Jiuxi

Chapter 1006 1004 [Monopoly]

In Chengpingfang, two streets east of the Prince of Qin's Palace, there is a grand and majestic Duke's Palace.

As the brothers Xiao Lin and Xiao Hong returned to the capital with their families, Xiao Wangzhi sent them to the Military Affairs Office to help Lu Chen, while he himself lived a leisurely life in his old age.

On weekdays, he would either enjoy family happiness with a group of grandchildren, or go to Lu Tong and other old friends to drink tea and chat. He ignored all military and political affairs of the court, and even rarely asked about the new policies. Xiao Wangzhi's retirement was clean and there was no connection at all.

"Yuchi, is your family doing well recently?"

Xiao Wangzhi sat on a lounge chair under the porch, watching his two grandsons laughing and playing in the courtyard, enjoying the breeze blowing through the leaves.

Yuchi Gui sat next to him and said leisurely, "Both boys have already started families and careers. One of them has outstanding martial arts talent and the other has a calm and steady temperament. They can support each other and there is no need for an old man like me to do anything."

Xiao Wangzhi nodded. He knew that Yuchi Gui's wife had died of illness many years ago and he had no plans to remarry. He thought that he had fulfilled his duty as a father by raising his two sons to adulthood.

He said with emotion: "You are fifty years old this year, right?"

Yuchi Gui nodded and said, "Yes, fifty years old."

In fact, he looks much younger than his actual age, probably in his early forties. This is because he originally had excellent family internal skills, and later learned the Shang Xuan Jing from Lin Jie. In terms of the depth of internal strength alone, he is on par with Lin Jie.

Although martial arts cannot make people immortal, it can certainly prolong their life.

Compared to Yuchi Gui, Xiao Wangzhi looked much older, but he obviously didn't care much about it. He said softly: "Thanks to you for protecting me all these years."

"That's a bit off topic."

Yuchi Gui smiled and shook his head, saying slowly: "Why do you need my protection? From the day I met you, you have been the commander of the Huaizhou Zhenbei Army. You have been in the military camp guarded by tens of thousands of elite soldiers all year round. Which commoner dares to challenge you? No matter how high your martial arts skills are, you can only run for your life when you encounter hundreds of armored warriors. Actually, seriously speaking, it is you who gave me a chance to get what I want, and I have to thank you."

Xiao Wangzhi naturally knew what his wish was, but he changed the subject and asked, "What are your plans for the future?"

Yuchi Gui turned his head and looked at him, asking with interest: "Do you really want me to leave?"

"I have completely stopped caring about state affairs now. I have accumulated a lot of merits and favors over the years. I am not a threat to anyone's interests. Who would want to make things difficult for an old man like me? Why would I need to trouble an expert like you to protect my house?"

Xiao Wangzhi's answer was very direct, and he sighed: "It is enough to have a friend like you in this life."

"I don't believe you don't have any plans."

Yuchi Gui raised his hand and nodded at Xiao Wangzhi, as if he had seen through him: "Tell me, what do you want me to do?"

Xiao Wangzhi certainly wouldn't feel embarrassed in front of him, and said with a smile: "Just now you said that you got what you wanted, but I really can't take the credit. When Heluo fell, you went alone to assassinate Qing Yuding, but were finally stopped by Qing Yugong. You were evenly matched in that battle, and you always hoped to make up for this regret. Although the Battle of Pingyang was commanded by me, it was all planned by Lu Chen from beginning to end. If you really want to thank him, you should thank him for giving you the opportunity to fight Qing Yugong to the death."

Yuchi Gui also smiled and said, "I knew there was something else behind your words, but I don't quite understand. Is there still danger now that Lu Chen holds the military power of Da Qi?"

"Military power is the last resort. We cannot take this step unless it is absolutely necessary."

Xiao Wangzhi shook his head and briefly recounted the undercurrents in the capital over the past six months. Finally, he said solemnly, "In my opinion, those people can only use two tricks. One is to maintain the current situation and use all kinds of conspiracies to hinder the implementation of the new policy and weaken Lu Chen's power. But from my understanding of Lu Chen, such petty tricks are basically useless, so those people can only take risks next."

"Take risks?"

Yuchi Gui frowned slightly and said, "Do they think that everything will be fine once Lu Chen dies? Most of the generals of the 18th Army were promoted by Lu Chen. No one would dare to mess around when he is around. But if he is gone, do the palace think that an imperial edict can suppress these fierce generals?"

"The palace certainly doesn't think so, but the people below may not necessarily listen to the palace."

Xiao Wangzhi sneered and continued, "Throughout history, there have been few people with farsightedness and vision, and many with shortsightedness. Those who can see the land one foot in front of them can be called wise. If you look through the history books of past dynasties, there are countless examples of emperors, famous ministers, and great scholars making stupid decisions."

"I understand."

Yuchi Gui nodded and said, "Lin Jie is staying in Dingzhou now, and Miss Lin is pregnant. Lu Chen really needs an expert who is good at hiding his tracks. No one is more suitable than me."

"Yuchi."

Xiao Wangzhi turned his head and looked at him, saying solemnly: "You and I are close friends. Although you have refused to accept any official position in recent years, I have never regarded you as a subordinate. I am not very clear about Lu Chen's plan, and I cannot determine whether it is dangerous to stay with him, so you don't have to worry about my opinion on this matter."

"Even if you don't mention it, Lin Jie will probably mention it. After all, I still owe him a lot of favors."

Yuchi Gui said in a carefree manner: "But in the end, I think this young man Lu Chen is really amazing. I have watched him progress step by step over the years. He is so bold and confident in public and patient and meticulous in private. This kind of character is so rare. Now that I am at the age of knowing my destiny, if I can still do something meaningful, my life will be worthwhile."

Xiao Wangzhi praised him, "He is as open-minded as a whetstone, following his heart without going beyond the rules. This is the spirit of a chivalrous man."

Yuchi Gui smiled calmly, stood up and said, "Then I'll leave?"

Xiao Wangzhi also stood up and said, "I'll take you there." The two close friends who had known each other for decades did not say anything pretentious. When they reached the door, Yuchi Gui waved his hand and left under Xiao Wangzhi's smiling gaze.

……

Royal Palace, Qinzheng Hall.

Kong Yingdong had not yet been convicted, and lying there limply was really an eyesore, so Empress Dowager Ning ordered the guards to carry him to a corner to await his fate.

Empress Dowager Ning naturally hated this Minister of Rites who had ulterior motives.

The other party almost dragged her and the court into a vortex. Even though he did not succeed in the end, he allowed Lu Chen to gain the upper hand by taking advantage of the Enke fraud case. In addition, the implementation of the new policy in the past six months was slow, so he used this excuse to interfere in the government affairs with justification.

Queen Mother Ning was so smart that she had figured out the whole thing clearly. Lu Chen had declined her offer to rule the country for ten years, and then she had been consciously waiting.

From the very beginning, he restricted the authority of the Innovation Department and handed over all power to the Secretariat and various departments of the court. However, Empress Dowager Ning could not say that he had ulterior motives, because it was indeed the court that failed to seize the opportunity.

If the court can smoothly promote the new policy without Lu Chen's direct intervention, instead of having little effect as it does now, then Lu Chen would not be in a position to further seize power even if it is to maintain the image he has established in front of the world.

Moreover, it was precisely because of Lu Chen's silence during this period that people like Kong Yingdong mistakenly believed that he was satisfied with the status quo, which gave them the courage to hatch a conspiracy.

"Your Majesty, the results of the imperial examination need to be determined as soon as possible, so I would like to ask the two prime ministers to review the answer sheets with the imperial scholars and select the full number of candidates according to the method of dividing the list into north and south."

Lu Chen mentioned the matter again, and then said: "I recommend Hanlin scholar Wang An to assist the two prime ministers. Please approve it, Your Majesty."

This is a very obvious change.

In the past few years, Lu Chen had never helped Wang An to gain power. Even when Wang An was appointed as a Hanlin scholar, he still maintained an indifferent attitude, which resulted in Wang An being isolated in the Hanlin Academy and unable to establish his own power until now. The emperor and his ministers in the palace were well aware of this.

Now that Lu Chen has asked Wang An to assist in the review of the special examination, this shows that he will no longer be as humble and tolerant as before.

Queen Mother Ning glanced at the silent ministers and nodded slightly wearily, "Approved. Scholar Wang, you will assist the two prime ministers in re-determining the list of tribute candidates."

Wang An didn't seem surprised, and replied calmly as usual: "I accept your order."

At this time, another eunuch came in and said, "Your Majesty, Cui Hao, the deputy director of the Innovation Department, wants to see you."

"Xuan."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

A moment later, Cui Hao walked into the palace. Although it was his first time entering the center of power in the imperial court, this young and vigorous official was not at all shy. He saluted Queen Mother Ning meticulously and then reported: "Your Majesty, I, under the order of the King of Qin, led my colleagues in the Innovation Department to investigate the scholars and officials related to this year's special examination. Now we have obtained preliminary evidence and can determine that the Chief Executive and Minister of Rites Kong Yingdong has colluded and committed fraud."

"boom."

Kong Yingdong’s eyes went dark and he fainted on the ground.

Queen Mother Ning didn't even want to look at him. If time could be reversed, she would never transfer this person to the central government, so she said woodenly: "Prince Qin, I have just allowed the Ministry of Innovation to thoroughly investigate the case of the special examination. Since your people have evidence of Kong Yingdong's favoritism and fraud, I will hand him over to you. However, I hope you can investigate impartially and have enough solid evidence. After all, he is the Minister of Rites of the current dynasty, and he must be able to convince the court and the people."

"The minister obeys the order."

Lu Chen bowed.

"As for the New Deal——"

Queen Mother Ning paused and said slowly: "From now on, the Innovation Department will be in charge. If you need assistance from the Secretariat and the ministries, you can go directly to the Second Prime Minister and the heads of the ministries to discuss it."

"Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty. I will do my best to seek the welfare of the country and the people."

Lu Chen knew that Queen Mother Ning was not willing to give up power, but she had to do so because she was in the wrong.

Although he admired the Empress Dowager very much from the bottom of his heart, he could not continue to endure this time and give these ministers in the court the opportunity to waste their time.

Thinking of this, Lu Chen bowed and said, "Your Majesty, after careful consideration, I feel that the Innovation Department is too low-level and may not be able to handle such a huge new policy affairs. Therefore, I dare to ask Your Majesty to upgrade the Innovation Department to a temporary new policy office, which will be fully responsible for new policy-related affairs. At the same time, in order to ensure the integrity of the new policy office, it will be supervised by the Secretariat, the Censorate and various ministries, and the two prime ministers can check all the files and archives of the new policy office at any time."

Queen Mother Ning sighed silently. This young prince was really flawless in his work. He could have easily omitted the last sentence. What could others do now?

Looking at Lu Chen's calm and clear eyes, she finally nodded and said, "Allowed."

(End of this chapter)