Jiuxi

Chapter 696 [The Long Road]

Pingkangfang, Li's mansion.

It was almost dusk when Li Shizhi returned home. The desolate twilight enveloped the earth, and a ray of setting sun in the sky looked like blood.

There was an official sitting in the study drinking tea. He was Qi Weili, the Minister of Dali Temple.

Because it was a day off today, he came to Li's house early. Because Li Shizhi was suddenly summoned to the palace, he had to wait here for most of the hour.

Li Shizhi said calmly: "Are you tired of waiting?"

Qi Weili stood up and said, "Brother, why do you say that? There are countless rare ancient books in this study room. I am really feasting my eyes on them."

Li Shizhi smiled and said, "Please sit down. There is no need for empty formalities between you and me."

Qi Weili didn't act pretentiously.

He and Li Shizhi knew each other when they were young and became close friends. They could be said to be partners who knew each other well and walked side by side.

Of course, Li Shizhi was the leader who made the decision, and Qi Weili was convinced by this.

Over the years, he was promoted step by step from a small chief clerk of the Dali Temple to the position of Temple Secretary, Temple Director, Junior Minister, and now the powerful Minister of the Dali Temple. Li Shizhi contributed a lot in secret. It can be said that without Li Shizhi, Qi Weili would not have the position he has today.

"Let's continue with the previous topic."

Li Shizhi drank half a cup of tea and said leisurely: "The layout of the court is not a one-day job. Your Majesty still trusts the two prime ministers, so it is not appropriate to act rashly for the time being. There are already many of our people among the middle and lower-level officials. Recently, I have made some adjustments by helping Your Majesty promote his confidants. The results will be seen in time. Therefore, our goal now is to target those important officials in purple robes, which is why I asked you to come here today."

Qi Weili was a little confused.

Of course, he would not question Li Shizhi's decision. The problem was that he was the Minister of the Dali Temple and not the Chief Censor. If he wanted to take action against a certain official, it would be most appropriate to let the Censor come forward. Moreover, he did not believe that Li Shizhi did not have a few capable confidants in the Censorate.

However, out of respect for Li Shizhi, he still said respectfully: "Please give me your instructions, brother."

Li Shizhi said: "You are the Minister of the Dali Temple, in charge of criminal justice review, which is equivalent to strangling the throat of the Ministry of Justice. This is where you can play a role."

"Minister of Justice Gao Huan?"

Qi Weili was a little surprised and for a moment he didn't understand why Li Shizhi suddenly turned his attention to Gao Huan.

The Minister of Justice is certainly a high-ranking official, but in the sequence of various departments in the court, the Ministry of Justice has always been one of the three lower departments, on par with the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works, and its importance is far less than that of the three ministries of Personnel, Revenue, and Rites.

Although Gao Huan was born into the Longlin Gao family, his reputation as an official was mediocre. Unless something unexpected happened, the Minister of Justice would be the end of his official career. At most, he would be awarded the honorary title of Grand Secretary after retirement.

Qi Weili knew that Li Shizhi was aiming for the position of left prime minister, but Gao Huan could not pose any threat to him at all. Why would he need to target such a non-confrontational character?

Li Shizhi asked slowly, "Do you still remember the assassination case last year?"

Qi Weili nodded.

"I reviewed the details of the whole incident, and there is one very strange thing. Lu Chen chose to reveal the truth when His Majesty was holding a court meeting, with the intention of provoking a dispute between His Majesty and the Queen Mother. At that time, he had already sensed His Majesty's suspicion of him, so he chose to take the initiative and get His Majesty into trouble in the palace. If it weren't for my father's intervention, His Majesty might have been forced to kill the third prince, and thus completely fell out with Queen Mother Xu. Lu Chen's behavior is not surprising, the key is that His Majesty was unprepared for this."

Li Shizhi narrowed his eyes and said slowly, "The person in charge of the specific investigation at that time was the Minister of Justice Gao Huan. Logically, he should have reported the progress to Your Majesty in a timely manner. How could he have no bottom line and become a yes-man around Lu Chen? From my experience, no matter how he tried to cover up in front of Your Majesty afterwards, there must be some unknown connection between him and Lu Chen."

Qi Weili's heart trembled, and he frowned and said, "I can't believe that Lu Chen's hand can stretch so far."

"That's about it at best."

Li Shizhi let out a long sigh and said, "Sooner or later, His Majesty will exclude Xiao Wangzhi from the core of the military, and he is getting old, so we don't need to worry about him. I don't know why Lu Chen and Gao Huan are colluding with each other, but since he is suspected, we must cut off his hand that reaches into the court. There is no need to rush this matter. You'd better suppress the problematic case in the Ministry of Justice, and wait for the right time to throw it all on Gao Huan, so that he can roll up his bedding and roll back to his hometown in Longlin."

In fact, Qi Weili didn't quite understand why Li Shizhi was so wary of Lu Chen. Normally, the two were civil officials and military officials, and it was difficult for them to have conflicts of interest. However, Li Shizhi's solemn instructions would not be taken lightly, so he said seriously: "Brother, don't worry, I know what to do."

The two chatted for a while, and then Qi Weili stood up and said goodbye.

Li Shizhi still did not leave the study and had a simple dinner here.

The maids served tea and then left. The confidant Li Jinshan came up and said, "Master, there is news from my hometown."

"speak."

"It seems that Qin Tiju and his family plan to stay here for a long time."

"Father is really hospitable..."

Li Shizhi sighed meaningfully.

Li Jinshan added: "Now it seems that His Majesty really wants to take action against Qin Tiju, but I don't know why the old master wants to protect Qin Tiju."

Li Shizhi looked up at the deep night outside the window and said quietly, "As long as you can figure out why His Majesty wants to deal with Qin Zheng, you will naturally understand why my father wants to protect Qin Zheng."

Li Jinshan was slightly startled. After thinking for a moment, he said in a panic, "Could it be that Qin Tiju holds the secret of His Majesty?"

"That's the only answer. There's no other reason."

Li Shizhi looked indifferent and sneered, "I should have guessed long ago that there were still people taking advantage of the rebellion. Guo Congyi, Wang Yan and others were caught in one fell swoop, so Han Zhongjie was able to take the throne, and the death of the eldest prince was equivalent to completely stabilizing the position of the current emperor. Now it seems that your majesty and Han Zhongjie have been colluding for many years. They hid it so well that even I didn't find out beforehand." Although he didn't say it clearly, Li Jinshan's expression changed and murmured, "Could the death of the prince be related to your majesty? Qin Tiju may have noticed something strange. No wonder your majesty was so anxious to force Qin Tiju to resign and even wanted to take his life."

Li Shizhi nodded and said, "You can think clearly about the connection here, which shows that you have made a lot of progress over the years."

"Thank you for the compliment, sir."

Li Jinshan bowed his head and asked, "Master, what should we do next?"

Li Shizhi raised his hand and tapped the table lightly, saying slowly: "Don't pay attention to it, let father do whatever he wants. Even if he and Qin Zheng finally find evidence that your majesty killed the eldest prince, it is not a bad thing. In addition, you should tell the people below to be smart and not to conflict with father's people. In any case, the people of the Li family must be united against the outside world. Since father has not chosen to break with me, the Li family is one."

"Yes, sir."

Li Jinshan bowed.

"There will be guests coming to visit us soon. You should go to the back of the mansion to greet them in person."

Li Shizhi gave a light instruction and then picked up a file on the desk and started reading it.

Li Jinshan agreed and tiptoed out of the study.

The moon was at its zenith when a disguised man was brought to the study by Li Jinshan. Li Jinshan then bowed and left, and personally stood guard in the corridor outside.

Li Shizhi stood up and greeted him, "Now is different from the past. I don't know how many eyes are watching me secretly. You are serving in the army in Beijing, so there is no suitable reason for us to communicate. I have to inconvenience you to go there late at night."

The visitor was flattered and said, "How can you say that? As long as you have an order, I will never frown, no matter how hard it is."

The atmosphere was extremely harmonious. The two sat down as host and guest. Li Shizhi asked, "Have you heard about the important events in the court?"

The visitor smiled and said, "I heard that Lord Han, the Marquis of Yongyi, came to me in the evening and asked me to prepare as soon as possible."

"He is anxious."

Li Shizhi smiled and said meaningfully: "That's why I asked you to come here late at night."

The man who came was the marching commander of the Brave Camp and also the commander-in-chief of the Tiger and Mighty Army.

As early as when Lu Chen first entered the capital, Yuan Xingqin, now 40 years old, was already the commander-in-chief of the Tiger Army. In terms of seniority, he was only one level lower than those military ministers. After Li Zongben ascended the throne, thanks to Li Shizhi paying a large sum of money to help him smooth the connections, he successfully moved up a level and became the chief marcher of the Brave Camp.

Yuan Xingqin said bluntly: "Just give your orders, sir."

"As expected of a sharp and capable general in the army."

Li Shizhi showed approval, and then said, "I asked you to take the initiative to approach Han Zhongjie and win his trust, hoping that you could replace him one day. I originally thought that this matter would require long-term consideration, but I didn't expect that the north would send you an opportunity. It can be said that God favors you."

Yuan Xingqin was similar to Qi Weili. Although they had good family backgrounds, they were far from being comparable to the famous families. The reason they were able to rise in officialdom was due to Li Shizhi's secret help which never stopped over the long years.

The only difference is that Qi Weili can visit Li's house openly, but he has never dared to reveal his relationship with Li Shizhi over the years, which is also the latter's most important requirement.

Hearing Li Shizhi's words, Yuan Xingqin could not hide his eagerness and said, "Sir, what shall I do?"

"Although Your Majesty has not made a final decision, the Northern Expedition is inevitable. This time, the Beijing Army's Brave Camp will cooperate with the Jingzhou Army to take the initiative to attack."

Li Shizhi looked at Yuan Xingqin's expectant eyes and smiled, "We will try to defeat the Jing army and achieve our strategic goal. Then, let Han Zhongjie die on the battlefield and fulfill his reputation for loyalty and filial piety."

Yuan Xingqin did not hesitate at all. Such a request would neither affect his personal future nor threaten the stability of Da Qi. It would also allow him to take over. So why not?

So he said firmly: "I understand."

"We need to win the war and ensure that Han Zhongjie sacrifices his life for the country without any doubt. This is indeed a difficult task."

Li Shizhi gave a brief reminder, then said: "I will send someone to accompany you north to help you with strategies."

"Thank you, sir!"

Yuan Xingqin stood up and bowed, saying sincerely: "I will always remember your kindness in cultivating me!"

Li Shizhi said with relief: "On the day of your triumphant return, I will hold a banquet to celebrate your success in person."

Yuan Xingqin was almost moved to tears and could not express his gratitude in words.

After less than half an hour, Yuan Xingqin disappeared into the night again.

Li Shizhi stood up and walked outside the house. He stood on the porch, looked up at the bright moon, and let out a long breath.

In the cold and lonely night, he whispered to himself.

"Father, I will prove that your decision to choose me as the heir of the Li family twenty-seven years ago was the most correct decision in your life."

"I hope you live long enough to witness that moment."

(End of this chapter)