Chapter 200: I've been dealing with me for a long time, I'd rather be me
"Then?" Zhao Duan asked curiously.
Li Yanfu's eyes were filled with memories:
"Then the elder pointed to the dog and said that it was domesticated by farmers and used to help herd the sheep. Although the sheep were led by a leader, they were bloated because of their large number.
Sometimes when passing through other people's farmland, many sheep will be attracted by the crops in the field, and they will leave the herd to eat. If the crops are destroyed, the owner will come looking for it...
The shepherd boy could only drive away the sheep, but he could not keep them under supervision and eat them, so it was the dog's turn to play its role. "
"The dog runs fast and looks like a wolf. The sheep are afraid of it. If it steals food, the dog can run over and force it back... Therefore, the dog has value and can also avoid being killed and eating meat. .
The elders finally told me that being a sheep is the most useless thing. The more you eat, the closer you are to death. Only by being a sheep or a dog and being useful to the owner can you live a better life. "
After a pause, Li Yanfu said:
“I asked again, is it better to be a sheep or a dog?”
Zhao Duan asked curiously: "What did the elder say?"
Li Yanfu said: "He shook his head and said that it was not good. The best thing is that when you are the leader of the sheep, you can tie your own life and death to the life and death of the sheep, live and die together, and advance and retreat together.
In this way, even if the head sheep is old and frail, and the owner wants to replace it with a new one, he must consider whether killing the old sheep will cause the sheep to flee in panic.
When you are a dog, you have to control your temperament, neither too lazy nor too diligent. If you are lazy, the owner will be replaced; if you are too diligent, the whole flock will be obedient..."
Having said this, Li Yanfu came back from his memory, stared at him meaningfully, and said:
"Then, what are you doing keeping the dog?"
Rustling... Outside the building, there was a slight wave in the lake.
There was the sound of waves crashing against the rocks on the shore.
In the jug on the table, the green plums have almost melted, and the turbid wine is gradually turning into clear wine.
Zhao Duan calmly listened to this short but profound story, and he understood what the other party meant.
According to his understanding, the shepherd boy is the emperor, and the sheep are metaphors for the officials.
The leaders are naturally Li Yanfu, Yuan Li, Dong Xuan and other ministers.
As for the shepherd dog...it undoubtedly refers to myself, and Ma Yan also counts.
Of course, crowds are far more complex than flocks of sheep.
This also leads to the rules of checks and balances between the emperor and his ministers, with multiple parties fighting in the temple.
Why couldn't the empress abolish Li Yanfu with just one word?
In fact, it is this old leader who has bound too many officials to the warship "Li Party".
Forming a party is not just about talking, it is through a series of means to control each other. Because individual ministers are too weak to fight with the king, they form a group.
Only then did some powerful ministers frequently submit their resignations and return to their hometowns.
A hypocritical drama that the emperor had to retain.
Sun Lianying said that Li Yinglong cannot be overthrown at this time, which is what he meant.
Li Dang can weaken step by step, disintegrate his power bit by bit, gradually restrict power, and successively bring down Pei Kaizhi, Zhou Cheng... all from easy to difficult.
Including this "testing the law", it is also transferring power from the Ministry of Personnel to the Xiuwen Guan.
However, if the Li family's father and son are attacked, it will definitely lead to the resistance of the entire "Li Party" officials on the warship.
If they resign collectively, the government will be paralyzed and difficult to operate.
What's worse is that it will make this group of people and the nobles behind them turn to the "Eight Kings".
Li Yanfu's words were a subtle reminder to him:
Don't think that you will win just by holding Li Yinglong's hand.
To Zhao Duan, the metaphor of the shepherd dog that follows is nothing more than four words:
Respect yourself!
Li Yanfu reminded again:
The reason why Zhao Duan can live is because of the existence of the enemy Li Dang.
If Li's party collapses, how valuable will you, His Majesty's eagle dog, still be?
Before negotiating, the price must always be lowered. Li Yanfu used a story to skillfully lower the price twice. He was not afraid even if someone was secretly filming him.
Just like at the beginning, when Zhao Duan was on the boat and talking to Feng Ju, the other party only "understood" rather than "communicated".
Li Yanfu has been in officialdom for many years, and his level of caution is much higher than that of Li Yinglong.
…
"Pah, pah, pah..."
Zhao Duan clapped his hands gently, smiled and sighed:
"It is said that knowledge is the only thing that makes people understand the world. This is what Prime Minister Li is trying to do to me."
Li Yanfu was noncommittal.
But when Zhao Duan stopped laughing, he just shook his head and sighed: "It's just that I have a little different opinion."
"oh?"
Zhao Duan raised a finger: "If the year is good, the master will not kill the sheep, but if the year is famine, the sheep will eat up all the seedlings and people will die, so why bother?" many?"
The implication:
The officials have eaten too much, leaving too little for His Majesty. If you want to survive, the key is not how many people are on the warship behind you, but to leave room for it.
He raised a second finger:
"The sheep inside the flock are obedient, and the sheepdogs will not die because there are wolves outside."
Do you want me to raise the bandits to respect themselves? Oh!
Not to mention that I had no intention of getting involved in officialdom with you guys.
Taking a step back, the problem now is that there are too many enemies.
Where else do I need to raise?
Even if the inside of the imperial court is as monolithic, the Eight Kings and those who rebel against the party outside do not exist?
Zhao Duan hadn't finished speaking yet, but took out a scroll from his sleeve. He didn't open it, but pressed it lightly on the table. He slowly pushed it forward, but leaned back and folded his hands. , said:
"I might as well open the skylight and speak frankly. In fact, I don't really like playing tricks. I have never wanted to hide this matter from Your Majesty. I just talked to Li Xiang in a roundabout way. It's not that I'm afraid of today." These words will be leaked out, but you are afraid..."
He smiled.
This time, there was no pretense of respect on his face, but rather a sense of wanton arrogance, like a wolf in sheep's clothing: "Originally, I thought that Li Xiangruo was sincere, so there was no need to say some words. Too transparent, save some face for each other so that we can meet each other in the future.
But Li Lian didn't listen to my conditions, so he lectured and lowered the price. It seemed that his sincerity was not enough, so I might as well make it clearer. The relationship between the Young Master and Yuan Fei was actually not difficult to find out. The relevant people who knew about it at the time were also Not all of them died, they just silently shut up and pretended to forget.
It's not like I haven't investigated these days. I have more evidence than Li Xiang imagined, including the civilian girl who was kidnapped by the prince.
It's just that some conclusive evidence is missing, but fortunately, it is now available.
He had an affair with a noble concubine, deceived the late emperor, and had access to the harem. Li Yingying knew that once this matter was made public, no matter how unwilling his majesty was, he would have no choice but to kill people to protect the royal face. Of course, you will say, His Majesty will not...but not now, what about in the future?
Li Xiang is getting older, how many more years can he last?
You don’t think about yourself, but you also have to think about the family behind you. Should you retreat smoothly, or should you force the entire Huaishui Li family to be humiliated? You said you can't choose, but I think there are options. "
Li Yanfu's expression changed, as if he didn't expect that Zhao Duan suddenly lifted the table.
He suddenly realized that he might have missed something and underestimated the other party's appetite.
He thought that Zhao Duan was seeking personal gain, so he would not let outsiders know about this transaction.
He didn't think that Zhao Duan would have any "hard" ironclad evidence.
As long as there is room for maneuver, it is possible.
But at this moment, Zhao Duan tore off his gentle coat, revealing the sharp claws and teeth inside.
Already an old sheepdog, he suddenly had the fear buried deep in his blood when facing a newborn sheepdog.
Yes……
The dignified Prime Minister, at this moment, there is such a tiny, undetectable...
fear!
"What exactly do you want to say?"
Li Yanfu did not look at the scroll, but just stared at him, like a rock that remained motionless when blown by the eight winds.
Zhao Duan crossed his legs with a carefree attitude, twisted the green plum root with his fingers, and said earth-shattering words in an understatement:
"I want the Lee Party to change its position and support the New Deal at the court meeting tomorrow morning."
"impossible!"
Li Yanfu blurted out, his gray and thick beard covering both sides of his cheeks trembling, and he gripped the arm bones of the chair hard.
He didn't expect that Zhao Duan would make such a request.
"Do you think the court is a child's play? Just because of your..."
"Li Xiang!"
Zhao Duan's voice suddenly became heavy, and his face became cold, with a look of indifference and sarcasm: "You don't have to act in front of me. I'm not discussing with you, but informing you."
"Or, you can also bet that His Majesty will attack you. After getting this evidence, when the time comes, he will not use it as a knife to chop off the heads of your Li family."
"Or, let's take a gamble on whether I have the courage to publicize this matter without going through His Majesty's hands?"
Li Yanfu said: "How dare you..."
Zhao Duan interrupted him and sneered: "Why don't I dare? I'm just a sixth-grade official with no family burden behind me. If Li Yinglong wants to kill me, I'll kill him. Is it reasonable?< br/>As for you, if things get serious, do you really have the courage to drag the entire Li family into a war with His Majesty for Li Yinglong?
Ha, even the Eighth Prince would not tolerate stealing the late emperor's concubine for the sake of royal face.
And why should I spread the word myself?
There are so many people who have seen this matter today. Was it accidentally leaked by someone, such as that Xu Hanlin? What does it have to do with me? "
Li Yanfu was silent.
Zhao Duan's tone suddenly softened.
With a flick of his fingers, he threw the green plum in his hand into the jug, causing a splash of boiling turbid wine. He sighed softly:
"Xiang Li, do you, the Li family of Huaishui, really care about the little tax money lost by the New Deal?
Or do you really care about the fat worms under you?
Or in your opinion, the New Deal really can stop it? Live?
Or can you just delay it for a while?
Sooner or later, you are getting older and it’s time to think about yourself.
As long as you nod, today's matter will be a misunderstanding.
If you don't want to, I won't make it difficult for you. "
He stood up.
He didn't even get the scroll.
After straightening his clothes, he looked at the nearly dry wine pot with some regret, shook his head and said: "It's a pity, it seems that I don't have the luxury to drink Xiangguo's wine."
As he said that, he slowly turned around and walked downstairs for the second time.
But this time, he wasn't sure what the answer would be.
one two three……
Just when Zhao Duan thought that this old fox was so cruel, his courage was still the same as before.
Finally, a tired voice came from behind:
"Wait."
Zhao Duan paused, turned around, and said doubtfully:
"Is there anything else, Mr. Li?"
Buried in the crimson official robe, he seemed to have his eyes closed.
At this time, the setting sun slowly set, hanging just behind him, shrouding his whole body in shadow, making Zhao Duan unable to see clearly.
Li Yanfu looked at Zhao Duan, who was standing in the light, and suddenly asked a strange question:
"How do you think you compare with Ben?"
Zhao Duan was startled for a moment, then suddenly smiled, shook his head and said:
"I and I have been dealing with each other for a long time, and I would rather be me."
I'd rather be me...
I'd rather be me...
Li Yanfu chewed on this famous saying from another world, and seemed to smile and closed his eyes.
His expression returned to normal.
A corner of the setting sun peeked out behind him, but it was once again obscured by dark clouds.
"good."
…
Typos help to catch bugs
(End of this chapter)