Su Zongshan slowly walked into the study with his hands behind his back. After looking around, he quickly bent down and gave Lu Zhixian a deep bow, deliberately letting the latter see the official document with his name held behind him, which was being wrinkled and making a rustling sound by the breeze.
"Master Shangshu," Su Zongshan spoke, which made Lu Zhixian feel scared. He forced himself to look at the other party's face calmly, with a look of worry, "Su is carrying a body as big as a sea of blood. I have a connection, and I specifically asked for a shocking news from Ambassador Lian. This matter is very difficult, and I am afraid that it will affect the future of the adults, so I want to discuss it with you to see if there is a solution."
"You can say yes to participating in politics." Lu Zhixian raised his trembling hand and rolled up his sleeves.
"You and I are colleagues, so it's inconvenient to talk about this matter," Su Zongshan said, pressing the official document on his desk, "You will understand it after you take a look."
Lu Zhixian followed his gaze and looked timidly at the list. I saw the names of more than a dozen ministers neatly written on it, some of them were circled with red pen, and some incomprehensible words were marked; more importantly, there was a seal stamped at the end of the book. It was the one he had seen used by Lian Chongwen before.
"I got this from Lian Chongwen through some special means," Su Zongshan paced back and forth in front of him, "He said that this is what will be discussed in two days - to force the court to depose those involved. Official."
When Lu Zhixian heard the words he said word by word, it was like a thunder in the quiet night, striking straight at him, as if it penetrated from the Tianling Gai to his whole body.
He gritted his teeth, endured the dizziness, and kept himself from fainting: "This is not okay! Your Excellency met with him and didn't you say a word or two to persuade him?"
Su Zongshan looked at how this dignified Minister of Rites became so lost. He couldn't help feeling a little pity and sighed: "He is also here under the order of the other country. How can he make arbitrary decisions? Can he reveal some of the contents of the negotiation? Leave it to this officer to handle it, and he has done his best.”
"Please!" Lu Zhixian was at a loss and hurriedly raised his hand to him, "It's best to come up with an idea, any means will do, as long as you can keep the hard-won position of the official!"
"Don't worry, I definitely don't want you to fall down. After all, we have the same opinion. Who knows who will be replaced? Purging court officials in this way will only allow traitors to take advantage of the loopholes. My words are not just to advise you. One, let alone with many colleagues, only if we work together as a team can we avoid being bullied by others."
At this point, he carefully covered his mouth and turned away: "Let me explain to you again. Prime Minister Feng is worried that no one will blame him. If we don't take action, we will still be in disarray. Then wait for the credentials Once submitted, he will definitely take the opportunity to cause trouble."
After Lu Zhixian heard these heartfelt words, he didn't have the slightest suspicion. He held his hand tightly and said, "Sir Su, for the sake of the future of the official, you can speak out. It shows that you have no sense of family! You just give me orders, and I will listen." It’s yours!”
"You don't have to say it so harshly. I'm just working for the Prime Minister. I really can't bear the responsibility..." Su Zongshan sighed and patted the back of his hand, "Actually, what I want you to do is not something difficult. The task, but it requires a little courage. He, Lian Chongwen, said that he could cooperate with me, but he must ask the people on the list to come up with money, one thousand taels of silver per person. Only in this way would he give up the pursuit of accountability for those involved. , and went back to the country to conceal the report, claiming that the officials who had recently resigned were dismissed by us for fulfilling the contract. One and two visits were enough to hide the truth. "
Lu Zhixian's eyes hesitated for a moment, not because he was stingy with money, but because he was afraid that he would be blackmailed by him if he had such a bribery relationship with people from the Liu Party. But now he had no choice, and because of his trust in Su Zongshan, he gritted his teeth and said: "Okay, I'll go out! I'll send someone to the house right now. If there is a banknote, I will give you a banknote. If not, I will pull a box for you. Send it!"
After negotiating with the Ministry of Rites, Lu Zhixian felt that his rhetoric was very effective, so he took the list in hand and visited several senior officials, but they were all a group of mediocre people, and he was very scared. Then he obeyed his own words. As for people with temperaments like Zeng Liang and Ye Yongjia, he did not dare to provoke them and acted extremely cautiously. Even so, he did not expect that this list would play such a magical role at first. With Liu Zhennianfang and his power, he had already attracted all the people on the list who could be persuaded to his side. But he was still a little dissatisfied, so he went back to discuss with Lian Chongwen to see if he could change something.
It turned out that the so-called list was not a leaked credential at all, but was bribed by Su Zongshan and compiled on the spot. Lian Chongwen, an officer, had never done such a good business, and he was even more willing to serve him. Relying on his many years of Chinese character skills, he wrote the names of more than a hundred people in one breath, using two pieces of paper and only half the time. hour.
It is ridiculous that there were more than a hundred officials involved, but Su Zongshan took advantage of this tense time when it was difficult to distinguish between ourselves and the enemy, deceived each other, and successfully cultivated a private party that had begun to take shape for himself. Satisfied, he stopped and looked forward to taking Niu Yuan's place in the near future.
No matter what kind of turmoil arose in the court, the court meeting started as scheduled. The prince came to the main hall early and sat down next to the dragon chair. He looked nervously at the noisy crowd who had not yet formed a queue. He kept stroking his collar, as if he was not ready yet; he sat under his left hand. Liu Zhennian glanced at him disdainfully and muttered to himself: "This prince is so cowardly and has no prejudices. It is a joke for the emperor to ask him to supervise the country!" '
The prince had been sitting there for a while, and the audience was still noisy. Ye Yongjia took the opportunity to come to the opposite side of Chen Tongpao, but with his eyes looking elsewhere, he whispered: "Does Gao Shangshu know what you mean?"
"I didn't tell anyone except him," Tongpao Chen also pretended to look around, "even to keep it a secret, not even Zeng Xiangzhi knew about it."
"You can help me when the time comes. After all, I am still controlled by Liu Thief. I need to hide my strength and bide my time. I can't break up with him for the time being..."
"The Atlantic National Integrity Envoy has arrived!"
Ye Yongjia hurriedly looked outside and saw Lian Chongwen stepping over the threshold and walking in. He quickly separated from Chen Tongpao; in a moment, he had entered the civil service train.
"Please present the credentials." The prince ordered in a stiff tone, and the two accompanying eunuchs immediately walked down the steps to get the credentials.
Lian Chongwen was filled with a relaxed smile. He didn't seem to resist and handed the credentials to the eunuch without hesitation. Ye Yongjia frowned when he saw this scene - it seemed that things were about to get a little more complicated.
