Chapter 16 Secret Meeting of the Prime Minister's Mansion
Before Jiang Zhe returned to the palace, Li Gang had already received the news that the emperor had gone to the Xuanwu Lake military camp. He had not been to Shangshu Province much in the past few days and was just pondering punctuation marks at home. On the surface, he was at home
Living leisurely, in fact, the emperor's every move is still under his surveillance, and his ears and ears are everywhere in the city.
While having lunch, Li Gang was still thinking about what Jiang Zhe's visit to the military camp meant to him, so he put the chopsticks in his mouth and started chewing without holding anything in a daze. He had to be cautious, now the dragon chair
The master sitting on the throne acted very scheming for a while, and acted like an ignorant child for a while, but no matter what, as long as the emperor does not have military power in his hands, he does not have to be afraid. Now the emperor is suddenly gone.
Military camp, this is not a good sign. We need to call someone quickly to discuss countermeasures.
He only cared about scheming others, and never thought that if he didn't have a rebellious heart, why would he care about what the emperor did?
In the evening at Xupai time, a sedan carried by two people was carried to the door of Li Gang's mansion near Jiming Temple. A middle-aged man who looked like a scholar got out of the sedan. A man who looked like a housekeeper had already come up.
He said to the gentleman: "Mr. Wang, why did you arrive so late? I've been waiting for you. Please come over here."
The person dressed as a scholar is none other than Wang Meishan, the left minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, who is the military advisor of Li Gang's interest group.
In the secret room of Li Mansion, Li Gang waved his hand to Wang Meishan who was about to salute and said, "Stop saluting, we are all waiting for you."
Only then did Wang Meishan realize that the room was already full of people. There were Yao Biguang, the minister of the Zhongshushe and the minister of the Zhongshu, Li Shifei, the minister of the Ministry of War, Xiong Jicai, the general of Yulinwei, He Taitao, the minister of the Ministry of Rites, and Yang Jinglong, the minister of Taichang Temple.
Zhao Yong, the Yin of Yingtian Prefecture, Zhao Fuguo, the leader of the Imperial Guard, and Li Gang's cronies all came.
Wang Meishan was such a smart master. He immediately knew that something big had happened. Usually, even in the last court, there was no gathering like this. But he was not in a hurry to ask, because he knew someone would take the initiative to tell him.
Sure enough, as soon as Wang Meishan sat down, Li Shifei said hurriedly: "The man in the palace has gone to Xuanwu Lake to guard the cavalry today. What do you think about this, Mr. Wang?"
Wang Meishan held the tea cup, took a sip slowly and said, "Who is that in the palace?"
"You clearly know, why do you still ask?" Li Shifei said, flicking his sleeves.
"I really don't know," Wang Meishan said with an innocent expression on his face.
Seeing that Wang Meishan was still pretending to be stupid, Zhao Fuguo was a little annoyed that Wang Meishan was pretending to be serious, so he said angrily: "Young master is talking about the emperor."
"Emperor?" Wang Meishan raised his eyebrows and said, "Isn't this title suitable for everyone?"
Li Gang understood that Wang Meishan was waiting for his statement. Without knowing what he was thinking, the fox would not say a nutritious word, so he deliberately coughed twice and said: "It rained all day today. The weather is bad."
It's getting colder. I just ran half way through Nanjing in the rain. What if I got gonorrhea? Well, thinking about it, I was the one who helped the baby to the dragon's chair. It's really not a worry.
.”
The word "ba'er" was shouted out, and everyone present changed their expressions. Even Wang Meishan's eyebrows twitched. Li Shifei breathed a sigh of relief. He had always advocated deposing Jiang Zhe, but he was suffering from Li Gang's delay.
There was nothing he could do to express his position. Now that his father said "baby", he understood that the matter was settled, and the next step was how to do it.
Wang Meishan knew that since he had boarded Li Gang's ship, he could only follow him. Now that Li Gang had made his attitude clear, he should do his part to advise him, so he put down the tea bowl and said: "
In fact, Mr. Li doesn't need to worry so much. If the official's prediction is correct, the man in the palace has many times more things to worry about than Mr. Li."
When Li Gang heard Wang Meishan's words, his eyes flashed, but he was an old official after all. Although he was anxious in his heart, he did not show it on his face. He just remained silent and listened intently.
Wang Meishan then continued: "As Li Gong worried, the emperor should have already regarded you as a thorn in his side. When the time comes, he will definitely take action against you, Li Gong."
Li Shifei couldn't hold it in anymore and asked anxiously: "My father ensured that he ascended to the dragon throne, why did he want to repay kindness with enmity?"
Wang Meishan sneered and said: "Master, haven't you ever heard of the saying that those who have achieved great success in the world will not be rewarded?"
"What do you mean by this?" This time it was Zhao Fuguo who asked. He was the only person present with a low level of education and knew that no one would ask if he didn't ask.
"The credit is too great, and the master cannot reward him. But if he doesn't reward him, he will be said to be ungrateful. At this time, the only thing the master can do is to find a way not to reward him again."
Seeing that everyone was silent, Wang Meishan continued: "This is the situation for Mr. Li at this time. According to the ancestral tradition of this dynasty, no one can be ennobled except for military merit. However, Mr. Li is now a hereditary first-class earl. In addition, he also holds the title of Earl.
Titles such as Crown Prince and Tutor are generally not available to ministers while they are alive. Has it reached the point where there is no reward at all?"
"Isn't there a third class of princes and marquis above the count? Isn't Zhang Jinzhong a hereditary marquis?" Zhao Fuguo felt that Wang Meishan was deliberately alarmist.
"You also know that Zhang Jinzhong is a marquis? He is a man with military exploits." Wang Meishan said with a sneer, "As for the kings and dukes you mentioned, Taizu has a legacy that people with different surnames cannot be crowned kings, let alone different surnames.
**Not all members of the clan were granted the title of prince. As for the duke, do you know the term "princes and ministers"? Princes and princes are always mentioned together. Except for Taizu, who had several princes with different surnames, you can later
Have you ever seen any emperor grant another title?"
Yao Biguang couldn't help but said: "According to your statement, isn't Zhang Jinzhong also facing a situation where there is no reward?"
"Exactly." Wang Meishan stood up and said, "That's why I said that the emperor has far more things to worry about than us. But Zhang Jinzhong's situation is different from Li Gong. Li Gong was established because of his support.
Zhang Jinzhong was rewarded because the emperor took advantage of it in order to balance Gong Li's power.
Of course, Zhang Jinzhong had more than 200,000 soldiers and horses in the Jiangbei camp, and the emperor was more wary of him than he was of Li Gong. I think the emperor wanted to take the Xiaoqiwei as his confidant more to deal with Zhang
Be loyal, not Li Gong. After all, in the emperor's mind, the influence of a hundred civil servants is not as much as that of a general with a heavy army."
Hearing this, Li Gang couldn't help but snorted coldly and said: "Since I am so insignificant in that kid's mind, why don't you take action to get rid of me?"
Wang Meishan hurriedly turned around and bowed slightly and said: "Although Mr. Li is a civil servant, he is also very powerful. His disciples and former officials are as dense as a net, and he also holds the power of the bodyguard. If the emperor wants to touch Mr. Li? I'm afraid he will miss the point.
.”
Li Gang deliberately sighed and said: "Can't I really live in peace with that kid?"
Wang Meishan thought to himself: You have a child at your mouth, and you have no etiquette that a minister should observe. Why are you pretending to be so unbearable? But on his face, he said with a deep heart: "If the king is weak and the minister is strong, they will not be able to get along with each other."
Li Gang then said: "It depends on you, what should I do now?"
Wang Meishan smiled and said: "As the saying goes, if you know yourself and the enemy, you can fight a hundred battles without danger. The most urgent task is to first understand the spheres of influence of both sides and analyze the pros and cons."
Li Shifei sighed and said, "Do you need to understand this? All the officials in the court must be on my father's side; most of the eunuchs and maids in the palace are from us; the Yulin Guard is in charge of my father-in-law; as for the bodyguards
…”
Zhao Fuguo said, "Don't worry about the guards. Except for Zhang Xiao, I can command everyone else to move."
Wang Meishan turned around and sat down, took a sip of tea and said: "On the surface, we have the advantage, but things are not as optimistic as everyone imagined."
Li Shifei asked in confusion: "What do you mean?"
Wang Meishan sneered and said: "On the surface, all the officials in the court only follow Mr. Li, but except for a few of us, most of them are just like the outsiders. When we have the upper hand, they will stand on our side."
, but once the situation goes wrong, I can guarantee that they will not face it with us."
Yingtian Prefecture Yin Zhao Yong said: "You are a bit unfounded. Even if the officials in the court are just outsiders, we still control the direction of the wind."
Wang Meishan shook his head and said: "Everything is done in advance, otherwise it will be ruined. I am not unreasonably worried, but I advise everyone to think carefully. Another example is the Yulin Guards and bodyguards. Although the command power is in our hands, these people have always been
The ideological indoctrination I have received is about how to protect the emperor. Now we can command people, but if we let them rise up against the emperor, who can guarantee that they will still be obedient?"
"this……"
Li Gang saw Wang Meishan chatting for a few words and left everyone speechless, so he said: "Then according to Bo Feng (Wang Meishan's word), how should we deal with it?"
Wang Meishan turned back to Li Gang and said: "For now, I think we should do the following things."
"Please speak." Li Gang said hurriedly.
Wang Meishan stroked his beard, stretched out his hand and bent his thumb, and said: "First, there are six commanders in the Jiangbei Camp whose terms are about to expire. Mr. Li should inform the Ministry of War to find new commanders. Mr.
Minister of War, this matter must not be difficult."
Wang Meishan slowly bent his index finger again and said: "Second, the largest military force in the south of the Yangtze River is the Cavalry Guard of Xuanwu Lake. I heard that Admiral Ding is about to celebrate his birthday, so Mr. Li should give him a big gift." He paused.
After a while, he then said: "Even if Ding Bingzhen cannot stand on our side, as long as he continues to remain neutral, it will be fine. If not, Mr. Li can find a way to change Lord Ding's position."
"As for the third place." Wang Meishan lowered his middle finger again and said: "Hongdexuan is the place where the emperor handles government affairs and rests. It can be said to be the top priority. As many of the people inside must be our people as possible.
, it’s not enough to have Eunuch Zhao alone.”
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