Immortality in the Great Qian Dynasty

Daqian Palace

Royal Garden

The lights are as bright as day.

Father and daughter Chu Xiong and Chu Ling were sitting in a small pavilion.

There is a chessboard in the center of the white jade table. The black chess pieces and white chess pieces exude a warm luster under the light, as if there is spring water contained in the chess pieces.

Chu Ling looked at Chu Xiong who was thinking hard with a smile.

After a long while, Chu Xiong finally gave up, threw down the chess piece, looked up at Chu Ling: "You win."

Chu Ling said proudly: "Father, your chess skills have declined."

Only the father and daughter were in the small pavilion, and the servants were far away from each other and exited the imperial garden.

In this quiet moment, when talking about family happiness, Chu Xiong didn't like the presence of outsiders, and usually only stayed with Chu Ling or the queen.

At this time, he will feel more like an ordinary person, rather than a lonely emperor.

Chu Xiong shook his head: "It's not that I have regressed, it's that you have made progress."

"Really?" Chu Ling tilted her head: "Isn't it father, are you old?"

"Nonsense!" Chu Xiong said angrily: "I am in my prime, how can I get old!"

"My father is not dim-sighted, so why don't he know about Sun Guangdou?"

"What's wrong with Sun Guangdou?"

"Every official who comes to Beijing to report on his duties will be given money as a gift, ranging from a thousand to tens of thousands. Does your father know?"

"..." Chu Xiong frowned.

When Chu Ling saw his expression, he understood and said dissatisfiedly: "Father, since you know this, you still want to keep him? How can such a minister of the Ministry of Personnel not chill the officials?"

Chu Xiong sighed, stood up and walked out of the small pavilion with his hands behind his hands.

The bright yellow gown shone golden under the light.

Chu Ling stood up and followed him out of the pavilion to a lake.

A circle of lanterns surrounds the lake, reflecting the silvery light of the lake.

Chu Xiong walked on the thick soft ground, his face illuminated by the light, his expression calm and indifferent.

Chu Ling said softly: "What do you have in mind, father?"

Chu Xiong stared at the bright lake and said calmly: "Ling'er, do you remember what I said about the essence of power?"

"The way of balance." Chu Ling said.

Chu Xiong nodded slightly.

Chu Lingming's eyes flashed and he said softly: "Father, is it to balance other forces by not moving him?... The six ministers maintain a balance among themselves. Once he is moved, the balance will be broken, causing turmoil in the court? "

Chu Xiong smiled: "Ling'er, you really understand."

Chu Ling frowned.

Chu Xiong said: "It's not that I don't want to touch him, it's just that the time is not right."

"Father, even if the court is in turmoil, it is better than keeping such a minister, right? This kind of influence will be very fatal and difficult to eliminate, right?"

"On the contrary." Chu Xiong shook his head: "It is easy to eliminate this influence. The more greedy it is, the easier it is to eliminate. On the contrary, it can stabilize the people's hearts."

"Don't all the officials blame the emperor for his oversight?" Chu Ling said.

"I was deceived by Shengting," Chu Xiong nodded: "But this just shows that I can be deceived, not omniscient."

Chu Ling looked at him puzzled.

Chu Xiong said: "If I am omniscient and omnipotent, it will put too much pressure on the ministers, which will not be conducive to their hearts, let alone their actions."

Chu Ling was thoughtful.

Chu Xiong smiled.

Chu Ling nodded slowly and said: "When the court acts, it is inevitable that things will go wrong. If everyone knows that Father, you know everything, they will blame Father. But if they know that Father is not so powerful in supervising his ministers, and has no eyes and ears." Being so well-informed, everyone felt that it was not my father’s fault, but that he was deceived by his ministers.”

Chu Xiong nodded slightly: "This is the essence of power."

If it weren't for Chu Ling, he would never have said this.

Even for King Yi and King Ying, he would not point them out, but let them realize and figure it out on their own.

This is the true way of an emperor.

Chu Ling sighed: "I still think that Sun Guangdou should have removed it earlier, or should have reminded him not to go so far."

"You think I didn't do it?" Chu Xiong shook his head: "If you are so greedy, you can't control yourself and just take chances."

"Father, just tell him directly." Chu Ling said: "If you tell him to stop, you can forget about it. If you continue, you can only kill him."

Chu Xiong laughed: "The affairs of the imperial court cannot be so simple and straightforward."

Chu Ling said: "Sometimes it's easier to speak clearly and act more easily. Why do you have to be so tired of guessing?"

"If you are too direct, there will be no room for change." Chu Xiong shook his head: "Do you think that all the ministers are in awe of me? Are they all respectful?"

Chu Ling frowned.

Chu Xiong said: "When they reach the first or even second level, they are no longer afraid of me. Instead, they are always trying to suppress me, want to use me, and manipulate me."

Chu Ling looked at him in surprise.

Chu Xiong said: "Ling'er, please don't treat these ministers as sheep. They are all real tigers. They can eat people without blinking an eye. The ferocity of the officialdom is far greater than the fighting in the martial arts."

Chu Ling said: "Father, are you so afraid of them? No matter how powerful they are, they won't dare challenge you, father, right?"

"It won't be obvious, but it will be calculated invisibly." Chu Xiong shook his head: "If you don't be careful, you will continue to suffer hidden losses, and you will not be able to tell the pain."

Chu Ling nodded solemnly.

She then added: "But Father, why have you never touched Sun Guangdou?"

"The courtiers have their own factions, you know, right?"

"Of course." Chu Ling nodded.

As long as there are people, there will be factions if there are more than three people. It is human instinct to form groups, and it is also the basic behavior of ministers to unite and attack dissidents.

Chu Xiong said: "The successor of Sun Guangdou needs his faction to maintain balance. If the balance is broken, there will be chaos for a while."

"Then... has there been no one in his faction who can succeed Sun Guangdou?"

"Well, it is indeed not a big deal. I originally wanted to wait for another two years." Chu Xiong shook his head and said: "Now it seems that I can't wait. Are you going to take action against him?"

Chu Ling nodded.

Chu Xiong hummed: "Qingluo's idea?"

Chu Ling smiled and nodded.

Chu Xiong said: "This girl is indeed suitable for being an official, not inferior to Li Ying,... How is she going to deal with Sun Guangdou?"

"I have found a lot of evidence and want to spread it to the censors." Chu Ling said.

This is what the four of them have already agreed on.

The strategy adopted is to tell Chu Xiong directly.

It depends on whether Chu Xiong can suppress the censors. If he can't suppress the censors, then there is nothing he can do. If he can suppress the censors, they will come up with other tricks.

In short, the censors will not be left idle to prevent them from staring at Xingnan Peak.

Chu Xiong frowned.

Chu Ling smiled and said, "Can father suppress it?"

"... Difficult." Chu Xiong shook his head slowly: "These guys are eager to report me, and they only have reputation in their eyes... And they are all bastards. Knowing this, they will never let go!"

"Will father protect Sun Guangdou?"

"... There is no way to protect him."

Chu Ling said, "Then prepare the successor in advance."

Chu Xiong snorted and said, "What about that guy?"

Chu Ling smiled and said, "He will not intervene in this matter, and let the four of us deal with it ourselves. Thinking of the preemptive move, it seems to be effective now."

Even if father asked the censors to report the great masters of Xingnan Peak, the censors would put them aside first and deal with Sun Guangdou first.

Once Sun Guangdou fell, the entire court was in turmoil and had no time to care about anything else.