Liu Zhiyuan is dead!
When Guo Xin learned the news from Guo Wei, Liu Zhiyuan had already died in the palace.
At this time, Guo Wei had stayed in the palace all night to discuss matters secretly with several ministers, and did not return to Guo Mansion until almost dawn. When Guo Xin was called over in a hurry, Guo Wei already looked tired.
Guo Wei called his two sons and adopted son Guo Rong, and explained the major events in the palace in just a few words. Then he ordered the three of them not to tell anyone outside, and then went inside to rest, leaving only the three brothers looking at each other in the hall. .
Guo Rong frowned deeply and said thoughtfully: "This dynasty was established not long ago, and the official family has already collapsed. I'm afraid it is not a good thing."
Guo Tong also nodded in agreement, showing a sad look.
However, Guo Xin secretly looked at Guo Tong's appearance and felt that he might not be worried about court affairs, but worried about his daughter of the Wang family who had not yet married.
The three of them were in different moods, but none of them had any interest in talking. They sat in silence for a while and then left.
It was still early at this time, and when he returned to his room, Guo Xin still couldn't help but think.
According to Guo Wei, there were a total of four ministers under Guo Wei's orders. In addition to Guo Wei himself, there were also Privy Councilor Yang Bin, Prime Minister Su Fengji and Chief of Guards Shi Hongzhao.
After discussions in the palace, Yang Ping, Su Fengji and others decided not to announce the funeral secretly for the time being. On the first day of February, the legacy of the late emperor would be read out, and Zhou Wang Liu Chengyou would be crowned emperor.
For Guo Xin, this is not good news. Liu Chengyou's succession to the throne means many things, but there is only one thing that worries him the most: whether Liu Chengyou will kill his ministers as he did in history, and how can he prevent his entire family from being punished?
He was under heavy pressure, but fortunately, he was a little relieved that Guo Wei had been appointed by Guo Wei and had become one of the highest decision-makers in the name of the court. Among the other ministers who cared about life, Shi Hongzhao and Yang Bin both had good personal relationships with Guo Wei, and Wang Zhang was a confirmed ally with his in-laws. Only Su Fengji, who represented the civil service faction, had a relatively distant relationship with his family.
Thinking about it this way, the team Liu Zhiyuan arranged for Liu Chengyou is generally relatively stable, and they are all familiar and direct relatives brought from Hedong. Guo Xin deduced from this that in the current troubled times, Liu Chengyou would still be inseparable from these assistant ministers arranged by his father after he took the throne. Therefore, the outbreak of conflicts between monarchs and ministers should not be a short-term event, and there would probably be time for him to prepare. …
At this time, Yuniang came in with hot water for washing. Seeing Guo Xingan sitting in a daze, she asked, "What is Guo Lang thinking?"
Guo Xin thought for a moment and replied casually, "I'm thinking of a story to tell Yu Niang."
"Huh? Why is Guo Lang so interested all of a sudden?" Yu Niang put down the copper basin, took out a clean cloth and soaked it in the water, lifted up the hair from her temples, and returned, "I am listening."
Guo Xin thought for a while and said: "There was once a rich family who hired several tenants. They usually worked independently, and they were able to farm the fields and pay for the food. Until one day, the old rich family died, and only a pair of orphans were left in the family. Widowed mother. The tenants helped the master take care of the property. At this time, the young wealthy households gradually grew up and wanted to take care of their own affairs. They decided to drive away the tenants who had worked hard and made great achievements, and hired others to plow the fields and hoe them..."
Guo Xin paused and asked: "Yu Niang thinks, how can these tenants make the master give up this plan?"
Yu Niang kept moving her hands, taking out the soaked face towel from the copper basin and wringing it out. She tilted her head and thought: "Since it is the property of the master's family, it is natural that the master's family has the final say on how to deal with it. Tenants Even if I can impress the master for a while, how can I do it forever? As the saying goes, once the emperor is the same as the courtier, I have never heard of any family having tenants for generations."
"But what if the tenants will starve to death if they leave this family?"
Yuniang seemed to smile with some compassion: "Guo Lang has no worries about food and clothing since he was born, and he always has a kind heart towards others... But people's livelihood in the world is difficult, and most people have a hard time just to have children for their own family. How can they have time to care about the life and death of other families? What's more? What’s more, tenants often seize the master’s property with open arms or covert covert actions, so how can we not be on guard against it?”
Guo Xin continued to ask: "What if the tenants have no intention of robbing their master's land and just want to live a stable life?"
Yu Niang paused with the face towel in her hand: "Guo Lang is really good at joking. How can there be any farmer in this world who dislikes the lack of land, and who is willing to be a farmhand all his life..."
Guo Xin was stunned for a long time before saying, "Yu Niang thinks more clearly than I do."
...Guo Xin walked out of the room and ordered his servants to call Guo Pu to prepare his horse and prepare to go out for a walk.
I saw Guo Pu holding the horse in the front yard. Guo Pu saw Guo Xin and asked with some concern: "Brother Yi is sick?"
Guo Xin took the reins from Guo Pu and asked doubtfully: "How do you say it?"
"Brother Yi looks very bad..." Guo Pu then shook his head, "Maybe I saw it wrong."
Guo Xin took Guo Pu out of the house silently, but for a moment he didn't know where to go. He was holding things in his heart, but he couldn't talk to anyone. It was like a fire was raging in his body, and he couldn't find an outlet to vent it. It really made him feel restless.
At this time, Guo Pu suddenly pointed to the street corner and said, "Isn't that someone from our army?"
Guo Xin looked up and saw that there were indeed a few men gathering at the corner of the street. The winter clothes of the Forbidden Army soldiers were all issued by the imperial court, so they were easy to identify. Guo Xin recognized that the clothes they were wearing were indeed his own Forbidden Army soldiers.
At this time, the men also saw Guo Xin riding out, and they all rushed over.
"Brother Yi?" Guo Pu frowned when he saw this, and put his hand on the handle of the knife he carried with him warily, searching for Guo Xin's meaning with his eyes.
Guo Xinan sat on the horse and waved his hand nonchalantly: "It doesn't matter."
He didn't see any weapons in the hands of the men, and he didn't believe that anyone was so unafraid of death that he would dare to attack him in front of his house.
The men gathered around, and Guo Xin found that a few of them looked familiar. He thought they were his subordinates, so he didn't speak, waiting for the men to explain their intentions.
There were five men in total. They sang a salute in front of Guo Xinma and then started chattering in all directions.
Guo Xin was confused by what he heard, and pointed to one of them who looked smarter: "You come to talk, what do you want from me?"
The man who was targeted quickly clasped his fists and said, "Commander Guo, we are here today to thank Commander Guo for saving us."
Guo Xin suddenly asked: "Is this the person you killed in the city a few days ago?"
The man lowered his head: "It's me and the others. We know that Commander Guo's envoy is Privy Councilor Guo Xianggong, so we didn't dare to disturb the house. We have been waiting here, hoping that Commander Guo's time will not be wasted... these two days I hunted something outside, and I also collected some small gifts, which is not respectful."
Only then did Guo Xin notice that the two men were indeed carrying several slices of meat on their shoulders. Another man carefully took out a small bag from his arms, opened the bag, and revealed the gold bars inside.
Guo Xin didn't know whether to laugh or cry for a moment, and laughed and cursed: "Take them all back, I don't lack these things."
The man clasped his fists solemnly and said: "Although Commander Guo doesn't look down on these things, the army has always been a place where rules are respected. If Commander Guo hadn't taken action in the previous incident, we wouldn't be sure how to deal with the crime. We know what to do. No matter what, I must express my gratitude to Commander Guo."
The other four people also followed the man and clasped their fists.
Guo Xin pondered slightly, then nodded and said: "Those few naked eyes are in good use during the winter. I'd better take back the rest of the gold and silver. I'm not one of those people who covets money. Furthermore, if you really want to repay your kindness, please do it well." Working hard to kill the enemy on the battlefield is better than anything else."
The men stopped talking and agreed one after another.
Guo Xin felt that the man he was talking to just now was very organized in his speech and did not look rude like an ordinary martial artist, so he casually asked the man: "What's your name?"
The man's eyes immediately turned to Guo Xin excitedly, and then he immediately lowered his gaze and saluted respectfully: "My name is Wang Shiliang, and I have been following Guo Xin's command since he was in Taiyuan Prefecture."
"Wang Shiliang..." Guo Xin read again and said with a smile, "I remember you."
