Thief Emperor

Chapter 1075 The New Dynasty's Daughter-in-Law

Inside the Ganlu Hall, Emperor Li helped Prime Minister Du to his feet. They exchanged a glance, both of them reflecting on the situation.

Emperor Li pulled him down to sit, first giving a self-deprecating laugh, then asked, "Brother Shouyi, do you think I'm not good at being an emperor?"

The emperor was definitely not someone Li Yun did.

Throughout history, emperors have rarely personally engaged in confrontations with others. No matter the matter, someone else would speak on behalf of the emperor.

For example, new laws and new taxes.

In a normal imperial court, under normal circumstances, a minister would submit a memorial to the emperor, proposing suggestions for new taxes and laws, and the emperor would then support these suggestions.

In this way, if this matter is accomplished, it will naturally be due to His Majesty the Emperor's wisdom.

If it fails, then naturally the initiators of these projects will become the targets of criticism and bear the consequences of failure.

As for who is willing to step forward and offend the massive aristocratic class…

That's even simpler.

Throughout history, there has never been a shortage of brave people. As long as the emperor is willing to offer even the slightest opportunity for advancement, even a minor official like the censor Cao Yu will step forward to represent the emperor against those powerful clans.

Ultimately, it would be best to win the battle; if not, then His Majesty the Emperor would simply have sacrificed one or two pawns, given them a grand funeral, and treated their families leniently.

In the end, no matter what crimes or grudges were committed, they could not implicate the emperor, and no one dared to implicate him.

In the open, it would only be a "factional struggle" between the old and new forces, seemingly having nothing to do with His Majesty the Emperor.

Of course, the fact that emperors unanimously chose this path of indirect struggle does not mean that every emperor was spineless and wanted to hide behind others to manipulate things. Rather, it was largely determined by the political nature of the emperor's profession.

The emperor was not simply a secular position; rather, the title "emperor" was a secular title, while the title "Son of Heaven" signified divine authority.

The emperor is innocent.

May you be spared from all calamities.

This sounds a bit fantastical, but it is the truth. As long as an emperor is alive and still holds political power, as the core of the political system, he cannot and will not make mistakes.

When the emperor has made a mistake that is known to all under heaven, it means that his political life is almost over.

Take Li Yun for example. If he personally takes charge of something, then that thing must be accomplished; otherwise, His Majesty the Emperor would be unwise.

At least from the perspective of traditional Confucianism, that's how it is.

Li Yunyi had already figured this out long ago. If he wanted to do it, it wouldn't be difficult for him. People in high positions like Zhuo Guangrui and Yao Zhong wouldn't do things that would offend people, but there were plenty of people willing to be the emperor's pawns, and they were happy to do it.

For example, there was the censor Cao Yu, who was only in his twenties, and those newly promoted Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations).

Today they fight bravely for His Majesty the Emperor in the court, and tomorrow His Majesty the Emperor can promote them to a fourth or fifth-rank official position, saving them twenty years of hard work! They would die content!

Minister Du looked at Li Yun and sighed silently: "Your Majesty, I understand you. Although Your Majesty is decisive in killing, you are still benevolent in ordinary times. The reason you personally do these things is that you can't bear to see those young people die on this issue."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Li lowered his head and drank his tea, his expression calm.

"Looking back now, I wasn't wrong."

As the founding emperor, he held absolute power and acted arbitrarily. Even when he personally carried out this task, he still encountered such strong resistance. There were still people who wanted to take his life by using force.

So let other people do this, no matter who they are or what their background is.

Who comes and who dies.

There will be no one who will be spared.

unless…

Unless another person like Li Yun appears, who can survive the machinations of various forces, avoid countless traps, and stubbornly live on, and finally accomplish these things with the support of His Majesty the Emperor.

But it's too difficult.

Originally, Cao Yu was one of Li Yun's choices, but Cao Yu was a good young man who had already done some things for him. Now he was serving as an inspector in Jiangdong and was doing quite well. If Li Yun's imperial methods were to drive Cao Yu to his death in the end...

Li Yun really couldn't bear to part with it.

After all, Cao Yu was one of the talents he was focusing on cultivating. If nothing unexpected happened and he continued to perform well, there was a high probability that this young man would enter the central government in ten or twenty years.

His Majesty the Emperor took another sip of tea and said quietly, "This is something only a founding emperor like myself could do. If I don't set this precedent, I'll leave it to future generations..."

The second-generation emperors might still have some authority, but by the third and fourth generations, even if they had the courage to do certain things, they no longer had the ability. Not all emperors could be like Li Yun, standing firm against the overt and covert attacks from an entire social class.

If future emperors wanted to do something similar to Li Yun, unless they used special means to completely control the army, they could only use proxies to support new nobles to compete for power in the court.

Du Xiangong sighed silently and remained silent for a long time. After a while, he whispered to Li Yun, "Second Brother, I have already told them that everyone involved in last year's assassination attempt is a principal offender. There is no such thing as an accomplice. These people will definitely receive the punishment they deserve."

"You're only forty, and I'm not even fifty yet. We still have time to do our best. Until then..."

Minister Du was somewhat nervous and said in a low voice, "Please don't engage in large-scale killings, okay?"

This is why Du Qian was nervous.

For the past few days, he had felt something was off, and it wasn't until he met the Prince of Chenliu that he got the answer.

Moreover, just now, during his conversation with Li Yun, Li Yun also clarified one of the solutions.

If there are still overt or covert obstacles within the court, Emperor Li might indeed unleash a massacre, eliminating these people one by one until no one in the court dares to resist, whether openly or covertly.

This is the scenario that Du Qian least wants to see.

This court was indeed established by the emperor in name, but in reality... in fact, it was built by Du Shiyi himself!

From Yuezhou to the small court in Jinling, and up to now, twenty years have passed, and he has been in charge of most of the personnel matters.

At least half of the officials in the court entered the court through Du Qian.

This Tang Dynasty can be said to be the culmination of half his life's work.

Even though he knew that Li Yun's executioner's blade was unlikely to fall on his own head, he still didn't want to see Luoyang City drenched in blood.

That's why he rushed into the palace to see Li Yun.

His Majesty the Emperor looked at Du Qian and sighed softly.

Du Shouyi, standing before him, was of course unaware of the existence of a Zhu Taizu in another world, and the deeds of this Zhu Taizu.

Although Emperor Zhu's ultimate goal and Li Yun's ultimate goal were completely different, some of Emperor Zhu's methods were clearly usable.

However, Li Yun wasn't some kind of psychopathic killer. He looked at Du Qian, sighed, and said, "Don't worry, don't worry."

"I will not resort to violence unless I violate any taboos."

His Majesty the Emperor said quietly, "But Brother Shouyi, you are right about one thing: we are still young and have time to try. Right now, I am still rational."

His Majesty the Emperor murmured, "Ten years from now, I'll be over fifty. What will I be doing then...?"

"I can't figure it out myself."

This private conversation lasted for more than an hour. By the time Prime Minister Du came out of the Ganlu Hall, it was already completely dark outside.

At this moment, Du Xiangong's back was already soaked with sweat, and he couldn't help but shiver when the cold wind blew.

Looking back at Ganlu Hall, Prime Minister Du took a deep breath, his gaze hardening.

Governing a country is like managing a household, and Prime Minister Du is now like the daughter-in-law in this household.

In any case, we can't let this family, which he built up from scratch, fall apart.

Thinking of this, Du Qian did not go home, but went all the way to the Secretariat. At this time, the Secretariat was still lit by oil lamps. When Du Qian pushed open the door, Prime Minister Yao came out yawning. After seeing Du Qian, he quickly cupped his hands and bowed, saying, "Prime Minister Du."

Du Xiangong looked at him and sighed, "Brother Juzhong hasn't returned home yet?"

Where can I go home?

Yao Zhong lowered his head and smiled bitterly, "There are only four prime ministers left in the Secretariat. You went to see the emperor, Xu Ziwang went to investigate the traitor, and Tao Wenyuan went home to hide."

"But am I not the only one left to guard the Central Secretariat?"

He sighed and said, "Prime Minister Du, the Secretariat is now lacking two prime ministers."

This statement has already excluded Tao Wenyuan.

Du Xiangong nodded silently.

"We need to appoint a prime minister with boundless energy..."

(End of this chapter)