Jiuxi

Chapter 817: 815 [Starting a Fire]

There are ripples of clear water in the pond halfway up the mountain, and a gentle breeze is blowing inside the Jianxi Pavilion.

"You..."

Li Daoyan raised his hand and nodded at Lu Chen, laughing: "I have never understood. You are obviously young. Even if you are more mature than your peers due to the tempering of war, you should not have a face thicker than a city wall."

Lu Chen said aggrievedly: "Where did the old prime minister come from? I really don't understand."

Li Gongxu, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but laugh quietly.

Li Daoyan pretended to glare at Lu Chen and said half-truthfully, "You know that the Jinlin Li family's assets and connections are all in the hands of my son. If he falls, the Li family's hundreds of years of foundation will not only be destroyed, but will at least suffer heavy losses. Now you want me to deal with my own son, or more precisely, to strike at my own foundation, and you can use such a righteous tone. Aren't you thick-skinned enough? If it weren't for your contributions to the country, I would definitely let Zhiyuer drive you out."

Li Gongxu rolled his eyes and said timidly, "Grandfather, I dare not be rude to you."

The old man was suddenly speechless.

Lu Chen laughed loudly, then placed a chess piece and said, "Don't be angry, old prime minister. Play chess, play chess."

Li Daoyan looked at the chessboard and saw Lu Chen was about to win in a corner of the chessboard. He said angrily and amusedly, "You are such a sinister guy."

The black and white chess pieces continued to fight each other. Li Daoyan saw through Lu Chen's intention to steal the chicken. He was not frustrated or disappointed. He took the opportunity to open up a battlefield in another place and smiled, "The ancients once said that to deal with insidious enemies, you must be more insidious. It is respectable to insist on being noble, but it can only become a stepping stone for the enemy."

"Which sage?"

"anonymous."

Li Daoyan did not take the opportunity to tease him, but just sighed: "This sentence does make sense, but have you ever thought about this question? Even if sinking into the dark land can make you invincible, when you have no opponents in front of you, can you still stick to your original intention?"

“Whether it can or cannot be done, no one can determine in advance.”

Lu Chen held the chess piece in his hand and said softly, "But I know that if I look ahead and behind, I will never reach the end."

Li Daoyan stared into his eyes and asked slowly, "Where is the end?"

This time Lu Chen pondered for quite some time.

Li Gongxu looked at the gentleman's handsome and calm face, and for some reason he suddenly felt a little nervous.

In fact, he couldn't fully understand the conversation between the two, but he knew that the gentleman's next answer was very important and might directly determine his grandfather's attitude.

Li Daoyan did not urge the young Duke, but just looked at him quietly.

In the gentle spring breeze, Lu Chen said calmly: "I thought about one thing a long time ago. If I were Yang Guangyuan back then, what would I choose? After repeatedly asking myself, I only have one answer."

Li Daoyan said: "You say."

Lu Chen met the old man's gaze and said word by word: "If the king wants his subjects to die, please die first."

It was a sunny day, but Li Gongxu, who was standing in the pavilion, seemed to hear a loud thunder and a chill instantly swept through his whole body.

Li Daoyan put down the chess piece in his hand and slowly leaned back in his chair. There was some confusion in his weathered eyes. He asked, "Why are you so frank?"

"Perhaps in the eyes of many people in this world, this statement is extremely treasonous. If the king wants his subjects to die, they have to die. This is the moral code of human relations, a principle that is ingrained in everyone's bones, and even the criterion in the hearts of some moralists."

Lu Chen's tone remained calm, and he said calmly, "I understand that people have different statuses in this world, and I also know that compared to the rules that have covered this world for thousands of years, my power is very small. However, even if I am just a humble ant, it is easy for the giant to crush me to death. If he doesn't crush me to death, he just wants to make me obedient and docile, so that I don't have any determination to resist. This is actually a bit difficult."

Li Daoyan was silent for a moment, and said with a complicated expression: "Why do you have such an idea?"

“It was just a vague concept before.”

Lu Chen exhaled and said with admiration: "There is a person who finally helped me figure out my own thoughts. His name is Du Weizheng."

Li Daoyan asked, "Who was the warrior who used his body as a blade to seriously injure Emperor Jing?"

Lu Chen nodded and said, "It was him. Before he showed up, I think everyone thought that Emperor Jing was too powerful to be shaken. Even a contemporary hero like Qing Yugong had to bow down to him. Emperor Jing had the most extensive territory, the most powerful army, extremely brilliant tactics and deep scheming, and he also had martial arts that were not inferior to Qing Yugong. He had almost no weaknesses. However, Du Weizheng used that brilliant fireworks display to tell the world that the anger of an emperor could cause blood to flow, but the anger of an ordinary man could also cause blood to splash five steps away."

Li Daoyan sighed softly.

Lu Chen looked normal, but in fact, what he said was also half true and half false. Even though the impression of his previous life was becoming increasingly blurred in his mind, some engraved memories would not disappear.

Lu Chen respects the power of the supreme imperial power in this world, which is like an iron curtain, but he will not lose himself in awe.

However, he couldn't tell this reason to the old man in front of him, so he found an excuse.

At this point, Li Daoyan already fully understood Lu Chen's bottom line.

He said softly: "Although the current emperor is not as good as the previous emperor, he is much better than his grandfather. At least he can distinguish between what is important and what is not."

The implication is that Lu Chen doesn't have to worry too much about becoming the second Yang Guangyuan.

"So I chose to return to Beijing instead of finding various excuses to stay in Dingzhou."

Lu Chen did not deny the old man's opinion, and then said with a puzzled look: "But the old prime minister cannot deny that the emperor is too suspicious of me, and any disturbance may trigger his murderous intentions. In fact, I have never understood why the emperor is like this? If he really cares about the power of his ministers, why does he trust Li Shangshu so much? The old prime minister still has influence on the court, and the emperor is still eager to make Li Shangshu the prime minister."

He suddenly raised his hand and pointed at the Banshantang not far away, and said with emotion: "This is a country within a country."

Li Daoyan said frankly, "Throughout history, civil officials have certainly been able to abuse their power, but how many of them can threaten the imperial power? Even if it is to depose and enthrone, only a few people in the glorious history books can do it. Jinlin County is indeed a country within a country. The imperial court will not even interfere with the appointment and dismissal of officials within a hundred miles. Everything can be decided by the Li family. It's not that the imperial court can't do it, but that the emperor doesn't care. If he really wants to manage it, it's easy. He only needs an imperial decree. After all, the Li family can't drive more than 100,000 elite troops."

"Military power is indeed easy to make people jealous. I can understand that the emperor wants to prevent trouble before it happens."

Lu Chen glanced at the situation on the chessboard where the white pieces were gradually gaining an advantage, and said calmly, "I just don't understand why he is so anxious. As the saying goes, when the birds are gone, the good bows are put away; when the cunning rabbit dies, the running dogs are cooked. The problem is that the strong enemies still exist, and our dynasty has not even recovered Heluo. At this time, instead of working together to resist the foreign enemies, we are playing the trick of pacifying the country before resisting foreign aggression. It is hard to say whether this move is smart or stupid. If the emperor is an emperor who indulges in pleasure and does not make progress, and only seeks to live in peace in a corner, I can understand his actions, but he is not, isn't it strange?"

"I know what you're wondering."

Li Daoyan finally brought up Lu Chen's previous question, and then said: "You suspect that the emperor is related to the serious illness of the previous emperor, especially that Lü Shizhou and Gui Qiuliang died of accidents or serious illnesses, which makes you not believe that this is just a coincidence. I don't know much about Gui Qiuliang's situation, but Lü Shizhou did die in an accident. The people sent by Qin Zheng and I have carefully investigated it, and there is nothing strange about this matter."

Lu Chen took a deep breath and asked again: "The eldest prince's death has nothing to do with him?"

The old man fell silent.

After a moment, he said tiredly, "The situation was too chaotic on the night of the rebellion, and most of the people involved either died or disappeared without a trace, so it was very difficult to investigate. The only thing I can confirm is that Han Zhongjie's shadow appeared in it, but I'm not sure whether it is related to the emperor."

Lu Chen looked into the old man's eyes and sighed, "I thought the old prime minister would not tell me the reason."

"Even if I don't tell you, you will find out sooner or later with your skills. Isn't the broken door of Changle Ning family in your hands?"

Li Daoyan brushed it off without further discussing Ning Bugui's matter. He then said with a guilty conscience, "I asked Qin Zheng to return home because I didn't want him to continue investigating. Even if we confirm that the eldest prince was indirectly killed by the emperor, how can we deal with this matter? Let's not talk about whether there is enough evidence to convince the world, the key lies in how it ends afterwards. Lu Chen, I know you don't want to see a brother-killer sitting on the dragon throne, but throughout history, isn't there a shortage of such things concerning the throne?"

Lu Chen said expressionlessly, "That's right. Even if the world knew that he killed his brother to seize the throne, it would not only fail to dethrone him, but also cause chaos in the court and the country. More importantly, no one can take his place right now, and Li Zongjian is even more unbearable. I'm not thinking about this. If the emperor is wise enough and can learn the five basic skills of the previous emperor, it would not be a bad thing for Da Qi. The question is, can he really do this?"

Li Daoyan was stunned.

Li Gongxu looked at his grandfather's old face and vaguely felt the entanglement and helplessness hidden deep in the old man's heart. He couldn't help but sigh secretly.

Li Daoyan collected his thoughts and did not directly respond to Lu Chen's doubts. He changed the subject and said, "As for my son, I never thought he was your opponent. Why should an old man like me come forward?"

Lu Chen shook his head and said, "The old prime minister has underestimated his methods."

"I didn't teach him well."

Li Daoyan laughed at himself, looked into Lu Chen's eyes and said, "A person who relies on conspiracy is doomed to fail to achieve great things. Anyone who achieves great things must have both tactics and methods. If I am not mistaken, the dirt on those officials you secretly threw out this time was just a lead. If Li Shizhi wants to maintain his relationship with the emperor, he can only swallow his anger and offend many people in order to bring this imperial inspection to a successful conclusion."

Lu Chen didn't answer, but raised his hand to pick up a chess piece.

Li Daoyan continued, "If he really did that, it would be tantamount to admitting that he had ulterior motives for this inspection. Since he was in the wrong first, he naturally lost the protection of morality. The next step is the key point of this play. You just need to throw a fire and lead to Li Shizhi's flaws, and I believe the angry officials in the capital will rush over."

"Your real purpose is to severely damage his reputation and clip his wings, and even the emperor will not suspect you."

Having said this, there was still no anger on the old man's face, only a bit of genuine appreciation.

Lu Chen made his move slowly and said sincerely, "Old Prime Minister, these are just trifles. I'm sorry to have made you laugh."

The young Li Gongxu looked at the two people playing chess, and for a moment his emotions were overwhelmed and he could hardly control himself.

(End of this chapter)