Chastity Layman

As soon as Li Xizhi arrived in Chang'an, he saw a group of officers and soldiers in front of the gate of Chang'an.

A green-robed petty officer read a warrant for his arrest.

"What am I guilty of?"

Li Xizhi asked angrily, in a travel-laden manner.

"Cao Wuzheng, the Sima of Guizhou, conspired to cause rebellion, instigated the barbarians in Yuecheng to rebel, attacked the city and destroyed the county, killed many people, and even wanted to ambush Wei Guogong, Geng Guogong, etc. Do you dare to say that you did not participate in it?"

In fact, Li Xizhi had already heard about it on the road. Although he did not receive much information, he also knew that Guizhou was in chaos.

"If I participated in the rebellion, how could I be ordered to enter the court?"

"Hmph, you have been in Guizhou for nearly twenty years, and Cao Wuzhengben is also your official. How dare you say that it has nothing to do with you?"

"In the first year of Wude, the Supreme Emperor entered Chang'an to establish the Tang Dynasty, and sent my son Xuansi to Guizhou to comfort him. I wrote back and was willing to persuade Yongping County Governor Li Guangdu to join him. Later, the Supreme Emperor said that I and Your Majesty belonged to the same Li family in Longxi. Because there is Jiangling Xiaoxian blocking me, let me temporarily bear it and wait for the opportunity to return in a righteous way."

"I waited until the fourth year of Wude, when Xiao Xian was destroyed by the Tang army. I assisted Li Jing, contacted and instigated more than 80 prefectures in south of the Five Ridges to join the imperial court together."

"In the fifth year of Wude, I invited myself to enter the court. His Majesty granted me the title of Lord of Shangzhu State and Shi'an County. It happened that the Fu Gong Hu Jiangnan rebelled. His Majesty appointed me the governor of Jiangzhou and the commander of the counter-insurgency army. , followed Li Jing to put down the rebellion in the seventh year of Wude, the class teacher returned to the court, and His Majesty let me still be the governor of Guizhou. After that, I also asked many times to enter the court, and this year I have His Majesty's consent to enter the court again."

"I am loyal, how can you slander me?"

The official of the Zhenfu Division just said in a cold voice, "You say you are loyal, and your words are unfounded. We will check it out after we verify it. Come with us first!"

Li Xizhi was sent directly to imperial prison.

"I want to meet His Majesty, and I want to make a statement in person!"

The conditions in the imperial prison are not bad. His cell is independent. There are beds, tables and chairs, and even books to read. There are people cleaning it every day, and the food is fine. Three meals a day, both meat and vegetables , but no one pays attention to him.

He stayed inside for three days, but no one paid any attention to him, and no one interrogated him.

On the morning of the fourth day, the jailer brought in a man.

When Li Xizhi saw it, he was shocked that it was his younger brother.

"Why are you here?" Brother Li Xiyu was also locked in.

Li Xiyu was also very surprised to see his brother here, "Why are you involved?"

"It should be that elder brother implicated you, younger brother."

Both brothers thought they were implicating each other.

The jailer was not impatient, and instead said that they should be locked in the same cell, so that the brothers could express their feelings.

The two brothers sat down and had a detailed chat, and only then did they know why the other party came in.

The reason why Li Xizhi came in was naturally that the Zhen Fusi said that he was the mastermind behind the Guizhou rebellion case, while Li Xiyu came in because he killed an official in private anger and was arrested back to the capital.

Li Xiyu was the governor of Tongzhou before his arrest.

The two brothers are half-brothers, and Li Xiyu is the first son. The father of the two brothers was the Duke of Ankang County in the Sui Dynasty and the governor of Taizhou. Their grandfather Li Zheqian served in Jiangdong in his early years.

In Nanliang, when he was 20 years old, his father went to Hengzhou and left him in Ankang. Waiting for the military of Qizhou and the governor of Dongliang Prefecture, when Hou Jing rebelled, the princes fought in melee.

In the seventeenth year of Datong, he was defeated and captured, and sent to Chang'an. Yuwentai appreciated his integrity and bravery, and worshiped him as a general of chariots, a regular servant of scattered cavalry, and was granted the title of uncle of Huanyang County. Purple robe and jade belt, he was awarded the title of General Hushi in the servant, Kaifu Yitong Sansi, and served as the governor of Zhizhou.

In the third year of Emperor Wei Gong (556), he led his troops to attack Liang Bingzhou, captured 18 cities, and expanded the land for three thousand miles. Later, he entered Sichuan and stayed in Baidi City. He was also ordered to supervise the military affairs of the seven prefectures such as Xinlin, the governor of Xinzhou, and the governor of Xicheng County, increasing the number of households to 2,500.

Later, he served as the governor of Pingzhou, the third year of Tianhe, the general of Jin Dynasty, and the fourth year. He was in charge of Jinzhou, Shangyong and other military forces. He was stationed in Xiangyang. Wu.

The Li family was originally from Longyou, but they moved to Shannan a long time ago. They were a wealthy family, and the Li family was an official in the Southern Dynasty. If it weren't for Hou Jing's chaos, Li Zheqian would not have descended to the Western Wei Dynasty.

After Li Zhe moved to the Western Wei Dynasty, he became one of the twelve generals and an important member of the Guanlong Group, which also established the position of the Li family in Guanzhong.

Li Xiyu inherited his father's Duke of Ankang during the Northern Zhou and Sui dynasties. At the end of the Sui Dynasty, his elder brother Xizhi served as the governor of Shi'an County, and he joined the army as the commander of the Champion Mansion. Yin Shishi assisted Yang You in guarding Chang'an. The thieves of the three assistants are like ants. Li Xiyu once proposed to lead troops to occupy Yongfeng warehouse, distribute rice from the warehouse to the people, reward soldiers with money and silk from the treasury, and spread the word that all counties should jointly arrest thieves, but Yin Shishi refused.

So he asked to go back to his hometown in Shannan to recruit troops. As soon as he returned to Hanzhong, Li Yuan had pacified Chang'an, called him back to the court, granted him the title of Taifu Shaoqing, and was still named Ankang County Duke.

When Li Shimin fought against Wang Shichong, he served as the governor of Luzhou, and later served as the governor of Yangzhou, the governor of Yangzhou, the inspector ambassador of Jiangnan, and then served as the minister of Taifu. After that, he successively served as the governor of Liangzhou, the governor of Lanzhou, and the governor of Tongzhou. job.

Li Xiyu was upright and famous for his majesty.

My only hobby is reading, and I often pay people to copy books, and I like to collect books and copy them wherever I go. Usually the most unsightly thing is that officials take bribes and bend the law.

"The county magistrate, relying on being a relative of a nobleman in Beijing, ran amok in the local area and raped the women. After the incident, I sent someone to investigate. He actually killed the woman and the whole family to silence him, and then spent money to make the witnesses Shut up, I couldn't get angry for a while, so I killed him with a rod!"

"Although those witnesses repented, the case was very clear before. I have no evidence to punish him, but I can kill him." Li Xiyu said angrily and unfairly. He doesn't allow himself to rule, there are such beast officials. Let alone such a thing that overshadows the sky with one hand.

Fighting against the future, but also killing that person with a stick.

The two brothers haven't seen each other for several years, but unexpectedly they will meet again in Chang'an's imperial prison.

A sigh.

"Sima in Guizhou rebelled, as long as you didn't participate, His Majesty will surely rehabilitate you. You can wait for a few days at ease." Li Xiyu was not worried about himself, but instead enlightened his brother.

"I also trust His Majesty and the court."

After half a month in prison, someone finally came.

The town governor Zhang Liang came to the prison in person, and said politely to Li Xizhi, "After investigation, the Secretary found that the Guizhou rebellion case had nothing to do with the county government."

"Sure?"

"This matter is thanks to the Duke of Wei's full guarantee for the Duke of the County. His Majesty summoned the Duke of the County to face the saint."

Li Xizhi was not in a hurry.

"I hope Mr. Zhang can investigate my brother's case for me, and give a result as soon as possible."

"Definitely, please prepare to take a shower and change clothes, and enter the palace to face the saint."

In the Hall of Liangyi.

Li Xizhi, who had been locked up for more than half a month, finally saw the emperor.

As soon as they met, Li Shimin said, "I have wronged the Duke!"

Li Xizhi said calmly, "As long as the matter is investigated clearly, I have no grievances."

"Before someone reported you for participating in the Guizhou rebellion, Yousi only handled the investigation according to the procedures. Now that the investigation is clear, I will return you innocent."

Li Shimin gave Li Xizhi a seat and chatted about their ancestral origins. Speaking of which, they all came from the Li family in Longxi, and they were considered to be of the same clan, but they were not of the same clan.

At that time, Li Hu was one of the Eight Pillar Kingdoms, and Li Zheqian was one of the Twelve Generals. Although he was not the first batch of Twelve Generals, Li Zheqian was indeed the core of Guanlong. Both had the surname Li, so the relationship is natural It won't be that bad.

This is also the reason why after Li Yuan entered Chang'an and proclaimed himself emperor, Li Xiyu returned to Chang'an to meet Li Yuan without saying a word, and accepted the official position. bit.

Even Li Xizhi in Guilin did not violate Li Yuan's edict.

Everyone came from that circle.

Although the ancestors of Li Yuan's family were from Xiliang, and Li Zheqian's ancestors were officials in the Southern Dynasties, they still ate together in the pot of the Western Wei and Northern Zhou Dynasties.

"Your brother Xi Yu was killed by the county magistrate because of his personal anger. This matter has a bad impact."

"Your Majesty, the subject also knows about this matter. My brother did violate the court law, but there is a reason for it."

"What you said is because I have already investigated clearly. The county magistrate should indeed be killed, but he should not be lynched. He should report to the court and report him."

·······

"You brothers are all heroes of the founding of this dynasty..." Li Shimin rambled, Li Xizhi sat on the ground respectfully, but he knew very well that the emperor was just playing the emperor's mind.

As soon as he entered Chang'an, he was invited to prison, and even his brothers were sent in, but he knew very well that this was definitely the emperor's order, and the purpose of course was not to punish their brothers, on the contrary, it was to value their brothers the meaning of.

Beat and beat first, then appease and appease, and finally grant important positions and reuse, which will naturally make the subordinates very grateful and more loyal.

Although Li Xizhi was only a county guard in the past, it was not easy for him to recruit soldiers and horses to keep the peace of a county in the chaos of the end of the Sui Dynasty.

He also understands people's hearts and schemes.

Originally, he was innocent, and the chaos in Guizhou required him to go back even more, but now after going through such a circle, he still owed Qin Lang a favor, had to be grateful for the emperor's grace, and was even beaten.

It has to be said that the young emperor has become more and more powerful, and this method is very slippery.

"The matter of attacking reputation was wrong, but since he is the founding hero, if I give him a chance, I will demote him to be the governor of Hengzhou. I hope he can change his temper."

Hengzhou and Guizhou are separated by Yongzhou, which is only 500 miles apart. However, compared with Tongzhou, the Gyeonggi Prefecture, Hengzhou is 108,000 miles away. A border prefecture with only a few thousand households is indeed It's a condescension.

But on the other hand, this is a mighty gift to the brothers of the Li family.

"I will hand over Guizhou to you again, and govern Guizhou well for the imperial court. Don't let me down!"

Li Xizhi knelt down and thanked him.

Finally, the emperor made a special decree to promote Li Xizhi's original grade to the second rank of Guanglu Doctor Wen Sanjie, and rewarded him with many things.

"Originally, you just arrived in Chang'an, so you shouldn't have to rush back immediately, but Qin Lang is still in Guizhou. Guizhou has just experienced a great chaos, and it needs a loyal and prestigious official like you to go back and guard the country. , I hope you can understand."

"I understand!"