Chen Ke read the content of the letter and spat out the force in his palm, shattering the letter in an instant. At the same time, he raised his head and looked at Xu Fang and said: "Brother Xu, since you ordered me to help you, then this time I will use Brother Xu as my
host."
Hearing Chen Ke speak, Xu Fang secretly breathed a sigh of relief. You must know that the order given to him by Li Huan this time was to let the Nanjing Jinyi Guards investigate the dignitaries and gentry in the city who had colluded with King Ning's rebels one by one.
Chu.
Although he had already suspected it, Xu Fang still felt great pressure from Li Huan's order.
You must know that although Nanjing Jinyiwei has plenty of manpower, if we really want to investigate all the powerful people who colluded with King Ning, to be honest, no matter how confident Xu Fang is in Jinyiwei's ability, he cannot guarantee this.
.
This time Li Huan even sent Chen Ke and some of the elite Jin Yiwei soldiers to help him, which also made Xu Fang a little worried.
After all, Chen Ke and he were both commanders of the Imperial Guard, and Chen Ke was also a close confidant of Li Huan. If Chen Ke competed with him, he really wouldn't know what to do.
Fortunately, Chen Ke was able to take the overall situation into consideration and had no intention of competing with him for power, which made Xu Fang secretly relieved. Here Chen Ke and Xu Fang were discussing how to deploy the spies that Jinyiwei had installed in Nanjing for so many years.
He began to monitor every move of the powerful and powerful people in the city.
At the same time, Xining Bo Zhao Tong, who quietly sneaked out of Nanjing, also returned to Nanjing with King Ning's promise.
In a luxurious garden, several figures are gathering in a pavilion. The pavilion is located in the center of a small lake, which can be called a pavilion in the middle of the lake.
This lake-center pavilion is surrounded by an artificial lake covering an area of several acres. Looking around, apart from this lake-center pavilion, there are no other human beings within a radius of several hundred feet.
These people chose to discuss matters in the pavilion in the middle of the lake, so they obviously didn't have to worry about being overheard.
Among these people, one of them was Xining Bo Zhao Tong who had gone to see King Ning not long ago.
If it were placed in other places, a hereditary uncle would naturally be the center of the crowd. It is a pity that the few people present are a bit more noble regardless of their status. So much so that Uncle Xining did not dare to do so among these people.
Even though he has the lowest status, he is still not ranked high.
At this time, the eyes of several people fell on Xining Bo Zhao Tong. A somewhat solemn expression could be seen among the five people present. Only one of them could be heard saying to Zhao Tong: "Zhao Tong, I don't know this."
How does King Fanning respond?"
The person who spoke was none other than Cui Ling, Marquis of Dingyang. As one of the deputy guards of Nanjing, Cui Ling could definitely be regarded as one of the most powerful figures in charge of the military and horse power in Nanjing.
You must know that Nanjing, as the remaining capital, was equipped with six ministries. In order to facilitate the control of Nanjing, the imperial court specially set up several important positions such as Nanjing garrison, Nanjing left-behind eunuchs, and counselors.
Among them, the most powerful ones are the Nanjing garrison and the Nanjing garrison eunuch. Which one is stronger or weaker depends on the power behind them.
Generally speaking, the garrison of Nanjing was filled with honors and nobles who stayed in Nanjing. It was said that the nobles were of the same lineage as the country and had won the trust of the royal family. In addition, the garrison eunuchs who were royal slaves could be said to be responsible for both sides.
Whichever side has the upper hand will not affect the imperial court's control over Nanjing, the remaining capital.
Needless to say, the current Nanjing garrison was from the lineage of Wei Guogong, the most noble family of the Ming Dynasty.
Although it is said that since the Jing Dynasty, the British lineage in the capital has been vaguely the leader of the nobles, but if we really want to talk about it, only the Xu Daxu family of Zhongshan King has produced two great princes.
There is Dingguo Duke Xu Guangzhao in the capital, and Wei Guogong Xu is in Nanjing. One is from the south and the other is from the north. There are two dukes in one gate. You can imagine how popular they are.
Duke Xu of Wei naturally won the trust of the royal family and served as the garrison of Nanjing, taking charge of the military power of Nanjing city.
Of course, being a garrison in Nanjing is not without constraints. After all, there are still ministers and counselors in the Ministry of War in Nanjing, and there are eunuchs left behind in Nanjing to monitor. Even if Wei Guogong Xu wants to mobilize Nanjing's troops, it will not be an easy task.
Cui Ling, Marquis of Dingyang, was qualified to serve as military counselor and was one of the deputies of Wei Duke Xu Yan.
After all, Wei Guogong Xu Pu was left in Nanjing and was the top noble of the Ming Dynasty. To a certain extent, he was more of a name and would not interfere with real affairs.
Therefore, some people were needed as Xu's deputies to help him handle various affairs. Needless to say, Dingyang Marquis Cui Ling, who was born in a noble family, won the trust of Wei Guogong and handed over part of the military power of Nanjing City to him.
Except for Dingyang Hou Cui Ling, the other nobles in the Huxin Pavilion also come from famous families, and their ancestors are all people with great military exploits.
However, over the past hundred years, the focus of the imperial court had already shifted to Beijing. The direct consequence was that the nobles who stayed in Nanjing were gradually squeezed out of the core class of the imperial court.
In comparison, those nobles who stayed in Nanjing seemed to be naturally inferior to those in Beijing.
Several eyes fell on Zhao Tong.
Facing Cui Ling's inquiry, Zhao Tong said with a serious face: "Everyone, King Ning promised us that as long as we help him win the city of Nanjing, he will not treat us badly when the time comes, and he will definitely do more to us.
When an official is promoted to a noble title, he is entrusted with important responsibilities."
As he spoke, Zhao Tong looked at Cui Ling and said, "The prince said that when the time comes, he will be crowned the new Duke of the Ming Dynasty. He will be hereditary and will retire with the country."
Cui Ling's eyes suddenly lit up and his breathing became a little quick. At the same time, Zhao Tong also informed the other people one by one of King Ning's promise to grant them. After hearing King Ning's promise to them, the reaction of several people was also like Cui Ling's.
generally.
It can be said that the few people who gathered here to discuss selling Nanjing City to Prince Ning can be seen that these people are not the kind of people who are willing to be mediocre and are all ambitious people.
Exhaling a breath, Cui Ling glanced at everyone and said: "Everyone, King Ning entered South Zhili all the way. It can be said that he encountered almost no resistance. This alone can be seen that the imperial court has lost people's hearts. If we can help
If Prince Ning obtains a great treasure, he will surely be prosperous and wealthy in the future."
Yongchang Bo Maoqing's eyes flashed with a strange look and said: "Nowadays, female officials in the court are in power, the emperor is incompetent, and under the New Deal, the people's support has been lost. Now there is Prince Ning who has inherited the destiny. Our actions are in compliance with the destiny. Lords
By participating in this grand event together, our name will surely go down in history and be praised by future generations."
There was a bit of joyful smile on everyone's face.
It can be said that they dared to stand up at this time, didn't they just want to give it a try? Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the reason why Prince Ning was able to enter South Zhili so smoothly was precisely the consequences of the imperial court's implementation of the New Deal.
Under this situation, there are countless people in the world who are secretly watching the general trend of the world. Those top nobles and officials may not be in a hurry to place bets.
But for Yongchang Bo, Xining Bo, Dingyang Hou and other distinguished nobles who really want to regain the glory of their ancestors, naturally they cannot imitate those top noble houses. The only way to do this is to
The only thing is to bet on King Ning first when others are not betting. If King Ning can finally win the world, then they will be the ministers of Conglong, and they will surely soar to the sky in the future.
Of course, if King Ning fails, what awaits them will definitely be the confiscation of their families and the extermination of their clans.
If the New Deal had not disturbed the hearts of the people in the world, even if King Ning rebelled, nobles such as Yongchang Bo, Xining Bo, and Dingyang Hou would never have any dissent.
But things are different now. The emergence of the New Deal allowed Cui Ling and others to see a glimmer of possibility for King Ning's rebellion to succeed, which fueled their ambitions.
Yongchang Bo Maoqing's eyes fell on Dingyang Hou and said: "Brother Cui, I don't know where Wei Guogong is."
Hearing this, Cui Ling's eyes flashed with disdain and said, "That old fox has been hiding behind closed doors since he learned about Prince Ning's rebellion. Most people really can't guess what he is planning."
When Zhao Tong and others heard this, their expressions changed slightly.
If you really want to talk about it, Wei Guogong Xu Pu's influence in Nanjing is not comparable to those of them.
As a stay-at-home man in Nanjing, and also as the nominal head of Nanjing's nobility, it can be said that if Xu Deng raises his voice, he will definitely be able to attract a large number of people.
In other words, if Xu made up his mind to hold on to Nanjing City, then most of the forces in the city would be afraid of Wei Guogong.
Zishang will also follow and defend the city of Nanjing.
Therefore, Zhao Tong, Mao Qing and others were extremely concerned about Xu's attitude. After all, if they wanted to dedicate the city of Nanjing to King Ning, then Wei Guogong Xu's attitude would be very important.
As one of Wei Guogong's right-hand men, Cui Ling was their only source of understanding of Wei Guogong Xu's attitude towards King Ning's rebels.
Hearing what Cui Ling said at this time, Zhao Tong and others changed their expressions, and at the same time they heard Mao Qing say: "What on earth is that old fox thinking? From what I know about him, he doesn't seem to be a person who is loyal to the imperial court, let alone
With the implementation of the new policy, the taxes paid by the Duke of Wei alone amounted to tens of thousands of dan. I heard that many direct descendants of the Duke of Wei once openly said in public that Li Huan was the number one female thief in the world."
One person subconsciously said: "Do you think Wei Guogong is like us and secretly sent someone to contact Prince Ning?"
Immediately all eyes fell on Yongan Hou Su Le.
Su Le couldn't help but cough lightly and said, "That's what I said. At any rate, Xu and his family, the Xu clan and the two princes, are not expected to betray the emperor and collude with Prince Ning."
However, Cui Ling sneered and said: "It's hard to say. Don't forget that during the Jingnan War, the Xu family made two bets. One side was on Emperor Jianwen's side, and the other was on Emperor Taizong's side. As a result,
The Xu family has fallen into the realm of Guangdong. Who can guarantee whether Xu will also learn from his ancestors and bet on both sides?"
Su Le narrowed his eyes and said: "In that case, we have to be careful about that old fox, so that the credit for the dedication of the city will not be taken away by that old fox."
At this moment, the number one person in Nanjing who was being discussed by Cui Ling and others, Wei Guogong Xu, was in his mansion, with a somewhat solemn look on his face.
His grandson Xu Pengju looked at Xu Dao with some curiosity: "Grandpa, some people are secretly saying that our family is secretly collaborating with the rebel King Ning, intending to imitate our ancestors and hedging their bets."
Xu, who had pale hair, was sitting there. Although he was quite old, his invisible power was quite extraordinary.
I heard Xu sneer and say: "They are just a bunch of ignorant kids trying to judge a gentleman with a villain's heart. Our Xu family is loyal to the emperor, so how can we talk about hedging our bets?"
Xu Pengju breathed a sigh of relief inexplicably after hearing this. To be honest, as the next generation successor to the Duke of Wei, Xu Pengju actually didn't think very highly of Prince Ning.
In other words, Xu Pengju doesn't like variables. King Ning's rebellion would be a huge variable. After all, if King Ning hadn't rebelled, nothing unexpected would happen. After Xu Gu died, he would have 100% succeeded in inheriting the Dukedom of Wei.
But if it were King Ning who won the world, then the variables would be huge. No one can guarantee what will happen to their Wei Guogong lineage in the future, and whether he can become the next Wei Guogong.
While he was talking, he suddenly heard a knock on the door outside.
Xu in the study frowned and said, "What's the matter?"
A creaking sound was heard, and then someone hurriedly entered the study, and then carefully handed a confidential letter to Xu Dao: "My lord, someone came to visit my lord."
Xu glanced at the envelope that contained nothing, and then opened it. After just one glance, his expression changed slightly, and he suddenly raised his head to look at the steward and said, "Where is the person?"
The steward lowered his head, as if he hadn't noticed the change in Xu's expression and said, "Go back to me, sir, the visitor is in the outer hall."
Xu Yan took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: "Bring the person to see me." The steward left in a hurry. Seeing Xu's reaction, Xu Pengju couldn't help but feel doubtful. His eyes fell on the secret letter in Xu's hand and said: "Grandpa,
This person is..."
Xu looked at Xu Pengju and slowly said: "Comrade Chen Ke, the commander of the Jinyiwei!"
"What? How could it be him? Isn't he in the capital? Why did he seem to have thought of something? Xu Pengju's words stopped abruptly and he opened his eyes wide and looked at Xu Dao: "So the imperial court has become wary of you, grandpa."
Who is Chen Ke? Most people may not know Chen Ke’s name, but Xu Pengju, who was trained as the next generation of Wei Guogong, is very familiar with Chen Ke’s situation.
Couldn't be more clear.
As the commander of the Imperial Guard, Li Huan, Chen Ke was one of Li Huan's right-hand men. But this time, Chen Ke suddenly appeared in Nanjing City, and even quietly came to visit them at the Duke of Wei's mansion. Xu Pengju's first reaction was that the imperial court
The Duke of Wei became wary of them.
Xu didn't speak, just sat there, with a wise light shining in his eyes. He had been in a high position for decades and was used to the wind and waves. Xu had already developed a heart that would not change even if the mountain collapsed.
Chen Ke, the Jin Yiwei commander who almost represented Li Huan, came over. His face did not change, his heart did not beat, and he looked very calm and calm.
