At dusk, Dugu Ming's carriage slowly stopped in front of Li Fuguo's house, and Dugu Ming was directly invited into the guest room by the butler.
Not long after, Li Fuguo hurried over. Dugu Ming stood up, clasped his fists and said, "I heard that Mr. Li has been elected prime minister, congratulations! Congratulations!"
Li Fuguo was full of enthusiasm at this time. Although he had not officially taken office, his path forward had been completely cleared and there were no obstacles.
Just now, the emperor's heir, Li Xi, had confirmed to the emperor, who was seriously ill, that the emperor had approved the edict of Feng Xiangguo, and the last glimmer of hope for the political affairs hall had been cut off.
Now no one can stop him from becoming the prime minister, but when Li Fuguo saw Dugu Ming, he was still a little worried. If Qi King Li Ye firmly opposed him becoming the prime minister, he would really have to consider it.
Hearing the other party congratulate him, Li Fuguo felt a little relieved. Everyone knew that Dugu Ming was the messenger of King Qi. Since he congratulated him, King Qi would not be disgusted with him being the prime minister.
"Thank you! Prince Consort Dugu, please take a seat."
The two of them sat down separately. Dugu Ming was extremely disgusted with this shameless eunuch. The longer he sat with him, the stronger Dugu Ming's sense of shame became. However, he had serious business and had to endure it.
Dugu Ming took out a medicine gourd and put it on the table, and said straight to the point: "The emperor is seriously ill, and His Highness King Qi is very concerned about it. This is the precious medicine Liefeng gave to His Highness King Qi back then. Taking one pill every day can save the emperor's life."
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"We are very grateful for His Highness King Qi's kindness. I'm afraid the imperial doctors will have a hard time with the imported medicines."
The imperial doctor was just an excuse, and the key was that the other party didn't believe King Qi.
Dugu Ming lowered his voice and said: "Mr. Li, the imperial doctor has confirmed that the emperor will not survive the end of the year. If King Qi has any ill intentions, he will not cause trouble and just let nature take its course. However, the death of the emperor is not in the interest of King Qi.
The king hopes that the emperor can live longer, so you have to believe in the sincerity of King Qi. On the issue of the emperor's health, our interests are the same."
Li Fuguo nodded and asked tentatively: "I wonder if King Qi supports King Yong to inherit the throne?"
Dugu Ming shook his head, "King Qi supports King Ding's ascension to the throne. This is more orthodox!"
King Ding is Li Dong, the son of Queen Zhang. He is only five years old this year. He is also the prince that the eunuch group wants to support. However, the civil servant group firmly opposes it. Even the emperor Li Heng is not willing to make the son of the queen Zhang the prince. Firstly,
If he is too young, this will lead to the Queen Mother coming to court. Secondly, Prince Ding Li Dong is relatively stupid. He is five years old and cannot even speak a few words. Emperor Li Heng does not like him at all.
Li Fuguo was suspicious by nature and continued to test: "Although King Ding is orthodox, the courtiers think he is too young."
Dugu Ming saw through his doubts and said frankly: "His Royal Highness King Qi's interests come from transactions. His Highness King Qi believes that it should be easier to deal with Queen Zhang when he comes to court."
Li Fuguo was immediately overjoyed and said quickly: "We also believe that the queen's son is more suitable to inherit the throne."
Dugu Ming said calmly: "So His Highness King Qi believes that the transition period for the Queen to be in power should be longer. It is too hasty to come to court now!"
This sentence is very straightforward. The emperor is seriously ill, and the queen should act as the agent for state affairs. It is best to act for a longer period of time, which will help the queen control the situation and make adequate preparations for the coming court.
After saying that, Dugu Ming pushed the medicine gourd in front of Li Fuguo, "This medicine is very important. It can hang on to the emperor's life, and it can last for at least half a year."
It's best to speak this kind of key words directly and thoroughly. Face and other things are no longer important.
Li Fuguo understood it completely and nodded, "We understand. We will discuss it with the queen and let the emperor take the medicine as soon as possible."
Dugu Ming stood up to say goodbye and left. Li Fuguo thought about it and immediately ordered: "Prepare a car for our family to go back to the palace!"
Li Fuguo entered the palace and found Yu Chaoen and Cheng Yuanzhen, and told them about Dugu Ming's visit today.
Yu Chaoen frowned and said, "How could Li Ye support Prince Ding? His father is firmly against Prince Ding."
Cheng Yuanzhen smiled sinisterly and said: "Yu Sima doesn't understand. Li Ye and his father Li Dai have never burned a stick of incense. Li Dai supports the emperor and is one of the civil servant leaders, but Li Ye is a tyrant, sinister and cunning. He is even more
Like his grandfather Li Linfu, not like his father."
Li Fuguo nodded, "General Manager Cheng is right. I also believe that what Dugu Ming said is Li Ye's true inner thoughts. The Queen Mother's visit to the court is conducive to the exchange of interests between him and the court, so he supports King Ding and does not support Li Xi.
This is consistent with our interests. Let’s take this medicine to the imperial physician and, if possible, give it to the emperor. This will protect the emperor’s life and help us use this time to make arrangements.”
The three of them reached an agreement and handed a gourd of medicine to Cheng Yuanzhen, who was responsible for the emperor's treatment and daily life.
After listening to Li Dai's statement, Pei Zunqing felt completely desperate. He had expected that the emperor would suddenly come to his senses and veto the edict he had made five years ago, but he was disappointed. The emperor actually recognized the edict.
Cui Huan frowned and said, "Could it be that Emperor Shi misunderstood and thought we just wanted to confirm whether this edict was true or false?"
Li Dai shook his head, "King Yong also asked about it, and Queen Zhang told him that the emperor had made it clear that he agreed to Li Fuguo taking over Du Xiangguo's vacant position."
"This King Yong is unreliable!"
It turned out that King Yong had not met the emperor at all. Pei Zunqing was really annoyed and said: "If he were the former prince, he would definitely try his best to persuade the emperor to cancel the appointment. Just like he froze the edict five years ago, King Yong only listened to the queen's words.
He just retreated, it was so useless, doesn’t he know that he has the right to visit his father? Doesn’t he know the dangers of Li Fuguo becoming prime minister?”
Cui Huan sneered, "If he can live up to Duke Pei's expectations, we won't object to him becoming the prince."
Hitting the nail on the head, Pei Zunqing sat down slumped, held his head and said in pain: "Does God really want us to discuss state affairs with an eunuch all day long?"
Pei Zunqing straightened his back, gritted his teeth and said, "How about I go to the inner palace again in the afternoon and ask to see the emperor!"
In fact, the best way is for them to personally persuade the emperor to withdraw the appointment, so that the emperor understands that eunuchs have not been allowed to serve as prime ministers in all dynasties. This is the first time in the world.
This appointment is an out-and-out historical scandal and will affect the emperor's reputation in future generations.
They had ten thousand reasons to persuade the Emperor, but the problem was that they could not see the Emperor. If they wanted to see the Emperor, they had to pass the test of Empress Zhang, but Empress Zhang refused to let anyone see the Emperor on the grounds that the Emperor was seriously ill.
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Cui Huan shook his head, "Empress Zhang is very smart. At this critical moment, she will not let us see the emperor."
Li Dai was silent for a moment and said: "Although we can't see the Emperor, we can write a joint letter. I'll go find Dugu Ming. Maybe he has a way to deliver the letter to the Emperor for us."
Pei Zunqing's eyes lit up, "You can try this method."
Since the right path cannot lead, we can only take the side path.