Thief Emperor

Chapter 434 The Art of Speaking

It was a time of turmoil, and many heroes emerged.

If Li Yun a year ago was only a relatively strong local force, now Jiangdong has the qualifications to be called a "hero".

Upon hearing this, Minister Du became serious. He pulled his son all the way to the Du family's study, then turned around, solemnly closed the door, and said to Du Laian outside, "Laian, guard the door, no one is allowed to approach."

Although Du Laian was not afraid of Du Qian, he was very afraid of Du Shangshu. Upon hearing this, he immediately lowered his head and said obediently, "Yes, Master."

Minister Du then turned around and looked at Du Qian, and said with emotion: "Two years ago, you said that you were in Jiangdong and had taken a fancy to a young man, and thought he might become powerful in the future. At that time, I didn't believe it very much. I thought that a Sima of Yuezhou, even if he had some soldiers under his command, was at most a local military leader."

"It won't amount to anything."

At this point, Du Shangshu sat down in his seat and looked at Du Qian: "Now it seems that my son has a good eye for people."

Du Qian stood by and poured tea for his father. He shook his head slightly and said, "If it weren't for my insight, you would have thought he was amazing when you arrived in Yuezhou. At that time, I, the governor of Yuezhou, had not yet taken office, but he, a Sima of Yuezhou, had already managed Yuexi Lake in an orderly manner and even took the initiative to divide up some idle land in Yuezhou."

"Father, you know exactly who did this, the equal distribution of land and the exemption of taxes."

Equal distribution of land and exemption of taxes were mostly implemented by new dynasties in their early years.

Once a new dynasty really accomplishes this, social contradictions will be eased immediately. Then, as long as it can recuperate for a period of time and not over-consume the people's energy, it will be able to have a national fortune of more than 200 years.

"At that time, he began to invest money in Yuezhou's affairs."

"At that time... Wang Junping's rebellion was not too serious. Everyone felt that the court was capable of quelling the rebellion in the Central Plains. At that time, no Sima or governor of any prefecture in the world would do such a thing."

"Everyone is desperately trying to put money in their own pockets."

Du Qian walked behind his father and whispered, "As for Li Yun, he was born in a humble family. He should have been the one who made the most money."

Du Shangshu nodded silently and said, "To be able to have such a long-term vision, one is indeed an extraordinary person."

Du Qian smiled and said, "When he fights, he is extremely ferocious and merciless, but he rarely has a kind heart towards the common people."

As he spoke, he sat opposite Du Shangshu and continued, "When I was a child, I was reading history. Someone told me that history books are vast and can be summed up in just four words: winners are kings and losers are bandits."

"When I was a teenager, I agreed with this statement."

"As I grew older and read more books, I realized that most situations in the past dynasties could not be summarized by the four words winners are kings and losers are bandits. In my opinion, it was more like... the king wins and the bandits lose."

"Even if a bandit conquers the world by force, it will not last long."

"Li Yun, Li Erlang, has a great kingly aura."

Minister Du looked at Du Qian with great satisfaction and said with a smile: "My son is indeed my son."

"As long as you are here, the Du family will not decline in the future even if it is no longer in Jingzhao."

Du Qian shook his head and said, "Jiangdong still has a long way to go before it can achieve success. Although I have placed a bet, it is hard to say whether I can win or not."

He looked at Du Shangshu and asked, "Father, what is the situation in the capital now?"

Upon hearing this, Du Shangshu sighed and said with a wry smile, "At this hour, your father should be working at the Ministry of Rites, but now he is at home."

"From this, we can already see the situation in the capital."

Du Qian frowned: "Could it be that they won't even let my father go to the government office?"

"That's not it."

Minister Du said in a muffled voice: "The three generals are now the most powerful people in the capital. Li from Hedong and Xiao from Fanyang can still talk some sense, but Wei Quanzhong, who was born a soldier, is a villain who has achieved success. What he does is getting worse day by day."

"I, as a father, really can't bear to see this, so I just take sick leave and stay home. Out of sight, out of mind."

At this point, Du Ting said in a muffled voice: "The imperial guards of the capital, the city defense of the capital, the patrol of the imperial city, and even the patrol of the capital have all been taken away by those three people. Now, they have begun to wantonly place people in various key positions in the court."

Du Qian was also a little surprised when he heard this, and murmured: "So, only the palace guards are still in the hands of the emperor."

Du Ting nodded slowly: "If it weren't for the unanimous opposition of all the ministers, even the defense of the imperial palace would have been taken away by them. A few days ago, an official from the Censorate wrote a letter to impeach Wei Quanzhong, and now the whole family is under siege."

"Not a single male was left alive."

Minister Du clenched his fist and said, "The women of marriageable age were directly thrown into the Shuofang Army camp by Wei Quanzhong."

Du Qian took a deep breath and murmured, "I have seen this Wei Quanzhong before. Although he spoke a little rudely, he seemed to be quite polite. How come he is so..."

"That's why I said he was born a soldier."

Duchamp wrote expressionlessly: "When you gain power, you forget yourself and reveal your true nature."

"If there weren't two other military governors in the capital, I'm afraid he would have broken into the palace and kidnapped the emperor's relatives!"

Du Shangshu became angrier as he spoke.

"What's the difference between this and the previous Wang Junping!"

"Don't worry, father."

Du Qian was relatively calm. He lowered his head slightly, thought for a moment, and said, "A person with low moral character and high position will not last long. Just wait and see how rampant he becomes."

Minister Du took several deep breaths before calming down. He sighed, "Sometimes, I just want to quit my job to avoid being bullied in the court. But now, I can't quit my job because I will be retaliated by that Wei guy."

As he spoke, he looked at Du Qian and said in a deep voice, "Qian'er, this capital is a place of troubles. You can't stay here for long anyway. You should stay at home for a few days. Don't delay. Leave the capital immediately and return to Jiangdong."

Du Qian nodded first, then smiled and said, "Father, don't worry about me. I have never had any contact with General Wei, so he won't embarrass me."

"Yeah." Du Shangshu shook his head and sighed, and finally asked: "Qian'er, you should have other things to do this time when you return to the capital?"

Although he had sent a letter home before, he was worried that it would be intercepted by certain people in the capital, so Du Qian only said that he would come back to visit his family and did not say what specifically he was going to do.

"The emperor summoned Envoy Li."

Du Qian said softly: "It is not convenient for him to come, and I just want to come to the capital to take a look."

"So I hurried back. These few days, I want to see the emperor and Pei Huang."

"If possible, I would like to meet Mr. Cui."

Minister Du thought for a moment and said, "There is no problem meeting Pei Huang, but now I want to meet the emperor..."

"The three Jiedushi will all know."

"Then go see Pei Huang first."

Du Shangshu nodded quickly and said slowly: "Wait at home, I will make the arrangements."

Du Qian nodded, he looked at his father and said, "Dad, if the situation changes, you can follow me to Jiangdong. In Jiangdong now, even if we can't dominate the world, we can still establish our own territory."

Du Shangshu shook his head: "Father..."

He pushed open the door of the study, looked at the somewhat dilapidated Du residence, and said slowly: "Born in Kyoto, die in Kyoto."

…………

After Du Qian returned to the capital, he first met with his entire family at home, and then went out for a walk in Anrenfang.

The next morning, he changed into new clothes and took his servant Du Laian with him to wander around the capital, buying a lot of small things.

Nearing noon, he felt a little hungry, so he went to the famous Tianxiang Tower in the capital to eat.

After arriving at Tianxiang Tower, Du Qian went up to the second floor with his hands behind his back and knocked on the door of the Tianzihao private room.

The door opened quickly, and Pei Huang, dressed in green, looked at Du Qian and said silently, "Shiyilang is here."

He is one or two years older than Du Qian, so they call him by his seniority.

Du Qian nodded and said, "Brother Pei, have you been waiting for a long time?"

"No."

Pei Huang sat down and shook his head, "I just arrived too."

The two men sat down one after another and clinked glasses of wine. Du Qian took a bite of food, chewed it for a few bites, and then swallowed it with a frown.

"The taste is very different from the previous Tianxianglou."

"The original cook died."

Pei Huang said softly, "He died in the turmoil. He died too quickly and his craft was lost."

“New cooks can’t learn.”

Du Qian shook his head and smiled dumbly: "Brother Pei is very familiar with Tianxiang Tower."

"I come here often."

Pei Huang also ate a bite of food, and then continued: "After returning to Beijing, when I came here for the first time, I ate some food and made a big fuss. The store owner was so scared that he came to tell me that the original chef of Tianxianglou was dead."

“Now the kitchen staff are all new.”

Pei Huang raised his head and drank it all in one gulp, then shook his head and sighed, "I have no words to say."

Pei Huang was responsible for the fall of the capital.

Naturally there is nothing I can say.

Pei Huang paused for a moment and continued, "Shiyilang is here on behalf of Li Yun?"

Du Qian lowered his head and smiled bitterly: "My family is all in Jiangdong, I have no choice."

Pei Huang thought thoughtfully: "It seems that Li Yun is indeed restless."

"Nowadays, who in the world can be content with what they have occupied?"

Du Qian shook his head and said, "But there is one thing. Li Yun was born in a humble family. So even though he has some power now, he has no ambition. He spends his days eating meat and drinking wine, and looking for women everywhere."

"In addition to my original wife, I will have two concubines."

Pei Huang looked at Du Qian.

The latter looked calm.

Pei Sanlang seemed to be thinking about something, and then asked, "Shiyilang, do you think Li Yun can be used by His Majesty?"

"That depends on how your majesty uses it."

Du Qian said with a smile.

"If it is used well, it can certainly be used."

(End of this chapter)