Chapter 0268 Status and power are not proportional
Compared with when the late emperor was in power, his authority is three points stronger than that of the late emperor...
The words came out of Kou Zhun's mouth, lightly, like casual gossip, but Kou Ji heard a thrilling feeling from them.
After Liu E withdrew from Chuigong Hall, he also withdrew from Zishi Hall. All the power of the court fell on Kou Zhun.
However, Kou Zhun was not an emperor. He did not have the shackles that only an emperor had, so he could use the power in his hands as he pleased.
Naturally, it is even stronger than when Zhao Heng was in power.
With Kou Zhun's tough temperament, after he has mastered all the power in the court, the court will definitely become his one-stop shop.
And when the time comes, the officials will never allow the court to become Kou Zhun's arbiter, so they will naturally isolate Kou Zhun and form cliques to form a new force to deal with Kou Zhun.
In the process of dealing with Kou Zhun, if Kou Zhun wins, the officials will continue to lie dormant, waiting for the opportunity.
If the officials win, the leading few will be worshiped by thousands of people like dragon-slaying warriors.
This has nothing to do with loyalty or treachery, nor right or wrong. It is purely because the officials do not want to see it, and they do not want to see the court become anyone's say.
The moment Kou Zhun ascended the throne of power, he naturally came to the opposite side from the other officials.
The officials are not embarrassing him or attacking him now. It is not because they are benevolent, but because they feel that as Kou Zhun aspires to the throne, they and others will also get corresponding benefits.
They were waiting for Kou Zhun to reward them based on their merits.
But judging from Kou Zhun's intention, it was obvious that he did not intend to reward officials based on their merits.
Once the officials found out about this, Kou Zhun was greeted by a fierce impeachment.
Kou Zhun had guessed that there would be such a result, so he told Kou Ji that he would soon become the target of public criticism.
Understanding Kou Zhun's thoughts, Kou Ji asked: "Grandpa, does he have any way to deal with it?"
"Response? Why should I respond?" Kou Zhun said lightly.
Then he added: "With my current status, I don't need to worry about anything. Even if I become a lonely minister, I don't care!
What I'm really worried about is you.
Once I am gone, you will have to bear the wrath of the civil and military officials on my behalf."
Kou Ji was stunned for a moment, then laughed in a low voice and said, "Thank you for your concern, grandpa, but grandpa doesn't have to worry about his grandson.
My grandson will have his own official family to take care of him."
"Official family?"
Kou Zhun pondered for a moment and said quietly: "The Guan family is very kind to you, but the Guan family is very young now. It's hard to say whether he will be kind to you when he grows up."
After a pause, Kou Zhun added: "There are only two of us here, my grandfather and my grandson. I will tell you the truth.
According to my observation, people from the Zhao family are the most unreliable.
Therefore, you should never place your life on someone from the Zhao family at any time."
Kou Ji was stunned. He didn't expect Kou Zhun to say such a sentence.
As the most loyal minister to the Zhao family in the court today, you actually say that the people of the Zhao family are unreliable?
Kou Ji really didn't know how to judge this sentence, nor did he know what the Zhao family had done to make Kou Zhun feel so emotional.
But he agreed with Kou Zhun's words.
Because in Kou Ji's heart, not only the people of the Zhao family are unreliable, but others may not be reliable either.
Kou Ji always believed that the only one he could rely on was himself.
Seeing that Kou Zhun was worried about him, Kou Ji pondered for a while and then whispered: "Grandpa, don't worry, my grandson doesn't put all his hopes on the official family. Isn't there Zhu Neng, Uncle Zhu, and Baosai in the north?"
Military?"
Kou Zhun was stunned, and looked at Kou Ji deeply. He hesitated again and again, but finally did not say a word of reprimand. He just whispered to Kou Ji, "Be careful in everything... From today on, whatever you and I, our ancestors and grandsons do, must be done."
Be careful and avoid others taking advantage of us."
"The horse thing..."
"Don't worry about Ma. Today in the court, hundreds of officials have already impeached you because Ding Wei's matter has been disturbed. But when the officials impeached you, they obviously couldn't get anything good from you, and they also
I won't bring trouble to myself.
Besides, I am in a high and powerful position now, and others will not offend me for such a trivial matter for the time being."
Hearing this, Kou Ji nodded slowly, "That saves you a lot of trouble."
Kou Zhun nodded in agreement.
The grandfather and grandson chatted a few more words, and no longer mentioned the fact that their grandfather and grandson had become the target of public criticism.
After a long time, Kou Zhun seemed to have remembered something and asked Kou Jidao: "Nowadays, the dismantling of the Xiang Army is causing an uproar in the government and the public. What do you think of this?"
Kou Ji thought about it: "The corruption of the military system of the Xiang Army is obvious to all. It is not difficult to see it from the first army of the Baosai Army.
The dismantling of the Xiang Army is inevitable, but now is not the time."
"oh?"
Kou Zhun was stunned and asked doubtfully: "If we don't abolish the Xiang army amid the civil and military disputes in the Manchu Dynasty, do we have to wait until this matter is over before causing trouble again?"
Kou Ji shook his head, "My grandson doesn't mean that. What my grandson means is that now is not a good time for you, grandfather, to intervene."
Kou Zhun frowned.
Kou Ji explained softly: "Nowadays, civil and military officials in the Manchu Dynasty are arguing endlessly about the dismantling of the Xiang Army. Grandpa, no matter which side you favor, you will definitely offend the other side.
If you don't think twice, this matter will be pushed forward indefinitely.
My grandfather must not want to see this matter pushed forward indefinitely."
Kou Zhun nodded slowly. The military system of the Xiang Army had rotted to a terrible level and had become a cancer on the imperial court. If this cancer was not dealt with, it would only get bigger and bigger.
Eventually, when the enemy invades the Song Dynasty, this cancer will break out completely and deal a heavy blow to the Song Dynasty.
It may even become the source of cholera, so it has to be dealt with.
Seeing Kou Zhun nod, Kou Ji continued: "So, if you want not to offend the civil and military officials of the dynasty, and also deal with the problem of the Xiang army, you must not rush, you must wait."
"When?"
"When the civil servants all obey my grandfather's orders..."
Kou Zhun was a little confused, "Now all the civil servants in the dynasty also listen to me."
Kou Ji shook his head and said: "It's different, very different."
Kou Zhun thought about it carefully, sighed, and said: "It's different. The civil servants of the current Manchu Dynasty are not my confidants."
Not all the civil servants in the court were Kou Zhun's confidants.
These people exist in the court, representing different interests and different purposes.
Kou Zhun couldn't gather these people together and listened to his orders, so he couldn't take action against Wu Xun.
Because as long as there are one or two people with different intentions, it is easy to leak Kou Zhun's plan and cause trouble for Kou Zhun.
If there are too many people with different intentions, they will stab Kou in the back.
Therefore, a large part of the civil servants in the court are not suitable for Kou Zhun to use.
For example, those censors, such as Wang Qinruo.
What Kou Zhun has to do now is to wait and see what happens and cultivate more of his confidants.
Let your confidants completely control the power of the imperial court, and then you can connect with the Wuxun Group and bite off the rotten piece of Xiangjun from the Wuxun Group.
More importantly, when Wu Xun and the civil servants were fighting, no one would pay attention to Kou Zhun.
Kou Zhun can not only use this to promote his confidants, but he can also be ready to take action at any time, so that the fisherman can benefit.
Kou Zhun understood the meaning of Kou Ji's words, nodded slowly and said: "I listen to you... At this time, it is really not suitable for head-on confrontation."
Hearing this, Kou Ji also nodded.
Some people may question why Kou Zhun is so cautious now when he was so fierce in the court and made all the civil and military officials speechless.
This is the change brought about by changes in power.
In the past, Liu E had not quit Zi Shi Tang. No matter how domineering Kou Zhun was, there were not many people who made irresponsible remarks.
Because Kou Zhun was the chief steward of the Song Dynasty court.
He has the power to teach disobedient officials on behalf of the officials.
But now that Kou Zhun's power has risen, if he acts domineeringly, the officials will not tolerate it.
Words like "powerful minister, treacherous person, evil-minded, ulterior motives, etc.", all the officials would not hesitate to put words on Kou Zhun's head.
Because Kou Zhun's power has exceeded the power of a minister.
He has gradually broken away from the category of housekeeper, and is only one step away from the main family of the Zhao family.
If Kou Zhun was domineering and claimed that he was half the master of the Song Dynasty, no one would think that what he said was wrong.
Not only will he not feel that what he said is wrong, someone will even try to persuade him to go one step further and become a true master.
…
The grandfather and grandson talked about the matters in the court, and Kou Zhun asked Kou Ji to go down and rest.
Kou Ji was tired from traveling all the way and it was time for him to take a rest.
Kou Ji returned to his yard, washed up, and had a good sleep.
The next day.
After getting up.
The housekeeper Kou Zhong came to inform him and said that Kou Zhun asked Kou Ji to go there.
After Kou Ji arrived at Kou Zhun's study, Kou Zhun was having breakfast.
He sat down and ate something simply with Kou Zhun.
After finishing the meal, Kou Zhun handed Kou Ji a food box and said calmly: "Go to the prison of the Ministry of Punishments and see Ding Wei..."
Kou Ji was stunned and asked, "Why do you want to see Ding Wei?"
"The day after tomorrow is when Ding Wei is about to be beheaded, someone will have to deliver the beheading meal.
Since the people learned about what Ding Wei had done, they all scolded Ding Wei.
The officials were afraid of being tainted by Ding Wei and being scolded by the common people, so they were unwilling to go see Ding Wei.
I can only let you make one trip."
The corner of Kou Ji's mouth twitched and he whispered: "Are the officials cherishing their feathers?"
Kou Zhun hummed twice but said nothing.
When Ding Wei was in power, these people often ran to Ding Wei's house. They all wanted to kneel down and kowtow and accept Ding Wei as their father.
Now that Ding Wei is in trouble, the fastest runners are still these people.
Kou Zhun looked down on the snobbish behavior of these people, so he didn't bother to comment on them.
Kou Ji picked up the food box, weighed it, and said doubtfully, "I don't believe you, grandpa, can't find anyone else to send this thing to.
Grandpa, do you have any intention in specifically asking me to meet Ding Wei?"
Kou Zhun put down the chopsticks in his hand, stared at Kou Ji, and said seriously: "The reason why I asked you to see Ding Wei is for two purposes. One is to make Ding Wei understand, and the other is to make Ding Wei understand.
Look at what happened to Ding Wei.
One day, I will die. If you are no match for the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty, Ding Wei's fate will be your fate.
Even then, your end will be worse than Ding Wei's."
When Kou Ji heard this, he picked up the food box, shook his head lightly and said, "I will never live like that."
After saying these words, Kou Ji picked up the food box, got on the sedan prepared by the government, and rushed to the prison of the Ministry of Punishment.
After arriving at the Penal Department Prison, he showed his badge, and the jailer guarding the Penal Department Prison quickly opened the door for him and personally welcomed him into the Penal Department Prison.
"Where is Ding Wei?"
Kou Ji arrived in the cell and asked straight to the point.
The old jailer had a bright smile on his face, nodded and bowed and said: "Returning to the Kou Minister, Ding said that he is being held in the A3 Ward of the death row camp."
"Take me there..."
"Please, Mr. Kou."
The jailer took Kou Ji to the A3 prison cell of the death row camp.
Kou Ji saw Ding Wei squatting on the ground with disheveled hair, staring blankly at the roof of the cell.
Seeing this, Kou Ji asked, "Has he made any noise since he arrived in the cell?"
“Sometimes it’s noisy, sometimes it’s not.”
The old jailer thought for a moment and said metaphorically: "He behaves as if he is crazy..."
"Crazy?"
Kou Ji was stunned. He didn't expect Ding Wei to be crazy.
After being stunned for a short time, Kou Ji slowly frowned. He was a little suspicious that Ding Wei was pretending to be crazy.
However, thinking that Ding Wei will be executed in the future, he has basically revealed all the secrets he should tell. It seems that there are no secrets that need to be hidden, and there is no need to pretend to be crazy.
"Are you really crazy?"
Kou Ji held the food box and approached Ding Wei suspiciously. He looked at Ding Weiyi and Er carefully.
Ding Wei seemed to feel Kou Ji's appraising gaze, and turned around suddenly to glare at Kou Ji.
Kou Ji was startled.
Ding Wei stared at Kou Ji and said in a deep voice: "Boy, do you think I'm crazy?"
Kou Ji looked Ding Wei up and down and whispered: "I don't know if you were crazy before, but I know you are not crazy now."
Ding Wei shook his head and said seriously: "I have been crazy for decades."
Kou Ji frowned slightly. He always felt that there was something in Ding Wei's words, but he couldn't guess the deep meaning of Ding Wei's words.
Ding Wei did not continue the conversation on whether he was crazy or not.
He stared at the food box in Kou Ji's hand and asked, "Are you here to deliver my decapitation meal?"
Kou Ji nodded and handed out the food box in his hand.
Ding Wei did not answer, but patted the withered grass beside him and said to Kou Ji, "Come in and chat with me."
Kou Ji was stunned and nodded slowly.
He raised his head and glanced at the jailer.
The jailer rolled his eyes and said with a smile: "I understand..."
Later, the jailer went to the execution room to get a set of chains, got into the cell, and put them on Ding Wei.
Ding Wei did not resist and allowed the jailer to put chains on him.
After Ding Wei's hands and feet were chained, Kou Ji slowly walked into the cell.
Ding Wei moved the chain in his hand and said with a mocking smile: "You are so cautious, kid. I have become a prisoner, and you are still guarding me."