The dusk was dim, and the goose-feather snow was falling freely into the brightly lit central garden of the Duke of Tang Dynasty. In an instant, the world was in a snowy world.
In the pavilion by the lotus pond, servants had already prepared charcoal stoves and clay pots, and placed a thick curtain around them, which made the coldness lessened a lot. Thick mats were also laid on the ground to insulate the cold from the ground.
There are three people sitting in pairs in the pavilion.
Dugu Zheng, who was sitting in the guest seat, looked a little haggard. He fell seriously ill at the end of the year and almost died in the cold winter. Fortunately, Xiao Jue invited Sun Simiao to treat Princess Lanling. It happened that Dugu Zheng was at this time. The imperial doctor who was critically ill and unable to do anything asked Sun Simiao to come and take a look. So Dugu's family was in a hurry and went to the doctor. Sun Simiao was asked to come to the doctor, and he was able to revive Dugu Zheng who was on the verge of death.
Sitting opposite him was Li Yuan, the owner of the room. He lifted the kettle on the stove and skillfully washed, brewed and divided the tea, with an extremely respectful manner.
Li Yuan lost his father when he was young, and all his brothers died in infancy, so Li Yuan, who was ranked last, inherited the title of Tang Guogong at the age of seven. When he was growing up, he received the great support of the late emperor, his wife and his uncles, which made Li Yuan the king of Tang Dynasty. Avoided the fate of complete decline.
Li Yuan was extremely respectful to his two remaining uncles. The handsome young man sitting next to him is Li Jiancheng, the eldest son of Li Yuan.
Dugu Zheng picked up the tea cup, looked at the crystal green tea soup, and took a gentle sip. The aroma of tea lingered in his mouth, and he sighed: "Then King Wei did something elegant after all. This kind of fresh and timeless tea soup, compared with the previous tea soup with mixed flavors, is fresh and mellow, plain and meaningful, it is really like life."
Li Yuan stared at the tea in front of him and fell into silence.
Dugu didn't look at him. He slowly sipped the tea and looked towards the lotus pond outside Fengwei.
His nephew knows it himself. He believes that even if Li Yuan, who is extremely powerful in the city, is favored by the emperor and promoted five levels in a row to become the most dazzling official 'rookie', he must know the truth of being called a companion to a king like a tiger, and he must know that the Dugu family and the Dou's energy cannot withstand the temptation of the 'Wuchuan Leader', so he is not worried that Li Yuan, like Yu Wenshu, will eventually become Yang Guang's sharp weapon against the Guanlong nobles. There is no need to prove the relationship yourself.
It was just that his brother Dugu Shun had been having trouble with the Guanlong nobles recently, and the Dugu family's layout in Bingzhou had been severely damaged. He was worried that Li Yuan would not be able to withstand the temptation of power and would eventually betray the Guanlong nobles, so he gave up the trip.
The snow fell silently outside the pavilion, and what caught Dugu Zheng's eyes were a few old plum trees facing the frost and snow. The red flowers bloomed freely in the flying snow, the red flowers were brilliant, and the bones were as cold as ice. Plum blossoms and snowflakes complement each other under the bright light. Although they are a little far away, there still seems to be bursts of fragrance rushing towards the nose.
The fragrance of tea and plum blossoms are indistinguishable from each other.
After a long time, Li Yuan let out a long sigh.
Dugu Zheng withdrew his gaze and stared at Li Yuan's face, and found that his nephew's already wrinkled handsome face had many more wrinkles.
Time is like water, no one can keep it for a moment longer.
They are all old!
Dugu Zheng thought for a while, and then showed a relieved smile.
The passing years have given Dugu Zheng a little more confidence in controlling Li Yuan, just because Li Yuan has entered his forties. Men at this stage are in an embarrassing situation of neither getting up nor getting down. If Li Yuan loses his ability in the future, With the secret support of the Dugu family and the Dou family, it is difficult to achieve impressive political achievements in the local area. Without political achievements, it is difficult to enter the court; reviving the Li family is even more of a distant dream. Therefore, he can only rely on the influence of Guanlong nobles to realize his dream in the future.
Once the network of interests between you and me is formed, without distinguishing between you and me, it will be difficult for Li Yuan to betray or withdraw in the future. Otherwise, the first to fall will be the Li family.
Li Yuan said to Dugu Zheng: "People say that Yang Ji is ruthless, cruel and violent. At first, I thought he was only targeting foreigners and enemies. I thought, how cruel can a young man in his twenties be? Now from his perspective Looking at the incident of brutally breaking the arms of the martial arts examiner, I realized that the rumors were not groundless, and that this person was really a ruthless and lawless person."
Dugu Zheng disagreed with Li Yuan's statement. He stroked his beard and smiled: "Shude, you have lived in the prosperous and stable mainland of the Central Plains for a long time. Without going through battles, it is indeed difficult to understand the cruelty of King Wei, but I have been the governor of Youzhou. , I know that if King Wei is not fierce, he will not be able to shock the foreigners around Liangzhou. The foreigners are barbaric and uncivilized. They only recognize their fists and will not reason with you. If your fists are strong, they will obey you. ; If your fists are weak, they will step on your head and shit. Even if there are a few foreigners who are willing to sit down and listen to your reasoning, they will be the ones you defeat."
Li Yuan shook his head and said: "Having said that, Yu Wenshu is behind Wang Shichong and others. His impulsive 'private court' is obviously unwise!"
Li Jiancheng, the leader, could not help but visit and refute: "Aye, I think King Wei is just taking advantage of the opportunity to severely punish Wang Shichong and others. On the surface, he seems to be unreasonable, but in fact he has other agendas."
Li Yuan knew that the eldest son would never express his opinions lightly in front of his elders. He suddenly spoke out against him, which surprised Li Yuan. He smiled and asked: "Tell me your reasons."
Li Jiancheng saluted Dugu Zheng and Li Yuan one after another, and then said: "Yu Wenshu took advantage of the saint's trust to accept bribes and interfere with official power. He was promoted if he followed him, and was removed if he went against him. This has already caused a lot of resentment in the court. And his sons Yuwen Wenji and Yuwen Zhiji were even more domineering and notorious. King Wei's action of beating Yuwenshu's lackeys will definitely win applause from the whole court and jubilation from the government and the public. So I think King Wei's move may have offended Yuwen However, he won the love of both the government and the public, as well as the poor warriors, and he did not suffer at all."
Dugu Zheng smiled and nodded, agreeing with Li Jiancheng's analysis in his heart. He sat upright and talked eloquently: "For the sake of his family's personal interests, Yu Wenshu willingly became a saint to deal with the butcher's knife of the Guanlong nobles. The Guanlong nobles all regarded him as a traitor. Everyone hates him to the core. So the only person he can rely on is the favor of the saint. But the saint also has great trust in King Wei and will never punish King Wei for the sake of corrupt officials such as Wang Shichong. This time he severely punishes the lawbreakers without authorization The move must have come to nothing in the end, Yu Wenshu suffered the loss of being mute, Yang Ji gained favor and popularity, and in the end, the unlucky ones were Wang Shichong and others who were chess pieces."
"What uncle said is absolutely true." Li Yuan didn't want to waste time and energy on this topic, so he changed the subject and said, "Uncle, I heard that the saint is going to patrol east to Luoyang after the ice and snow melt. Do you want to accompany him?"
Dugu Zheng shook his head and sneered: "The saint regards the nobles of Guanlong as savage beasts and Guanzhong as a dragon's pond and a tiger's den. How can he care about me, a little Pingxiang Marquis?"
Dugu Zheng hated the Yang family to the core of his being. Especially the cruel and ruthless Yang Ji was regarded as a thorn in his side.
If it weren't for Yang Ji, Dugu Tuo would not have died. However, the Dugu family has been keeping a low profile in recent years and has been usurped by the Yuan family, which gives people a feeling of the sunset. However, after the He Ruobi incident, the Dugu family suddenly entered the relationship between Yang Jian and Yang Broad eyes. After Yang Liang was pacified, the Dugu family was restrained by the criminal evidence in Yang Guang's hands and did not dare to take any action in moving the capital. As a result, the status and reputation of the leaders of the Guanlong nobles plummeted. At the same time, their power in the Bingzhou officialdom also declined. Yang Guang took the opportunity to uproot him, which ultimately dealt a heavy blow to the reputation and strength of the Dugu family.
How could Dugu Zheng, who had always been gloomy and cunning, be able to breathe this sigh of relief?
Although there is no suitable time and it is not appropriate to take action at this time, Yang Ji is now the powerful Liangzhou Mu, and he will have ways to deal with Yang Ji in the future.
When Dugu Zheng saw that the curfew was approaching, he exchanged a few words with Li Yuan, got up and left.
Li Yuan and his son sent Dugu Zheng off and returned to the pavilion together. Li Yuan said with a smile: "Guanzhou will be a strategic location next to the capital in the future. Although it is easy to make political achievements, it is also easy to give people authority. I want to calm down and think about how to do it." As the governor of Guanzhou, you should go down and rest first!"
Li Jiancheng pondered for a long time, then raised his hands and said, "My child feels that Aye still has unfinished words. I wonder if I can tell my child?"
"It doesn't hurt to tell you." Li Yuan nodded: "Sit down!"
"Here!" Li Jiancheng waited for his father to sit down, then sat down at the bottom.
Li Yuan glanced at his son and said calmly: "Actually, I have known for a long time that it is not that simple for King Wei to beat Wang Shichong and others. As you said, he is indeed taking advantage of the opportunity, but in front of outsiders, I don’t want to talk about it in depth.”
Li Jiancheng was stunned: "Can Aye not trust the Dugu family?"
"This is not a matter of trust, but a matter of great importance. No one dares to hand over his life or death to someone from another family." Li Yuan sighed, and then said: "The late emperor and the saint have always regarded the Guanlong nobles as The poison of instability in the world, but because it involves too many areas and is related to the stability of the world, father and son can only figure it out slowly. The establishment of the Wuchuan League exceeds the psychological bottom line of the saint. If he knew of its existence, he would definitely Eradicate it at all costs, the Wuchuan Alliance has fallen, and the Guanlong nobles behind it cannot escape. I want to use the power of the Wuchuan Alliance to revitalize the Li family, so I am at the mercy of the Dugu family and the Dou family. But you don't have to It seems that the Dugu family supports me in fighting for the position of leader of the Wuchuan alliance, but once the Wuchuan alliance falls, the saint may not deal with the Dugu family, the Dou family, and the Yuan family. The Dugu family and the Dou family have no time to protect themselves, and they are eager to let me take over. How can you intercede for me? Therefore, our relationship with the Dugu family and the Dou family is just a mutual use relationship. You must not expect them to have any friendship. "
After talking about the relationship between the three families, Li Yuan turned to the previous conversation and said to Li Jiancheng: "King Wei's move is superficially to slap Wang Shichong and Yu Wenshu in the face, but behind this incident may involve the royal family and the prince. Things."
Li Jiancheng was very confused and asked puzzledly: "Ah, I don't quite understand."
"Actually, I didn't understand it at first, but I figured it out later." Li Yuan said in a low voice: "The prince is getting fatter and fatter. It doesn't look like he will live a long life. If the prince unfortunately goes to the west, then the position of the East Palace will be in trouble again. . Although the saint only had one son left by King Qi, he still had grandsons. When the time came, whether he would have a second son or an eldest grandson would be a big problem for the emperors of the Sui Dynasty. And King Wei had a clear-cut stand with King Qi As an enemy, he exposed King Qi's evil deeds time and time again, so I suspected that he was using the method of ruining King Qi's reputation to consolidate the crown prince's position, and to compete for the prince's son's position as crown prince."
Li Jiancheng pondered for a long time, then suddenly looked at his father in surprise and asked in a low voice: "Is Yu Wenshu related to King Qi?"
"You are absolutely right. Yu Wenshu and Yu Shiji are the marshals and military advisors behind the scenes of King Qi." Li Yuan paused and then sneered: "There must be more to King Wei's trouble. Once Wang Shichong and others get Yu Wenshu's confession When Yu Wenshu comes out, he will shed his skin even if he is not dead. If Yu Wenshu is punished for this, his status in the hearts of the saints will become worse day by day. In the future, if the prince goes west, his voice on the new prince will not be the same. So important.”
"Is it so serious?" Li Jiancheng somewhat disagreed with his father's statement. In his view, the military examination for recruiting imperial guards was not an imperial examination at all, but a small election for the Ministry of War. There are no differences in the exams for the children of each family. The reason why Hanshi was included in the examination was just a gesture by the new emperor.
After all, emperors of all dynasties have never used poor people as imperial guards. If so many poor people of unknown origin are recruited into the palace, how can the emperor's safety be guaranteed?
Li Yuan said: "The martial arts examination was originally established in compliance with the requirements of the military, and it was somewhat improvised entertainment. But when the sage changed the king of guards to be the chief examiner and chief inspector, I understood that the sage did not want to select guards, but rather To pave the way for the national imperial examination, he is also testing the attitude of the aristocratic families. Today he can allow poor people to participate in the military examination, and he will naturally allow poor people to participate in the imperial examination in the future. This is the sacred intention revealed by the military examination. And the first priority of being an official , that is, to understand the emperor’s thoughts, so that you can prescribe the right medicine. Jiancheng, can you understand?”
"I understand, kid!" Li Jiancheng nodded. He finally understood what his father meant. Even Yu Wenshu couldn't see through the status of the martial arts examination in Yang Guang's mind, so he dared to take the opportunity to get money. If the martial arts examination broke out again, Some scandal turned Yang Guang's long-term plan into a joke, and Yu Wenshu couldn't finish eating and had to walk around.
"Even though the martial arts examination passed uneventfully, Yu Wenshu's behavior of manipulating the martial arts examination greatly reduced his impression in the saint's mind. For such a greedy person, how could the saint dare to use the people he recommended in the future?" Li Yuan continued: "Not long ago, a large number of officials appeared in Bingzhou. Many officials were recommending their own disciples and tributes. It didn't matter how capable the people they recommended were. The key was that their selfishness had aroused the saint's dissatisfaction and vigilance, so he planned to Change the previous selection method. On top of the official department, a seven-member official selection committee is established. These people will review and approve the list of new officials. Therefore, these seven positions are more important and valuable than the ministers of each ministry. If Yuwen If Shu had not caused any trouble in the martial arts competition, he would have been one of the seven seats, but now, he has left a bad impression on the saint of seeking power for personal gain, and I think he will not be able to win."
Li Jiancheng suddenly realized that his father's words gave him an enlightenment and benefited a lot. He never dreamed that Yang Ji's public beating of officials would have such a profound impact. If his father hadn't explained it in such detail, he would never have imagined it.
He quickly asked: "Aye, what should we do?"
Li Yuan smiled bitterly and said: "We are not allowed to interfere in the affairs of the court. In the future, we can only hide outside the court and watch the ebb and flow of the tide."
