Chapter 20 Temple of Heaven

Yang Shenjin, the great-great-great-grandson of Emperor Yang Guang of Sui Dynasty, is a man of great ability and talent, especially in financial work. Yushi Zhongcheng and other posts.In the fifth year of Tianbao, under the instruction of Li Linfu, Yang Shenjin defeated Wei Jian, another financial expert, and then replaced him, becoming the most capable finance minister in Xuanzong's mind. There is no doubt that when working under Li Linfu, there is a high-voltage line that must not be touched, and that is to gain the trust and appreciation of the emperor.But after Wei Jian's death, Yang Shenjin gradually became "favored by the superior", which naturally aroused Li Linfu's jealousy.

For Li Linfu, there are no permanent friends or enemies in this world, only permanent interests.His entire career as a prime minister was almost a footnote for this sentence. Now, since Yang Shenjin ignored the lessons learned from the past and walked to the edge of 5 million volts of high voltage again, Li Linfu must find a way to let him experience the taste of high voltage. Li Linfu's manipulative techniques are quite superb, no matter who you are, he can accurately capture your weaknesses.Even if you are invulnerable Achilles, he can find your weakest heel.Once he finds your Achilles' heel, he can shoot you through with an arrow like Apollo did.

So, where is Yang Shenjin's most vulnerable heel? Make friends with warlocks.Yang Shenjin's most fatal weakness is that he often has secret contacts with a warlock named Shi Jingzhong. Why can't ministers communicate with warlocks? Because as early as the tenth year of Kaiyuan, Xuanzong once issued an imperial edict, declaring that "those who are divining and occupying the marquis are not allowed to enter the homes of hundreds of officials." (Volume 212) Although it has long been expressly prohibited, Yang Shenjin still regards Shi Jingzhong as a guest of honor.Because in his eyes, this Shi Jingzhong is very different from all other beings, he is simply a god-man.

It is said that once, the vegetation next to Yang Shenjin's ancestral grave suddenly leaked red liquid, which looked like blood, very scary and weird.Yang Shenjin was extremely disturbed and asked Shi Jingzhong what to do.Shi Jingzhong immediately told him a solution, asking him to set up an ashram in the back garden of his home, and after retreating to court every day, he had to sit naked in the ashram, wearing shackles and chains.Yang Shenjin followed his advice and sat for ten days, and the grass and trees next to the ancestral grave stopped bleeding.Yang Shenjin immediately admired Shi Jingzhong, and from now on, no matter what big or small things happened, he would ask Shi Jingzhong to help him predict good or bad.

Yang Shenjin thought that it was impossible for the emperor to know about his friendship with warlocks, so he didn't take the ban issued decades ago seriously. However, the paper could not contain the fire after all, and not long after, Xuanzong still heard about Yang Shenjin's secret relationship with the warlock.Xuanzong was very annoyed, but considering that he had always done a good job in financial work, he had no choice but to bear it and did not attack. However, if Xuanzong didn't get angry, it didn't mean that Yang Shenjin would be all right. Because the person who wanted him to die was not Xuanzong, but three other people.One is Li Linfu, the other is Yang Guozhong, and the other is Yang Shenjin's nephew, Wang Ji.

Wang Yu, a native of Taiyuan, the grandson of Wang Fangyi, a famous general in the Empress Wu period, is another master of financial management after Yu Wenrong, Wei Jian, and Yang Shenjin in Xuanzong's first dynasty. Envoy, Guannei interview envoy, Yushi Zhongcheng and other posts.During his tenure in the Ministry of Household Affairs, Wang Yu used to plunder the common people desperately in addition to the normal taxation. In one year, he added tens of billions of income to Xuanzong's internal treasury, which was exclusively used for Xuanzong's rewards.Although the people complained about this, he was highly appreciated by Xuanzong.

Of course, the reason why Wang Yu was able to emerge in the political arena was not only due to his own skills, but also due to the recommendation of his cousin Yang Shenjin. Yang Shenjin is not only Wang Ji's elder, but also his benefactor when he became an official, but no one would have thought that Wang Ji would avenge his kindness in the end and put Yang Shenjin to death with his own hands. The reason why the uncle and nephew turned against each other in the end is that both parties are responsible. At the beginning, in fact, Wang Yu was grateful and respectful to Yang Shenjin, but since he became Yushi Zhongcheng, he has been on an equal footing with Yang Shenjin in official positions, and his heart is naturally high. He respects Yang Shenjin Then he became weaker and weaker day by day; in addition, he later climbed up to Li Linfu, thinking that he had a more solid backing, so he ignored Yang Shenjin even more.

The irony is——Wang Chi didn't remember the favors received by others, but Yang Shenjin happened to be a person who never forgot the favors given to others.In his eyes, it is his credit that Wang Hao is today, and no matter how high the official position is, he is still his junior, so he did not give this cousin the least respect at all, and always called him by his first name in the court.In addition, Wang Ji is an illegitimate child, and he is usually most afraid of being mentioned about his parentage, but Yang Shenjin likes to expose his scars, and always thinks that Wang Ji's mother came from a humble background.Over time, Wang Ji not only completely forgot Yang Shenjin's kindness to him, but also developed deeper and deeper hatred for him.

However, Yang Shenjin didn't notice this change in Wang's heart at all, and was usually used to chatting with this cousin, and even revealed some details of his relationship with Shi Jingzhong to Wang's without concealment. Yang Shenjin never expected that he would hand over his wealth and life to Wang Ji. Regarding the grievances and grievances between Yang Shenjin and Wang Ji, Li Linfu and Yang Guozhong have always been clear about the grievances. Li Linfu wanted to punish Yang Shenjin because he touched a high-voltage wire, while Yang Guozhong wanted to bring Yang Shenjin down because he was a veteran financial expert who blocked his promotion.

The two of them were looking for Yang Shenjin's flaws, so they naturally paid special attention to his relationship with Wang Ji. In addition, the secret relationship between Yang Shenjin and Shi Jingzhong did not escape their eyes.Later, when Yang Guozhong learned that Xuanzong was very dissatisfied with Yang Shenjin's befriending a warlock, he realized that the opportunity to deal with Yang Shenjin had come.He immediately disclosed the news to Wang Ji, telling him that the emperor was very angry, the timing was right, and he had to hurry up if he wanted to do it. Immediately afterwards, Li Linfu also hinted to Wang Ji that Yang Shenjin's relationship with the descendants of Emperor Sui Yang could be used to make a fuss.Wang Ji followed his plan, and then spread rumors everywhere in Chang'an, saying that Yang Shenjin had close contacts with warlocks, and that he had hidden prophecies at home, planning to revive the imperial career of his ancestor Emperor Yang of Sui.Rumors spread like wildfire and quickly reached Xuanzong's ears.

Xuanzong was furious, and immediately ordered Yang Shenjin to be thrown into prison, and ordered the Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple and Yushitai to hold three joint trials. There were two officials interrogating on behalf of Yushitai, one was Yang Guozhong, and the other was Lu Xuan, who was also a cruel and cruel official.After the trial of the case, Lu Xuan immediately arrested a confidant of Yang Shenjin, Zhang Xuan, who was then the young minister of the Taifu, and tortured him in various ways, forcing him to admit that he conspired with Yang Shenjin to rebel.Unexpectedly, Zhang Xuan was a tough guy, no matter how he beat him, he would never say a word.Lu Xuan was furious and ordered torture. Zhang Xuan's legs were tied to a log, and then several strong men were ordered to grab the shackles around his neck and pull back hard at the same time. It is conceivable that the effect of this kind of torture is similar to that of dismembering the body by five horses, which is to elongate and tear the human body.However, quartering the body by five horses is to kill people on the spot, and the pain is relatively short-lived. This kind of torture only stretches the person without tearing it apart, allowing you to feel the pain for a long time before dying. It is more cruel than quartering the body by five horses. It can be called torture. of the best. According to records, Zhang Xuan's body was "lengthened by several feet" on the spot, and his "waist was extremely thin, and his eyes and nose were bleeding."It is undeniable that the description in the history books is a bit exaggerated.Regardless of whether the strength of a few strong men can stretch a person "a few feet", even if it can, the person will die long ago; and the first part to be stretched and thin is definitely not the waist, but the neck.However, even if the historical records are inaccurate, it is not difficult for us to imagine the horror of this kind of torture, and one thing is certain—this kind of punishment does not aim to kill people, but to make people feel pain in a waking state.However, despite the use of this heinous torture, Lu Xuan still failed to get a word out of Zhang Xuan's mouth. Without witnesses and confessions, the case cannot be settled.However, Shi Jingzhong had fled as early as when the crime happened, and his whereabouts were unknown. Li Linfu and Yang Guozhong were immediately in trouble. what to do? At the critical moment, Ji Wen played. After Yang Shenjin's case happened, Shi Jingzhong absconded immediately and fled to his hometown Ruzhou in one breath.At that time, no one knew his whereabouts, so Sanfa was helpless.After Ji Wen accepted the task, without any investigation, he took his men and went straight to Ruzhou, and captured him directly at Shi Jingzhong's home. The reason why Ji Wen is so powerful is not that he is so good at predicting things, but because Shi Jingzhong is his father's family friend. Ji Wen was often hugged by Shi Jingzhong when he was a child, so he knows best where Shi Jingzhong is hiding.It's just that Shi Jingzhong didn't expect that the imperial court would send this well-known Ji Wen to arrest him, otherwise he wouldn't dare to hide at home no matter what. After Ji Wen arrested Shi Jingzhong, without saying a word, he ordered people to chain him, put a hood on him, and then left after being detained.When he was approaching Chang'an, Ji Wen ordered someone to tell Shi Jingzhong: "Yang Shenjin has already confessed, and now I need your testimony alone. If you are smart, you may be able to save your life, otherwise you will only die. Not far ahead is Lishan Mountain (Xuanzong was in Lishan Huaqing Palace at the time), if you get there, it will be too late for you to surrender yourself.” Shi Jingzhong was frightened and begged for a piece of paper, but he confessed everything.But Ji Wen still ignored him and continued to walk forward.Shi Jingzhong begged desperately along the way, but Ji Wen pretended to be deaf and dumb.It wasn't until ten miles away from Lishan that Ji Wen stopped, gave Shi Jingzhong three pieces of paper, and asked Shi Jingzhong to write down the confession according to his own wishes. After getting the confession, Ji Wen took off Shi Jingzhong's hood, got off his horse and saluted him, saying: "The emperor's life is in my life, please don't blame Shi Bo!" After Shi Jingzhong was brought to justice, Yang Shenjin gave in completely and obediently admitted all the details of his relationship with Shi Jingzhong.But when asked about the prophecy of conspiracy to rebel, Yang Shenjin denied it.The Sanfa Division sent people to search Yang's house, but they did not find the prophecy. Li Linfu immediately instructed Lu Xuan to search again. Lu Xuan understood, hid a book of prophecy in his sleeve, walked around the Yang mansion, and then came out cursing: "This traitor is really cunning, so he hid the book of prophecy in a secret room." So far, all the witnesses and material evidences are available, and Yang Shenjin is dead. At the end of November in the sixth year of Tianbao, Emperor Xuanzong issued an edict, ordering Yang Shenjin and his two elder brothers who were officials in the court to die on the same day, and Shi Jingzhong was beaten with a staff of one hundred. Although Li Linfu, Yang Guozhong, and Wang Hao joined forces to get rid of Yang Shenjin, it doesn't mean that they will become allies. Because in the political arena, there has never been a real alliance, not to mention that their interest connection is inherently short-lived and fragile-once the common enemy disappears, they will inevitably draw their swords and start a new round of power struggle. This brutal power struggle will not stop until the last one is left. The only question is - who will have the last laugh? After Yang Shenjin's death, the biggest beneficiary was Wang Ji.He was first promoted by Xuanzong to be the Minister of the Household Department and Doctor Yushi, and was given a purple gold fish bag, and then he was named the Duke of Taiyuan County, and also served as the supervisor of the palace and Jing Zhaoyin. At the same time, he served as more than 20 special envoys in just a few years , it can be said that the power is becoming more and more popular, and even Li Linfu has been robbed of most of the limelight by him. Faced with Wang Ji's strong rise, although Li Linfu was quite jealous, he never took any action. The reason why Li Linfu was uncharacteristically and did not attack Wang Ji was, according to the explanation of the history books, that the reason was that "鉷 mattered to Lin Fu", so Li Linfu "although he was jealous of his favor, he could not bear to harm him" (Volume 216).That is to say, although Wang Chi was in power, he still treated Li Linfu with respect, so Li Linfu couldn't bear to harm him. In fact, the reason provided is very unconvincing.As we all know, since Li Linfu took office as the chief prime minister, no one who objectively poses a threat to him has finally been able to escape his "sword of honey and belly" and "net of Luo pincers".According to the "Old Tang Book", Li Linfu was "serious in nature, deeply obstructed by the city, and he never showed his love and hatred in his appearance", and he was a master at playing power.It is absolutely impossible for such a person to be fooled by Wang Chi's superficial respect and respect.Therefore, the real reason why Li Linfu did not attack Wang Ji was not because he "couldn't bear it", but because he "couldn't". Because he knows—the current political landscape is no longer the same as it used to be. In the past, he was the only one in the court, and he could sing a one-man show as he wanted, but now, Wang Yu and Yang Guozhong have obviously formed a three-legged confrontation with him.Although on the surface, Li Linfu has the highest position and is still the chief prime minister, but in fact he is old, his fighting spirit and vigor are not as good as before, and his political energy is at the end of his strength; , and all of them won Xuanzong's favor for their outstanding financial management ability, and they are in a period of rapid rise in official career.Under such circumstances, of course, Li Linfu could not act rashly, but could only take a defensive position, responding to all changes with the same.If Li Linfu always took the initiative in his previous political struggles and used offense as defense, then in view of the current complicated situation, the best strategy he can adopt is to stand still and use defense as offense. Of course, another important reason why Li Linfu stayed put was that he predicted that the current three-legged situation could not last for too long, because sooner or later Yang Guozhong would attack Wang Chi. That being the case, why did Li Linfu rush to do it?Wouldn't it be wiser for him to act in camera after the two of them get to work first? This is called stillness rather than movement. This is called preserving strength and striking later! As Li Linfu expected, Yang Guozhong was the one who felt the most angry and uneasy about Wang Chi's rising power. Since Yang Guozhong entered the dynasty, Wang Hao has always been his immediate boss: when Wang Hao was a doctor of the household department, Yang Guozhong was his subordinate judge; when Wang Hao was promoted to Yushi Zhongcheng, Yang Guozhong was his subordinate Yushi; Shi Zhongcheng is now, and Wang Hao has become the imperial censor again... It can be said that from the beginning to the end, Wang Hao has always held Yang Guozhong down. If this person is not eliminated, how can he, Yang Guozhong, have a bright future? However, Wang Hao's qualifications are older than him, and his ability to help Xuanzong make money is not inferior to him, and the political achievements he has created over the years are not inferior to him. For a while, Yang Guozhong couldn't find any effective way to deal with Wang Hao. In April of the eleventh year of Tianbao (752 A.D.), when Li Linfu, Wang Ji, and Yang Guozhong, the big bosses of the empire, were in a tense confrontation, the balance of the tripartite confrontation was suddenly broken.In fact, none of the three of them made the first move. The situation was broken by an outsider. This little man who doesn't know the heights of the heavens and the depths of the earth is Wang Jian, Wang Ji's younger brother. Wang Jian, who was a doctor in the household department at that time, usually relied on Wang Ji's power, and often acted tyrannically and did evil.The relevant departments did not dare to do anything to his elder brother because of his brother's face, so this kid became even more arrogant.One day on a whim, he suddenly called a magician named Ren Haichuan to his home, and asked without thinking: "Tell me, do I have the appearance of a king?" Ren Haichuan was stunned on the spot. Brother, are you talking like this just for fun?This is to beheaded! Of course, Ren Haichuan didn't dare to say that, he just answered a few words tremblingly, and then ran away like shit. Ren Haichuan didn't dare to go home and disappeared that day. This matter was quickly learned by Wang Hao. He realized that his brother had caused a catastrophe, and immediately sent someone to track down Ren Haichuan's whereabouts.The assassin caught up with Ren Haichuan in Feng Yijun, not far from Chang'an, and immediately killed him. But Wang Hao did not expect that Ren Haichuan was not the only one who knew about this matter.There was also a courtier named Wei Hui who didn't know where he learned about it, so he discussed it at home.Originally, Wei would gossip in his own home, but Wang Chi would not know.But it happened that Wei Hui was unlucky, and a maid overheard what he said, and the maid immediately told the matter to a good servant.This servant was usually very unpopular with Wei Hui, and often held a grudge against him. Now when he heard about this, he immediately ran to inform Wang Ji. When Wang Hao heard this, his eyes straightened.Damn good things don't go out, bad things spread thousands of miles!And what makes him feel troublesome is that this Wei Hui is not an ordinary person, but the son of Zhongzong's daughter, Princess Ding'an, who is also a member of the royal family. However, things have come to this point, and it will be impossible not to resort to measures.Wang Yu immediately found a crime and arrested Wei Hui, and sent someone to strangle him to death that night. I thought I finally wiped my ass clean this time, but Wang Hao never expected that this funeral star Wang Jian immediately made him a big mess. What Lou Zi? coup. Wang Jian actually wanted to stage a coup! This is no longer whimsical, but insane. Wang Zhuo made a friend who was as hot-headed as he was, named Xing Yu, and the two made friends with some soldiers of the Imperial Army, and then they planned together for three days, planning to assassinate the generals of the Imperial Army, seize military power, and launch a coup, with the goal of assassinating Li Linfu, Yang Guozhong, and Chen Xilie, another prime minister at the time. No one knew what Wang Zhuo's motivation was for doing this. Maybe he thought that if these three people were killed, his elder brother Wang Jia would be able to become prime minister.But he didn't have to think about it, once he staged a coup, even if he succeeded in killing Li Linfu and the other three, his elder brother and he would all become rebels, so why should they be prime ministers?If it is said that he is planning to hold the emperor hostage, order the world, and play a Cao Cao imitation show, but with his dozens of people, how can he hold the emperor to order the princes? No matter from which angle we look at it, the coup d'état that Wang Zhuo is about to launch is like a child's play, illogical, common sense, and unreasonable!Maybe we can only say that this baby Wang Zhuo and his cute buddies are thinking things with their toes, if not, their heads were all kicked by donkeys. The shrewd and capable Wang Hao deserves to be unlucky to have such a treasured younger brother. Because the conspiracy planned by Wang Zhuo was just a play, and the secrecy was too poor, he was reported before he could do anything. At the court meeting on April 9th ​​of this year, Xuanzong handed the letter of complaint to Wang Yu in front of the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty, and then gave an order with no expression on his face, asking Wang Yu to lead the troops himself, with Yang Guozhong to cooperate with them. To arrest the rebels. Wang Hao was dumbfounded immediately. There is such a thing? ! But the matter has come to this point, it is useless to say anything, the most urgent thing is to find a way to save Wang Bao's life.Wang Ji immediately secretly sent someone to inform Wang Jian to escape, and then deliberately dragged his feet until dusk, and then he and Yang Guozhong led troops to surround Xing Jian's home.Xing Xing hurriedly led dozens of followers to break out of the encirclement.He knew that he probably couldn't escape this time, and his head suddenly opened in desperation, so while breaking through, he ordered his henchmen to shout to each other, saying: "Don't hurt Mr. Wang." Obviously, Xing Xuan's purpose was to make the officers and soldiers mistakenly believe that Wang Chi was in collusion with him, so he dared not let go of the pursuit, so that he could have a chance to escape. Sure enough, Yang Guozhong fell for it as soon as he heard it.He and Wang Hao were already at odds with each other, but now if Wang Hao really colluded with the rebellious party, wouldn't he be in danger? ! When Yang Guozhong became suspicious, the pursuit force naturally weakened.Xing Hao's gang fought and retreated, and they were about to flee, but at this moment, they were blocked by another team of imperial guards. This is the 400 Flying Dragon Forbidden Army led by Gao Lishi.Because Xuanzong was worried about Wang Yu, he specially sent Gao Lishi to suppress the formation.At this point, Xing Yan and his gang were unable to fly.Within two blows, Xing Yan was beheaded, and all the other party members were also captured. After Yang Guozhong returned to the palace, he reported the whole process to Xuanzong, and finally gritted his teeth and said: "Wang Chi must have participated in this conspiracy!" At this time, Xuanzong still trusted Wang Hao, so he said: "He has received such great favor from me, so he has no reason to participate in the rebellion." Li Linfu, who had been watching coldly, hurriedly spoke at this moment, agreeing with the emperor's judgment, thinking that Wang Hao must not know him About my brother. The reason why Li Linfu tried his best to protect Wang Ji was first of all to follow Xuanzong, but the most important thing was—once Wang Ji was eliminated like this, Yang Guozhong would definitely turn his target to him next, so he had to keep Wang Ji and let him To check and balance Yang Guozhong. In the end, Xuanzong decided not to pursue Wang Hao's responsibility, but in order to maintain law and order, he hoped that Wang Hao would do a better job, and he took the initiative to ask Wang Jian to be punished, so that everyone would have a step down.He asked Yang Guozhong to convey this meaning to Wang Chi. If Wang Yu was sensible, at this time, he would definitely go downhill and lose his pawn to protect his handsome man, but he was so smart and confused for a while, he replied a sentence that stunned both Xuanzong and Li Linfu - I can't bear to attack my younger brother . Xuanzong was furious. Shameless, you Wang Chi are really tired of working! Afterwards, Xuanzong immediately ordered Wang Yu to be arrested, Yang Guozhong replaced him as Jing Zhaoyin, and Yang Guozhong and Chen Xilie were asked to interrogate Wang Jia. Since Yang Guozhong was asked to interrogate, there is no suspense about the result.Not only was Wang Ji convicted of treason, but the killing of Ren Haichuan and Wei Hui was also exposed.Xuanzong immediately issued an edict, giving Wang Ji to commit suicide, and then tied Wang Jian to the court hall and beat him to death.Later, the relevant departments sent people to search Wang Jia's family property, and they couldn't finish counting it for several days. As soon as Wang Chiu died, Yang Guozhong was completely overwhelmed. In May of the eleventh year of Tianbao, Xuanzong gave Yang Guozhong all of the more than 20 positions that originally belonged to Wang Yu, such as doctor of the imperial history, interview envoy of Gyeonggi, and interview envoy of Guanzhong. As Li Linfu expected, after Yang Guozhong replaced Wang Ji, he immediately turned his gun and pointed it at him. Yang Guozhong made a big fuss about Wang Hao's case, accusing Li Linfu of secretly colluding with the Wang Hao brothers, and also having ties to the Turkic rebel general Absi.Absi was a Turkic general who once surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, and later rebelled back to Mobei because of his rift with Anlu Mountain. In order to completely bring down Li Linfu, Yang Guozhong also urged Chen Xilie and Ge Shuhan to testify together.Of course Xuanzong would not easily accept the accusations made by Yang Guozhong and others.But despite this, from this time on, Xuanzong gradually alienated Li Linfu, and instead gave all his trust and favor to Yang Guozhong. So far, it is a foregone conclusion that Yang Guozhong will become prime minister, and Li Linfu has become a thorn in his side that he must get rid of. "The loyalty of the country shook the world, and Lin Fu was the enemy from the beginning..." (Volume 216) In this fierce political battle, Yang Guozhong is likely to have the last laugh. Faced with such a harsh situation, Li Linfu inevitably felt a sense of being overwhelmed. For the first time in his life he felt fear. For the first time in his life, this powerful minister, who has dominated the political situation of the empire for more than ten years, felt a strong fear...