After hearing this, Linghu Guang was immediately overjoyed, thinking that he had finally detected Zhao Junchen's wolfish ambition, or at least his disobedient heart of coveting military power.
After achieving such great achievements, Linghu Guang thought that he might soon be able to return to the noble class. The next step would be to be deeply influenced by the Holy Scroll and rise to the top!
Therefore, Linghu Guang couldn't help but get emotional. He thanked Zhao Junchen on the spot for accepting him, and then started talking nonsense, saying that he would definitely obey orders, be loyal, etc.
And Zhao Junchen also spoke without changing his face, saying that he would do his best to help Linghu Guang overcome the subsequent "difficulties", and would also secretly support Linghu Guang's success in the future.
In this way, both of them were talking nonsense and lying constantly. It can be said that they had no problem getting along and were very happy with each other.
About a quarter of an hour later, Linghu Guang finally said goodbye and left. As he left, he was in a hurry. He was obviously eager to see the mysterious messenger from the inner court and inform him of the latest news.
When Zhao Junchen looked at Linghu Guang's leaving back, his smile quickly faded and his eyes gradually became cold, as if he was looking at a dead person.
In fact, in Zhao Junchen's eyes, Linghu Guang is now a dead person.
Not only is Linghu Guang himself about to die without a burial place, but his family will soon be implicated.
He was obviously an insignificant person, but he took the initiative to participate in the power struggle among the top leaders of the temple. He also thought he had a plan and regarded conspirators like Zhao Junchen as a stepping stone... It would not be an exaggeration to say that he was seeking his own death. Linghu Light's fate has already been determined.
Since he is a dead person, he is not worthy of continued attention, so Zhao Junchen quickly withdrew his gaze, then took out a key from his arms and opened a secret box in his hand with a serious expression.
In the box, there are five memorials stacked up.
These five memorials are all thick and heavy, and obviously contain a lot of content.
Afterwards, Zhao Junchen placed the five memorials in front of him one by one, opened them one after another, and read them carefully.
These memorials will largely determine Zhao Junchen's future destiny.
In the past few days, Zhao Junchen has taken the time to review the specific contents of these memorials, and even the wording has been repeatedly scrutinized.
*
Among them, the first memorial was the thickest and the most detailed in content. Zhao Junchen planned to hand it to Emperor Deqing privately.
In this memorial, Zhao Junchen explained in detail his specific experiences during his trip north to inspect Liaodong.
He stayed in Hujiazhuang and claimed that he was ill, so he summoned all forces to gather together to create a complex situation and compete with Liaodong Town for wits and courage;
The detailed process of He Yu's kidnapping, murder and death, as well as the various subsequent impacts caused by this incident;
Take the opportunity to connect and divide the various forces in Liaodong, as well as the different positions and demands of the various forces;
Secretly assisted Liaodong Town to resist the annexation of the Wu family in Shanhaiguan, and took the opportunity to force the generals of Liaodong Town to agree to the Liao pay reform;
Deliberately brewing a border trouble and luring Jianzhou Jurchens to raise troops to prevent further intensification of the conflict between the Wu family in Shanhaiguan and Liaodong Town;
In Jinzhou Camp, he quelled the rebellion of Jinzhou garrison Peng Ji, and took the opportunity to evacuate all the military inventory of Jinzhou Camp;
And... finally reached various agreements with the Jianzhou Jurchens, deliberately stealing the military achievements of the frontline soldiers, etc.
In short, in this memorial, Zhao Junchen confessed almost everything to Emperor Deqing.
But it was just "almost", Zhao Junchen still concealed two things.
The first is the truth behind the kidnapping and murder of General He Yu of Liaodong Town. When Zhao Junchen described this incident, he naturally avoided the important and ignored the important, half-truth and half-falsehood, completely clearing away his own relationship and suspicion;
The second is the few seeds that Zhao Junchen secretly buried among the Liaodong armies, such as Wu Jiyun, Gao Dejie, Han Daren, etc., and perhaps Ximen Sheng and Li Zehe.
Of these two things, the former will cause a lot of controversy, and the latter is related to Zhao Junchen's secret plan, so it cannot be made public in any case.
In this way, after spending a full quarter of an hour, Zhao Junchen finally carefully checked the memorial again. After still not finding any flaws, he nodded lightly to express his satisfaction.
"In this memorial, I confessed almost everything...these things may have been a bit despicable, and I personally gained a lot of money, but overall they were all done out of public motives and to protect the center of the imperial court.
Naturally, there is no need to hide your interests. Even if it causes some criticism, it will not affect the overall situation..."
While muttering to himself, Zhao Junchen had already closed this memorial and opened the second memorial to continue checking.
*
The second memorial was relatively thin. The content was that the generals of Liaodong Town collectively petitioned the imperial court to implement the Liao pay reform. It was also written by Zhao Junchen himself. The specific regulations were also constructed by Zhao Junchen himself, but all the generals of Liaodong Town were
He signed his name on this memorial to express his support.
This memorial had been in Zhao Junchen's hands for many days, but Zhao Junchen never sent it to the imperial court.
Because Zhao Junchen still wanted to wait until he returned to the imperial center in person before submitting this memorial to Emperor Deqing in public.
After all, the issue of Liao's wages was a century-old problem of the Ming Dynasty. The imperial court had always wanted to change the status quo of Liao's wages, but it was always in vain and its efforts were in vain.
Under such circumstances, whoever promoted Liao's salary reform will definitely make outstanding contributions and leave a name in history.
Therefore, Zhao Junchen had to personally submit this memorial to the public, and then he could be in the limelight and firmly hold the credit in his own hands.
On the contrary, if Zhao Junchen had taken the lead in sending this memorial to the imperial center before returning to the central court, Emperor Deqing would have taken advantage of the opportunity to destroy the bridges when crossing the river, trying to dilute Zhao Junchen's contribution and role, and change the Liao pay reform.
The whole thing is due to his great achievements, wisdom and martial arts, and Zhao Junchen's subsequent benefits will be greatly reduced.
This memorial had already been written and reviewed many times by Zhao Junchen, so Zhao Junchen only spent a cup of tea this time to review it again.
There was still no flaw in the specific content of the memorial, but Zhao Junchen's expression became more serious, and he murmured to himself again: "The reason why Liao's salary was a stubborn problem in the past was not just because of Liaodong Town.
The reason for supporting troops and self-respect is also because all forces in the DPRK and China use Liao's salary to make profits for themselves..."
"And the reform of Liao's salary will naturally harm the interests of all forces in the temple. I have made great contributions and will be in the limelight. It will also arouse public anger... The Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of War, and Zhou Shangjing control
The post transportation system will all be secretly angry at me for being troublesome!"
"Because conflicts caused by conflicts of interest are often the most difficult to resolve, the two yamen of the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works are already considered my favorites, but if I harm the interests of the officials of these two yamen at will, they will definitely be shaken.
They are loyal, so we still need to find ways to appease them..."
"Not to mention the Ministry of War controlled by the 'Imperial Party' and the postal transportation system controlled by the 'Zhou Party'. Just for the sake of the overall interests of the imperial court, I have violated their huge interests that have been protected by droughts and floods. They will definitely be unwilling to accept it.
, and they will definitely make things difficult for me in every possible way!"
"That's it for the Ministry of War. As long as Emperor Deqing doesn't say anything, they won't dare to act rashly and they won't be able to affect my future plans..."
"But the hostility of the 'Zhou Party' cannot be underestimated. The power of the 'Zhou Party' is huge and intricate. The main reason is that Zhou Shangjing's political skills are too clever. Being an enemy of him will cause trouble at any time, and it will definitely affect us."
Follow-up plans..."
"Alas! Zhou Shangjing! The stability of the situation between the government and the opposition is obviously inseparable from his supervision and control, but sometimes I feel that this old guy is too much of a hindrance!"
"Zhou Shoufu, Zhou Shoufu! How should I get along with you? And should I... interfere with your life, death and destiny?"
After saying this, Zhao Junchen couldn't help but frown slightly.
Regarding Zhou Shangjing, Zhao Junchen had extremely complicated feelings in his heart, including admiration and fear, as well as a lot of dissatisfaction.
Zhou Shangjing's vision and structure are both outstanding, and he can be regarded as an old man who seeks the country. When Zhao Junchen came into contact with Zhou Shangjing in the past, he discovered that Zhou Shangjing actually wanted to reverse the current situation of Liao's salary problem, but after all, he was an official of the "Zhou Party"
The spokesperson of the gentry group often has no choice but to take into account the interests and demands of the "Zhou Party" officials.
When Zhao Junchen implements the Liao salary reform, Zhou Shangjing will secretly praise Zhao Junchen's outstanding contribution and think that Zhao Junchen has done a good thing, but he will also be forced by the collective will of the "Zhou Party" to retaliate against Zhao Junchen.
Junchen.
For Zhou Shangjing, these two things are not in conflict. The former seeks country and the latter seeks personal gain.
If it were in the past, Zhao Junchen would definitely cede his own interests to Zhou Shangjing and try his best to ease the relationship between the two parties.
But now, probably because his wings are hardened and his spirit is high, Zhao Junchen is not only becoming more and more intolerable to the threat of Emperor Deqing, but also gradually feels that Zhou Shangjing's existence is an eyesore.
The reason is simply that the scope of power of the "Zhou Party" is too large, and the interests are even more intricate. Therefore, Zhao Junchen found that no matter what he wanted to do, he could not avoid the influence of the "Zhou Party", and he must
It will offend the interests of the "Zhou Party".
At the beginning, Zhao Junchen wanted to implement commercial tax reform, but it turned out that the "Zhou Party" controlled the water transportation yamen. At that time, Zhao Junchen was unable to compete with the "Zhou Party", and the core element of the commercial tax reform plan was to have everyone carry the sedan chair.
Therefore, they took the initiative to cede a lot of benefits to the "Zhou Party". Although it still aroused a lot of hostility and led to a series of conflicts, overall, cooperation outweighed conflicts.
Then, Zhao Junchen wanted to assist Prince Zhu Heyu in rectifying the vassal power, but found that the "Zhou Party" forces also had a close relationship with the vassal clansmen from all over the Ming Dynasty. They were wearing the same pants, and the vassal clansmen had various
If the crimes were traced to their origins, they would all be related to the "Zhou Party". Therefore, when Zhao Junchen was assisting Prince Zhu He in rectifying the feudal sect, he had to be careful and deliberately avoided many key links, which resulted in half the effort with half the effort.
Then, Zhao Junchen wanted to implement agricultural reforms, but because the "Zhou Party" was essentially a power group of officials and gentry, Zhao Junchen's agricultural reform plan undoubtedly violated their core interests, so the conflict between the two parties was complete.
The conflicts and criticisms between them have intensified, and the relationship has not been repaired so far. For example, in the recent civil unrest in Xingzhou, Zhao Junchen also suspected that officials of the "Zhou Party" were behind it.
But now, Zhao Junchen wants to reform the current situation of Liao's salary, and then he finds out again that he will still offend the interests of the "Zhou Party" and arouse the hostility of the "Zhou Party" unless Zhao Junchen is willing to give up his flesh and blood.
to produce more benefits, otherwise the conflict between the two parties will inevitably intensify again.
The repeated occurrence of similar things naturally made Zhao Junchen more and more impatient.
If Emperor Deqing gave Zhao Junchen the feeling of oppression and panic, then Zhou Shangjing gave Zhao Junchen the feeling of restraint and uneasiness, which also made Zhao Junchen very uncomfortable.
After all, both Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing were actually the spokespersons of vested interest groups. The only difference was imperial power and ministerial power. As long as Zhao Junchen wanted to change the established situation, he would inevitably have conflicts with them.
.
Just like this, with his thoughts constantly changing, Zhao Junchen stared at the memorial in front of him, his expression also uncertain.
Because the seventh prince Zhu Hejian had already poisoned Zhou Shangjing with diamond powder, Zhou Shangjing's future fate and life and death depended largely on Zhao Junchen's thoughts. If Zhao Junchen was willing to rescue him, Zhou Shangjing could live for a few more years.
, if Zhao Junchen sits idly by and ignores it, then Zhou Shangjing will definitely not see next spring.
At the beginning, Zhao Junchen was actually inclined to take action to rescue Zhou Shangjing, but now as Zhao Junchen's sense of urgency became stronger and his patience became less and less, he gradually tended to sit back and ignore it.
After all, once Zhou Shangjing is killed, no matter how powerful and deep-rooted the "Zhou Party" is, the threat will be reduced by half.
In the end, Zhao Junchen still couldn't make up his mind, so he just slowly closed the second memorial and softly concluded: "That's all, let's return to the center of the capital first before considering this matter... Zhou Shangjing should still be in Nanzhili at the moment.
On the surface, it is to assist the Seventh Prince Zhu Hejian to take over power from the Six Ministries of Nanjing, but in fact it is to hinder Zhu Hejian. I don’t know the specific situation there. Maybe there will be more choices if the situation changes.
…”
*
While muttering softly to himself, Zhao Junchen shook his head slightly and opened the third memorial.
This time, Zhao Junchen just glanced at it casually, not as cautiously as before. He quickly closed the memorial again and put it aside casually.
This memorial is logically of great importance. The content is that Zhao Junchen recommended Xu He to be the new commander-in-chief of Liaodong Town. He expressed that Xu He was loyal to the court and fully supported his Liao pay reform plan. Without Xu He, the Liao pay reform plan would not be implemented.
It is about reform, so Xu He should be the best candidate to be the next commander-in-chief of Liaodong Town.
But in fact, when Zhao Junchen submitted this memorial to Emperor Deqing, Xu He was destined to miss the position of commander-in-chief of Liaodong Town.
However, Xu He did not have such insight. He took the initiative to ask Zhao Junchen to write this memorial some time ago. Zhao Junchen laughed at Xu He's ignorance in his heart at that time, and was hesitant on the surface, but in the end he agreed "reluctantly"
Xu He’s plea.
Now that Zhao Junchen has taken too many advantages in Liaodong Town, this memorial can at least ease the relationship between Zhao Junchen and Xu He. After all, Xu He is the acting commander-in-chief of Liaodong Town. Zhao Junchen only needs to temporarily stabilize him, plus Li Zehe
secretly surrendered, then at least until Ximen Sheng officially took over as the commander-in-chief, there would not be many changes in Liaodong Town.
Next, Zhao Junchen opened the fourth memorial.
While reading this memorial, Zhao Junchen's expression once again flashed with sarcasm, but the next moment he shook his head and sighed.
The specific content of this memorial is that Zhao Junchen impeached Ling Huguang for reselling ordnance and bribing officials of the Ministry of War. Even when the crime was about to be exposed, he still refused to repent. He also wanted to collude with civil and military officials and surrender to the court officials to seek asylum.
The court official mentioned here naturally refers to Zhao Junchen himself.
In short, in this memorial, Zhao Junchen was still frank and unreserved, and truthfully reported to Emperor Deqing what happened when Linghu Guang wanted to serve him.
Of course, according to Zhao Junchen, the reason why he did not reject Linghuguang for a long time and finally agreed to Linghuguang's surrender was because Zhao Junchen wanted to stabilize the situation in Liaodong to the greatest extent and did not want Linghuguang to do so.
In desperation, he jumped over the wall and caused more changes... In short, Zhao Junchen said that he never coveted military power from the beginning to the end.
After Zhao Junchen submitted this memorial to Emperor Deqing, he not only took the opportunity to prove his loyalty and further resolve Emperor Deqing's suspicion, but also became a rebel general for Emperor Deqing.
After all, after Zhao Junchen confessed the matter, in order to cover up his secret temptation, Emperor Deqing would definitely abandon Linghu Guang and completely prove Linghu Guang's crimes. Therefore, Linghu Guang would definitely die tragically.
Not to mention returning to the noble class, the entire family will be implicated and completely ruined.
At the same time, because Ling Huguang said that he had committed the crime of bribing officials of the Ministry of War, Emperor Deqing also needed to rectify the Ministry of War. The core office of the "Emperor Party", the Ministry of War, would definitely be in a state of chaos next, and maybe even more.
This allows Zhao Junchen to find an opportunity to take advantage of.
However, after Zhao Junchen submitted this memorial to Emperor Deqing, he would definitely suffer many adverse effects.
This memorial was a confidential document and would only be submitted to Emperor Deqing for review. However, with Emperor Deqing's imperial scheming, the specific contents of this memorial would inevitably be leaked out later, ostensibly to praise Zhao.
Junchen was selfless, loyal, and abiding by his duties as a minister, and he firmly refused to seek refuge with the senior military attache of the border army...
But in fact, once this matter is leaked, Zhao Junchen will definitely encounter many obstacles when he wants to infiltrate military power and make friends with military attachés in the future, resulting in twice the result with half the effort.
Because Linghu Guang's lessons had been widely known by then, the military attachés were naturally unwilling to trust Zhao Junchen's friendship and closeness.
This is the price Zhao Junchen must bear at this stage.
"Fortunately, my plan to infiltrate various armies has been roughly prepared, the important chess pieces have been arranged properly, and a lot of resources have been invested in the bottom line... Otherwise, I will never want to interfere with military power in the future..."
While talking, Zhao Junchen opened the last memorial and continued to read it.
Different from the previous four memorials, this memorial was written just recently and was written by Li Zehe himself. The content is to propose a series of major military reforms for the Ming Dynasty.
Different from Zhao Junchen's Liao pay reform, the scope of the reform proposed in this memorial is extremely broad, not only for Liaodong Town, not only for logistics and food, but also includes all armies in various parts of the Ming Dynasty, as well as all military-related matters.
link.
Whether it is logistics supplies, or army establishment, or combat modes, or even command systems, etc., all links are involved and all need to be completely reformed.
In this memorial, Li Zehe first started from the various shortcomings of Liaodong Town that he had observed. It can be said that he was very insightful. Because he saw the big from the small, he pointed out the shortcomings of the Ming Dynasty's military system and put forward a series of suggestions.
The reform proposals are full of far-sightedness and insights. It can be said to be a majestic article that can be passed down for hundreds of years.
But it is also conceivable that once this memorial is exposed, it will definitely cause an uproar. Li Zehe will also be hated by all the military attachés of the Ming Dynasty. Not only will he no longer be able to gain a foothold in the army, but his life may also be in danger.
In particular, all of Li Zehe's arguments are extended to the various ills of Liaodong Town, so it is equivalent to impeaching all the military attachés in Liaodong Town. It will also make him completely seclude himself from Liaodong Town and become the sworn enemy of Liaodong Town!
When reviewing this memorial, Zhao Junchen's expression became much more relaxed, but the sarcasm in his eyes was even stronger.
"This is the certificate of surrender given to me by Li Zehe. Naturally, I have to keep it in my hand and cannot submit it... But if I am lucky enough to defeat Emperor Deqing in the future and completely control my own destiny and the overall situation of the court, I can put this
Throw the memorial out to test the response, of course it must be in the name of Li Zehe, after all, I don’t want to offend the military attache..."
"The specific content of this memorial is my own hard work. The reform method draws on the military models of later countries, which far exceeds the knowledge of people in this era. Once it is realized, Li Zehe will definitely be hated by all military attaches.
And suppressed, but he will also be praised and worshiped by future generations, and may even be called the greatest military strategist of the Ming Dynasty... So even if he sacrificed his official career and life, I will not treat him badly...
"
"Li Zehe seems smart, but in fact he is just a little smart. He doesn't know what to prioritize, what to choose, and has no long-term plan. He runs around like a headless fly and blindly pursues profits. He seems to have taken advantage of all the short-term benefits.
But the long-term situation is getting worse and worse... Now just to hide the fact that he is a double agent, he has given me a bigger clue..."
"First, Guan Wuyuan, who is fierce in appearance and looks like an embroidered pillow, has become a contemporary famous general recognized by both the government and the public. He has been in the limelight for a while. But Li Zehe, a short-sighted and superficial person, is likely to leave his name in history in the future and be praised as a far-sighted military master...
…”
"Under the torrent of history, everyone is involuntarily. Some people are high-spirited and jealous of talented people. Some people just happen to stand in the wind and soar into the sky in ignorance. However, the gifts given by fate have long been secretly marked.
Well, the price...hey, it's really ironic and interesting..."
*
After Zhao Junchen checked the five memorials again, seeing that it was getting late, he carefully collected all the memorials, took the secret box with him, and then went to the bedroom of the Qinghe Fort Guards House to rest.
There was no talking all night, and it was already early morning the next day.
When Zhao Junchen got up, washed and changed clothes, all the soldiers of the army had already gathered. Zhao Junchen did not waste time. After he appeared, he just raised his whip and pointed to the north, and then led the soldiers of the army to rush towards Fushun.