Jiuxi

Chapter 813 811 [Traveling in Jiangnan]

The Duke's mansion bestowed by the Emperor is being built in full swing, and Lu Chen is currently still living in the original mansion.

The atmosphere in the inner courtyard study was a little solemn.

Tan Zheng and Qu Zhong stood there without daring to make a sound. Qin Zilong, who was standing next to them, had a worried look on his face. He glanced cautiously at Lu Chen who was sitting at the desk, but in the end he didn't dare to say anything.

Apart from the sound of Lu Chen flipping through books, there was no other sound in the room.

"From the spring of the year before last to now, you have spent a total of two years and more than 300,000 taels of silver. The answer you handed in is to train a team of 359 core personnel. You have placed two to five spies in the residences of all officials above the fourth rank in the court. At the same time, you have secret agents in the Secretariat, the Military Academy, the Censorate, and various government offices in the court. On the Beijing Army side, you have won over a deputy commander, three captains, and five lieutenants in the Wuwei camp. The results of the other two camps are roughly similar."

Lu Chen put the booklet down, looked up at his two confidants, and said calmly: "It cannot be said that you are slacking off. On the contrary, it should be said that your gains are obvious. After all, there are good and bad people in the capital, and a new force has to pay great hardships every time it takes a step forward."

His words sounded like a compliment, but beads of sweat were already appearing on Tan Zheng and Qu Zhong's foreheads.

"Duke, the emperor summons important ministers quite frequently, especially key figures like the left prime minister and Minister Li. We did receive news that the emperor summoned them that day, but..."

Tan Zheng suddenly stopped talking and said honestly, "I have done a bad job and I am willing to accept the punishment."

Lu Chen said calmly: "I know what you want to say. According to the rules and regulations set by Madam Wang, this kind of news belongs to Class D. It only needs to be noted in the summary of that month."

Tan Zheng couldn't help but lower his head and said guiltily, "No, this has nothing to do with the system set by Madam Wang. Now that the Duke is in the capital, I shouldn't ignore any valuable intelligence, especially news related to the emperor and important officials in the court. I made a mistake, please forgive me, Duke."

"This matter is not your fault. After all, as you said, the emperor summoned court officials very frequently, and you are unlikely to listen to the emperor's orders. Asking you to report every detail is simply asking too much."

Lu Chen shook his head, his tone slightly colder: "I just don't quite understand one thing. After Zuo Xiang and Li Shizhi left the palace, their carriages went to a restaurant one after the other, and then they had a secret conversation there for a while. Why is there no relevant record in our files?"

Tan Zheng and Qu Zhong were both stunned.

Lu Chen asked, "Who was responsible for monitoring the movements outside the Imperial City that day?"

Tan Zheng immediately replied: "My Lord, it's Lu Jinming."

"Send him back to Guangling, have him work for my father, and then tell my father the whole story."

There was not much anger on Lu Chen's face. He knew that Lu Jinming must have relaxed his vigilance after Xue Nanting and Li Shizhi entered the palace. He might have taken the opportunity to desert, which resulted in the failure to collect very critical information an hour later. This made him very passive in the court meeting and he was not prepared at all for the joint efforts of Xue Nanting and Li Shizhi.

Things have already happened, and he cannot just call for killing because of his subordinates' negligence. After all, it is not easy for these confidants to abandon their homes and careers and lurk in the unfamiliar capital city. If they make mistakes, they can only be left to the old man to discipline and correct.

"Yes, Duke."

Tan Zheng and Qu Zhong agreed, and the former said, "This omission is my fault. Please forgive me, Duke."

Qu Zhong also said: "Please, Duke, reduce the punishment."

"You deserve to be punished for your mistakes. I will now deduct one month's salary from both of you."

Lu Chen's tone remained calm, and the next moment he said calmly: "If it happens again, I will let someone else take over this mess."

The two were horrified and immediately bowed and said, "We will never dare to do that again!"

"Okay, work hard, and go down."

Lu Chen waved his hand, and Qin Zilong and the other three bowed and left.

The study became quiet. After a while, a figure walked out from the inner room and said with emotion, "In fact, you can't blame your loyal subordinates. At that time, even I didn't realize the problem with the Left Prime Minister and Li Shangshu. I thought the emperor was just summoning important officials as usual. This kind of thing is very common in the capital. It was not until I heard about what happened at the court meeting that I hurriedly asked someone to look through the previous files, and then I found out that the Left Prime Minister and Li Shangshu actually had such a little secret."

The person was Su Yunqing, the director of the Weaving Bureau.

Lu Chen stood up and personally poured a cup of tea and handed it to him, and asked, "What do you think about this?"

Su Yunqing thanked him and took it. After sitting down, he said, "If the emperor, the left prime minister and Minister Li are on the same boat, to be honest, your situation is not optimistic. You have no chance of winning in the capital. Apart from not threatening your life, any other decision they make can ignore your wishes. These three people together are the power of the entire court and the thirteen states of Jiangnan. It is almost no difficulty for them to suppress you and the three thousand cavalry you brought with you."

Lu Chen did not deny it.

Su Yunqing smiled and said, "But the situation is not that difficult. The Left Prime Minister caught you off guard this time because he wanted to block Li Shizhi from the Secretariat, so he had to let Governor Xu return to the capital. In short, their deal this time is not an exception. In the future, the Left Prime Minister will continue to keep an eye on Li Shizhi, because the previous incident of the Right Prime Minister being forced to resign was really bad."

"The emperor was very upset with me because of Han Zhongjie's incident. This time, Uncle Xiao stepped forward to help me fight back, but similar methods can only be used once. If used again, they will not have the same effect. Moreover, if it arouses the resentment of the civil and military officials, the emperor may even go with the flow and let Uncle Xiao go home to retire peacefully."

Lu Chen raised his hand and frowned, then said, "I have already told Uncle Xiao that no matter what moves the emperor and Li Shizhi make in the future, he doesn't have to confront them anymore, because at least for now, the power of the Military Academy cannot be handed over to others."

"Then what do you do?"

Su Yunqing said worriedly, "This is obviously just the beginning. You can't return to Dingzhou for a while. In order to weaken your power and damage your reputation, the court will definitely use various means one after another. You must know that gossip can melt gold and destroy bones. Even if you, Duke Qin, really have a golden glow, you can't withstand the continuous attacks from those with ulterior motives."

Lu Chen picked up the teacup and took a sip. Seeing this, Su Yunqing suggested, "Why don't we deal with Ding Hui first and give the emperor and the court a warning?"

Lu Chen asked: "How to solve it?"

Su Yunqing smiled and said, "This is very simple. The Ding Hui has made a lot of money in the past two years. Since they can use this method to overthrow the Minister of Justice Gao Huan, we can naturally follow their example."

After a brief thought, Lu Chen shook his head and said, "If we touch Ding Hui, we will be in a bad position. Maybe it will directly fulfill their wish. As you said, the emperor wants to suppress me. On the one hand, he wants to destroy my reputation, and on the other hand, he wants to throw sand in the border army system. The former is easier than the latter. According to the rules they follow, as long as Ding Hui has an accident, even if there is solid evidence for impeachment, they will put the blame on me for taking advantage of my power, and accuse me of being arrogant and covering up everything."

Su Yunqing hesitated and said, "You can't just do nothing, right? If you keep giving in, the other side will definitely push you further until you are forced to flee to Jiangbei in embarrassment. In fact, what both sides are fighting for now is the hearts and minds of the people and the support of most neutral officials in the court. As long as one side can gain the moral advantage, the general trend will emerge."

"I believe that the left prime minister will not be without a position and principles. This is why I agreed to Ding Hui's going to Dingzhou at the court meeting before."

Lu Chen smiled and said calmly: "Don't you see that the real tough enemy is not the emperor but Li Shizhi? This time, he used the excuse of helping the emperor to reinstate Han Zhongjie to create a lot of trouble for me."

"Li Shizhi... this man is full of thorns, it's not easy to bite him."

Although Su Yunqing said this, his expression was obviously a little excited.

Compared to a jack of all trades like Ding Hui, it would definitely be more interesting to attack the center of the army directly. This is also Lu Chen's usual tactic on the battlefield.

Lu Chen nodded and said, "Now he is inseparable from the emperor, and has inherited the legacy of the old prime minister, becoming the head of the Jiangnan aristocratic family. In addition, he is calm, experienced, and has a good reputation as an official. He even resisted the temptation of Xuanma to become a prime minister. He is indeed not easy to deal with. But I remember that according to the court regulations, this year's imperial examination is about to begin. Is this Li Shizhi's authority?"

Su Yunqing also reacted quickly and chuckled, "Yes, this is indeed a good opportunity to make trouble for the Minister of Personnel."

Lu Chen said, "You should have quite a few negative materials on officials. My subordinates have also made some gains in the past two years. You can take them all. First, identify the officials who are not Li Shizhi's confidants. You don't need to be absolutely correct, as long as you have a rough range."

Su Yunqing pondered and said, "And then expose the dirty secrets of Li Shizhi's people?"

"Do not."

Lu Chen smiled and shook his head, then continued: "As long as it is confirmed that they are his people, don't touch them. Only touch those officials who have nothing to do with Li Shizhi. Remember to grasp the degree, and the black material thrown out cannot be too serious. It must be stuck to a scale that makes those officials panic but not necessarily dismissed from office."

Su Yunqing was startled, then thought carefully and said, "Let him arouse public outrage and become the target of public criticism?"

“I learned it from them.”

Lu Chen's eyes flashed with sharpness, and he said slowly: "Li Shizhi wants to be second to none, so we should help him and let him eliminate dissidents as soon as possible and dominate the world."

"They say the old foxes in the court are very sinister, and the Duke is really no less so."

Su Yunqing couldn't help laughing, and asked expectantly, "Are you in charge of this matter yourself?"

"I have found you a partner who will definitely get along well with you. Although Gao Huan has returned to his hometown in Longlin, his passion is still there and he is particularly interested in this kind of thing."

Lu Chen said leisurely: "You are responsible for organizing the materials, and let Gao Huan plan the specific actions, and try to send Li Shizhi to the top of the officialdom as soon as possible."

Su Yunqing had no objection to this and asked curiously, "What about you?"

"I won't affect your performance."

Lu Chen stood up and said with a smile, "You know that I have already set a wedding date with Miss Li. We have met very seldom in recent years, and the last time we met was on the battlefield. Now of course I must take advantage of this rare leisure time to travel around the beautiful Jiangnan."

Su Yunqing was speechless, and after a long while he gave Lu Chen a thumbs up.

"Good mood."

……

Three days later, in the backyard of Duke Wei's mansion.

"Visiting Jiangnan?"

Li Bingxue showed a little surprise.

Lu Chen nodded and said, "Didn't I say before that I came back to the capital mainly to accompany you? Anyway, I have a lot of free time during this period. I went to the palace to ask His Majesty early this morning, and he agreed and asked me to accompany you more."

Li Bingxue smiled and said, "Okay, but I want to bring Wan'er with me. She hasn't been out to relax in the past few years."

Lu Chen raised his hand and pinched his nose, looked at her expectant eyes, and nodded: "Okay."

(End of this chapter)