Early Tang Dynasty: forge ahead

Chapter 427 Killing someone with a borrowed knife

Looking at Han Sizhong's current situation, Chen Qingsi knew that he could not handle the complex interpersonal relationships he was facing.

Han Sizhong could not tell Crown Prince Li Hong about this situation, let alone Wu Minzhi, so he could only bear it alone.

Being jealous by superiors, looked down upon by colleagues, and despised by subordinates is no different from being socially dead.

Chen Qingsi looked at the helpless Han Sizhong and knew that he would not have come to find him unless he was at his wits' end.

It is easy for Chen Qingsi to solve the problem.

All we have to do is find a way to get Han Sizhong into a new environment.

Now he is the Minister of War. He is a close friend of Liu Rengui of Baekje, and is grateful to Xi Junmai of Qinghai Lake. He also has a good relationship with Cheng Mingzhen of Yingzhou in the northeast and Su Dingfang of Shanzhou in Longyou. Although he has never met Pei Xingjian from the Western Regions, he has established contacts with him because of Su Dingfang's recommendation.

It only takes a matter of words to place a capable person like Han Sizhong into any of their armies.

Just as he was about to speak, his mind raced and he had a new idea. Perhaps it would be better for him to let Han Sizhong stay in Chang'an, in the Eastern Palace.

The situation Han Sizhong faced was actually not difficult to solve.

Ultimately it is a question of how to handle interpersonal relationships, and this problem can be solved.

Chen Qingsi said: "It is not difficult to change the problem you are facing. The simplest way is to change the environment, but the problem itself cannot be solved. Changing the environment may not be better than being in the East Palace. At least the prince is kind in the East Palace. Although Minzhi is unruly and not calm enough, he is very good to his own people. What's more, you and I know each other for a long time. If you really encounter any problems, I can help you."

These words touched Han Sizhong's heart, and in fact he didn't want to leave either.

Wu Minzhi is generous and Li Hong is also a benevolent monarch. If I follow him, if he ascends the throne, won't I also soar with him?

If I were to change my environment, how could I have the opportunities I have now?
But he really had no way to solve the current dilemma.

Han Sizhong bowed and said, "Please give me some advice, sir."

When Chen Qingsi was serving as the Imperial Instructor, he had a certain understanding of the situation in the Eastern Palace, and immediately taught him how to win over and divide people.

Han Sizhong listened with great interest.

Chen Qingsi said solemnly: "These methods can be used and the effect is very good, but they are ultimately external methods. Methods are just methods. If you don't make changes yourself, it will all be in vain. Your performance in the second half of the game the day before yesterday was indeed a bit poor."

He used the word "terrible".

Han Sizhong's face was filled with shame. He knew that he had performed poorly, but the performance of the Cheng family's crazy guys in the second half was like a war.

It's just a football game, why fight so hard?
Chen Qingsi seemed to see through Han Sizhong's thoughts and said, "Perhaps in your opinion, this is just a ball game and there is no need to fight so hard. But if you don't even have the courage to fight in a ball game, what will happen when you are on the battlefield and face the choice between life and death?"

This instantly made Han Sizhong anxious: "How are they the same?"

Han Sizhong was also unwilling to be known as a coward. In this world, if a general did not wear Ming Guang armor and lead the charge, he would be questioned. If he was really questioned, he would not even have the courage to go into battle and kill the enemy.

Not to mention being humiliated by others, he himself couldn't get over it, and stressed: "If I, Han Sizhong, retreat even half a step on the battlefield, I will be ashamed of my thirty years of hard training."

Chen Qingsi said: "Whether you believe Han Sige's words or not, it will have no effect. The key is to make your subordinates believe them, your colleagues believe them, and even more so your superiors believe them."

Han Sizhong remained silent.

Chen Qingsi taught that some people can become famous by staying silent, but some people are not suitable for this.

Take Chen Qingsi for example. Given his background, if he wasn't high-profile, who would be interested in meeting Mr. Tian?

"The East Palace is a very high stage. It is a rare opportunity for you to enter it. It is even more precious that you were noticed by Min Zhi because of your polo skills. The more so, the more you must seize this opportunity. If you can't even hold on to the wealth that is right in front of you, what else can you expect?"

What Chen Qingsi said was a bit harsh.

Han Sizhong understood. Although it was just a polo match, it was also an opportunity to prove himself.

Now that my performance has been a great disappointment, I'm afraid those people in the East Palace who are jealous of me and look down on me will be even more disappointed.

For a moment, I was filled with remorse.

"Sir, I will never forget your kindness. If I need your help in the future, just write to me and I will obey."

Han Sizhong knew Chen Qingsi's abilities very well. If he could get close to him, it would be of great benefit to his future.

Chen Qingsi didn't say much.

He did not intend to develop Han Sizhong into his hidden chess piece. It was too crazy to place a hidden chess piece in the East Palace.

Li Hong might not be able to notice it, but Li Zhi and Empress Wu were not pushovers. Some things would leave evidence once they were done.

However, as long as this relationship exists, it may be useful at a critical moment and will not arouse suspicion.

Even if you don't use it, you won't lose anything.

As the day of Fengshan approaches, Zhou Kui's investigation into Wu Yian gradually reveals the answers.

Wu Yian still concealed some of his whereabouts and did not directly state his final destination in the report, but instead went to Lizhou to visit the elders of the clan.

At that time, Wu Shigui was the governor of Lizhou, and many members of the Wu family defected to him and settled in Lizhou.

Wu Yian's reason for going to Lizhou is reasonable.

But his whereabouts were obviously different from what Wu Minzhi had revealed, and Lizhou was located in the western Yizhou, which was the Hanzhong area. It was not prosperous, but it had its own characteristics. He was not so hungry and bored that he would forget everything and cause trouble as soon as he returned to Chang'an.

After hearing this news, Chen Qingsi became even more convinced that there was something fishy going on and immediately conducted an in-depth investigation.

Got the exact answer.

"Mr. Chen, Wu Yian went to Xizhou. We are still investigating why he went to Xizhou."

Chen Qingsi heard a strange emotion in Zhou Kui's tone.

Remembering that Zhou Kui followed Chen Shuozhen in rebellion, he was exiled to Langzhou in Nanzhong.

Langzhou is farther away than Yizhou.

Langzhou has already penetrated deep into the Yunnan-Guizhou region, and is the place where the most heinous criminals on death row are exiled.

The situation in Yizhou was relatively better, as most officials were exiled there.

"Xizhou?"

"Where are the officials exiled?"

"Li Yifu!"

Chen Qingsi immediately thought of Li Yifu, and suddenly it dawned on him. He whispered, "I understand. Wu Yian must have gone to look for Li Yifu."

The biggest problem of Empress Wu was that she had no one to rely on. She was indeed very resourceful, but as the empress, she was in a high position and could not exercise her power freely. No one provided her with first-hand useful intelligence. When her good ideas were implemented by her subordinates, they might turn out to be bad because of the incompetence of the subordinates.

Once Li Yifu was pardoned, even if he could not restore his former status, if his intelligence could be used by Empress Wu, the combination of the insider and the outsider would be a very difficult combination to deal with. Empress Wu had been silent since the failure of the Fengshan ceremony, and it turned out that this was her idea.

She also realized the suffering of being surrounded by a bunch of useless people and planned to recruit useful people for herself.

Zhou Kui was shocked and said, "Li Yifu plotted against you back then, causing the wrath of heaven and the resentment of the people. Is there still a possibility of your return?"

Not many people knew that Li Yifu was brought down by Chen Qingsi. Zhou Kui was one of the few people who knew about it. The key figure Qingxuzi was the one he invited from Jiangnan.

Chen Qingsi said: "If it were any other time, it would be difficult. Now is the key matter. There is a Fengshan amnesty. As long as it is handled properly, Li Yifu has a high probability of appearing on the list."

Zhou Kui also knew how powerful Li Yifu was, so he said, "Master, would you like me to take this opportunity to capture him?"

He gestured with a knife.

Chen Qingsi shook his head and said, "This is a very bad idea. It is a last resort. There is no need to do this."

Chen Qingsi knew the rules of the officialdom. He closed his eyes and pondered for a moment. A flash of lightning flashed in his mind, and he suddenly thought of someone. He smiled meaningfully and said, "Compared to us, there is someone who is even more unwilling to see Li Yifu's return."

Zhou Kui was a very qualified subordinate. Although he was curious, he did not ask too many questions and just waited for arrangements.

Chen Qingsi asked Zhou Kui to come closer and made arrangements.

Huicifang, Luoyang.

A fifty-year-old Confucian scholar walked slowly into the market and entered a place called Xuanbaoguan.

When the steward saw the scholar, a trace of contempt flashed in his eyes, and then he greeted him warmly: "Meet Li Jieshizhong."

The Xuanbao Office was not an institution of the imperial court, but a place built spontaneously by the wealthy in the city to copy the imperial court's policies and directives.

This stems from a tradition. Any unified dynasty is bound to have vast territory and abundant resources, so that the prefectures far away from the administrative center of the Central Plains have only a vague understanding of the direction of the court and are unable to implement many policies.

In order to better grasp official trends, local provincial governments would set up an office in the capital at their own expense, which was similar to the Beijing Office in later generations.

These are all leftovers from the ancients...

The Beijing Office had two tasks: one was to receive officials who came to Beijing to report on their work, and the other was to convey important matters in the capital and the court's decrees to the local areas so that the local areas knew the court's general policies.

The Xuanbaoguan was the place where the imperial decrees were copied for the officials stationed in Beijing from all over the country. The materials they copied were also called Dibao.

In order to facilitate their work, the local Beijing offices arranged their offices around the Xuanbao Pavilion, which is Huicifang.

In addition to arranging transcription, the newspaper office also provides free tea.

It provides a place for officials who come to Beijing to report on their work to rest and make contacts, while the gentry can get to know officials from all over the country in this way and seek opportunities to cultivate their network.

This situation has certain disadvantages for the imperial court. In the future, the imperial court will build its own Jinsou-in to avoid this situation.

But the court is not taking this into consideration now.

The Jieshizhong was originally a promotional official who could enter and leave the palace at any time and serve the emperor. Most of them were trusted officials of the inner court. However, as Li Shimin indulged the censors, the Jieshizhong gradually lost the color of the inner court attendants and became censors who could stir up public opinion.

The censor!
Most of them are looking for opportunities to stir up trouble, and finding fault is the value and meaning of their existence.

Therefore, some of the Secret Censors would come to the Xuanbao Office to listen to officials from various places who came to Beijing to report on their work and discuss national affairs, local customs and practices, and local policies.

If you hear that there are policy mistakes or official corruption, laziness, and incompetence somewhere, then you have gained the credit for giving advice.

It was very common for the Jieshi Zhong to go in and out of the newspaper office.

This Li Jieshi Zhong also came for this purpose.

I sat down at a tea table casually and listened to the officials reporting on state affairs with various accents, listening with great interest.

Some are talking about things in Jiangnan.

"Qingxi County Magistrate Wei Hong plans to spend a large sum of money to build a large academy on the banks of the Xin'an River. If this is accomplished, it will absorb all the literary energy of Jiangnan!"

When he said this, he felt both envious and angry.

The officials from Jiangnan couldn't help but agree: "Mr. Chen has made the whole Qingxi County. Qingxi's literary style is the best in Jiangnan. The academy is located at the original site of the Qingxi Poetry Society. If we let Mr. Chen write inscriptions and plaques, how can we retain talents in the county?"

Some are talking about Liangzhou...

"Within three years, Liangzhou will be more prosperous than Bianzhou, and only second to Chang'an and Luoyang."

In the Tang Dynasty, Chang'an and Luoyang were two giants whose status was extremely difficult to shake.

The next one is Bianzhou, which is located in an important water and land area, in the heart of the Central Plains, on the banks of the Yellow River, and at the node of the North-South Canal.

With the help of the canal, Bianzhou developed particularly rapidly.

However, due to the prosperity of the Silk Road, Liangzhou developed so fast that it surpassed Bianzhou.

"I think this is the credit of Su Xinggong and Pei Changshi. Su Xinggong was rampant in the Western Regions, and his troops marched straight into the Aral Sea, and no one could defeat him. Pei Changshi used both kindness and power in the Western Regions, and all the countries in the Western Regions submitted to him. The stability of the Western Regions made the trade routes smooth, and Liangzhou also benefited greatly from it."

Many officials expressed their opinions.

Li Jieshizhong also listened with great interest.

At this time, he suddenly heard someone say, "Your Majesty will hold a Fengshan ceremony soon. After the Fengshan ceremony, there will be a general amnesty. I heard that Li Yifu's old friend is already working on it. He will use this amnesty opportunity to transfer him back to Chang'an."

Most of the officials in the newspaper office were officials from various places who came to Beijing, and they did not have much feeling for Li Yifu.

But Li Jieshi's face was pale, his heart was chilled and his mind was blank.

Li Jieshi Zhong's real name was Li Chongde. He was born in the Zhaojun Li clan. In those days, Li Yifu had many confidants and formed cliques, and was extremely powerful. However, because he had low self-esteem, he was often laughed at for his humble origins, and he was ashamed of it, so he claimed that he was from the Zhaojun Li clan.

Li Chongde was coerced by Li Yifu. He was afraid of the other party's power, but also wanted to curry favor with Li Yifu. So he included Li Yifu in the family tree of Zhaojun Li family and gave Li Yifu the identity of Zhaojun Li family.

However, as Li Yifu suffered misfortune, he was demoted and exiled to Yizhou.

Li Chongde also removed Li Yifu from the Zhaojun Li family and drove him out of the Zhaojun Li family.

The Zhaojun Li family, one of the five surnames, became a joke because of this, and Li Chongde was the joke among jokes.

This was also the reason why Li Jieshi Zhong was despised before.

Li Chongde knew Li Yifu's abilities and means very well, and he was also very petty-minded. If he allowed him to return to Beijing, he would definitely not gain any benefit at all.

Not many people paid attention to the topic of Li Yifu and it soon passed.

But Li Chongde was sweating profusely and was at a loss.

No, we must not let Li Yifu make a comeback.

(End of this chapter)