers who stole the Song Tomb, the Song Tomb would have suffered huge damage.

Liu Yu's two daughters and four clan girls also told Li Cun tactfully that the Zhao and Song dynasties were dead. If their clan did not take the property, the property would surely be taken away by civilian tomb robbers sooner or later. Now all the property is gone. Being owned by the state may not necessarily be a good thing in terms of results. I hope Li Cun will take advantage of this good result and be lenient to them.

Liu Yu's two daughters and four clan girls are right.

All the treasures in the Song Mausoleum were confiscated and handed over to the treasury, and all the best treasures fell into the hands of Li Cun.

If we look at this result alone, Liu Yu's family has both merit and demerit.

But this matter cannot be viewed this way. What Liu Yu did first violated the laws of the Daqian Dynasty.

In fact, not only the Daqian Dynasty, but also the law prohibiting tomb robbing had already appeared in the pre-Qin Dynasty.

It is written in the "Lu Shi Chun Qiu" written before the Qin State unified the six kingdoms that although the king prohibited tomb robbing with severe and serious crimes, he still prohibited it repeatedly.

In the "Huainanzi" of the Western Han Dynasty, there is also a record: Han law stipulates that "those who uncover tombs will be punished, and those who steal tombs will be punished." However, even so, there are still people who are greedy and test the law by themselves, so that after the beginning of autumn, those who were killed for robbing tombs, Blood flows on the road.

The Tang Dynasty's "Tang Lv Shu Yi" records in detail: as long as a tomb robber opens the coffin, he will be punished by hanging.

There is also a law in the Daqian Dynasty that states: Tomb robbers will die, and those who have committed extremely evil crimes or caused major impacts will be severely punished, up to and including nine tribes.

Therefore, if the law is enforced fairly, Liu Yu will definitely be sentenced to death for his theft of Song Tomb.

In fact, these are all trivial matters. If Li Cun wants to let Liu Yu's family go, there are many ways.

But the problem is, the person who really wants to kill Liu Yu's family is Li Cun.

Is it possible for Liu Yu's family to survive?

Li Cun said to Liu Yu's two daughters and four clan girls: "The crime Liu Yu committed is a serious crime that implicates the nine clans. You'd better keep a low profile these days, otherwise you will be targeted by the admonishers, and you may be punished by Liu Yu." Tired."

Liu Yu's two daughters and four clan girls were just ordinary women. When they heard what Li Cun said, they were immediately frightened.

In addition, Liu Yu's two daughters and four clan girls did not live up to expectations. Not even one of them was pregnant with Li Cun's child. Therefore, they were naturally ignored by Li Cun.

Therefore, seeing that Li Cun was unwilling to pardon Liu Yu, Liu Yu's two daughters and four clan girls had no choice but to retreat.

Queen Mother Ren was much more confident than Liu Yu's two daughters and four clan girls. After entering the palace, she was favored by Li Cun, and she was lucky enough to get pregnant not long after.

However, Ren Dejing's family committed such a huge corruption case, and Queen Mother Ren had to come to ask Li Cun for mercy.

Li Cun knew that before the Empress Dowager was very worried about her family's sudden wealth, she often wrote letters to warn Ren Dejing and her clan, but Ren Dejing and the others did not listen.

For a woman like Empress Dowager Ren who understands justice well, Li Cun certainly couldn't just dismiss her in a few words.

Therefore, Li Cun patiently told Queen Mother Ren that Ren Dejing was too greedy. Just over half a year after he became the prefect of Quanzhou, his family had embezzled tens of millions of dollars. If Ren Dejing had been in Quanzhou for three to five years, Magistrate, that's not bad. The key point is that Ren Dejing not only took bribes from his own family, but also bribed the powerful ministers of the Daqian Dynasty. This is to destroy the foundation of the Daqian Dynasty, and his heart is to be punished...

What made Li Cun very gratified was that Queen Mother Ren also knew that Ren Dejing and the others were too greedy and bribed the dignitaries and ministers of the Daqian Dynasty. The influence and harm were too great, and they deserved to die. Therefore, she did not ask Li Cun for pardon. Ren Dejing and her people committed all the crimes, but hoped that Li Cunbie would exterminate her family.

Due to the face of Queen Mother Ren, Li Cun finally only killed the chief culprit, that is, he killed four people, Ren Dejing, Ren Decong, Ren Degong, and Ren Chunzhong, and issued an imperial edict that the Ren family would never hire anyone from now on.

in fact--

All those who begged Li Cun were in the wrong place.

It's not that it's useless for them to beg Li Cun, but it's really better to beg Li Biao than to beg Li Cun.

Because the county magistrate is not as good as the current one, this corruption case was handled by Li Biao from beginning to end. Li Cun just gave Li Biao the irrefutable evidence collected by Wude Division, the pro-military Duwei Mansion and the Military Intelligence Department, and then he He rarely intervened, and even the order to kill the nine Liu Yu clans was given by Li Biao. Li Cun also changed the order to kill the entire Ren clan to only kill the chief culprit.

The Ren Dejing and Liu Yu cases are just the tip of the iceberg in this huge corruption case.

In fact, Li Biao arrested nearly a thousand corrupt officials in this case, including almost 300 officials of seventh rank and above, and as many as 27 senior officials of third rank and above. Li Biao confiscated the homes of all relevant personnel, and finally A total of more than 6 million yuan was obtained.

After the matter was completed, Li Biao happily came to Li Cun to claim credit for the great results he had achieved, and asked Li Cun to kill all the relevant people as a warning to others.

Li Cun listened and shook his head secretly. He thought to himself: "Zhu Yuanzhang killed 15 corrupt officials. Xiaoshou, Lingchi and even skinned them failed to cure corruption. Can you cure corruption by taking this road?"

Li Cun did not say that I have given you the method to combat corruption. You can just follow my method and do it every few years. It will also generate some income for the country and you personally. Instead, he said to Li Biao: "My son, you have made at least three big mistakes in this matter. Do you know that?"

Li Biao was startled, wondering what mistake he had made?

Li Biao greeted Li Cun respectfully and said, "My son, I would like to hear the details."

Li Cun did not hide it, but said bluntly: "The first big mistake you made is that you should not do it yourself. You should find a direct minister to handle this matter with full authority, such as Li Guang, Chen Gongfu, and Hu Quan , and you personally preside over the case, firstly, it will waste too much of your time and make you exhausted; secondly, it will not be able to highlight the usefulness of the ministers, making it impossible for loyal ministers to display their political ambitions; thirdly, if it is not handled properly, , will make you extremely passive. On the contrary, if you leave it to the ministers to implement it, you will not have to work hard and work hard; it can also make loyal and capable ministers feel important and mobilize their enthusiasm; the key is that once something goes wrong, you can also blame the ministers for doing things If you are disadvantageous, don’t let the world look down upon you and make you invincible.”

Li Biao understood that Li Cun's words of wisdom were good for him, otherwise Li Cun would not have been so heart-to-heart with him, but Li Biao still couldn't help but think: "What if the likes of Li Guang, Chen Gongfu, and Hu Quan and those corrupt officials How can we achieve such results when corrupt officials protect each other and collaborate with others?"

Li Cun guessed what Li Biao was thinking.

To be honest, Li Cun can also understand Li Biao. After all, Li Biao is not himself. I don’t know that Li Guang, Chen Gongfu, and Hu Quan have been proven to be more reliable by history, and Li Biao does not have Wu Desi, pro-military Duweifu and The Military Intelligence Department monitors all ministers of the Daqian Dynasty, so it is normal for Li Biao to have such suspicions.

Therefore, Li Cun did not hold on to Li Biao on this issue, but said: "The second big mistake you made is that you are too rigid, don't know how to adapt, speak unabashedly, and handle it improperly."

Li Biao felt that he had dealt with everything in accordance with the laws of the Daqian Dynasty and was justified. He didn't understand why Li Cun said that to him, so he bowed: "Please give me a clear explanation from my father."

Li Cun did not answer but asked instead: "Are you saying that you will punish all the corrupt officials involved in this case?"

When Li Biao was extremely angry, he told the people who were interceding for these corrupt officials that all these corrupt officials deserve to die. They are heinous and unforgivable!

Li Biao didn't think that he had done anything wrong. The laws of the Daqian Dynasty were clearly written. According to the laws committed by these corrupt officials, all of them should be killed, and some should even kill the nine tribes. .

Therefore, Li Biao said: "This man has stolen my great treasury and oppressed my great citizens. It is not a pity to die."

Li Cun listened very patiently and then said: "I taught you when you were a child. If the ruler is not secretive, he will lose his ministers; if the minister is not secretive, he will lose his virginity; if several things are not secretive, it will cause harm. Just this point, you are already You made a big mistake, don’t you know?”

As soon as Li Cun said this, Li Biao's heart suddenly tightened, because Li Cun had indeed said this to him when he was very young.

Li Biao clearly remembered that Li Cun told him at that time that if an emperor's thoughts were guessed, it would affect the emperor's power and dominance.Because if others can easily guess the emperor's thoughts, then they may use this information to seek personal gain or fight against the emperor, which is very detrimental to the emperor's rule.

In addition, the emperor needs to consider the balance of various interests and powers, while also responding to various challenges and crises.If these thoughts are guessed, it may cause unnecessary troubles and conflicts, and even endanger the emperor's safety and life.

Therefore, in order to maintain their power and status, emperors usually maintain a high degree of vigilance and secrecy to avoid letting others easily guess their thoughts.

Li Biao easily exposed his attitude towards corrupt officials, and it was obvious that he had violated the emperor's taboo.

Thinking of the imperial skills that Li Cun taught him, Li Biao finally realized that he was really wrong.

Seeing that Li Biao realized this, Li Cuncai added: "Also, Jun Wuxi, you said this, if you don't do it, it will definitely affect your majesty."

Li Biao heard this and said, "I came here with the intention of killing all these corrupt officials. How can I undermine my dignity?"

Li Cun said: "This is where you are even more wrong, because you have never thought that some people cannot be killed."

"?"

Li Biao was puzzled: "They are all corrupt, why can't they be killed?"

Li Cun said calmly: "Because I won't let you kill him."

"This……"

Li Biao was immediately speechless.

Li Cun said: "They committed heinous crimes and it is not a pity to die, but some of them have done great things for me. You can raid their homes and question their clans, but you can't kill them all, otherwise the world will think that I am murderous and ruthless. If you kill the donkey, who will be willing to serve me in the future?"

Li Biao was dissatisfied: "But I am engaged in law..."

Li Cun interrupted Li Biao and said: "You are not a minister, but a prince. How can the future emperor act in accordance with the law? You must learn to use "extra-legal mercy"."

Seeing the confusion on Li Biao's face, Li Cun took the trouble to tell Li Biao: "'The emperor breaks the law and the common people are guilty' is actually just talk. You must remember that all the subjects in the world must take the emperor as the core. What the emperor said is Law. If you want to maintain your absolute dominance, you must implement this "law". And to implement this kind of law, even if you don't want to, as long as someone dares to offend the supreme "law" and disobey the emperor's words, he must die. Because once the "law" is offended, even the emperor cannot pretend that it has not happened, otherwise it will lose its deterrence and execution power."

Li Cun also made it clear to Li Biao: "Even if you are a queen, a prince, a minister of great merit, or a powerful prime minister, or someone you trust, whoever dares to cross the line will be doomed to death."

"But on the contrary, as long as such a line is not crossed, it can be appropriate to catch the big ones and let go the small ones. You have to know how to be a human being and keep a thin line."

Li Cun also used Zhao Ji and Zhao Huan as examples for Li Biao.

"Although Zhao Ji and Zhao Huan are both foolish kings, their endings are completely different. The former, even now, has people protecting him, while the latter has completely become a loner. The bottom line is that , when Zhao Ji was in power, he did not kill ministers, which is what the Zhao and Song Dynasty had always implemented: "The punishment is not good for the officials, the courtesy is not for the common people, and the law is not imposed on the venerables." However, Zhao Huan even did not help him. Master Liang was executed in Chengdu, which made people feel chilling and gave rise to the feeling of sadness of the rabbit dying and the fox..."

The imperial skills that Li Cun taught Li Biao are certainly not fair and just, but in this feudal society, if you want to maintain your rule, you must maintain the order of feudal rule, that is, restore the clear hierarchy and hierarchy advocated by Zhou Li In an orderly manner, the rites of king, minister, father and son are listed, and the differences between husband and wife are distinguished, that is, the king is king, minister, father, father, son, son, and so on.

Li Cun admitted that this set of feudal theories is very backward, but it is indeed very effective for feudal rule. Otherwise, if everyone is equal or something, the feudal dynasty of the Daqian Dynasty may collapse. The key is that the people of this era may also I cannot accept this "fallacy".

Listening to Li Cun teach him the imperial technique again, Li Biao finally understood that he had really done something wrong.

At the same time, Li Biao couldn't help but sigh, that is, he was Li Cun's biological son and Li Cun's chosen successor, otherwise Li Cun would definitely not have taught him such imperial skills.

Seeing that Li Biao finally understood, Li Cun said again: "This shows another disadvantage of you doing everything yourself. Look, things have changed now. Do you think I should or should not attack your prestige?"

"This……"

Li Biao was immediately stumped.

Seeing this, Li Cun shook his head, then handed Li Biao a list filled with dozens of names, and said: "Let's just say to the outside world that the following dozens of whistleblowers have meritorious service, so they will be given a lighter sentence. The crime involves my family. I will issue an amnesty in a while and ask them to return to their hometown to farm. The dozen or so people above should not go further and ask them to come to me and ask for retirement and return to their hometown."

Li Biao thought, since these people's homes had been confiscated anyway, and they would not be able to serve as officials in the future, he would just let them go, so he responded honestly: "No," and then took the list. .

Li Cun added: "The third mistake you made was that you were blinded by what was happening in front of you, acted impulsively, did not remember the consequences, and did not know how to deal with the aftermath."

Li Biao, who had made two big mistakes in a row, really knew clearly this time that compared with Li Cun, his morality was too shallow, so he hurriedly asked for advice humbly: "I beseech my father and my sons."

Li Cun nodded, affirming Li Biao's attitude, and then said: "You have dealt with so many officials at once, not to mention delaying political affairs, but have you thought about who will replace them?"

When Li Biao heard this, he couldn't help but look embarrassed!

During this period of time, Li Biao has been busy handling these cases. Day and night, he really didn't have time to think about this matter.

Seeing this, Li Cun couldn't help shaking his head, thinking: "It means that no one will compete with you for the position of prince, otherwise this time it will be like, you did all the dirty work, but the benefits fell into the hands of others... you The staff we have now are really not good enough, at least they can’t persuade you. It seems like it’s right to replace you with some staff.”

Thinking of this, Li Cun took another list to Li Biao and said, "Take it."

Li Biao unfolded it and saw that most of the people on it were people from his prince's palace, and some were ministers close to him.

Seeing this, Li Biao's eyes suddenly turned red. How could he not know that Li Cun was helping him cultivate his power, and at the same time, he was helping him tell the world that if he followed Li Biao, he would have meat to eat.

Li Biao choked up and said: "Father..."

Li Cun waved his hand and signaled Li Biao to stop being sensational. There was no need for such things between father and son.

Then, Li Cun called two people.

Li Biao took a closer look and found that they turned out to be Zhang Chao, the director of the Wude Department, and Chen Kangbo, a minister in his early forties who Li Cun had been very optimistic about and focused on cultivating over the years!

Then, Li Cun said lightly: "You two will work with the prince from now on."

Although Li Cun said this lightly, the three people present understood that this was definitely not a trivial matter.

Asking Zhang Chao to follow Li Biao means that Li Cun handed over Wu Desi to Li Biao.

As for this Wude Si, who doesn't know that it is one of Li Cun's eyes, one of his ears, or a pair of gloves that does Li Cun's dirty work? Its importance is self-evident.

If I use a more vivid metaphor, it is the Jin Yiwei of the Ming Dynasty.

With Li Biao as the Wude Secretary, his authority has undoubtedly taken a step further.

As for Chen Kangbo, from this moment on, he was no longer an ordinary prime minister or an ordinary third-rank minister.

Everyone present understood that Chen Kangbo was the prime minister selected by Li Cun for Li Biao and the future leader of the Daqian Dynasty!

Li Biao couldn't stand it any longer. He fully understood Li Cun's painstaking efforts, so he immediately knelt on the ground and cried, "I thank my father for his kindness in cultivating me. I swear, when I take over, I will make great contributions to the country and the country." Afterwards, I will definitely be a good emperor and never let my father down..."

Li Cun looked at Li Biao who showed his true feelings and expressed his determination, thinking: "I hope so, but it doesn't matter if you can't do it, because as long as I don't die, I will never put all my hope on you." , this is also the emperor's art, the emperor's art that I will teach you before I die..."

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