Chapter 4908 Room 2 Idle

Chapter 4908 Fang Er is idle
"This is a matter of life and death for the whole family. We cannot be too cautious. Every extra insurance can increase the chance of success. Why can't a mere Chai Lingwu be sacrificed? With him standing in front to block the sight of Your Majesty and the Hundred Cavalry Division, our killer move hidden behind can be successful. At the critical moment, in order to achieve great things, even you and I can sacrifice each other, let alone a useless outsider!"

Li Shenfu frowned and shouted loudly.

If he didn't need a shield to attract His Majesty's attention and know his true intention, why would he bring Chai Lingwu in to conspire for big things?

Such pampered people are incapable of accomplishing anything and always cause trouble. Whoever gets involved with them will be unlucky!

Li Siliang was speechless and could only say, "My son is shallow. He just thinks that one more ally means one more strength. Fang Er also often said 'unite all the forces that can be united'. I think there is some truth in that."

"What Fang Er said does make sense, but the premise is that the power of unity can indeed provide help. However, one of the Chai brothers has great ambitions but little talent, and inherited the family business but lost his official position and was exiled to the vast sea, while the other is a playboy who sold his wife to someone else's bed for fame. How can we conspire with such scum? It is already a rare opportunity to have him contribute to our cause. The worst that can happen is that we can compensate his descendants after the success."

Li Wenliang sighed, lowered his head and said nothing.

Li Shenfu was not very disappointed when he saw his son's appearance. To accomplish great things, one does need to be ruthless and ruthless, but if he wants to be an emperor, it is better for him to have a softer personality. However, when he thought of his eldest son, who was mediocre in talent and self-righteous, he couldn't help feeling annoyed again.

If this is accomplished, the ownership of the throne will be a struggle...

*****
In the evening, Li Junxian went to the Wude Hall to meet the emperor and placed the latest surveillance records of the "Hundred Cavalry Division" on Li Chengqian's desk.

Li Chengqian picked up the top volume, flipped it open and took a look. He frowned and looked a little surprised: "Chai Lingwu?"

"I have discovered that Chai Lingwu and Li Wenliang have been very close these days, and often visit each other. He has also secretly contacted the former Princess Pingyang Zhao and the former Duke of Qiao. Although they did not discuss any confidential matters, this is not unusual."

Li Chengqian suddenly realized and then became excited: "No wonder we have never found any signs of him contacting the army. It turns out that he has secretly colluded with Chai Lingwu. After all, Duke Qiao was also a brave general in the army and had considerable influence. He also has some friendship left by Aunt Pingyang... But Chai Lingwu has never been a good person and has never been in the army. No one will listen to him. I am afraid that Chai Zhewei is also involved in this matter. We need to investigate it carefully."

Even though Chai Zhewei was exiled to the vast sea, he had been in charge of Zuotunwei for many years after all, and was considered a local lord in the army. It was not surprising that he had some loyal people under his command.

Moreover, although Chai Zhewei was exiled to the frontier because of his own fault, it is not ruled out that some people think that he was too cruel and treated meritorious officials poorly, and then they were filled with righteous indignation, and Chai Zhewei's brothers took the opportunity to win over and jointly fight against him, the tyrant...

But none of this matters. As long as we find out who in the military is secretly colluding with Li Shenfu, we will be as solid as a rock.

Li Junxian was a little worried. "If Chai Zhewei is involved, things will be more complicated. Chai Zhewei has been in charge of Zuotunwei for many years and has countless old friends under his command. No one knows whether anyone among them is secretly colluding with him to commit treason. Moreover, the troops in the capital have been reorganized, and Zuotunwei has been disbanded. Its officers and soldiers have been incorporated into the Left and Right Jinwu Guards and the Left and Right Leading Army Guards. These four armies are now responsible for protecting the capital and guarding the palace. These officers and soldiers must be closely monitored to prevent accidents."

The tens of thousands of soldiers and horses of the original Zuotunwei were disbanded and incorporated into various armies. No one knew whether any of them had been bribed by Chai Zhewei, so they could only conduct strict inspections and eliminate them one by one.

Not only is the workload too heavy, it is also difficult to be rigorous, cautious and foolproof.

What if the hidden face is not discovered after a simple screening, and it suddenly causes chaos in the future, who will be held responsible for the crime of "negligence"?
Who can afford it?

Li Chengqian was obviously also worried about this problem. After thinking for a while, he said, "What do you think if the Duke of Yue were to identify and eliminate them one by one?"

Li Junxian: “…”

I don't think so!
Is Fang Jun stupid? Who would be willing to do such a huge and thankless job!

However, the more Li Chengqian thought about it, the more he felt that this was a good idea. He snorted and said, "It's time to find him something to do. A founding duke has no real job but spends his days traveling around and getting into trouble. How can this continue in the long run?"

Li Junxian lowered his head: "Your Majesty is wise."

Obviously, His Majesty intends to take this opportunity to bring Fang Jun back to the court and find something for him to do, so that Fang Jun won't have nothing to do all day and go and have sex with the princess... It is obvious that His Majesty hates Fang Jun's habit of "harming" the princess...

Li Chengqian made up his mind, but it was not a good idea to discuss this matter with Li Junxian, and what Li Junxian said did not count...

There was no court meeting the next morning. Only the prime ministers handled official business in the Council Hall. Near noon, Li Chengqian ordered people to prepare a banquet in the imperial study, and sent people to call Li Ji, Liu Li, Li Daozon, Ma Zhou, Li Yuanjia and others to come over to have a meal together, and then discuss business.

The banquet was simple. It was not the separate dining system of formal occasions. Instead, a few exquisite side dishes were placed on a square table. The king and his ministers took their seats separately, looking very relaxed.

After lunch, the eunuchs took away the leftovers, bowls, plates, cups and chopsticks, and served them fragrant tea.

Sitting on a chair by the window in the imperial study, the warm winter sun shines in and the dust floating in the air can be seen. The wind is cold outside the window, but the house is warm like spring.

It's very relaxing and comfortable.

As the year draws to a close, various affairs are coming one after another. The ministers are either buried in paperwork or busy with practical work. They have not had a moment of leisure for a long time...

Li Chengqian took a sip of tea and asked about the New Year's Day sacrifice. Because the Minister of Rites Xu Jingzong was still measuring land in Shandong and other places, the two vice ministers were inadequate in qualifications and experience. If such a major event as the sacrifice was to be handled jointly by the Taichang Temple and the Zongzheng Temple.

Among the seal-holding officials of these yamen, King Han Li Yuanjia had the highest status and the greatest ability, so he naturally took on the important task.

Hearing Li Chengqian's question, Li Yuanjia quickly put down his teacup, briefly explained the preparations for the sacrifice, and guaranteed that the sacrificial ceremony would be completed smoothly.

Li Chengqian said, "During the New Year holidays, affairs are complicated and you, my dear ministers, are all very hard-working. I am very worried when I see this. Although things cannot be delayed, you should also take care of your health. I have only been on the throne for a short time and the people of the world are still undecided. I still need your help and assistance. Please do not let your health cause me to have no one to rely on."

At this point, the subject suddenly changed: "I wonder what Duke Yue is busy with recently?"

Before everyone realized what His Majesty had said, Li Yuanjia had already said, "You are a noble and founding duke of the empire, but you spend your days wandering around the mountains and rivers instead of doing your job. Yesterday, you even went to Mount Li to take a bath in the hot springs... You really don't know what to do."

Everyone remained silent.

Li Yuanjia is a prince and also Fang Jun's brother-in-law. Even if Fang Jun is present, he can't do anything about it. But others can't say that. God knows whether that idiot will get mad...

Li Chengqian sighed, "Speaking of which, Duke Yue has been too self-indulgent recently, idle and not doing his job. He has both literary and military skills but is unable to help me. At this time when the whole country is striving to make progress, Duke Yue should be given more responsibilities."

Without waiting for others to speak, Li Yuanjia immediately joined in: "Your Majesty is wise. The Duke of Yue can defeat the enemy and be the bravest among the three armies when on horseback, and can govern the people and benefit the people when off horseback. We should not let him waste his time, but urge him to devote himself to the king's affairs and make new achievements."

Everyone: "..."

The two of you had already colluded and discussed this, and you didn't even give others a chance to interrupt and object...

But no one objected.

Liu Li agreed: "Your Majesty, you are wise. The Duke of Yue is very talented and capable, and he should be entrusted with important tasks. At present, the Zhenguan Academy is being rebuilt and there is a lot of work to be done. In such an academy that trains civil and military talents for the country, your Majesty is the only one who holds the empty title of 'Grand Priest'. There is no one to preside over the actual affairs. If this continues, it will inevitably lead to slackness in the academy. It is better to appoint him as the 'Grand Priest' to concentrate on the affairs of the academy, teach and educate people, and train talents for the country. In time, his students will be all over the world, and he will live up to his reputation of being unparalleled in the world in terms of literary and martial arts."

Fang Jun was a man of high status, great achievements, and great favor from the emperor. He was always one of the top three figures in the court. But it was unbelievable that such a man had no actual position because of his dirty dealings with His Majesty.

That would be fine, but the most important thing is that although this guy says he "does not seek power and is indifferent to fame and fortune", his influence is everywhere. He holds on to the Ministry of War and refuses to let go, causing the Ministry of War, which should have been ranked at the bottom, to become the first among the six ministries. The Ministry of War, from top to bottom, is domineering and overbearing because of Fang Jun's support, and the other five ministries have "suffered from the Ministry of War for a long time"!
He controlled the Left and Right Jinwu Guards with one hand, tightly grasped the defense of Chang'an, and suppressed the Left and Right Leading Army Guards.

Moreover, he used his status as "Shangshu You Pushe" to boss around the Shangshu Province all day long, and acted tyrannically. The officials of the Shangshu Province were afraid of his power and dared not speak out...

If he were to take up a real job again, I think he would be able to be restrained, and not be like he is now, seemingly without any real job, but able to control everything...

Of course, by now Fang Jun is already a powerful military lord capable of competing with Li Ji. If he is appointed as a high-ranking official of the second rank or above, it will only encourage his arrogance and his suppression of civil officials will become more severe. Therefore, if he can be confined in the academy, it would be a perfect strategy.

Li Ji drank his tea slowly with his eyelids drooping. As always, he was reluctant to express his opinion and was very frugal with his words.

Ma Zhou was an honest man and had a very good relationship with Fang Jun. He was inevitably dissatisfied when he heard Liu Li's suggestion, but he did not say anything and looked at Li Yuanjia.

Since he has already colluded with His Majesty in advance, he must have a strategy to place Fang Jun. If he doesn't say it now, when will he say it?