Thief Emperor

Chapter 979 The Art of the Emperor
Zhou Bi's father, Zhou Liang, voluntarily retreated to the second line when Li Yun was still the King of Wu. After the small Jiangdong court moved west to Luoyang, Li Yun also kept him in Jinling to control the Jinling army and prevent any unrest in the nest where he made his fortune.

In terms of seniority, Su Sheng and Zhao Cheng are far inferior to Zhou Liang. After all, Zhou Liang can be said to be the founder of the Jiangdong Army and even the Yuezhou Army.

When Li Yun first formed his army in Yuezhou, Zhou Liang was the person in charge of commanding and training the troops, and his seniority was second only to Li Yun.

If his skills were not so high, he would still be the top figure in the military.

Hearing Zhou Bi say this, Li Yun was a little surprised and asked, "What happened to Third Uncle?"

Zhou Bi lowered his head and replied, "Father has not been in good health since last year. He has recently planned to write to my second brother and ask to retire and return home."

Emperor Li frowned and shook his head, "Since you are not feeling well, why didn't you say hello to me?"

"It was manageable before."

Zhou Bi lowered his head and said, "It was only this year that I could no longer hold on. If His Majesty is going to Jinling during his eastern tour this time, it would be a good opportunity to choose a replacement for my father."

"besides…"

Zhou Bi lowered his head slightly and said, "Those people in the old village also need someone else to watch over them. My father may not have the energy to restrain them anymore."

It has actually been less than twenty years since Emperor Li went to Cangshan to start his business. In such a short period of time, most of the people from the original Cangshan Dazhai are naturally still there.

Even the second in command, Yuan Zhengming, is still alive, but he is now gray-haired.

Among these people, some are older and have witnessed Emperor Li's life from birth to the present, and many of them are not smart. If they are not disciplined, many of them may go out and do evil things under the banner of Emperor Li.

When they were in Jinling, the person in charge of watching over them was actually Duke of Yingguo Liu Bo. However, later Liu Bo moved away from Jinling with the Nine Officials and entrusted this task to Zhou Liang who was guarding Jinling.

Upon hearing this, Emperor Li thought about it silently, then nodded and said, "Okay, I understand."

He patted Zhou Bi on the shoulder and said, "We will leave in a few days. You should go back home and make some preparations, and say hello to your wife."

Emperor Li said this with a smile on his face: "Remember to speak nicely and don't create conflicts."

Zhou Bi's wife is a daughter of the Su family, the younger sister of General Su. During the past seven or eight years, everyone knows that Zhou Sizheng of the Inspection Department is henpecked and has been completely subdued by the young lady of the Su family.

To this day, Zhou Bi has not had any concubines.

Zhou Bi blushed after hearing these words that were obviously meant to tease him, "Second brother, you are teasing me. She...she...she is still reasonable. She dare not act recklessly in accordance with the imperial decree."

Seeing him like this, Emperor Li laughed and patted him on the shoulder: "Go, go, go. I told you to marry the daughter of a wealthy family. Now you are suffering, right?"

After all, Zhou Bi was also born in a humble family, and he had no education in the first few years when he followed him. After marrying the daughter of the Su family, he had to rely on his wife to teach him how to do many things. In addition, he had a brother-in-law who was a general, so Zhou Bi was naturally henpecked.

Zhou Bi hurriedly bowed his head and left Ganlu Palace in embarrassment.

After he left, the eunuch Gu Chang came carefully before the emperor, bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Tao has arrived and wants to see Your Majesty outside."

Emperor Li was already sitting in his seat at this time. Hearing this, he looked up at Gu Chang and said calmly, "Can't you see that I'm busy?"

"Go and tell him that I will be returning home soon and have many things to deal with. I don't have time to see him for the time being. I have entrusted all the affairs of the court to Lord Du. If he has anything to say, please ask him to go to Lord Du."

Gu Chang responded and was about to turn around to do it, but was stopped by Emperor Li. He only heard His Majesty the Emperor say lightly: "Be nicer and more polite, don't scare the old man."

Gu Chang bowed her head deeply: "I obey your command."

…………

The day before the emperor left Beijing, he basically stopped caring about the political affairs of the court and really became a hands-off boss, entrusting the vast majority of political affairs to the Council of State Affairs.

At this time, His Majesty the Emperor was in the Queen's Palace, having dinner with the Queen and the Crown Prince.

After finishing the meal, Empress Xue looked at her son, then at her husband, and couldn't help but sigh: "If you want to go back to your hometown, that's fine, but why did you make such a big deal before leaving?"

"Yuan'er has only been in charge of government affairs for a few days. How can he handle such a big thing?"

Emperor Li was eating with his head down. He looked up at his wife, then at the crown prince, and frowned, "Did you complain to your mother?"

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince waved his hands repeatedly.

"Father, how dare I..."

Queen Xue raised her eyebrows and said, "How can I be blind and deaf just because I am the queen?"

Emperor Li then smiled and said, "It's not that I have to have such a big thing, it's just that such a big thing is suitable to be dealt with at this time. There are many things that would be better if your husband stayed in Luoyang."

“It’s not going to happen.”

Emperor Li looked calm: "Moreover, the person who is really in charge of this matter is the Secretary of State, Minister Du. Yuan'er is just a witness and a bystander. There is nothing difficult about this matter."

Li Yun naturally knew about the problems in last year's imperial examination. He was very annoyed at the time and was even ready to launch a major case immediately and turn the city of Luoyang upside down.

But he finally held himself back.

Because the timing was not right. Now, more than a year later, he finally found a suitable opportunity to bring up the matter again.

And this incident will definitely bring a new look to the Zhangwu Dynasty.

The Queen was startled and looked at Li Yun.

"What does your majesty mean?"

"You don't have to worry about it."

Emperor Li looked up at the Crown Prince and asked, "Yuan'er, just remember one key point. When it comes to the imperial examination in the seventh year of Zhangwu, no matter who asks you any questions, don't express your opinion."

"Don't make up your mind."

Li Yun paused and continued, "Even if the father-in-law asks you, you can't answer."

Empress Xue's eyebrows jumped when she heard this and she exclaimed, "Is there something about my father involved here?"

"No."

His Majesty the Emperor smiled and said, "I am afraid that my father-in-law will be dragged into this by those people's means. My father-in-law is capable of doing things, but in the court."

Having said that, he paused and gave Xue Song an evaluation.

"Not very clever."

This was by no means an attempt by Emperor Li to disparage his father-in-law; it was indeed true that when Li Yun came down from Cangshan Mountain and arrived in Qingyang County to meet Master Xue for the first time, Master Xue was already forty-six or forty-seven years old.

He claimed that he had experienced ups and downs in officialdom for more than ten years, but he was still a county magistrate. At that time, Mr. Gu Wenchuan, who came to Qingyang and addressed him as a peer, had already been ranked fourth.

This shows that Mr. Xue actually did not have the ability to be an official. If he did not have a good son-in-law, he would have relied on himself to climb up from the bottom. I'm afraid he might not even be able to become the governor of a state when he retired.

After hearing this, Empress Xue was unhappy and said angrily, "My father is not here, and you say this about him."

"I'm not saying anything about him."

Emperor Li smiled and said, "That's the truth."

"And this isn't necessarily a bad thing. There are many people who want to be officials, but not many have the ability of my father-in-law."

The prince looked at his parents, first lowered his head to drink a sip of hot water, then looked at Li Yun and asked, "Father, who should really be handling this series of cases?"

Li Yun smiled and said, "This, your father cannot teach you. You need to see it yourself."

He paused and said seriously, "You are the future leader. In the future, you will be the one who makes the decision on matters like this. Whoever you decide to deal with will be the mastermind behind the scenes."

“It’s wrong and it’s right.”

His Majesty the Emperor paused and continued, "But if you really make a mistake, others will secretly look down on you and think you are not smart."

At this point, Li Yun tapped the table lightly and said, "So, as the Son of Heaven, most of the time I let them fight it out among themselves, and then I will make the decision after they have decided the winner."

The prince seemed to be thinking about something. He looked around and saw that there was no one around. He asked again, "Father, what if the result of their fight is not in line with the Holy Spirit?"

"Then it depends on whether you can accept it."

His Majesty the Emperor said leisurely: "If you can accept it, then bear with it. If you can't accept it, then continue."

"If we can't come to a conclusion, it means that the team in the court is not in harmony with the emperor."

At this point, the emperor stopped talking.

If the ministers in the court are not in harmony with the emperor, then it is easy to deal with. Just replace the team.

Being an emperor is basically like this. As long as you master these skills, everything else is just trivial.

Although these principles are simple, they are not to be discussed publicly and can only be discussed between the father and his son in private.

Even the emperors in the middle and late stages of the dynasty would not teach their successors in this way, for fear that they would learn it too early.

But Emperor Li is not afraid of these and says whatever he wants.

At this time, Emperor Li finally finished his last bite of rice. He looked at the prince and said seriously: "Also, always remember one sentence."

"The people are the foundation of a country, and the foundation is the foundation of a country's peace."

His Majesty the Emperor said solemnly.

"All means are just to help. Remember this principle."

(End of this chapter)