Chapter 198: Meeting in Fate, Discussing Heroes over Wine
Just when the young cabinet minister was arrested, the entire floor of the Yunshui Building in the capital was booked, with only one table occupied.
"Prime Minister Li, the situation at the Hanlin Academy is basically settled."
Chen Zhengru, dressed in the robes of a university scholar and dressed like a decadent 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.
Because of his age, Li Yanfu sat in the square chair, looking a little listless, but his lowered eyes concealed a fierce look:
"Yes, very good."
Li Yanfu said slowly:
"Now, the court is in turmoil, and Dong Xuan is stubbornly pursuing his own way, wanting to implement the three strategies that are called gold but are actually harmful to the people.
Ambitious scholars throughout the world are full of passion and should speak out for what is right. If the young students of the Hanlin Academy jointly submit a petition, Your Majesty will surely recognize the pros and cons and not be deceived by Dong Xuan."
In the past few days, Chen Zhengru has not been idle after being released from prison, but has tried his best to use the Hanlin Academy as a breakthrough point.
Gather students from aristocratic families and young officials to discuss politics.
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 Imperial Academician, his control over the Hanlin Academy declined due to lack of energy.
Secondly, it is more critical.
These days, most of the people who are good at studying are children of the gentry. 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's accession to the throne was not legitimate, so if scholars from all over the world spoke out, they would have to be cautious. In this way, the west wind would prevail over 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 sudden 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 Li Yanfu's personal guard who had been left downstairs, and the one following behind him was Li Yinglong's guard who had escaped.
The former said respectfully:
"Sir, the young master's guards are 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 strange and anxious. He tried to speak several times before finally saying:
"Report to Prime Minister Li, something terrible has happened! The young master has fallen into a trap and has been captured by the imperial court!"
"What?" Li Yanfu was stunned for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "Explain it carefully!"
The guard said quickly:
"This afternoon, Xu Hanlin, a disciple of Chen Zhengru, came to the Ministry of Works looking for you, saying that Scholar Chen had something important to discuss with you.
The young master, unsuspecting, arrived at a tavern, escorted by a humble servant. He went upstairs, and immediately, officials from the imperial court emerged from the darkness, surrounded the inn, sealed off the front and back, and broke into the building under the pretext of searching for rebels...
I wanted to rescue the young master, and after using my Qinggong skills to climb upstairs, I was spotted by the Jinyi Captain... The enemy came out in full force, and to avoid making a mistake, I had to escape and report..."
Li Yanfu listened quietly, his originally lazy sitting posture gradually straightening up:
"Invited by Chen Zhengru's students?"
A cold light first flashed across the old fox's eyes, and then turned into doubt.
Did Chen Zhengru turn against us?
No... The moment this thought arose, he dismissed it.
So, that means "Xu Hanlin" is using his name... to summon officials from the imperial court...
As if guessing 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's been bribed by the imperial court to arrest those officials. I happen to recognize them. They're all from the Lihua Hall. I haven't seen any Jinyi from other halls."
The implication is 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 rebel was in the building and deliberately lured Li Yinglong over.
But on second thought, I felt that this plan was too crude. If that was the case, then it wouldn't be a problem.
The guard shook his head:
"I was in such a hurry that I couldn't get into the building, so I don't know exactly what happened, but... I faintly heard a woman's cry when the young master escaped."
A woman? Even Li Yanfu, a man of great sophistication, was stunned by this answer.
I can't figure it out for the moment.
He did not stand up immediately, but closed his eyes, calmed his mind and breathed, reviewing the recent court affairs.
Then, this veteran official opened his eyes and said calmly:
"Prepare the car..."
He originally wanted to say, 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."
…
…
Climb... Climb... Climb...
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, and in the distance there was a vast expanse of blue water. Outside the railings surrounding the building, the sky was dark and unclear, with layers of dark clouds like ink splashed on white paper, smudged with blooming clouds.
It's like a huge painting in ink and color.
The air is slightly chilly today, especially the breeze from the lake, which completely dispels any trace of dryness.
Inside the pavilion, Li Yanfu was sitting at a table.
This old man has sideburns like a hedgehog, eyebrows like purple stones, and messy stubble spreading along both cheeks and intersecting with his temples. His expression is calm.
He was wearing a bright red official robe, but he had taken off his black hat 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 wine-cooking utensils. Turbid wine was quietly cooking 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.
"Mr. Li has a refined 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 in front of him, moved it aside, and took a new one:
"I thought the Prime Minister would be so busy with official duties that it would be hard to see him. I never expected to have the opportunity to dine with Li Xiang. Tsk, these plums are long past their peak season, yet 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 slowly said:
"They are shipped from the south to the capital by water and stored in ice jars along the way. These few plums are already very valuable. Fortunately, if we only use some to flavor the wine, we can still afford it."
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-ranking official. It 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 has a low-key personality. Compared with the geniuses of the Li family of the same generation, he is not bad, but not outstanding either.
After entering the officialdom, he did not start from a high position 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 around quite frequently.
Moving refers not only to promotion but also to lateral transfer.
While other members of the Li family were busy getting promoted, he quietly took up all the important positions in the county.
When we entered the city, it 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 offices 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 on 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 understand the Great Yu Dynasty better."
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 respect them.
In particular, this current prime minister 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, they are on equal footing with each other.
It was only a few months.
"Under heaven, all land belongs to the king. The Li family has no wealth. We are just managing it for Your Majesty."
Li Yanfu said lightly, raised his head, and looked at the young man calmly with his eyes hidden with ferocity in his deep eye sockets.
Even though they were enemies, they couldn't help but admire Zhao Duan's calm demeanor:
"A few months ago, I never imagined that such a talented person would emerge from your Majesty's side. In the future, there may not be another Zhao family member 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 flash of swords and sabers.
Just treat everyone to a meal.
(End of this chapter)
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