Water Margin people

"The place is not big, but there are quite a few factions!"

Sun Lei took a roasted quail and took a bite before speaking.

"The most powerful among them is Emperor Zhao Huan, and almost all the powerful ministers in the court are on his side! Then there is the Supreme Emperor Zhao Ji, and corrupt officials such as Li Bangyan and Gao Qiu are all following Zhao Ji! The remaining three parties are almost the same. They There is a lack of military capability within the city.”

Xiao Jiasui said.

"But the trouble is probably the remaining three parties, right?"

Sun Lei directly grasped the key point.

"Your Majesty is indeed very discerning. This time these people are not preparing for a military fight, but for a civil fight. When the Zhao family founded the country, they advocated that scholar-officials rule the world together. This group of scholar-officials is extremely powerful."

Xiao Jiasui said.

"Those relatives of Taizu are preparing to put pressure on Taizong's line during sacrifices. During the years when Zhao Ji was in charge of the country, the internal governance was dim, the people were in dire straits, they suffered repeated defeats in external battles, and lost territory. These are all excuses for Taizu's line."

"The wait-and-see faction does not want to take sides in advance. They are all beholden to Zhao Ji and Zhao Huan, and hold sufficient official positions. They will only make a choice after the situation becomes clear."

"As for the last gentry, it's more troublesome. These people are a huge group. They don't have big official positions, or even only some nominal ones, but they are all literary greats and have an excellent reputation among the literati community. , even the royal family cannot ignore these people."

Xiao Jiasui introduced.

"But it doesn't seem to be of any use to me!"

Sun Lei chuckled, he is not a scholar, he is a bandit, if he can't win with his words, he will use the knife.

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

Xiao Jiasui smiled and saluted and said that he had figured out some things recently. Why Sun Lei wanted to open schools widely and educate all people was to take a step out of the bottom of the gentry group that had been passed down for thousands of years.

Xiao Jiasui was from the royal family of the previous dynasty. He was not considered a scholar, and he was not considered a noble now. In fact, his status was a bit embarrassing.

However, this identity allowed him to see many things more clearly, such as what happened in the past dynasties. After the Qin Dynasty unified the six kingdoms, the nobles slowly withdrew from the stage of history, and the noble families were wiped out after the Tang Dynasty.

The only thing that has not changed for thousands of years is the group of literati. The literati have knowledge. No matter how the dynasties change, the emperor needs these learned literati to help govern the world. Knowledge is the unparalleled weapon in the hands of these people, and the emperor has to avoid it.

However, Sun Lei found another way and bypassed the scholars in the world, and opened up teaching in Qi State. As the emperor and the principal, Sun Lei was the teacher of all the students in Qi State, which separated the scholars in Qi State from the scholars in the world.

This seemingly simple trick solved an eternal problem, which made Sun Lei no longer need to look at the faces of those traditional literati. Do you think our Qi country is unhappy? I, the State of Qi, still don’t want to talk to you! Anyway, the State of Qi doesn't need you. You can just stay there wherever it's cool. If you're annoyed, you'll be punished with a stick.

When the knowledge of literati loses its value, it is really worthless.

Shi Qian and others didn't know what Xiao Jiasui was talking about, but that didn't stop them from thinking that Sun Lei was the Son of Heaven.

"How is the layout of the city?"

Sun Lei waved his hand and asked, "Flattery sounds comfortable, but this is wrong."

"The heaven-sacrifice ceremony will be held at the Ancestral Temple. This year's ceremony will be very large. There should be people watching the ceremony. Our people will be mixed in with the crowd watching the ceremony."

Shi Qian spoke.

"How many defenders will there be then?"

Sun Lei asked again.

"There shouldn't be many defenders for the Ancestral Temple sacrifice, the most should be various ceremonial guards."

Xiao Jiasui said.

"There will be more than a thousand people for the ceremony!"

Xu Ning, who had been silent for the whole time, opened his mouth and said that the golden gun class in front of the palace that he used to be in charge of was the emperor's guard of honor, so he naturally knew the scale of the guard of honor for the Ancestral Temple.

"If they are all the same as Coach Xu's Golden Gun class back then, there would be trouble!"

Sun Lei looked at Xu Ning and said, the emperor's honor guard is not simple. The Golden Spear Squad that Xu Ning was in charge of was the best among the best.

"Your Majesty, the Golden Spear Squad is no longer here!" Xu Ning shook his head. Naturally, after leaving, the Golden Spear Squad has long existed in name only, and the other emperor's honor guards have no combat effectiveness at all.

"Will Li Gang send troops there then?"

Sun Lei looked at Xiao Jiasui and asked, Li Gang staying behind in Tokyo is very troublesome.

"There will be a lot of people present. Li Gang will send troops there to maintain law and order at most. The number of people will not be large, otherwise Zhao Ji and the vassal kings will not agree."

Xiao Jiasui said.

"Ah That's good!"

Sun Lei nodded. If there were not many soldiers and horses, he could take action. As long as he could control the situation quickly, it would be useless to add more soldiers and horses later.

There were two days left before the Lantern Festival. Sun Lei was a little excited when he heard the noise on the street. It is a custom to hold a lantern festival during the Lantern Festival.

Sun Lei also wanted to go out for a walk, so he took out a mirror and started putting on makeup. It was not safe for him to disguise himself at the gate of the city, but it was different inside the city. Who could spot him if he was mixed in the crowd?

"Your Majesty, are you going out now?"

Xiao Jiasui asked, looking at Sun Lei who was starting to put on makeup.

"That's right, let's go out for a walk!"

Sun Lei nodded while putting on makeup. Xiao Jiasui did not dissuade him, but called Shi Qian and others to get ready.

After a while, Sun Lei appeared in front of everyone, dressed in luxurious clothes, wearing a brocade hat and flowers, and dressed as a yamen official.

"Look, brother, do I look like Huahua Taisui?"

Sun Lei looked at everyone and asked with a smile. He was dressed up according to Gao Yanei's appearance. As for why he had to dress up in Yanei, it was of course for convenience. The most arrogant people on the streets of Tokyo were those Yanei, and even the government did not dare to do so. No matter what, no one dares to investigate.

"Brother, it really doesn't look like that!"

Shi Qian said with a smile.

"Why doesn't it look like that? Brother, I don't want to do this yet?"

Sun Lei touched the flowers on the brim of his hat. All yamen in Tokyo were dressed like this.

"Those Yamen are full of evil spirits, but my brother is full of righteousness. You can see it at a glance!"

Shi Qian spoke.

"Haha, you kid!"

Sun Lei laughed and said, he has some aura of righteousness and wealth in him.

"Let's go out and have a lantern festival!"

Sun Lei greeted everyone and went out. Sun Lei was the yamen of a wealthy family, Xiao Jiasui was the housekeeper, and Shi Qian and others were idle companions.

The streets of Tokyo are crowded with people at this time, and the lanterns on the streets have been hung up.

Sun Lei was not interested in watching this. The lantern festival in Liangshan City was much better than here. He led the people to the east of the inner city. He wanted to see the situation at the Ancestral Temple.

“Pan Lou is still so lively!”

Sun Lei looked at Pan Lou who was constantly chatting with Yingying Yanyan and said with a smile, it seems that this place is not affected no matter what time it is.

Just when Sun Lei was sighing, there was a burst of noise on the street. A group of strangely dressed Taoists at the end of the street were shouting and driving away passers-by.

"The Great Immortal with magical powers, his Dharma reigns in the world, his magical powers are vast, and his magic power is boundless. He protects all living beings and brings endless blessings. He is respected by all people and passed down from generation to generation."

Along with the sound of playing and singing, the Taoist priests dressed in strange clothes shouted in unison.