Dynasty Call: Low-key Struggle for Hegemony

Five days have passed since Li Yuan took the throne. During these five days, under Li Yuan's apparent calm, the entire Kyoto has reached an unprecedented level of tranquility.

Everyone seems to be waiting for an ending, waiting for the return of the last competitor of the Yu Dynasty.

"Why is Prime Minister Lin looking for me?"

In the Li Mansion, Li Zonghai, the Minister of Civil Service, watched Lin Shufan come secretly, with a solemn expression, indifferent eyes, and unconcealed rejection.

If Lin Shufan continues to persuade him to join Prince Xuan, then please come back.

Lin Shufan had already expected Li Zonghai's performance. A trace of bitterness flashed in his eyes, but his expression quickly returned to his natural state, and he said with a smile:

"Lord Li, as the saying goes, once the emperor is the same as the courtier, we old guys will not be here for a long time."

"Haha, can you continue to sit down after choosing Prince Xuan?" Li Zonghai sneered and waved his robe, his expression becoming more and more impatient.

Lin Shufan saw Li Zonghai's expression and knew that he was impatient now. If he didn't tell the important point, he would be invited out by Li Zonghai, so he sighed with a trace of his face and said in a deep voice: "My beloved daughter has become Queen Yaohuang. No matter whether it is King Xuan or King Chu, no matter who takes the throne, my position will be overthrown sooner or later."

Sure enough, after hearing Lin Shufan's words, Li Zonghai's heart condensed. He looked Lin Shufan up and down. After being silent for a while, he asked:

"Then why are you still going through this muddy water?"

Li Zonghai looked deeply at Lin Shufan. He originally thought that because of his greed for the position of prime minister, Lin Shufan chose to join Prince Xuan in an attempt to seize a chance of survival. But now it seems that Lin Shufan may have other plans.

"Lord Li, you should know that there are too many people involved behind our situation." Lin Shufan said with a bitter smile. Especially the position of prime minister involves too many forces and too many people.

Pull out the radish and bring out the mud!

Family relatives, disciples and old officials, the forces behind the cooperation, all these can affect the whole body at a moment's notice.

Li Zonghai was silent, a flash of light flashed in his eyes, he looked at Lin Shufan and said seriously:

"So what do you want to discuss with me?"

Lin Shufan saw Li Zonghai's heart loosened, and with a flash of light, he said, "Don't you want Mr. Li to continue to stay in the court and let the Li family prosper for a long time?"

Li Zonghai's expressionless face moved slightly.

Lin Shufan struck while the iron was hot: "Master Li, I will leave the court sooner or later, but the officials belonging to my faction still need to stay in the court."

Li Zonghai was shocked, his eyes became intense, and he stared straight at Lin Shufan. He seemed to understand everything Lin Shufan had done recently, and his heart suddenly became hot.

"It seems that Lu Xun and the others have been concealed by you. In fact, the person you chose in the first place was the Emperor of Chu!" Li Zonghai waved his sleeves and made an invitation to sit down.

"After Emperor Chu defeated both Prince Yu and Emperor Yao, no one in the entire Yu Dynasty could be his opponent, unless Prince Xuan conquered Chu Junxiong." Lin Shufan's tone was full of confidence in Li Yuan. .

"But how could Chu Junxiong surrender to Prince Xuan and continue to be a dog!"

After being in Kyoto for so long, he had already calculated the deeds of each king. He knew that the truly terrifying thing about King Chu was that the talents under his command were constantly emerging.

Especially every time the Emperor of Chu defeated an opponent and captured a government or a state, his subordinates' talents emerged quickly and in large numbers.

Just like when a certain goal is accomplished, God will reward Emperor Chu with talents.

Just like this time when he entered Beijing, Emperor Chu brought two new talents, Fan Zhongyan and Wei Zheng, as well as Wang Meng and Wang Yue who appeared in Qingzhou, and a female general Qin Liangyu. Each of them performed very extraordinary and had mysterious origins. Lin Shufan became more and more certain of this phenomenon.

Emperor Chu would only get stronger as he fought, and his methods were extremely unfathomable. Lin Shufan even guessed that there were many strong men hiding under Emperor Chu's command who had not shown up yet.

"So you gathered together people like Lu Xun and Tang Zuxing who had dissatisfaction with the Emperor of Chu, and sent it to the Emperor as a petition, hoping that the Emperor of Chu would be open to you and the people below you?" Li Zonghai sneered, thinking in his heart Lin Shufan became more wary, and the fire in his heart gradually extinguished.

"Are you worthy of Master Lu Xun? He is the person who supports you from beginning to end?"

When Lin Shufan heard Li Zonghai's taunt, a sneer appeared on his face:

"Haha, Lu Xun? Do you think he is a good person? If it hadn't been for him, how could my daughter have become Emperor Yao's queen!"

Speaking of Lu Xun, Lin Shufan had a thousand words in his heart. He could have watched the flowers bloom and fall in front of the court. No matter which new emperor came to the throne, he could have resigned and returned to his hometown. There was a legend that the new emperor looked at him. With the face of knowledge, he will naturally promote the official positions of his disciples. Decades later, he is confident that his descendants of the Lin family will return to the court and restore the glory of the Lin family.

It's a pity, but I didn't expect to be suddenly set up by this guy Lu Xun. Now the Lin family is afraid that they will not be able to enter the core of the imperial court within a hundred years.

Thinking of this, Lin Shufan felt angry. Even if Lu Xunruo chose Li Yao wholeheartedly, he didn't expect that he was still a half-hearted old fox.

"And do you think Lu Xun has no contact with Emperor Chu?

Why Emperor Yao gave Emperor Chu the governorship of Huanzhou in the first place? Why Emperor Yao so appropriately opened up the embarrassing situation in Lingzhou for Emperor Chu was not because of Lu Xun.

Zhang Xing'an, Yao Huang's former childhood playmate, first appeared in the Ministry of Rites.

In the end, Emperor Yao didn't trust any of us, so he only trusted his childhood playmates, who appeared in Lianzhou and gave Emperor Chu the opportunity to catch them all.

It's all because of Zhang Xing'an! "

Lin Shufan's eyes flashed sharply, and after learning about the battle in Lianzhou, he noticed Zhang Xing'an in an instant.

Everything is within the calculation of Emperor Chu.

And why did Liu Jin surrender to King Chu so quickly?

And Shangguan Wan'er who is staying with the eldest princess?

Too many things were beyond their expectations, and some forces even couldn't figure it out at all. Why did Emperor Chu take down Emperor Yao, Prince Yu, and the eldest princess so easily? Do they think it was good luck?

As long as one of them was not in Lianzhou, the situation would not reach this point.

As Lin Shufan got to know Li Yuan better, his heart became colder. King Chu's layout was so deep that he didn't even know how many hidden chess pieces belonging to King Chu were in Kyoto.

So when the secret guard accidentally spread what happened in Jinglan City and the rumors leaked out of Jinglan City to Lin Shufan's ears, he made a prompt decision, without any hesitation or luck, and went directly to Emperor Chu to express his attitude.

Otherwise, the whole Kyoto is now spreading rumors that he, Prime Minister Lin, sent people to assassinate Emperor Chu. At that time, let alone him, all the nine tribes would be in danger!

"What did you want to do when you came to see me today?" Li Zonghai asked again.

Green smoke curled up, and their faces became increasingly hazy.

"Of course I want Mr. Li to continue to stay in the court."

In the curl of green smoke, Lin Shufan's wise face was looming, and he had already made a vague decision.

Li Zonghai said disdainfully again: "I can continue to stay in the court without you."

Lin Shufan saw Li Zonghai's expression, smiled slightly, and said disapprovingly: "I naturally know that Mr. Li's beloved daughter is already in her hair age, so she is indeed the best choice."

"Huh!" Li Zonghai snorted coldly and squinted proudly, the meaning of which was self-evident.

Lin Shufan laughed as expected:

"In order to appease the court and all the forces in Zhongzhou, the Emperor of Chu will definitely allow niece Li to enter the palace as his concubine. Master Li's official position will naturally be saved. What about the future?"

"Liu Yanxin of Lieyan Sect and Xu Fengwu of Black Jiao Gang. These women have helped King Chu in his growth. In addition to that girl A Qing and the proud daughters of the top powers in the Dayu Dynasty, when King Chu takes complete control Given the situation, how long can Mr. Li take his leisure?"

"When Emperor Chu spreads his wings and cultivates heirs, what advantage does niece Li have if she is lucky enough to give birth to a prince?"

"A dragon's rise can make the family prosperous for ten generations. Don't you think so, Mr. Li?"

Lin Shufan's words were like a heavy hammer, hitting Li Zonghai's heart accurately, making Li Zonghai's face become even colder.

Lin Shufan’s confusing words continued:

"The late Emperor started the chaos of Dayu, but it has only been five years since the chaos was put down. The power of all the states will be gathered together. In less than ten years, the Emperor of Chu will definitely start a dynasty war. By then, heroes will appear together, and generals will emerge one after another. You guys How long can I hold the position of Minister?"

"Huh, at least I'm better than you!"

Li Zonghai snorted coldly, his sharp eyes flashed with a gleam as cold as a blade, and even the cyan smoke in the secret room could not stop it at all.

Lin Shufan smiled slightly, with a leisurely expression, and said:

"Master Li knows my intentions. Fortunately, the Emperor of Chu is not a cold-hearted person. After I retire and return to my hometown, the officials of my faction in the imperial court will still exist. I am not boasting. My disciples and officials are still a force that cannot be ignored in the imperial court. I wonder if Mr. Li can grasp the power?"

Li Zonghai's expression finally changed, and he looked straight at Lin Shufan with surprise and uncertainty.

Lin Shufan said in a sincere tone: "In the next ten years, two forces will inevitably appear in the court, the new forces from various states that followed the rise of Emperor Chu, and the old forces in our court. If we are still a mess with these old forces, sooner or later we will be defeated by the new forces. To engulf and cover up, Emperor Chu will definitely not want to see this scene."

Lin Shufan recalled Li Si's meaningful look when he saw him off after he left the palace. He knew exactly what Li Si meant. For Emperor Chu, his struggle was over.

But for those below, the real struggle has just begun.

Hearing Lin Shufan's words, Li Zonghai trembled in his heart and finally believed Lin Shufan.

After a moment of silence, Li Zonghai finally raised his head, looked at Lin Shufan and said:

"What are you going to do?"

"Then it depends on what Mr. Li wants?"

There was a flash of desire in Li Zonghai's eyes. He stood on a high place and enjoyed the scenery from high places. Naturally, he didn't want to go down any further:

"What do you need me to do?"

The change in Li Zonghai's expression naturally fell into Lin Shufan's eyes. Lin Shufan's eyes flashed and he said with a smile:

"Master Li needs to meet someone who will be very helpful for your future."

"who?"

"Lee Si!"

……………………(End of this chapter)