Guo Shao still worked in the East Hall of Jinxiang Palace, where he reviewed memorials on a daily basis. Memorials were the main means of communication between the emperor and ministers, the central government and local governments at that time. In Guo Shao's opinion, it was a bit like an email system of a company in later generations; of course, the efficiency of memorials was much slower.
After returning to Tokyo, he maintained a very regular schedule. On the first and fifteenth day of every month, he held a grand court in the Jinxiang Hall to meet with officials of the fifth rank and above in the capital. On almost every office day, he would meet with the most important dozen civil and military officials in the East Hall in the morning. Then he would deal with memorials to the emperor or summon ministers to discuss matters.
These activities have practical effects. Ministers may have selfish motives and cliques, which may cause some things to be unfair; but in theory, the emperor will not have too much selfish motives. The country belongs to the emperor, and the emperor is not willing to undermine his own platform. It is easy for ministers to see the emperor. The officials in the capital can go to court every month, which gives them a channel. If the conflict is too intense, there is a way to let the emperor know and let the emperor preside over justice. This is probably called unimpeded speech, which is actually very simple to do.
Therefore, Guo Shao did not think that he had done well in terms of rituals, but he considered himself a qualified emperor.
But he was not always impartial. Now he was almost controlled by anger. The person he was dissatisfied with was Fan Zhi.
Guo Shaoqing knew that it was not a good idea to act on one's own subjective emotions, so he rarely hired people based on his own likes and dislikes. But this time he really had the urge to kill Fan Zhi.
Damn it, he didn't conquer the country by himself, I can let whoever I want take power. Even the Privy Councilor Wang Pu didn't bother me, so what's the use of Fan Zhi? I hate those people who look loyal and act like gentlemen, but are actually very stubborn. What real benefit does that guy bring to the court by stirring up trouble
Earlier in the meeting hall, Guo Shao wanted to ask the guards to drag Fan Zhi out and chop him up.
Fortunately, Guo Shao still had some rationality. He understood that he couldn't do that, and even scolded Shi Yanchao to save Fan Zhi's face. This was not Guo Shao's personal wish.
Because Fan Zhi was the prime minister in the previous dynasty, any attitude of the emperor towards him would make many officials wait and see; and most of the civil officials in the Zhou Dynasty were former officials, so Guo Shao had to be careful about his influence. Moreover, Fan Zhi was the prime minister of the current dynasty, and if Guo Shao allowed his prime minister to be humiliated, he would be undermining the authority of the court.
So he was secretly happy about Shi Yanchao's scolding of Fan Zhi, but he said one thing and meant another.
At this time, Shi Yanchao's memorial had already arrived at the East Hall and was in front of Zuo You.
Zuo You and Huang Binglian were responsible for the contents of the memorial, and then wrote a concise summary on a yellow paper slip and pasted it on the cover of the memorial. So usually, the cabinet regent saw the contents of the memorial before the emperor.
When Zuo You saw the content of the memorial that accused him, he felt indescribable.
He immediately realized the seriousness of the memorial.
He went to Luo Yanhuan's house to drink last night, and he, Luo Yanhuan and Li Chuyun stayed together. Who knows what they talked about in private? And this morning, most people did not express their attitude towards Fan Zhi's memorial, but Zuo You supported Fan Zhi's proposal. One has to guess what Zuo You discussed with Li Chuyun, and then Zuo You spoke for Li Chuyun this morning.
Why did Li Chuyun support Fan Zhi? It was because Empress Duanci could take power and affect the power of the Fu family. If Li Chuyun was interested in helping his daughter's prince, then he was definitely not on the same side as the Fu family, and of course he didn't want to see the Fu family continue to grow.
If one thinks more deeply, one can also suspect that Li Chuyun, Fan Zhi and Zuo You were colluding with civil and military officials to form a clique for personal gain.
Zuo You felt very uncomfortable for a moment, and turned to look at Huang Binglian. Huang Binglian was writing something with his pen in hand, looking straight ahead, as if nothing had happened. The entire East Hall study was very quiet, as quiet as death.
Zuo You really wanted to tear up the memorial at this time, but he knew it would be useless. Even if Huang Binglian didn't see it, the memorials were first classified and numbered by Fu Jinzhan of the Privy Council. After Fu Jinzhan took office on the west side of the Jinxiang Hall, all the memorials had to be classified and then sent to the east and west halls respectively. Moreover, Shi Yanchao could continue to submit memorials.
Damn Shi Yanchao, Zuo You cursed in their hearts.
Zuo You had no choice but to still put Shi Yanchao's memorial in the pile, hoping that Guo Shao would not see it. Guo Shao did not approve every memorial. For some that he was unwilling to deal with, he would make a mark and send them back to the Privy Council for the ministers to deal with as appropriate.
For the next half day, Zuo You was in a trance and uneasy. It was not easy for him to have the status and future he had today. If he had a rift with the emperor over such a trivial matter, it would be too painful.
However, when Guo Shao looked through the yellow paper on the memorials, he soon found Shi Yanchao's memorial. And he was very interested, because people like Shi Yanchao rarely wrote memorials.
As soon as Guo Shao read the content, he couldn't help but observe Zuo You from behind the screen. Through the thin silk screen, Zuo You's face seemed very pale.
At this moment, the sound of bells and drums came from outside Xuande Gate, and the hour of You had arrived.
Guo Shao held the memorial in his hand and pondered for a moment, then stood up and said: You have finished your work today, so you can leave your post.
Zuo You, Huang Binglian and others stood up, bowed and said: "Farewell, Your Majesty."
The eunuch sang: The Emperor is coming
Zuo You walked out of the Donghua Gate of the imperial city with a heavy heart. In front of his carriage, he couldn't help but look back at the towering palace. For a moment, he seemed to be filled with emotion and couldn't help but sigh.
He got on the carriage, took out paper and pen, licked the tip of the pen with his tongue, and wanted to write a letter to tell Li Chuyun what happened today.
But Zuo You picked up the pen, but couldn't put pen to paper on the swaying carriage. If this matter were known to others, wouldn't it be more proof of collusion
The Imperial City Department has a group of people who are secretly investigating spies. I have never heard that Guo Shao instructed the Imperial City Department to monitor the ministers inside, and it should not be the case. But we should be prepared for the worst.
Zuo You had never felt as worried as he did now.
He finally gave up and gave up the idea of telling Li Chuyun. For some things, when you are not sure, you should just do nothing. That's probably the way it should be.
On that day, Li Chuyun didn't know about Shi Yanchao's petition, but he could smell a strange sense of crisis. Perhaps it was because he had been fighting for many years, and if he didn't have an intuition about danger, it would be difficult for him not to suffer a great loss.
When he got off duty and returned home, his cousin Li Liangshi came to see Li Chuyun again.
Li Liangshi considered himself a resourceful Confucian scholar and thought that Li Chuyun was a military commander who lacked in strategy. In fact, Li Chuyun rarely listened to his advice, but he thought that his cousin was smart and could at least remind him of some negligence.
The experiences and intuitions gained from one's own personal experience cannot be compared with reasoning.
Li Liangshi came in and said: I didn't expect Fan Zhi to come forward. It was really an accidental act, and he helped the lord a lot. Fan Zhi is the prime minister. Not to mention that he has a lot of followers, at least he has friendships with many people in the officialdom; he came forward to say that he opposed Fu Jinzhan's long-term rule, and the emperor had to consider it carefully. From the words of the lord, the court should want to do something big recently, and the emperor also wants the ministers to help him implement the general plan with all their heart and responsibility. He wants to get the support of the ministers, and he is definitely unwilling to do something else at this time against all odds.
Li Chuyun said calmly: What do you want to say
Li Liangshi said: I came to congratulate you. I feel that Empress Duanci can no longer rule the country.
Li Chuyun stroked his thick black beard, shook his head, and said thoughtfully:
Lord Li Liangshi looked at him in confusion.
Li Chuyun was still pacing back and forth, feeling somewhat uneasy.
In fact, there was nothing wrong with Li Liangshi's advice. Li Chuyun also wanted his grandson to be the crown prince, which would be of great benefit to the Li family's future. However, the higher you are in a position, the more you cannot be careless.
What's the point of being greedy for more if you can't even keep what you've already got
He silently repeated the words "Palace Guard Commander" in his mind again. In addition to the honor, he also felt that the chair was really hot. In the field of military generals, the highest position is "Palace Guard Commander", who is the highest-ranking military general in the entire Great Zhou.
He was already at the highest position in the Imperial Guards, with the sky above him, no roads, only the abyss below him. But this did not prevent others from thinking that he was as high as the sky, which was why Li Chuyun smelled danger.
The more he thought about it, the quicker his steps became. After a while, he sat down on the chair, but stood up again immediately.
Li Liangshi asked doubtfully: "My lord, what are you worried about?"
Li Chuyun said: I have nothing to do with Fan Zhi
He pointed out the window again: I just want my portrait to be hung in the Xuanren Merit Pavilion after I die, so that my descendants can bring honor to the family and my tablet can be placed in the main room.
Li Liangshi said: My lord, you are right.
Li Chuyun stroked his beard vigorously and said: "Empress Duanci was driven out of the West Palace. Others think that it is what I want to see most. You can imagine that the civil and military officials in the court are not stupid. Fan Zhi jumped out at this time and said, what right does he have to say that this matter has nothing to do with him?"
Li Liangshi seemed to be thinking about something, but he couldn't speak at this moment.
Then, could it be that I was the one who ordered Fan Zhi to do this? Li Chuyun said in a deep voice, I am a military general, but I am so capable that I can even order the prime minister to do something. How can that be tolerated
Li Liangshi suddenly realized and slapped his forehead and said: I was really wrong
Li Chuyun gave him an unpleasant look.
Liang Shidao: When you are in the position of lord, the most important thing is to gain the trust of the emperor. If you are suspected, it will be really troublesome.
Li Chuyun sighed. He had been in the army since the Later Jin Dynasty and had seen everything. There were countless deaths and injuries in the Jin, Han and Zhou dynasties. Almost all of them ended up with suspicion between the monarch and his subjects. Even the Taizu of the Great Zhou Dynasty had his entire family killed. In these dynasties, only those with military power would be suspected.
Li Chuyun is now the person with the most military power under the emperor.