The Child Emperor

When he left the capital a year ago, Guo Cong made up his mind that he would live in seclusion in the countryside from now on, and would not hear about the world, but when things got long, he would come to the door on his own.

When Han Ruzi was still looking at the capital outside the fortress, pondering what happened in the palace but couldn't get the point, Guo Cong, who was also far away from the capital, had already heard about the general situation of the princes competing for the throne. When I returned to the capital a month ago, I didn't enter the old house, but stayed at a friend's house. I stayed behind closed doors and only received a few visitors.

Rao is so, this old Confucian scholar still understands the situation in the capital far more than the general minister.

Guo Cong was not in good health, so Han Ruzi ordered someone to bring him a comfortable soft chair to sit on. Yang Feng had a chair for himself, next to the bookshelf, relatively far away from the tired Hou behind the desk, so he could leave without a trace. chat, and you can join at any time.

After the servants withdrew, there were only the three of them in the study. Guo Cong tacitly acknowledged Yang Feng's existence and began to persuade Marquis Juan to withdraw from the battle for the throne.

Han Ruzi didn't expect Guo Cong's visit, and he didn't expect him to make such a request frankly to himself. He thought that at the beginning, in order to let the old master say a little more about the scriptures, it was the emperor's Han Ruzi fee. How much energy.

He was not angry, and smiled: "For the sake of the Great Chu Jiangshan? What virtues and abilities do I have, and participating in the fight for the throne will actually affect the safety of the Great Chu Jiangshan?"

Guo Cong's heavy breathing made Han Ruzi think about the great cause of the old general's house, but there was a difference. The latter was thick and powerful, like a bellows being pulled with force, while the former was thick and soft, always like the last time in life.

"The minister chooses the emperor? No no, there has never been such a thing since ancient times, and the Great Chu must not set a precedent."

Han Ruzi has a history book in his hand, which records the deeds of the ancient times, and there are many absurdities, but as Yang Feng said, there are several paragraphs of records in it. If you think about it from another angle, it is very much like the minister is choosing the emperor, after writing history. After the author's whitewashing and revision, it became obscure.

Han Ruzi did not recommend this history book to Guo Cong, and said, "Mr. Guo, please believe me, I never want to set such a precedent, but the situation is like this..."

"The situation can be changed." Guo Cong, who has always been elegant and somewhat cowardly, appeared a little aggressive at this time. "If there is only one prince competing for the throne, then it is not the minister who chooses the emperor."

Han Ruzi glanced at Yang Feng and couldn't help laughing. He had a lot of doubts in his heart, and decided to mention the weirdest one first, "Although it is strange and unethical for the minister to choose the emperor, it is very good for the minister, Mr. Guo. Why object?"

"This is the problem. How easy it is for Hou Juan to say the words 'inappropriate', but this is not an ant's nest, this is a broken embankment. All previous dynasties have perished here, and Da Chu must not repeat the same mistakes. Just because The election of an emperor is good for the ministers, so I am against it, once the ministers taste the sweetness, it will be very difficult to give up, the future emperors will be elected by the ministers, will Hou Juan accept it?"

"Well... it's not impossible." Han Ruzi had never thought about such a far-off thing.

"What if the emperor elected by the ministers is not named Han?"

"Not so much."

"The power is in your hands, why not use it? Electing an emperor with a different surname is not the worst outcome. If a minister oversteps the imperial power, someone will naturally overstep his position. The following crimes will become the norm. In the end, everyone will choose themselves as the emperor, and the world will be in chaos. It is torn apart, the Great Chu is gone, and the Central Plains will also be reduced from a state of etiquette to a place of tyranny."

Guo Cong is really a Confucian, Han Ruzi is a little tired of this conversation, he seems to be back to the old days, listening to the lecture in Lingyun Pavilion, but he has a choice now, so he interrupts the old gentleman's etiquette After talking about it, he said: "Well, the emperor cannot be chosen by the ministers, but why do you have to let me quit? Master Guo thinks that I am not worthy of being the emperor?"

Guo Cong sighed, hesitated for a while, and said, "Marquis Juan would be a good emperor, but the timing is not right. I advised Marquis to quit, also to save your life. The current situation is obvious, the champion Marquis is the former prince. The orphan has won the support of the majority of ministers, with the least controversy and etiquette, the champion Hou Tianming returns, and the right to elect the emperor does not fall into the hands of the ministers."

"And the King of the East Sea." Han Ruzi was angry, but he didn't show it. He planned to listen to Guo Cong's words. After all, this represented the views of many civil servants.

"After seeing Marquis Juan, I went to see the King of the East Sea and persuaded him to quit as well."

"Master Guo thinks the East Sea King will agree?"

"You have to give it a try. If it doesn't work, I will persuade Taifu Cui. He has already supported the champion, so it should be easy to change his mind. Without the Southern Army as a backer, the East Sea King should quit."

"I'll consider it." Han Ruzi said perfunctorily.

Of course Guo Cong could hear it, and he sighed again, "Marquis Juan relies on nothing more than the Northern Army of Mancang City. Everyone says that the Northern Army is loyal to Marquis Juan, but I don't think so: the Northern Army has many distinguished children. How can the father and brother support the champion Hou, but the younger brother and nephew switch to others? The rumors must not be believed. Someone has already gone to check the facts. What about it? Going against the time and fate is really not advisable, so why not retreat bravely in the rapids and enjoy wealth and honor in peace.”

This is close to a direct threat, but it is a very powerful threat. With the cooperation of Chai Yue and others, Han Ruzi did exaggerate the support of the Northern Army for him, and planned to use this as a basis to seek the support of the ministers at home, and then show it to the Northern Army hundreds of miles away. This is a game that requires careful manipulation. One wrong move may cause the Northern Army and the minister to abandon Han Ruzi at the same time.

So far, it is the champion Hou who has made mistakes, and Han Ruzi has been benefiting. He looked at the old gentleman on the opposite side and speculated on the strength of this person and his followers, "Guo Shifei can't support the champion Hou?"

"I don't support anyone. It's just that the champion Hou proclaiming himself emperor will cause the least confusion." Guo Cong paused.

Han Ruzi laughed loudly. When he was the emperor, the only person who spoke for him was a eunuch, not a minister or a scholar. He stood up and said, "The boy is stubborn, and he is not taught by Master Guo, how do you know the importance of etiquette? However, Just give me some time to think about it."

Han Ruzi had nothing to consider, but unless necessary, he didn't want to refuse in person.

Guo Cong stood up laboriously, "Marquis Juan think about it, waiting for news from the Northern Army, Marquis Tien will not be too late to make a decision."

Guo Cong sighed again, as if he wanted to say something, shook his head, and left. Han Ruzi personally delivered it to the gate, returned to the study, and said to Yang Feng in a puzzled way: "Guo Cong has been an official for many years, and there are not many ministers in the Imperial Prison, and it has nothing to do with him competing for the throne. Water? Is it really for the so-called etiquette?"

When Guo Cong persuaded Han Ruzi, Yang Feng did not speak or see him off. At this moment, he smiled, as if he had just won a battle, "Marquis Tien should be happy, the water surface is turbulent, which means that there are fish under the water, Guo Cong To come forward means a big fish."

"You have to explain it to me." Han Ruzi was completely confused.

Yang Feng stood up, walked a few steps, stopped suddenly, and said, "Honours and nobles talk about ancestors, military generals talk about military merit, Jianghu people talk about friendship, businessmen talk about interests, and civil servants talk about benevolence and etiquette."

"Yeah." Han Ruzi still didn't understand.

"Where did Wenchen come from?"

"Wenchen... from a scholar."

"Yes, but there are thousands of scholars, how many people can become civil servants?"

"Not many, so there are scientific examinations and recommendations, and the available materials are selected from many scholars."

"Will Wenchen forget the scholar?"

"No? No, it is very clearly recorded in the history books that military generals were used when the country was founded, and civil servants were used when defending the country.

"Readers will in turn influence Wenchen."

"Can those scholars who fall off the list influence ministers in the DPRK and China?" Han Ruzi didn't quite believe it.

"Scholars are not only scholars who fail the list, but also those who refuse to take part in scientific examinations, and those who hide in the court and do not want to be high-ranking officials. Although scholars have no power or power, they are numerous and spread by word of mouth. They control civil servants. reputation."

Han Ruzi suddenly remembered that Yang Feng used to be a scholar, and the eunuch was reluctant to elaborate on his previous experience, but he obviously knew the scholar very well.

"Guo Cong is the scholar who holds the reputation?"

"Don't use the word master, that's a bit too much, but Guo Cong must be very influential, otherwise, he wouldn't return to Beijing to participate in this matter."

"Where's Luo Huanzhang? The influence seems to be greater." Han Ruzi thought of another lecturing teacher.

"Luo Huanzhang has a great influence, but he refused to take the scientific examination. After all, he is separated from the imperial court by one floor, and he is still incomparable with Guo Cong."

Han Ruzi thought about it for a while, "But I still don't understand why scholars are opposed to competing for the throne. This can improve the status of civil servants, and naturally it will also improve the status of scholars."

In any case, Han Ruzi doesn't believe it's just a matter of "etiquette".

"Perhaps, scholars like Guo Cong felt threatened and felt that they would eventually lose their influence on the civil servants."

"Threatened by whom?"

Yang Feng didn't answer, fell into deep thought, as if trapped by some problem.

"Are you looking for Qi?" Han Ruzi answered himself. He admired the abilities of those looking for Qi, but he still felt that Yang Feng had overestimated the strength of these people.

Yang Feng opened his mouth, but didn't mention the hopeful, "Guo Cong's old traitor is no less than the prime minister Yin Wuxian. Marquis Tien dealt with it very well just now. Never offend such a person in person."

"I'm afraid it's just a matter of time."

"No no, Guo Cong actually brought good news to Marquis Juan."

"good news?"

"Well, Guo Cong made it very clear that he doesn't support anyone. It's only because the champion Hou has an advantage that he hopes that Hou Juan and the King of the East Sea will withdraw." Yang Feng paused, "This shows that Guo Cong is not optimistic about the champion Hou at all. , This is also the position of scholars. He also said that there are many children of the North Army, and they will never disobey their fathers and brothers-this is to remind the Juan Hou that only with the support of Xungui, you can defeat the champion Hou. "

Han Ruzi stayed for a while, but he didn't hear Guo Cong's "kindness" at all.