"Right hand?"

Li Qi smiled bitterly and laughed at himself: "Your Majesty, how can traitors like Qin Hui and I have the nerve to say that we are the Emperor's right-hand men? If the Emperor is making a mockery of us, I will think this is a very good satire.↖"

"No, I am not sarcastic at all." Zhao Kai shook his head, "As for Qin Hui, there is no doubt about his ability. With him, he can help me deal with many difficult problems. It's a pity that this person is too ambitious.

, and cannot tolerate others.”

Having said this, he smiled and then continued: "If you are here, we can work together to suppress him so that he does not dare to mess around. But if you leave, Zheng Yi and Mao Shu will not be his opponents."

, then I will have no choice but to get rid of him, but this is easy to say, but very difficult to do. Qin Hui is too smart. He is very eager for power, but at the same time, he knows that too much power may lead to death.

, so he has been working hard to manage his power. He has power in all major states and counties across the country, and he has also won the support of many people, especially those Confucian scholars. It is not difficult for me to kill him, but once I attack him

If he picks up the butcher's knife, he will definitely kill a lot of people. Killing innocent people indiscriminately is inevitable. I'm afraid there will be another bloody storm in the country. This is the last thing I want to see, because I have experienced it once and don't want to do it again.

This is the second time, so on the premise that you leave, it is undoubtedly the best result for me for him to leave in this way."

Li Qi gently turned the tea cup, "That is to say, if I leave alone, the emperor will immediately pick up the butcher's knife against Qin Hui."

Zhao Kai nodded without any hesitation.

Although the emperor has supreme power, he cannot kill anyone he wants, especially those at the prime minister level. If the prime minister has too much power, he will be his accomplices in the court and in the court, and he will also have the support of the people. Once you use the butcher's knife, you will be killed.

The situation may immediately get out of control. Qin Hui's wings are not full yet. If Li Qi leaves, Qin Hui's power will increase a lot. By then, if Zhao Kai comes to deal with Qin Hui again, even if he is the emperor, he will probably be tied up.

, so once Li Qi leaves, Zhao Kai will immediately drive Qin Hui out of the government and the public, because he knows Qin Hui too well.

"As for your words."

Zhao Kai continued: "Let's put it this way. If Qin Hui left, I would never touch you."

Li Qi was flattered and said: "Your Majesty's words sound a bit hypocritical!"

"No matter how hypocritical you are, I can't compare to you." Zhao Kai cursed with a smile and suddenly sighed, "What do you think of my father?"

The Supreme Emperor? This guy won't settle old accounts with me, right? Li Qi was stunned for a moment and said cautiously: "The Supreme Emperor is very smart, but he is not used in the right place. In other words, he is not suitable to be an emperor at all. He is more suitable to be a wanderer."

The prince who plays with mountains and rivers, in that case, at least he can go to the south of the Yangtze River to view the granite at any time instead of transporting the granite to Bianjing."

The implication is that he is still criticizing Song Huizong.

Zhao Kai didn't understand and smiled. "On the eve of my taking the throne, I talked with my father for a whole night. During this conversation, my father mentioned you many times. Do you know how my father is?

Evaluate yours?"

Damn! It's definitely not a nice thing to say! Li Qi smiled and said: "Actually, to be honest, I am indeed sorry for the Supreme Emperor. I understand this in my heart, but even if I am given another chance, I will definitely choose this way. After all, fish and bears

You can’t have it both ways.”

Zhao Kai chuckled: "So, do you think that your father must be speaking ill of you?"

"Isn't it?"

Li Qi looked at Zhao Kai in astonishment.

Zhao Kai shook his head and sighed: "My father told me that as an emperor, you can be credulous or partial, but you can never believe everything. Therefore, whether it is Taishi Cai, Wang Fu, Cai You, Liang Shicheng, Tong Guan and others,

My father may occasionally believe their words, but he has never fully believed in them. From the beginning to the end, they are just pawns in the hands of his father. They have never threatened his imperial power for even a moment, but

, My father has only trusted one person, and this is you, so that’s why the coup happened. But even so, my father told me that you are the only one who can trust the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty, and I trust you without reservation.

You will gain a stronger Song Dynasty."

Li Qi was surprised, "Your Majesty, are you trying to fool me?"

"It's already here, do I still need to fool you?"

Zhao Kai rolled his eyes and said: "However, my father didn't say the reason, but I still believe what my father said, because my father believed in you at the beginning. Although he lost the throne, it was he who was so devoted.

Believe in you, we can defeat the Jin Army, right? You are indeed different, so when I learned that you wanted to go to Japan to become king on your own, I did not use the knife on you, but asked you to be honest. Until now, it is still the case,

I still believe in you very much."

Li Qi smiled playfully and said, "Isn't it because war is imminent? In order to fight against foreign aggression, we must first settle down at home?"

Zhao Kai was stunned for a moment and said with a wry smile: "There are some reasons for this, but not all. In fact, if you can change your mind at this moment, I can pretend that none of this has ever happened."

Li Qi was stunned for a long time, then lowered his head and smiled bitterly, saying: "Your Majesty, you know me. Once I decide something, I will not change it. I'm sorry."

Zhao Kai said slightly excitedly: "Why, now we have just defeated the Jin Kingdom and recovered the Hetao. Our Song Dynasty Empire has just begun. In the next ten years, the Song Dynasty will develop to an unimaginable level. What is your contribution to this?

Of course, you have sacrificed so much, why would you choose to leave at this moment when you are about to reap the rewards? This is really puzzling to me."

Li Qi smiled and said: "Your Majesty, you have to retire after success. This is just a lie to children. Success is like a bear's paw, and retirement is like a fish. You can't have both. If I want to choose to leave, I must choose to work hard."

Before anything happens. Yes, I know that the emperor trusts me very much, and I am very grateful for this. But this is just the emperor at this moment. Ten years from now, twenty years from now, thirty years from now, who can guarantee that the emperor will still trust me fully at that time?

Who can guarantee that I will still be loyal to the emperor at that time?

No one can guarantee it.

If I were just one person, maybe I would choose to stay, but no, I still have my family. You know, in my heart, Da Song and my family have always been the most important. I have devoted ten years to

During this period, I missed a lot. I didn’t see Zhengxi speak for the first time, nor did I see Zhengxi walk for the first time. My daughter even became very withdrawn because of me as her father.

I owe them this, so I have to make it up to them.

Maybe in the eyes of many people, my reform was very successful, but they didn't know that I also offended many people. Most of the scholar-bureaucrats and big families hated me to the core, but now that I have great power, they dare to be angry.

I dare not say anything, so I can only obey, but I will always die. Once I die, or I no longer have power, they will definitely not let my descendants go, because it was my reforms that made them lose their most precious things.

power. It was the new law that transferred their benefits to the people. It was the new law that deposed the exclusive respect for Confucianism.

Why Qin Hui was able to gain the support of many scholar-bureaucrats in a very short period of time? It’s not because Qin Hui is so powerful, but because they hate me so much. They just didn’t show it for the time being. Once it breaks out, even I can’t imagine the consequences, and neither can you, Emperor.

I know that these scholar-bureaucrat families are very powerful, and they have a deep foundation. Some families are even inherited from the Han Dynasty. This is something I cannot have.

Moreover, since ancient times, those who have reformed the law have achieved many successes, but the law often survives, and most people do not end well.

I remember that during our last conversation, Your Majesty asked me when I planned to go to Japan. I didn’t tell you at the time, but I can tell you now that since the Emperor adopted my new method, I have already started making preparations for leaving.

I had planned it, but I hadn’t chosen Japan yet. Why my new method was so successful was because I had no scruples. I wasn’t afraid that those big families would come to settle accounts with me. Anyway, I didn’t plan to stay here long, so I tried my best to do it.

Direct the hatred in their hearts to me and make them feel that all this is caused by me and has nothing to do with the Emperor or the Supreme Emperor."

Having said this, he chuckled and said: "Your Majesty should know me very well. My biggest characteristic is that I am prepared for danger in times of peace. What I fear most is that my relatives are in danger, and I will never give the comfort of my relatives to others or others.

God will decide. Although I cannot guarantee that after my death, my relatives will be safe for generations to come, but with my character, I will definitely help them do this as much as possible, and the safest way is---.

"

Zhao Kai was the first to say: "I will be the emperor myself."

Li Qi nodded and said: "Yes, whether you believe it or not, Your Majesty, in fact, I personally am very resistant to the Emperor. Once I am asked to shoulder this responsibility, it will be difficult for me to take it off. I will be walking on thin ice every day."

, I am afraid that maybe when I am forty years old, I will be as old as I am when I am seventy years old. This kind of life is not what I want. What I hope is to be safe, free, and enjoy breakfast every morning with my family.

time, until death, instead of having to go to the street to buy two steamed buns before dawn, and then rush to the palace to attend court. But the advantage of the emperor is that his destiny is in his own hands.

In addition, even if I stay in the Song Dynasty, what I have done is just the icing on the cake. I have already done what I should do. The new method has matured and has reached a bottleneck period. But if I want to break through this bottleneck, it does not depend on what I can do.

What, it depends on the emperor and the people."

Zhao Kai narrowed his eyes and said, "How do you say this?"

Li Qi chuckled: "The emperor is a smart man, how could he not see that, whether it is military, economic, or institutional, the new law has reached a critical point. Since ancient times, no one's reform can break through this critical point, because

This critical point is the imperial power. If the new law continues, it will endanger the imperial power. Qin Hui never fights an unprepared battle. Since he has planned to destroy the new law, he has a 70% certainty of doing so. He

What is the reason? The reason is that he also sees that continuing to promote the new law will definitely harm the imperial power. I don’t know what you will think, Your Majesty, but he must have expected that the Emperor will take measures to prevent this in order to protect the imperial power.

Then give him an opportunity to take advantage of it. It is not impossible to return to solemn Confucianism. If Qin Hui stays, I believe he can abolish the new law.

Therefore, the emperor said that you trust me now, but once I stay, I will definitely promote the new law, and then I will challenge the imperial power on behalf of the new law. Unless the emperor compromises, otherwise, only one of us can stand in the court.

I don't think I will definitely lose, but once that time comes, if the two of us fight, it will always be the people who suffer. This will far exceed the harm caused to the people by the fight between Wang Anshi and Sima Guang, so I choose

leave."

Zhao Kai was silent for a long time, how could he not see this. He said: "Actually, I can also see that in the past three years, your new law has been on the edge of the cliff. Every time you make a presentation, other ministers can be surprised.

I broke out in a cold sweat, but you never crossed the line. Otherwise, I don't know what to do. The same is true now. I have been thinking about this problem, what should I do?"

Li Qi smiled and said: "Let nature take its course."

"Let nature take its course?"

Zhao Kai felt a little surprised.

Li Qi nodded and said: "Your Majesty, do you think the reason why I stopped here is just because I was worried about violating the imperial power?"

Zhao Kai said: "Isn't it?"

"Yes, but not entirely. This is just one of the very important reasons, but there is another reason."

"What?"

"Didn't I just say that apart from you, the emperor, we are the common people. The quality of our common people in the Song Dynasty is simply not enough to meet the requirements of continuing to comprehensively promote the new law." Li Qi shook his head and sighed. "Actually, about

I have thought about this issue for a long time, but in the process of reform, I found that no matter how brilliant the law is, it still needs people to implement it. As the same saying goes, if it is not expensive, it is the best and the most suitable for your talents.

It is the best. No matter how good the law is, it is useless if people's execution ability does not meet the requirements.

If a country is like a big tree. No matter how luxuriant the leaves are, it doesn't mean anything. A stable foundation is the key, and the foundation of a country is its people. A truly powerful country is not about how strong its military force is, nor how strong its military force is.
To be continued...