In the summer of the thirty-first year of Lu Xianggong, on the official road between Jin and Lu, galloping horses carrying scrolls of letters that decided the fate of Lu stirred up smoke and dust.
While the Ji family was waiting to give them the heaven-sacrifice cauldron and daydreaming about offering sacrifices to the heavens on behalf of the prince, a letter was delivered to Ji's home.
"The Marquis of Jin is furious and accuses the Ji family of being domineering and unethical, and will bring disaster upon them!"
Ji's face was so humiliated this time! He was thrown into the capital of Jin.
The so-called heavenly way of good reincarnation does not mean that there will be no retribution because the time has not yet come.
Ji Sunsu never expected that his request for sacrificial vessels from Jin would cause the Marquis of Jin to be so angry.
Rumors have been circulating that the current Marquis of Jin is quite dissolute and has not been involved in political affairs for many years. Wasn’t the interior of the Jin Kingdom already under the control of the Six Ministers? Why did this happen to the Marquis of Jin?
What he didn't expect was that as the Jin State became furious, all the officials who had been friends with the Ji family in the Lu State's court immediately became silent, and some even directly defected, condemning the Ji family's behavior of overstepping the monarchy. .
The government and the public in the Lu State were naturally shocked. In addition, Shusun Bao secretly shouted, almost everyone in the Lu State, except the Meng family, kept scolding the Ji family.
Even though the Ji family was so powerful, they could not stop the public opinion offensive that was besieging them from all sides. For a while, the Ji family was disgraced and embarrassed.
Ji Sunsu, who was originally complacent, suddenly felt as if he had been hit by a sap. He was dumb and unable to tell the pain of eating coptis.
Within two days, another news came from Lu Palace:
"Dr. Jisun accidentally got an emergency, so the matter of offering sacrifices to heaven on behalf of the emperor has been postponed. It will be postponed until the next day, after the crown prince's enthronement ceremony, and the prince will personally offer sacrifices to heaven to show the courtesy and majesty of the king."
Hearing the message from someone in the palace, Shusun Bao was so happy that he stamped his feet.
"Haha, that old man Ji Sunsu would never have thought that he would stumble at such a time. Ji's reputation in the Lu Kingdom will be greatly reduced."
Shu Sunbao let out a fierce breath, not to mention how happy he felt. When he spoke, his whole spirit seemed to be different. His eyes were high, his momentum was majestic, his back was strong, and his posture was majestic and domineering.
Tai Ziye was naturally very happy:
"Thanks to Zi Ming's advice, we got today's happy ending for us! Thank you Zi Ming!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Tai Ziye wanted to salute Li Ran.
Li Ran naturally couldn't accept it. After all, he was a prince, and it was written clearly on his ID card. If he accepted his worship, he might be said something like that in the future.
"The prince's words are unheard of. However, I am honored by the prince and my uncle and grandson, so I will serve you."
After helping Tai Ziye up, the three of them entered the main hall and sat down.
The success of Li Ran's strategy was largely due to his understanding of the Zhou ritual system and the Jin state. And this defeat of Ji's conspiracy also illustrates Li Ran's ability to a large extent. Prince Ye and Shusun Bao naturally respect Li Ran even more.
In this era when rituals and music are about to collapse, all great talents, whether in front of princes or ministers, are what people strive for, especially for a strategist like Li Ran, who can defeat an army with one person, and is even more deeply entrenched. Respected by those in power.
Strategists have always been a must-have for powerful families.
"After Ye comes to the throne, I must entrust Brother Ziming to the position of official of our Lu Kingdom, so that Brother Ziming can come to the front of the stage, shine in the court, and no longer be tied to the royal family of that week."
As Tai Ziye spoke, the excitement on his face and the tentative look in his eyes slowly showed. Although it was extremely weak, it might not escape Li Ran's eyes.
Li Ran thought for a while, then frowned and shook his head:
"No."
The other two people were stunned and asked why.
Just listen to Li Ran say:
"However, he is hiding in the dark, and any strategy can be implemented. But once he becomes an official in the court, he will inevitably compete with the Ji family and the Meng family in the same court. Even if I have another strategy by then, I am afraid that I will not be able to escape these two The family’s spy. In this way, there will be less to do.”
Although he currently lives in Shu Sunbao's home, he is just a student on the surface and will not attract the attention of countless people in the Lu Kingdom.
Except for his reckless behavior at the township school assembly, he basically didn't show up much. Therefore, even if the Ji family intends to target him, it will not be easy to choose the time and method. After all, in Qufu, Shusun Bao's power is not a decoration.
Shu Sunbao thought that Li Ran's words were indeed reasonable, so he said wildly to the prince:
"It is indeed more beneficial to us for Ziming to hide in the dark. We can discuss the matter of becoming an official in the future."
He reminded Tai Ziye that the Ji family still has the final say in the Lu State now. Even if Tai Ziye has this intention after taking the throne, he may not have the ability. Moreover, it would put Li Ran in a very dangerous position, which was inappropriate and very inappropriate.
"Listening to my brother's words, Ye felt like he was in a state of enlightenment. Ye was so confused that he didn't expect this."
Tai Ziye suddenly nodded, then changed the topic and said in confusion:
"In this case, how should the ceremony of worshiping heaven be arranged?"
Although the candidate to sacrifice to heaven finally fell on his head, the time has not been decided yet, and the specific agenda has not yet been implemented. It was obvious that Ji didn't seem to have given up completely and still wanted to struggle.
In this regard, Li Ran's attitude is quite clear.
"The sooner the better!"
There was a trace of caution on his face as he said:
"The Ji family has suffered a loss, and there will definitely be traces of our intervention. Therefore, the crown prince's accession to the throne must be done as quickly as possible! Firstly, we can take this opportunity to quickly change the prince's image in the government and the public. Secondly, we can also completely change the prince's image in the government and the public. Drown this matter down and leave the Ji family with nothing to do."
As one of the three emperors, Shusun Bao arranged the ritual of offering sacrifices to heaven. Naturally, his presence was indispensable for the crown prince's ascension to the throne, so he immediately agreed.
…
On the other side, in Ji's mansion.
"I think we should have made arrangements a long time ago. The official letter requesting the sacrificial vessels should only fall into the hands of Han Qi. Why would the Marquis of Jin see it? It's really strange..."
Ji Sunsu, who had always been strategizing, was confused this time. After all, the incident happened so suddenly, and the impact was so severe that he had trouble sleeping and eating in the past few days.
Today's Jinhou is known as Jin Pinggong in later generations.
Although the government of Jin was controlled by the Six Ministers. But after all, he is the son of the overlord of the generation, Lord Jin Ao, so who can really disobey him?
In front of the behemoth of the Jin State, the Ji family was really not enough. Even though he was the third emperor of the Lu State, even though he had all the power in the Lu State, under the anger of the Jin Marquis, the Ji family could only tuck his tail between his legs. .
At this moment, I saw an attendant hurriedly entering the palace and whispered a few words in Ji Sun Yiru's ear.
It turned out that he had just received the news. Ji Sun Yiru's rather gloomy eyes suddenly flashed a stern look, and she said to her grandfather in a deep voice:
"Behind this matter, I'm afraid it's all the fault of Shusun Bao and the others!"
"Them?...But what can an old man do?"
It is reasonable for Ji Sunsu to have such doubts. After all, with his status as the Ji family, unless he goes abroad to visit in the name of the King of Dai, even if he goes to Jin, he may not be able to meet the Marquis of Jin. What's more, it's Shu Sunbao?
Furthermore, even if Shusun Bao wanted to tell the Marquis of Jin about this matter, Han Qi would have to agree. After all, Han Qi was now the actual person in power of the Jin State. If he wanted to suppress this matter, who could tell it? Tell the Marquis of Jin about this?
"It was Han Qi who he contacted and asked Han Qi to deliver our official letter to the Marquis of Jin!"
The answer was instantly clear.
It turned out that Han Qi stabbed them in the back, not only did he not allow the commander to prepare and send the cauldron for worshiping heaven.
Instead, he brought this matter to the attention of the Marquis of Jin. As the king of Jin, how could the Marquis of Jin not be angry when he saw such a thing?
Today you, the Ji family, can offer sacrifices to heaven on behalf of the prince of Lu. Then tomorrow, wouldn’t the six ministers of Jin be able to offer sacrifices to heaven on behalf of me, the king of Jin? Is this a big deal?
"This Han Qi, who is both a head and a rat! He is really hateful!"
Ji Sunsu was so angry that he slapped all the bamboo slips on the case table.
He thought that since they often made friends and bribed Han Qi in private, and Han Qi was also a Qing doctor, they would naturally be helpful. But the reality was unexpected. Instead of helping him, Han Qi went to help Shusunbao. Can Jisunsu swallow this bad breath?
"Grandpa, what should we do now?"
There is no hope of worshiping the emperor on behalf of the prince. If he wants to completely control the office, he can no longer use this method. If the Ji family wants to make further progress, they can only find another way.
Ji Sunsu suddenly stood up and paced back and forth in the hall. After a long time, he stopped and said:
"Since Prince Ye is colluding with his uncle and grandson Bao, it seems that this crown prince cannot be established!"
"What?"
No matter how brave Ji Sun Yiru was, he couldn't help but be frightened.
"Grandfather means..."
"good."
Ji Sunsu's eyes flashed with murderous intent and he said:
"It's not like Prince Ye is the only young master in the office. If someone else takes the position of Prince, he will sit in the same position!"
Complete control of the office is the most important task of the Ji family now. Anyone who stands in the way of the Ji family can only become a corpse, even Tai Ziye!
If Prince Ye is killed and someone else becomes the crown prince, Lu will fall completely into the hands of the Ji family.
"Then...who among the royal family can become the crown prince?"
"Do you even need to say this? Of course it's our stupid young master who is so stupid!"
As Ji Sunsu's words fell again, the tip of Ji Sun Yiru's eyebrows suddenly trembled. Sure enough, it was him!
He had actually expected from the beginning that his grandfather would choose Gongzi Chou to take over the position of Tai Ziye. Otherwise, why would his grandfather have asked him to specifically investigate Gongzi Chou before?
But what he was very confused about was that Gongzi Chou was a fool. Could such a person become Ji's puppet?
You must know that running a country is not as simple as playing casually. Once the young master is stupid and can't understand the situation, won't it delay Ji's many things? After all, even if you are a puppet, you still need to be aware of current affairs. How can a fool know the word "current affairs"?
"It seems like it's better to be a bit silly."
Ji Sunsu sat down and said nonchalantly:
"Since he is a puppet, he doesn't need to talk much. He just needs to sit there quietly. Whoever sits in the seat is still the same."
