Chapter 908: Countermeasures for the Decisive Battle
God-given opportunity.
However, the cabinet did not make any move. After all, Liu Jian was a person who had gone through many political affairs. He knew better than anyone else that the reason why a servant like Liu Jin was where he was today was not because of his merits or his ability to take charge of his own affairs. Liu Jin was just the emperor.
A chess piece, and this chess piece is the emperor's only tool to check and balance the ministers.
Behind Liu Jin were a group of eunuchs from the Eastern Palace. These people were also deeply trusted by the emperor. Zhu Houzhao had great trust in them. They and Liu Jin were on the same page because of their common interests, and they promoted the more shrewd Liu Jin to increase their own power.
of power.
Therefore, if you want to bring down Liu Jin, impeachment alone will not work. If you are not the late emperor, the more you impeach, the more favor you will get from the emperor.
After Liu Jian heard the news from Liaodong, he was angry and funny at the same time. What's funny is that there is such a fool in the world. What's funny is that a guerrilla general actually directly destroyed the current balance of power in the Ming Dynasty. The Mongolian tribes in Monan are now so powerful that they can attack at any time.
Hundreds of thousands of rangers can be summoned. If they are given an excuse this time, they have a chance to attack. Although the Ming Dynasty has begun to pay attention to armaments, the size of the new army has reached one hundred thousand, plus dozens of
The Wanbian Army is powerful, but it is unwise to confront this new grassland overlord without any preparation.
Liu Jian immediately invited several important confidants to his house and began to plan the response. In their opinion, the first thing they had to do now was to get rid of Liu Jin. Liu Jin was becoming more and more arrogant in the inner palace.
The power struggle with Xiao Jing has taken away many of Xiao Jing's rights. In the outer dynasty, relying on the emperor's reputation, he was appointed minister of imperial staff several times, which also made the civil and military officials in the dynasty change their minds.
What's more important is that some shameless ministers seem to have noticed Liu Jin and the power behind him, and they shamelessly worship him. Such people are naturally very few, but they are not without them. Liu Jian believes that he can no longer
Tolerated.
The doors and windows of Liu Jian's room have been closed. The space is actually not big, but for the sake of confidentiality, Liu Jian can only make do with it. Now the West Factory is pervasive. Compared to the East Factory, Jin Yiwei is even worse. Liu Jian's temperament
I am always cautious, but this time is an excellent opportunity, so I cannot make any mistakes.
Liu Jian sat in the study and was silent for a moment. His eyes fell on Li Dongyang, Liu Daxia, and Ma Wensheng respectively. Xie Qian was on duty in the cabinet, so he couldn't come for the time being, and the few people in the study all belonged to Liu Jian.
Left and right arms.
However, Liu Jian's emphasis on this matter made Ma Wensheng a little unhappy. In his opinion, Liu Jin was a slave after all, and it would be a bit petty for the important officials of the imperial court to be so cautious and go to war over a few slaves. He suppressed the words and did not say anything.
, but it is also his wish to get rid of Liu Jin, but he does not agree with Liu Jian on the method of getting rid of him.
Liu Jian breathed a sigh of relief, took a slow sip of tea, and then said: "Binzhi, please tell me."
Li Dongyang nodded. Then he said: "Today, the Mongolian Khan from the Ministry of Rites has sent a letter of credence, accusing the Ming Dynasty of favoring the Tatars. Everyone must have known about this in advance, because the guerrilla general Liu Xian was good at making opinions without prior knowledge.
After asking the imperial court for instructions, they actually sent troops to help the Tatars, but they returned with a huge defeat and more than 2,400 officers and soldiers were injured. Originally, the news was reported to the cabinet, but Liu Gong kept suppressing it. I would like to hear your opinions on how to deal with it.
Opinion. It is certain that Liu Xian acted on his own initiative and deceived the emperor. However, Liu Xian was promoted by Liu Jin, the eunuch of the West Factory. This person and Liu Jin are relatives. Liu Jin appointed a private person and knew the person unknown, so of course he must be investigated.
But he has always been favored by the saints, and it is not easy to defeat him. So Liu Gong called us to discuss a countermeasure. This is a God-given opportunity that must not be missed."
When Li Dongyang was speaking, he couldn't help but secretly observe the expressions of Ma Wensheng and Liu Daxia, and then said: "There are rumors of the Eight Tigers in the capital. They are relying on the emperor's favor to act wantonly and have aroused a lot of resentment. I will wait for them."
Deeply loved by the late emperor, he was ordered to protect the country in times of danger. How could he just sit idly by and ignore people like Liu Jin? As long as Liu Jin was captured, the other eunuchs would be vulnerable. But Liu Jin was different. He now controlled His Majesty's daily life and also controlled the West.
Everything in the factory and the palace, big and small, is now under his arrangement, so we must not be careless, so if we don't have a complete method, I'm afraid I won't be able to touch him at all."
Ma Wensheng raised his brows and couldn't help but say: "He's nothing more than an eunuch. He's notorious for his misbehavior. If you want to bring him down, you only need to list a few charges, so why make such a big show of it."
After Liu Jian heard this, he smiled incredulously. Ma Wensheng was still a little angry at being a scholar. In fact, this was not just Ma Wensheng's idea. Most of the ministers in the Hongzhi Dynasty had this kind of scholar-like childishness. The reason is,
In fact, it was the late emperor who spoiled everyone, always thinking that as long as there were high-sounding reasons and impeccable evidence of guilt, justice would be achieved.
Liu Jian understood psychologically that the matter was not simple, but he did not refute Ma Wensheng's intention. He just said with a smile: "What you said makes sense, but it is better to be prepared for everything. Being cautious will not go wrong after all."
Ma Wensheng naturally couldn't say anything else, so he just sighed.
Li Dongyang on the side couldn't help but said: "What does Liu Gong think?"
Liu Jian called everyone here, and naturally he had something in mind. He chuckled and said, "To get rid of Liu Jin, we must first let your majesty know the dangers of Liu Jin's harm to the country this time. So what I mean is that temporarily
There is no need to impeach him and his brother, but wait..."
"Wait?" Ma Wensheng frowned.
Liu Daxia was also stunned for a moment. Liu Daxia was the Minister of the Ministry of War. This time, the guerrilla general Liu Xian acted without authorization without the will or the order of the Ministry of War. In his opinion, it was an extremely serious matter. According to what Liu Jian said
If we wait like that, wouldn't it lead to chaos in the world?
As Minister of War, Liu Daxia felt that it was his duty to punish Mr. Liu.
Li Dongyang just licked his lips and didn't say a word, but obviously, he seemed to have understood Liu Jian's intention.
Liu Jian smiled slightly and said: "Waiting is not indulgence, but waiting for the best opportunity. According to my prediction, the Mongolian Khan will probably send a letter to the court immediately and launch an attack. By then, the rain will come.
In order to calm the matter, the emperor would take the initiative to ask for a thorough investigation of the case. Then the cabinet started with Liu Xian and ruthlessly killed them all together with Liu Jin. Not only did the cabinet have to put pressure on the emperor, but the Mongol Khan also had to put enough pressure on the emperor. After all, the emperor
When you first take over the throne and suddenly encounter such a big thing, you will inevitably be a little panicked. At that time, it is the best time."
Ma Wensheng hesitated for a moment, as if he felt that this was indeed safer, but he refused to say anything.
Liu Daxia pretended to have tea and did not express any opinions. However, for him, all he wanted was the result. Liu Xian must deal with it, and Liu Jin was Liu Xian's brother. If it weren't for Liu Jin, how could he be so confused?
Liu Xian, taking the opportunity to bring down Liu Jin, is a harmless thing for him.
Li Dongyang was thoughtful and couldn't help but said: "What if the emperor didn't panic?"
This is a very fatal problem. The crux of the problem lies in the emperor's mentality. The Mongolian side demands severe punishment, and the cabinet also takes the opportunity to make the matter bigger. Logically speaking, there is indeed no problem, but if the emperor does not accept this, or
If you have good psychological quality, what should you do?
Li Dongyang always felt that there was something wrong with this method, but since the prince ascended the throne, although he had obeyed the government obediently, Li Dongyang still felt that he was not sure about the new emperor's temperament.
Liu Jian said confidently: "After all, the emperor is young and has recently ascended the throne. He is still a child. A child has never seen any big storms. Once his mind is disturbed, things will become simple. I think it's right.
I think that's the only thing, but the most important thing right now is that Liu Jin is in front of the emperor day and night. If it doesn't work out, we will go to the Queen Mother to ask for the order."
Liu Daxia couldn't help but nod, deeply agreeing with Liu Jian's words.
However, Li Dongyang stopped saying anything. He felt that Liu Jian's idea was indeed feasible. For now, it would be better to temporarily indulge the guerrilla general Liu Xian and wait for the opportunity to take down Liu Jin.
It's just that Li Dongyang is an extremely cautious person. Although he thinks it's feasible, he still feels that things won't be that simple.
Liu Jian sighed and said: "To be honest, I may not be sure whether this idea is feasible. If Liu Chengfeng were here, maybe I would be more sure about this matter. After all, the King of Chu knows His Majesty quite well.
I know the emperor’s temperament, but let’s not mention this person. It is his blessing and the court’s blessing that this person can be his vassal king with peace of mind.”
Liu Jian immediately said: "So the Mongolians' current credentials will be suppressed for the time being. When they don't hear a reply, they will definitely send a reply with stronger wording. Then we can take action.
"
Everyone nodded silently, only Li Dongyang said: "Yes, I heard that the eunuch Zhang Yong is not on good terms with Liu Jin. You can contact this person, and maybe you can use him to capture Liu Jin."
After Li Dongyang said this, he felt a little regretful in his heart. He knew in his heart that Zhang Yong was also one of the Eight Tigers and had always been tolerated by the ministers. I am afraid that no one would agree with his opinion. In the eyes of the Qingliu people, Zhang Yong was like this.
Dealing with eunuchs is a matter of great right and wrong.
Sure enough, Ma Wensheng couldn't help frowning and couldn't help but said: "We are all noble people, how can we conspire with Shuzi?"
Liu Jian was somewhat in agreement at first, but after listening to Ma Wensheng's words, he seemed to feel that it made sense, and said calmly: "Let's discuss this later."
Although he said it would be discussed later, the calm expression clearly told Li Dongyang that there was no discussion on this matter.