Xu Xi understood Zhang Weixian's words very well. When the nest is overturned, all the eggs will remain intact. In fact, he just didn't want to let these people go and wanted them to hand over the money.
As for why Zhang Weixian did this, Xu Xi knew it very well.
People's thoughts are determined by the position they hold. Now that the General Staff Office has been established and is showing signs of growth, and has gained the trust of His Majesty, who wouldn't want to gain more power?
Since the establishment of the General Staff Office, there has been a rumor that the General Staff Office will set up a Chief of Staff, similar to the Prime Minister of the Cabinet.
Now that the candidate for the General Staff Office has been decided, the position of Chief of Staff will probably be established soon.
Among the people in the General Staff Office, Sun Chuanting could not be the Chief of Staff because his qualifications were too shallow. It was a favor from His Majesty that he was able to join the General Staff Office this time. It was also because everyone gave His Majesty face that Sun Chuanting was allowed to join the General Staff Office.
In addition to Sun Chuanting, there is also Chen Sihai. Chen Sihai is His Majesty's confidant, but everyone can see that Chen Sihai was sent by His Majesty to take charge of the Military Law Department. He is not a suitable candidate to be the Chief of Staff.
Apart from him, the only remaining candidates were Duke of Cheng, Zhu Chunchen, Yuan Keli, and Duke of Ying, Zhang Weixian. These three were all competitive candidates for the position of Chief of Staff.
However, Xu Xi also knew that it was impossible for Zhu Chunchen to get this position. Everyone knew how he got to the position. He was able to get the position of Minister of Staff because of his contributions in the past period of time. It was the emperor's reward for him.
However, at this position, Zhu Chunchen's contributions were almost enough. If he wanted to move forward one step further, his contributions were not enough, so it was impossible for him to get the position of Chief of Staff.
Apart from these people, the most competitive ones are Yuan Keli and Zhang Weixian.
Yuan Keli had a long career, great achievements, and the support of the civil service. Although they fought among themselves, once it came to competing with the nobles, they would inevitably unite and support Yuan Keli.
Under these circumstances, Duke of Ying, Zhang Weixian, was at a disadvantage. If he hadn't joined the General Staff Office and hadn't had the opportunity to compete for the position of Chief of Staff, Zhang Weixian might not have had any such thoughts. But the opportunity was right in front of him, and it was not so easy to give up.
When a person cannot see it, he will not have such a thought; but once a person sees that thing right in front of him, he can reach out and hold it in his hand, and no one will give up.
Under such circumstances, it would be ridiculous to say that Zhang Weixian has no ideas.
But for Zhang Weixian, it was not easy for him to get this position. Yuan Keli put too much pressure on him, so he needed to prove that he was useful in this position. Not only useful, but more useful than Yuan Keli, he could get this position.
Therefore, Zhang Weixian urgently needed a merit, firstly to establish his authority, and secondly to express his ability and loyalty to His Majesty.
From this perspective, a small achievement would definitely not be enough. So Zhang Weixian needed a big achievement to solve a big problem for His Majesty.
If you want to make a contribution and solve a big problem, there are only a few aspects to consider.
On the one hand, there was military merit, meaning the General Staff's achievements. But without a war to fight, such achievements were difficult to achieve. Even if a war were to break out, victory or failure was uncertain. If Zhang Weixian lost, not only would he not get the position, he might also lose the opportunity that was right before him. The risk was too great, so he wouldn't do it.
Since he had no military achievements, he needed to earn merit in other ways, and money was a topic he could never avoid. Especially with Zhu Chunchen as a role model, it was not surprising that Zhang Weixian followed suit.
Once Zhang Weixian touched the salt, he would offend a group of people and at the same time reveal the secrets to His Majesty.
How much money was involved in salt? No one in the Ming Dynasty could possibly tell. But even someone like Xu Xi knew that if he could get the profit from salt, it would be a huge sum of money. What would His Majesty think of Zhang Weixian at that time?
Zhang Weixian is loyal and capable, so he is definitely qualified to take the position of Chief of Staff.
In fact, Xu Xi could also see that His Majesty had not yet appointed a Chief of Staff, not because His Majesty had not thought it through, but because His Majesty was watching to see who was willing to do the job and who was able to do the job.
Zhang Weixian wanted to prove himself this way. But this matter was too big, and he needed helpers, people to fight for him, and people to take the blame for him when things got out of hand.
It was at this very moment that I arrived. I was a Duke of the Ming Dynasty. Even if something really happened, I wouldn't lose my title or my family. Furthermore, my status was high, and my words carried weight. Therefore, I became Zhang Weixian's best choice.
Now that Zhang Weixian had thrown this topic to him, he was forcing him to do it. If he retreated now, not only would he not be able to explain himself to Zhang Weixian, he would probably not be able to explain himself to His Majesty either.
Originally, His Majesty did not like me as the Duke of Dingguo. If I was unwilling to do it and the news got to His Majesty, what would His Majesty think?
Your Majesty will think that I, the Duke of Dingguo, am not only unwilling to work, but also a figurehead, unfit for the responsibility. By that time, my situation will surely be even worse than it is now.
Zhang Weixian is forcing himself to move forward!
After thinking about this, Xu Xi sighed in his heart, and a deep sense of regret filled his heart.
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