Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 295 - 218: A New Plan

Chapter 295: Chapter 218: A New Plan

Chu Ge’s words evidently baffled Liu Zhi’en.

"How should I conduct myself?"

"What can I do?"

"Could I possibly afford to offend Wen Jun?"

Liu Zhi’en was clearly aware of the current state of the Wude Bureau.

In the eyes of the common people, the Wude Bureau was a fearsome secret service organization, and getting involved with them meant immediate ruin for oneself and one’s family. But to top officials like Wen Jun and Wang Wenchuan, what was the Wude Bureau?

If the Wude Bureau dared trouble Wen Jun, it would be immediately attacked by the officials en masse and would not get away with it.

After all, the power of the Wude Bureau came from the Emperor, and even the Emperor himself had to be wary of these high-ranking officials to some extent.

In fact, as head of the Wude Bureau, Liu Zhi’en had long been aware that influential officials, including Wen Jun, had impeached him time and again.

But there was nothing he could do except silently endure it and continue his disreputable activities.

It was, however, the attitude of Wang Wenchuan at this moment that left him puzzled.

"What does this mean?"

"Could it be that Prime Minister Wang wants to stand up for me?"

"How could that be possible..."

In Liu Zhi’en’s view, even if Wang Wenchuan was at odds with Wen Jun, they were essentially birds of a feather.

Scholars of integrity took pleasure in each other’s company.

Their loud disputes were merely due to differing political views.

No matter what, as head of the Wude Bureau, he was at the very bottom of the disdain hierarchy.

But what followed confirmed Liu Zhi’en’s suspicions and left him utterly shocked.

Chu Ge slightly smiled, "Master Liu, what if I, the Prime Minister, assured you that I could eliminate those people, letting your Wude Bureau exist securely and indefinitely?"

Liu Zhi’en couldn’t help but be alarmed, "Prime Minister Wang, mind your words! The Wude Bureau is directly subordinate to the royal family, dare not..."

Chu Ge interrupted him, "Master Liu, do you think the royal family asked you to come to me for no reason? This matter is not just my wish; it’s also the will of the royal family."

Liu Zhi’en’s eyes widened, and for a moment, he was unable to accept it.

Clearly, he had never imagined that his Wude Bureau could someday play such a significant role...

Chu Ge couldn’t help feeling proud internally, as this step in his plan seemed smoothly executed.

The conflict between the Wude Bureau and people like Wen Jun was evidently irreconcilable.

When the Wude Bureau was established, it was a secret service agency directly under the Emperor. For bureaucrats like Wen Jun, they inherently feared such an agency that monitored them constantly.

Furthermore, due to the Wude Bureau’s mismanagement resulting in rampant law-breaking and discipline decay, it was unacceptable to these supposedly virtuous scholars.

In sum, they wished the Emperor would abolish the Wude Bureau, the sooner the better.

For those in the Wude Bureau, once it was abolished, not only could they lose their jobs, but they might also be held accountable for prior lawlessness.

Cutting off one’s livelihood was akin to killing one’s parents.

How could they not hate people like Wen Jun?

The conflict between the two parties was fundamentally irreconcilable.

Originally, the Wude Bureau had done nothing because the gap in strength between the two parties was too great. If even the Emperor couldn’t do much to these scholars, what could the Wude Bureau, as the Emperor’s tool, do?

And the original Wang Wenchuan felt the same about the Wude Bureau as Wen Jun did.

He too had no regard for this secret service organization.

But Chu Ge, acting as Wang Wenchuan, had already resolved to be a powerful minister, thus to him the Wude Bureau could be a valuable asset.

He wanted to firmly tie the Emperor and the Wude Bureau to his own ship.

For the Emperor, he could use power to win him over; for the Wude Bureau, buying them off would be even easier.

Chu Ge was sure that if someone captured his current expression, he would definitely resemble a great villain.

Because the words he spoke to Liu Zhi’en would shock anyone who heard them.

He demanded that Liu Zhi’en secretly collect evidence of all officials’ illegal activities. This included not just evidence of corruption and bribery but all material that could legitimately bring down an official, including conduct issues.

And he emphasized that this meant all officials.

Including those from the old faction and from the new faction.

And all this material would be fully presented to the Emperor.

Because Chu Ge was certain that Liu Zhi’en ultimately sided with the Emperor; he couldn’t allow Liu Zhi’en to selectively report to the Emperor.

By presenting all material to the Emperor, there were at least three benefits.

First was to prove his undivided loyalty to the Emperor, reinforcing the feeling that everything was in the Emperor’s control;

Second was to offer black material from both the new and old factions simultaneously, further diluting his involvement in factional conflicts;

Third was to get the Emperor to taste blood and become addicted. Once the Emperor realized that he could actually control the fates of many officials, it would become much easier for Chu Ge to influence him.

Additionally, Chu Ge required Liu Zhi’en to find a way to discipline his subordinates, either by purging the lawbreakers or by internal reform, in short, to suppress the Wude Bureau’s lawlessness and unwarranted arrests within a certain time frame.

Because Chu Ge knew well that the old faction would not sit idly by, they would attack the Wude Bureau with even harsher measures, demanding its abolition by the Emperor.

But if by that time the Wude Bureau had a somewhat cleaner slate, the Emperor could easily save them.

At the very least, he would not be put at a significant disadvantage.