Chapter 198: Meeting in Fate, Talking about Heroes over Wine
Chapter 198: Meeting in Fate, Talking about Heroes over Wine
Just when the young cabinet minister was arrested, the entire floor of the Yunshui Building in Beijing was booked, with only one table occupied.
"Prime Minister Li, the situation on the Hanlin Academy side is basically settled."
Chen Zhengru, who was dressed in the robe of a university scholar and dressed like a scholar, said with a smile.
Sitting opposite him was Li Yanfu, the prime minister, former "cabinet elder", leader of the "Li Party", and the most powerful official under the empress.
As he was old, Li Yanfu sat in the square chair, looking a little listless, but his lowered eyes concealed a fierce look:
"Not bad, very good."
Li Yanfu said slowly:
"Now, the court is in turmoil, and Dong Xuan is determined to go his own way and implement the three strategies that are called gold but are actually harmful to the people.
Ambitious scholars in the world are full of passion and should speak out for justice. If the young students of the Hanlin Academy jointly submit a petition, Your Majesty will surely recognize the pros and cons and will not be deceived by Dong Xuan. "
In the past few days, Chen Zhengru has not been idle after being released from prison, but has been trying his best to use the Hanlin Academy as a breakthrough point.
Gather students from aristocratic families and young officials to discuss politics.
In order to incite public opinion.
The Hanlin Academy was originally under the jurisdiction of Grand Tutor Dong, but although the Grand Tutor held the official position of a scholar in charge of imperial orders, his control over the Hanlin Academy declined due to lack of energy.
Secondly, it is more critical.
Nowadays, most of the people who are good at studying are children of noble families. In order to protect their own interests, they naturally form groups to discuss politics.
Li Yanfu hinted to Chen Zhengru to mobilize this force in an attempt to shake the deadlock in the court.
Use external force to break the balance.
The empress obtained the country "unrighteously" to begin with. If the scholars of the world speak out, they will inevitably have some concerns. In this way, the west wind will overwhelm the east wind.
The debate on the new policy will also come to an end.
This is the winning card that Li Yanfu has prepared and is about to play.
The imperial party was still thinking about how to win over another one-third of the forces in the court.
Li Yanfu was ready to launch a counterattack.
"What Li Xiang said is true. Then I will follow the plan..."
Chen Zhengru looked pleased, knowing that as long as he could get things done this time, not only would his status within the Li Party be elevated, but he would also gain the friendship of the gentry throughout the world.
Originally, he had not decided to take action, but because he offended the empress last time because of Zhao Duan’s incident, Chen Zhengru made up his mind.
"Dengdengdeng..."
Just at this moment, there were footsteps approaching at the stairs, and it turned out to be two people.
The two people who were having a secret conversation fell silent at the same time and looked over.
The one leading the group was actually Li Yanfu's personal guard who had been left downstairs, and the one following behind him was actually the guard of Li Yinglong who had escaped.
The former said respectfully:
"Sir, the young master's guard is here to report something important."
Li Yanfu frowned.
Next to him, Chen Zhengru stood up and said:
"Since the Prime Minister has family matters to attend to, I will take my leave first."
Li Yanfu hesitated for a moment but did not stop him.
After Chen Zhengru came downstairs, he said in a casual tone:
"What did Yinglong ask you to do?"
After the guard went upstairs, his expression became very strange and anxious. He wanted to speak several times before he finally said:
"Report to Prime Minister Li, something terrible has happened. The young master has fallen into a trap and has been captured by the people in the imperial court!"
"What?" Li Yanfu was stunned for a moment, and said in a deep voice: "Explain it carefully!"
The guard said quickly:
"This afternoon, Chen Zhengru's disciple Xu Hanlin came to the Ministry of Works to look for you, saying that Chen Xueshi had something important to discuss with you.
The young master did not suspect anything, and was escorted by a humble servant to a restaurant. After the young master went upstairs, officials from the imperial court immediately emerged from the dark, surrounded the inn, sealed off the front and back, and broke into the building in the name of searching for rebels...
I wanted to rescue the young master, and after I climbed upstairs with my Qinggong skills, I was spotted by the Jinyi Captain... The other side came out in full force, and in order to avoid making mistakes, I had to escape and report..."
Li Yanfu listened quietly, his originally lazy sitting posture gradually straightened up:
"Invited by Chen Zhengru's students?"
A cold light first flashed across the old fox's eyes, and then turned into doubt.
Chen Zhengru turned against us?
No... The moment this thought came to his mind, he dismissed it.
In this case, it was "Xu Hanlin" who used his name... to summon the officials of the imperial court...
As if he had guessed what the Prime Minister was thinking, the guard said hurriedly:
"Yes. There must be something fishy going on with Xu Hanlin. I'm afraid he was bribed by the imperial court to search for those officials. I happened to recognize them. They are all subordinates of Lihua Hall. I didn't see Jinyi from other halls."
What he meant was that the person who set the trap was undoubtedly Zhao Duan.
"Do you know what trap Yinglong fell into? Was he falsely accused of colluding with the rebels?" Li Yanfu asked.
His first thought was that Zhao Duan knew that a certain rebel was in the building and deliberately lured Li Yinglong over.
But on second thought, I felt that this plan was too crude. If this was the case, then it would not be a problem.
The guard shook his head:
"I was in a hurry and was unable to enter the building, so I don't know clearly, but... I faintly heard a woman's scream when the young master escaped."
Female? After hearing this answer, even Li Yanfu, who was very sophisticated, was stunned.
I can't figure it out for the moment.
He did not stand up immediately, but closed his eyes, calmed his mind and reviewed the recent court affairs.
Then, this old and powerful official opened his eyes and said calmly:
"Prepare the car..." he wanted to say and go to the imperial court.
But hurried footsteps were heard again downstairs, and a personal attendant came upstairs, clasped his fists and said:
"Sir, downstairs... Zhao Duan, the chief of the Imperial Court, wants to see you."
……
……
Deng...Ding...Ding...
When Zhao Duan, dressed in gorgeous clothes, followed the address given by Xu Hanlin, arrived at Yunshui Loft, and walked up the stairs step by step to the empty third floor.
The view suddenly became clear, with endless blue waters in the distance. Outside the railings surrounding the building, the sky was dark and the layers of dark clouds were like ink splashed on white paper, smudged with one cloud after another.
It's like a huge painting in ink and color.
The air is slightly chilly today, especially with the breeze from the lake, which completely drives away any trace of dryness.
Inside the pavilion, Li Yanfu was sitting at a table.
This old man has sideburns like inverted hedgehogs, eyebrows like purple stones, and messy stubble spreading along both sides of his cheeks and intersecting his temples. His expression is calm.
He was wearing a bright red official robe, but he had taken off his black veil and put it aside.
The bright red robe complements the bright black and white ink-splashed background like a dot of cinnabar.
On the table in front of Li Yanfu were utensils for cooking wine. The turbid wine was cooking quietly in a jade pot, with flames licking the bottom of the pot. Next to it were utensils for drinking wine.
At this moment, Li Yanfu was concentrating. He held a small spoon, took a few green plums from the porcelain bowl beside him, and threw them into the wine pot without even looking at him.
"Li Xiang is a man of good taste,"
Zhao Duan smiled and didn't mind the other party's casual attitude towards guests. He walked straight to the opposite side, pulled out a chair and sat down casually.
He glanced at the wine vessel left by Chen Zhengru, moved it aside, and took a new one:
"I thought that the Prime Minister would be busy with official duties and it would be difficult for him to see me. I didn't expect that I would have the opportunity to dine with Li Xiang. Tsk, these plums are past their peak season, but they are still in such good condition?"
Li Yanfu slowly put the jade spoon back into the bowl. Seeing him pick up the green plums, he said slowly:
"They are transported from the south to the capital by water and preserved in ice jars along the way. These plums are already very valuable. Fortunately, we can still afford to use some of them as wine flavoring."
Zhao Duan smiled and said:
"Everyone in Dayu knows that Prime Minister Li's family is wealthy and powerful. The Huaishui Li family is also a powerful family with generations of nobles. In the martial arts world, there is even a saying that every hundred years, the Li family will produce a top official. This is already a legend. How could they be short of a few plums?"
As he spoke, he slowly twisted the stem of the green plum with two fingers, and looked at the frail-looking old man in front of him.
But I know that the other party is indeed an extraordinary person.
Compared with Yuan Li's legendary story of being a playboy in his youth, catching up after his family fell into decline, Li Yanfu's life experience can be described as unremarkable.
Born into the Li family, he has been smart since childhood and a low-key person. Compared with other geniuses of the Li family of the same generation, he is not bad, but not outstanding either.
After entering the officialdom, he did not have a high starting point and was not favored by the head of the Li family for a time.
If there is anything special about it, the only thing is that it moves very frequently.
Moving refers not only to promotion but also to lateral transfer.
While other members of the Li family were busy seeking promotions, he quietly took up all the important positions in the county.
When we entered the city, the situation was still the same.
Even after being transferred to the capital, he did not change his style.
After going around in circles, I ended up having experienced more or less all the important government posts in the entire Dayu Dynasty.
At this time, Li Yanfu was nearly fifty years old, still not outstanding, just "mediocre".
However, in the next twenty years, he came from behind, step by step, until he became the prime minister of the cabinet.
The main focus is the word "stable".
It is said that the late emperor once asked him why he changed so many positions when he was young. Didn't he know that this would be detrimental to his promotion?
At that time, Li Gelao just said calmly:
"I just want to see the Great Yu Dynasty more clearly."
After hearing this, the late emperor laughed, patted his shoulders and walked away.
Li Yanfu sat in this position until the cabinet was dissolved.
After Zhao Duan understood this, even though they were enemies, he still couldn't help but show respect.
In particular, the prime minister of the current dynasty was the first important figure he saw after traveling through time.
At that time, Zhao Duan had just entered Dayu and entered the palace in a panic.
After waiting for a long time outside the imperial study, when Li Yanfu came out, he called him "Prime Minister" but did not even turn his eyes to him.
At that time in the palace, Zhao Duan stood like a minion.
Today, we are on an equal footing with the other side.
It was only a few months.
"The whole world belongs to the king. The Li family doesn't have any wealth. We are just managing it for your majesty."
Li Yanfu said calmly, raised his head, and with fierce eyes hidden in his deep eye sockets, he calmly examined the young man.
Even though they were enemies, they still couldn't help but admire Zhao Duan's calm demeanor:
"A few months ago, I never thought that there would be such a talented person beside Your Majesty. In the future, there may not be another Zhao family in the world."
The two people have different identities and ages, but due to various miraculous coincidences, the old and the young, who have been enemies since the first day of the time travel, meet officially for the first time.
There was no swordplay.
Just treat us to a meal.
(End of this chapter)