Around the time of Kaiyuan, there was a pair of famous eminent monks in Tiantai Mountain named "Hanshan" and "Shide". They sat in meditation with each other, and one day they had a famous question and answer.

"There are people in this world who slander me, bully me, humiliate me, laugh at me, belittle me, despise me, hate me, or lie to me. How should I deal with it?"

The answer to this Zen question is naturally very philosophical, but Gu Qing and Yang Guozhong are not eminent monks, they are just ordinary people. To be precise, they are not good people, and sometimes the things they do cannot even be considered human beings.

So if you ask this famous question to Gu Qing, Gu Qing's answer is probably "Just scold him, scold him, scold him, scold him, scold him. If the scolding is not enough, I will start a newspaper and continue to scold him."

Gu Qing's reminder gave Yang Guozhong inspiration, and he thought of a lot at that moment.

As the emperor's brother-in-law and holding fifteen positions, does Yang Guozhong have any political enemies?

Of course there is. There is no one in the world who is as loved by everyone as Renmin. Even the emperor, the king of a country, also has political opponents in the court. It’s just that he can’t get rid of them because of their direct names, so he can only pinch his nose to hold back his nausea.

.

There were so many people who disliked Yang Guozhong, it could be said that there were as many as crucian carp crossing the river. If killing was not illegal, people who wanted to kill Yang Guozhong could line up from Xuanwu Gate to Chengtian Gate.

Because Yang Guozhong is not a good person.

In the first half of his life, he was confused and didn't read many books. In order to be a little county captain and make everyone smile, his cousin became a noble concubine for no reason, and he became the emperor's brother-in-law, an authentic cousin, and the Tang Dynasty did not

Why should a relative not be involved in politics? So he was given a lot of official positions by his old brother-in-law, and suddenly jumped to a high position. How could Yang Guozhong not rise up? Once a powerful person rises to the top, how can he not do something that is harmful to nature?

In fact, Yang Guozhong has done a lot of bad things in Chang'an in the past few years, including enclosing land and invading fields, seizing people's property, bullying men and women, etc. The supervisory censors of the Yushitai have interfered with him countless times, but Yang Guozhong's status

Still unmoved, no matter how intense the memorial was, it was just scratching an itch for him.

The feeling of being pampered by the emperor is so wonderful.

Gu Qing suddenly mentioned the word "political enemy", which immediately gave Yang Guozhong a lot of inspiration.

Yes, if the gossip newspaper can influence the public opinion in Chang'an City, wouldn't it be great to use it to deal with political opponents in the future? Use a joking and ridiculing tone to discredit the political opponents, and spread the truth to the people. Who cares about the civilians and scholars?

Whatever is true or false, it is enough to talk about it. If it is the critical moment when you are ready to take action against a political opponent, give him a strong slap in the gossip newspaper. People's hearts and public opinion will be incited, and the political opponent will collapse...

After thinking about this, Yang Guozhong turned his eyes to the Bagua time clock on the table, and the meaning in his eyes was different.

Gu Qing smiled beside him and said, "Mr. Yang Taifu has probably figured it out?"

Yang Guozhong did not answer, but said slowly: "This gossip report... was the idea of ​​the wise brother?"

"Yes, I have nothing to do, just chatting for fun."

"Is this a pastime? It's obviously a knife that can kill people." Yang Guozhong sighed.

"But in the eyes of scholars and common people, it was just a pastime. Before the sword was unsheathed, it was harmless to humans and animals. Others didn't even know it was a sword, they just thought it was a toy."

Yang Guozhong said with admiration and awe: "If each publication only records some anecdotes about court officials and celebrities, this gossip newspaper will look really harmless, but in the eyes of smart people, sooner or later, they will see its role.

At that time, if the emperor and the princes in the court are held accountable, how should you and I deal with ourselves?"

Gu Qing blinked: "So I still need to get the imperial concubine to join me. At the same time, we have to work hard to convince the emperor that this thing is just a recreational toy and not worthy of too much attention."

Yang Guozhong's expression was gloomy and uncertain. After a long moment, he gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, count me in! But I have to say beforehand that if the emperor finds that this thing is inappropriate and we cannot convince the emperor, then let this matter go and never mention it again.

Brother Yu is a minister and cannot be contradicted by the Emperor."

"Of course, if the emperor objects, the lower officials will not dare to continue."

After talking about the business, Yang Guozhong was about to leave. Gu Qing hesitated and said: "If Yang Taifu wants to convince the emperor, he'd better act quickly."

"Why the rush?"

Gu Qing sighed: "Today Mr. Yang personally came to our door for this gossip report. How does Mr. Taifu know if other dignitaries from Chang'an City will come to our door? And how can the person who comes to us know whether his intentions are good or evil?"

Yang Guozhong was stunned for a moment, took a deep look at Gu Qing, then nodded, hurriedly stuffed the gossip newspaper on the table into his arms, said goodbye, went out and got on the carriage, heading straight towards Xingqing Palace.

Looking at the disappearing figure of the carriage, Gu Qing's lips curled up.

After five years of planning, the first piece fell on the chessboard.

No one has noticed that the foundation of the prosperous age is on the verge of collapse, but Gu Qing's mood is getting more and more urgent. Under the overwhelming pressure, how can there be a complete egg? Before the troubled times are coming, Gu Qing must be fully prepared, otherwise the future will be just drifting with the tide.

You can't protect yourself or the people you care about.

…………

After Yang Guozhong entered the palace, he first met Yang Guifei.

Yang Guifei flipped through the gossip papers in her hands. The more she read, the more interesting it became. She pointed at the headline about the incident of Mrs. Yang falling into the water on the front page and kept laughing.

Yang Guozhong was a discerning man. Seeing that Concubine Yang seemed to be very interested in it, he immediately asked: "Do you like this gossip report?"

Concubine Yang smiled and said, "It's quite interesting. It's fun to kill the boredom."

"To be honest with you, my Majesty, this newspaper was jointly organized by me and Gu Qing, for the daily entertainment of the dignitaries and scholars in Chang'an City."

Concubine Yang was stunned, then laughed: "You... are all ministers of the emperor. There are so many important affairs of the government waiting for you to handle, but you are doing this kind of thing together?"

Yang Guozhong smiled and said: "Of course it is to relieve the boredom of Your Majesty and Your Majesty. Your Majesty and Your Majesty rarely go out of the palace. They read this gossip newspaper every day to see what the courtiers and scholars in Chang'an City have done to be immoral or immoral.

It's up to His Majesty and the Empress to just smile."

Concubine Yang shook her head and smiled: "That's all, you can have fun if you want. It's not a big deal."

Yang Guozhong blinked and carefully probed: "Your Majesty, what does your little fellow countryman Gu Qing mean by asking your Majesty to participate in this matter? After all, this gossip newspaper specializes in recording anecdotes and absurd things about courtiers and celebrities, and I am worried about those courtiers.

They became angry and accused us of not doing our job properly..."

Yang Guifei glared and pretended to be angry: "You guys are not doing your job properly, is it possible that you are still reasonable? What's going on with that child Gu Qing? He obviously seems to be a sensible and disciplined child, why do you do such nonsense with you?"

Yang Guozhong said with a smile: "What you said is absolutely true, but Gu Qing is a member of Zuo Wei's family and has joined the army. He doesn't have much official business to deal with on weekdays. It happened that the Japanese minister was killed by a thief and fell into the water, so Gu Qing came up with the idea of ​​running a gossip report.

The idea of ​​remembering it is for entertainment purposes for the literati in Chang'an City. In the future, they will praise your majesty's wisdom and the empress's peerless beauty in the gossip newspapers, so that everyone in the world will know your majesty's holy name and the empress's beauty.

name……"

After hearing this, Concubine Yang covered her mouth and smiled: "This must be Gu Qing's idea. He is shameless when he praises people, but it's rare for him to have such thoughts, that's all. I'll leave it up to you, including me.

The gossip has been reported, but you are not allowed to use my name to bully outside, and you are not allowed to do anything that violates national laws, otherwise I will not protect you."

Yang Guozhong hurriedly bowed and thanked him.

At this moment, the eunuch's high-pitched voice came from outside the flower calyx building, indicating that the emperor had arrived.

Concubine Yang and Yang Guozhong stood up in a hurry and stood in front of the palace gate to greet him. Not long after, Li Longji, dressed in bright yellow uniform, walked slowly. He first helped Concubine Yang and said with a gentle smile: "We have been married for many years, why do you need to be so polite?"

Yang Guozhong said respectfully from the side: "Your Majesty, Yang Guozhong, pays homage to your Majesty."

Li Longji glanced at him, nodded with a smile, and said no courtesy.

In fact, in his heart, Li Longji disliked Yang Guozhong. Li Longji had already heard what kind of person Yang Guozhong was, but Yang Guozhong had an advantage that others could not match, that is, he could be trusted.

Concubine Yang was Li Longji's only favorite concubine. In the twelfth year of Kaiyuan, Li Longji deposed Queen Wang due to Fu Yan's case and never established a queen. Concubine Yang was actually the master of the harem. Although she did not have the name of queen, she

In fact, as a queen, Yang Guozhong, as the cousin of Concubine Yang, is also smart and intelligent. He is not very knowledgeable, but his life is much better than most of the courtiers. In addition, he is the brother-in-law, so Li Longji is able to

Decided to reuse him.

Firstly, it was to show favor to Concubine Yang, and secondly, the existence of Yang Guozhong could contain the court situation. If Donggong and Li Linfu were the two major forces in the court, and Li Longji had to balance these two forces in order to achieve stability, then Yang Guozhong was in Li Longji's heart.

They are the alternate forces. Once one of the two major forces falls, Yang Guozhong can immediately take over, allowing the situation in the court to quickly form a new balance overnight. That's why Li Longji granted Yang Guozhong fifteen official positions. Now in the court

The officials in the hall who fawned over Yang Guozhong were no less fawning than those who fawned over Li Linfu.

This is Li Longji's imperial mentality. In the first half of his life, he worked hard and created the prosperous Kaiyuan Dynasty. In the second half of his life, he only focused on recruiting people, which caused intrigues between the emperor and his ministers from top to bottom. However, Li Longji was still complacent and felt that he had won the hearts of the world.

Playing with it in the palm of your hand.

No matter how bad Yang Guozhong is, no matter how ignorant he is, if Li Longji thinks he is useful, then he will be the pillar of the country.

Although he no longer looked down on Yang Guozhong in his heart, Li Longji still did a good job with his appearance. He smiled and motioned for a seat, and chatted with Yang Guozhong for a long time.

Then Li Longji glanced at a piece of paper placed on the table in front of him, with the words "Gossip" printed on it. Li Longji picked it up and read it out of curiosity. The first thing he noticed was the headline on the front page: Yang Guozhong fell into the water.

Li Longji laughed twice, then flipped through other articles, most of which were anecdotes.

"This thing is interesting, who did it?" Li Longji said with a smile.

Yang Guozhong reported: "Your Majesty, I am doing this in partnership with Gu Qing, who is an official in Zuo Wei's palace and is a member of the army. The imperial concubine also found it interesting, so she also joined the group."

Li Longji raised his eyebrows and looked at Concubine Yang, and said with a smile: "Madam, are you also interested in this thing?"

Concubine Yang had just agreed to Yang Guozhong, so she glared at him dissatisfied, and then said to Li Longji with a smile: "Sanlang, I think this article is very interesting. Gu Qing and the others said that this newspaper does not involve government affairs, and what it records is all

There are rumors about some courtiers and celebrities in Chang'an City, and they should be discussed after dinner. I think there is nothing wrong with it, so I agreed to them."

Li Longji looked at the Bagua newspaper with a smile, and suddenly asked: "Although this article does not involve government affairs, it is similar to a palace copy. Is it distributed in Chang'an?"

Yang Guozhong said aggrievedly: "This copy in your Majesty's hand has been distributed to more than 2,000 people. In recent days, the scholars and civilians in Chang'an City have been talking about the incident of my falling into the water. People are talking in the streets and alleys. I am considered an official and scholar of Chang'an City."

They have made enough money to laugh at..."

Li Longji's smile gradually faded and he frowned: "Everyone is talking about it in the streets?"

"yes."

Li Longji's eyes became colder: "If a newspaper can be known to everyone, if one day in the future it publishes some news that catches me or the courtiers off guard and causes an uproar among the people, how will the kings and ministers in the court deal with it?"

Concubine Yang had not thought that far, and hurriedly argued: "Sanlang, the gossip newspaper is just a leisurely account of famous people's anecdotes and miscellaneous matters, and never involves government affairs, so how can it cause such a fuss?"

Li Longji was noncommittal and stared at Yang Guozhong: "Is it your idea or Gu Qing's?"

"It was Gu Qing's idea to return to Your Majesty. The young man likes to be lively, so he tried every possible means to make some noise and make people laugh." Yang Guozhong saw that Li Longji looked unhappy, so he quickly sold Gu Qing without changing his expression.

Concubine Yang said anxiously: "If San Lang is not happy, I can ask Gu Qing to stop immediately. The young man does not know that the court is dangerous, and he did it for fun. Even if he gets into trouble, it is unintentional."

Gu Qing's appearance appeared in Li Longji's mind. After thinking about it secretly, he also felt that considering Gu Qing's age, starting this newspaper seemed not to be intentional. There was nothing sensitive about the anecdotes written on it. It looked like it was just a joke by a young man.

Perhaps even Gu Qing himself did not expect that a newspaper could spread throughout Chang'an and arouse a lot of discussion among the scholars and common people in Chang'an.

Then Li Longji calmed down and said: "Although there is nothing wrong with this thing, it has been spread too widely. If it is used by someone with intentions to spread some news that is detrimental to the emperor and his ministers..."

Yang Guozhong was anxious. Although he sold Gu Qing without hesitation just now, it was just out of self-preservation instinct. From the bottom of his heart, he still hoped that the gossip paper could continue. The inspiration Gu Qing gave him was very useful. In the future, this article would be used for

It may be of great use in dealing with political opponents.

So Yang Guozhong said softly: "Your Majesty, the gossip report is nothing more than harmless gossip. Chang'an is at the feet of the emperor, and Gu Qing and I are not indifferent people. How dare you make random arrangements in the newspaper? Is there anyone like that?

Are you afraid of losing your head if you dare to send random things?"

Seeing that Li Longji's expression had relaxed, Concubine Yang immediately offered a divine assist. She pouted and tugged on his sleeves, swaying him from side to side in a coquettish manner: "Sanlang is still hesitant about this trivial matter, but it's just that I and my brother Gu Qing have nothing to do."

It's just a gadget to kill boredom. Is Saburo still afraid that it will turn the world upside down? There are so many great generals under Saburo who hold military power, and you don't believe it, but we can't do this gadget, Saburo..."

Li Longji was relieved immediately.

Yes, there are so many generals who hold military power, and I have arranged them clearly. Compared with the sensitivity of military power, how much trouble can this tabloid cause? Thinking about it, I feel that I am worrying too much.

So Li Longji smiled boldly and said: "Then it's up to you. Remember your propriety and don't cause trouble. Otherwise, even I won't be able to calm down the crowd in the court."

…………

Li Linfu's Residence.

The guest was half-kneeling in front of Li Linfu's bedside. Looking at the waning old man in front of him, he felt so sad that he almost shed tears.

Holding the power for half of his life, he cannot escape birth, old age, illness and death. The prime minister's illness has become increasingly serious, and he does not know when he will pass away.

After a long time, Li Linfu woke up slowly, looked at the guest with his cloudy old eyes, and said, "Is something wrong again?"

The court official lowered his head and said, "Master Xiang, Wan Sheng has already found out the source of that gossip report."

"explain."

"Only two businessmen from Shuzhou were found. If we go further, we may have to interrogate people. The gossip report was spread by these two businessmen."

Li Linfu frowned: "Businessmen have so much courage to openly arrange court officials? There must be someone behind them."

"Yes, but if we want to know who is behind the scenes, we must capture the two businessmen. The current source lies with them. If we do not capture them, we cannot question them. I don't know how deep the water is inside, so I have to ask the prime minister first, please."

Prime Minister, please tell me."

Li Linfu closed his eyes to rest his mind, covered his mouth and coughed a few times from time to time, his mind racing rapidly.

Having been in charge of the court for many years, Li Linfu has become the prime minister under one person and above tens of thousands of people. In terms of authority, disciples, and power in the court, he is second to none in the Tang Dynasty. Even the prince of the East Palace is afraid of him.

Ordinarily, there is no need to go to war with a mere newspaper that records anecdotes. The main reason is that Li Linfu has a far-sighted vision. When he knew that this newspaper was widely known in the streets, he sensitively discovered that this newspaper was a conspiracy.

If the sharp blade can be used by him, it will play a key role in the battle with the East Palace in the future.

So, who are the people behind the gossip papers?

After thinking for a long time, Li Linfu suddenly laughed.

It is impossible for the emperor to be so bored doing such noisy things, so looking at the entire Tang Dynasty, who else does Li Linfu fear besides the emperor? A mere newspaper actually made the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty fearful. Is he really old?

After coughing a few times, Li Linfu stretched out his trembling hand and waved it gently.

"Let's go as soon as Wannian County Magistrate sends people to capture those two businessmen and interrogate them strictly."

…………

It was late in the evening when Wannian County Magistrate sent out officers to pick up the man. Hao Donglai and Shi Daxing were drinking and fighting for wealth in a brothel in Pingkangfang, Chang'an.

Pingkangfang is a famous gathering place for romantic places in Chang'an. There are many brothels here and hundreds of entertainment houses. Hao Donglai and Shi Daxing are quite wealthy and have recently become super VIP guests of major brothels.

Without it, the two of them are just taking advantage of each other.

When the two drunken men were drunk, they banged the table and yelled at each other. They uncovered the past events one after another. They cried bitterly over the passing of those years and were furious over how they had snatched their love. It didn't take long for most of the brothels in Pingkangfang to know each other.
Chapter completed!