Thief Emperor

Chapter 1083 Thoughts Fill the City Under the Moon

Ten years after the founding of the dynasty, the eleventh year is fast approaching. The court has basically stabilized. As the princes grow up, naturally some people will have some ulterior motives.

For example, Yao Shaoqing's kind of thought.

After all, it's clear that the Li family's empire will inevitably be passed down through generations, so it's essential to cling to this powerful figure and plan for the future.

In the imperial court, it wasn't just Yao Shaoqing who thought this way; many people shared the same idea. Therefore, during the year that His Highness the Crown Prince was in Jinling, the entire Jiangdong region and even the entire Jiangnan region actively cooperated with His Highness the Crown Prince and responded positively to the new policies.

Some wealthy families are even willing to suffer huge losses in order to make the results of the new policies look better this year.

However, Yao Xiangong did not think so.

Even though Prime Minister Du was always very close to the Crown Prince and never hesitated to tell him everything he knew, wishing he could teach the Crown Prince everything he had learned, acting like a close teacher and student, Yao Zhong knew very well that Du Shouyi's attitude was not because he wanted to curry favor with the Crown Prince, nor because he wanted to pledge allegiance to the Crown Prince.

It was simply because the Crown Prince was in the position of heir apparent, and he, as the head of all officials, wanted to train His Highness the Crown Prince so that the court and the country could have a stable succession and that the new dynasty could remain stable for twenty or even thirty years.

This will prevent any potential internal strife from arising in the future.

In other words, his attitude was not because the crown prince was Li Yuan.

If the current eldest son were not Li Yuan, but someone else, would Du Shouyi have the same attitude?

Even if the position of Crown Prince were to change one day, as long as it is in accordance with etiquette, Du Shouyi would still impart all his knowledge to him.

However, Yao Zhong did not believe he had a responsibility to teach the Crown Prince. He had always just done his own job and rarely got close to the Eastern Palace.

His Majesty the Emperor... is too young!
All things considered, he's only in his early forties this year, which is still considered the prime of his life even among the gentry of this era.

Moreover, His Majesty the Emperor is in remarkably good health.

He had been following Emperor Li for over ten years, and during that time he had never heard of His Majesty ever being sick. Even when he was injured, His Majesty would be full of energy again in just a few days.

In Yao Xiangong's view, His Majesty the Emperor still has a long way to go.

It will take at least another twenty or thirty years!

In other words, the imperial power will not change for the next twenty or thirty years.

Twenty or thirty years...that's just too long.

To put it simply, more than twenty years ago, the world was still ruled by the Wu family!
No one knows what will happen in the future, but one thing Yao Xiangong is certain of: if His Majesty the Emperor really stays on the throne for another twenty or even thirty years, the forty-year-old Crown Prince might still be able to tolerate it, but can the fifty-year-old Crown Prince still tolerate it?
Even if we assume the worst, that the fifty-year-old crown prince can endure it, would His Majesty the Emperor still pass the throne to a fifty-year-old heir when he reaches fifty?
These are all questions.

All of these are also full of variables.

Yao Xiangong was very open-minded. When he took the Jinling Literary Examination, he was already close to forty years old. Now he was over fifty. In any case, he believed that he would not live to see the day when Emperor Zhangwu fell from power.

Therefore, he was not particularly interested in the crown prince.

At this time, when the court held banquets, each minister had their own table and rarely gathered together to eat. Even so, a few words from Minister Yao still scared Yao Shaoqing half to death. He ate the meal in fear and trembling, and even after the banquet ended and he got into his father's sedan chair, he was still a little scared.

"Father, you're getting bolder and bolder."

Yao Shaoqing patted his chest and said with a wry smile, "I almost scared my son to death."

Yao Zhong said with a smile, "I'm already over fifty years old, how many more years can I live?"

"Moreover, I have already reached the end of my official career in the imperial court."

Yao Xiangong lowered his head and said, "Then there is nothing to be afraid of."

Yao Zhong was a late bloomer; Du Qian was more than ten years younger than him.

In other words, barring any unforeseen circumstances, he will definitely leave the court before Du Qian, regardless of the method.

As long as Prime Minister Du is in office, there will be no other candidate for the position of Grand Secretary. Therefore, Prime Minister Yao has indeed reached the pinnacle of his career by becoming the second-highest-ranking prime minister.

The father and son returned to the Yao residence. Yao Shaoqing helped his elderly father to the study. After closing the door, Yao Shen finally let out a long sigh. He poured his father a cup of tea, hesitated for a moment, and then said in a low voice, "Father, what do you think..."

"The Crown Prince, or not?"

"The Crown Prince is intelligent and has never made any mistakes in his work."

Yao Xiangong said calmly, "The biggest problem is probably that she was born too early."

In Yao Zhong's view, the current crown prince's health is far inferior to that of the current emperor, and the crown prince... may not even outlive his father.

Yao Shaoqing lowered his head and smiled bitterly: "The young princes haven't left the palace, so they can't contact anyone..."

Yao Xiangong glanced at him and muttered, "Stupid thing."

"The struggles in the court are never about personal relationships. The most important thing is to have a solid foundation. Otherwise, even if you have a good relationship with the new emperor and can suddenly rise to a high position, you are still a rootless duckweed."

Yao Xiangong said quietly, "Last year's major case left many important positions vacant, and we people from Jiangdong..."

"We must seize this opportunity and not let Guanzhong, the Central Plains... and the people of the Eastern Palace all be robbed clean." The old Zhou forces are about to be purged from the court, but the remaining officials of the new dynasty are not all from the same faction. Yao Zhong is from Jiangdong and has been prime minister for many years. The scholars of Jiangdong and those "Jinling Jinshi" who came from the Jinling Literary Society back then are now implicitly led by him.

Among the Jinling Jinshi of that year, some outstanding ones, such as Yao Zhong, have become prime ministers, and Xu Kun has become the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review.

Most of the others who joined the same ranks were already mid-level or even mid-to-high-level officials in the imperial court.

This is a very important force in the imperial court, which is why Du Qian previously told Yao Zhong to give him a helping hand.

Perhaps the biggest beneficiary of this change is Yao Xiangong.

In addition, the local scholars in Guanzhong, the Central Plains, and Luoyang, mostly led by Prime Minister Du, also had the opportunity to fill these vacant positions.

The third force is the emerging Eastern Palace faction.

Minister Yao remained calm and said, "His Highness the Crown Prince rushed back, not for the sake of the Prince of Yue's wedding."

Yao Shaoqing was silent for a moment before speaking, "Father, the Ministry of Personnel is still under the control of Prime Minister Du."

"Of course, it's up to him to decide."

Yao Xiangong said calmly, "But in this turmoil, many people from Guanzhong are involved. As the prime minister oversees all officials, he also needs to avoid suspicion, so it is unlikely that he will allow people from Guanzhong to enter the government."

"This is a good opportunity."

Master Yao said with a smile, "These past few days, quite a few people have come to deliver visiting cards. You should sort them out and filter out the people from Jiangdong first."

"Then, from the remaining invitations, we'll select those with impressive resumes."

At this point, Master Yao looked at his son and asked, "Have you remembered?"

"Don't accept money or gifts from others."

Yao Shaoqing nodded first, then asked with some curiosity, "Father, won't His Majesty know about this division?"

"Of course His Majesty will know."

Master Yao glanced helplessly at his son and shook his head, saying, "That's why we can't accept the money."

"Your Majesty knows, but it's nothing. With more people and bigger pots, we'll eventually have to eat from separate pots."

"As long as the vacancies are filled, they will no longer be former officials of the Wu Zhou dynasty, but officials of our new dynasty, who will be loyal to the court and will not oppose the new policies and laws."

Minister Yao lowered his head and sipped his tea, saying, "His Majesty will not say anything."

"correct."

He looked at his son and asked, "How many death row inmates are still in the Dali Temple prison?"

Yao Shen thought for a moment and said, "There are still more than 300 people whose cases have not been concluded. However, Xu Qingzheng said that we should not kill anyone at the end of the year. Even if the cases are concluded, we should wait until next spring to take action."

Yao Xiangong stroked his chin and nodded slightly.

"At the Dali Temple, remember to respect Xu Qingzheng and don't get cocky."

Yao Shaoqing quickly lowered his head and said with a smile, "This child knows. Xu Qing was in the same class as Father. He was the top student in Father's class back then, but he didn't have the same smooth career as Father."

Upon hearing this, Master Yao put down his teacup and gave a soft hum: "First place..."

He smiled, but didn't say much to his son. After a pause, he continued, "The Zhuo family is also from Jiangdong. In the future, you and Minister Zhuo can get to know each other better. If it's suitable, you can arrange a marriage."

Yao Shen nodded first, then sighed and said, "The Zhuo family is a prominent family in Jiangdong, while our family comes from a humble background. I'm afraid they might not look up to our family and are unwilling to form a marriage alliance with us."

"A powerful clan..."

Minister Yao chuckled and said, "They're no longer considered a major clan. You can go and befriend them yourself. Minister Zhuo will understand."

At this point, Yao Xiangong stood up, went to the window, and looked up at the moon outside.

Yao Shen stood behind him, somewhat curious: "What is Father looking at?"

"Look at this bright moon."

With his hands behind his back, Yao Xiangong gazed at the bright moonlight and murmured, "At this very moment, in Luoyang, under this moonlit sky, I wonder how many people are like you and me, father and son..."

Yao Shaoqing didn't understand and looked somewhat confused.

Yao Xiangong glanced back at him, then looked up at the moon and completed the sentence.

"Each has their own agenda."

(End of this chapter)