Li Linfu had been in charge of the Political Affairs Hall for more than a decade. He had always been in charge of all matters of the Tang dynasty. Many officials in the imperial court had become his henchmen and obeyed his every word. Gradually, he formed the largest faction in the imperial court, and the other factions found it difficult to compete with him.
Although the emperor was still the boss of the Tang dynasty, Li Linfu's power was gradually consolidating, which made the emperor somewhat unhappy. A big tree has deep roots, and the longer an official's power was established, the more difficult it would be to control. Therefore, it was time for a change.
Right now, the emperor favored the Imperial Concubine the most, and the Yang family represented by the Imperial Concubine naturally had to take over the big stick of power. Yang Zhao was the most outstanding one, and no one else could replace Li Linfu except him.
With Li Longji's support and hints, Yang Zhao became bolder and bolder. At first, he obeyed Li Linfu's every word and was willing to be Li Linfu's dog. Later, he gradually went against Li Linfu and even began to poach Li Linfu's people, taking the initiative to shake Li Linfu's foundation so that he could become the biggest tree in the imperial court of the Tang dynasty.
The reason he was so confident was not only because of the emperor's support, but also because Li Linfu was getting older.
As he grew older, Li Linfu's health was deteriorating day by day. His body was gradually weakening, and he even began to frequently take leave to rest at home. This naturally gave Yang Zhao an opportunity.
The imperial court officials who were originally obedient to Li Linfu also began to distance themselves from him after discovering that Li Linfu's health was deteriorating day by day. This was because their keen senses had already discovered the fact that Li Linfu was bound to decline.
Although this old official was very capable, once his body collapsed, he would be finished. His sons were all good-for-nothing and could not inherit his power. As a result, when a tree falls, it will inevitably scatter.
In order to not fall from the tree, they had to find a new tree to lean on. The powerful Ang Lee was naturally a good choice. Unfortunately, Ang Lee was used to being lazy, never forming cliques for personal gain, and even more disliked contacting these officials. He was happy to have peace and quiet.
As such, the most suitable official for them to rely on was naturally the most outstanding talent of the Yang Clan, Yang Zhao. These opportunists might not have any other abilities, but their ability to observe the political situation was still outstanding. They were all shrewd people and would not misjudge the political situation.
Li Linfu's health was deteriorating day by day. When he was at work, he often coughed and gasped for breath, appearing very weak. On the surface, many officials tried their best to comfort him, as if they were very concerned, but in reality, they couldn't wait for Li Linfu to die sooner. Especially the ministers who had a grudge against him, they couldn't wait for their political enemies to die.
On the other hand, Li Linfu's body was getting weaker and weaker. Firstly, it was because he was getting old, which was a natural aging process. Secondly, it was because framing others all day was too exhausting and tiring. Thirdly, it was because he was too concerned about the affairs of the imperial court, which was also extremely tiring. Combined with the second point, it consumed too much of his vitality, causing his body to weaken day by day.
When he framed other ministers, he would need to list out the evidence and then force confessions out of them in prison. His lackey, Giwin, was in charge of forcing confessions out of them. This lackey was very powerful, and there was almost no case that he could not handle.
But now, when Li Linfu was at his weakest, Ji Wen had betrayed Li Linfu and turned to Yang Zhao, becoming Yang Zhao's lackey.
Li Linfu was well aware of this, but he could not change it because he was about to die. What he was most worried about was that after he died, his family would be wiped out.
In the feudal era, if a person committed a crime, their family and servants would be implicated and executed. This was an extremely cruel method, but this was the system of that era, and no one could change it. Li Linfu clearly didn't want his family to be wiped out after he died. That way, he would lose everything he had.
Thinking about the officials he had framed and killed, Li Linfu felt a chill run down his spine. When he was at his peak, he could deal with these officials as he pleased, but he was about to die. After he died, would the relatives and trusted aides of the officials he had framed take revenge on his descendants? This was a very serious but also a very realistic problem.
When people were about to die, they would start to think about what would happen after they died, and Li Linfu was no exception. There were many things that he had to prepare for as soon as possible so that his family wouldn't be wiped out if he suddenly died.
Li Linfu had many concubines. He had twenty-five sons and twenty-five daughters, but none of them were talented. They were all mediocre people who could not inherit his political legacy. Once he fell, these children would become fish on the chopping board. They would become existences that could be slaughtered by others.
In order to avoid these results, he had to make preparations early and find a chance for his children to settle down.
"Alang, they're here for the tenth Saburo."
The servant led ten wastrels into the Moon Hall.
This dim little room completely belonged to Li Linfu alone. It was the place where he usually meditated and framed the other ministers. Other than a few servants who occasionally came in to report the situation and tidy up, no one else was allowed to enter, including his sons.
Many of his twenty-five sons were officials in the court, but because of the limitations of their abilities, their official positions weren't very high. In addition, there were ten sons who didn't have any jobs. They wandered around the capital all day long, and when they were bored, they would compete with other wastrels. They were the standard wastrels.
There was no way to make arrangements for his sons who were already officials. He couldn't have them hide in a place cut off from the rest of the world! As for the remaining ten sons, he had to make arrangements early so that when he died, they wouldn't continue to be wastrels in the capital and continue to incur the wrath of others.
When he was the Prime Minister, his foppish sons would usually not be at a disadvantage if they incurred the wrath of others. The officials in the capital would also favor his sons. Once he died, the foppish sons in the capital would no longer be afraid of his foppish sons. The officials in the capital would also no longer be afraid of him and protect his sons. In this way, his sons would very likely be imprisoned, or even implicated even more.
"You've caused trouble again, cough cough cough!"
Li Linfu angrily glared at his sons.
The bastards Xiao Wang glanced at each other and then looked innocently at their father.
"Father, we didn't cause any trouble!"
The oldest, the tenth Saburo, didn't seem to care.
"Yesterday afternoon, the tenth Saburo, Fifteenth Wang, the two of you bumped into someone in the eastern market. Not only did you not get off your horses to apologize, you even spoke rudely and left. Is this true?"
Li Linfu asked angrily.
The tenth Saburo said unconcernedly, "Father, I thought it was something serious. Wasn't it just bumping into an Arab who was selling goods? He didn't suffer any serious injuries. "
"That's right. It's already been a day, and no one from the yamen has come to look for us! This is just a small matter. Father, why should you care? "
Fifteenth Wang added.
Li Linfu became even angrier after hearing their words, and his coughing immediately began again.
"You two evil creatures, you still think you're in the right after bumping into someone. The yamen hasn't come to arrest you because I'm still alive. Once your father dies, they won't be so polite. Moreover, they'll dig up the crimes you've committed in the past and charge you with serious crimes."
Li Linfu lectured them while panting.
"Father, you have to take care of your body! Please don't be angry. "
The ten sons saw that their father's body was getting worse and worse, so they spoke with concern.
In fact, they all knew that their father was their backer. Once their father died, they would lose their backer, and it would be very difficult for them to strut around in the capital.
"Father, we'll definitely pay attention to our words and actions in the future. We'll never do anything domineering again. Please take care of your body and don't get angry."
The tenth Saburo was really worried. Once his father died, his arrogant days would come to an end.
"Yes, I hope you can really change. However, this isn't enough. If you do nothing all day, how will you feed yourselves in the future?"
Li Linfu thought of his own death and felt that once these prodigal sons lost their backer, they would soon starve to death.
The ten Xiao Wang's eight sons were stunned. They had never thought of such a long-term thing. They had always been muddling along and were standard hedonistic sons.
"Then Father, find us a job! We can do the same things that Big Brother and the others can do. "
The tenth Saburo spoke.
They had never worked before and didn't understand the hardships of work. They thought that as long as they got a better job, it would be easy to get a good salary to support themselves.
Li Linfu looked at his ten sons and said, "The land in the middle of the river has been undergoing major construction these years and is extremely short of people. There are many vacant positions. It won't be difficult to arrange for you to go there."
"Father, you can't do that! The middle of the river is far away from the capital. It's thousands of miles away. Why do we have to go so far away? "
"Father, don't you want your children? You actually want your children to go thousands of miles away. "
"Father, isn't the capital good? Why do you want us to go so far away? "
The ten sons didn't understand and felt that it was too unfair. Their elder brother had become the provincial governor, but they had to go to the middle of the river. The gap was too big.
Li Linfu said unhappily, "You want to seek a position in the capital, but with your little strength, you're not qualified at all. Moreover, the capital is the capital of the Tang dynasty. All the noble sons want to stay in the capital. How can a position be so easy to arrange? It's better to go to the middle of the river! Far away from the capital, you'll be far away from trouble. "
"Father, you're the one who arranged it. Are you afraid that there won't be suitable positions? We've been doing nothing all day. It's time for us to find a job. "
"Father, the East and West Market is a lucrative position. The Department of Shipping is a good position."
"Father, the Tang dynasty newspaper is good. I can see the latest newspapers as soon as possible. I want to go there."
The sons asked.
Li Linfu shook his head and objected, "The positions you mentioned are not short of people. Not only are they not short of people, but there are more people who want to squeeze in. If I forcibly help you get into these positions, do you know how many people you will offend? Once I'm gone, these people will bite back and you'll suffer. "
Obviously, his sons wanted to seek plum and lucrative jobs. Since ancient times, as long as there was a lucrative job, there would be a lot of people competing for it. The elimination rate was very high.
It was like the servants in the later generations. They said that they should serve their masters wholeheartedly, but they were best at being perfunctory and deceitful. The amount of money they embezzled from a small position was shocking.
It was not a big deal to own hundreds of luxurious houses. It was not even worth mentioning to keep hundreds of concubines. They even did not hesitate to write down their feats in their diaries for the anti-corruption boys to read and relieve boredom. It was estimated that these boys would be bored to death.
Many ordinary people began to desperately squeeze into the ranks in order to live such a carefree life. Only one person was recruited for a small position, but the number of people competing for it could be as high as thousands.
It was not an exaggeration to say that one in a thousand was chosen. There were even positions that were chosen from ten thousand.
Thousands of soldiers and horses competed to be servants. Such a spectacular scene would probably make people's jaws drop, but it was the truth. The so-called servants in the Tang dynasty were called parental officials, and the emperor was the highest parental official in the world.
That was to say, the parental officials in the Tang dynasty, who were also the officials, changed their names in the later generations. They were called the people's public servants, but they were still officials in essence. Otherwise, how could they be so greedy and bully the people?
Have you ever seen a servant who dares to point at a servant's nose and shout? Have you ever seen a servant who dares to casually arrest their master? Their master's house is fine, but they directly tear it down and even find a group of thugs to beat their master half to death.
"Father, we really don't want to go to such a far place. Please think of a way for us! We can also consider a lower position. "
The tenth Saburo did not want to go to the bitterly cold place in the middle of the river. The capital was the most prosperous place.
However, he had never been to the middle of the river. In fact, the climate in the middle of the river was not bad. The exotic girls were even more special.
"I don't want you to go so far away, but because the middle of the river is too far away, there is not much competition. You will live a good life there. You don't have to worry about the revenge of my enemies."
Li Linfu said seriously.
"Father, the capital is the place with the most laws. If we go to the middle of the river, it will be easier for people to take revenge."
"The countries in the middle of the river have not been fully naturalized. It is not safe to go there."
Fifteenth Lang retorted.
Li Linfu lectured, "What do you know? Do you think I will harm you? When you go to the middle of the river this time, I will help you hide your identities. As long as you don't make it public, no one will know that you are my sons, and no one will seek revenge. Only when you are safe can I be at ease. "
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