Li Longji knows more than anyone else about what kind of person Li Linfu is.

Of course, Gu Qing also understood Li Longji's thoughts. When he asked Gu Qing about Li Linfu, he actually didn't want to hear what Li Linfu wanted to do, but his consideration of Gu Qing.

Li Linfu was in power for 19 years, and the king and his ministers fell in love and killed each other for a long time. The topic of "forming a clique" mentioned by Gu Qing is strictly speaking a tacit understanding reached by Li Longji and Li Linfu.

Li Linfu needed to form a clique to consolidate the power of the prime minister, and Li Longji needed to form cliques in the court to separate factions to facilitate his balance between the left and right.

The monarchs and ministers of the Tang Dynasty had not yet tasted the bitter fruits. In this era, forming cliques was regarded as a status quo where the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.

In the middle of the Tang Dynasty, it was the world of aristocratic families. The family was actually a deep-seated formation. Wu Zetian weakened the family's forces and vigorously promoted the scientific examination. The poor students had the opportunity to leap the dragon gate, but the forces of the family still existed. Now most of the ministers who can stand in the court are from aristocratic families.

For example, Li Linfu is Li Longji's distant relative, the fifth generation grandson of Li Hu, the Emperor Taizu of Tang, and Li Guangbi, who seemed careless, actually came from the Li family in Liucheng and also ranked as the general Guo Ziyi. He was born in the Guo family in Taiyuan and was a descendant of Guo Guangyi, a Guanglu doctor in the Han Dynasty.

All the officials and ministers of the court came from family families, and there were inseparable connections and grudges between family families, so forming cliques was inevitable. Therefore, Li Longji adopted a tacit attitude towards forming cliques in the court. This was not stupid, but knew that it could not be stopped. So he took advantage of the situation and simply used court officials to form cliques to achieve his goal of balancing the court.

The emperor acquiesced to form cliques for balance, the court officials are for self-interest, but the prime minister is a disaster.

Gu Qing’s evaluation of Li Linfu was actually what he said in his heart.

In his previous life, he only served as a company leader and never governed the country. But he still understands the truth. In his previous life, he saw other companies forming small groups and hills. Such companies often do not survive for a long time. They are overly indifferent to their own affairs, and they are abolishing the public because of their own private interests. Everyone is intriguing for the interests of the small collective. After internal friction, it is inevitable that they will go bankrupt.

The Tang Dynasty is almost the same now. Flowers are full of brocade, fire is cooking oil, and the infinite glory is already in danger. The court struggles, the governors are self-respecting, the powerful and the land is enclosing, the number of refugees is increasing, the army is getting angry, the emperor is in a mess, the court has no ministers, etc., there are too many problems.

When each problem is looked at separately, it is actually a small problem. However, if so many small problems are added together, they only need to be gently pushed by external forces. After many small problems break out, they will be irrescueable big problems.

Li Longji did not see this. He immersed himself in a gentle village to compose his "Rich Shop and Feathered Clothes". The powerful people did not see it. They were busy occupying land and buying property. The court officials did not see it. They were busy fighting for fame and fortune, and even the people at the bottom did not see it. They thought this prosperous era could last for many years.

Everyone was drunk, Gu Qing was awake alone.

Unfortunately, when Gu Qing evaluated Li Linfu's words, Li Longji's reaction was only two words, "Haha".

He was very sincere and could tell that he was also heartless, but Gu Qing knew that Li Longji did not agree.

The emperor's attitude determines the loyalty and treason of his subjects. If it were Taizong Li Shimin, when the emperor and his subjects reported the case, even if they did not agree with the minister's words, Taizong's attitude would be solemn and humble.

Li Longji's acting skills are obviously not as good as Emperor Taizong.

"What Gu Qing said is reasonable, haha, reasonable." Li Longji gently stroked his green beard and smiled, saying, "Li Xiang has made contributions and deeds in his life, but his 'deeds' are not forming cliques."

Gu Qing smiled and said, "Yes, Your Majesty really sees further than me. My evaluation of Li Xiang is just a childish whisper, very childish, which makes Your Majesty laugh."

For stubborn people, never argue with them. In short, everything he says is right. Gu Qing learned this truth in his previous life.

Li Longji was in a better mood. The problems and troubles brought to him by Li Linfu's death have gradually faded. After a powerful minister died, the court will still operate as usual. As for the problems and troubles that followed, it will be solved slowly.

"Gu Qing, follow me to walk on the mountain again. It's already dark. It's okay for our monarchs to look for plum blossoms on the moon."

Gao Lishi said in embarrassment: "Your Majesty, this place is a mountain road. It has not yet been paved with the way out. It is difficult to see at night. The mountain road is rugged and difficult to walk. If your Majesty loses it..."

Li Longji waved his hand and said, "It's okay, just let the Yulin Guard light a torch. The terrain of Mount Li is not steep, and even if you fall down, it's okay."

After saying that, Li Longji walked up the mountain first. Gu Qing and Gao Lishi looked at each other and had no choice but to follow him helplessly.

…………

The night in the mountains is particularly cold, with the north wind whistling by, the desolate tree trunks trembling and making sharp roars, as if a group of evil ghosts screaming in the night sky on earth.

In a small valley halfway up the mountain, Brother Zhao and two other escapees were huddled by a natural tree pit. The three of them hugged each other tightly, trembling as cold as three sluts.

"Brother Zhao, I really can't stand it anymore. Let's make a fire to keep warm..." A escaped worker said sadly.

Brother Zhao's eyes were colder than the cold wind, and he scolded: "What nonsense! We are fugitives. Do you think it's time to farm at home and find a pile of firewood to make a fire? At night, the fires at the foot of the mountain will inevitably come to the prison and the guards at the foot of the mountain to follow the fires and take us at least for exile for thousands of miles."

Another man said in a crying voice: "But if this continues, we will be frozen to death..."

Brother Zhao said coldly: "Then you have to endure it. You have finally escaped. You can't stand this little bit of suffering. The consequences are worse than now by the officers and soldiers."

"Brother Zhao, you said that we would escape from Mount Li when it gets dark. It's already dark, why don't we leave?"

Brother Zhao shook his head and said, "When you run away late at night, the officers and soldiers did not go to bed at this time, and the guards were still tight, so there was little hope of escaping."

The three of them were whispering, and suddenly one of them found someone walking on the mountain road not far away from them. The distance was very close and they could be heard faintly. Most of the crowd was dressed by Yulin Guard officers and soldiers. The two leaders were wearing regular clothes, while the other young man was wearing official clothes.

The three people hiding in the valley were shocked, especially when they saw the Yulin Guards, the three people became more and more frightened.

"Has we finally discovered the case of our escape from prison? So we sent officers and soldiers to the mountain to capture us..." said a man with a look of earth.

"It must be so, otherwise why would these soldiers go up the mountain when it gets dark?" The other person was so scared that he trembled all over.

Brother Zhao was the most calm. He lowered his body quietly, quietly approached, looked at the Yulin Guard on the mountain road carefully, and became more and more frightened the more he looked at it.

Although Brother Zhao is the most thoughtful and courageous among the three, he is just a civilian who escaped from corvee service. Before corvee service, he was just an ordinary farmer in the countryside. He was far from competent, regardless of his knowledge or character.

After seeing the Yulin Guard on the mountain road, Brother Zhao immediately made the most correct judgment he thought was.

These officers and soldiers were indeed here to capture them. The beasts were so vicious. The three of them just fled the corvee service, and they didn't raise troops to rebel. Can they use such a large formation to capture us?

"Brother Zhao, let's run! It would be too late if you don't run!"

Brother Zhao's muscles on his cheeks twitched slightly, looking like a desperate beast falling into a hunter's trap, with his expression and eyes becoming more and more fierce.

"It's too late! Since the officers and soldiers have already come up the mountain to capture us, I guess there are officers and soldiers guarding us at the foot of the mountain, so it's a dead end for us to escape down the mountain." Brother Zhao said in despair.

"What should I do? If I had known this, I would rather not escape. I was innocent of a crime. I don't know if I would be beheaded by the government after being held..."

Brother Zhao tried hard to recover his calmness. After taking a few deep breaths, he said slowly: "I don't know what you think, but I will definitely not go back to the construction site to work. I will die sooner or later stay on the construction site. It's better to fight for my life. If I can escape tonight, we will be reborn, and there are a lot of ways to live outside waiting for us."

The other two looked hesitant. In fact, after seeing the officers and soldiers on the mountain road, the two of them wanted to run out and surrender themselves. However, Brother Zhao's words seemed to make some sense. After surrendering, they might be exiled thousands of miles and spend the rest of their lives in that barren land. They might not be punished, but they still have to work on the construction site until they are exhausted.

After hesitating for a long time, the two looked at each other, then gritted their teeth and said, "Let's listen to Brother Zhao, we can do whatever you say."

Brother Zhao was immediately full of confidence. He suddenly felt that he was born as a leader, and it was not an exaggeration to say that he was a talented person.

"It is not difficult to avoid the group of officers and soldiers on the mountain road. What is difficult is the officers and soldiers guarding the mountain. If we want to escape, we must first disintegrate the officers and soldiers guarding the mountain and make them mess up, so that we can escape down the mountain." Brother Zhao said confidently.

"How to disintegrate the officers and soldiers at the foot of the mountain?"

Brother Zhao smiled: "When I was young, I heard an old scholar in the village tell a story called "surrounding Wei to save Zhao". I can't remember what the story originally looked like. In short, it was to let the enemy on this end be in chaos first, and then attract the enemy on the other end to come and rescue him. In this way, the other end was empty, and we just took the opportunity to escape down the mountain."

Another man said carefully: "Isn't this story... supposed to be called 'Tug the tiger away from the mountain'?"

With a muffled bang, Brother Zhao successfully maintained his leadership authority with his fists.

"Are there any questions?"

"Brother Zhao, what should I do?"

Brother Zhao stood up and looked at the positions and approximate numbers of the officers and soldiers on the mountain road. After a flash of eyes, he squatted down for some reason and picked up a yellow fallen leaf from the ground. He folded his fingers gently, and the yellow leaves were simply broken into two pieces.

Slightly throw half of the fallen leaves on your hand, and the fallen leaves drift in the other direction with the wind.

"Brother Zhao, what are you doing?"

Brother Zhao's confidence grew stronger and stronger. Zhizhu smiled faintly as if he was holding it, and said, "Let's set fire to the mountains!"

The other two said in surprise: "Why use fire?"

"The winter is dry and there is no rain for many days. The fallen leaves on the ground are paved with a thick layer. In addition, the north wind is blowing at this time. The wind is heading south. When the soldiers continue to walk up the mountain, we will pile up trees behind them to ignite, cut off their way, and then separate one person from the woods to walk up the mountain, and also ignite them in front of them, cutting off their way forward. The front and back sides were cut off, and the group of officers and soldiers were surrounded by fire, so they trapped them tightly. The fire broke out on the mountain, and the officers and soldiers at the foot of the mountain would definitely send troops to rescue them after seeing it..."

"There is a chaos on the mountain and the soldiers are busy saving themselves. How can they catch us again? We will have the chance to escape." Brother Zhao thought about it and felt that his idea was simply wonderful.

The other two had less knowledge than Brother Zhao, and immediately praised him: "Brother Zhao is smart, it's true that you are following you."

Brother Zhao pointed to one of them and said, "You immediately walk through the woods and ignite the fire in front of the group of officers and soldiers. You should carefully stare at the situation here. Once you see the fire here, you should also ignite the fire immediately, set fire at both ends, close the door and beat dogs, and don't believe that the officers and soldiers will not be in chaos!"

…………

Gu Qing and Li Longji walked very slowly, which was the normal pace of walking.

The two of them chatted while walking, and most of the people talking were Gu Qing. Li Longji was curious about the customs and peoples of the people. Gu Qing also intentionally or unintentionally hint at the sufferings of the people in front of Li Longji. So the two talked about the etiquette of marriage and funerals from the land crops among the people, from how much land they can get per capita, how much money they will be converted after the land harvest, and then calculated each other how much money they earned in a year can barely support a family of five...

All the conversations were very serious topics, and Gu Qing also cherished the opportunity to chat with Li Longji. The emperor became more and more stupid in his later years and hid in the palace and became addicted to alcohol and sex. In fact, someone needed to hint at him how difficult it was for the people among the people. I hope that he could awaken the ambitions of the emperor and let the people suffer less.

However, neither Gu Qing nor Li Longji expected that it was just an unusual evening walk and climbing mountain, but he actually suffered an accident.

After walking up the hillside of Mount Li, about two or three miles of mountain road, Gu Qing suddenly paused, and a shiny light in the distance immediately came into his eyes.

Li Longji also saw the light on the hillside ahead, frowned and said in a deep voice: "It's already night, who is setting fires on Mount Li? Are you not afraid of causing wildfires to harm the entire Mount Li?"

Gao Lishi, who followed behind, looked for a while, then he couldn't feel like he was looking back. Then Gao Lishi's face turned pale and he said in shock: "Your Majesty, someone sets fire, and the road at the foot of our mountain is also burning!"

Li Longji and Gu Qing were stunned for a moment, and then were shocked.

Li Longji said sternly: "Where is the Yulin Guard? Quickly divide the troops, two teams go to put out the fire, and then divide one team to report the news and dispatch troops at the foot of the mountain."

There were only more than a hundred people in the Yulin Guard at this time. If three teams were divided into each other according to Li Longji's will, there would be only twenty or thirty people left by Li Longji.

Gu Qing and Gao Lishi said in unison: "Your Majesty, no!"

Then the two looked at each other quickly, Gu Qing said with a serious expression: "These two fires are strange. I think it is not appropriate to divide the troops at this time. We should go down the mountain immediately. If the guards at the foot of the mountain see the fire on the mountain, they will come to rescue him without His Majesty's troops. The most important thing at this time is His Majesty's safety. If there are thieves who are busy assassinating Your Majesty, we will be trapped. The Yulin Guard must not divide the troops."

Gao Lishi nodded quickly.

Li Longji thought for a while and smiled admirably at Gu Qing: "The young man is meticulous and can bear great responsibility. I will listen to you."

After saying that, Li Longji ordered everyone to walk down the mountain.

Even Brother Zhao and the other two fires were not expected to be the final fire.

It is winter now, and there is no rain for many days in Chang'an. Whether it is the thick fallen leaves or the depressed forests on the mountain, they are extremely dry. A little spark can ignite it. In addition, the north wind is strong tonight, and the wind helps the fire. The fire takes advantage of the wind. Brother Zhao and his three ignite the fire at both ends. The fire can no longer be stopped. It instantly turned into a raging fire, illuminating half of the sky of Mount Li.

The Yulin Guards were serving Li Longji hurried down the mountain, but after walking a short distance, they found that the road down the mountain was blocked by fire.

What's even more terrible is that a strong north wind blew, and the blazing tongue of flames was blown away by the wind, instantly igniting the fallen leaves in the woods next to the mountain road.

The fallen leaves that accumulated for a whole autumn and winter were thick and dry. When they were a little fired, the fallen leaves immediately burned. Finally, the burning fallen leaves inevitably ignited the trees in the woods, and soon the whole forest burned.

Li Longji and others had to stop. Everyone looked anxious. Li Longji's face was still so pale and desperate under the light of the fire. He stood firmly in front of the fire, his body shaking.
Chapter completed!