Yang Guang understands well that if you want a horse to run, you must feed it enough. Since he is going to use Li Yuan as a chess piece, he will naturally not be stingy with money. He made a casual move and gifted an extremely luxurious mansion. Although Li Yuan had not held a housewarming banquet yet, as soon as he saw that the house did not need any decoration, he picked a good day to move in.
At dusk, Li Jiancheng hurried to his father's study.
Li Jiancheng was the eldest son of Tang Gong. When his father was an official abroad, he represented the Li family in visiting officials and attending banquets. Over time, he understood the power structure of the capital better than his father, and knew more people than his father.
After Li Yuan returned to Beijing to take up his post, he was worried that he had admitted the wrong person and offended others, and also planned to build momentum for Li Jiancheng to become an official, so he took Li Jiancheng with him wherever he went. But Li Jiancheng went to visit Zheng Yuanxuan today, so he did not follow his father to Yuanshou's house.
After hearing that his father returned home, he locked himself in the study and sighed. Li Jiancheng knew something was wrong.
When I walked to the yard outside the study, I saw my father's concubine Wan standing outside with tea. Wan was Li Dou's dowry girl and gave birth to a son named Li Zhiyun for Li Yuan. Although she came from a humble background, she was modest and dignified. When Li Yuan and his wife took Li Shimin on the road for a long time, most of the children left at home were taken care of by Wan.
Li Jiancheng respected his concubine as much as his biological mother. He stepped forward and saluted: "Auntie!"
Wanshi hurried up to meet him and reminded him in a low voice: "Dalang, you Aye are in a bad mood. Please be more careful with your words to avoid causing unnecessary disaster."
"Thank you, aunt, for reminding me. I understand." Li Jiancheng took the tray from Wan's hand with one hand, stepped forward and knocked on the door: "Aye, I'm back!"
"Come in!" Li Yuan said inside.
Li Jiancheng pushed the door open and saw his father sitting on the coffee table with a sad face. He put the tea tray on the coffee table and asked, "Aye, what happened?"
Li Yuan said worriedly: "In order to consolidate the precarious position of the alliance leader, the Yuan family is preparing to fight a battle to gain fame and establish prestige, and the target is Yang Su's family."
Li Jiancheng was shocked: "Are they crazy?"
"I don't know whether he will go crazy or not; but I almost drove them crazy." Li Yuan sighed, and then said very annoyed: "I was forced to have no choice but to fall into it."
Li Jiancheng took a deep breath and said: "Ah, Situ's disciples and former officials are all over the world. Although he has passed away, there are still two important members of the Yang family, Yang Yue and Yang Wensi... Didn't Yuan Shou and the others think about this? Pass?"
"Not only have they thought about it, but they also want to wipe out all the Yang family's influence." Li Yuan stood up, walked around in circles with his hands behind his back distractedly, and said aggrievedly: "They are obviously quite well prepared, but this gang The bastard insists on making suggestions from me. Yuan Shou and Zhang Jin will come to our house with Yu Zhongwen and Li Zhongwen another day."
Li Jiancheng looked at his irritable father and asked, "Aye, what do you think about it?"
"I'm thinking about success or failure!" Li Yuan did not hide his true thoughts in front of the resourceful eldest son, and said: "If it succeeds, what benefits will our Li family get? If it fails, what will our Li family lose?" How big. Only by weighing the risks, opportunities, gains and losses, can I make a conclusion. By the way, what do you think of this?"
Li Jiancheng thought for a while and said: "My child thinks the key lies in the saint. The saint has a deep prejudice against our Guanlong nobles. They will suppress whenever there is an opportunity, seize power whenever there is an opportunity, and create opportunities even if there is no opportunity... Yuanshou and the others do this , it is clear that he is setting himself on fire, playing with fire and burning himself; the child does not approve of his father's participation."
"That's not the case!" Li Yuan didn't quite agree with his son's argument and shook his head: "The way of an emperor lies in balance, and the chaos among his subordinates is exactly what he likes to hear. I don't think a saint will intervene, but sit back and Watch the fight between tigers and tigers from the mountains.”
Li Jiancheng was gentle, modest and courteous, and he was highly endowed with literary skills and military skills. He could be regarded as a model of a handsome and elegant young man; however, his biggest shortcoming was that he was indecisive and lacked the Congolese decisiveness necessary to do great things. Just like now, he clearly knew that his father should not join the battlefield of "Fighting between Gods", but he did not object outright.
After listening to his father's optimistic words, Li Jiancheng showed a bit of struggle on his face. He thought for a while and finally said: "Aye, this is not an ordinary political fight, but the joint efforts of the entire Guanlong nobles." !”
"You also know that the reason why the late emperor and the saints tried their best to suppress the Guanlong nobles is because the Guanlong noble group has the strength, power, financial resources, and manpower to subvert the country. If the Guanlong noble group is in the court and works together to show Yang Yue and Yang Wensi launched an attack, what do you think the saint would think?"
Upon hearing this, Li Yuan broke out in cold sweat.
What does the saint think? What can you think? Don’t you think that the three factions of Guanlong nobles are united into one? Don’t you think that the Guanlong nobles have a leader like Yang Jian?
At that time, they will definitely suppress the Guanlong nobles even more crazily. The big family members like the Dugu family, the Yuan family, and the Dou family may be fine, but the small families following them will definitely fall to the emperor in the first place. Under the butcher's knife.
Li Jiancheng saw his father breaking into a cold sweat. He knew that his father had realized the seriousness of the problem. He said softly: "Aye, when the Wuchuan League was founded, you were the opponent of the Yuan family. To this day, they still have deep feelings for you. If you get involved, you will be both a sharp arrow for the Yuan family to attack and a strong shield for the Yuan family to block the arrows. Regardless of the final success or failure, our Li family will not get any benefit."
"Why don't you get any benefits?" Li Yuan frowned.
"Your current position is the young eunuch in the palace. It is not an exaggeration to say that you are a close minister and confidant of the emperor. If you join the Yuan family's plan, the saint will definitely not be happy." Li Jiancheng analyzed step by step: "If it is because of the Yuan family's plan, Losing the trust of the saint; let alone going further, even the current status will be difficult to maintain. So the child thinks that it is best for Aye to avoid this fight. "
"You're right, I want to avoid it too. And it's easy to avoid it; but my lifelong ambition is to restore the glory of my ancestors... However, you also know the situation of our Li family. With our own strength, we can't Even though we have recovered, it is difficult to protect ourselves. So we need to rely on the power of the Guanlong nobles and the Wuchuan Alliance. And this is why I am willing to be a pawn of the Dugu family and the Dou family." Li Yuan glanced at his son, Youyou sighed: "The Yuan family is now doing things under the banner of Wuchuan Alliance. If I retreat, what will other clans think? Afterwards, if the Yuan family uses this as an excuse to isolate us, what should we do?"
Li Jiancheng remained silent, his father's intention was very obvious; he wanted both the fish and the bear's paw. But how to do it is a big problem.
For a while, he couldn't think of a way to get the best of both worlds, so he had to think about it silently in his heart.
Li Yuan sat down, poured himself a cup of tea, took a sip from the teacup, put down the teacup, and said to his son who was frowning in deep thought: "As you said, the Yuan family must be the most dazzling in provoking this dispute." The saints pay attention to them, not the little people behind them. So I hope they can fight fiercely. Only when the situation becomes chaotic and a group of people fall down can I, a little person, get the chance to be promoted."
Li Jiancheng suddenly thought of what his father had just said and asked, "Aye just said that they are fully prepared?"
Li Yuan nodded: "Exactly!"
Li Jiancheng asked again: "I wonder how they are going to deal with the Yang family?"
"The saint posthumously gave Yang Su the title of Governor of the Ten Prefectures, Duke of Situ, etc., and even changed his title to Duke of Chu, which made him extremely glorious after his death. However, except for the title of Duke, the others could not inherit it, so there was There was a rumor that "a good thing is good for a dead person, but a bad thing for a living person"; and at that time, the Yang family had to perform rituals for Yang Su for ninety-nine and eighty-one days. So everyone in the Yang family was dissatisfied with the saint and hoped to get more." Li Yuan sneered and continued: "Although I don't know why the Yang family hastily demolished the memorial shed, the Yang family's act of 'holding a dead person to force the saint' has completely offended the saint. This is what the Yuan Sect is planning to take advantage of."
Li Jiancheng said: "Only for this matter, I think the intensity is not enough."
"It's not enough!" Li Yuan smiled, glanced at his son meaningfully, and said, "What if we add today's 'rumors'?"
Li Jiancheng understood clearly: The emperor was already dissatisfied with the Yang family. If the "Yang family" spreads the rumor that "Prince Qi and his aunt/sister are having adultery", you can imagine the emperor's anger; If you ignite it, the problem becomes serious.
He thought for a while and said: "Since Aye doesn't want to get involved, it's better to let both sides kill more fiercely. As long as they kill fiercely and both sides suffer, there will be more vacancies."
When Li Yuan heard this, the gloom in his heart disappeared. The complex emotions of anxiety, fear, anger, unwillingness, and utilitarianism were also replaced by the bright sunshine. He asked with a relaxed expression: "You mean, let this person How big of a dispute could it be?"
"Yes!" Li Jiancheng nodded and said: "If the Yang family knew the Yuan faction's plan in advance, they would not only formulate a counterattack strategy, but might also take the lead in attacking. During this period, Aye only needs to satisfy the saint."
"Well, let's do it like this!" Li Yuan nodded and told Li Jiancheng: "Dalang, it's not too late. You use a secret method to inform the Yang family, and we must not expose ourselves."
"My child obeys your orders." Li Jiancheng stood up, bowed and left.
Li Yuan stood in front of the window, looked at the eldest son's retreating figure, and sighed worriedly.
Think of him, Li Yuan, who is already over forty years old, and will soon become an old man; however, he has wasted half his life, but achieved nothing. Under his control, the family not only failed to improve, but also declined step by step.
"Invincibility starts with sacrificing the ancestor"
I hope this plan will pay off! Otherwise, not only would I be embarrassed to face my deceased ancestors, but I would also be sorry for my eldest son who has been working for the family since he was a child!
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[Let me tell you an infuriating 'joke' and 'inside information': A few days ago, there were several cases of infection in Building A, and the G officials actually took away all the people in Building B. The people in Building B said that none of them were infected; During the argument, he was almost served with a stick. It wasn't until the border between Gui and Chongqing that the G officials realized they had made a mistake. On the way back, it seems that all the people in Building B have been infected... and Building A has also begun to spread. 】
