In another courtyard, Chu Muzhou put down the tea bowl in his hand, glanced at Zhou Qiang who was sitting next to him, and asked in a long voice: "So, you are planning to end it yourself?"
Zhou Qiang sighed and said with a sharp tone: "I have no choice. The juniors are all incompetent. If we don't gamble with these old bones, those unscrupulous people will have no future."
"If there is no future, then it is just that there is no future. Thirty or fifty years later, at least there will still be wealth and honor. If the descendants become capable people later, they may not be able to hold high positions in the court." Chu Muzhou is still not in a hurry.
He persuaded slowly.
"Alas...children and grandchildren are unfilial, unfilial..." Zhou Qiang became upset again, and was angry at the disaster his two sons had done: "That's why...I came to ask for help from you, sir."
He bowed his head to Chu Muzhou and said: "I came here this time to speak to those two bastards... Prime Minister, this favor... Zhou must repay it."
"Let's start from the beginning... I also want to hear about the methods of the Tang Empire." Chu Muzhou was silent for two seconds, and finally decided to give Zhou Qiang some face.
In the Great China Empire, the Minister of Personnel has always been the so-called "substitute for the prime minister". The ministers who can serve as the Minister of Personnel are the kind of people who are in the heart of the emperor and are ready to take over the heavy responsibility and become the prime minister of the empire at any time.
Therefore, Zhou Qiang has always been Chu Muzhou's successor, and the relationship between the two has been delicate for a long time. Zhou Qiang is not on good terms with Chu Muzhou on the surface, but in fact the relationship between the two is not bad.
As the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Zhou Qiang has no ambition to make further progress, especially today when the Great China Empire is in turmoil.
He would rather stand in the position of Minister of Civil Affairs and wait for a better opportunity than go to war with Chu Muzhou for the useless prime minister position.
At this point, he saw it very clearly: the country is strong and the military is strong, the emperor trusts him, the prime minister is the one with the highest authority, the emperor is self-willed, arrogant and domineering, the country is weak due to internal and external troubles, what use is this prime minister?
At this time, it is really comfortable to have someone who can stand up to the thunder, so Zhou Qiang carefully maintained the relationship between himself and Chu Muzhou. It was precisely because of his cleverness that he had the opportunity to ask Chu Muzhou for help today.
"My eldest son is not greedy for money and lustful, and his conduct is usually good." Zhou Qiang spoke slowly about his eldest son first.
"I have heard about the eldest son of Zhou, he is quite a gentleman." Chu Muzhou smiled, he was very impressed by the eldest son of the Zhou family.
"It's just arty and has no determination at all..." Zhou Qiang sighed and said in a dumbfounded voice: "Who knew, those people could even find "The Crying Sheep-Herding Woman"..."
"What a grand gesture!" Chu Muzhou was shocked by Tang Guo's generosity - he had heard about this famous painting for a long time. He heard that the price had been rising for ten consecutive years, and now it was already sky-high.
The key is that this painting has been acquired by the Tang Dynasty Group a long time ago and has never been sold. It belongs to the private collection of the royal family of the Tang Dynasty. If you have money, there is no place to buy it.
In the end, the other party actually took it out and gave it to the eldest son of the Zhou family... For a person who likes famous paintings and poems, this is really... a huge temptation.
What Chu Muzhou didn't know was that before sending this painting, the intelligence agents of the Tang State were really responsive to the eldest son of the Zhou family, and had already knocked him down with the messy paintings.
It was because he was really forced that he had no choice but to ask for the painting "Crying Sheepherd Woman", the eldest son of the Zhou family, thinking that the other party would give up in the face of difficulties, but in the end, it was actually sent to him.
With no other choice, and unable to bear to refuse such a painting, and knowing that he had already boarded the "thief ship", the eldest son of the Zhou family finally took sides and became a "pro-Tang faction".
"It's hard to find bait for those who like it... It's not unfair..." Chu Muzhou lowered his eyes slightly and commented softly.
"My second son will be easier to deal with..." Zhou Qiang sighed and continued: "Beautiful woman, luxury car, famous watch and gorgeous clothes... He dared to speak and directly asked for Zhao Shihan by name."
When Chu Muzhou heard this name, he suddenly felt familiar. Then he remembered that there seemed to be a female star in a movie in the Dahua Empire recently with this name. So he asked: "That big star?"
"Yes." As expected, Zhou Qiang replied immediately.
"If he wants, those people from Tang State can make Zhao Shihan nod?" Chu Muzhou was surprised. Such a famous woman must have a deep background and there must be many people staring at her. How could she be so casual?
Just give it to Zhou Qiang's youngest son.
Zhou Qiang's face was full of bitterness, he lowered his head and replied with shame: "Then Zhao Shihan...it's those people who made her famous."
The Tang State has always invested in the filming of various movies in the Dahua Empire, and has long monopolized the so-called film directors and movie stars in the Dahua Empire.
If you want to be famous, you should find whoever you want to shoot the movie with. Tang will pay for the expenses and provide the equipment. It is difficult to not become famous. There are many famous people, and when the time comes when unscrupulous nobles and gentry harass them, Datang Entertainment will take action to smooth things over.
Let these celebrities make money comfortably and without worries.
And these artists also know that they should repay kindness, and they can really "step forward" when something goes wrong. Moreover, the "clients" that Datang Entertainment has found for them are all decent people, and they are all the people they usually are.
You may not be able to post to the kind of big shot.
"No wonder. I'm old...I'm still old after all. This is the first time I've seen them doing things like this." Chu Muzhou sighed with emotion, and then shook his head mockingly.
When they did things like this back then, they did so with careful testing and careful planning. How could there be such a crude way of doing things?
What's more, if you do things like this, don't you count your own costs? Chu Muzhou has heard about and seen bribes of tens of thousands of gold coins. But this one was directly paid with hundreds of thousands or two hundred thousand gold coins.
It really opened his eyes.
In the past, the Tang State used projects, investments, etc. to cover up, and disguised bribes as political achievements. But now, they started to blatantly bribe them...
"I am ashamed of myself." Zhou Qiang lowered his head.
"So, what do they want after spending so much money?" Chu Muzhou looked at Zhou Qiang, feeling a little frightened for a moment.
After all, everyone has a price. Since the other party is so generous and considerate, then the plan must be big. This is also something that worries Chu Muzhou.
"The Tang State hopes that... the next emperor of the Great China Empire... will be a pro-Tang faction." Zhou Qiang lowered his voice and stated the purpose of his visit.
A businessman is a businessman, and it is indeed a good plan! Chu Muzhou sighed in his heart, and the solemn expression on his face relaxed a little.
This passage contains a lot of information, and some of the information is even a guarantee, a promise made by the Tang Empire to the ruling group of the Great China Empire.
For example, this "next emperor of the Great China Empire" contains many meanings: First, the Tang Empire has no plans to attack the Great China Empire. The inheritance of the throne of the Great China Empire can still continue. This next
Once it's done, it's very comforting.
At the same time, this sentence also shows that the Tang Empire wanted to maintain friendly and mutually supportive diplomatic relations with the Great China Empire - this was the purpose of promoting a pro-Tang emperor to the throne.
This series of hidden meanings made Chu Muzhou seem to see countless possibilities. Among them, the one that tempted him the most was the possibility of friendship between the Great China Empire and the Tang Empire.
If the Great China Empire really followed the wishes of the Tang Empire and acted as if the Great China Empire was willing to continue its pro-Tang policy, would the Great China Empire have a precious opportunity for peaceful development for ten years?
"What you thought of, I have been thinking about it for so many days, and I have also thought of something..." Seeing that Chu Muzhou didn't speak, Zhou Qiang patted his face and said: "If this matter is not good for the Dahua Empire, it will harm the empire."
If there is no profit, then I will kill both my sons with my own hands without any complaints. But... Sir... I have thought about it, and among them..."
"Among the princes... are there any people who understand the truth?" Chu Muzhou sighed. This was a clear card played by his opponent, and it would be difficult for him not to take it. So he finally took a step back and prepared to listen to the Tang Dynasty's side.
plan.
"My official heard that Prince Zhao Yu has a gentle personality and is approachable. He even went to the Tang Dynasty to participate in a military parade... he looks like an emperor." Zhou Qiang lowered his head and named the candidate he had to name.
"Zhao Yu...Zhao Yu..." After hearing this name, Chu Muzhou repeated it twice. There is nothing special about this prince, he is a very common choice.
The prince Zhao Ji actually has a good temper, and many ministers in the court are very satisfied with this choice. If Chu Muzhou expresses his support for Zhao Yu at this time, different voices will inevitably appear in the court.
This is likely to provide Zhao Kai with an opportunity to suppress one faction and win over another, thereby weakening the power in the hands of courtiers and strengthening the imperial power of the Great China Empire.
Fighting is certainly not good for the Great China Empire. Whether it is a fight between imperial power and ministerial power, or a fight between a prince and a prince, this is ultimately not good.
"The Tang Empire, why don't you think about it and directly win over His Highness the Crown Prince?" Chu Muzhou asked a question that puzzled him.
In fact, what he asked was: Could it be that the Tang Empire was deliberately provoking a fight for the right to inherit the throne within our country?
"I can't see... His Highness the Crown Prince has entered the palace now... I think very quickly, his attitude has surfaced." Zhou Qiang pretended to understand but could only pretend to be ignorant.
Now that he has made his choice, it doesn't matter to him whether he is Zhao Kai's official minister or Zhao Yu's official official minister.
He was even mentally prepared to become a minister of the Tang State.
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My wife and children decided to travel to bj last night. Long Ling went to see them off on the train this morning. Today's update has been canceled and will be continued tomorrow... Sorry.
I originally wanted to go with him, but... I owe too much, so I don't dare to ask for leave. It's so sad.