53 053 Flatterer
◎A divine man. He knows how to play two sides.◎
When Empress Dowager Renxian said this, Gao Shiqi was not happy.
After all, he is no longer the Gao Shiqi of the past. He has been an official for more than 30 years and has followed Master Kang for more than 30 years. At least he feels that he has some capital to be "different from the crowd".
Looking back on the life of this great scholar, it can be said to be quite legendary.
It is said that his ancestral home is Kaifeng, Henan, but his ancestors fled to Zhejiang for refuge, so he was actually born in Qiantang, Zhejiang.
Of course, there are also people who say that Qiantang is not his birthplace at all, but that it was changed when he was registered later. But no matter what, there is no dispute that he was born in Zhejiang. He can be regarded as a talented man in Jiangnan.
The learning atmosphere in Jiangnan has always been very strong. The young Gao Shiqi received a good education here, which laid a solid foundation for his future success. Later generations have mixed opinions on Gao Shiqi, but everyone recognizes his erudition and versatility. This
guy is really amazing. He is extremely talented, well-versed in ancient and modern times, and can write books and essays. He is even proficient in both literature and science, and can be called a versatile person. This is mainly due to his solid basic skills in his early years and his lifelong continuous learning.
After completing the early learning copy in Jiangnan, the 19-year-old Gao Shiqi left Jiangnan and went north to the capital to study with his old father.
Unfortunately, before he could finish his study tour, his old father died of illness. The medical expenses and funeral expenses consumed all their savings. Gao Shiqi could only stay in the capital, making a living by selling calligraphy and writing Spring Festival couplets.
In this way, the young Gao left his hometown alone and struggled in the market of the capital, living a life of hunger and hunger. He soon learned a lot of worldly skills... In short, he said different things to different people, and he was good at changing his attitude according to the situation and flattering the powerful and bullying the weak.
If nothing unexpected happened, he should have spent his whole life like this. From Xiao Gao, to Da Gao, and then to Lao Gao, he was always poor and lonely, or if he was lucky, he would find a wife of the same humble origin and have one or two or three or four children, just like his father and his family lived a poor and ordinary life.
But this Comrade Xiao Gao was not an ordinary person after all, so he was destined to become a legend.
If a person is lucky, he can really rise to heaven on the spot.
When Gao Shiqi, who was in his early twenties, was setting up a stall and selling calligraphy and paintings day after day, one day, the treacherous minister Zu Zeshen, who was the Minister of Rites at the time, passed by the calligraphy and painting stall of this scholar Xiao Gao. I don’t know what was wrong with him, but he had to read his fortune casually when he was free, and then the "accident" happened.
As soon as Zu Zeshen saw Gao Shiqi's face, he was immediately shocked. Oh my god, this is the face of a wealthy and powerful official.
Why is such a god-like person so miserable that he has to squat at the gate of a temple to sell calligraphy and paintings?
It must not be good enough.
Although this Zu has a bad reputation, his face-reading skills have been verified many times and he is quite skilled. Most importantly, he is very confident in his unique skills. Oh my god, this is a "lost pearl in the sea"!
With such a good opportunity to pick up a bargain in front of him, how can he resist being tempted?
So Zu Zeshen immediately decided to take the young Gao Shiqi home, basically raising him as his son. It is not known whether it was to prove that his fortune-telling skills were correct or because he was really flattered by the young Gao Shiqi as a tool for practice, anyway, this old comrade really cared about little Gao.
Because he was sent out from the capital not long after serving as the Minister of Rites, Zu Zeshen was a little regretful that he could not help Gao Shiqi too much. After all, this little comrade Gao was a "hidden dragon" in his mind, and he would definitely rise in the future.
Unfortunately, he had to leave the capital before he found an opportunity to promote this "nobleman".
Moreover, he didn't know when he would be able to come back after such a departure, maybe he would never come back in this lifetime...
But it didn't matter, after all, his ancestor had been in the capital for so many years, so he still had some connections.
Just at this time, someone told him that Suo'etu's mansion needed a young man who could write and calculate as a retainer, and it was just right.
Zu Zeshen immediately used his connections to send Gao Shiqi to Suo'etu's mansion.
It was because of the short time and the relationship was a bit far-fetched. In the end, Gao Shiqi found out after he entered the mansion that he was not a retainer of Suo'etu, but a retainer of one of his trusted servants.
Good fellow, this is not a servant of Suo'etu, but a servant of his servant.
By that calculation, wouldn't he be a servant of a servant?
Isn't this job too low-level?
Scholars value integrity the most. Most people would definitely not do this kind of job, but Gao Shiqi is not an ordinary person. Not only did he do it, he did it very well.
Not long after, he gave a good idea to his "master", Suo'etu's trusted servant, so that the servant successfully avoided a major punishment.
It turns out that gold always shines. The trusted servant's unusual performance this time quickly attracted Suo'etu's attention. After asking the servant a few questions about the whole story, out of curiosity, he lowered his status for the first time and personally summoned this servant's servant, the scholar Xiao Gao.
Xiao Gao was also very competitive and soon passed Suo'etu's interview and got the job.
Unfortunately, the good times didn't last long. After two days of being excited, Suo'etu forgot about Gao Shiqi.
It wasn't because Gao Shiqi had offended him, but because there were too many people who came to Suo'etu.
Not to mention the endless stream of newcomers who came every day, even many big shots who had successfully entered the mansion for many years had no chance to meet Suo'etu, let alone Gao Shiqi, who was not very popular.
Originally, he had already practiced a superb flattery skill, and was waiting to show his skills, but he didn't expect that he had no chance to use it at all. It was inevitable that he was depressed and frustrated when he was stuck with ordinary people, but Gao Shiqi had nothing to do and strolled around the mansion every day.
Just when everyone thought that this guy was going to fight for Suo Xiang's attention, Gao Shiqi secretly did something big. He actually contacted someone in Mingzhu's house, met Mingzhu, and then he changed sides.
Yes, because Suo Etu didn't use him immediately, he didn't think about trying to win him back, but immediately switched to Mingzhu.
This idea has to be said to be very strange.
But it was also very effective.
Because that was when Suo Etu and Mingzhu were fighting the most fiercely.
When he went to Mingzhu, he introduced his origins directly and openly. Mingzhu was surprised to hear that he was from Suo'etu's mansion. What a great connection. Could this be Infernal Affairs?
Come, let me see what you are like...
Hmm? You are actually a talented person?
Why don't you use him first?
But I still have to observe closely whether he is a spy sent by Suo'etu... However
, to Mingzhu's surprise, before he could determine whether Gao Shiqi was a "spy", Master Kang met Gao Shiqi first...
Even after a thousand years, when people read about the relationship between Gao Shiqi, a famous minister of the Qing Dynasty, and his master, Master Kang, who was known as the "Emperor of the Ages", many people still couldn't help but have an illusion on the spot - is this really a normal harmony between the monarch and his subjects? Who are you kidding? It's like falling in love.
It's love at first sight.
The story begins in the spring of the eighth year of Emperor Kangxi's reign. Gao Shiqi, 25, is a guest at Mingzhu Mansion. Facing many competitors and an unpredictable boss, he is at a loss (not really). Just when he is bored, he meets Master Kang who comes to visit Mingzhu Mansion.
From then on, the golden wind and jade dew meet, and they are better than countless people in the world... ah, no, wrong, it should be a hit at first sight.
Master Kang was still very young at that time, only sixteen years old. After all, he is nine years younger than Gao Shiqi. So he probably talks to Gao Shiqi enthusiastically under the instinct of a teenager who admires and is obsessed with an older and powerful brother.
Gao Shiqi, who was also still young, also understood the meaning and showed his talents to the young emperor, who was even younger than him, in a very high-profile manner. He was good at literature, calligraphy, and science.
Not to mention his flattery skills that he had cultivated from wandering and life in the market. It must be said that by this time, Xiao Gao's flattery skills had reached perfection. Basically, he could make anyone who heard him confused by just a few words.
Considering his age, he actually did better than many old-timers who had been in the officialdom for many years. It must be said that he was gifted.
Otherwise, how could he survive around Suo Etu and Mingzhu, two famous old foxes, and find a chance to show off in front of Master Kang?
To say that all this was "God's will" is really too much. We can only say that we should do our best and follow God's will...
Anyway, at this first meeting, Gao Shiqi won over little Xuanye.
The sixteen-year-old Master Kang directly regarded Gao Shiqi as a confidant, gave him an opportunity to enter the Imperial College on the spot, and also let him join the imperial examination.
Originally a commoner, he was promoted seven levels in one day. Who would not say "admiration" when seeing this?
Poor little Gao Shiqi was immediately proud, and from then on he was very grateful for Master Kang's kindness, and then the two of them began to be inseparable as the emperor and his subject.
Night reading in the Southern Study, lectures in the Upper Study, capturing Oboi, destroying the Three Feudatories, going to the south of the Yangtze River... Gao Shiqi has accompanied Master Kang from the young boy of sixteen to the fifty-year-old. Over thirty years later, Gao Shiqi has finally changed from a commoner, Xiao Gao, to the Minister of Rites and the Academician of the Hanlin Academy, known as "Gao Xiang".
As the most popular person in front of Master Kang, Gao Shiqi can even live directly in the palace, and Master Kang has to specially order people to serve him well... This treatment is not like that of a monarch and his subjects, but more like a relative.
Probably because of his age and his mentality, Gao Shiqi has begun to take advantage of Master Kang's favor in recent years. He has become powerful by relying on Master Kang's favor - he actually began to sell confidential information in the palace for a lot of money.
To put it in a nutshell, he was corrupt, partisan, and sold out Master Kang's privacy...
Ah this...
Mo Yu felt that he couldn't help shaking his head just by watching System 006 playing this to him.
Unexpectedly, there would be something even more outrageous next.
Gao Shiqi probably really didn't know his last name. Just because the Empress Dowager said a few words to him, he was unhappy, and began to imply to Master Kang that the Empress Dowager was "interfering in politics" in a sarcastic way...
Mo Yu laughed when he heard it.
[Emma, Gao Shiqi, Gao Shiqi, you are really a god. You can even say such things, this is really amazing, why don't you go to heaven, but stand shoulder to shoulder with the sun? ]
[Not to mention that the Empress Dowager is a famous honest person in history, it is impossible for her to do anything against the rules. Even if they did take care of things, it was out of concern for their sons and grandsons, which is better than a sycophant like you...】
【Don't deny that you are not a sycophant. Which serious scholar would cling to his master all day long and not go home at midnight?】
【Which serious person would serve two masters, first joining Suo'etu and then Mingzhu, and then fucking both of them and taking over himself... You are really a badass, you know how to play two sides and backstab anyone you want to...】
【What, let's not talk about anything else, where did you get the bag of gold beans you brought into the palace every day? When you entered the palace, there was a whole bag, but when you left, there was none left. So where did all the gold beans go? Who did you give them to? 】
Because of his contempt for Gao Shiqi's character, Mo Yu had already complained a lot in his mind, and there was no lack of explosive information in it - such as the private news of the palace making friends with eunuchs and palace maids to buy and sell Master Kang, and the establishment of a small court of officials from Jiangsu and Zhejiang to exclude dissidents...
The others were just minor ones.
Everyone present listened to Mo Yu's live broadcast of his inner voice, especially Gao Shiqi. It was the first time for him to experience Mo Yu's "magic power" on the spot, and he really felt bad.
The most terrifying thing is that System 006, out of inertia, actually used Chinese and Mongolian bilinguals.
So no matter if the people present only spoke Chinese or Mongolian, or all of them could speak, everyone understood.
That's it...
Master Kang looked at Gao Shiqi with a sullen face. Gao Shiqi also felt that something was wrong, but he wanted to refute and argue, but he couldn't make a sound at all...
Just when he was getting anxious, the Queen Mother spoke again.
"Forget it, since you think I'm "meddling" just after saying a few words, Mr. Gao, please kneel down and leave, and don't come to my place in the future."
[Author's words]
I accidentally fell asleep last night, wuwuwu, I will make up for it on the weekend!
Thanks to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated the nutrient solution during 2024-01-03 00:32:38~2024-01-04 22:17:33~
Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: I am really addicted to CP, really!!! 10 bottles; Su Yan, Lazy Man, Zhou Muyu, Quicksand 1 bottle;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!