Chapter 14 Luo Jia Ji Wang: The Rise of the Cool Officials

Li Shizhi, born in the Li Tang clan, the grandson of Li Chengqian, the abolished prince in the Zhenguan Dynasty, entered the official career in the early years of Shenlong, known for his pragmatism and hard work. , Tianbao became prime minister in the first year, and later became Minister of the Ministry of War. Judging from Li Shizhi's official career experience, his political experience can be regarded as quite rich, but unfortunately, this person has a broad and straightforward personality, lacks scheming and city government, and is not Li Linfu's opponent at all. For example, not long after he came to power, he was severely slapped by Li Linfu.

Once when he was working in the court, Li Linfu took the initiative to come over to strike up a conversation with him. After chatting for a while, Li Linfu suddenly lowered his voice and said: "I heard that Huashan is rich in gold mines. Once they are mined, the treasury will not be short of money. But the emperor doesn't seem to know about it." Li Linfu said it with a mysterious face, which means - I don't tell him to ordinary people. Li Shizhi was secretly happy, and felt that reporting this matter was enough to claim credit, and it was of great benefit to both public and private, so there was no need to hide it like this, so he reported it to Xuanzong the next day.Of course, he withheld his sources.

When Xuanzong heard that there was a gold mine, his eyes lit up with excitement, and he quickly summoned Li Linfu and asked him if there was such a thing.Li Linfu said unhurriedly: "I have known it for a long time, but Mount Hua is your Majesty's natal mountain. It is where the king's spirit is, and it is not suitable for mining, so I have never dared to mention it." When Xuanzong heard this, he felt that Li Linfu was still thoughtful, and his impression of Li Shizhi plummeted from then on. Afterwards, he said to him very unhappy: "In the future, you should discuss with Li Linfu first, and you can't be so hasty and negligent."

Li Shizhi was tongue-tied, he was really dumb eating Coptis chinensis, and he couldn't tell if he was suffering. Li Linfu made a small plan and let Li Shizhi stumble in front of Xuanzong, but Li Shizhi was the prime minister after all, and the "gold mine incident" could only make him lose the emperor's trust, not enough to make him step down. If you want to bring Li Shizhi down, you must intensify your efforts. In May of the fourth year of Tianbao, Li Linfu suddenly instructed his subordinates to accuse the officials of the Ministry of War for accepting bribes collectively, and then immediately filed a case, arresting more than 60 officials of the Ministry of War in one go, and handing them over to Jingzhaofu and Yushitai for joint trial.It is conceivable that if the officials of the Ministry of War are convicted of collective bribery, Li Shizhi, the minister of the Ministry of War, will definitely not escape the responsibility. Even if he is not implicated, he will at least be responsible for negligence.

However, after all, this matter is not true, so Jingzhao Mansion and Yushitai tried for several days, but they couldn't find a ugly Yinmao.Xiao Jiong, who was Jing Zhaoyin at the time (that is, the "Fuhun servant" who was relegated by Zhang Jiuling back then), was Li Linfu's confidant. He knew that if this case could not be resolved, he would definitely not be able to explain to Li Linfu. In desperation, Xiao Jiong suddenly remembered a Facao under his command.He believes that as long as this person is allowed to take action, the prisoner, no matter how hard his bones are, will become soft all over, and he will submit obediently!

The facao who is about to make a move is Li Linfu's powerful eagle dog and Tianbao's famous cruel official in the middle and late stages-Ji Wen. It is said that dragons give birth to dragons, phoenixes give birth to phoenixes, and mice give birth to burrows. This is true.This Ji Wen is the nephew of the famous cruel official Ji Xu during the Wu Zhou Dynasty.Like Ji Xu, Ji Wen is treacherous and sinister by nature, ruthless and ruthless, and he is born to be a ruthless official.However, he was not born at the right time. He did not catch up with the great year of Empress Wu Zhao's spy rule, but encountered the politically stable Kaiyuan period, so there was no room for a hero. A small ten thousand year county magistrate.

Once, someone recommended Ji Wen to Xuanzong, but after Xuanzong summoned him in person, without saying a few words, he concluded that he was a wicked villain, and then said to the recommender: "He is a bad person. No need." (Volume 215) Being uttered by the emperor is tantamount to a political death sentence. If it were someone else, I am afraid that the desire to be an official would have died long ago.But Ji Wen was not discouraged by this, but believed that he would always have a bright future. Because he knows that wherever there are people, there is struggle, and wherever there is struggle, there is room for him.Therefore, he firmly believes that his talent as a cruel official will one day come in handy and shine in the political arena of the empire!

It was during this period of depression and frustration that Ji Wen kept uttering bold words: "If you meet a confidant, the Nanshan white-fronted beast is not enough!" ("Old Tang Book·Ji Wen Biography") If I can meet someone who appreciates me, even the most ferocious beast in Zhongnan Mountain can be easily captured! From this point of view, Ji Wen and Li Linfu are quite similar - being denied by others will not destroy their fighting spirit, but will stimulate their determination and energy to fight against people and heaven. Of course, in order to make a name for yourself in the officialdom, you can't just rely on ruthlessness, you must also have ingenuity.And Ji Wen happened to be lacking in both.In addition to possessing the talent of being a cruel official, he also has another ability-to curry favor with the powerful.

Especially good at currying favor with eunuchs in power, such as Gao Lishi. It was because of Gao Lishi's relationship that Ji Wen finally came to Xiao Jiong's dock. Speaking of Ji Wen and Xiao Jiong, I really echoed an old saying - if you don't fight, you don't know each other.There was an old grudge between the two of them.Earlier, Xiao Jiong served as Henan Yin in Luoyang, and something happened while he was in office, and he was censored by relevant departments.At that time, Ji Wen was serving as the magistrate of Xinfeng County under the jurisdiction of Henan Prefecture. The relevant departments heard that he was very capable in handling cases, so they assigned him to try the case.In order to show his ability, Ji Wen imposed many methods on Xiao Jiong, making him embarrassed.Later, due to Li Linfu's efforts, Xiao Jiong not only did not have an accident, but was promoted to a higher level and was transferred to Chang'an as Jing Zhaoyin.

Coincidentally, not long after Xiao Jiong was promoted to Jingzhaoyin, Ji Wen was also transferred to Wannian County, Gyeonggi Province as the county magistrate through drilling camp, and Xiao Jiong happened to be his immediate boss. Ji Wen secretly groaned in his heart. Those colleagues who knew the inside story also told him with one voice - this time you are dead. Yes, if Ji Wen had no backer, he would definitely be dead this time. Fortunately, he has an absolutely excellent backer - Gao Lishi. And this backstage is precisely the object that Xiao Jiong tried his best to curry favor with.

So Ji-won will not die. Not only will he not die, but he will have more opportunities to succeed than ordinary colleagues.As long as Xiao Jiong understands the relationship between him and Gao Lishi, no matter how big the grievances are, they can be completely wiped out! So there is the following story of turning fighting into jade. Ji Wen knew that whenever Gao Lishi was not on duty in the palace, Xiao Jiong would definitely run to his house.One day, Gao Lishi was not on duty, and Ji Wen knew that Xiao Jiong would come, so he went to Gao Lishi's mansion one step ahead of time.Gao Lishi understood Ji Wen's intentions, and immediately sat down on knees with him, and held Ji Wen's hand, calling him brother and brother, talking and laughing happily. Undoubtedly, when Xiao Jiong came in, he just ran into this scene head-on. Ji Wen made a panicked look, and quickly got up to avoid it.Gao Lishi said loudly: "Ji Qi, you don't have to go." Then he turned his head and said to Xiao Jiong: "We are old friends, come and sit together." Gao Lishi called him by Ji Wen's ranking, obviously a very close relationship Performance. Xiao Jiong never expected that this little county magistrate could still call Gao Lishi brothers and sisters. He quickly put down his superior airs, smiled at Ji Wen, and then saluted and gave up his seat, extremely respectful. Afterwards, Ji Wen personally visited Xiao Jiong's mansion, and said in a very sincere and respectful tone: "Master Xiao, what happened in the past was because Ji was ordered to act and did not dare to violate the laws of the country. From now on, Ji will definitely Change your mind and do the work of a dog and a horse for an adult!" Ji Wen has such a strong backing, and he does things so beautifully, why does Xiao Jiong not turn fights into friendship with him? ! "Recovery and enjoyment." ("Old Book of Tang Ji Wen Biography") In short, an old grievance disappeared.Xiao Jiong then promoted Ji Wen to be the legal counselor of Jingzhao Prefecture.Since then, Ji Wen has become Xiao Jiong's confidant. With the two backers of Gao Lishi and Xiao Jiong, how could it be possible for Ji Wen not to stand out? At this moment, when Xiao Jiong found Ji Wen because of the case of the Ministry of War, this future cruel official who had been underappreciated for many years immediately realized keenly that it was time for him to become famous! When Ji Wen walked into the prison where the military suspects were held, he always had an unpredictable smile on his face.He asked the prison guards to gather the sixty or so rebellious military officials into the yard, then looked at them with a smile on their face, and even nodded slightly to some of them. During this process, Ji Wen didn't say a word.Immediately afterwards, he turned back and walked into the cell where the felons were held, and ordered the interrogation of two of the felons.After the criminals brought it up, Ji Wen still didn't say a word, but only winked to signal the prison guards to torture the two men. Soon, a more mournful wail flew out of the cell, and the sound fell into the ears of more than sixty military officials. Their faces turned pale at the same moment. This group of tough guys who have been stalking their necks for several days look at me and I look at you, with the same unspoken fear in their eyes. In the end, they finally lowered their proud heads one by one, and scrambled to shout: "Bring the pen and paper, we will explain! As long as I have one life left, we will explain everything!" Later, when Ji Wen interrogated them one by one, the frightened military officials made false accusations and confessed to all the crimes of dereliction of duty and bribery imposed on them.From the beginning to the end, Ji Wen never moved a finger, never said a harsh word, and even the smile on his face never disappeared.Who dares to say that he is extorting a confession by torture? After almost one meal, Ji Wen returned to Xiao Jiong with more than sixty confessions written in black and white. Later, the relevant department suspected that Ji Wen had used torture to extract confessions, and immediately sent people to investigate. It turned out that more than 60 suspects were all unscathed. In the end, they could only draw one conclusion—all of them confessed voluntarily and were not tortured. any persecution. This was the case of the sensational case of collective bribery of officials of the Ministry of War. When Xuanzong received the case report, he couldn't believe his eyes anyway. What international joke?If the case is true, wouldn't the dignified military department become a huge rat's nest?Where is the face of the imperial court?How can I save my face as the son of the emperor? ! But more than sixty confessions in black and white are in front of you, and you can't help but believe it. In the end, Xuanzong had no choice but to take the method of making big things small and small things small, and issued an edict to severely reprimand the previous and current military ministers, which is equivalent to warning them, but he didn't mention Li Shizhi's negligence. At the same time, he announced the pardon of all officials involved in the case. It was beyond Li Linfu's expectation that Xuanzong played down the case so much. Although the case was settled and the charges were confirmed, Li Shizhi was still not hurt in the end, and Li Linfu was somewhat annoyed. But while annoyed, Li Linfu also felt great joy. Because through this case, he got a talent, a talent that can be met but not sought after - Ji Wen. Almost at the same time that Ji Wen was brought under his command, Li Linfu also found a master who was also good at weaving crimes in Yushitai. He was another cruel official who later became as famous as Ji Wen - Luo Xishi.This person is the nephew of Li Linfu's son-in-law. He was formerly the head of the Yushitai and was promoted by Li Linfu to be the supervisory censor. Although he is not as sinister as Ji Wen, he is more harsh and ruthless than Ji Wen. With these two powerful eagle dogs, Li Linfu can be said to be even more powerful. From now on, as long as Luo Xishi opens his ferocious pincers and Ji Wen casts a sinister net, there will be no cases in the Tang Dynasty that Li Linfu can't handle, and there will be no political opponents that Li Linfu can't handle!