Chapter 535: Gu Mansion Birthday Banquet! (Thanks to book friend 14551 for the plan!)

Yijing, Gu Mansion

Because it happened to be the 50th birthday of Gu Zhongshi’s wife Liu, in order to celebrate for the mistress, the Gu family also invited many guests to attend the party...

The Gu family, who have lived in Yuyang for generations, are a traditional aristocratic family in the Youyan area. They have intermarried with other aristocratic families for generations, and are very influential in Youyan. Otherwise, they would not have been able to attract so many local forces to join the Fengwu Army.

And precisely because they took the lead by joining the Fengwu Army, the Gu family's influence in the Fengwu Army reached a new height. Not only did Gu Zhongshi himself become the deputy governor of Youyan Provincial Administration, his son Gu Shouting became a general of the Fengwu Army, and even his student Zhang Chengzhong became the deputy governor of the Censorate!

Although these appointments have not been approved by the emperor and are illegal according to the laws and procedures of the Great Zhou, given the strong position that the Fengwu Army currently maintains in Youyan, these three people from the Gu family still possess actual power. They have people holding high positions in Youyan's Provincial Administration, Censorate, and Commandery, influencing the future direction of Youyan!

It was precisely because of this momentum that, although Gu Zhongshi was only the deputy governor of the provincial government, many people in the government already regarded him as the leading figure of the local forces of Youyan in the Fengwu Army regime!
Therefore, on this fiftieth birthday of Gu Zhongshi's wife, many people, for the sake of the Gu family's reputation, came to congratulate and present expensive birthday gifts. For a time, there was an endless stream of guests coming and going, and flowers were in full bloom and the fire was boiling. It was a very lively scene.

"Shanggu Liu family sent a pair of Ru kiln colored glaze bottles to wish the old lady good fortune and a long life!"

"Zhang Kangyi, the Censor General, sent me a three-inch golden Buddha statue to wish the old lady good health and a rich and prosperous house!"

"Governor Nie Jinyuan sent a pair of jade bracelets to the old lady, wishing her all the best and all her wishes come true!"

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As the master of ceremonies sang, the protagonists Gu Zhongshi and his wife Liu appeared in everyone's sight. Seeing the protagonist coming, the guests who came to celebrate the birthday immediately set their eyes on them. Some of those with status were still very reserved, while other minor officials directly surrounded them, hoping to become familiar to the deputy governor and get on the Gu family's boat.

Amid the crowd's flattery and praise, Gu Zhongshi, with a flushed face, nodded frequently to greet those around him, seemingly enjoying the feeling of being surrounded by people.

Just then the master of ceremonies sang the ritual again;
"Governor Cui Shao sent his nephew Cui Ke to deliver a scroll of the Eight Immortals painting!"

Hearing the name "Cui Shao", Gu Zhongshi's eyes flashed with a barely perceptible strange color, and then he said indifferently to Cui who was standing beside him:

"I didn't expect that my wife's birthday party would disturb the governor. What a sin!"

Cui Ke, who came here on orders, said respectfully:

"Lord Gu, you are joking. Your wife's birthday banquet is a happy event. My uncle originally wanted to come and congratulate in person, but unfortunately he caught a cold last night and had to order me to come in person..."

Although he knew that his failure to become the governor had nothing to do with Cui Shao, but was due to Ye Mingsheng's will, Gu Zhongshi still instinctively resisted Cui Shao. Even so, after all, he had been in the officialdom for decades, so he still had to save some face, so Gu Zhongshi continued:

"I appreciate Lord Cui's kindness. Please tell Lord Cui to take care of himself. The Governor's Office cannot be left without him!"

"Thank you for your concern, Master Gu. Cui Ke will definitely pass on the message to you!" Cui Ke said with a bow:
After delivering Cui Shao's gift, perhaps knowing that he, as a member of the Cui family, was not welcome by Gu Zhongshi, Cui Ke drank two glasses of wine and then left on the pretext of being drunk.

The incident of Cui Ke’s arrival did not affect the progress of the entire banquet. Just when the banquet was about to come to an end, a person who should not have come was late...

The servant outside the venue shouted:
"Gu Sansi has come to participate in politics!"

As the servant finished speaking, Gu Sansi's thin and simple figure walked into the flower-filled conference hall. At the same time, the originally warm atmosphere in the conference hall suddenly cooled down. Many people looked coldly at Gu Sansi who walked in, while Gu Zhongshi, who was enjoying the flattery, changed his expression slightly.

He had expected Cui Shao to send someone to celebrate his birthday. After all, they both worked in the same government office and had seen each other every day. They had both been in the officialdom for half their lives and were both respectable people. Although they didn't like each other in their hearts, they still had to do a good job on the surface.

But this Gu Sansi is different. Although Gu Sansi nominally holds a council position in the provincial government, everyone knows that he is actually a "close minister of the emperor" in the Fengwu Army. Although his position is not high, his actual power in the Fengwu Army system is greater than that of the deputy governor, not even Cui Shao, the real governor, Ye Mingsheng's uncle!
Haven’t you seen that Ye Mingsheng gave the task of implementing the new policy, which he cared about most, to Gu Sansi?
And Gu Sansi did not disappoint Ye Mingsheng's trust in him. He worked in full swing in the Youyan territory controlled by the Fengwu Army, and started public-private partnerships in key basic industries to stabilize prices and people's livelihood. This undoubtedly infringed on the interests of many local snakes and cut off their financial resources. As Gu Shouting was a leading figure of the local forces in the Fengwu Army regime, most of the guests at his wife's birthday banquet were localists, and they naturally hated Gu Sansi who implemented new policies that harmed their interests...

The Gu family also suffered some losses due to the new policy. The salt and grain that they had originally stockpiled and prepared to sell at high prices were forced to be sold at a fair price, resulting in a loss of tens of thousands of taels of silver. This also made Gu Zhongshi very disgusted with Gu Sansi, but for the sake of the face of the true god behind Gu Sansi, Gu Shouting still forced a smile on his face and greeted him and said:
"Master Gu, you are such a rare guest. There was a magpie calling at the door this morning, and I knew a distinguished guest was coming. I really waited for you, Master Gu!"

Feeling Gu Zhongshi's fake smile and the cold and angry looks from the people around him, Gu Sansi, who had been prepared for this, didn't take it too seriously and just said:
"Master Gu, you are too polite. Even though I am busy with your birthday party, I still have to come over to ask for a glass of water and wine!"

After saying this, Gu Sansi bowed to Liu who was beside Gu Zhongshi and congratulated him:
"Gu respectfully wishes Madam that you will offer the pine trees in the South Mountain, and the sun and moon will shine forever!"

After saying this, Gu Sansi took out a scroll from his sleeve and handed it over with both hands, saying:

"Today, Lord Gu's house is full of distinguished guests. Sansi doesn't have any good gifts, so I chose this painting of pine and crane. I hope Lord Gu and his wife won't dislike it!" Liu was a kind woman. After listening to Gu Sansi's congratulations, she smiled and nodded and said kindly;

“As the ancients said, a gift of goose feathers from a thousand miles away is more valuable than a token of sentiment. It is enough for you, Mr. Gu, to have this thought…”

After some greetings, Gu Sansi was invited by Gu Zhongshi to sit at the table in the middle. Sitting with him was a way of showing his importance to Gu Sansi. Sitting on the chair, Gu Sansi drank the Youyan famous wine Beihe Village sip by sip, but he was silently calculating in his heart.

Almost all the people present at the birthday banquet at the Gu Mansion today are well-known figures in the local forces of Youyan. The Marshal was right. At such a critical moment, Gu Zhongshi suddenly summoned so many local forces to celebrate his wife's birthday. It was really a meaningful and thought-provoking move.

After three rounds of wine and five dishes, Gu Sansi said goodbye and left without staying any longer amidst all the cold stares. Gu Zhongshi, who had expected this, symbolically tried to persuade Gu Sansi to leave. With the departure of Gu Sansi, the thorn in his side, the atmosphere of the banquet reached a climax again. At this time, Gu Zhongshi left the banquet with the help of servants under the pretext of changing clothes.

After leaving the banquet and returning to the backyard of the mansion, he saw that his confidants were all around him. Gu Zhongshi, who was trembling and needed help to walk just a second ago, immediately returned to normal and walked directly into a very hidden side room.

In the side room, several people including Zhang Chengzhong were silently waiting for Gu Zhongshi. They were all representatives of local forces. Each of them had a deep foundation in Youyan and had a great influence. Seeing that Gu Zhongshi had finally arrived, Zhang Chengzhong wasted no time and took the lead in reporting:

“Teacher, Yuyang is already prepared! We can start the action as soon as they arrive…”

Listening to Zhang Chengzhong's answer, Gu Zhongshi nodded slightly, then looked at the others and said:

"How are you preparing?"

In response to Gu Zhongshi's question, Zhu Gaosheng, a middle-aged man of moderate build and dressed in cyan clothes, said calmly:

"We in the Zhu family have no problem and can start taking action at any time!"

With Zhang Chengzhong and Zhu Gaosheng leading the way, the others also said:
"Master Gu, don't worry. We are ready and just waiting for your order!"

"Yes! This crappy new policy of the Fengwu Army has caused our family to lose tens of thousands of taels of silver from the rice and salt we stockpiled. Now these Fengwu Army guys are so proud of themselves. We should teach them a lesson and let them know how powerful we are!"

"But I heard that in Liaoyang, in addition to the public-private partnership, the Fengwu Army has an even more ruthless method of buying land. They can take the land away with just a few pieces of paper. If we don't let Ye Mingsheng know how powerful we are, will we still have a way to survive in Youyan in the future?"

Feeling the high morale of the crowd, Gu Zhongshi showed a look of satisfaction on his face. Although joining the Fengwu Army brought many benefits to the Gu family politically, because he did not get the position of governor as he wished, and the Fengwu Army's implementation of the new policy brought economic losses to the Gu family, as well as the Fengwu Army's suppression of their aristocratic families from a long-term perspective, Gu Zhongshi could not help but reflect in his heart, whether his move to join the Fengwu Army was right or wrong...

Although he felt some regret in his heart, Gu Zhongshi knew that he had already done it and there was no regret medicine. For now he could only take one step at a time. However, with Ma Hongde's arrest, he was a little confused about Ye Mingsheng's thoughts.

At first he despised the new policy, thinking that the so-called new policy of Ye Mingsheng, the reckless military man, was actually a means to seize the property of their aristocratic families. It was just a euphemism with a nice name. Compared with Zhao Fuqu's cunning and plundering, it was still the same thing.

However, as he learned more about the new policy and Ye Mingsheng himself, Gu Zhongshi realized that he was wrong. Ye Mingsheng's ambitions were even bigger than he had imagined. Ye Mingsheng not only wanted to dominate the world, but also wanted to establish a peaceful and prosperous era and change the social difficulties that had formed over the past hundreds of years.

After understanding this, Gu Zhong really admired Ye Mingsheng's idea, but he also felt a little uneasy. Like other people, their Gu family also had a lot of business dealings with Ma Hongde, a considerable part of which could not be seen in the public eye.

As Ye Mingsheng vigorously promoted anti-corruption in the government, many officials who still did not know how to restrain themselves had been brought down, and were reduced from high-ranking officials to prisoners.

Although the current anti-corruption campaign has not been overly expanded, this has begun to make Gu Zhongshi worried. If Ye Mingsheng, who is pushing for anti-corruption, gets evidence and account books from Ma Hongde and knows about the dealings between them and the Ma family, will he keep it secret at first, and then wait until the Fengwu Army’s regime in Youyan has been completely consolidated and the Gu family is no longer needed like now, and then suddenly use this handle to deal with the Gu family and eliminate dissidents...

It was with such concerns that Gu Zhongshi decided to cooperate with Ma Hongde's plan. Knowing that the Coordination Office was omnipresent, he was afraid that they had already targeted him. So Gu Zhongshi carefully arranged this birthday banquet to cover it up and called the backbones of the plan to quietly coordinate the deployment of forces.

After explaining the details of the plan, Gu Zhongshi emphasized to everyone again with a very serious expression:

"Everyone, I still want to say it one last time. What we need to do is to show our strength and oppose the new policies of the Fengwu Army, rather than oppose the rule of the Fengwu Army in Youyan. We must grasp the degree of this well. Needless to say, everyone knows that Ye Mingsheng is a ruthless character who kills without blinking an eye. If we cross the line, we will be in big trouble!"

In response to Gu Zhongshi's warning, everyone nodded seriously, indicating that they understood the need to make all the preparations. Gu Zhongshi felt that everything was ready, so he prepared to disband the secret meeting and let everyone return to the banquet hall in batches. Just when Gu Zhongshi changed his clothes and prepared to return to the banquet hall, he did not expect that the servant handed a secret letter to him...

(End of this chapter)