After a moment, Emperor Mingzheng suddenly laughed out loud and patted Yu Qizhe on the shoulder, "You are doing well!"
Hearing Emperor Mingzheng's laughter, Yu Qizhe stood there calmly.
For an emperor, the moment he believed that taking elixirs could bring him immortality, he was already old.
When he got old, he didn't have any great ambitions. He just wanted to guard the dragon throne under his seat and live in peace for a hundred years. What he cared about was not the foreign enemies and bandits, but someone coveting the dragon throne under his seat and the supreme throne.
The Marquis of Annan, who held the military power, was originally a great threat to Emperor Mingzheng. Emperor Mingzheng might have been able to tolerate him in his early years, but he grew old, and as he grew older, he became more timid, and there were more things he was afraid of.
Today it is Gu Wei, Marquis of Annan, and tomorrow it may be Feng Jia, Marquis of Dingbei.
"Yes, I am the emperor, and the world belongs to me!" Emperor Mingzheng said to himself, "These officials in the court don't understand my heart as well as you do. I gave them power, status and wealth, but they all forgot whose salary they were eating and who they should share the worries for. Instead, they all advise me all day long that I did something wrong here and there!"
Yu Qizhe did not respond, but just stood there respectfully.
Emperor Mingzheng didn't care. He just stared at him meaningfully and said, "This court is not lacking in talent, but lacking in people who can truly work for me!"
Yu Qizhe knelt on the ground and said, "I am a humble official, but I am willing to serve your majesty like a dog or a horse."
Emperor Mingzheng sighed deeply and said, "I know you are Liu Aiqing's disciple. Liu Aiqing has always been critical of my taking the elixir. You are very different from him. I have been summoning you to the Fengtian Palace recently. Didn't Liu Cifu say anything to you?"
Yu Qizhe said respectfully, "I have always been loyal to only Your Majesty."
Emperor Mingzheng laughed heartily. He put his hand on Yu Qizhe's shoulder and said, "Although there are many scholars in the world, there are very few who are as clear-headed and sober as you. Once they enter the officialdom, they are eager to form cliques, curry favor with the powerful, and worship under various ministers. They don't take me, the true master of the world, seriously at all!"
He pressed Yu Qizhe's shoulders hard and said, "They are just a bunch of ignorant fools. You should know that no one in this world is more powerful than me. The powerful people they cling to are only because I gave them the power, and that's why they are where they are today."
Emperor Mingzheng looked at Yu Qizhe and said, "Zhanxing, I admired you very much on the day of the palace examination. You are different from them. What I can give you, they can't give you."
"I swear to be loyal to Your Majesty until death." Yu Qizhe said in a sonorous and powerful voice.
Emperor Mingzheng smiled with satisfaction and helped him up. "Before I ascended the throne, I promised Cheng Ying that if I ascended the throne, I would let him take charge of the twelve prisons. You should have seen how glorious he is now. If you work for me, I will not treat you unfairly."
"It is my blessing to share your majesty's worries." Yu Qizhe looked loyal.
What a monarch has never lacked is talent, but confidants, confidants who are loyal enough, rather than capable but disloyal ministers with ambitions.
However, capable ministers who are both talented in civil and military affairs and hold great power are the objects of the monarch's guard. When they are rewarded by the king, they should be surprised by both the honor and the disgrace and be grateful. Only in this way can the king achieve the purpose of showing favor.
These imperial tactics were taught to Yu Qizhe by Master Huijue when he was in the Fahua Temple. To this day, he has truly put into use what he learned from his master.
"Sit down."
Yu Qizhe sat on a cushion beside him, just like he usually did when discussing Taoism with Emperor Mingzheng.
Emperor Mingzheng picked up the teacup, took a sip of tea, and said casually, "Annan Marquis Gu Wei has been in charge of the military power of Lingnan for more than ten years. The Lingnan army now only cares about the orders of the generals and does not take the court seriously at all. This makes me really uneasy. At the morning court today, they all wanted me to let Gu Wei go back to Lingnan. It's really ridiculous! Do the people in my Taiyan court really think that apart from Gu Wei, there are no other good generals who can defend Lingnan?"
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