At this time, in Lin’s house.
Minister Lin Fujian is playing chess with someone.
The person sitting opposite him was none other than Li Jinzhong, who had caused Xu Wenqu to break his leg. Now, he had been the Shangshu in the capital for two years.
Li Jinzhong made his move, looked at Lin Fujian's expression, and said cautiously: "Master, today, the prince and that person both went to the Imperial College."
Lin Fujian laughed: "People like them only know how to deal with these useless trivialities. What's the point of talking about gradual progress? It's ridiculous!"
Li Jinzhong asked, "Master, do you think this is the work of Prime Minister Xu?"
“Not necessarily,” Lin Fujian said, “He might not have done it, but he must have known about it.”
He smiled and said, "Xu Xiang has lost his life because of this 'getting the best of both worlds'. He always wanted to get the best of both worlds in everything, but in the end, he only shot himself in the foot."
"That's right," Li Jinzhong said, "I recommended that person to the court, but he only gave me a light thank you, not even a thank you gift. That's fine... But a few days ago, that person killed a member of the Xu family for no reason, and then he was demoted two levels and became a concubine. Isn't that repaying kindness with enmity?"
Lin Fujian laughed out loud: "You are wrong, that person, maybe he doesn't even know that Jiapin and Xu Xiang are related."
...
...
"Don't know? No way?"
Lin Fujian smiled and said, "She is originally from the countryside, and she doesn't know the affairs of the court. She has such a temperament. Whether she is a concubine or a court official, what family she comes from, what relationships are behind her, and what matters are related to her, I am afraid she has never thought about these things. I don't know what's so strange about it? The emperor wanted to promote Jiapin to a higher position in order to repay Xu Xiang's kindness for her, but he didn't expect that she would be the one to dethrone her."
He chuckled a few times, "I know this, and Prime Minister Xu knows it too, but what can he do? Can he go over and tell that person? Even if she knew that this woman was from Prime Minister Xu's family, would she really swallow her anger and watch her get promoted? She thinks she is right, and dares to say anything to the emperor. At that time, at most, she will just take a middle path, neither rising nor falling."
I have to say that Lin Fujian is very accurate in judging people.
The more Li Jinzhong thought about it, the more he felt that this was true: "That Prime Minister Xu is really very frustrated."
"Of course I feel aggrieved," Lin Fujian sneered, "With such a reckless person here, who knows who she will bite next? Who is truly innocent? If she gets hold of someone, she will bite him to death, and burn her boats. Who would risk their life to confront her?"
He made another move: "So, this person must not stay in the court."
Li Jinzhong said: "If people share this aspiration, they will be able to go to the Imperial College."
Lin Fujian smiled and said, "These methods are insignificant and meaningless. If you ask me, her biggest problem is that she thinks that as long as the emperor loves her, she can do whatever she wants and doesn't have to be afraid of anyone. So..."
He narrowed his eyes slightly, holding a chess piece between his hands and shaking it gently, "We have to teach her a lesson, let her understand that sometimes, the emperor can't protect her, and rushing around recklessly will only make things worse. If you want to solve the problem, you must learn... our way."
Li Jinzhong said: "But this guy has a ruthless temper. He would rather die than live in disgrace. I'm afraid he won't learn to surrender even if he gets hurt."
Lin Fujian smiled and said, "If it's her own business, then of course it's true, but what if it's someone else?"
He made a move slowly: "She remembers grudges, but also remembers favors. Although she is cruel, she protects her own people tightly, so the best way is to deal with the people around her, such as Xu Wenqu. For example, Tang Shirong."
Li Jinzhong suddenly realized: "That's right."
He was suddenly stunned: "Master, are we going to deal with her? Didn't you say that the time is not right yet?"
Lin Fujian smiled: "At that time, the time was not right, but now, the time is right."
"But now she has created the Shenwei Cannon, and is at the peak of her career..." Li Jinzhong put down the chess pieces and stood up to salute, "Please enlighten me, Master."
Lin Fujian waved his hand, motioning him to sit down: "I said the time has come, precisely because she created the Shenwei Cannon."
Seeing that Li Jinzhong still didn't understand, Lin Fujian laughed, "Let me ask you, is this Shenwei Cannon enough to dominate the world? The emperor is selling it to Mobei without any regrets, which means that the emperor has something better than the Shenwei Cannon. These are enough to make my Great Yan undefeated for two or three hundred years..."
He leaned forward slightly, staring at him with a pair of fierce eyes, "That's why I said the time has come."
Li Jinzhong seemed to have realized something, but he still said, "Master, this..."
Lin Fujian said word by word: "The emperor may have three parts of father-daughter affection for her, and seven parts want to use her, but she has seven parts of father-daughter affection for the emperor, and three parts because of the wise ruler... I have said before that as long as she does not commit the crime of treason, she will be honored and favored for life. Just because I have expectations, I can support her forever. But now..."
He laughed: "Dayan is already invincible. No matter what she does next, it will only be icing on the cake! At this point, her temperament, her behavior, her ability, and even her insolence in front of the emperor... are all her death warrants!! "
"That's right!" Li Jinzhong suddenly realized, "With her extreme personality, who knows when she will turn against us? Besides, all the countries are paying attention to her. If she is kidnapped, it would be like giving up the Shenwei cannon and so on! She has become the only danger to Dayan!"
Lin Fujian nodded with a smile, and Li Jinzhong said, "Then should we give it a push?"
"No," Lin Fujian said, "We have to teach her, slowly win her over and make her ours. Teach her how to behave and do things, how to always be favored by the emperor, and how to keep going! Pave the way for us!"
Li Jinzhong was full of admiration: "My teacher is so wise!"
He lowered his voice: "Then who should we deal with first?"
Lin Fujian smiled and said, "The people over at Tang Shirong's side can start to move slowly. It will take at least two or three months for the news to reach the capital. Let's serve some snacks to Xu Wenqu first!"
He lowered his eyes slightly, uttered the last word, and said with a loud bang: "You lose."
Li Jinzhong really doesn’t have the ability to talk and play chess at the same time: “My mentor is a great chess player, and I have never won.”
The power of the cabinet of this dynasty is far greater than that of the Secretariat of the previous dynasty.
The Secretariat was only responsible for drafting and issuing imperial edicts, while the Cabinet could vote on memorials from all over the country and seal or reject the emperor's edicts. The checks and balances between the emperor and his ministers were primarily established in the Cabinet.
Now that the chief minister of the cabinet has submitted a petition to beg for his death, and the second minister, Sun Xuancheng, is a scholar, the competition for the chief minister is gradually becoming clear.
Almost everyone in the court tacitly agreed that Lin Fujian would be the next prime minister. Even though the emperor was wary of Lin's party because of the previous imperial examination, governing a large country is like cooking a small fish. Who can uproot the teachers, disciples, and cliques in the court?
Neither can the emperor.
Over there, Yan Shiyue came out of the Imperial College and returned to Xishan with the Fifth Prince.
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