Father and daughter Chu Xiong and Chu Ling were sitting in a small pavilion.
There is a chessboard in the center of the white jade table. The black chess pieces and white chess pieces exude a warm luster under the light, as if there is spring water contained in the chess pieces.
Chu Ling looked at Chu Xiong who was thinking hard with a smile.
After a long while, Chu Xiong finally gave up, threw down the chess piece, looked up at Chu Ling: "You win."
Chu Ling said proudly: "Father, your chess skills have declined."
Only the father and daughter were in the small pavilion, and the servants were far away from each other and exited the imperial garden.
In this quiet moment, when talking about family happiness, Chu Xiong didn't like the presence of outsiders, and usually only stayed with Chu Ling or the queen.
At this time, he will feel more like an ordinary person, rather than a lonely emperor.
Chu Xiong shook his head: "It's not that I have regressed, it's that you have made progress."
"Really?" Chu Ling tilted her head: "It can't be Father, are you old?"
"Nonsense!" Chu Xiong said angrily: "I am in my prime, how can I get old!"
"My father is not dim-sighted, so why don't he know about Sun Guangdou?"
"What's wrong with Sun Guangdou?"
"Every official who comes to Beijing to report on his duties must give him money, ranging from a thousand to tens of thousands. Does your father know?"
"..." Chu Xiong frowned.
When Chu Ling saw his expression, he understood and said dissatisfiedly: "Father, since you know this, you still want to keep him? How can such a minister of the Ministry of Personnel not chill the hearts of the officials?"
Chu Xiong sighed, stood up and walked out of the small pavilion with his hands behind his hands.
The bright yellow gown shone golden under the light.
Chu Ling stood up and followed him out of the pavilion to a lake.
A circle of lanterns surrounds the lake, reflecting the silvery light of the lake.
Chu Xiong walked on the thick soft ground, his face illuminated by the light, his expression calm and indifferent.
Chu Ling said softly: "What do you have in mind, father?"
Chu Xiong stared at the bright lake and said calmly: "Ling'er, do you remember what I said about the essence of power?"
"The way of balance." Chu Ling said.
Chu Xiong nodded slightly.
Chu Lingming's eyes flashed and he said softly: "Father, is it to balance other forces by not moving him?... The six ministers maintain a balance among themselves. Once he is moved, the balance will be broken, causing turmoil in the court? "
Chu Xiong smiled: "Ling'er, you really understand."
Chu Ling frowned.
Chu Xiong said: "It's not that I don't want to touch him, it's just that the time is not right."
"Father, even if the court is in turmoil, it is better than keeping such a minister, right? This kind of influence will be very fatal and difficult to eliminate, right?"
"On the contrary." Chu Xiong shook his head: "It is easy to eliminate this influence. The more greedy it is, the easier it is to eliminate. On the contrary, it can stabilize the people's hearts."
"Don't all the officials blame the emperor for his oversight?" Chu Ling said.
"I was deceived by Shengting," Chu Xiong nodded: "But this just shows that I can be deceived, not omniscient."
Chu Ling looked at him puzzled.
Chu Xiong said: "If I knew everything and was omnipotent, it would put too much pressure on the ministers, which would be detrimental to their hearts, let alone their actions."
Chu Ling was thoughtful.
Chu Xiong smiled.
Chu Ling nodded slowly and said: "It is inevitable that things will go wrong when the court is doing things. If everyone knew that Father, you knew everything, they would blame Father. But if they knew that Father did not supervise the ministers so well, and had no eyes and ears. So well-informed, everyone feels that it is not my father's fault, but that he was deceived by his important ministers."
Chu Xiong nodded slightly: "This is the essence of political power."
If it weren't for Chu Ling, he would never have said this.
Even for King Yi and King Ying, he would not point them out, but let them understand and figure it out on their own.
This is the true way of an emperor.
Chu Ling sighed: "I still think that Sun Guangdou should have removed it earlier, or should have reminded him not to go so far."
"You think I didn't do it?" Chu Xiong shook his head: "If you are greedy, you can't control yourself, and you only have luck."
"Father, just tell him directly." Chu Ling said: "If you tell him to stop, you can forget about it. If you continue, you can only kill him."
Chu Xiong laughed: "The affairs of the imperial court cannot be so simple and straightforward."
Chu Ling said: "Sometimes it's easier to speak clearly and act more easily. Why do you have to be so tired of guessing?"
"If you are too direct, there will be no room for change," Chu Xiong shook his head: "Do you think that all the ministers are in awe of me? Everyone is respectful?"
Chu Ling frowned.
Chu Xiong said: "When they reach the first or even second level, they are no longer afraid of me. Instead, they are always trying to suppress me, want to use me, and manipulate me."
Chu Ling looked at him in surprise.
Chu Xiong said: "Ling'er, please don't treat these ministers as sheep. They are all real tigers. They can eat people without blinking an eye. The ferocity of the officialdom is far greater than the fighting in the martial arts."
Chu Ling said: "Father, are you so afraid of them? No matter how powerful they are, they won't dare challenge you, right?"
"It won't be obvious, but it will be calculated invisibly." Chu Xiong shook his head: "If you don't be careful, you will continue to suffer hidden losses, and you can't tell the pain."
Chu Ling nodded solemnly.
She then added: "But Father, why have you always left Sun Guangdou untouched?"
"The courtiers have their own factions, you know, right?"
"Of course." Chu Ling nodded.
Wherever there are people, there will be factions if there are more than three people. It is human instinct to form groups, and it is also the basic behavior of ministers to work together to fight against differences.
Chu Xiong said: "Sun Guangdou's successor needs his faction to maintain balance. If the balance is broken, there will be chaos for a while."
"Then...there is no one from his faction who can succeed Sun Guangdou?"
"Well, it really doesn't work out. I originally wanted to wait for another two years." Chu Xiong shook his head and said, "Now I see that I can't wait any longer. Are you going to take action against him?"
Chu Ling nodded.
Chu Xiong hummed: "Is it Qing Luo's idea?"
Chu Ling smiled and nodded.
Chu Xiong said: "This girl is indeed suitable for being an official, no less good than Li Ying... How is she going to deal with Sun Guangdou?"
"A lot of evidence has been investigated and will be distributed to the censors." Chu Ling said.
This is what the four of them have already agreed upon.
The method used was Ming Ming, and he told Chu Xiong directly.
It depends on whether Chu Xiong can suppress the censor. If he can't suppress the censor, there is nothing they can do. If he can suppress the censor, they will use other tricks.
In short, we will not let the censors have time to prevent them from focusing on Xingnan Peak.
Chu Xiong frowned.
Chu Ling smiled and said: "Father, can you suppress me?"
"...Difficult." Chu Xiong slowly shook his head: "These guys are eager to get me involved. They only care about reputation...and they are all bastards. If they know this, they will never let go!
"
"Then will my father keep Sun Guangdou?"
"...There is no way to save it."
Chu Ling said: "Then prepare the replacement candidate in advance."
Chu Xiong snorted and said, "Where is that guy?"
Chu Ling smiled and said: "He won't interfere in this matter. Let the four of us deal with it on our own. I thought of preemptive strike and it seems to be effective now."
Even if the emperor now asks the censors to visit the great masters of Xingnan Peak, the censors will put them aside and deal with Sun Guangdou first.
When Sun Guangdou fell, the entire courtiers were in turmoil, and they had no time to worry about anything else.