Zhang Shixun listened quietly. He did not intend to hide what Gao Qiu said, and in fact he could not hide it.
"When we were suppressing Heavenly King Yang, you secretly let Li Moulue go and provided him with a lot of weapons and supplies, instructing him to infiltrate the Taihang Mountains to develop his power. Li Moulue was indeed quite resourceful. He managed to gain a firm foothold in the Taihang Mountains, a mountainous region. Through various means, he divided and disintegrated other strongholds. In less than half a year, he overwhelmed the other strongholds and became the undisputed leader of the mountains, with a membership of 10,000 people."
Zhang Shixun smiled and said, "Li Moulue was originally a bandit from Wuyou Cave. I used him because he was indeed talented and hadn't done anything that would anger anyone. Facts have proven that I was right about him. It's truly remarkable that he was able to assemble such a team in such a short period of time."
"Although he has some talent, without your strong support, he would be eaten up by others before he could eat them all, and not even a bone would be left."
When Gao Qiu spoke, his eyes looked straight at Zhang Shixun, as if he could see through everything about him.
Zhang Shixun sighed inwardly, Gao Qiu was indeed an old fox who had practiced for many years. Even though he was lying on his sickbed at home, he knew everything that was happening outside.
"You led the National Defense Army to a crushing defeat at Magedang, significantly dampening their morale and also acting as a warning to the enemy... Hehe! You may not know that as soon as the Jin army retreated, Geng Nanzhong and others strongly urged the emperor to eliminate you as a future threat. However, the emperor's throne was precarious, so he didn't dare to take action against you at this time. Most importantly, he was afraid of your magical powers."
Zhang Shixun was shocked. "Geng Nanzhong looks so refined, but I didn't expect him to be so sinister inside."
"Don't underestimate scholars. If they have bad intentions, they can be far worse than us military officers. Geng Nanzhong is a Jinshi who passed the imperial examination. After entering the officialdom, he served for several years and was appointed as the Crown Prince's Secretary from the Ministry of Rites. When the new emperor ascended the throne, he, as an old member of the Crown Prince's team, naturally rose to prominence and took the position of Shangshu Zuocheng."
"Geng Nanzhong, Wang Shiyong, Li Bangyan, and Zhang Bangchang are all cowardly capitulators who have harmed the country and the people. I will never associate with them."
"They're even less willing to associate with you, haha!"
At this point, Gao Qiu's face grew serious. "Shixun, I want to remind you that you shouldn't have the intention to harm others, but you must be on guard against them. You must be careful and vigilant against Geng Nanzhong, Wang Shiyong, and others."
Zhang Shixun nodded and said, "Taiwei, don't worry, I will be on guard."
Wang Dong is about to take action against these people through Shi Qian. When the time comes, he should cooperate with them appropriately and try to make things more difficult for them to prevent them from having any bad intentions towards him.
Gao Qiu suddenly started coughing violently, and Gao Yanei hurried to help him massage his back.
After coughing for a long time, he finally coughed up a mouthful of thick phlegm.
After all this ordeal, I was almost exhausted and lay on my back on the bed gasping for breath.
Seeing him like this, Zhang Shixun stood up and was about to leave.
"Shixun, don't leave so quickly. I have something to give you." Gao Qiu said to his son, "Go to my bedroom and lift the mattress on the bed. You will see a wooden board with a box hidden underneath. Bring it here."
Gao Yanei agreed and went, and soon came back holding a purple wooden box.
Gao Qiu said, "Shixun, the things in the wooden box may be useful to you. Open it and take a look."
Zhang Shixun took the wooden box, opened it and saw a booklet inside. He picked up the booklet and started reading.
After reading just two pages, his expression turned serious.
This is a list of people, with each name followed by the person's age, gender, position, as well as the person's personality, hobbies and weaknesses.
In addition, it also records the person's resume, including what illegal activities he did in a certain year, month, and day.
The records are extremely detailed.
Zhang Shixun also saw a familiar name in it - Wang Meng.
In Wang Meng's records, there was a passage that almost made Zhang Shixun laugh.
In the sixth year of Zhenghe, Meng fell out with the captain Liu Chang. They fought several times and Meng was defeated each time. Afterwards, Meng secretly had an affair with Liu Chang's concubine and was caught in bed by Liu Chang. In panic, he jumped out of the window and escaped. Then he hid during the day and came out at night. He sneaked into the capital to see me, burst into tears, and was placed in the Right Army Patrol Court.
In the second year of Xuanhe, Meng married Sun and had a daughter.
In the fourth year of Xuanhe, I asked someone to promote him to the position of judge of the Right Army Patrol Court.
…
Zhang Shixun had dealt with Wang Meng several times and felt that he was a good person, generous and friendly. He did not expect that he had such a dark history.
He took the booklet and looked through it. The people on the list were very complicated. Some served in the imperial guards; some served in various government offices; some served in the imperial guards; some served in the military forces outside the province... there were as many as a hundred people.
On the last few pages of the booklet, the names of several eunuchs appeared, which meant that Gao Qiu's people were also in the palace.
Everyone on the list has one thing in common: they all have stains, and Gao Qiu has done them favors, some even saving their lives.
This is very interesting.
What exactly does Gao Qiu want to do with this list?
rebel?
it's out of the question.
Gao Qiu did not have the courage or the strength.
Zhang Shixun felt the list was a little hot in his hand.
What does it mean when the old man hands me this list?
As he was looking at the list, Gao Qiu and his son looked at him without blinking.
After he finished reading, Gao Qiu asked, "Shixun, what do you think of this roster?"
Zhang Shixun handed the list to Gao Yanei and said calmly, "I have to admit that the Taiwei's handwriting is very beautiful."
Gao Qiu was stunned. I was talking to you about serious matters, but you praised my beautiful handwriting.
After all, he was an old fox. Seeing that Zhang Shixun was unwilling to answer directly, he laughed it off and said, "Shixun probably knows my experience. When I was young, I worked as a book boy for the great scholar Su for several years."
"Hmm! I've heard a little bit about it."
"Based on the knowledge of Master Su, if a servant had bad handwriting, he would definitely kick him out."
"Not necessarily? I remember that Master Su was very tolerant."
Gao Qiu shook his head and laughed, "Scholars all have a bad habit. They can't stand crooked and bad handwriting, and they can't stand people who write bad handwriting even more."
"Yeah?"
"Of course. If you meet a scholar in the future, try not to write, so as not to embarrass yourself in front of them."
"This... what the Palace Marshal said is true. My handwriting is truly unsightly. I won't show it off to those stinking scholars next time."
Gao Qiu gave a thumbs-up and said, "This kid is teachable!"
One was an old fox, the other a young fox. They chatted and laughed, rambling on illogical topics, and neither of them mentioned the list.
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