The ministers all had their brows furrowed.
They were all shrewd people, and they could already tell that the emperor was somewhat tempted.
If they want to object now, it won't be so easy for them to voice their opinions.
Over the past year, Zhu Youjian dealt with the Donglin Party and the gentry of Jiangnan, which did more than just dampen the arrogance of the scholar-officials.
Many of the original helpful suggestions have also disappeared.
No one dared to easily oppose the emperor, lest they be labeled as a member of the Donglin Party.
Zhu Youjian, however, had not yet realized this.
Seeing that no one objected, he smiled.
"That's right. Since General Qin has said so, the court's chances of winning must be quite high."
"Since that's the case..."
At this moment, Li Ruolian suddenly knelt on the ground.
"Your Majesty, this humble general has something to say!"
Before Zhu Youjian could react, Li Ruolian continued speaking.
"This humble general opposes sending troops immediately!"
"What General Qin said makes some sense, but it's just a guess."
"How can we rashly launch an attack based on some speculation?"
"War is a matter of vital importance to the state and must be carefully considered! If we risk sending troops now and fail to defeat the Jurchens, all the victories of the past year will be wasted."
"It might even allow the new Great Khan of the Jurchens to solidify his position!"
"Wouldn't it be a long time before the imperial court could recover Liaodong?"
At this point, Li Ruolian became even more excited.
He knelt and kowtowed, saying, "Your Majesty, please rescind your decree!"
Zhu Youjian immediately became angry.
"Li Ruolian, what do you mean by that? Are you cursing the imperial court to suffer a crushing defeat in this military campaign?"
Li Ruolian quickly shook her head.
"This humble general is not that, this humble general is just..."
Zhu Youjian interrupted.
"Then what do you mean? Hmph, guards, take him out of here!"
Zhu Youjian originally intended to throw him into prison directly, but at the last moment he sobered up a bit.
"Hmph, I was the one who promoted him, yet he still causes me trouble!"
"The matter of sending troops to Liaodong is settled!"
After saying this, Zhu Youjian turned and left.
The ministers looked up and exchanged glances, all noticing the glint of shrewdness in the eyes of the others.
With Li Ruolian falling out of favor, their opportunity has arrived.
Especially in this expedition to Liaodong, Qin Liangyu is definitely the commander-in-chief, but they can all compete for the position of deputy general.
After Qin Liangyu stood up, her face turned somewhat gloomy.
Although she and Li Ruolian disagreed, she knew very well that Li Ruolian was extremely grateful for the emperor's kindness to him.
Those words I just spoke were entirely selfless, spoken with no ulterior motives whatsoever, purely out of a desire to serve the country.
"Your Majesty seems to be somewhat..."
She frowned slightly and pulled back Wang Chengen, who hadn't left yet.
"Steward Wang, I have something to tell you."
Wang Chengen was startled.
"Oh, my dear General Qin, you are an outsider, while I am an insider. We cannot speak so casually!"
"What if someone sees this?"
Qin Liangyu waved her hand: "Steward Wang, don't be afraid, I just want to say one thing to you."
After leading Wang Chengen to a less crowded area, she quickly said, "His Majesty's condition hasn't been quite right lately; he's become somewhat stubborn and self-willed."
"When you have time, you should try to persuade him."
After saying that, Qin Liangyu turned and left.
In her view, Wang Chengen was different from Wei Zhongxian; he was a relatively good eunuch.
That's why she gave that instruction.
But after hearing this, Wang Chengen's face was full of bitter smiles.
"Who do I think I am? How could I possibly persuade the emperor?"
In fact, he was the first to notice that Zhu Youjian had changed.
But he dared not say a word.
Wang Chengen originally did not want to get involved in this matter, but just as he was about to return to Zhu Youjian's side to serve him, the scene from before reappeared before his eyes.
"General Li is a loyal subject, and General Qin has given me such instructions. If I really remain indifferent, wouldn't that be too disrespectful?"
Ultimately, since Wang Chengen accompanied Emperor Chongzhen to his death in history, he must have had some moral bottom line.
After hesitating for a moment, he still did not return directly to the emperor's side.
Instead, he went to find Cao Huachun first.
"Godfather, please show me the way. What should I do?"
For the past six months, although Cao Huachun had been by Gao Qingyun's side, he had a clear understanding of the affairs of the court and the changes in Zhu Youjian.
He said with a smile, "Cheng'en, the fact that you came to ask me about this shows that you've learned a lot!"
Cao Huachun stood up and started talking about other things first.
"Back when we were still in the capital, we saw what the late emperor looked like before he ascended the throne."
“When the late emperor was still the crown prince, everyone who saw him said that he was the seed of a wise ruler and that he would surely bring about the revival of the Ming Dynasty.”
"But what happened after the late emperor ascended the throne? Didn't he quickly become obsessed with carpentry, and allow Lady Fengsheng and Wei Zhongxian to seize control of the court!"
Cao Huachun himself didn't realize that spending so much time with Gao Qingyun had affected his speech and vocabulary.
The Ming Dynasty did not have the concept of "light speed".
He continued, "His Majesty is now just like his brother."
"No, rather, all emperors throughout history are pretty much the same; when they first ascend the throne, they still know who they are."
"But once you sit on the throne for a long time, especially with many sycophants around you, you start to believe that you are the Son of Heaven who never makes mistakes!"
This statement is actually taboo.
Wang Chengen shuddered, glanced around a few times, and then whispered, "Godfather, you can't just say things like that."
"If anyone hears this, they could be beheaded!"
Cao Huachun burst into laughter.
"Look at you, so ignorant!"
"Let me tell you, Master Gao has said even more shocking things when he teaches those kids."
"The emperor was sometimes present, but he didn't drag Master Gao out to be beheaded, did he?"
Wang Chengen wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and forced a smile:
"Can those be the same?"
"Our Emperor regards Master Gao as both a teacher and a father."
"If Master Gao says so, then there's naturally no problem."
Cao Huachun smiled and nodded at this moment.
"It seems you understand."
Wang Chengen was taken aback at first, but then he really understood.
What Cao Huachun just said was actually telling him to ask Gao Qingyun for help.
Now, only Gao Qingyun can still persuade the emperor.
"Godfather, you see things much better!" Wang Chengen gave a thumbs up, then walked towards the classroom in the distance.
But as he walked, he started to laugh out loud.
"That's a bit strange. Whenever something happens in our Great Ming Dynasty, we always end up having to ask Master Gao to step in."
"Master Gao is almost like the monkey from Journey to the West!"
"That makes sense. Master Gao is mysterious and unpredictable, and His Majesty trusts him. We really can only trouble him with this matter."
Wang Chengen did not go straight in, but instead gathered his thoughts at the door before quickly walking inside.
"Master Gao, something terrible has happened! Village Chief Zhu has been arrested by troublemakers again..."
"Wait, no, it's that the village chief is in trouble again!"
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