My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 287 Another rising relative!

"One two one!"

"One two one!"

"One! Two! Three! Four!!!"

“——One!! Two!! Three!! Four!!!!!!”

"One, two! Three, four!!!"

"——One, two!!! Three, four!!!!!!"

"One, two, three, four..."

...

……

Shanglin Bowang Garden, and the training ground to the west of the garden.

With the officers' ups and downs shouting and the thunderous roars of the Yulin and Huben soldiers, dust flew all over the huge parade ground.

The soldiers wore helmets but no armor. They wore a thin black shirt and black trousers with dirty red cloth strips tying the trouser legs.

The strange cloth boots on his feet were half full with the sweat that kept flowing from his body.

But the soldiers' spirits were not affected at all by the scorching sun above their heads and the hot weather.

Every step he took caused an earth-shaking sound, and the entire training ground was filled with a strong and murderous aura.

"The posture of a strong army~"

“Even if we go to the battlefield in the future, among these ten thousand people, no one can swing a sword or stab with a spear - this momentum alone is enough to make powerful enemies retreat…”

"Your Majesty, you are truly born knowing this!"

"Born in the deep palace, raised by women, and never served in the army for a single day, yet he was able to train such a strong army!"

On the general's platform, Li Cang, a relative of the emperor who had been promoted to the rank of Shanglin Ling, looked at the dust in the parade ground and listened to the deafening roars of the soldiers, with a hint of pride on his face.

——Even his already straight back became three points straighter involuntarily!
Next to Kurikara, Liu Piqiang, the chief of the clan, who was invited by Kurikara but never figured out what Kurikara was up to, now looked suspicious, as if he was afraid that he would be tricked by Kurikara if he was not careful.

Logically speaking, as one of the Nine Ministers of the time, Liu Piqiang should not have been too close to his external relatives.

Especially for relatives like Kurikura who are core members of the Empress Dowager's family, they should be more cautious to avoid giving people a chance to talk about them.

But compared with the other nine ministers - especially those who hold real power, such as the Internal History and the Minister of the Imperial Household, Liu Piqiang is a little special.

As the clan leader, Liu Piqiang's theoretical duty is to handle the internal affairs of the Liu family in his capacity as the patriarch of the Liu family and the elder of the clan.

For example, investigating the prince consort for the princess~
Check out the legal wife for the son~
For example, if there were conflicts between relatives in the side branches, or if the descendants of the clan members oppressed the people, the "clan elder" such as Zongzheng would need to step in to resolve the issue.

It sounds like he has a lot of power, as if all matters within the Liu family are decided by the Zongzheng.
But in fact, the head of the Liu family, in terms of seniority, is the Empress Dowager of the Eastern Palace, and in terms of seniority, is the Emperor of the Weiyang Palace.

In addition, the Liu clan members are not the only respected person like Zongzheng - in fact, most of the time, Zongzheng is not the oldest and most prestigious one among the Liu clan.

In other words, the actual power that the head of the Liu family should have would never fall to the head of the clan.

——On the surface, the head of the family is the Empress Dowager of the Eastern Palace!
In fact, if it was a major event concerning the ancestral temple or the country, even the Empress Dowager of the Eastern Palace or the Grand Empress Dowager had to discuss it with the Emperor in the Weiyang Palace.

After the result is discussed, the emperor will give face to the Eastern Palace and let the Eastern Palace symbolically make the final decision.

In this way, as one of the Nine Ministers with a rank of 2,000 stones, Zong Zheng had the added weight of being a member of the clan. In reality, it was a low-ranking government office at the same level as Feng Chang and Dian Ke.

There are indeed many things;

But there is basically no power.

Whenever something big happened, it would be the Minister of the Imperial Household who would run back and forth between the Weiyang Palace and the Changle Palace, and finally carry out specific operations based on the guidance of the two palaces.

This made the position of Zong Zheng seem very prestigious, and he even became the almost undisputed head of the Nine Ministers in the eyes of the common people, but in reality, he was a marginal figure who could hardly participate in the major government affairs of the court.

In addition, since the time of Emperor Taizu Gao, the position of the Han clan leader has been basically controlled by the lineage of Emperor Taizu Liu Bang's only younger brother: King Yuan of Chu Liu Jiao. It has almost become a hereditary position in the Chu Yuan family with only substance but no name!

This made Zong Zhengqing, who had little power and was already on the edge of the power center of the court, a complete freak in the court.

——Everyone respects and praises it;

But if something really happened, no one would care about Zong Zheng's opinion.

If the Zongzheng came to the door with something, he might shirk responsibility and argue for a while, and then send him away in a nice way.

Those who don't give face will just claim to be sick and not come - as long as they don't scold me in person, everything will be fine!
After all, he is a member of the Liu clan and an "elder". Just give him a little face and don't embarrass him too much.

But that's all.

The value of Zongzheng's face inside and outside the court is limited to this.

To this day, some people inside and outside the court have even begun to say that the Han Dynasty's Zongzheng is no different from the historian.

The main theme is to be aware of everything, be present at everything, and witness everything;
But we can only know, be present and witness, nothing else.

Liu Piqiang was of course embarrassed to sit in such a special position among the Nine Ministers.

However, as a member of the Chu Yuan Wang family, who was a 'hereditary clan leader', Liu Piqiang naturally acquired the survival wisdom unique to the Chu Yuan Wang family from his father, grandfather, and successive clan leaders who were also from the Chu Yuan Wang family.

——Don’t get involved in things that you shouldn’t be involved in!
——Resolutely stay away from things that shouldn’t be interfered with!
And: Never offend people you shouldn’t offend…

In Liu Piqiang's view, things like reducing the power of the feudal lords, fighting wars, appointing a crown prince, and conferring a title on a queen mother were all things that he "should not be involved in".

The disputes between the East and West Palaces, the power struggles in the court, etc., are things that he "should not get involved in".

And Kurikara was probably the person he "shouldn't offend".

——The Queen Mother’s nephew!
——Shanglinyuan Order!
——Captain of the Tiger Guards!
——The appearance of in-laws!
In fact, Li Cang had so many identities that if any one of them was missing, Liu Piqiang would not feel that Li Cang, a mere relative by marriage, was someone he "should not offend."

But there are no ifs in this world.

The Empress Dowager's nephew, what does that mean?
The current Empress Dowager Dou, when she was still the "Empress Dowager", had a famous nephew.

And this nephew of Empress Dowager Dou, who now met Emperor Rong in a formal occasion, praised: "Grand Censor Dou Ying, minister of Wei Qihou..." In addition, Liu Piqiang also got some gossip that Dou Ying was appointed Grand Censor precisely to accumulate experience for his future position as Prime Minister.

And today, Kurikara is also the nephew of the current Empress Dowager Kurikara.

The survival wisdom passed down from generation to generation in the family made it impossible for Liu Piqiang to rule out the possibility that Li Cang was the second Dou Ying.

This is one of them.

The second one is the magistrate of Shanglinyuan.

As we all know, Shanglin Garden is the only royal garden in the Han Dynasty that belongs exclusively to the royal family. In theory, it is not open to the public, and in practice only the extremely poor households are allowed to rent royal fields for cultivation.

In a sense, the Shaofu Treasury was the emperor's purse, and Shanglinyuan was the emperor's back garden.

How important is the Shaofu Ling in the heart of the Han Emperor? Anyone who has been in officialdom and knows what the Shaofu is must understand this.

The same is true for Shanglinyuan.

Although he was not as powerful as the Shaofu Ling and did not have the emperor's trust, he still met the most basic conditions: enough trust from the emperor.

Of course, just being a 2,000-stone official who was trusted by the emperor and thus appointed as the Shanglin Garden Order was still not enough to make Liu Piqiang so cautious.

But Li Cang, the Shanglinyuan Ling, is different from any previous Han Ling.

——First of all, Li Cang, the Shanglin Garden magistrate, was promoted from the Bowang Garden magistrate of the current Emperor Rong’s private garden.

What is the role of the Garden Commander of the Prince's private garden?
The director of Sixian Garden, the private garden of the crown prince of Emperor Xiaojing, was the first deputy of Zhou Ren, the imperial physician.

Although no one knew what the specific responsibilities of this deputy who held the title of "Langzhong Ling Zuocheng" were, everyone in and outside the court knew clearly: compared to Zhou Ren's elusive appearance, this mysterious man who was not seen all year round was the sharpest eye of the late emperor.

Today's Kurikara, like the Langzhongling Zuochen whose whereabouts are still unknown but still retains his position, once served as the magistrate of the prince's private garden when the emperor was the crown prince.

Moreover, Kurikura is still very young.

Those under thirty are worth two thousand stones!

Since the Han Dynasty, more than fifty years have passed. How many people of this age are older than the 2,000-stone level?

You can count them on two hands!

This means that Kurikara has a bright future ahead of him;
Even if you just wait for seniority, you can at least reach the position of Nine Ministers.

As for the relatives of the emperor who served as the Nine Ministers of the Han Dynasty, as we all know, most of them had to be granted the title of Marquis first...

Looking further down, Li Cang, the former magistrate of Bowang Garden and commander of the Huben Corps, still retains the authority over the current personal army: the Huben Corps!
Although this command is more symbolic, when the Tiger Guard Captain goes to the battlefield in the future, Kurikara will most likely only be a figurehead and the command will be handed over to professionals, such as other generals, but this background is the most critical political resume of the Han family today.

——Military background!
Not to mention what tangible benefits this can bring to Li Cang, just in the future, if Liu Rong wants to appoint people based on personal connections and use Li Cang in certain key positions, the outer court will not be able to find any decent reason to stop him.

Have no idea!

He even has the most crucial political experience of a Han official: a military background!

Once upon a time, Dou Ying, a relative who had never served in the army, was able to rely on the Empress Dowager and was appointed as a general.
What’s more, Kurikura has a military background, especially as the commander of one of the two personal armies of the emperor?

The last and most crucial point is that Li Cang is the most outstanding and the only outstanding one among the contemporary descendants of the Li family, the family of the current empress dowager!
Again, the previous emperor was, at that time, the Dou family’s in-laws also had such an outstanding son;

Later, that person became a general, was granted the title of Marquis of Weiqi, and now he is even appointed Imperial Censor, and the countdown to becoming the prime minister has officially begun...

If Li Cang did not possess any of the above four qualities, Liu Piqiang, the clan leader, would be able to convince himself to have less contact with Li Cang, and even directly classify Li Cang as a person who "should not be involved" as stated in the second family precepts!
But Kurikura possesses all four of these qualities.

Nowadays, some people in Chang'an have begun to compare Li Cang with Dou Ying.

You don't know until you compare. The more you compare, the more frightened people inside and outside the court become.

——Kurikura had a military background, but Dou Ying did not at that time;
——Li Cang had the trust of the emperor, but Dou Ying only had it reluctantly, or it could be said that he did not have it completely.

In terms of official experience, Kurikara had served as the magistrate of Bowang Garden for three years, the magistrate of Shanglin Garden for nearly a year, and the lieutenant of Huben for four years.

Before the Rebellion of the Seven States of Wu and Chu broke out and Dou Ying was appointed as the general by the previous emperor, he was merely the Prince's Secretary, or household steward, who had not yet taken on any real responsibility.

The worst thing is that Dou Ying, who is now the second-in-command of the government and will surely be appointed prime minister one day, is not even a direct descendant of Dou's in-laws!
However, Li Cang is the patriarch of the Li family's in-laws clan: the eldest son of Li Ben!
According to past practice, as the elder brother of the current Empress Dowager Li, Li Ben would most likely be granted the title of marquis - just like Dou Changjun, Marquis of Nanpi, and Dou Guangguo, Marquis of Zhangwu.

This means that today, Kurikara, regardless of all his personal achievements and status, is already a definite marquis and heir apparent.

This is very scary!

A prince who is a relative of the emperor, he is capable, has achievements, qualifications, and even a military background!
The most exaggerated thing is: such a person - such a relative's son whose father is about to be conferred the title of marquis, who himself also has the ability to be conferred another title of marquis, and who has every hope of working harder in both civil and military affairs, is only twenty-five or twenty-six years old!
If Liu Rong had not already reached adulthood and had not met the required political standards, people inside and outside the court would have jumped out long ago and said that Li Cang had "become a member of the Lu Ze and Bo Zhao group" or even "become a member of the Lu family again."

Liu Piqiang could basically conclude that this was someone he absolutely could not offend.

Not only must he not offend himself, the head of the clan, but he must also not offend the entire Chu Yuanwang family behind him.

——The Chu Yuan family is no longer what it used to be~
Especially after the emergence of such a traitor as King of Chu Liu Wu, he was still able to firmly control the hereditary position of Zongzheng and retain basic political influence in the court of Chang'an, which was already thanks to the little face of his ancestor: King Yuan of Chu Liu Jiao.

But Liu Piqiang still couldn’t figure out what exactly did Li Cang want to do by contacting him?
As a clan leader, I can't help a relative like Kurikara, so how can I find a back door or do favors...

"Your Majesty is getting married, and the Queen is moving into the Imperial Chamber. I think the Imperial Physician will announce the good news soon."

"But you don't know that in the past few months, Your Majesty has stayed at the homes of Marquis Gonggao, Marquis Pingyang, and many other court officials, nobles, and relatives;"

"Logically speaking, I should have been lucky enough to have had three or two women..."

When Liu Piqiang was frowning in deep thought, Li Cang pretended to be calm and muttered something, which finally cleared up Liu Piqiang's doubts.

——In addition to resolving internal conflicts and the troubles caused by the Liu clan members outside, the Zongzheng also has another responsibility, which is to compile the Liu clan genealogy.

After all, this is the family's top priority;

The most critical part in compiling a family tree is to ensure that the direct bloodline is recorded in the tree without any mistakes or omissions.

In other words: where the emperor went, whose house he stayed at, and which girl he pushed were all under the surveillance of the Zongzheng.

After the emperor decided to visit a certain woman on a whim, the chief of the imperial clan would immediately follow up, record a file for the woman, and pay close attention to her physical condition and changes over the next ten months.

In other words, Li Cang went to Liu Piqiang today to ask indirectly: Among the one hundred and eighty women favored by the current emperor, are there any pregnant women...

(End of this chapter)