Chapter 152: The East Palace Case (VI)

That night, Li Linfu invited some court officials to gather at home on the grounds that his youngest son was one year old. All the people came to the prime minister's party, gathered together, about 20 or 30 people, and the lobby was full of noise. The wet nurse brought the child out to catch Zhou, grabbed the official seal, which caused a burst of exclamation. The tiger father naturally had no dog son, and Li Linfu just stroked his beard and smiled. Seeing that the time had arrived, he quietly stepped back on the pretext of changing clothes.

The lights in Li Linfu's inner study were dim, the curtains were tightly pulled and the guards were tightly guarded. In the room, several core figures were gathered in one place and thought without saying a word, waiting for Li Linfu's arrival.

They are all people trusted by Li Linfu, including Chen Xilie, the left prime minister who is plain and dirty, and the old and charming; Yang Shenjin, the minister of the Ministry of Personnel, who is slender and handsome, and has a suave temperament; Wang Gong, the chief censor who is cruel and ruthless, and does not know what kind of pity; Ji Wen, the young minister of Dali Temple who is cold and silent and indifferent.

But today there was an unknown Jinwu Guard Army member Yang Zhao. Although there was no big or small at the table just now, it was when the wine was full of heat. At this moment, the wine had already sobered up and the table had been removed. Everyone had to look at Yang Zhao, who was small but extremely active at the table. He looked at him with a different look.

The one who looked down on Yang Zhao the most was Chen Xilie, who had a deep experience. After returning from Nanzhao, this man would keep him for half a month, and then slowly regained his male function. He was like a rejuvenated reptile, wandering in the wife and concubines' workshop. For Yang Zhao, who was both male and dared to get close to him without knowing that the world was high, Chen Xilie still maintained his prime minister's demeanor. He did not send anyone to beat him out, but turned a blind eye to him. Occasionally, he hummed, "It's just that a cousin was spoiled and a nemesis dared to be brothers and brothers with me!"

At this time, a light cough came from not far away. Li Linfu's long figure appeared at the door of the study room. Everyone hurriedly stood up and bowed to salute. Li Linfu smiled and waved his hand, signaling everyone to sit down, "I'm late, let everyone wait for a long time."

"If the Prime Minister doesn't come, what's the point if I wait for a year?"

The voice was sharp and his tone was passionate, with a strong aura of being who would not go to hell. Everyone looked at Yang Zhao all the time. This person was too shameless and flattered all the time. He had to wait for ten thousand years but no one paid attention to him. He insisted on pulling everyone to the back. Li Linfu smiled slightly and pulled Yang Zhao to introduce him to everyone again and said, "Mr. Yang, I believe everyone knows this at the dinner table. I will introduce him again here. Princess Yuzhen's cousin has a bright future. Everyone will take care of him in the future."

Yang Shenjin glanced at Yang Zhao, but sneered and said, "Yang Zongjun is humorous and lively. He has introduced himself to everyone during the meal. He is good at drinking, gambling, lustful but not learning. He will be able to be at ease in the officialdom. How can we take care of him? With Princess Yuzhen as a backer, you have to ask Lord Yang to take care of us in the future."

Everyone laughed at the hands of the words, "That's very true! That's very true!"

Seeing that Yang Zhao's face turned into pig liver, Li Linfu smiled and patted his shoulder and said, "Mr. Yang said this because he didn't treat you as an outsider. It's good to make a joke to liven up the atmosphere. When you talk about the serious business later, I'm afraid my study room will become a cold cave. Please sit down, everyone, you are all your own people, so you don't have to be polite."

Hearing the word "main business", everyone's smile gradually faded and they went to find their own seats. The prime minister thought that the youngest son was one year old and everyone was summoned. I'm afraid the matter was extraordinary. Last year, after the case of Chang'an County Magistrate Liu Sheng, Li Linfu summoned everyone to take a concubine. He held a meeting and worked together to finally defeat Li Shizhi, demoted Han Chaozong, and almost forced the prince to death. If it weren't for the accident in Chengdu Li Dao, the person sitting in the East Palace might not be Li Heng. When we had another party today, everyone guessed that it must be for the case of the prince's father-in-law Du Youlin, who caused a lot of controversy today. Everyone knew that the Eastern Palace case was much more serious than the Liu Sheng case last time. As long as the strategy was right, the chances of Prince Li Heng being deposed were very high.

Li Linfu sat on his old rattan chair, closed his eyes halfway, pondered for a while, and said, "Today, I want to ask everyone for two things. One is the case of Du Youlin. The emperor has already expressed his opinion and let the prince go, but he wants to take this opportunity to cleanse a group of officials, so he ordered me to conduct strict review. I think since the emperor handed over the case directly to me, not to the Censorate, he is afraid that his intention is to purge the officials of the East Palace and minimize the princely party, so I want to finalize a list with you."

Before Li Linfu finished speaking, Chen Xilie was self-qualified and stood up with a smile and added to Li Linfu: "Especially, we must arrest the chief evildoers, Wei Jian, Xi Yu, Lu Jingrong, Zhang Yun, Gao Xianzhi, Wang Siye, Zhang Qiu Jianqiong, Huangfu Weiming, these are the key points, and we must not let them go this time."

After saying a few words, he saw that everyone was silent and none responded to him. He suddenly felt something was wrong. Looking at Li Linfu again, although his face was still smiling, his eyes were cold. He felt a sense of silence in his heart and he quickly smiled, "This is my personal opinion, for your reference only."

When Li Linfu saw him interrupting his words, he felt a little unhappy, but his face was not revealed at all. He just laughed: "There is not much time now, so I have to say a long story short. You can go back and prepare one for each of you and hand it over to me tomorrow. As long as you remember one principle, mediocre, incompetent, and old age, don't move, just pick some smart and capable people, and you must also seize their handle."

Li Linfu glanced at her eyes, but saw Yang Shenjin wanting to speak but stop, so he said unhappy: "Shenjin, just say whatever you have, don't hesitate."

"Mr. Prime Minister, my subordinates do have a concern."

"speak!"

Yang Shenjin hesitated and said, "Now the two parties in the court and the opposition are clearly distinguished. The emperor uses the west to fight the east and then uses the east to suppress the west to maintain a balanced situation. If we make the prince ruthless and the two parties lose balance, will the emperor attack us too?"

'The cunning rabbit dies, and the lackeys cook.' This is an iron rule that has remained unchanged throughout the ages. Yang Shenjin's words stabbed Li Linfu's heart disease and also hurt the hearts of everyone present. At the end of the Kaiyuan period, Niu Xianke helped Li Linfu overthrow the Prime Minister Zhang Jiuling and deposed the crown prince Li Ying, which made the prime minister's party power last for a while, but was also jealous of the emperor. Not long after, Niu Xianke suddenly died of illness, and then Li Heng's confidant Li Shizhi took the position of left prime minister.

This was just a few years ago, and the bloody smell was still heard. Everyone didn't understand. There was silence in the room, and everyone was thinking about their own thoughts. At this time, sitting at the end, Ji Wen, the young master of Dali Temple who had been silent all the time, raised his hand and said, "Sir, I have a plan to get rid of this depressed state."

When Li Linfu heard this, he immediately smiled and said, "If Ji Shaoqing doesn't make a sound, he will make a big splash. Tell me, your trick."

Ji Wen was also a man with a tall and elegant temperament. He stood up and slighted heads to everyone, and said, "Justice Yang said just now that what the emperor wants is just a balance of power between the government and the opposition. It is better for us to support the party again so that the princelings can still maintain balance after they are weak, so that the emperor will not make things too difficult for us."

Ji Wen's words seemed to open a window in a closed room, refreshing everyone's eyes and ears, but the most shocking thing was Li Linfu. He seemed to have suddenly discovered the third way between advancing and retreating. He was so excited that he almost carried Ji Wen over and had a strong affection. However, this matter was of great importance and it was not appropriate to talk at this time. Li Linfu smiled faintly and signaled to let Ji Wen sit down, and said to everyone: "This is the future. I won't mention it now. What we are going to do now is the Du Youlin case. What I said just now, each person will go back and prepare a list. This is the important task I have to call you today. I must hand it over to me before the morning court tomorrow."

When everyone saw that the prime minister was cautious, they agreed.

Li Linfu turned his head to look at Chen Xilie and slowly said to him: "Crime Minister Chen, I know that you have a grudge against Nanzhao, so I miss Wei Jian. But I tell you the truth that Wei Jian's famous family would not think of such a vicious way. There is actually someone else who harmed you in Nanzhao. This person is Li Qing, the commander of Guoyi, who is a strong sage. But he will not be the small commander of Guoyi, immediately. This is another thing I have to discuss with you."

Everyone was moved when they heard this. A small Guoyi Commander actually needed a meeting for the Prime Minister to deal with it. Is Prime Minister Li a little bit of a big deal? Chen Xilie was still half-believing, but his eyes began to become fierce, while Yang Zhao was so shocked that his mouth could not close, as if his chin had been dislocated. However, Wang Gong's expression remained unchanged, and the corner of his mouth was sneered. When he saw Li Linfu shrugging himself, he stood up and briefly explained to everyone what happened in the morning. Finally, he said: "Everyone, the Prime Minister does not look down on this person. Whether it is official qualifications or official experience, this person is still young and not old. He will not do much now, so you don't have to be too nervous. But if you don't have a long-term plan, you will have immediate worries. The Prime Minister means to prepare for the future. If this person does not take precautions early, it will definitely be a big future in the future!"

Speaking of this, Wang Gong bowed slightly to Li Linfu and said, "Is this a good example? I don't know what I said right?"

Li Linfu nodded and said to everyone with a smile: "Chief Wang did say what I mean. Although Li Qing made some small contributions in Nanzhao and was valued by the emperor, he still had little experience and could not be compared with those who were sitting there. However, this person is indeed a bit of a problem. I am worried that he will become the backbone of the princeling party in the future, so he must take precautions early. The emperor will most likely discuss Nanzhao's rewards tomorrow." Li Linfu's eyes slanted and found that Chen Xilie was distracted and did not listen to his words. He raised his voice and said: "Captain Chen!"

Chen Xilie was still recalling what happened in Nanzhao. Suddenly, he heard Li Linfu called him. He was shocked and stood up and responded humbly: "Is the Prime Minister calling me?"

In front of so many people, it would be difficult to wipe out his face. Li Linfu's half-closed eyes almost narrowed into a slit, "In the heaven of tomorrow, I will take the lead against Li Qing's release as an official. The rest of the matter will be led by Chen Xiangguo. Remember! Li Qing can be an official, but he can only be an official in a department like the Ministry of Rites, the East Palace, and the Prince's Mansion that has no real power and real power. This is the bottom line."

Li Linfu sighed again, "It's a pity that we still know too little about this person. Otherwise, I would like to point out his problems more, and I would not dare to use him again."

Yang Zhao was listening to Li Linfu talking about Li Qing silently. He suddenly felt a sense of jealousy towards Li Qing. Li Linfu admired him and only regarded him as a hawk and a minion, but treated Li Qing as an enemy and an opponent. The difference in treatment made Yang Zhao feel deeply lost. Seeing Li Linfu sighing that he didn't understand Li Qing, he suddenly moved his heart, as if he had seen a great opportunity to be appreciated by Li Linfu, but doing so would betray Li Qing. Yang Zhao felt really a dilemma.

‘Well, it’s not a husband if you are not poisonous! It’s still important for your own future.’
Chapter completed!