This was the first time that the ambiguous Emperor Long'an clearly expressed his position of breaking the old and establishing the new at a grand court meeting. He had not revealed a word to anyone beforehand. Not only Fang Qin's party, but also everyone in the Grand Council was completely confused.

Jiang Chong glanced at King Yan obscurely and thought to himself, "Did my emperor take the wrong medicine?"

Chang Geng showed no strange expression on his face. He immediately stepped out and flattered Li Feng in a neutral way. Although he played power games, he was born with an air of an outsider. Even his posture of flattering seemed to be very calm, as if he was in collusion with Li Feng.

Someone's face changed at that moment.

Li Feng knew what was going on. He knew that Prince Yan intended to borrow his power, and that all the civil and military officials in the court had their own ulterior motives. However, it didn't matter. He could give Prince Yan a way out, or he could give anyone else a way out.

This time, Li Feng used two decrees to push the Military Affairs Council to the forefront. He wanted to see whether those who used the late emperor's red seal and iron certificate to make an issue of the matter could do anything to the Prince Yan, who changed his career late and had only called his father "Father" all his life.

This day in Beijing is destined to be another sleepless night.

In the Military Affairs Office, Jiang Chong whispered to Chang Geng, "Your Majesty, what should we do? Should we stick to the original plan?"

Chang Geng said without hesitation: "Strike while the iron is hot."

Jiang Chong looked at Chang Geng deeply and asked, "Your Majesty, what if we push them too hard and they become desperate?"

Chang Geng turned to look at him and said meaningfully: "I'm afraid they won't jump. Brother Hanshi, do you know what is the most useful sentence I have ever learned in my life?"

Jiang Chong suddenly sensed a hint of fear.

Chang Geng said: "When we get to the battlefield, whoever doesn't want to die will die first."

On his way home from leaving the Military Affairs Office, Chang Geng happened to run into Fang Qin's carriage, so he told Huo Dan, "Let Lord Fang go first."

Huo Dan responded, and after a while, he ran back to report: "Your Majesty, Lord Fang said he dared not be rude and has already given way."

Chang Geng lifted the carriage curtain and politely bowed to Fang Qin. The two of them passed each other in a friendly manner, as if there was no life-and-death struggle between them.

Chang Geng leaned against the carriage, thinking that if he and Fang Qin were in each other's place, he would at least be able to endure the limelight for a while, and wait until the new nobles in the court took over the transportation and finances in a flash, and then give them a push when their foundation was unstable and they were expanding too fast. Then he would just wait quietly for Li Feng to take action - this court was like a spider web of princes and nobles, full of stories and power. If he was willing to take it slow, there would be plenty of opportunities to restore the old system after the war.

Chang Geng also knew that Fang Qin was prudent, so he must have thought the same.

Therefore, even if we have to drag everyone to walk the tightrope together, we must not let him wait for this opportunity calmly.

Fang Qin watched the King of Yan's carriage go away before telling his family to continue walking. The dusk was all around him, and the dusk slowly slid into the long night. He seemed to vaguely see the vein-like trend, rushing past him like a torrent of flowing water. However, he was powerless to stop it. The long embankment under his feet was made of sand. It looked majestic and magnificent, but in fact there was no way to get help. It was the boundless world that was against him.

When he returned to Fang's house, as usual, there were guests waiting for him. Grand Scholar Fang had no time to cultivate his mind and seek the truth, so he personally received them in the front hall. As soon as Fang Qin entered the door, everyone stood up and looked at him with different expressions.

Fang Qin had another ominous feeling in his heart: "Dad, what's wrong?"

Grand Secretary Fang said with a gloomy face: "Your sister was convicted of offending the Empress in the palace today and has just been confined to her house. No relatives are allowed to visit her."

Old Madam Fang had a very good relationship with the Emperor's wet nurse, Zhao, and as a joke, she asked Fang Qin's third brother to acknowledge Zhao as his stepmother. Fang Qin had nothing to do with this, but just to show closeness and courtesy, she called Zhao's daughter who was on duty in the palace "stepmother" in front of outsiders.

Fang Qin was stunned and asked, "Why?"

"Why? There doesn't have to be any reason," said Grand Scholar Fang slowly. "Think about the time when the current emperor treated Gu Yun as 'uncle' and they had a deep affection for each other since childhood, but he imprisoned him for just a disagreement. What about us - the current emperor is mean and ungrateful, heartless and righteous, which is really chilling."

Fang Qin's mind raced, and he immediately turned to his family and said, "Have someone send a message to Duke Zhao right away, asking him to stop doing such childish things and stop while he's ahead."

As soon as he said this, there was an uproar in the room, and someone immediately stood up and objected, "Master Fang, why are you turning your elbow outward again?"

Fang Qin ignored the others and stared at Grand Scholar Fang and said, "Dad, can't you see that the emperor is not the previous emperor? We can only follow his lead in everything. If you make him feel that he is being forced, he will definitely fight back. We want to eradicate Prince Yan's party. What's the point of challenging the emperor?"

Without waiting for Grand Scholar Fang to speak, Fang Qin continued with an angry tone, "I also want to save my third brother, but if this continues, it won't just be my third brother who will be killed. Everyone present here is our own people. Let me tell you something unpleasant. Do you really think that Duke Zhao has cleaned up his mess? If Prince Yan finds a handle to take advantage of the situation, then we will be in a more passive position! If you don't allow the construction of a mere railway line, will it have any practical effect other than causing trouble for Li Min? Gu Yun still mobilized troops as soon as he said so, and your foreign affairs group didn't even have time to reach the front line! What else can you do? Simply cut off the front line's supply. Are you selling out your country?"

He had been unhappy for a long time, and he yelled it out without even giving his father any face. Everyone was silent for a moment, and then someone said, "Does Lord Fang intend to swallow this anger?"

Fang Qin: “…”

He found that he had no way to communicate with these people, especially after Grand Scholar Fang came back.

Presumably, the end of something is not caused by sudden storms from the outside world. If it is a great country with many aristocratic families, it does not matter if there are many people of each surname, but if there is one person in each generation who can establish his own household, he does not need to be extremely talented or good at both civil and military affairs. As long as he has a clear mind and is self-aware, and knows what he should and should not do - then with the accumulation of several generations, even if King Yan and his gang have three heads and six arms, they will definitely not be able to climb over their heads.

Fang Qin looked around, sneered without saying anything, and walked away.

Grand Scholar Fang sat upright with his eyes downcast, stroked his beard and said, "My son is so rude, I am sorry to make you all laugh."

A minister who was so old that he could barely open his eyes whispered, "The Second Young Master is very talented, but he is just too young and full of energy."

At Fang Qin's age, he can't really be called "young and vigorous", but Grand Secretary Fang shook his head meaningfully: "Indeed, he was still young when Emperor Wu was in power, and he didn't experience those things, so he lacked some experience. I think it's better not to let the younger generation know some things, so that they don't have to worry about the consequences. It's not bad enough. The old brothers who pushed the previous emperor to the throne are still here. Go back and gather the children and grandchildren of each family, maybe there will be enough energy to accomplish things... But my unfilial son is right, let the Duke of Zhao restrain his childish methods recently. If he can't kill with one blow, why waste the energy? It's not enough to make people laugh at him."

However, Prince Yan did not give Duke Zhao a chance to restrain himself.

The next day, Lingshuyuan first submitted a memorial claiming that the steam car had been rigorously tested and everything was ready, earnestly asking Emperor Longan to see it with his own eyes. Li Feng happily took the prince to go there, and even rode for a while himself. However, after returning to the palace, before the excitement had worn off, he received another memorial from Yao Zhen urging the construction of the railway line, which successfully piled up Emperor Longan's anxiety.

By the evening, the Censorate delivered the last straw that ignited the emperor's anger.

The Censorate accused Duke Zhao of failing to manage his subordinates, allowing his family members to embezzle and seize farmers' land at low prices, among other crimes.

The Canal Office and Lingshu Academy, which were jointly responsible for the steam railway line, quickly followed suit and joined in the fun. A large number of people who deliberately fanned the flames followed closely behind, quickly detonating the situation. The power that Prince Yan had built up during the war years showed the tip of the iceberg, and the upward channel that had been slowly congested since the end of Emperor Wu's reign was pried open by him.

Reports of illegal land occupation from various places broke out one after another in a premeditated manner, and finally implicated the long-standing problem of illegal land occupation in Daliang.

Immediately, a few people who wanted to watch the fun stood up and demanded a full investigation.

Of course, this ridiculous proposal was rejected by Li Feng. Even if Li Feng wanted to intimidate the aristocratic families again, he had to do it slowly and gradually disintegrate them. He did not have the appetite to do so much at once.

However, this foolish bird who stood out, Duke Zhao, could not escape, and was arrested within a few days. Later, a large number of his followers who relied on their power to bully others were implicated. When they were escorted and their houses were searched, onlookers even climbed up to the top of the wall to look in. The storyteller in Wangnan Tower finished compiling a new book in two days and had many fans.

The prince encountered such a big case at the beginning of the hearing. The young boy gained a lot of experience. He was stunned watching from the side. He gained a lot of experience.

When the court was about to end, Prince Yan, who had been silent all this time, suddenly asked, "What do you think, Your Highness?"

The young prince was well protected by Li Feng. He was innocent and naive, and didn't have many thoughts. He had once "asked for advice" from his fourth uncle on Li Feng's orders. When Chang Geng asked, he blurted out what he had been taught without hesitation: "Han Fei once said, 'If a ruler has no skills, he will be blinded above; if a minister has no laws, he will be in chaos below.' The stability of a country depends on the law. People are either wise or foolish, loyal or treacherous, and things are either right or wrong. If the laws are not clear, factions and villains will run rampant. Then... won't the rulers be unable to control it?"

His childish voice was still full of childishness, like a student who was picked up in class to answer the teacher's questions. After he finished speaking, he looked at Chang Geng expectantly.

Chang Geng smiled but said nothing, while Li Feng sternly scolded him, "Why are you showing off by reading from a book? Go back and study hard, and don't slack off."

The prince didn't dare to say anything and could only respond with his head down. However, his childish words were unintentional but taken seriously by the listeners.

People who judge others by themselves, even if they see a half-grown child, will think that this person is as scheming as themselves, and every word he says is hidden.

That night, the 11-year-old prince's words spread like wildfire in the deep palace. Without telling Fang Qin, Grand Secretary Fang gathered together a group of old jackals who had supported the previous emperor. They dug out every word of the prince and analyzed it, and finally understood what Li Feng meant.

"It's been three generations," said Grand Secretary Fang with a sneer. "Heaven's grace is beyond measure. I'm sure you all have seen that the emperor let the prince take charge of government affairs because he is determined to kill us old guys."

Another person said, "If it weren't for Uncle Wang Guo's interference, and we had planned properly, King Yan might have been stripped of his throne and exiled to a remote place because of his confusion of royal bloodline. How dare a bastard from somewhere dare to ride on our heads and show off his power? Brother Fang, if you don't make a decision, you will suffer the consequences."

A sharp mark appeared on Grand Secretary Fang's cheek. He slowly looked around and whispered, "You might as well write down what's in your heart."

Many years ago, this group of ambitious conspirators once gathered together and showed their palms. On their palms was written the name of the late Emperor Yuanhe. Now, they are already old and dead. They gathered together again and spread out their old palms.

"Clear the emperor's side."

"Clear the emperor's side."

"The emperor's eldest son has no mother."

…

"When Prince Su pretended to be sick on the way, I learned in advance that he wanted to secretly enter the capital, so I asked the Princess to order the Northern Camp to intercept him and arrest him on the charge of 'treason', thus helping the late emperor to ascend the throne. This was a case of success and failure." Grand Scholar Fang said in an almost inaudible voice, "You all have seen the situation in the capital now. How to strike first and who to use? I believe that you all have a plan for coming here today."

Scholar Fang was not acting rashly. He knew that without the Gu family on their side, it would be impossible to mobilize the North Camp. Since the last time Liu Chongshan of the Imperial Guards rebelled, the organization of the Imperial Guards had been greatly adjusted. All the members of the Imperial Guards above 100 households had to undergo a strict check to confirm that their family backgrounds were clean and their military achievements were genuine, which prevented some people from taking advantage of loopholes. At the same time, they were divided into two parts for two-way management, which restrained each other and did not interfere with each other, in order to prevent someone in the Imperial Guards from covering up the chaos and rebelling.

But everything has its pros and cons. The aristocratic families in Daliang are divided into civil and military, and the military generals also have noble families, but most of them have declined, otherwise there would not be no one available during the Yuanhe period to let a half-grown child lead the army. These descendants of famous generals who were born under the influence of their ancestors, if they are not good at civil or military, will enter the Imperial Guards through the back door like Liu Chongshan, wait for a few years to gain experience, and then find an excuse to make a military achievement and rise to prominence.

After years of running-in, a special ecology has been formed between these young soldiers and real soldiers. Both sides give each other face, which not only ensures combat effectiveness but also takes into account relationships and face.

Unfortunately, this balance was destroyed by Li Feng after the mutiny of the Imperial Guards.

The superior may have thought that the decree issued in anger was clear and fair, and no one reminded Li Feng who was already angry at the time, so he blocked the dreams of the young masters in the capital for promotion.

Which young master is not spoiled? Who can be willing to be a small military household for the rest of his life?

It is not scary to offend the young master. What is important is that in the early years of the Daliang Dynasty, military power was valued more than culture, and the ancestors left behind a privilege - those who were awarded titles for military merit can support family soldiers, retain part of the armed forces, and protect future generations. They can serve as the last line of defense for the country in times of crisis. When Liu Chongshan, Lu Chang and others rebelled, Fang Qin used this group of combat power to contain the rebels and drag them to Beidaying.

Grand Scholar Fang looked around and said, "Gu Yun has increased his troops in the southwest, and at the same time he is waging war in the East China Sea. He is short of available men. Right now, all his men are guarding the four borders, and the North Camp cannot enter without being summoned. Li Min is a man who seeks fame and reputation. He doesn't like to have many people around him. Wherever he goes, he is only followed by one or two old men. I heard that he is good at riding and shooting, but he has only performed a few fancy moves on the city wall. I don't think he can crush many nails. It is not difficult to get rid of him - I just don't know if you want to 'secretly clear' or 'clear'?"

Someone nearby asked, "May I ask, Mr. Fang, what is darkness and what is light?"

The Grand Secretary, who had only served for half of the court, remained calm and said, "If you want to do it secretly, you only need to hire 20 to 30 assassins to ambush Li Min on his way home from court at night, intercept and kill him, and cover up the evidence. When everything is calm and the case is over, the emperor can do nothing about it. If you want to do it openly... then you must let the emperor know who the loyal ministers and generals are, who has saved his country, how the traitors were captured - and who will be the crown prince."

"This... Lord Fang, it may not be easy to come openly." The one who spoke was the son of Pingning Marquis, one of the three marquises in the capital. The old marquis had passed away long ago. This man was pot-bellied and had difficulty walking. He rarely went out a few times a year. He didn't look like the descendant of a famous general at all, but his mind was surprisingly clear. At this time, he said calmly, "Let's not talk about how to avoid the imperial guards and the imperial guards when we take action. If we succeed, with the emperor's temper of preferring to die in glory rather than live in disgrace, won't he pursue it to the end? The troublemakers in the North Camp are indeed dead. Now they are honestly not allowed to enter unless summoned. So what if the emperor really summons them in anger? Let's say they are far away, then what about the imperial guards in the palace and the imperial guards outside the palace? The rebellion of Liu Chongshan and Lu Chang has not yet subsided, I'm afraid it won't be that easy."

"The palace does not have guards in every situation, and the Imperial Guards cannot enter every place. The emperor's birthday is in half a month, and there is good news from the East China Sea and the two rivers this year. The flatterers in the Ministry of Rites will definitely take this opportunity to propose a grand event, and there will be many loopholes to exploit," said Grand Secretary Fang lightly, "As for the emperor's outburst afterwards..."

He paused here, smiled, and raised his narrow eyelids: "Then we have to make him 'not get angry'... What, you gentlemen really think that without Li Min, the emperor will let us go easily? You all heard what the prince said in the morning court today. The prince is just a little boy, what does he know about state affairs? Who taught him those words? He is only eleven years old, but he is full of 'laws are not merciful' and 'get rid of friends and destroy parties'. He is just pointing fingers at us and saying that we are all villains. You are not decisive. Do you want to wait until the prince ascends the throne in the future and bestows a zhang of white silk?"

This statement was not cryptic, but rather shocking. As an old minister who had helped Emperor Yuanhe to the throne, Fang Daxueshi was bold and would do something big if he did not move. He said bluntly, "If the emperor does not want to do it, then the emperor will do it," and "If the prince does not listen, then his elder brother who has lost his mother will be the puppet."

Ping Ning Hou was dumbfounded for a long time, and stammered as he asked another fatal question: "Then...would Gu Yun let it go?"

"The foreign affairs delegation is still on the way, and everything has been arranged," said Grand Secretary Fang with a low laugh. "The front line, the bandits from foreign countries who are eyeing us covetously, the diplomatic envoys - how come, with such favorable conditions at such a favorable time and place, don't you remember what happened twenty years ago?"

A storm is brewing at the center, but the King Yan, who is at the eye of the storm, seems to be unaware of it. He still goes to work on time every day and spares no effort to implement his new policies.

I just happily received a letter from Gu Yun.

Gu Yun sent this letter directly to his home. It was a thoroughgoing family letter. When Huo Dan handed it to him, Chang Geng's eyes suddenly lit up, causing Commander Huo to blush.

"Has he grown three heads and six arms?" Chang Geng held the envelope up to the light, carefully observing the contents through the envelope, and half-seriously complained to Huo Dan, "He has the leisure to deal with foreigners, and I can't say anything good about him."

The Marquis's Mansion had never had a "hostess" in the traditional sense. Huo Bo, the personal guard, had a vague idea of ​​what was going on, but he still had difficulty adapting to it, especially not being able to discuss his own Marshal's family letter with this "other master" with a special identity. Listening to King Yan's words, he felt that his role had changed from the leader of the family generals to a chatterbox, so he had to stand aside in shame, acting as a red-faced and thick-necked doorpost.

Since the war began, this was the first time that Gu Yun had sent Chang Geng such a thick letter from home. Chang Geng was a little reluctant to open it. He took the envelope in his hand and rubbed it repeatedly, then sniffed it gently, as if he could smell a little bit of the scent of the person in the distance, with a look of fascination on his face.

The blood on Huo Dan's face was about to seep out of his pores. He stammered, "My Lord, what are you doing?"

Chang Geng glanced at him, as if he found Huo Dan's blushing face particularly amusing, so he deliberately teased him, "I dreamed of my adoptive father yesterday, and I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't fall asleep. I finally understood what 'tossing and turning' means. As a result, I received his letter today. Isn't that a coincidence?"

Huo Dan: “…”

The words "my foster father" gave him a chill. Huo Dan thought with great sorrow, "What is the young marquis doing? Why is he getting more and more outrageous as he gets older? Is he trying to piss off the old marshal and the princess in the afterlife?"

Chang Geng smiled secretly and was about to use a knife to cut open the envelope when suddenly, a Linyuan wooden bird rushed in. When Liu Zhong came to surrender that day, Chang Geng did not trust him very much and sent two people from Linyuan Pavilion, one visible and one hidden, to accompany him to Liangjiang. The visible one pretended to be a servant of the Liu family and contacted Liu Zhong and the capital, while the hidden one was a master who followed the envoys to investigate all kinds of unusual movements and send messages to the capital at any time.

Chang Geng quickly put Gu Yun's private letter into his arms and opened the wooden bird first.

After a moment, he sneered - some people think things through quite carefully.