Chapter 1273: Righteous? In cahoots with the crowd?
September 5th, Yijing Ancient Palace

Gu Sansi raised his wine glass and said to Chu Zhiyi, who was standing opposite him, with a smile:
"Zhiyi, this glass of wine is for your welcome!"

Facing Gu Sansi's toast, Chu Zhiyi did not dare to be arrogant, and immediately stood up and said:
"Thank you, sir!"

After saying that, Chu Zhiyi also drank the wine in the cup. As soon as the wine entered his stomach, Chu Zhiyi's eyes suddenly lit up and he praised:

"Sir, this is really good wine!"

Gu Sansi smiled and said:

"This bottle of wine is a batch of 30-year-old thyme wine found in the Yongchuan Marquis' wine cellar when we conquered Luoan. There are only 30 jars in total. The Marshal also rewarded me with two jars after returning from Luoan. I drank one jar when I was promoted to the Minister of Personnel!"

"Now that you're back, Zhiyi, I'm using this jar of wine to welcome you back and also to celebrate your promotion to Left Censor-in-Chief!"

Hearing what Gu Sansi said, Chu Zhiyi was also moved. He immediately put down his wine glass and bowed to Gu Sansi, saying:

"Thank you for your kindness! Without your cultivation, I, Chu Zhiyi, would never be where I am today!"

Chu Zhiyi said this sincerely. Due to his upright personality, he did not know how to adapt to some things. Besides that, he scoffed at some of the Q rules in the G field. This caused Chu Zhiyi to offend many people, and there were often people who would trip him up and make things difficult for him during his normal work!

And it was with Gu Sansi's blessing that Chu Zhiyi was able to get to where he is today step by step. Chu Zhiyi was therefore grateful to Gu Sansi. However, even with Gu Sansi's protection, Chu Zhiyi's original position as the Minister of Personnel was still squeezed out by Zhang Xiong...
Chu Zhiyi was also very disappointed that he failed to become the Minister of Personnel as agreed, but fortunately, Gu Sansi later argued for him in the court and won him the position of Yunbing Censor!
Although in terms of power and status, the Yunbing Censor is certainly not as important as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, but in the end, the Yunbing Censor is also a high-ranking official of the second rank in the Great Zhou Dynasty. The Yunbing Censor can also be regarded as a frontier official. If he can do a good job in this position, he can be transferred back to the court in the future and become a prime minister!
Chu Zhiyi also did a very good job in his position as the governor of Yunbing. Not to mention that he made sure that Yunbing would not pick up anything lost on the streets, but he also cooperated very well with Yunbing's governor Ye Hao. In less than a year, he restored order in Yunbing, and this also earned Chu Zhiyi the current position of Left Censor-in-Chief!
Seeing Chu Zhiyi's grateful look, Gu Sansi was very satisfied, but on the surface he still pretended to be indifferent, waved his hand to signal Chu Zhiyi to sit down, and then began to speak:
"It's mainly because of your hard work, Zhiyi. I was just following the flow. I've told you long ago that the Marshal will see your efforts, Zhiyi. Look, this time the Marshal will transfer you to Yijing and give you an important task, right?"

Chu Zhiyi also said humbly upon hearing this:

"When I first received the order from the Marshal to serve as the Left Censor-in-Chief, I was terrified and afraid that I wouldn't be able to do the job well!"

“But on the way to Yijing, I also figured it out. Since the Marshal trusts me and gives me this opportunity, I will do my best to assist the Marshal in carrying out reforms…”

When Gu Sansi heard Chu Zhiyi say the last word "reform", his eyelids couldn't help but twitch slightly. Chu Zhiyi was promoted by him, and he knew Chu Zhiyi's character very well. He knew that Chu Zhiyi was a firm supporter of Ye Mingsheng's reform, so he had already anticipated Chu Zhiyi's thoughts.

However, when Chu Zhiyi really said these words, Gu Sansi couldn't help but feel some complicated emotions in his heart!

At this time, Chu Zhiyi did not notice Gu Sansi's thoughts and continued to preach:
"Master Gu, I have just ordered some files from the Censorate to be brought back to my house. I plan to start reading them tonight. There are too many people in the court who are breaking the law and doing nothing. These people must be removed from the court!"

"It is precisely because there are so many incompetent and shameless people like this that the Luoan court has fallen into the situation it is in today. Our Fengwu Army has just seized the world not long ago, and there are still many things to do. Now they are following in our footsteps and relaxing their own requirements. As the Left Censor-in-Chief, I must stop this evil trend for the court and the Marshal!"

Listening to Chu Zhiyi's solemn words, Gu Sansi felt a chill in his heart. If someone else said this, he might think that the other person was just joking, and it was very likely that the other person appeared to be righteous on the surface, but was actually in cahoots with the corrupt behind the scenes!
But Gu Sansi knew Chu Zhiyi very well and he would not play the game of saying one thing to your face and another behind your back. Since Chu Zhiyi said so, he would definitely do so, and would definitely stir up a bloody storm in the Yijing court...

Thinking of this, Gu Sansi couldn't help but recall Cui Shao's admonition to him. He knew that whether it was good for himself or Chu Zhiyi, he needed to "take care" of Chu Zhiyi!
Gu Sansi pondered for a while, organized his words and said to Chu Zhiyi:
"Zhiyi, the Marshal once said that we should pay attention to the methods and ways of doing work, pay attention to the impact and not be too simple and crude, and pay more attention to uniting colleagues, come from the people and go to the people!"

Chu Zhiyi nodded slightly upon hearing this and said:

"Don't worry, sir. I won't do anything wrong. I will definitely report them to the commander-in-chief after I have solid evidence. I know them very well. Although they seem to be more restrained on the surface, we can still find some clues through information thinking!"

"When the time comes, with all the evidence, I don't think these people will be able to say anything. They can only honestly plead guilty and accept punishment!"

Gu Sansi felt a bit of a headache after hearing this. He didn't understand whether Chu Zhiyi really didn't understand what he said, or was just pretending to be stupid!

Thinking of this, Gu Sansi continued:
"Chu Zhiyi, the Marshal said that stability is the most important thing. It has not been long since our Fengwu Army seized the world. After the Marshal returns from his southern tour, he will soon ascend the throne and become emperor. So stability is the most important thing at this time!"

Although Chu Zhiyi has a straightforward personality, he is definitely not a stupid person to have reached his current position. Therefore, even though Gu Sansi did not say it explicitly, Chu Zhiyi realized something from Gu Sansi’s words and frowned immediately...
Seeing Chu Zhiyi's frown, Gu Sansi said directly:
"Zhiyi, just tell me what you think. You don't have to hide anything in front of me!"

Hearing what Gu Sansi said, Chu Zhiyi no longer concealed anything and just looked at Gu Sansi and said:
"Sir, do you want me to let those evildoers go?"

Seeing Chu Zhiyi speak so bluntly and without any ambiguity, although Gu Sansi knew that this was Chu Zhiyi's character, he still felt a little speechless. After hesitating for two seconds, he sighed and said:

"Zhiyi, do you know what words are hung in the side room of the Ye Mansion where the Marshal rests?"

Chu Zhiyi was a little surprised when he heard this. He didn't know what Gu Sansi meant by this. He immediately shook his head and said:
"Your Excellency, I don't know. I have never been to that side room. I only reported to the Marshal once in the study!"

Gu Sansi stood up upon hearing this and walked to the desk behind the screen. Seeing this, Chu Zhiyi followed Gu Sansi to the desk. Under Chu Zhiyi's gaze, Gu Sansi also wrote four big characters with a flourish. After finishing, Gu Sansi said in a deep voice:
"Zhi Yi, these four words are the words hanging in that side room!"

Looking at the "It's Rare to Be Confused" Chu Zhiyi in front of him with such vigor and power that it could be seen through the paper, he fell into silence.

Seeing this, Gu Sansi continued:
“The Marshal’s idea is good and correct. We need reform to solve the financial problem and make the country rich and the people strong, but the Marshal is a little hasty now. We must take one step at a time and eat one bite at a time. The most important thing now is for the Marshal to become emperor and establish a new dynasty. Only after this step is completed, the remaining steps will become more legitimate...”

"Zhiyi, I'm not asking you to let those people go. I, Gu Sansi, am irreconcilable with that group of people, but the problem is that the Marshal is about to ascend the throne and become emperor, so the current political situation should be based on stability and not on building prisons. Zhiyi, think about this, isn't it?"

"If you insist on doing this, then everyone will panic and be in danger. Wouldn't that ruin the Marshal's plan?"

Hearing what Gu Sansi said, Chu Zhiyi couldn't help but frown and began to think about what Gu Sansi said in the letter.

Feeling that Chu Zhiyi's attitude had wavered, Gu Sansi continued to take advantage of the situation and said:

"Knowing Yi, the ancients said, be close to virtuous ministers and stay away from villains. This is why the early Han Dynasty prospered. Be close to villains and stay away from virtuous ministers. This is why the later Han Dynasty declined!"

"But what is a good minister? What is a villain?"

"There are no truly virtuous ministers or truly villains in the court. Whether they are virtuous or not, villains or not is sometimes beyond their control. You must remember that there is only one person in the court of Yijing who can call the wind and rain, and that person is the Marshal!"

"So we must understand the overall situation and do our part to contribute to the Marshal's ambitions!"

Facing Gu Sansi's meaningful words, Chu Zhiyi was a little confused about what Gu Sansi meant. After thinking for a while, he said:

"Sir, I understand what you mean. You are right. The most important thing for the court right now is for the Marshal to ascend the throne and become emperor. I will not act rashly!"

Gu Sansi couldn't help but sigh when he heard this. He knew that Chu Zhiyi still hadn't given up his idea, but Chu Zhiyi had already made a compromise by doing this. Now the only thing he could do was to slowly and subtly change Chu Zhiyi's ideas!
Otherwise, with Chu Zhiyi’s current personality, he is bound to suffer a big setback in the current Yijing court, and might even implicate himself...

･･････････
･･････････
Just as Gu Sansi was welcoming Chu Zhiyi, Nanny Cao in the Ye Mansion was meeting An Miaoyi.

"You mean my uncle told me not to touch Murong Yuliang?"

"Madam, this is what Lord Cui meant!"

After getting the confirmed answer from Nanny Cao, An Miaoyi couldn't help but frown. Ever since she learned that Ye Mingsheng appointed Murong Yuliang as the governor of Jianghuai, An Miaoyi had the idea of ​​doing something behind Murong Yuliang's back to make him continue to fall.

For this purpose, An Miaoyi has asked her capable subordinate Wang Rui to go to Jiangnan to understand the situation and see what means can be used to overthrow Murong Yuliang. However, Wang Rui is currently settling his family affairs so he has not yet set out for Jiangnan.

An Miaoyi knew that since Huo San, Ye Baode and others were dealt with one by one by Ye Mingsheng, her influence on the court situation had become negligible, so it would be difficult for her to overthrow Murong Yuliang by herself!

So An Miaoyi informed Cui Shao of her intention to overthrow Murong Yuliang, and wanted to bring Cui Shao along to overthrow Murong Yuliang together!
As the saying goes, there is no room for two tigers in one mountain. Cui Shao and Murong Yuliang did not get along well when they were in Liaoyang, and they have been fighting openly and secretly over the years. Therefore, An Miaoyi originally thought that Cui Shao would definitely support her idea. However, she never expected that Cui Shao would actually ask her not to touch Murong Yuliang. This was really beyond An Miaoyi’s expectations·····················
An Miaoyi hesitated for a moment, then thought of Madam Cao and asked:
"Uncle, did you tell me why you don't want me to touch Murong Yuliang?"

"Madam, Lord Cui said that the Marshal has made up his mind to develop the economy of Jiangnan and Huainan, and make Jianghuai a strong force to drive the development of the Great Zhou Dynasty. So now the Marshal is Murong Yuliang's strongest backing. Anyone who plays tricks on Murong Yuliang behind his back at this time is against the Marshal!"

"Then the Marshal will show no mercy and may even resort to drastic measures to serve as a warning to others!"

Hearing the words "thunderous means", An Miaoyi's beautiful eyes narrowed involuntarily. She knew the weight behind these four words!

"Uncle, is there anything else to say?"

"Lord Cui wants you to calm down and not worry too much. Although Murong Yuliang has been promoted to the governor of Jianghuai, this is just the beginning!"

"The Marshal has appointed him as the governor of Jianghuai this time, which has put him under considerable pressure from public opinion, so the Marshal will definitely demand results from Murong Yuliang!"

"There are still many problems in developing Jianghuai's economy. Murong Yuliang needs to overcome many difficulties. Even if we don't take action, Murong Yuliang may not be able to overcome these difficulties. If he fails to produce results, the Marshal will naturally hold him accountable without our help!"

“On the contrary, if we take action at this time, it will give Murong Yuliang an excuse and bring trouble upon ourselves…”

(End of this chapter)