Li Yanqiu was silent for a long time, then nodded.
"Fourth Uncle." Duan Ling said, "What's your plan?"
Since Duan Ling returned to Jiangzhou, Li Yanqiu has truly achieved the rule of inaction. Except for a suspended animation, almost all of the following matters have been left behind, leaving Mu Kuangda and Han Bin to do whatever they want. Duan Ling was always afraid of disrupting Li Yanqiu's plans, so he was still worried.
"You did a great job." Li Yanqiu said, "Fourth Uncle didn't think it would turn out like this at first. At first, he just thought about how many rocks would be exposed under the turbulent undercurrent when the tide recedes."
Duan Ling listened to Li Yanqiu's words in silence.
"When your father was still alive, he said that the old man is rotting." Li Yanqiu said, "Whether it is from the cabinet, the court, or the army, there is a smell of decay. New people can't come up, and the old men control the government. Power has been slow to return to the center."
Duan Ling felt the danger lurking in Li Yanqiu's plain tone, but did not interrupt him.
"The Great Chen court needs to undergo a change." Li Yanqiu said, "All the old factions will be washed away, and young people with new power will take over the original positions."
"But now," Duan Ling said, "many matters are still in the hands of the old ministers. Once the cabinet is all removed and replaced, many things in the south will no longer be able to function."
"Huang'er, do you really think so?" Li Yanqiu said, "Fourth Uncle, let me ask you, the floods that occurred in Jiangzhou and Jiangnan last year were scattered to the southern regions, and it was the imperial court or those young officials? The imperial court, acting as a commander, but what did they actually do?"
"All decisions come from the interests of the gentry." Before Duan Ling could answer, Li Yanqiu added, "It is intertwined and constrained, whether it is disaster relief or reconstruction, the foundation of everything is 'less damage to the interests of the family'. In the end, Hebei County, under your control, rose slowly without receiving much support from the south and facing the war in the north."
"So what?" Duan Ling said, "Fourth Uncle means that, taking advantage of this change, the court will..."
"Whoever defected to Mu Kuangda will have to die." Li Yanqiu said, "The original purpose was indeed the same. I didn't want him to have much evidence. I just wanted to give them a charge of complicity."
Duan Ling couldn't help being shocked. Li Yanqiu wanted to kill the heads of the Su clan, Mu Kuangda, and the ministers in the court, and raided their homes and confiscated their property. But this is bound to be accompanied by another situation. The south will have a change in the pattern of the old and new, and will fall into a violent turmoil.
In the end, there are two possibilities. One is to be destroyed by foreign invasion, and the other is to reshuffle all the forces. In the past few years, young officials who have passed the imperial examinations replaced the old ministers and became the backbone of the court.
"This is something we were prepared to do when we moved the capital." Li Yanqiu said, "When you first arrived in Jiangzhou, you shouldn't act rashly, so you didn't do it for a long time. Let's take another 10,000 steps back and say that this was even before your grandfather died. Something has to be done.”
"But..." Duan Ling murmured, "This is too dangerous."
"So for you, the real challenge is not to restore your identity and get back to where you should be." Li Yanqiu said, "it is to come back to face a completely different court, start to rectify, and stabilize it, and restore it. Centralize power and put all power back into the hands of the royal family."
Duan Ling didn't think about it at all. Now that he thinks about it carefully, the people who have not been notified may be the targets of cleaning in Li Yanqiu's calculations - even Yao Fu and even Xie You are among them.
"But if we lose Xie You's support, it will be difficult for us to stabilize Jiangzhou." Duan Ling said.
"The Heijia Army obeys the emperor, not Xie You." Li Yanqiu replied, "You put all your bets on Xie You. If one day even he turns against him, what will you do? Of course, if you can't move him, I still try not to touch him. If he is willing to protect you for the rest of his life, it is naturally good. If not, you are doomed to wait until the day you fight him."
But this plan was completely shattered by Duan Ling, who was still on his way back and managed to save the lives of too many people.
"Of course, this is also a risky move for the fourth uncle." Li Yanqiu said lightly, "That night, when you told me that you were going to look for evidence of Mu Kuangda's collusion with Han Bin, the fourth uncle realized this. Things are out of my control."
"As your father once said, this country is good or bad, and in the end it's all yours." Li Yanqiu smiled slightly, "You chose another path, in the dark, it is also God's will, then Go ahead with your own thoughts."
Duan Ling couldn't help but reconsider Li Yanqiu's words, a bloodbath would bring about unprecedented changes, and all power would be dispersed and redistributed.
"Go." Li Yanqiu said, "Your father is watching you from the sky, but no matter what the final result is, you have to think about how to face it."
The sky is full of stars like waterfalls, and the stars in autumn shine across the night sky, complementing the surging Yangtze River and shining on the earth.
At night, Cai Yan hadn't slept for several days, and woke up suddenly when he heard footsteps.
When he was studying in Beijing, he read about the last days of many emperors who perished. The sound of soldiers holding swords, the sound of criss-crossing scales on their helmets, footsteps, and coughing all heralded an ominous and yet ominous event. The inevitable end - death.
He used to be not afraid of death, but then gradually began to be afraid of death. When hiding in this deep palace, he only felt that his life was seeping out bit by bit in the cage, like a monster, sucking his life. , he couldn't do anything, he could only sit and wait in the East Palace.
Sitting still, counting the days when he was about to die, fear followed.
When he was proud of the spring breeze, he even thought that he could last for a lifetime, and no one would discover this deliberate conspiracy. Occasionally, in the dead of night, he remembered that, driven by fear, he wanted to escape from the palace far away.
It's like a thief who gets something that doesn't belong to him, it's hot, but he can't fix it.
Since that day, Feng Duo has been brought under control. I don't know where he was caught. Lang Junxia's whereabouts are unknown.
The footsteps got closer and closer, and a tall figure walked in. The guard outside closed the door.
"Let's talk." Han Bin said casually, untied his cloak, and threw it aside, saying, "I was busy with other things a few days ago, and I didn't take care of you for a while."
Cai Yan looked at Han Bin quietly, and Han Bin said again: "Xie You has already escaped. In time, he and Yao Fu will both die without a place to be buried. No one can save you now."
Han Bin looked at Cai Yan rather rudely. In fact, he had already sent a letter today, informing the troops under Yubi Pass, and then sending troops to come for reinforcements. As long as the reinforcements arrive, he can open the inner city gate, attack from both sides, and defeat the Black Armored Army in one fell swoop.
As long as Xie You is dead, the rest will be the autumn wind sweeping the leaves, and then try to negotiate with Yao Fu, not to touch Huaiyin, Da Chen's country will fall into his own hands.
I just don't know what Li Jianhong and Li Yanqiu will think when they learn that the Li family's country has become such a situation.
"I've had enough." Cai Yan's voice trembled and said, "You kill me."
Han Bin was a little surprised and looked at Cai Yan.
"What do you say?" Han Bin asked.
Cai Yan was trembling, gasping for breath, and said, "I shouldn't have been here in the first place. I didn't even think about it after a single thought, and even now, I have no more thoughts. General Han, as you expected, I'm not from Da Chen. Prince, the real prince, you definitely can't think of where he is, even Mu Kuangda won't know."
Han Bin asked again, "Who are you?"
Cai Yan made a difficult swallowing motion and said, "Does it matter who I am? My family is all dead, even if I want to kill my nine clans, there is no way to kill them. It's you, General Han, you still I don't know, you are already in great trouble, Xie You and Yao Fu, they still have one last condition in their hands, just waiting for you to declare my identity to the world."
Han Bin's eyes narrowed slightly.
Cai Yan laughed and said, "You promise me that you will kill me before he comes back, and I will tell you all about it."
"Go ahead." Han Bin sat down beside him, like a sculpture.
It was dawn, and Duan Ling stood alone in front of the river. Today's Jiangzhou was overcast, and there was an element of unease in the air.
After Li Yanqiu said those words last night, Duan Ling fell into confusion. He knew that Li Yanqiu's plan in three words was just an overview. If he really cleaned up the old officials once, he would naturally have a plan for the next response. It's just that the burden on him is heavier.
In the past dynasties, emperors have the practice of killing powerful and heroic officials. Back then, Dayu was holding a Mid-Autumn Festival banquet and burned the old ministers at the banquet, but this opportunity was looked down upon by foreign relatives, which led to a coup d'etat that lasted for several years. In the end, the prince who was still in exile led his army to return and regained the throne.
What if you don't kill it
Wu Du walked towards the dim sky and said, "It's time to get ready to go, still thinking about what your fourth uncle said?"
Duan Ling said "um", looked back at Wu Du, stood opposite each other, and looked at each other silently.
Wu Du looked at Duan Ling and said, "You have lost weight."
Duan Ling said, "Just wait until these things are over."
"But you haven't figured it out yet," Wu Du said.
"Yes." Duan Ling said, "I have come to a road where no one can show me the way. There are some things that even my father couldn't accomplish back then."
"Sometimes I think you are more like Shepherd." Wu Du suddenly laughed and said, "I really learned a lot from him."
"He and my fourth uncle think the same way." Duan Ling said, "They each have their own position and what they do, but they are all the same. It's just that the minister is very patient, and everything is in his plan. I was pushed down. And the fourth uncle and my father used the same methods as Lei Ting, saying that they were one and the same, killing one thousand enemies and self-destructing eight hundred."