Zhao Pu warmly invited, but Shi Wei naturally couldn't refuse, so he sat down happily.

He glanced at the stone table, and there was an old book next to the wine and food, and when he looked closely, it turned out to be a copy of the Analects.

Shi Wei couldn't help but think of the allusion of "half of the Analects to rule the world".

"Shi Fengyu, this trip to Fangzhou can be smooth sailing?" Zhao Pu said, taking the initiative to pour him a glass of wine.

Shi Wei bowed slightly to show his gratitude, but he didn't twist and restrain himself, and drank it all.

After drinking, he told Zhao Pu about the experience of going to Fangzhou briefly.

Zhao Pu nodded slightly: "It seems that the old man was right when he recommended you to go to Shang Pharmacy, Shi Fengyu, you are indeed a superhuman in medical skills." ”

"Zhao Xiang has won the award." Shi Wei smiled modestly, and his words changed suddenly, but he frowned and said: "It's just that I went to Fangzhou, but there is one thing that has made Xia Guan very confused. ”

"I don't know what bothers Shi Fengyu, you might as well talk about it." Zhao Pu replied casually.

Shi Wei then told Zhao Pu one by one that Gan Sui concealed King Zheng's illness and did not report it, as well as that his words and deeds were inconsistent with what the people in the palace said.

Shi Wei's purpose in doing this is also very simple, Gan Sui is Zhao Guangyi's person, and Zhao Guangyi is Zhao Pu's opponent, Shi Wei revealed this matter to Zhao Pu just to see how he reacted.

When he spoke, his eyes never left or right of Zhao Pu's face, but in addition to being indifferent or indifferent, he couldn't see the slightest trace of his heart.

The founding prime minister of the Great Song Empire was indeed a deep man in the city.

Shi Wei sighed in his heart, but asked again: "Zhao Xiang, you said that this matter is not strange, Xia Guan is really a little puzzled." ”

Zhao Pu took a sip of wine and said lightly: "This matter is not simple, there must be someone with a heart who deliberately wants to take the opportunity to make King Zheng fall ill and die." ”

Shi Wei's heart was shocked, but he didn't expect Zhao Pu to answer so simply.

"Then Zhao Xiang thinks, who will this person be?" Shi Wei asked in a low voice.

This time, Zhao Pu didn't respond so happily.

He ate a glass of wine, and after taking a few bites of food, he stroked his beard and smiled: "With Shi Fengyu's intelligence, he must have guessed who did it, so why bother asking." ”

Shi Wei was speechless for a while, secretly thinking that this Zhao Pu was really a "scheming" person, and this person should be the sharpest one he had ever seen since he passed through this era.

"But the old man is very curious, what does the Lord of Cheshire plan to do with this matter?" Zhao Pu suddenly asked rhetorically.

Shi Wei did not shy away from it, and replied: "King Zheng is the closest relative of the Lord of Cheshire, and when he saw him suffer this calamity, he naturally hated him in his heart, and did not hide it from Zhao Xiang. ”

At this time, Zhao Pu sighed lightly.

This sigh seemed to indicate that he did not approve of the Cheshire Lord's actions.

"What do you mean by that?" Shi Wei asked curiously.

"Although today's son loves the Cheshire Lord, but in the final analysis, the Cheshire Lord is just a relic of the previous dynasty, she is closer to Your Majesty than the person who has a heart, and it is obvious that she is closer to Your Majesty, besides, what Gan Sui said is true or false, there is no evidence, how can you let Your Majesty distinguish the truth from the false."

Zhao Pu's sprinkling words couldn't help but make Shi Wei very enlightened.

The person with a heart in the mouth of the former prime minister is obviously alluding to Zhao Guangyi.

As Zhao Pu said, Zhao Guangyi and today's son are brothers, close relatives connected by blood.

As for the Lord of Cheshire, he has no blood relationship with the Son of Heaven.

Moreover, it is not yet known whether the Son of Heaven's favor for the Lord of Cheshire is out of sincerity or for the people of the world to see.

Moreover, even if the Son of Heaven asks Zhao Guangyi for the crime, Zhao Guangyi can also say that his purpose is just to remove a hidden danger for the Zhao family, although the means are a bit disgraceful, but in the final analysis, it is for the good of the Zhao family.

From this point of view, the chances of the Son of Heaven targeting his own brother for the sake of the Lord of Cheshire are really very small.

And once this matter is poked out, it may make the Son of Heaven think that the Lord of Cheshire is deliberately provoking the relationship between their Zhao family brothers, and when the time comes, not only will it fail to achieve the purpose of being angry for King Zheng, but it will lose the favor of the Son of Heaven.

"Listening to Zhao Xiang's words, it is really better than reading a book for ten years, the lower officials admire it, and the lower officials respect Zhao Xiang with a cup."

At this time, Shi Wei was full of praise for Zhao Pu's deep planning and raised his glass.

Zhao Pu seemed to be accustomed to hearing the praise of others, but he didn't think so, although he drank the wine, he said: "The old man has already said that the old man is no longer the prime minister now, and Shi Fengyu's 'Zhao Xiang' old man can't afford it." ”

Shi Wei was also clever, and immediately smiled: "Although Zhao Xiang is an envoy of the Jiedu, he still has the title of Tongping Zhangshi, and it is not impossible for the subordinate to call Zhao Xiang." ”

Although Zhao Pu was dismissed, he was not demoted in name.

At present, the full name of Zhao Pu's official title should be Heyang Sancheng Jiedu, Proofreading Taiwei, and Tongping Zhangshi.

According to today's official system, if Pingzhangshi is in the middle of the court and directly presides over the provincial affairs of Zhongshumen, he is the prime minister with real power.

As for the important ministers in some places who are sent out, they sometimes give them the official title of "same" Pingzhangshi, which is called "envoy", and the official position is the same, but the difference in power is very different.

Although Zhao Pu no longer has the power to govern the government, because of the false title of Tongping Zhangshi, there is nothing wrong with Shi Wei continuing to call him Zhao Xiang.

People go to tea and cool, Zhao Pu once lost power, and the warmth and coldness of the officialdom have long been seen.

At this time, it was natural to meet such a popular imperial doctor as Shi Wei, who was still so respectful to himself, and felt a little relieved.

Relieved, Zhao Pu smiled and said, "It's rare that Shi Fengyu has a heart." ”

After a few glasses of wine, the two talked about speculation, and the atmosphere of drinking in this pavilion gradually became intimate.

After pouring Zhao Pu a glass of wine in person, Shi Wei asked tentatively: "Zhao Xiang takes care of the government in an orderly manner, but I don't know why Your Majesty wants to let Zhao Xiang go." ”

"I'm ashamed to say that." Zhao Pu shook his head and sighed.

At that moment, Zhao Pu truthfully explained the reason for his dismissal to Shi Wei.

It turned out that more than half a month ago, Lu Duoxun, who had been promoted to the rank of scholar in the Southern Tang Dynasty, visited Zhao Mansion because of his meritorious service to the Southern Tang Dynasty.

This Lu Duoxun accidentally found more than a dozen bottles of melon seed gold in Zhao's mansion, and when asked where it came from, Zhao Pu didn't think much about it, and bluntly said that it was sent by Qian Yu, the king of Wuyue.

Unexpectedly, Lu Duoxun used this as an excuse to collect bribes from Zhao Pu, the Son of Heaven, and jointly sued him for protecting his subordinates for corrupting the law, and illegally bought timber from Qin Long to build an official residence.

The world was furious when they saw this script, so they dismissed Zhao Pu on this ground.

Zhao Pu's sentence of "ashamed" is obviously a feeling of guilt for his various "illegal" behaviors.

However, Shi Wei was puzzled when he heard it.

Throughout the ages, it is only possible for officials not to be greedy, and the difference is only between big greed and small greed.

The prime minister of a country like Zhao Pu just received a few melon seeds and bought some wood, and this little benefit is negligible compared to his prime minister's power.

It stands to reason that even if someone uses this to denounce Zhao Pu, with Zhao Kuangyin's wisdom, just open one eye, close one eye and pretend not to know, why would he really make a big fuss and punish Zhao Pu on this ground.

Unless...... Unless Zhao Kuangyin had planned to resign Zhao Pu from the post of prime minister, he was just waiting for an opportunity!

Thinking of this, Shi Wei's heart couldn't help but be shocked.

He then remembered that when he first came to Bianjing from Jinling, Zhao Guangyi had personally greeted Lu Duoxun at the dock, and later he learned from Cao Cong that Lu Duoxun and Zhao Guangyi's concerns were very close.

In other words, Lu Duoxun's denunciation of Zhao Pu is very likely to be Zhao Guangyi's instructions.

With Zhao Kuangyin's knowledge, of course, he would not know that this was his imperial brother stabbing Zhao Pu in the back, but why did Zhao Kuangyin still "fall into the scheme" and stop Zhao Pu.

"It's strange, the saint is so wise, how could he take Zhao Xiang out of office because of this little thing, isn't the saint afraid that someone will take the opportunity to sit big?"

Shi Wei did not conceal the hint that the black hand behind the scenes had the same position as Zhao Pu in dealing with Zhao Guangyi, and it was necessary to bring the relationship closer.

Zhao Pu sighed again, shook his head and said with a wry smile: "Shi Fengyu, has you forgotten what the old man just said, one is a blood relative, and this is a foreign surname Quanchen, how strange is Your Majesty's move." ”

Shi Wei was stunned for a moment, and suddenly realized.

As Zhao Pu said before, between the Cheshire Lord and Zhao Guangzhiyi, Zhao Kuangyin will obviously have a biological brother who is related by blood.

In other words, between Zhao Pu and Zhao Guangyi, Zhao Kuangyin will naturally choose to trust the latter.

In the eyes of the Son of Heaven, although Zhao Guangyi is suspected of taking power, in the end, he is his own family and will not threaten his Zhao family.

And Zhao Pu's seizure of power threatens their Zhao family to a certain extent.

Since the Five Dynasties, from the Later Liang to the Later Zhou, there have been many usurpers of the throne, and he Zhao Kuangyin is the best example.

Zhao Kuangyin can use a glass of wine to release the military power and cut the power of the generals, so he can naturally use the means of recalling the prime minister to get rid of the threat of Zhao Pu, a civil minister.

In this way, it all makes sense.

"The hard work of the saint, we can also understand it as a courtier, but as soon as Zhao Pu leaves like this, someone's power will be suppressed by no one, isn't the saint afraid of threatening the second prince?"

After doing a lot of foreshadowing, Shi Wei finally mentioned Zhao Dezhao.

Earlier, Zhao Pu had written to Zhao Kuangyin, persuading him to establish Dezhao as the crown prince as soon as possible, and Shi Wei could confirm that he and Zhao Pu had the same position in support of Zhao Dezhao.

At the mention of this, Zhao Pu's originally indifferent expression gradually became a little dignified at this time.

He swallowed a sip of wine and said slowly: "This is exactly what the old man has always been worried about, otherwise the old man would not have presented it to His Majesty before, but His Majesty boasted that the Spring and Autumn Period was in full bloom, and obviously had no intention of establishing a prince. ”

Zhao Pu also began to reveal his heart to Shi Wei.

Shi Weisui asked again: "If this is the case, then with Zhao Xiang's strategy, isn't there no way to deal with it?" ”

Zhao Pu was silent for a long time, shook his head and sighed: "The old man has been released as a minister, and now he has more than enough heart but not enough strength, Yuanzhi, you are the confidant of the second prince, and you will have to rely on you to assist the second prince in the future." ”

Hearing his words, Shi Wei was really surprised.

(To be continued)