Chapter 927 Gu Clan Consolidates Power, Storm Clouds Gather

In the cabinet office, the sound of discussions continuously resonated.

Gu Qing’s expression was extremely serious.

Looking at the crowd before him, he seemed to have countless words to say but didn’t know how to express them.

Gu Hui’s arrangements gave him confidence in the cabinet, yet it couldn’t prevent the decline caused by his insufficient ability, which was inevitable.

Elder Chen Kang’s stubbornness stemmed from absolute preservation of existing order and avenues of wealth; Yu Yunwen’s caution came from a profound understanding of military risks and the mindset of frontier generals; Tang Situi’s roundabout thinking was rooted in the moral superiority of the scholar-officials and their instinctual disdain for "Wu Gong".

As for Qian Duanli’s cunning, it was merely a lubricant maintaining a superficial balance among various forces with the tacit approval of imperial power.

He felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

This wasn’t a conflict of ideas, but an iron curtain of interests and inertia.

Gu Hui could break the situation with thunderous means because it was a chaotic time just set, his prestige unparalleled, with absolute power to reshape the world and a clear blueprint in hand.

Now, after a long period of peace and prosperity, interests have become deeply rooted, and any attempt to destabilize balance will provoke countless sensitive nerves.

His title as Patriarch of the Gu Clan and Grand Tutor felt so thin in the face of genuine interest weighing.

....

Walking out the palace gate, dusk had thickened.

The streets of Yingtian Prefecture were still bustling, lights gradually lighting up, tavern aromas drifting, string and bamboo music faintly heard, presenting a scene of peace and prosperity.

Yet this prosperity at present seemed to Gu Qing like a layer of exquisite glazed shell, beneath which were turbulent undercurrents of crisis and complacent decay.

He declined invitations from colleagues, nor did he take a carriage, bringing only an old personal servant, he walked silently along the imperial street towards the Champion Marquis Mansion.

Inside the mansion, the ancestral hall was brightly lit.

Gu Qing did not return to the study but came directly here.

Amid the curling incense smoke, the tablets of ancestors stood solemnly and silently, as if watching him without a word.

The words "Wenzhong" on Gu Hui’s tablet shone like a flame under the candlelight.

Gu Qing knelt on the prayer mat, his forehead lightly touching the cold ground, a mix of frustration, anxiety, and unwillingness surging in his heart.

He was not only the Grand Tutor but also the Patriarch of the Gu Clan, bearing the ancestral foundation and the hidden worries of the world, yet at this moment, he was in a dilemma.

"Father?" A steady voice sounded from behind him.

Gu Qing paused slightly, not getting up immediately.

He knew who it was.

Gu Yan, his eldest son, the member of the family in this generation who was not prominent in reputation but was the most diligent and steadfast child.

After a moment, he slowly straightened up, without turning back, his voice tired: "Yan’Er, you came too."

Gu Yan walked to his father’s side, also looking at those silent tablets, speaking softly: "I felt some confusion inside, so I came to find some peace."

"Seeing father here..." he paused, feeling the heaviness in the air, "Is it because of the matter at the Northern Border, the court discussion was not smooth?"

Gu Qing gave a bitter laugh, briefly describing the daytime cabinet debate, and in the end, sighed: "...Am I truly old?"

"Or has this world already grown so comfortable in affluence that it cannot tolerate harsh words?"

"The threat of Temujin is close at hand, yet all they see are the immediate silver gains from river transport, the wastage at the border, and the empty talks of the Saint!"

Gu Yan listened silently, without much surprise on his face.

Since experiencing that enlightening transformation, his insight into the situation far surpassed before.

He waited for his father’s emotions to slightly calm before slowly speaking, his voice clear and steady: "Father, since the court’s path is temporarily blocked, is it that we, the Gu Clan, can only sit idly by?"

Gu Qing turned his head, looking at his son.

Under the candlelight, Gu Yan’s face remained handsome, yet those eyes were unusually bright and calm, seemingly containing depth and power beyond his age.

This change made Gu Qing slightly puzzled, but at the moment, amidst tumultuous emotions, he did not delve deeply.

"What thoughts does my son have? Without the court’s decree, acting on border affairs is a major taboo; our Gu Clan, though with some foundation, cannot bear the crime of ’arbitrarily initiating border conflicts’."

"Father," Gu Yan turned around, facing his father, his gaze direct yet resolute, "When our ancestor Duke Wen Zhong implemented new policies back then, what was the foundation?"

"It did not rely entirely on a mere decree but on ’power’—on the overseas routes accumulated by our Gu Clan, the Ryukyu navy, the network of schools spread across the world, public prestige, the incense camaraderie with the remnants of the Yue Family Army, and even...the gap in the Imperial Censorate that could ’directly petition to be heard by the heavens’.

"These are the ’swords’ left by our ancestors, as well as the ’shields’."

He stepped closer, lowering his voice, yet each word was clear, "The court doesn’t want to fight due to too many entanglements."

"But we, the Gu Clan, are different."

"If the Northern Border collapses, the commercial route lifeline, is tied to our Gu Clan;

"The future possible collapse of the nation’s foundation is also laid with the assistance of our ancestors."

"For our Gu Clan, this is not a war of choice, but a battle for survival, there is no retreat."

Gu Qing’s eyes focused: "You mean..."

"Gather strength." Gu Yan uttered two words, carrying a metallic tone in the silence of the ancestral hall, "Gather the scattered latent strength of our Gu Clan, to act in defense of home and country, filling the gaps left by the court."

His detailed analysis, so meticulous in thought, made Gu Qing secretly astonished:

"Firstly, under the guise of ’protecting commercial routes and clearing increasingly rampant pirates’, secretly instruct the Ryukyu navy to deploy elite fast ships, making northern patrols in the Bohai Sea and the waters of Deng-Lai.

"Controlling key waterways not only allows monitoring of movements in Liaodong but can also, when necessary, become channels for transporting elite forces, supplying frontier towns, and even blocking potential grassland sea exits."

"Secondly, use the family’s overseas network and ’Cao Sea General Control Department’s’ internal old relations, under the pretext of ’increased risks in northern trade requiring adjustments for risk aversion’, to secretly influence, or even partially control, the flow of salt and iron, tea and cloth, luxury goods to the core tribes of the grasslands."