Back to the Beginning of Ming to do Charity

Chapter 133: Progress

Lin Yuan spent almost all his thoughts on how to attack Anfeng. He was not a military genius, he only knew some superficial knowledge, so he asked Chen Baisong to draw the offensive line first. Zhu Yuanzhang and the others captured Ni Wenjun alive and was currently rushing back with Ni Wenjun's army.

And the consumption of resources on their side was within Lin Yuan's expectation.

"Anfeng has not sent a letter back for a long time." Lin Yuan frowned slightly, "Either they were found, or they didn't find anything."

Lin Yuan closed his eyes and said, "An Laosi..It seems he is not as capable as I thought."

Lin Yuan was a little disappointed. At that time, when he had An Laosi go, although it was a helpless move, it was not like he was without other candidates.

If it was Song Shizhao who went there, he imagined that Anfeng would already be up in chaos.

Now, An Laosi has become a clerk under Liu Liu. Accurately speaking, this was not an official post, but this position was very important as well as notorious for the flow of money. Only highly regarded subordinates and confidantes got such a seat.

If the officials below Liu Liu want to get ahead, they naturally have to hand over all kinds of documents to advertise their achievements.

If Liu Liu knew about it, maybe one day he might hand over a memorial to the emperor, and at that time they will be able to climb up the ranks.

But if he "didn't see", then even if they have the ability to reach the sky, it would not be of any help.

The people below were difficult to deal with, so they had to spend more money to bribe them.

The first thing An Laosi did after taking up his new job was to take bribes.

He looked at the gifts delivered to his home with a dumbfounded expression. Although they were not priceless treasures, it was not anything cheap either. If he was really just an ordinary person, he would have been captured by these gifts at this time.

Lady An held up a piece of gold jewelry in her hand, which was also inlaid with gems. There was a butterfly made of gold as an ornament, with thin wings that trembled as the wearer breathed. The cost of such jewelry was naturally high, and even merchants couldn't guarantee they could find a craftsman with the same skill to create such a piece.

"You can keep this stuff." An Laosi said to his wife, "In the future, there will only be more, not less."

Lady An really did liked this piece of jewelry, she said to An Laosi, "Since we have made progress, we should send a letter to the South Bodhisattva."

An Laosi nodded: "I have sent someone to deliver it."

The people who were tasked with sending the letters arrived at Anfeng after them, and they also pretended to be ordinary people who had fled over as refugees, and lived in areas where the poor were gathered.

In that kind of place, one more or one fewer person was not at all conspicuous, and no one cared either.

An Laosi did a very good job under Liu Liu. Liu Liu originally just wanted to give him a cushy position. But after watching for a while, he found that An Laosi was really capable and had a good relationship with the lower officials. He was straightforward but also not without tact, and although he was a bit of a coward, cowardice had its own advantages as it was not easy for cowards to make mistakes.

Soon, An Laosi was promoted to the next level from his clerk position and began following at Liu Liu's side. Liu Liu even gave him an official positionnaturally, this must go through Liu Futong.

Fortunately, Liu Futong was now observing the situation of the imperial court and Gaoyou. He didn't have much time to pay attention to Han Lin'er's harem. So of course, he didn't know that there was such an insignificant person. And as this was an unimportant official position Liu Liu was asking for, he readily approved it.

In this way, An Laosi went from a minor official to a proper official, and completed a two-level jump in official ranks.

And most importantly, Liu Liu asked him to contact Hong Xiu.

Taking off the shell of the so-called benevolent talent scout, Liu Liu wanted something very simple. He wanted to get close to Han Lin'er.

Liu Liu was able to reach the position of Ping Zhang Yuanshi, and he had never been troubled by Liu Futong, because he was good at judging the situation.

But now Liu Liu had other ideaswas it possible for him to become the second Liu Futong? Could he hold up against Liu Futong and take a share of the imperial power from Han Lin'er?

After An Laosi came to his side, he practically used all means to have Liu Liu and Liu Futong confront each other.

Liu Liu pretended not to care on the surface, but he also had his own plans and schemes in his heart.

He also knew that it was almost impossible to make a move against Liu Futong. Liu Futong's hands and eyes were everywhere.

But it was not difficult to be on equal standing with Liu Futong.

After all, there was still the emperor. The emperor would be willing to see two powerful officials fighting each other and restricting each other. So as long as he won the support of Han Lin'er, he was not without chance.

But with the example of Du Zundao, Liu Liu was also a little nervous.

Liu Futong had no magnanimity, he was jealous and couldn't tolerate others.

He regarded Han Lin'er as his possession, he controlled everything about Han Lin'er, and did not allow Han Lin'er to use anyone except himself.

An Laosi and Hong Xiu exchanged correspondence. Hong Xiu wrote in the manner of a simple little girl. For example, she wrote she was doing well in the palace, and that elder brother should not miss her. If elder brother misses her, it would be her sin.

There was no mention of Han Lin'er from beginning to end.

But Liu Liu was relieved.

If the lips were too loose, sometimes the news he had spent effort and thought to get would not be so valuable.

Hong Xiu was dealing with Han Lin'er in the palace. She would remind Han Lin'er from time to time that Han Shantong was the one who conquered this empire. Without Han Shantong, Liu Futong would be nothing.

She would say in Han Lin'er's arms: "Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven, and everything in the world belongs to the Son of Heaven."

It might not be of much use to say this once or twice, but when it was spoken more, Han Lin'er slowly began to feel that way too.

Yes, today's empire was conquered by his father. Without his father, where would Liu Futong be?

Now, he was the emperor, he should have supreme power and not just be willing to be someone else's puppet.

An Laosi hinted to Liu Liu that the time had come.

Liu Liu saw Han Lin'er alone while Liu Futong was not in Anfeng City. The two stayed in the study for almost a whole day, and even had meals delivered to the door by the waiter.

Hong Xiu was also not allowed to enter.

But so long as Liu Liu and Han Lin'er could reach an agreement, then Liu Futong would face a scene he would never expect after returning.

Liu Liu had real power, his own subordinates, and his own circle. He was not as careless as Du Zundao. He would not confront Liu Futong head-on when he had no strength.

In the following days, Han Lin'er's respect and affection for Liu Liu were needless to say, and officials of all ranks in the court all saw it in their eyes.

Although the emperor was a puppet, no matter what, Liu Futong needed the help of this puppet to issue government orders.

Now that Liu Futong was not here, Liu Liu had taken Liu Futong's place.

The people from the Liu Futong faction naturally had to find ways to deliver the news to Liu Futong.

But more people were still too unsure to place a bet at this time.

Placing a bet meant getting involved. If they won, then that was no problem, but if they lost, no one would pay the consequences for them.

But Liu Liu had his own way. Han Lin'er issued a few imperial edicts and replaced many positions originally occupied by the Liu Futong faction, including food reserves and weapons and munitions. These were the most important positions now. Whoever became in charge of these, then whoever had more say.

When Liu Futong came back, the overall situation was already determined. Liu Futong held the military power in his hand and he held the political power in his.

Each had their own advantages and disadvantages, and it was naturally best if a balance was found.

"Who does Liu Liu think he is?" Liu Futong cursed, "If it wasn't for me, could he have today?"

Liu Futong drank a cup of cold tea, calmed down gradually, and asked, "Why didn't you report me about the conspiracy between him and Han Lin'er?"

"A whole day!" Liu Futong threw the cup at the head of the kneeling man.

The man didn't dare to block or avoid, so he could only take the hit directly. His head was smashed and blood dripped down to his eye, but he didn't dare to reach out to wipe it. He knelt on the ground and said tremblingly, "Imperial Tutor please don't be angry! Imperial Tutor please don't be angry! That Liu Liu is just a dog that threatens based on the master's power, as long as you go to the emperor.."

Liu Futong: "I should go to Han Lin'er?"

He laughed angrily: "Let me tell you, even if I killed Liu Liu, I won't go to Han Lin'er."

"I go to him, but he won't listen to me, and then I go to kill Liu Liu, that would be a rebellion."

"I don't look for him, but kill the person directly, now that would be much easier."

"You go and call some people to prepare. In a few days, when we go to court, Liu Liu will be arrested and charged with a crime." Liu Futong, "Well? Hurry up! If you can't handle this little thing, what use do I have for you?!"

The man got up and ran out while still hunched over.

Liu Futong's anger was still unable to lessen.

He was not angry with Liu Liu, he was angry with Han Lin'er.

In the rebellion back then, Han Shantong died just after he opposed the Yuan imperial court. It was he who tried his best to protect Han Lin'er and help him become emperor. Liu Futong believed that he was not even as good to his own son as he was to Han Lin'er. He always considered for Han Lin'er, whether it was the imperial court or the harem, he took care of Han Lin'er meticulously.

He gave the throne to Han Lin'er!

What did Han Lin'er give him?

Taking advantage of his absence and then naming Du Zundao as the prime minister. Who was Du Zundao? He just had a belly of useless ink, only knowing to get power, and to act recklessly on the affairs of the army, yet Han Lin'er actually thought he was a good official?

Liu Futong really wanted to dig out Han Lin'er's eyeballs and let him see what was good and what was bad!

It difn't matter if people were stupid, what mattered was that this stupid person was the emperor!

Du Zundao died. He thought that Han Lin'er would stop for a few years. But the result? Liu Liu appeared.

Han Lin'er also personally issued several imperial decrees. When he was not there, there was no opposition in the imperial court. With the support from Liu Liu's faction, and added to Han Lin'er's firm attitude, when he came back, all the positions that should be changed had been changed.

The more Liu Futong thought of this, the colder his heart became.

He dedicated his life to the Han father and son pair for so many years, only to have suspicion sprout between the monarch and the minister in the end?

Han Lin'er was no longer willing to listen to him.

Han Lin'er wanted to control imperial power by himself. He could kill Du Zundao, he could kill Liu Liu.

But he couldn't kill everyone in the imperial court.

So long as he and Han Lin'er were not of one mind, others could always take advantage of it.

Liu Futong took a deep breath and felt a little lost.

He had done so much, yet Han Lin'er still didn't believe him nor respected him. If one day he lost power, he didn't want to know what Han Lin'er would do to him. Boiling the hound once it caught the rabbit might be his final fate (TN: to get rid of sb once he has served his purpose).

But to have him deal with Han Lin'er and sit on the throne himself, Liu Futong couldn't do it.

He admired and respected Han Shantong to such an extent, so how could he take his son's seat?

AN: From Han Lin'er's perspective: "I am the emperor, but I have no real power. I am oppressed by officials, and I want to take back the power that belongs to me."

From Liu Futong's point of view: "Han Lin'er is a fool, and if the power is given to him everyone will be finished, so I have to guard it for him."

Each has their own reason and each has their own version of justice.

One's views are shaped by one's circumstances.