The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 622: Quan Wanji was bombed

As a close confidant of Cheng Huailiang brought into the Zuotunwei Army, Cheng You often heard Cheng Huailiang praising Wu Qing. The two had a good relationship, and Wu Qing did not have any motive to murder Cheng Huailiang.

It seems that Cheng Huailiang was really too nervous, so he lost his concentration for a moment and fell into the water. In addition, the weight of the armor was such that even a person who could swim would be doomed to die wearing such heavy armor, not to mention that Cheng Huailiang had been a landlubber since he was a child.

In addition, the water flow at the breach was extremely turbulent, rushing towards the mainstream of the Wei River not far away like a flood.

Cheng You and a group of Cheng family cronies sat on the shore in despair. They didn't know how to explain to the head of the family that all of them, including the family generals and guards, were fine, but the young master died right under their noses.

Cheng You's face was full of bitterness and sadness. What was going on?
A dignified fourth-rank general did not die on the battlefield, but was drowned. But Cheng You also felt very wronged. Who would have known that Cheng Huailiang, in a hurry, snatched Wu Qing's horse and ran away, while Wu Qing brought two confidants and three horses, and the other two were ridden by Wu Qing and a confidant.

Several people hurriedly ran to the camp to get horses, and chased after him without stopping, but it was too late!

Cheng You had a sad look in his eyes at this time. He told the soldiers to protect Cheng Huailiang's body. He took the remaining guards and split the troops into two groups. One group went to the Duke Lu's mansion in Chang'an City to report the death, while he himself took two people and headed north without stopping.

Everyone knew that Cheng You went to the Dingxiang front in the north to find Cheng Yaojin who was guarding the border town.

No one was in the mood to go and see the breach at this time, so they carried Cheng Huailiang's body back to the camp. After some discussion, they decided that Wu Qing, the highest military commander other than Cheng Huailiang, would report the news to the court.

Not only did they report the incident with the Yongtong Canal, but they also reported that Cheng Huailiang, a canal builder, had fallen into the water and drowned.

Without saying anything, Wu Qing took a team of guards and headed for Chang'an. He was not very worried. Although the court had laws that all guards would be punished if the commander died, that was on the battlefield. The current situation was obviously Cheng Huailiang's own fault. It was an accident and no one could be blamed.

Even if he were to punish him, he couldn't punish a fifth-rank general like me, and it was not my responsibility to protect him.

Now the post of General of the Zuotunwei Yifu is vacant. I guess the court will be in chaos for a while. It will all depend on Changsheng next.

When Cheng Huailiang got into trouble, the grand court meeting in Taiji Hall of Taiji Palace in Chang'an City started on time.

Li Yan and Li Ke, as the two oldest princes, stood at the head of the civil officials as usual, but their moods were very different. Li Ke went to court today as a criminal, and he didn't know what kind of questioning he would face from Li Shimin later.

During this period, Li Yan told the East Palace to go to Tongguan in the name of distancing himself from the Tongguan Pass, while Tongguan told him to return to the capital.

In fact, we were traveling near Tongguan. Across the river from Tongguan is Hedong Road.

Tongguan City is located at the confluence of the Yellow River, Wei River and Luo River. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period, it was a transportation hub between the east and west and a key waterway. The ferry crossing at Fengling, located on the bank of the Yellow River outside the east gate of Tongguan City, is called "Fengling Ferry".

Fengling is the tomb of Nuwa in mythology.

Every morning, merchants from all over the country gathered at Fenglingdu, some pushing carts, some riding horses, some driving animals, some carrying loads, and some carrying bags.

Some were hurrying on their way, some were waiting to ferry, and some were already sitting at the bow of the boat, floating in the middle of the current.

Looking up and down the Yellow River, the mist is thick and the masts are rising and falling. Boats are running north and south, and colorful sails are flying east and west. Listen carefully, the sound of rushing water, the creaking of oars, the high-pitched horn, the shouts of merchants, the sounds of birds and bells merge into one, and the beautiful music of the morning competition for crossing echoes on both sides of the ancient ferry.

Li Yan was having a great time when he received a notice from Xue Rengui that he had to attend a court meeting today. In fact, Li Yan was not in Tongguan nor returning to the East Palace, not purely for fun, but because Tongguan set up checkpoints to collect taxes and swallow up grain, so it didn't matter if he offended ordinary merchants.

However, many of these big businessmen have close ties with the powerful in the court. It's okay for ordinary minor officials, and Li Yan is not afraid of them. But there are some respected meritorious officials in the court whom Li Yan does not want to offend. Many of these people are relatives of Li Yan's family.

Like Li Shimin's younger brother, Prince of Lu Li Yuanchang, Empress Changsun's cousin Changsun Shunde, and some businesses of Guanlong aristocratic families. Although it is immoral to make money from national disasters, those who dare to make this kind of money all have deep backgrounds and are lawless.

These people are not afraid of anything. They dare not go to the emperor, but they dare to find the Eastern Palace and force Li Yan to let him go.

Although he did not return to the Eastern Palace, he learned from Xue Rengui that no less than four or five groups of people had found the Eastern Palace.

So Li Yan had no choice but to stay in neither side and hide everywhere as if he was avoiding debts, but Henglian had a channel to contact him, and no news had been sent to him so far. It can be seen that Li Shimin was also happy that he was not there and put all the blame on himself.

However, the hard work was not in vain. After a few days, the number of people in Tongguan decreased visibly, and many merchants suffered heavy losses. After returning to Luoyang and telling the situation here, many merchants who were planning to go to Chang'an gave up the idea.

Although there were still many people traveling to and from Tongguan, at least the traffic was smooth, and there was no longer the spectacular situation of hundreds of miles of congestion before. The grain carts of the imperial court could also transport some grain by land, which could alleviate the food shortage in the capital to some extent. Now standing in this court, Li Yan thought he had made a contribution, so he was not in a hurry at all and participated in the court meeting leisurely.

"Long live my emperor! Long live!"

After a burst of music from the bells and drums, Li Shimin, wearing a dragon robe and a tasseled crown, walked up to the throne and sat on it. He glanced at Li Yan and Li Ke, and then said, "Everyone, please stand up. Tell us what happened today."

Just as the words fell and the ministers had not yet stood up and returned to their seats, an imperial clerk stepped forward and said loudly, "Your Majesty, I am reporting that the Prime Minister Quan Wanji accepted a large amount of money and bribes when entertaining foreign envoys who came to our Great Tang to pay homage to Your Majesty. This has seriously affected the reputation of our Celestial Empire. I hope Your Majesty will take a closer look."

"Oh?"

Li Shimin's eyes narrowed and his expression turned cold: "Is this true?"

The Minister of Rites also stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I have also received protests from envoys from Silla, Baekje, and other countries in the Western Regions. When Quan Wanji entertained them, he hinted that he was asking for money and beautiful women."

"Yes, Your Majesty, I have also heard similar rumors. Quan Wanji's actions have really brought shame to our Tang Dynasty in front of foreign countries. If we don't punish him severely, we won't be able to convince the people."

"Your Majesty, I have also heard a little bit about it."

"."

Next, more than a dozen officials rushed up to express their support, saying that they had heard such rumors before and criticized Quan Wanji.

"Humph!"

Li Shimin's face was as solemn as ice. He looked up for a while and saw that no one came forward to defend Quan Wanji. Then he said in a low voice, "Is Quan Wanji here?"

Quan Wanji, who was standing at the end of the civil servants at this time, was dumbfounded for a moment. He didn't understand how he had stirred up a hornet's nest. So many people came to impeach him so early in the morning, and he felt panic in his heart.

The Honglu Temple, which was responsible for receiving foreign envoys, was just a leisurely place, but its department level was no worse than other departments. The chief official of the Honglu Temple, Honglu Qing, was a third-rank official of the court, and Quan Wanji's Honglu Cheng was also a sixth-rank official, which was more or less the threshold of middle and low-level officials and he wore a scarlet robe.

Quan Wanji first followed Feng Deyi and made him feel comfortable with him before he was promoted to a higher level in such an unpopular position.

Later, after Feng Deyi passed away, he became a disciple of the King of Shu in the name of his old master. In fact, it was because he had no real talent and could only talk. Although he had some clever ideas, he did not have great wisdom. He became a disciple of Li Ke in order to climb up the ladder.

He occasionally gave Li Ke some sinister ideas, which won Li Ke's trust.

During this period, I thought that the King of Shu was doing well and that I had contributed to his great success. I thought that when the King of Shu finished building the Yongtong Canal and could speak well to the Emperor, I would reward him according to his merits and give myself a lucrative job as the manager of the granary.

Because the Honglu Temple was too deserted and received only a few foreign envoys throughout the year, even if one wanted to make money, there was nowhere to go.

Originally, today's court meeting was just a routine matter. He always only brought his ears but not his mouth to such meetings and would not speak.

But at this time he was surrounded by everyone and didn’t know what was going on?
Hearing that even his immediate superior had exposed him, Quan Wanji was furious. "Old man, didn't I give most of the things I received to you every time? You actually exposed all these things today. Aren't you afraid that you will be desperate and choose to fight to the death, and reveal all the dirty things that everyone has done in private?"

But Quan Wanji really didn't dare to do so. He felt that he had the support of the King of Shu and was far from being at the end of his rope. What's more, today's memorial was obviously a bit weird.

Generally speaking, when the Imperial Clerk's Office reports an official from a certain department, the head of that department will come out to defend him, even if it is for the sake of his own face and authority. Even if he does not speak for his own people, he will at most stand by and watch. There is no reason for him to follow the Imperial Clerk's Office and add insult to injury for his own people.

Unless someone gives notice in advance, he is a third-rank official, so ordinary people can't order him around, right?

But today, he mobilized so many people to investigate him, and even his immediate superior came out to add insult to injury. These people didn't even dare to greet him in advance, which shows how terrifying the person behind him is.

Although Quan Wanji was not very good at governing the country, he had been with Feng Deyi for many years and was very familiar with the rules of power operation in the court. Today's situation was very strange, and Quan Wanji didn't understand it clearly, so he naturally couldn't just give up in public.

(End of this chapter)