choke element

At the beginning of the establishment of the Goryeo Kingdom, blood and family status were highly valued. Its government is hereditary rule by the civil and military nobles, and it is difficult for outsiders to integrate. The status of the two classes was also very different. The military attaches were strongly suppressed by the civilian officials in terms of economic and political status. The civilian officials even tried to control the military power and completely suppress the military officials.

About fifty years ago, a general named Li Shaoying failed in a martial arts contest. The civil servant Han Lai therefore slapped Li Shaoying in public. The King of Goryeo and the civil servants and attendants present all laughed and humiliated him, taking this as an opportunity to remove many military ministers from their positions.

Unexpectedly, this incident became the trigger for the rebellion of the military ministers. The furious military ministers first killed the king's close ministers, and then took the king hostage and rushed into the palace to show off their military power. All of a sudden, all the civil servants, ministers and eunuchs were killed, and the royal capital was piled with corpses. Later, the military officials took several generations of kings hostage and changed their ways. They appointed military personnel for the three capitals, four capitals, eight governors, and the governors and post offices of counties and counties. The civil servants who were lucky enough to survive were reduced to chatty servants for decades afterward. Those who responded no longer had any real power.

After the external troubles were over, the ruling military officials began to fight among themselves again. Under the chaotic situation for more than two decades, heroes took turns to appear, repeatedly setting up prisons and killing wantonly.

This situation did not come to an end until Cui Zhongxian came to power. And Cui Zhongxian's stable governance was not due to the means of reconciling Ding Nai, but because he was suspicious by nature. Whenever he found someone threatening his position, he would strike first.

Therefore, during Cui Zhongxian's more than 20 years in power, almost all the military ministers who seemed to be stable outside the court, but in fact had some ability, were eliminated by Cui Zhongxian in advance. Except for a few cronies around him, even his son Cui Yu had no one to train a team. He had to recruit a group of civil servants to barely maintain his power.

Cui Zi is such a person who comes from a declining civil servant and aristocratic family. He was recommended by the famous scholar Li Kuibao to be appointed as a secretary. Later, he moved to several official positions. It was quite understandable that the civil servants and nobles were in trouble and had to live in retreat all day long.

After he arrived at Yecheng Port, he worked conscientiously and the general Cui Junwen, who actually controlled Yecheng Port, had great trust in him.

Cui Junwen passed the Gongsheng Examination in Xinghai County in his early years. He was not as vulgar as ordinary military ministers. He gradually became friends with Cui Zichang, who had passed the examination of writing and poetry. And Cui Zi also knew that he was just an assistant officer, living in seclusion and only occasionally giving Cui Junwen some advice.

The document sent from Licheng Port to Yousi proposing to bring Yin Chang's fleet directly into the port was Cui Zi's idea.

At that time, Cui Zi told Cui Junwen that now that Duke Ling was seriously ill, all parties in the court were reining in their strength to prepare for any eventuality. General, although you have allies like Chi Yunshen and Liu Songjie stationed in Kaicheng, you cannot completely rely on them. You should also make preparations in advance.

Cui Junwen asked in confusion, since I left the Longwu Army and took charge of maritime trade matters, the troops in my hands were slowly deprived by the Duke, and I have long become an empty-headed general... Where did I get my strength? Is it possible to recruit troops from the maritime merchants gathered inside and outside Yecheng Port?

Cui Zize said, the general's strength is naturally due to your close relationship with the officials of the Great Zhou Kingdom. The power of the above countries, even a young man in charge of merchants, is enough to have a huge impact in our country, let alone the predecessor who stayed behind?

This left-behind man did not come to Goryeo alone. He brought many subordinates and disciples and former officials to follow him. He wanted to start a serious business in Goryeo!

At this time, this person is a strong support!

Cui Junwen was able to enjoy several years of wealth in Licheng Port, which was inseparable from Li Yun's help. Among the officials of Goryeo, he was indeed the one closest to the Central Plains people. Before, I was just in a chaotic situation and was temporarily confused.

When Cui Zi said this, he was overjoyed and immediately wrote a document and issued it according to Cui Zi's suggestion to ensure that Yin Chang arrived at Licheng Port as soon as possible.

After the document was issued, Cui Zi returned home and couldn't help but smile.

Although Yin Chang came unexpectedly, Cui Zi was not appointed as the director for nothing. Since he got the news earlier, he had a way to let Cui Junwen, an ignorant idiot, write his own essay to remind the prince in Kaicheng to do something early. Prepare.

The situation in Kaesong has reached a critical stage, and the truth will come to light within ten months. At this time, you have to eliminate as many abnormal factors as you can!

The maritime trade of Goryeo has always been in the hands of Cui Junwen, and Cui Junwen is in the same den with the nobles of Kaesong. Recently, he seems to be trying to evade Cui Linggong and threaten the crown prince. At this time, Cui Junwen must not be allowed to get extra aid!

Although the prince does not command an army and is isolated from the private army of the Sixth Division of the capital, he has been operating for many years and has specialized manpower. Cui Zi remembered that there was a particularly ferocious group of Japanese pirates among them. As long as they were dispatched, they would cause a shipwreck easily and they would surely succeed.

This matter is done, and when the prince ascends the throne and rewards for his merits, I will be indispensable!

Cui Zi felt excited when he thought of this. He stood up and stretched his arms, and was about to recite a poem when he suddenly heard the door of the outer courtyard ringing. Someone pushed in without warning.

"Who!" Cui Zi shouted sharply. "Shut up!" The man who jumped into the yard said in a much harsher tone than Cui Zi.

Cui Zi rushed out to look around and saw that the person who came had an ordinary appearance and was wearing ordinary merchant clothes. At this time, he reached into his arms and took out a talisman card.

Cui Zi recognized this talisman as it was used by Cui Yu, the eldest son of Cui Linggong, and it was specially used to secretly send messages to Cui Yu's party scattered throughout Goryeo.

Cui Zi's official rank is not high, but he occupies an important position in Li Chenggang, and his mentor is Li Kuibao, the most relied-upon schemer of the prince, so he has seen such talismans several times and acted accordingly.

Now he bowed and saluted.

Then I heard the messenger say in a deep voice: "Your Majesty has an order, telling you to keep a close eye on the Yin Chang fleet that is about to arrive at Licheng Port, and report all relevant circumstances, no matter how big or small."

"..."

Cui Zi was stunned for a long time before asking: "Is this all the prince ordered? Just let me keep an eye on you?"

The document Cui Junwen sent was written by me personally, and it was written clearly enough! Even a fool can see something is wrong! What's more, at the back of the document, there is also a special judgment written by me as the clerk? There are a few lines in the judgment, and I also used the secret words agreed in advance. Even if the prince was negligent and didn't pay attention to the secret words, how could the mentor not read them?

You must know that my mentor had been working in important Qing official positions such as Yousi Jian and Zhizhigao in Kaicheng. It was only last year that he finally won the trust of Cui Linggong and was able to be transferred to Guiyang as the deputy envoy of the Guiyang Protectorate. real power. But his mentor resolutely gave up this opportunity. He abandoned his official position and returned at the beginning of the year, just to help the prince gain power.

The mentor is a scholar who has been famous for decades, and is the leader of the nobles of the literary class. His support for the prince who has always reused civil servants is equivalent to supporting the civil servants themselves... How important is this, how could the mentor make any omissions?

Naturally, it is not convenient to ask the messenger this question. The messenger could not have known the secret. Cui Zi raised his voice and said, "Wait for me to write a letter. You can take it back to Kaicheng for me and give it to my mentor, Mr. Zhixuan! That's very important!"

The messenger shook his head: "It doesn't have to be so troublesome."

"what?"

In the hand of the messenger, he was originally holding the talisman representing the crown prince. At this moment, he stuffed the talisman back into his lapel, and then took out another thing.

It is a collection of poems written by Lee Kyu-ho, the most famous contemporary poet of Goryeo Kingdom and the banished immortal of Haedong. Moreover, it is specially produced by a famous printing workshop in the Central Plains, and the quantity is very small. The person who holds this collection of poems is the core figure in the literary class nobles, one of his own who is truly cited as a confidant by Li Kuibao.

"What do you mean, mentor?" Cui Zi took a few steps forward and grabbed the messenger's arm.

"Mr. Zhixuan asked me to tell you that it is a good thing for us to have one more party involved in the current situation. Don't stop me, just watch. Report what should be reported as usual. Whatever can be seen by the prince, sir, Be decisive.”

"But...but among the powerful parties nowadays, only the Crown Prince values ​​civil servants the most. Why do we instead..."

"In the past, the Crown Prince did make important use of civil servants, but didn't the civil servants repay them wholeheartedly? As for the future, as the current situation changes, we will have more choices."