Liu Tianhe, named Songshi, is very senior. He was a Jinshi in the third year of Zhengde, earlier than Mr. Zhang Chao Zhang. He is also very capable and has no shortage of professionalism.
This person didn't have very strong connections in the court, so he spent most of his time in the northwest towns. He worked in Gansu, Shaanxi, and all three sides, but he never had a presence in the capital.
However, Liu Tianhe still relied on his outstanding achievements to become the governor of the three sides, and even added the title of Minister of the Ministry of War.
Before Qin Dewei's great victory in Fengzhou, the record of beheadings by the governor of the Jiajing Dynasty against the northern captives should belong to Liu Tianhe, who had achieved more than 400 beheadings.
In history, Liu Tianhe also had a grandson named Liu Shouyou, who was even more famous than his grandfather.
In the later Zhang Juzheng period of the Wanli Dynasty, this grandson served as the first-grade Zuo Governor, the Crown Prince Taifu, the commander of the Jinyi Guards Command, the envoy in charge of the guards, and the chief patrol officer of Tiqi.
At this moment, looking at the seven or eight name cards in his hand, Liu Tianhe could guess that something happened in the court that he didn't know about as long as he didn't have Alzheimer's disease.
Although Mr. Liu is about to retire and has no more desires, he still cannot restrain his curiosity.
Then he told Chang Sui: "Go find someone to inquire!"
A big shot must be calm. How can he go around in a hurry to find out what is going on? He will lose all dignity.
An hour later, the attendant came back and reported to his master: "There is good news and bad news."
Mr. Liu has been on the front line for a long time and is a very down-to-earth person. He is also an old man who has been with me for more than 20 years, and he dares to joke with his master.
Liu Tianhe then laughed and scolded: "You are such a tricky person, but you have learned how to tell the truth! What's the good news?"
Chang Sui replied: "The good news is that today, the imperial court has recommended you as the official of the Ministry of War. Sir, you have been listed as a candidate, and the report has been reported to the emperor."
In the Ming Dynasty, the capital was considered the most important place, and every governor who returned to the capital to serve was for promotion.
Liu Tianhe was stunned when he heard the news.
After living in the border town for many years, my mentality has long been tempered and I have completely given up hope of entering the DPRK. I was still shocked to hear such news suddenly.
What is happening today? The iron tree has blossomed? When it comes to becoming an official, it has improved to a higher level?
If he had such connections, why would he have worked in the northwest for twenty years? Or should I say that he has worked hard for many years and his efforts have finally paid off?
In an instant, the old man thought of a lot, and countless scenes from the past kept flashing back.
Studying hard under the green light under the cold window, writing furiously in the examination room, standing on the side wall with complacency for the first time, commanding the enemy in battle for the first time.
His mood suddenly became agitated, and Mr. Liu, who was standing in front of Chang Sui, became distracted unconsciously.
"Master? Master?" Changsui quickly called out a few more times, bringing Mr. Liu back to his senses.
Then he didn't dare to keep showing off. If he got into a bad mood and let the master die, he would suffer a big loss.
So he quickly said: "The bad news is that you are not the only candidate, the other one is Qin Zhongtang from the southeast of the supervisor."
Liu Tianhe: "."
Those who have stepped on the horse will know that things will not be that simple! How could the Minister of the Ministry of War give it to him for no reason!
He finally understood what it meant when Zhang Bi made him "whisper like the wind"!
Who in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty doesn’t know who Qin Zhongtang is?
Looking at the seven or eight famous posts again, Liu Tianhe also understood that these seven or eight people were probably not from the same group.
There must be some people who want to persuade me to give in, and some people who want to persuade me not to give up.
"In my opinion, it's better not to wade into the muddy waters and leave as soon as possible!" Chang Sui suggested sincerely.
Liu Tianhe smiled slyly, "Why did you have to leave early? Could it be that Qin Dewei can still eat me?"
Lao Changsui couldn't help but remind him again: "Master, someone is trying to take advantage of you!"
"Then I can't let others take advantage of me. I can also take advantage of others!" Mr. Liu has a bit of a reverse thinking spirit.
Chang Sui asked strangely: "What do you want to do, sir?"
Liu Tianhe twirled his white beard and said thoughtfully: "Tell me, if I ask my youngest son to become the disciple of Zhang Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites, will he agree? Or change it to Wang Shangshu of the Ministry of Husbandry?"
Chang Sui asked in shock: "Then the fourth master will become Qin Zhongtang's junior brother?"
"So this is a God-given opportunity." Liu Tianhe said, "Normally there is no reason!"
Before Liu Tianhe could say anything else, the steward of the club brought another person over.
Liu Tianhe was very dissatisfied with this. Even if he was about to retire, why not show off? How could he just bring people to him without reporting them?
But the person who was brought over immediately introduced himself: "Junior Wu Chun, on the orders of the chief assistant, invite the elder to the banquet!"
Liu Tianhe was secretly surprised and asked calmly: "What is your relationship with Xia Ge?"
Liu Tianhe knew that he could not go according to etiquette. Xia Yan sent his son-in-law to invite people as his first assistant, and no matter who he was, he would be invited.
Through Xia Shoufu's hurry and necessity to hire someone, smart people can basically guess the truth.
If Xia Shoufu had no special ideas, would he behave like this?
Then Liu Tianhe followed Xia Shoufu's son-in-law Wu Chun and went directly to Xia Mansion.
Moreover, he went in openly and did not avoid people at all. He probably deliberately wanted outsiders to see him.
Then Liu Tianhe waited in the study outside Xia's mansion for a while, before Xia Shoufu got off the bed, returned home from the palace, and sat in front of Liu Tianhe.
While Xia Yan ordered his servants to prepare the banquet, he chatted with Liu Tianhe, "Songshi has been in the northwest for a long time, and he has worked hard. He is actually a great soldier. I have never been close to him. It is my dereliction of duty."
Liu Tianhe said "hehehehe" in his heart, and almost subconsciously said something coldly humorous: The year before last, I went to the capital to resign after my term was over, but it was a pity that Mr. Xia Ge was not in the capital.
Then I heard Xia Yan continue to say: "The emperor has great trust and appointed me as the head of the cabinet twice. I have always wanted to do something good, but there are always evil people in the court who hinder me and prevent me from succeeding."
Liu Tianhe wanted to ask again, who are the traitors?
Objectively speaking, the biggest difference between Xia Yan and Yan Song is that they still have some "political ambitions", while Yan Song has none at all.
Perhaps Yan Song once had a little bit of ambition, but the "proclaiming his clan and entering the temple" incident in the 17th year of Jiajing was like a watershed.
Under the coercion of Emperor Jiajing, Yan Song was forced to take the lead in advocating that Emperor Xian "profess his ancestry and enter the temple". Like Zhang Fu Jing Gui E and others twenty years ago, he also suffered from the reputation of being a treacherous sycophant.
Then the remaining ambitions in Yan Song's heart were shattered, and everything was broken after that.
Of course, all this had nothing to do with Liu Tianhe, who was about to retire. He just continued to listen to Xia Shoufu's words.
Xia Yan turned around and said, "I recently received news that Ji Nang, the leader of the Beilu chieftain, has died?"
Liu Tianhe was finally able to speak, nodded and replied, "It is true."
Among the Beibei forces in recent years, Anda is the most powerful, and Ji Nang is Anda's elder brother. Together, they are in charge of 30,000 households on the right side of the Northern Barbarians.
But before the rise of Anda, in the early years of Jiajing, the most ferocious force in Kou Bian was Ji Nang.
It was only in recent years that Ji Nang gradually aged, while An Da was in his prime, so An Da's limelight gradually overshadowed Ji Nang's.
However, there was no internal strife between the two brothers. Anda crossed the Yellow River and headed eastward, focusing on the Xuanda direction, while Jinang stayed in the Hetao area and mainly attacked Yansui, Ningxia and other three areas.
Therefore, when Liu Tianhe served as the governor of Shaanxi and the governor of the three sides, his main opponent for many years was Ji Nang, and he also gained the merit of beheading four hundred people at one time from Ji Nang.
It was because of Ji Nang's death that the pressure on the northwest border was temporarily relieved and there would be no problems in the short term. Liu Tianhe took the opportunity to invite him to serve, so as not to affect the overall situation.
Liu Tianhe just didn't understand what Xia Yan wanted to explain when he suddenly mentioned Ji Nang's death.
Xia Shoufu spoke in a straight-forward style, and would not leave others guessing. He immediately got to the point: "With Ji Nang's death, is there an opportunity for retaliation?"
Liu Tianhe: "."
As an old minister who was about to retire, he came here with the mentality of not offending others and having a good time.
Unexpectedly, Xia Shoufu actually raised such a grand issue.
The so-called restoration means to regain the Hetao, restore the Hetao Guard Station, and expand the northwest border defense to the north bank of the Yellow River.
Opposite the Trilateral Defense Line is the Hetao, so as the governor of the Trilateral Defense Line, Liu Tianhe also had some understanding of the court's discussion on the Loop.
Two years ago, Xia Shoufu proposed a rematch, and was evaluated by Qin Zhongtang as a "military adventure that would lose nine out of ten bets." Then he sarcastically snuffed out Xia Shoufu's rematch proposal.
I never expected that Xia Shoufu would bring up old matters again today.
If Qin Zhongtang was present, he would definitely lament that the inertia of history is so powerful; and then lament again, why did Master Xia insist on seeking death?
Liu Tianhe guessed that Xia Shoufu would next ask technical questions such as "What are the odds of winning?", so he began to make rapid calculations in his mind.
Regardless of whether he or she has become an official, any veteran who still has a sense of responsibility should not hide his or her secrets when giving advice.
However, Xia Yan did not ask any technical questions, but only encouraged: "If the imperial court decides to retaliate, there will be no one more suitable to be in charge of the Ministry of War than you!
After all, looking at the world, there must be no one who knows the situation in the northwest border town better than you, and you are the most suitable Minister of War. What do you think about this?"
This meant that Liu Tianhe wanted to express his position, but Liu Tianhe smiled bitterly and replied: "Please think carefully and think twice!"
I don’t know whether I mean to be cautious about the complex situation or to be cautious about the selection of Minister of War.
Xia Shoufu encouraged again: "Songshi, you guarded the northwest and fought repeatedly with the Hetao cavalry for many years. Don't you want to settle it once and for all and receive full credit?
Such a huge achievement, if accomplished in your hands, would be enough for you to shine in the annals of history. The imperial court is thirsty for talents, and it would be a pity for someone like you, Song Shi, to become an official."
It has to be said that Liu Tianhe is quite excited. Such a grand undertaking can arouse passion.
After some thought, Liu Tianhe tested Xia Yan and said, "Not to mention anything else, it may not be accurate to just say that a good opportunity has arisen because Ji Nang died."
Xia Yan asked in surprise: "Ji Nang, who was entrenched in Hetao, has just died. According to the habits of the Beilu, there will definitely be civil strife within the force for a year or two, right? Isn't this a God-given opportunity?"
Liu Tianhe patiently analyzed and said: "Today is different from the past. Beibei still has a strong man like Anda here, which can eliminate some civil strife.
The Anda forces and the Ji Nang forces are of the same origin, and it would be easy for the powerful Anda to directly annex the remaining forces of Ji Nang.
In this way, Anda's power will become stronger and the pressure on border defense will increase. This is very possible."
Xia Yan said: "This is just your family's opinion. Others may not think so. Maybe they really think this is a God-given opportunity."
From Xia Yan's words, Liu Tianhe heard some hidden meaning.
It doesn't matter whether Ji Nang's death is a God-given opportunity or not. As long as someone like the emperor can think that it is a God-given opportunity, that's enough!
Then we can "draw venture capital" and start the big project of "multiplexing".
And Liu Tianhe will also be an important chess piece in the project, which can enhance the persuasiveness of venture investors.
In this way, Liu Tianhe could completely conclude that "complexity" was a tool used by Xia Shoufu to fight for power, and Xia Shoufu probably wanted to gain power by manipulating "complexity".
Regarding Xia Shoufu's mentality, Liu Tianhe couldn't help but have doubts in his heart. Can such a difficult thing be handled if the mind is not pure?
Xia Shoufu had never thought that such a grand idea would require huge investment. If it failed, how serious would the consequences be?
Liu Tianhe thought about it, while shaking his head and saying: "It seems that I have little knowledge and am not worthy of such attention. The court should hire another wise person!"
Xia Yan was a little annoyed. It was just to get closer to Liu Tianhe's conditions and increase Liu Tianhe's competitiveness that he came up with the issue of duplication. Otherwise, how could Liu Tianhe compete with Qin Dewei?
Is Liu Tianhe pretending to be stupid, or does he not realize the essence of this matter?
Thinking of this, Xia Shoufu put away his previous amiable application and said seriously: "The imperial court has its own rules for employing people. If a minister is selected by the imperial court, he should just do his best!
I invite you to come tonight, just to talk to you beforehand, so you don’t need to feel too much pressure."
This probably means that it doesn’t matter what you think, just wait for the organization to make arrangements!
Of course, if you, Liu Tianhe, really squeeze out Qin Dewei to become the Minister of War, then you will definitely fall out with the Qin Party.
At that time, are you still afraid that Liu Tianhe will not come over to you? The Minister of War will eventually fall into the hands of Xia Dang!
And he, Xia Yan, also had an idea. If the imperial court began to plan for retaliation, the governor of Liaodong, Zeng Mian, could be transferred to the three sides!
Let Qin Dewei's stepfather directly handle the affairs of the complex, which is enough to restrain Qin Dewei.
After coming out of the Xia Mansion, on the way back to the guild hall, Chang Sui asked casually: "What did Mr. Xia Ge and the Master say?"
Liu Tianhe sighed: "Maybe you are right, it is best to leave as soon as possible."
These big guys in the capital have so many tricks up their sleeves, I really can't beat them. Even Xia Yan is already like this, so how powerful should Qin Dewei be?
Chang Sui came up with another idea: "Why don't you ask Mr. Zhang Ge to mediate?"
Liu Tianhe said helplessly: "It's useless to look for him!"
The Zhang Ge Lao Chang Sui refers to is Zhang Bi, a township party member. However, although Zhang Bi's status is not low, it has always been falsely high, so he may not be able to help when he encounters tough ideas.
It's time to start a new stage of the plot. Every time we encounter such a point, it's the most painful time to think about it.