Impeachment will make me stronger, and I will be invincible on the road to death.

Chapter 82 Qiu Shenji died, and the Tibetan envoys cried bitterly for him

The Shenji incident aroused the anger of all the officials. When Yang Yanzhang opened his mouth to impeach, all the officials immediately agreed.

"Qiu Shenji is truly the scum of the imperial court!"

"If such a person can continue to be an official in the government, I will definitely give up my official position and go home, and will never be an official for the rest of my life!"

"I ruined Yang Yushi's plan and deserved death!"

"Is this guy deliberately informing Tibet?"

……

When Wu Zetian saw that the ministers were so cooperative, he did not hesitate at all, and immediately said sternly: "The great plan I made with Yang Yanzhang was completely ruined by Qiu Shenji! This person has sinister intentions and cannot be punished for his crime. He ordered the three divisions to interrogate and list all the crimes." His past crimes will be severely punished!"

Qiu Shenji, as a third-grade general, had a high enough status, and Yang Yanzhang had not told the world clearly about selling cannons before. Now Wu Zetian also wants to use the three-level interrogation to make his conspiracy against Tubo known to the whole world. To protect Yang Yanzhang's reputation.

Of course, it was to preserve her reputation.

"Queen Mother, I was wronged..." Qiu Shenji weakly begged for mercy, but Yu Lin involuntarily threw him away.

Seeing that the matter had been made clear, the Tubo envoy Zan Po thought that there were no more secrets, so he left angrily. Before leaving, he did not forget to complain again: "The people of the Tang Dynasty are not trustworthy! I will never do business with you again, even if you one day Good stuff!”

Wu Zetian was immediately disappointed when she saw him leaving, knowing that her dream of getting rich was completely ruined.

Although the national treasury receives several million 10 taels of gold every year, it is said that it is derived from the name and used for the people. The more it collects, the more it uses, especially after the defeat in the Western Region and the loss of [-] elites. Recruiting additional soldiers, weapons and armor, etc. are all expenses!
Although Wu Zetian had a young man in charge of collecting money for her, the young man had to take care of the expenses of the entire palace and the royal family. When it was Wu Zetian's turn, what she had at her disposal was really limited.

Renting cannons and selling cannon shells is a hugely profitable business. At most, the craftsmen of the Ministry of Industry can be given a small subsidy, and most of the rest can be used by Wu Zetian to squander!

A few hundred thousand taels of gold is enough for her to build a magnificent palace!

And now, this huge amount of money has been blown away...

So Wu Zetian, who was in a bad mood, immediately stood up and walked away.

After the ministers retired from the court, they were also in a sad mood.

Tubo loses hundreds of thousands of taels of gold every year. I'm afraid that in less than three years, Tubo will be extremely poor. By then, civil unrest will break out and it will no longer be able to threaten the Tang Dynasty. However, the Tang Dynasty will be able to free up its hands and feet to give the Turks another chance. With a devastating blow.

"It's a pity that such a clever plan was ruined by a troublemaker like Qiu Shenji!" Wei Daiji sighed, feeling angry for Qiu Shenji, and even more impressed by Yang Yanzhang's clever plan.

……

Three days later, the trial concluded and Qiu Shenji was sentenced to death, so he was beheaded in the waist at Caishikou.

In the past few days, the people of Luoyang knew the whole story, so they came to watch the execution one after another. After he was beheaded, they all despised him.

But to everyone's surprise, Po Zan, who was supposed to leave, held Qiu Shenji's head and started crying.

"General Qiu! You are my benefactor in Tubo!"

"If you don't speak out for justice, I will have Tubo in less than three years, and the national treasury will be empty, the people's livelihood will be ruined, and the people will be plunged into misery!"

"If you, a virtuous person like you, can be used by me, Tubo, I, Zanpu, will definitely repay you generously!"

Zanpo cried for a long time and said the same words over and over again, which attracted some people's attention.

... In the palace, several supervisory censors hurried in and reported the strange behavior of Po Zan.

After hearing this, Wu Zetian had no idea about it, but she was a little happy about the news that Zanpu was still in Luoyang.

"Come here! Announce Yang Yanzhang's entry into the palace! I have something to ask him."

Soon, Yang Yanzhang was brought to the palace, and Wu Zetian said: "Yang Yanzhang, Po Zan is still in Luoyang. Do you think there is any hope for this matter?"

Yang Yanzhang chuckled: "I had expected that he would not leave easily!"

"Oh? How can you see it?"

"He came all the way a second time, and wrote a letter asking Tubo Zanpo to raise money to send it. Isn't it so embarrassing to be deceived and return after such a big move? If it were me, I would have no shame to return empty-handed. .”

Wu Zetian's eyes suddenly lit up: "So, is there really a chance of improvement in this matter?"

Yang Yanzhang nodded: "I just said in front of him that a cannon has limited effect, but I didn't say that the cannon shells were shoddy! I have a plan that can make him change his mind!"

"Speak quickly! I am going to die of panic!"

Yang Yanzhang: "Zanpo has seen the power of cannonballs, so he knows that they are indeed important weapons for the country! As long as we release the news and let him know that it is difficult to manufacture these cannonballs, one less one will be used, and the inventory will be so small. , Po Zan will definitely want to buy up all the cannonballs!"

Wu Zetian was stunned: "If it's so difficult, why should we sell it? This doesn't make sense! No matter how stupid Zan Po is, she won't be able to think through this truth, right?"

Yang Yanzhang nodded: "So, we need to make up a reasonable reason! For example, didn't I tell Zan Po before that our artillery shells are stored in the mountains, so people can pretend to be officials guarding the cannons and meet with Zan Po in private , tell him that we can sell it to him secretly! Granny Zan knows that we only have this little money, and if she hears someone is willing to sell it, she will naturally take the risk! By then, won't the deal be done again? "

"Or use old shells as inferior ones?"

"if not?"

The two smiled at each other.

"But who should contact Granny Zan?" Wu Zetian frowned.

Yang Yanzhang smiled bitterly: "This kind of thing is for the Queen Mother to think about herself. I have been an official in the court for only a few months. To be honest, I am not familiar with most of my colleagues. Especially, I have been busy farming recently."

Wu Zetian rubbed his forehead, feeling a little troubled: "Please step aside first and let me think about it carefully. This matter must be considered carefully."

After Yang Yanzhang returned home, he saw a few acquaintances sitting in the courtyard.

Su Liangsi, the left prime minister of Wenchang, Wei Beidong, the right prime minister of Wenchang, and Wei Xuantong, the minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

"Why do these three adults have time to come to my humble residence?" Yang Yanzhang was quite surprised, because these three people had never been to his residence.

Wei Xuantong immediately stood up and laughed: "The ruthless officials persecuted hundreds of officials, and many loyal and good people were ruined because of it!" Yang Yushi came to the official position, but it took Xun more than one month to take down the four villains Zhou Xing, Lai Junchen, Suo Yuanli, and Qiu Shenji. Thief, this is truly a blessing for hundreds of officials, and a blessing for the Tang Dynasty! Today Qiu Shenji is about to be sentenced, and we are specially here to congratulate you."

Wei Daiqi stroked his beard and smiled: "Yang Yushi has been busy farming these days, I'm afraid he doesn't know about an interesting incident on the execution ground today!"

"Oh? I'd like to hear about it!"

"After Qiu Shenji was tortured, the Tibetan envoy held his head and cried for a long time. It's really funny!"

Su Liangsi also agreed: "Yes, the Tubo envoy also said that if a 'virtuous' person like Qiu Shenji could serve Tubo, he would definitely be rewarded! Qiu Shenji's reputation was completely restored after he worshiped him. It stinks!”

(End of this chapter)