Xu Huizu asked him to sit down, with a look of hatred on his face. After looking at him for a long time, he saw that he was really confused, and then he said helplessly: "Since the emperor decided to reduce the vassalage, our Xu family has been in an embarrassing situation. Now
Now, you, me, and the second brother who is out of town, we three brothers have all lost power and become decorations. The Xu family now only has one sign left, and you have no idea about the future of my Xu family.
What?"
Xu Zengshou glared and said: "The emperor has such a wish, what can I think? Besides, isn't it you?"
Xu Huizu glared at him and said: "Originally, the emperor appointed Cao Guogong Li Jinglong with the intention of using him to replace me in the Zhongshan Palace, making him the first in the military general class, and weakening the power of my Xu family, because behind my Xu family, there are
With three vassal kings in a row, the emperor is worried. Have you noticed this?"
Xu Zengshou said "Huh" and his face gradually calmed down.
Of course Xu Huizu could confide in his brother. He went on to say: "To promote Li and suppress Xu, this is the emperor's purpose. The emperor can feel at ease only if he transfers the military power and the influence of the Xu family in the army to his trusted Li Jinglong."
.As for Huang Zicheng, who strongly recommended Li Jinglong, he has his own plans, but his foundation is really too weak!
Originally, Huang Zicheng was just an imperial envoy and a professor from the Imperial College, an official of the fifth rank. What about Fang Xiaoru? He was just a professor of Hanzhong Fuxue, and an official of the ninth rank. The two of them rose to the top in one step, surpassing the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty.
Above that, there are several civil servants who have worked hard for ten years and are willing to be convinced?
Huang Zicheng strongly recommended Li Jinglong, asked him to make great achievements, and then used his military exploits to push him to the position of the first military commander. Through Li Jinglong, he could indirectly control the power of the military officials, thereby checking and balancing the civil servants who were unconvinced by him, and achieving true control.
Chao Gang, even if he does not rely on the emperor's trust, he can still speak for himself.
At this point, the civil servants could definitely see that they were also repelling him. However, it was the common interest of all civil servants for the emperor to suppress martial arts and promote literature. Huang Zicheng was the emperor's teacher and had the greatest power. In order to achieve this goal, they
, we can only make some concessions to Huang Zicheng's ambition. After all, this is in the interest of all civil servants.
It's a pity that Li Jinglong's 800,000-strong army was completely defeated. At this time, the civil servants and the military generals in the court became allies again, and the common goal became Fang and Huang. Impeachment memorials for all civil and military officials were like snowflakes.
, these two rotten scholars should be thrown out of office. Although the emperor did not punish them, under such momentum, they had no shame to continue to stand on the court. Now they have resigned from most of their posts, and it seems that they are just
He is an idler who receives a salary and is not involved in political affairs.
However, they were still the emperor's subordinates and still held great power. It was just that it was inconvenient to show up in public and some power had to be shared with other civil servants. The ultimate interests of the civil servants and Fang Huang were the same. Although they were dissatisfied with Fang Huang's
He accepted the emperor's favor and climbed to the top in one step, but he did not want to give military commanders another chance to compete with civilian officials.
At this time, it would not be in their interests to continue to suppress Fang Huang. Therefore, after this goal was achieved, the fragile alliance between civil and military officials immediately collapsed. General Xun Qi was just used as a gun by the civil officials.
, now the civil servants have appointed Sheng Yong as the commander-in-chief of the rebellion. Although Sheng Yong is a military general, he is not a Qi, nor does he come from any Qi faction. His foundation and prestige are too shallow, and he has a civil servant named Tie Xuan to check him.
, no matter how many achievements he has made, he cannot become the second King of Zhongshan or the second Duke of Cao, and he cannot unite all the military forces under his banner, do you understand?"
Xu Zengshou asked tentatively: "What does eldest brother mean...?"
Xu Huizu smiled faintly: "Third brother, it is inevitable for warriors to lose power. The civil servants used the reduction of vassal status to weaken the influence of the vassal kings on the court; they used the method of revolt to make me, a member of the Xu family, a distinguished relative.
First, he stood aside; he used the defeat of Li Jinglong to further weaken the power of all his relatives in the court; now, he uses simple methods to suppress the prosperous and mediocre, and uses Tie Xuan as a check and balance to disintegrate the power of the generals."
He leaned back on his chair and said indifferently: "Look, as soon as King Yan is defeated and the feudal princes are completely wiped out, it will be time for the cunning rabbit to die and the lackeys to cook. The one who advocated cutting down the feudal clan in the first place was
Civil servants; those who preside over the government and direct the fight against rebellion are civil servants. Those who have made great achievements are all civil servants. The military achievements of a hundred battles are not as good as a beautiful article. On the day when King Yan conferred the title, the civil servants celebrated with each other, fully controlled the court, and drove the military ministers like
It’s time to walk away.”
Xu Zengshou was moved when he heard this. After thinking about it carefully, he felt that this was a great opportunity. He couldn't help but said tentatively: "Brother, if this is really the case, we should...should stand on the side of King Yan."
"nonsense!"
Xu Huizu glared at him angrily and said, "Can you even say something so treasonous?"
Xu Zengshou shrank his neck and muttered in dissatisfaction. Xu Huizu said angrily: "Third brother, although King Yan has achieved some victories and even defeated the imperial court's 800,000 troops, it is only because the coach Li Jinglong is stupid.
Incompetence does not mean that he, Zhu Di, has the power to reach heaven and earth, and that he has the ability to fight an army ten times his own.
It is impossible for the King of Yan, or even all the vassal kings, to succeed. Sooner or later, he will be wiped out by His Majesty's army. Do you understand? The civil servants are more powerful than the military ministers. They not only control the civil affairs, but also control the military affairs. This is an irreversible necessity.
, you understand? Let’s put these aside, the most important thing is!”
Xu Huizu suddenly stood up and said with excitement: "My father is loyal to protect the Ming Dynasty and has made great achievements in battle..."
When he heard that he mentioned his father, Xu Zengshou stood up quickly. Xu Huizu said impassionedly: "My father was praised by Emperor Taizu Gao as the first hero in the founding of the Ming Dynasty! After the death of my hero in the Ming Dynasty, Hanlin officials wrote documents and erected Shinto monuments. Only
For my father, Emperor Taizu Gao personally wrote the inscription and erected a monument for his father. The Shinto monument was even larger than Emperor Taizu Gao's own Shinto monument.
This is the only family that has such an honor and is the hero of the Ming Dynasty. Emperor Taizu Gao even bestowed upon me the title of king for three generations of the Xu family. My descendants will have titles and honors, and we will live together with the country forever. How can we, who have been blessed by the country, have any disrespect for the emperor?
No matter what the emperor wants to do, we can only obey, this is the way to be a minister!"
Xu Zengshou rolled his eyes disapprovingly and said: "Brother, if that's the case, why are you talking so much? Let's hand over the power and guard our Zhongshan Prince's Mansion, rely on the land and estates rewarded by the late emperor, and rely on the imperial court
If you don’t have enough salary, just become a rich man!”
"You, you, can't you use your pig head to think more?"
Xu Huizu glared at his third brother angrily and said: "We, as ministers, must not disobey the emperor's will. But my father spent his whole life as a soldier in the Ming Dynasty, assisting Emperor Taizu Gao in conquering this beautiful country. Only then did you and I, the second generation of brothers,
, are you willing to let the decline of the Zhongshan Palace remain unknown and disappear from the court?"
Xu Zengshou said: "Brother, I don't understand. You've been talking for a long time. What do you want to say?"
Xu Huizu said: "Don't you understand? The vassal kings are going to be finished! The nobles and relatives have to step aside! The generals have to be driven by the literati! In the future, those who will be in charge of the court and control the court must be the civil servants. Among the civil servants, Fang Huang must be the leader. I asked my younger sister to choose a son-in-law who can ride the dragon for herself among the candidates in the imperial examination. This is to choose a way to ride the dragon for our Xu family, do you understand?"
Xu Zengshou hesitated and said: "Brother, you mean... we take the initiative to lean towards the civil servants?"
Xu Huizu breathed a sigh of relief: "Young man, you finally understand. The examiner of this subject is Fang Xiaoru, and the disciples of the emperor who passed the examination are also his disciples. He and Huang Zicheng are still favored by the emperor, but for ordinary people They are responsible for all important matters. They only have to wait for the imperial court to win a few battles, and then they will be able to dominate the officials again.
Although our Xu family has lost power now, we still have the connections and prestige in the court in the past. It is not easy to support a new Jinshi and make his official career smoother? The son-in-law of our Xu family will be the emperor's favorite As a disciple of the civil servant Fang Xiaoru, we can use this relationship to establish a connection with Fang Xiaoru, and through his tutor, in the same year, we can establish a connection with countless civil servants in both the government and the public.
At that time, the Yan vassal had been eliminated and all the kings had been wiped out. The emperor would not be so afraid of our Xu family. By forming an alliance with the civil servants, our Xu family will still occupy a position in the court. A place, not just a decoration with a position but no power. You have such good intentions for your brother, do you understand?"
"I see!"
Xu Zengshou's big eyes showed an extremely strange look, as if he was looking at a complete stranger: "Of course I understand. My little sister is only fourteen after the Chinese New Year, so she is not in a hurry to get married. You are so impatient, you are just grabbing the opportunity before the sun goes down. Before that, let’s build another line, the line of Fang Xiaoru, the line of civil servant, so as to consolidate the favor, right?”
Xu Huizu's face turned red, and he said angrily: "If you don't belong to this family, of course you don't need to think so much. I don't care about my little sister's lifelong happiness. Am I not going to take her with me and ask her to choose a suitable husband? ?What’s wrong with killing two birds with one stone?”
"You just have a bad conscience!"
Xu Zengshou said the next sentence angrily, turned around and left.
Xu Huizu was furious and slapped the table: "Asshole! Come back here!"
What answered him was a loud "bang" sound, and Xu Huizu was so angry that his whole body trembled.
Nothing happened all night. Early the next morning, Xia Xun was exercising in the courtyard. Secretary Zhang Xitong suddenly walked into the courtyard. When he saw Xia Xun, he winked at him and said with a smile: "It's really great to find the messenger. Yesterday After working so hard at night, I feel so energetic early in the morning."
Xia Xun laughed dryly and said, "My lord, you are joking. It's so early in the morning and His Highness hasn't had his meal yet. What can I do, sir?"
"Oh!" Zhang Xitong hurriedly handed over the invitation in his hand and said with a smile: "The Ministry of Etiquette has decreed that tomorrow night, we will convene the scholars who have passed the examination on Mochou Lake to hold a poetry and wine party. Your Excellency, the Minister, has specially taken care of it and invited the two countries. Your envoy will attend together."
After hearing this, Xia Xun hurriedly took it with both hands and said with a smile: "I will report it to His Highness now. Your Majesty the Minister is kind, and our Highness will be happy to attend the meeting."
p: Thank you for your hard work and sincerely asking for ***!