Chapter 101 Preparation
Facts have proved that the two cabinet ministers were able to rise to their current positions in the turbulent Lao Deng Dynasty, and that they were well-known and truly worthy of their reputations. The reason why the prince can show off his power and make the two cabinet ministers seem like cute and charming villains on weekdays is purely because the defense of Duke Mu's Mansion is too high to be penetrated, and politically it's all about you, me and everyone else; but in the eyes of ordinary officials, these two cabinet ministers are truly the demon slayers from the sky and the Tai Sui gods on earth, whose tactics are so ruthless and sharp that they can definitely stop children from crying at night - and don't forget, the two cabinet ministers' glorious achievements in the past were only the reputation they made by fighting alone and defeating ten thousand people; now that the two of them have joined forces, their fighting power will of course increase immediately! Crazy increase! Strong increase!
Kill kill kill kill kill! The momentum of the two elders at this moment is ten or fifty times stronger than at any other time; they are extremely domineering and wild. Such an ultimate form - what else in the world can resist? !
As for how to increase strength, Prince Mu soon saw it. The two big guys never procrastinate on key issues. The next day, Lord Yan ordered his men to write a letter to impeach Wang Peng and others for colluding with foreign vassals to plot treason, which was an unforgivable crime. The writing was sharp and menacing, and he directly hit the opponent's weak spot, fully demonstrating the Prime Minister's experience. Of course, one letter of impeachment was not enough. Wang Peng, who was imprisoned in the imperial prison, could still make excuses. But Lord Xu also took action - he withheld the secret letter that Wang Peng sent to his hometown at some point, and after showing the secret letter, he sent the confession written by Wang's family members to the imperial prison. Soon, the Left Scholar Wang Peng committed suicide in despair - as for whether he really committed suicide, there is no need to investigate it in such detail.
Of course, this whole process is bound to have many flaws, and it may be possible to overturn the verdict if it is carefully investigated. But this is where the viciousness and subtlety of political struggle lies. What matters is not some precise and meticulous interlocking of steps, but purely fast play, ruthless action, and the preemptive creation of established facts - there will inevitably be procedural problems in official attacks, but a dead man can never turn the tide; no matter how exquisite your layout and how clever your chess moves are, as long as you pick up the chessboard and hit it on your head, everyone can only lie on the ground with their legs spread out.
Therefore, compared to the battle-hardened Old Deng, the Crown Prince is still too young, too naive, and too simple. He looks crazy and kills people everywhere, but in fact he is soft-hearted and hesitant. He may be able to make up his mind to kill the Japanese pirates and the Portuguese, but it is difficult for him to be so ruthless as to kill his colleagues and subordinates who he works with day and night in the court. But now the situation has reversed, and the joining of the two ministers has made up for the lack of determination of the prince - no matter how gentle and polite he is in normal times, the feudal bureaucratic habit of treating human life as worthless is not something that ordinary people can learn.
But at the same time, the joining of the two ministers also created tremendous pressure on the Prince of Mu. After Wang Peng committed suicide in prison, the offensive of the Yan Party did not ease at all. On the same day, they instructed the imperial censor to submit seven or eight memorials, each of which was aggressive and murderous. Mu Qi copied the memorials and showed them to Zhang Taiyue, who could not help but sigh as he appreciated them:
... "It was only at this moment that I realized that words that can kill people actually look like this!"
This sentence was indeed very powerful, and Zhang Taiyue was a little confused. After being stunned for a while, he reluctantly replied:
"These are all insignificant tricks and schemes..."
"But to secure the position of Prime Minister, one must use such political tactics."
Unlike the prime minister of the previous dynasty, today's cabinet is essentially still a makeshift temporary organization, operating purely by inertia, without any institutional guarantees. Every cabinet elder who wants to gain a foothold and grasp power must engage in a hearty real-life chicken-eating contest with the six ministries, the Imperial Household Department, and even the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard. It is precisely because of this that it is hard to say how good the person who can sit on the Prime Minister's chair is at external fighting, but he is definitely a top expert in internal fighting, a great existence like Mu Qi that everyone looks up to.
"It takes talent to engage in political struggles." The prince sighed sincerely, and took out a memorial from his sleeve: "This is the official document handed over by Lord Xu. He found more clues from Wang Peng's correspondence. It seems that he wants to follow the clues and catch them all in one fell swoop, and use force to suppress all opponents..."
The thinking in political struggle and that in handling cases are different. To handle a major case, one must get to the bottom of it, carefully lay out the case, and repeatedly torture the suspect; but in a political struggle, one only needs to get straight to the point; after catching any clues, they will be sent to prison; the sensible and obedient ones will keep their lives as evidence for future accusations, while the stubborn ones will simply commit suicide out of fear of being punished; the main focus is on being decisive and ruthless in their decision to kill, and never giving anyone a chance to turn over - what, are you still unconvinced in the underworld?
Zhang Taiyue was a little surprised: "Lord Xu got the letter from the criminal official? Could it be that the Jinyiwei has already searched his house?"
Confiscating property and exterminating a clan must go through formal procedures, and once the formal procedures are followed, things may be delayed. The reason why Yan Fenyi and Xu Shaohu were able to strike so fast and as fast as lightning was that they relied on their ingenuity and exploited the loopholes in the process. If we go straight to the process of confiscating the property, things will actually be much slower.
"Of course not." The prince snorted. "They didn't request a confiscation of the property. Instead, they impeached Wang for his rampant corruption and requested that his residence be sealed off to prevent his family from taking advantage of the opportunity to transfer the stolen goods. Then Lord Xu personally led a team to seal off the residence and dug out all of Wang Peng's hundreds of letters from the past few years..."
This is also taking advantage of the formal process. The order to confiscate property needs to be reviewed by the Jieshi Zhong and then processed by the Sanfasi, which will take a long time; but sealing off the mansion and counting the stolen goods only requires the cabinet's approval, and the efficiency can be accelerated to a very fast level. An old minister who has been in the cabinet for more than ten years has such a sharp vision.
Of course, there is a price to pay for taking advantage of loopholes. According to the court regulations, you can take an inventory after sealing off the mansion, but you are not allowed to take anything away from the scene, and it is even more impossible for you to collect evidence and easily frame you with any crime. But it was in this rather embarrassing situation that the team leader Xu Ge Lao finally showed off his incredible operation.
"Because no letter could be brought out, Xu Shaohu found a quiet place and spent two hours memorizing all the letters." The prince sighed. Although it had been a long time, he still remembered it clearly: "Every paragraph in his memorial was copied directly from memory - the Imperial Household Department has checked it, and there is not a single word missing."
At this point, even though Mu Qi did not agree with Xu Shaohu's various behaviors, he could not help but feel great awe - after all, he was the king of the exam papers among hundreds of thousands of people, a master who was able to stand at the top of the literati circle, the ultimate form of eight-part essay test-taker; you can say that he is bad, but you really can't say that he is bad.
Memorize it by heart, boy!
Zhang Taiyue was obviously also quite touched. After pondering for a moment, he could not help but sigh:
"It seems that Lord Xu is really old..."
“That’s it…eh?”
The prince was about to agree when he suddenly realized something was wrong:
"--What do you mean?"
He turned his head quickly and stared at Zhang Taiyue with an extremely surprised expression; Zhang Taiyue was caught off guard and instinctively finished the rest of the words:
"…It's just a hundred or so letters. In fact, it will only take a little over an hour…"
Before he finished speaking, Zhang Taiyue's voice gradually became quieter. Apparently, he realized belatedly that the person in front of him was not his equally talented colleague in the Hanlin Academy, but the prince of Duke Mu, whose cultural level had always been lowly regarded. My usual standard of judgment is probably, possibly, or perhaps a little high...
This is the disadvantage of having a small circle. Having spent so much time in the Hanlin Academy and the Ministry of Rites, and in the circle of newly minted scholars, it is inevitable that his understanding of the average level of human beings is a little biased. Even a top figure like Zhang Taiyue, who has high EQ and IQ, was caught off guard and blurted out the truth.
Of course, Zhang Taiyue quickly noticed this, and promptly shut up and lowered his head, trying to divert the focus and get away with it. Unfortunately, it was too late to shut up at this time. Prince Mu was keenly aware of the hidden thoughts under his expression:
——No way, no way, there can’t be anyone so bad that he can’t even master such a basic skill as photographic memory?
My goodness, if you don’t even know a simple skill like memorizing, what’s the difference between you and an illiterate? With such a disgraceful level of education, how can he survive in officialdom in the future?
Once the prince understood this hidden voice, his defense was immediately broken!
——Isn’t it amazing that he’s a child prodigy? Is it so great to be a Jinshi? Isn’t Hanlin so great?
——Isn’t it great to be able to memorize everything you see? Is it amazing to be able to write a thousand words? Is it great to be able to write well?
...Okay, it's indeed amazing, but who told you to show off everywhere? The Da'an officialdom does not allow such a powerful person to exist!
Unfortunately, geniuses are powerful, and child prodigies are amazing. No matter how much the prince was upset by this tragic fact and rolled around trying to break his defenses, facts are facts and he cannot deny them. In fact, from just a few words, he painfully realized the truth: for Zhang Shentong, who had been through mountains of swords and seas of fire, this skill that he could recite by heart at a glance might really be just a basic operation. With this level and rank, is it possible for a noob who has to frown when just reciting Chinese to achieve this?
The king of scrimmage is the king of scrimmage. Don't use your amateur level to challenge other people's professional qualities. This is a respect for basic common sense.
...However, such professionalism also has its advantages. The prince rolled his eyes and thought for a long time, finally slowly raised his head and looked at Zhang Hanlin who was still quite embarrassed.
"Sure enough." He said slowly: "Taiyue, you also have this kind of political talent."
·
After accidentally making a slip of the tongue, Zhang Taiyue was actually very nervous. Whether it was accidental or a slip of the tongue, it is somewhat inappropriate to say such things in front of your boss. He was racking his brains to think of words to make amends, but he was caught off guard by a strange remark:
"Sure enough. Taiyue, you also have this kind of political talent."
"……ah?"
The prince looked away and looked up at the sky again:
"This kind of political talent is really rare... So Taiyue, are you interested in the chair of the Prime Minister in Wenyuan Pavilion?"
"ah?!"
This, this, isn't this going too far?
"Of course I'm not talking about now... Elder Yan still has to work for a few more years; after Elder Yan finishes his work, Elder Xu will probably have a try as well. If Prince Yu can take the throne, Gao Suqing will definitely show his skills - don't worry about him, but after that, we should add some fresh blood!"
No, have you decided the rotation order of the Prime Minister so quickly? Isn't this a bit too much?
Zhang Taiyue was so shocked that he could not react. He stood there for a long while before he finally spoke with a stammer: "Your humble servant...How dare your humble servant go beyond the position of the Crown Prince..."
The prince finally lowered his head, seeming to be quite surprised: "Surpassing my position? What position can I have? - No, do you think I can be the Prime Minister of the Cabinet?"
The cabinet has always been the territory of civil servants, and the place where the reputation of the literati is essential; a son of nobles who has not passed the imperial examination and has not been appointed as a Hanlin, and who has only relied on the emperor's favor to climb up, to be fortunate enough to enter the cabinet and participate in confidential matters is already a violation of convention by Master Feixuan's special appointment, and there will probably be a lot of discussions in the future; if he completely breaks the bottom line and becomes the prime minister, it will be tantamount to angering all the civil servants in the six ministries and nine departments, and the outcome will definitely be irreconcilable - your family has been eating, drinking and having fun for three generations, how can you catch up with me who has studied hard for decades? How can an illiterate person who doesn't even know the Four Books and Five Classics be qualified to point fingers at the court!
At that time, either the civil servants in the court would bully the prince, or the prince would bully the civil servants in the court. The situation is out of control and the government is likely to become irreversible. So after thinking about it, I still can't take that final step.
Don't seek false reputation and suffer real disaster; Mu Qi will be satisfied if he can manage his own business well. As the saying goes, everyone has their own expertise. He is really not good at killing, torturing, or punishing people. It is better to leave the important task of taking charge of the overall situation to you, the Kings of the Rolls!
"A scholar must be broad-minded and resolute, and the responsibility is heavy and the road is long." The prince racked his brains and finally quoted a classic saying: "Mr. Zhang, you are also a scholar. Don't you want to shoulder the heavy responsibility of stabilizing the country and implement your own views? If you want to carry forward your ambitions, you must be in that position!"
This sentence is very powerful. If you tempt him with fame and fortune, Zhang Taiyue might just remain silent and turn a deaf ear; but if you ask him about his ambition, Zhang Hanlin cannot help but be moved a thousand times - to support the country, stabilize the nation and spread justice to the world, this has been his ambition since he was fifteen years old. And who in this world can deny who they were when they were fifteen?
After going through so many hardships, I still remember my original intention when I was fifteen. How romantic and lucky it is!
No one rejects this kind of romance. So Zhang Taiyue remained silent for a long time, and could only speak in a low voice:
"…After all, this humble official has limited knowledge and talent."
"You may not have much knowledge, but you can learn it later!" The prince didn't care: "The key is to have the intention. Mr. Zhang, do you have this intention?"
Mr. Zhang stopped talking.
·
The two ministers took care of all the affairs of state, and after the rear was stabilized, the rest of the military affairs were entrusted to the prince. And the prince did not disappoint them. Three days later, on December 9, Huang Shanggang received a secret report saying that in broad daylight in the deserted wilderness outside the city, "it seemed like a meteor had fallen to the ground," with an extremely alarming sound. When he hurried to the suburbs with his men, he saw the scene was densely packed with craftsmen. Prince Mu was standing on a high place, looking up from afar, with a very complacent look on his face.
He glanced at Huang Shanggang and then smiled happily:
"Eunuch Huang, this is the new type of elixir I carefully designed. What do you think?"
Eunuch Huang: …………
Eunuch Huang took a deep breath:
"...So, the meteor that fell to the ground in broad daylight was the effect of the prince's new elixir?"
"A meteor fell to the ground?" The prince was stunned for a moment, and after thinking carefully for a moment, he finally shook his head: "It shouldn't be, it's just a fallen part."
"——The fallen part?"
"This is my guess." The prince explained to him with great interest: "The range of Feixuan Zhenjun is still not far enough, and the power is still not strong enough; in essence, it should be that the steel shell outside the rocket is too heavy, which reduces the range. So I was thinking at that time, if the new rocket can throw away the steel shell in the air, the power should be able to be further improved."
Huang Shanggang nodded blankly, as if he was listening to a divine book; but after listening to a few sentences, he felt something was wrong:
"What about the rest after you throw away the shell?"
"The rest?" The prince pointed outside: "It's over there."
As he pointed his finger, a bright flame suddenly exploded in the sky.
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