The price of burning a forest was in exchange for a dead person.

The burning of mountains and forests outside Chang'an City has attracted the attention of many powerful officials. There is no small matter under the feet of the world. At night, the fire lights illuminated half of the sky. The generals of the guards guarding Chang'an were alarmed and sent people to Yanping Gate to ask about the reasons.

In order to prevent it, Jingzhao Prefecture ordered all the officials to close the gates, and all the Marquis of Wu went to patrol the streets. The guards mobilized their troops and strictly guarded the gates of Chang'an City. The scouts were released thirty miles away to investigate the enemy's tracks.

The entire Tang Dynasty capital entered an emergency state of war because of a fire.

Beside the woods outside Yanping Gate, the captain who ordered the fire stood dejectedly beside the corpse, and a man with a general's appearance was kicking the captain's butt hard.

This guy who was not brainy ordered the burning of the forest. He made such a big noise and the whole Chang'an was alarmed. He even dared to ask for credit from him with a shy face...

After the kick, the general squatted down and looked at the corpse under his feet with a torch.

The body was wearing ordinary linen clothes. It looked like a beard with a beard, with her beard and hair light yellow and her eyes gray. When she opened the bag he carried with her, she found that except for some simple clothes, there were only a dozen cents.

The captain next to him looked a little ugly. If he was holding a spy or an enemy, the matter of setting fire to the forest might be exposed. If he shot an innocent citizen, he would have to eat military law.

There was no suspicious thing in the bag, and the general ordered a search again. The body was searched from inside to outside, but no suspicious thing was found.

When the captain was about to despair, a soldier searching for his body hesitated and whispered that the clothes on the body on the body seemed a bit strange when touched.

The captain was overjoyed and hurriedly ordered to peel off all the clothes on the body and touch them inch by inch along the clothes. Finally, a secret was discovered in the ordinary linen clothes. The clothes actually had a mezzanine layer. There was a white silk cloth inside the mezzanine layer, and the silk cloth was densely packed with words.

The captain breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed weakly. He was so dangerous that he escaped the disaster.

The general looked carefully at the words on the silk cloth, and then his expression changed drastically, and his gloomy face did not make a sound for a long time.

After a long time, the general folded the silk cloth and said coldly: "This matter is of great importance. The body and this secret letter are sealed and sent to Jingzhao Mansion. All insiders are not allowed to leak a word. Violators will be beheaded."

Jingzhao Mansion received a hot potato, but did not dare to delay it for a moment. The prefect personally sent the secret letter to the Censorate's Office.

After receiving the letter, the Censorate suddenly became in chaos. No matter what time it was, it was in the middle of the night that the left prime minister Chen Xilie and Yang Guozhong, who was about to be the right prime minister, came to the Censorate from the mansion. After everyone passed the secret letter, Yang Guozhong looked frightened and Chen Xilie closed his eyes and said nothing.

After a long silence, Yang Guozhong said in surprise: "Xiang Chen, do you see this secret letter... is it true or false? Could it be that someone forged it and maliciously framed a loyal minister?"

Chen Xilie still looked like a good man and laughed: "It's true or false, you and I can't tell you clearly. This matter has a great relationship, so I'm afraid you have to worry about the sage."

So, this hot potato was finally sent to Xingqing Palace after going around in the middle of the night.

Li Longji was woken up by Gao Lishi in the middle of the night, and the secret letter was handed to him.

After unfolding the secret letter, Li Longji's face changed.

The secret letter has no beginning or signature. From a literal sense, it is just something that looks like an account book, similar to a performance report.

But Li Longji saw the difference.

If this is an account book, then it is an account book that can kill people.

The letter details that the end of last year's winter, the three towns bought 50,000 pieces of winter clothes, mined more than 400,000 kilograms of pig iron, and created a total of more than 50,000 weapons such as horizontal swords, long halberds, hooks, sickles, shields, etc. The court allocated them to the local procurement, and hoarded a total of 100,000 stones of military ration...

The previous ones are quite normal, and Li Longji can see that it is normal for the military expenditure in the border town.

The second half of the secret letter is a bit abnormal.

The secret letter details the candidates for the main generals of each army and brigade in the three towns. Interestingly, the main generals of each army and brigade on it were originally Han people's names, but a line was drawn on the Han people's names with a brush, and a Hu people's name was added next to it.

As they stroke by stroke, the heads and generals of the armies and brigades above were gradually replaced by the Hu people, and it was difficult to see the names of the Han people.

Not only that, a series of intriguing names were specially written on the secret letter, with a number behind the name, some of which were 3,500, and some even 10,000.

As for those intriguing names, Li Longji could tell at a glance that they were the names of the Khitan and the Xi people.

Khitan and Xi are now in a state of war with the Tang Dynasty. So what does this string of names and numbers mean?

At the end of the secret letter, there were still some names and numbers written. Li Longji was more familiar with these names and numbers. These people were all court officials from Chang'an. Some were ministers, some were supervisors of the Censorate, and the most were officials of the Ministry of Revenue. From the Minister to the Chief, they almost penetrated.

This is roughly the same in all the contents of the Secret Letter.

There are no ruthless words, and there is no sign of anything wrong.

But in Li Longji's eyes, he felt shocking.

He never expected that a secret letter filled with names and numbers would make him feel chilled from his bones.

Who wrote this letter and whom to whom, what does the name and number on it mean? The answer is actually already in Li Longji's heart, but he couldn't believe it.

"Where is the sender?"

Under the dim palace lanterns, Li Longji's expression was gloomy and sunny.

Gao Lishi whispered: "The person who sent the letter was found suspicious by the gatekeeper. When the soldiers wanted to capture him, the person who sent the letter fled into the woods outside the city. The soldiers burned the forest and forced the person out, and then were shot to death by arrows."

After pausing for a moment, Gao Lishi added: "The Censorate reported that the sender was a Hu man."

Li Longji said coldly: "There are court ears and eyes in the border towns everywhere. Can abnormal news be transmitted back to Chang'an?"

Gao Lishi thought for a while, shook his head and said, "There is nothing abnormal."

Li Longji opened the secret letter and read it again, then snorted contemptuously: "You childish frame-making tricks, ha, do you think I am a fool?"

After throwing the letter to the table, Li Longji stretched and said tiredly: "Tell the Censorate that if you suppress this matter, just pretend nothing happened. Let me tell Jingzhao Mansion and check the source of this letter. Someone must be maliciously framed Zhongliang, how can I tolerate him?"

Gao Lishi respectfully accepted the order.

Li Longji wore a yellow robe and walked a few steps on the smooth floor barefoot, his steps slower and slower, and his expression gradually became stunned.

Those strings of names and numbers have become unexplainable pictures in his mind.

Fanyang Ping Lu Hedong Towns was a major barrier to the north of the Tang Dynasty. He asked the most trusted An Lushan to guard the barrier. In order to give back An Lushan's loyalty, Li Longji completely let him go of the local military and political power of the three towns. However, the appearance of this secret letter made Li Longji feel uneasy.

Is the secret letter really fake? Is it really for the purpose of framed An Lushan?

So, what if it is true? Those names and numbers, even half of them, are enough to show that An Lushan has a ill-hearted intention and his intention is punishable.

People's hearts are separated from their belly, can An Lushan be believed?

Li Longji's expression was calm, but his heart was already stormy.

He was already in his sixties in his later years and seemed to have no setbacks or blows. If An Lushan really had evil intentions, then he would be the most failed emperor in the history of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Longji quickly recovered from his awakening and bit the tip of his tongue hard.

Can't believe it, can't believe it!

It must be that there are evil thieves who frame loyal ministers. I am a wise ruler. How can I be deceived by such inferior tricks?

An Lushan is a loyal minister, without a doubt.

…………

Without any warning, An Lushan, who was in Chang'an, was inexplicably caught in a huge storm.

After dawn, Li Longji, who had not been asleep all night, got up, and Gao Lishi came to report that the prince of the East Palace and Yang Guozhong asked for a meeting together.

Li Longji was quite surprised. Since Li Linfu's death, the prince and Yang Guozhong have no choice but to deal with each other, and they are gradually incompatible. Why do you ask for a meeting together today?

Then Li Longji's face turned gloomy, probably because it was for the secret letter last night. It seemed that it could not be hidden, and the news had already spread.

He ordered Gao Lishi to summon the two of them into the hall. After they entered the hall to salute, Li Longji smiled. Before he could even go through the process of greeting and caring for his ministers, Yang Guozhong said first: "Your Majesty, I came to the palace today for a secret letter last night."

Li Longji raised his eyebrows, said oh, and then looked at the prince. Seeing that the prince looked calm, it was obvious that he was also coming for this matter.

Li Longji frowned and said, "I already know that the letter was framed by a thief, and it is not credible."

Yang Guozhong's temperament has changed today, his personality has also changed, and his whole person has become full of justice and concern for the country and the people, and even showed an extremely rare edge.

"Your Majesty, I think that no matter whether it is true or false, I should check it. The letter was sent to the Censorate by Jingzhao Mansion last night. Both Chen Xiang and Chen Xiang read it. This letter is shocking. I was so scared that I was so scared that I was still a little weak and weak at this moment. Your Majesty, this letter appears strangely, but the things written on it must be investigated."

Li Longji snorted coldly: "Yang Guozhong, I know you are in a quarrel with An Lushan. Don't think that I don't know what you are thinking about and what you are trying to catch up with. Just a secret letter that doesn't know where to come, I will send someone to investigate the three towns. Wouldn't it hurt the hearts of the border general?"

Turning his head to stare at the prince, Li Longji's tone became colder: "Where are you? You want to check An Lushan too?"

Li Heng's expression was still calm and he said calmly: "Father, this is what my son's intention is. Don't be angry in a hurry, please listen to my son's words..."

Li Longji snorted coldly: "You said."

"Father, the content of the secret letter cannot be hidden. Even the son-in-law's East Palace heard about it. Last night, in order to capture the person who sent the letter, the city guard set fire to the fire. It is known to everyone in the city. When everyone in the world was talking, even if the father did not believe it, he would make some judgments to cover up the world's mouths."

Li Heng whispered: "My son believes in An Jieshang's loyalty, but I am afraid of everything. The contents of the secret letter are too terrible. Anything that is true is a disaster for the Tang Dynasty. The father and the minister think that trusting a person cannot entrust the country to the whole country. Trust is trustworthy, and what should be investigated must be found clearly... What if it is true?"

Yang Guozhong followed and said, "Your Majesty, An Lushan holds 200,000 troops in his hand."
Chapter completed!