Chapter 88 Li Linfu Resigns as Minister of Personnel

The scene in the torture chamber just now was all an illusion.

The two officials of the Ministry of Personnel, one was the Minister of Examination and the other was the Secretary, both of whom held low positions. With Wei Kuan's promise, they were willing to follow his instructions.

The whip hit the sandbag and the screams were all fake.

In history, Ji Wen used this trick to make innocent officials accuse themselves.

What’s more, these people are already taking bribes and abusing their power for personal gain.

With so many people taking bribes together, the law cannot hold them all accountable, and at most they will be demoted to local areas.

If tortured, no one can guarantee that they can survive.

These officials not only confessed the amount of bribes they had received, but the more senior officials also revealed all the cases of Yang Qi, Qi Xian and other reporters abusing their power for personal gain.

In the yard, when Wei Jian asked Li Linfu whether he had accepted bribes, these people shook their heads and denied it.

Few people could come into contact with Li Linfu. They would rather be beaten than bring disaster upon Li Linfu.

They were afraid that Li Linfu would kill them.

Wei Jian did not ask any more questions. He had also accepted gifts from his subordinates or colleagues. When he first entered the officialdom, he even prepared a gift for Li Linfu.

With such hard evidence, Li Linfu, the Minister of Personnel, could not escape the blame.

"Confess everything and you can report it to the Saint."

Wei Jian handed the confessions to Li Daosui and Yang Shenjin with a smile.

It’s done so quickly?

Yang Shenjin couldn't believe it. It was written in black and white, and every official had signed and sealed it, so he had to believe it.

He was afraid that Wei Jian would torture him, so he went to check on the officials in the Ministry of Personnel, and found that they were all intact.

This made Yang Shenjin admire Wei Jian.

Li Daosui felt a little embarrassed, after all, he also had officials from the Dali Temple, fortunately there were only about ten of them.

When Wei Jian and others arrived at Xingqing Palace, they found that Li Linfu was also here. At this time, he was standing aside with his head lowered, appearing cautious and reserved.

Li Longji was not that unhappy, as if he did not want to blame Li Linfu.

When Li Longji saw the thick stack of confessions, his face changed again and again.

He originally thought there were only about ten, but after looking at the confessions, there were at least fifty or sixty.

This does not include the five envoys, their assistants, and the local officials who are conducting in-depth investigations.

It's rotten to the core. How can a saint like us keep his dignity?
When Li Linfu saw these confessions, his face was also very interesting. Was this torture? It took less than a day to make it like this?

"Central Minister Yang, have you tortured the criminal clerks?"

Li Longji also thought of this.

If torture is used, that is another matter.

"Your Majesty, the officials of the Ministry of Personnel and the Dali Temple are unharmed. They may feel ashamed of Your Majesty and confessed voluntarily." Yang Shenjin said with a bow.

After hearing this, Li Linfu cursed in his heart: What a bunch of bastards.

"Do they think the law does not punish everyone?"

Li Longji immediately became angry.

If it was just bribery, for the sake of face, he could have verbally reprimanded so many people and then pardoned them.

Now they use their positions to help local "officials" who exploit the people get promoted.

Help redress an injustice, adding insult to injury!
Is this still the prosperous era he created?
"Li Linfu, most of the officials are your subordinates. You also recommended the five envoys. How do you explain this?"

Li Longji slammed the table and called Li Linfu's name.

"As soon as I leave the court, I go to the lower hall of the Secretariat to handle government affairs, and I may not go home until the sun sets. I neglected to discipline the Ministry of Personnel, and I deserve to die! I have recommended many officials, including Yang Zhongcheng of the Censorate, Wei Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice, and others, who are all able to enforce the law with integrity; Wang Yu, Langzhong of the Ministry of Revenue, Chen Xilie, and others, who are all conscientious; there are famous generals such as Li Xuan, General of the Left Thousand Bull Guards, and An Lushan, the Jiedushi of Fanyang; and there are also wise officials like Niu Xianke who will not stop until their death..."

Li Linfu fell to the ground and spoke with tears in his eyes.

The first half of the sentence shows that he was too busy dealing with state affairs and had no time to manage the Ministry of Personnel. The second half of the sentence defends that he recommended many capable people. The few interviews were only very individual cases among the talents he recommended.

"Then you will resign as the Minister of Personnel!"

Li Longji shouted sternly.

He had already decided to entrust the political affairs to the capable Li Linfu, and he himself would stay at a high level and enjoy his old age.

In this situation, how can we reassure him?
Li Linfu was considerate and could handle government affairs in an orderly manner, so that he had no worries.

Tomorrow is Yuanzheng Day, but such a terrible thing happened!
Li Longji did not want to dismiss Li Linfu from his position as prime minister, but he did not intend to let the matter go. He decided to remove Li Linfu from his position as Minister of Personnel as a warning to him.

"I deserve to die. I am willing to resign from the position of Minister of Personnel!"

Although he was very depressed, Li Linfu verbally obeyed Li Longji. At the same time, he felt relieved because he knew that Li Longji would not change his position as the right prime minister.

Losing the position of Minister of Personnel would further reduce his power.

What he feared most was that someone would take over the position of Minister of Personnel and thereby "co-director of the Secretariat", becoming another rival of his.

Afterwards, Li Longji reprimanded Li Daosui, who was the Minister of the Dali Temple, but did not remove him from his post.

He also temporarily summoned Li Shizhi to the Qinzheng Office Building.

After some discussion, all the officials who committed the crime were banished from Chang'an.

Minor officials were demoted to county lieutenant or county magistrate, while those like Cui Yue were demoted to prefect, deputy governor, chief secretary, or county magistrate.

Only Yang Yan's crime was pardoned.

Yang Qi, Qi Xian and other envoys were first recalled to Chang'an to be questioned.

Send censors to each county to supervise the local officials.

Li Longji asked Li Shizhi to select virtuous and upright officials to support the Ministry of Personnel again. Everything else was easy to say, except that the position of the Minister of Personnel was vacant!

This made Wei Jian's eyes light up. As long as he could become the Minister of Personnel, he would most likely become the Prime Minister.

Li Shizhi promised Wei Jian that he would recommend him to the saint as soon as he had the chance.

Wei Jian also said that after becoming prime minister, he would help the left prime minister to deal with Li Linfu with all his strength.

The political turmoil shook Chang'an.

It all happened too fast and ended too fast.

By the time the scholars and dignitaries in Chang'an reacted, Li Linfu had already lost his position as Minister of Personnel. A major earthquake occurred in the Ministry of Personnel and it almost came to a standstill.

Does this mean that Li Linfu has fallen out of favor? Is Li Shizhi going to take his place?
In any case, as one side gained power while the other lost, Li Shizhi's power increased.

At the same time, let the world witness Li Shizhi's skills.

After all, the source of everything must start from Yang Yan's apology to Li Shizhi...

It can be imagined that tomorrow the gate of the Left Prime Minister’s residence will be crowded with guests!

……

On the night of the last day of the year, Li Shizhi returned home from Xingqing Palace and told Li Xuan the news.

This result was beyond his expectation. In the case of "Ministry of War taking bribes", Li Longji, for the sake of face, only gave a warning and then pardoned the officials of the Ministry of War. Only Li Shizhi entered the countdown to his dismissal.

Now Li Longji disregarded his reputation and emptied the Ministry of Personnel.

Li Xuan was sure that Li Longji had never given up on Li Linfu and would continue to trust him.

Because in history, in the third year of Tianbao, Li Longji was ready to entrust all political affairs to Li Linfu and enjoy himself. Gao Lishi tried to persuade him but was scolded by Li Longji. From then on, Gao Lishi never dared to discuss state affairs again for ten years.

Entrusting all government affairs to me, what kind of trust is this?

At that time, Li Linfu was at the peak of power. Anyone who dared to write a letter to advise Li Longji would be beaten to death by Li Linfu's men before the letter reached Li Longji, just like Zhao Fengzhang!
"After the officials in Chang'an are demoted to the local areas for breaking the law, will they be able to work honestly for the people?"

Li Xuan was unhappy about this.

“It has been like this since ancient times.”

Li Shizhi felt accustomed to it; he had seen too many such things.

Because most of the officials came from aristocratic families, they were rarely executed directly unless they committed treason, high treason, or disrespect.

"Although we did not overthrow Li Linfu, we won a great victory in this battle. Li Linfu lost more than just a minister of the Ministry of Personnel."

Li Xuan abandoned these unpleasant thoughts and raised his glass to congratulate Li Shizhi.

Just because of a word from a prostitute in the brothel, Li Xuan guessed Li Linfu's purpose and suffered a big setback, thus avenging the assassination.

"Having Qilang here is a blessing for a father. It's all thanks to Qilang that this year has been so wonderful!"

Li Shizhi was happy and drank happily.

If it wasn't for the end of the year, he would have forgotten that Li Xuan was only sixteen years old. He couldn't even take a courtesy name!

When you turn twenty and come of age, you can get a courtesy name!

When the family was celebrating the end of the year in harmony, something discordant happened. The servant reported that the Right Prime Minister was visiting!

"It's the end of the year, it's not appropriate to turn guests away. Besides, my father's power is rising, so what's the harm in meeting him?"

Li Shizhi was about to refuse but was dissuaded by Li Xuan.

"Hold the candles in the front hall and bring the right prime minister in."

Li Shizhi gave instructions to the servant.

Then he took Li Xuan to see Li Linfu.

"Right Prime Minister, you are another year older!"

Li Shizhi entered the front hall and took the lead. In public, the two of them were polite to each other. In private, neither of them was polite to the other, and they were already at loggerheads.

The Yang Yan incident made Li Shizhi see the insidiousness of Li Linfu and completely broke off their relationship.

"Being old has its advantages. During the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wen asked both the left prime minister Chen Ping and the right prime minister Zhou Bo about state affairs. The younger Zhou Bo knew nothing about any of the questions, while the older Chen Ping answered fluently. So Zhou Bo had no choice but to resign his position and become subordinate to Chen Ping."

"But Zhou Bo is smart enough to retreat at the right time. I'm afraid some people won't have that opportunity by then."

Li Linfu sat in his seat and did not get up, and said with great significance. Although he had lost a lot today, he would sooner or later be able to turn the tide like he did in the late Kaiyuan period.

Sure enough, this sentence made Li Shizhi very angry.

"In the past, Yi Yin and Huo Guang had such great power, but they were still cautious in their words and deeds. They were glorious throughout the ages, but their endings were still chilling. This was because their abilities were worthy of their power. When a person's power is greater than his ability, I am afraid that he will not be able to rest in peace in the future!"

Li Xuan, on behalf of Li Shizhi, spoke slowly to Li Linfu.

"During the Spring and Autumn Period, Zhi Yao was very smart. But he did not know how to respect others, so the Zhi clan perished. People should still have virtues."

Li Linfu's face changed. This was a personal attack! He lectured Li Xuan.

"Not long ago, I returned victorious from capturing the Khan, and was assassinated by an assassin armed with a powerful crossbow in Lingwu. Wei Xiang, the prime minister of the Han Dynasty, took off his hat and apologized for Shu Guang's remarks. Why are some people so narrow-minded even though they are both prime ministers!"

Li Xuan used this to satirize Li Linfu. The word "virtue" had changed its meaning when it came out of Li Linfu's mouth.

"Left Prime Minister, I wanted to congratulate you on growing another year older. Since you don't welcome me, I'll take my leave."

Li Linfu was afraid that if he stayed here any longer, he would be angered to death by Li Xuan.

After this happened, he had no intention of celebrating the New Year in the Right Prime Minister's Mansion. He just came to test Li Shizhi.

But Li Xuan was following Li Shizhi, so he couldn't say much.

"Sorry for not sending you far!"

Li Shizhi and Li Xuan continued to celebrate the New Year...

(End of this chapter)