Guo Song put the beautiful jade on the table and said with a slight smile: "Although your mother's criticism is justified, as far as I know, outsiders praise you more for not wanting to live in the palace. They praise you for being thrifty and pragmatic, and oppose it."
Luxury, basically all positive comments, no one will laugh at you.”
Xue Tao was a little embarrassed and said: "It makes me even more ashamed to say this. My original intention is not to be frugal, it's just that I'm not used to living in a palace."
"So don't worry about this kind of thing. Although your mother is a bit verbose, Qing'er is really a good kid. Even Li Bi praised him full of praise and praised him as a genius. Listen to what he means, it seems
I want Qing'er to be my close disciple. This child came just in time. His arrival gave Cheng'er the motivation to study and practice calligraphy even harder."
Xue Tao sighed and said quietly: "Actually, I just think Cheng'er is too lonely. He has no friends since he was a child. He is too young and mature. Whether Qing'er comes to study or not is secondary. The key is that he accompanies Cheng'er. This is
the most important."
Guo Song took a few steps with his hands behind his back, then turned around and said: "You are right, I happened to discuss this matter with Li Mi today, because he is going to be the examiner and will have to be quarantined for at least several months, so during this period I plan to let him
Cheng'er went to the Guozi School to study and asked Qing'er to go with him. There was a group of child prodigies in the primary school, all of whom were outstanding children selected from various aristocratic families. They were all eight or nine years old. Cheng'er was with them.
The good thing is, it’s best to go there every other day in the future.”
...........
In Chengdu, although Guo Song led an army to seize the Guannai Road two months ago, the local people in Chengdu did not care about it. Even the civil and military officials who should be very concerned about this matter were not thinking about it. They even Zhu Si
Such a big event as usurping the throne and ascending the throne was just a matter of condemnation and passed away.
In the past two months, the struggle between the civil and military ministers of the imperial court and the eunuchs has reached a fever pitch. In order to limit the power of the courtiers, Emperor Li Shi specifically gave the eunuchs in the Privy Council the power to review court affairs. All decisions made by the imperial court must be reviewed by the Privy Council.
It was not promulgated until later, which caused an uproar in the court. Former Prime Minister Jiang Gongfu even tried his best to criticize the eunuchs for interfering in politics, but was unexpectedly poisoned and killed.
Although it also involved the princely dispute between King Su and King Qin, the death of Jiang Gongfu made all officials in the court extremely angry. Hundreds of officials collectively resigned. Emperor Li Yu saw that the matter was getting serious, so he stepped forward to appease the officials.
He abolished the eunuch's right to review court affairs, buried Jiang Gongfu generously, and gave him the title of Zhongsu. Only then did he put an end to the assassination of Jiang Gongfu.
Two more months have passed. Although eunuchs are no longer involved in politics on the surface, important financial institutions such as Salt and Iron Supervision, Tax Supervision, Mine Supervision, Tea and Wine Supervision, Municipal Shipping Supervision, Mule and Horse Supervision, etc. are still firmly in the hands of the people.
In the hands of the eunuchs, it was directly managed by the Privy Council, and the money obtained went into the inner treasury. Except for part of the money used to subsidize military salaries, the rest of the money went directly into Qionglin Treasury, which was Li Shi's personal treasury.
The battle for the crown prince is still unresolved, but everyone knows that sooner or later this matter will trigger a new round of struggle between eunuchs and court officials.
The Privy Council was an institution established after Li Shi's restoration, and it was also the core of Beiya. There were more than thirty eunuchs in it, all of whom were proficient in writing. They were divided into six prisons and one pavilion. The six prisons naturally corresponded to the six major financial sources such as the salt and iron prisons.
The leader of the six prisons is called the inner prison order, and the six people selected are all Song Chaofeng's adopted sons or confidants.
The first pavilion is naturally the Hidden Sword Pavilion. The Hidden Sword Pavilion founded by Lady Gongsun has been reduced to a powerful organization of eunuchs, controlling hundreds of secret warriors.
The chief deacon of the Hidden Sword Pavilion is personally served by Song Chaofeng, who is in charge of the Hidden Sword Pavilion on behalf of the emperor. The leader of the Hidden Sword Pavilion is Ying Caihe, who was Li Man's female deputy, and now she has become Song Chaofeng's lackey.
In the Privy Council Chamber, six eunuchs, including Song Chaofeng, discussed the situation of King Li E of the Qin Dynasty. Li E was in a bad situation recently. Emperor Li Shi thought that Li E was lazy, indulged in too much drinking and sex, and did not care about government affairs. He was very dissatisfied with him.
, and Su Wang Li Qian cared about the sufferings of the people and often donated his money and food to orphans and widows, which won unanimous praise from all officials.
But Song Chaofeng learned the details. Li Qian's money was all arranged by his father-in-law Zhao Chongwen. Li Qian never asked about it, but Zhao Chongwen did good deeds in Li Qian's name.
"Let's talk about it! What should we do? Once Li Qian takes over the East Palace, there will be the second Li Yi. We will all be doomed. We must reverse the current situation."
The internal supervisor ordered Yan Xin to raise his hands and said: "Father, the best way is the simplest way. We can't touch Li Qian, but we can kill Zhao Chongwen, just like we killed Jiang Gongfu last time, but this time we'd better do it secretly
One point, let Zhao Chongwen die in the hands of his enemies."
Song Chaofeng shook his head and said, "It's wrong, I'll still guess it, and killing Zhao Chongwen doesn't mean much."
At this time, Song Chaofeng saw Liang Xiu winking at him, and he said: "Everyone, let's think about it! Tell me the result after you think about it."
Everyone dispersed, but Song Chaofeng asked Liang Xiu to stay. Liang Xiu whispered: "My suggestion is that it would be better to use the bitter meat trick. The effect will be better."
Song Chaofeng perked up and asked quickly: "What's the trick?"
Liang Xiu whispered a few words to him, and Song Chaofeng nodded repeatedly, "This plan is very clever! Very wonderful!"
........
Not everyone was unconcerned about Guo Song's capture of the Guan Nei Dao. The significance of Guo Song's capture of Luo Pass attracted the attention of many interested people, and Emperor Li Shi was one of them.
Li Shi knew very well what the fall of Luoguan meant. It meant that the Jin army could enter the pass at any time and cut off the connection between Zhu Si and the Central Plains. As long as Guo Song was willing, he could attack from the east and west and seize Tongguan and Pujin Pass.
But Guo Song was too late to move, which made Li Shi very angry. He knew better than anyone else that his army was no match for Zhu Si's army. Not to mention recapturing Guanzhong, even the defense of Bashu relied on the terrain and natural dangers. He wanted to regain control of Bashu.
There is only one hope for returning to Chang'an, and that is to rely on Guo Song.
Li Shi had previously demoted Xue Xun in anger. After Guo Song seized the pass, he immediately pardoned Xue Xun and conferred him the title of Imperial Bachelor. However, Xue Xun was a stubborn man and refused to be recalled, so Li Shi
There is nothing you can do about it.
At night, Li Shi stood in front of the map with his hands behind his hands, staring at Guanzhong, but in his heart he was thinking about why Guo Song did not respond, and what on earth did he want to do?
After a long time, Li Shi secretly sighed. In fact, he vaguely guessed that the reason why Guo Song was reluctant to capture Guanzhong was because of himself.
What else does he want? He let his family live in Jinyang Palace, and he tolerated it. He appointed governors and generals himself, and never asked the court's opinion. At most, he would send a list of names afterward, so that the court would recognize it, and he tolerated it.
What is the difference between him and the feudal lord? Now he is still waiting for a price, what else does he want? Does he want to give up the throne to him?
Li Shi was so angry that he had to endure it again and again. When he asked for help, he had to lower his posture. It seemed that he had to secretly send a special envoy to negotiate with Guo Song.
At this time, the sound of rapid footsteps suddenly came from outside the palace, and a eunuch reported in panic outside the tent, "Your Majesty, King Qin has been assassinated!"
‘Ah!’ Li Shi was shocked and hurried outside the tent, shouting angrily: “How is King Qin doing now?”
The eunuch said tremblingly: "I was shot in the left chest by an arrow. There is no hope of salvation!"
Li Shi's body swayed, his vision went dark, he fell on his back and fainted.
The maids and eunuchs nearby quickly supported him and shouted: "Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"
"Someone come quickly! Your Majesty has fainted."
There was a chaos in the palace, and two imperial doctors arrived. After a while, Li Shi slowly woke up and burst into tears. Prince Li E, one of his most beloved sons, was assassinated. How could he not be heartbroken?
At this time, a eunuch came and whispered a few words to Zhao Chun, the deputy general manager of the palace. Li Shi saw it at a glance, wiped away his tears and asked sharply: "Is my son dead?"
Zhao Chun quickly knelt down and said: "People cannot be resurrected after death. Please express your condolences and take care of the dragon body!"
Li Shi gritted his teeth and said, "I must catch the murderer and cut him into pieces!"
.........
At the same time, in the Privy Council Hall of the Imperial Palace, Song Chaofeng gave Ying Caihe a hard slap in the face and cursed loudly: "Useless bitch, I asked you to do a cruel trick, and you actually killed him. You bitch ruined my big job!"
Ying Caihe knelt on the ground and said tremblingly: "Originally I just wanted to shoot him in the left shoulder, but I didn't expect that he had any martial arts skills. As soon as he ducked, the arrow hit his chest."
Song Chaofeng kicked him away hard, "Who asked you to shoot with a crossbow? Can't you poison him?"
"Time is of the essence, I am not considerate of my humble position, and I am willing to accept any punishment."
At this time, Liang Xiu, the righteous son of Feng of the Song Dynasty, advised: "Father, please calm down. It is really difficult to control the temperature of the bitter plan. If you do it lightly, you will be seen through. If you do it deeply, it will easily cause serious consequences. The time to respond to the master is too short and there is no time to prepare."
, In haste, it is inevitable to make a mistake. Now that the matter has come to this, it is useless to blame Pavilion Master Ying. Now we can only think of ways to deal with it urgently."
"Then what do you think we should do now?"
"First of all, we must silence him. How is the assassin doing now?"
Ying Caihe said quickly: "It has been silenced!"
Liang Xiu nodded, "I will simply blame Zhao Chongwen for this matter."
Liang Xiu whispered a few more words, and Song Chaofeng took a long breath and said in response: "If you fail again this time, you will commit suicide!"
"This time I will take action personally, I will never miss!"