Jiuxi

Chapter 805: 803 [Deceiving with Method]

Yongjia City, Imperial Palace.

Shen Yulai, the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Guards, stood in the corner tower of the palace wall, looking through the window at the square outside the Hening Gate.

Two important ministers wearing golden and purple robes came out of the palace. Outside the square, two carriages were waiting for their owners at a distance.

Shen Yulai watched quietly, and suddenly asked: "Is that Xue Xiang and Li Shangshu?"

"Yes, sir."

The deputy general replied respectfully, "Prime Minister Xue and Minister Li entered the palace at the same time at 2:05 pm, which is exactly one hour ago."

"One hour..."

Shen Yulai repeated softly, and then asked: "Enter the palace at the same time?"

The deputy general replied, "Yes, sir."

Shen Yulai didn't ask any more questions, but a strange emotion gradually emerged in his eyes, because he saw Xue Nanting and Li Shizhi actually stopped at the edge of the square, and the two seemed to be chatting.

As the commander of the imperial guards, Shen Yulai has always been very clear about his duties. Unless the emperor specifically arranges for him, he will never get involved in the storms in the court, and he will guard the palace with all his heart and soul. Although he is not as famous as Li Jingda, no one in the court dares to ignore his existence, and the previous emperor and the current emperor will give him enough favor and treatment.

But this does not mean that he is completely in the dark and knows nothing about the court situation.

Xue Nanting and Li Shizhi had served in the same court for many years. In addition to the relationship with Li Daoyan and the generations-long exchanges between the Jinlin Li family and the Qingyuan Xue family, the two were certainly not strangers, but they could not be said to be close.

Especially after the right prime minister Zhong Cheng was forced to resign, Xue Nanting's attitude towards Li Shizhi became even colder.

It was somewhat strange that the two of them entered the palace to meet the emperor at the same time today. Generally speaking, the emperor would try his best to avoid these two important ministers meeting in private, so as to prevent Zuo Xiang, who had a straight-forward and hot-tempered temperament, from having a fit of rage.

"This is really interesting. It's getting more and more confusing."

Shen Yulai silently said something in his heart, and then simply leaned against the window sill and looked into the distance. It was a pity that he did not have a good hearing and could not hear the content of the conversation between the two important ministers.

On the square, Xue Nanting and Li Shizhi stood opposite each other, and their attendants were waiting quietly in the distance.

Li Shizhi smiled with a lingering feeling and said, "Prime Minister Xue, I know there is a restaurant two blocks away that makes delicious plum blossom cakes and fragrant cherries. Would you like to take the time to try it?"

He knew Xue Nanting's temper and certainly would not make such a stupid suggestion as going to Fanlou, even though Fanlou was the property of Jinlin Li.

Although Xue Nanting had no expression on his face, he had a dignified demeanor. He looked at the other person deeply and said, "Okay."

Li Shizhi then turned sideways and saluted.

A moment later, two carriages left the square one after the other and headed north along the Imperial Street.

The restaurant Li Shizhi mentioned was a small shop, but judging from the familiarity with which he greeted the waiters, he had indeed frequented this place quite often in the past.

Although they were entertaining two important ministers, this place was not far from the imperial palace after all, and the shopkeeper and the waiters were well-informed, so apart from being more respectful, they did not show too much fear.

The two of them sat down at a window seat. After a while, the waiter served them snacks and tea, then bowed and left.

Xue Nanting picked up a piece of plum cake, ate it slowly, took a sip of tea, and took out a handkerchief to wipe his mouth carefully.

During this process, Li Shizhi kept looking at him with a smile.

Xue Nanting did not comment on the quality of the snacks, but said in a deep voice: "Prime Minister Zhong is an upright person and an honest official. It is shameless and despicable to force him to resign in this way."

Although it was not stated explicitly, this sentence was obviously directed at the head of the Jinlin Li family opposite.

"If I say this matter has nothing to do with me, Prime Minister Xue will definitely not believe it."

Li Shizhi sighed, and then said calmly: "However, my opinion on Prime Minister Zhong is slightly different from Prime Minister Xue's."

Xue Nanting's eyes were slightly cold: "What do you mean?"

Li Shizhi said slowly: "Prime Minister Xue, do you still remember that after His Majesty ascended the throne, he ordered all civil and military officials to discuss how to reward Lu Chen for the Yongqiu victory. Xin Yixian and others suddenly jumped out and bluntly said that Lu Chen should be given the title of Duke. This move was full of flattery and almost created a rift between His Majesty and Lu Chen. If His Majesty had not responded properly, it would have led to unimaginable consequences. These people think they are loyal to the country and do not want to see the danger of separatism, but they do not understand the rules of the court."

"I don't believe their actions were directed by Jong Sang."

Xue Nanting was so determined that he would never be swayed by a few words from the other party.

Li Shizhi was not in a hurry either, and said leisurely: "Let's put this matter aside. In the subsequent court meetings involving Lu Chen and the border troops, didn't Prime Minister Xue think that Prime Minister Zhong's attitude was strange? At least in my opinion, Zhong's bias towards Lu Chen was somewhat obvious."

After hearing this, Xue Nanting finally understood why the emperor allowed those villains to continuously attack Zhong Cheng.

Li Shizhi added: "Even if Prime Minister Zhong has a thousand good points, he didn't handle this matter properly after all." Xue Nanting sneered upon hearing this and said bluntly: "In terms of supporting Lu Chen and the border troops, I have done more than Prime Minister Zhong, so it stands to reason that the blame should be directed at me."

"Prime Minister Xue is joking."

Li Shizhi took a sip of tea and said sincerely: "Your Majesty knows, and the world knows, that Prime Minister Xue is loyal to the country. No matter what he does, he is always thinking about the Great Qi. He will never have any selfish motives. Otherwise, why would the Qingyuan Xue family hesitate to move forward?"

"I came here today as promised, I just want to tell you something."

Xue Nanting ignored the flattery, looked directly into Li Shizhi's eyes, and said with a slightly stronger tone: "Although I agree with your proposal in front of the emperor just now, it does not mean that I approve of your method. The matter of Zhong Xiang will not end here, and I will definitely seek justice for him."

A cold air hit me in the face.

Even a man as experienced and calm as Li Shizhi felt a little overwhelmed by such a direct declaration from the left prime minister of the dynasty.

If it weren't for the late emperor and Li Daoyan, a pair of monarch and minister who cooperated well and were tolerant of others, Xue Nanting would never have reached his current position. No matter how talented he was, he could have been stuck in a minister-level position his entire life, and finally retired and returned home with the title of a minister.

It was precisely because of the appreciation of the late emperor and the tolerance of Li Daoyan that Xue Nanting was able to rise step by step and served as the right prime minister for eight years. After Li Daoyan resigned, he naturally took charge of all officials.

To this day, Xue Nanting still does not have many confidants, and there are not many officials in the various ministries in the court who can be regarded as the confidants of the Left Prime Minister. However, he can sit firmly in the Secretariat because of his integrity and reputation that have remained the same for decades.

He doesn't need so-called followers.

A very vivid negative example is the former right prime minister Zhong Cheng, who spent half his life in the noble Hanlin Academy. Before his promotion, he had basically never experienced the hardships of life. Although his official career was smooth, he lacked perseverance.

When he was impeached by a large group of officials, and the impeachment became increasingly intense, Zhong Cheng soon couldn't hold on. Even though Xue Nanting repeatedly expressed his support for him publicly, he still couldn't withstand the pressure.

This is where Xue Nanting is helpless. In fact, as long as Zhong Cheng is a little thick-skinned and a little ruthless, those impeachments cannot determine whether he stays or goes.

Finally, Zhong Cheng was exhausted and voluntarily resigned from his post. Xue Nanting was very angry at home that day.

Li Shizhi did not argue because it was meaningless. Xue Nanting had already made up his mind about this, so how could he be moved by his words?
He just said apologetically: "Prime Minister Xue should know what the most important issue is in the court. I was a little surprised that Prime Minister Xue agreed with my proposal in front of the emperor, but it was normal after thinking about it, because this was the decision Prime Minister Xue would definitely make. In short, putting aside the previous disputes, I always think that we should not intensify the contradictions between the central government and the border troops, and we should not deepen the estrangement between Your Majesty and Lu Chen, but we have to make some adjustments, which is the most difficult part."

Xue Nanting did not continue to make harsh remarks. He just told Li Shizhi clearly that public matters were public and private matters were private. He agreed with some of Li Shizhi's political views and it had nothing to do with Zhong Cheng being forced to resign.

As for Lu Chen...

This time, Xue Nanting was silent for a long time, and then he said slowly: "I have already said in front of the emperor just now that the treatment of the border soldiers cannot be reduced, and the military power in Lu Chen's hands cannot be reduced. These are all related to the stability of the border. Although Jingguo has experienced a civil strife, the Emperor Jing has not lost control of the Jing army. Even if they have to stay silent for a few years, they will come back in the future. Therefore, our dynasty must not destroy its foundation."

Li Shizhi echoed, "Xue Xiangming, this is the premise for us to act."

Xue Nanting looked at the other person's calm face, feeling somewhat conflicted.

He couldn't say that he knew Li Shizhi very well. After all, in the past decade or so, the other party had been overshadowed by Li Daoyan's brilliance. Although Li Shizhi had profound knowledge, a good official reputation and was a good writer, he had basically no chance to participate in the core government affairs.

Over the past year, Li Shizhi had quietly become the emperor's confidant and right-hand man, and at the same time had slightly revealed the accumulated power of the Jinlin Li family and his father and son. However, Xue Nanting still could not see clearly the heart hidden behind this elegant face, so he decided to take another look.

"That's all for today. I don't think there will be another chance in the future."

Xue Nanting stood up slowly and said sternly, "Minister Li, I have something to say, just listen to it."

Li Shizhi also stood up and said, "Prime Minister Xue, please speak."

Xue Nanting said word by word: "The way of a gentleman is like walking a long way, one must start from near; like climbing a high place, one must start from low."

Li Shizhi narrowed his eyes slightly, bowed and said, "I will remember this."

Xue Nanting turned and left, but Li Shizhi maintained this posture until Xue Nanting got on the carriage, then he slowly stood up.

At this time, his confidant Li Jinshan came over and whispered, "Master."

Li Shizhi looked calm, glanced at the counter, and said, "Give the store owner ten taels of silver."

"Yes, sir."

Without any hesitation, Li Jinshan immediately took out a ten-liang silver note and handed it to the shopkeeper.

Although the dim sum in this small shop is famous, the prices are not expensive. Just a plate of plum cakes and a plate of fragrant cherries are really not worth so much money.

The shopkeeper and his staff thanked him profusely, but Li Shizhi smiled and said, "If you want to thank someone, thank the Left Prime Minister."

He walked out, boarded the carriage parked on the street, sat down and whispered to himself: "To travel far, one must start from near; to climb high, one must start from low. This sentence is worth more than ten taels of silver."

"It's just that... Prime Minister Xue, you may not know that I have always been practicing this sentence."

(End of this chapter)