Back then, when Liang Zhirui was still the first assistant, Xia Qing was the second assistant.

The power of the first assistant is the heaviest, presiding over the major affairs of the cabinet, especially the power of voting and drafting, and the second assistant does not dare to compete with it. The right to vote is to formulate major policies, and then the holy Zhu pen can be approved.

If you don't enter Hanlin, you won't enter the cabinet. The Cabinet is the place that every civil servant aspires to, and this is the center of power.

"Teacher, what is the holiday between you and Xia Shoufu today? Say it so that students know in their hearts. ”

Of course, Gu Chengyu has to understand the details clearly, if someone really comes to deal with him, he will have a good idea to deal with it.

Liang Zhirui pondered for a while before he said: "Not just one thing, political disagreements are common. However, what made the old man unbearable the most was that the Holy Dragon Body had been in arrears before, but it had been fine. ”

He looked at the green mountains in the distance outside the window, sighed leisurely, and continued: "That traitor and thief introduced an alchemist to the saint, saying that he was sincere in alchemy, and if he took the pill, he could live forever. ”

At this, his tone was eager and heavy.

Gu Chengyu was very surprised when he heard this, he always thought that the emperor's dragon body was not safe, it was caused by the perennial daily management of opportunities, and the close to the sixtieth year, it turned out that there were still many things that ordinary people didn't know here.

"The Holy One is actually addicted to alchemy and still takes it himself? So where did the alchemist come from? ”

Liang Zhirui nodded, "I don't know this, the way is very mysterious." According to Xia Qing, he was originally a hermit master, and he is more than 100 years old this year. I saw him once outside the Imperial Study, dressed in Taoist robes, with a boyish face and a strong body. ”

Gu Chengyu felt very ridiculous, not to mention whether immortality was true or false, the alchemist's origin was unknown, and the emperor was willing to believe it?

Speaking of immortality, Gu Chengyu remembered Qin Shi Huang, who was obsessed with the elixir of life in his previous life.

Becoming an emperor with supreme power, he may not be willing to take the throne until he dies, and it should be the dream of every emperor to pursue immortality and continue to enjoy glory and wealth.

It doesn't seem difficult to understand that as long as there is a glimmer of hope, they will not give up.

"The emperor wants to make alchemy, so who handles the affairs of the court and the middle of the court on weekdays?" Gu Chengyu didn't think that the emperor had so much leisure time.

If the ancient emperors worked hard, it would have consumed a lot of energy. Alchemy is not an overnight thing, perennial alchemy takes a lot of energy and time, after all, it still needs to be studied, right?

"When the old man is there, it is handled by the cabinet minister, and the old man looks at it, and then presents it to the emperor. Now, it should be Prime Minister Xia Qing, and when the emperor does not refine the pill, he will approve the folds that are submitted. After the old man became a minister, the situation between the DPRK and China changed a lot, and officials were frequently transferred. Various factions, which are intricately intertwined. ”

Gu Chengyu twisted his eyebrows, that is to say, when the emperor was refining the pill, he was the prime minister of Xia Shoufu? He also heard about some things in the court, and heard that there were many officials in the south, so when the emperor was not there, the court became his hall?

"Are there any officials in the DPRK who can compete with Xia Qing?"

Gu Chengyu thought for a moment, but still felt that as an emperor, it was impossible to hand over the power to one person so confidently, and there should be more checks and balances, so that he could rest assured that he could refine the pill.

Liang Zhirui nodded, a little relieved, his disciple has always been very sensitive to the affairs of the court.

"Of course it's impossible, Shen Shikang, the head of the household, doesn't buy his account. Xia Qingnai was a famous talent in the Jiangnan area back then, who became famous at a young age and had a solid family background. His ancestors once worshiped the second grade, and although the descendants were not of much official grade, they were also the official eunuchs in the south of the Yangtze River. Of course, there are many people in the DPRK who do not deal with him, but who calls him favored? ”

"Which faction does Xia Qing support?"

Gu Chengyu first temporarily ruled out the faction of the second prince, because Shen Shikang was the second prince's foreign family, and the two were at odds. However, these can't be seen on the surface, some people are born politicians, hidden deeply!

Liang Zhirui shook his head, "On the bright side, he doesn't seem to be close to any faction, and it seems that they all have a little bit of a holiday with him." He is narrow-minded and extremely greedy for money, and has made a lot of money in Jiangnan and other places in recent years, especially Caoyun. I heard that the children of the clan are fighting for the tiger in the local area, and they are very arrogant. ”

Gu Chengyu lowered his head and pondered, and then said: "Since he behaved perversely, why didn't anyone collect evidence of his guilt and refer to him?" ”

According to the teacher, Xia Qing acted in such a high-profile manner. There must be people in the DPRK and China who can't see it, will those officials let these things go? You must join him, right?

"In the past few years, he was quite cautious in doing things, and he didn't leave a handle, but someone participated in him, and the emperor was suspicious of this matter, and he mostly stayed in the middle and didn't send it. When he became the first assistant, the fold was even more from his hands, and he could present what was unfavorable to him? is presented by a loophole, and he always has a way to let the emperor eliminate his suspicions about him. ”

Gu Chengyu finally understood how favored Xia Qing was, Xia Qing's current power was so great that he was about to cover the sky with one hand. However, the emperor is not a fool. This is only on the surface, and the rest has to be done by him to enter the court before he can slowly explore.

"He wants to be a pure minister? According to his old style, it should not be possible. ”

The emperor's health is deteriorating, how can Xia Qing not plan for the future? Once the son of heaven and a courtier, maybe the new emperor will take the throne first, and he will sit back and wait to be killed?

"There may be some action in the dark, this person is scheming, and the old man didn't catch any tricks back then, so he can't see what is going on."

"How can the teacher know about this secret deed? Xia Qing is so high-profile, maybe it is his protective color? If he has no shortcomings, then the emperor will not dare to use him! ”

These are still far away for Gu Chengyu! Even if he enters the officialdom, he is also a small official of the Hanlin Academy, and those first- and second-grade officials will not take him seriously.

"Oh?" Liang Zhirui glanced at Gu Chengyu in surprise, and then nodded, "It's possible!" ”

Liang Zhirui hadn't thought about this before, but now he actually felt that what Gu Chengyu said was also very reasonable.

"It's just a student's casual speculation, and I still don't make any conclusions until I contact this person."

In fact, Gu Chengyu still has questions, Xia Qing wants so much silver, doesn't it just prove which faction he has taken refuge into? No, maybe he doesn't rely on any faction and wants to fight bigger?

Gu Chengyu chatted with Liang Zhirui for a few more words, and Liang Zhirui was about to go to school. Gu Chengyu then went to the backyard and had to ask his wife for peace.

"It's early today, can you have breakfast?" Ning asked with a smile.

"I've already used it, haven't you eaten it yet?" Gu Chengyu saluted and sat down on the circle chair next to him.

Yao Mengxian came to the outside of the main room, and the girl who lifted the curtain immediately stepped forward to salute.

"I've seen my cousin!"

Yao Mengxian was a little surprised, could it be that there were guests in the house? Otherwise, this girl must have bowed by the door and reported it to the house.

"Grandmother is up?"

"The old lady has already risen, but there are guests inside."

The girl is also in a dilemma, it stands to reason that a foreign man is here, and as a female dependent, she should avoid it. But she's just a girl, and she has to wait for her master's orders.