Chapter 42 4. In the struggle for power, Yang Xian was killed

After Li Shanchang returned to his hometown, Zhongshu Province had no one in charge for a while, and there was really no suitable candidate for the post of prime minister.In terms of talent, Liu Bowen is the most suitable, but now Huaixi nobles are in power, even if Liu Bowen takes the post of prime minister, it will be difficult to make a difference.Zhu Yuanzhang knew that to deal with these nobles, the means and methods must be appropriate, and he must not be in one step and rush for success.Wang Guangyang is from Gaoyou. Although he is not close to these Huaixi people, he is still half of Huaixi people.These Huaixi people should not object to letting him be Prime Minister Zuo.In addition, let Yang Xian be the right prime minister. When he comes to power, he can restrain the Huaixi people so that they will not go too far.

At this time, although Liu Bowen was sent away, he still lived in the capital.Zhu Yuanzhang admired Liu Bowen's judgment on personnel affairs very much, so he still called Liu Bowen secretly to discuss matters every now and then. "Berwen, what do you think of our arrangement?" One day, Zhu Yuanzhang told Liu Bowen his candidate for prime minister. Liu Bowen was very surprised when he heard this, and said: "Your Majesty, I remember that I once said that neither of these two is suitable to be a prime minister." "Don't Bowen understand the truth of winning in chaos? The biggest threat to the imperial court now comes from nobles. Only in chaos can we take the opportunity to suppress it." Zhu Yuanzhang said.

After hearing this, Liu Bowen couldn't help shivering.Our emperor is truly a genius, and his handling of affairs is chilling.It's just a pity for Wang Guangyang and Yang Xian, they will eventually become victims of the struggle between the emperor and the nobles.He couldn't bear it for a while, so he said: "The emperor's opinion! It's just that Wang Guangyang is weak by nature, and Yang Xian is too hostile. I'm afraid Wang Guangyang will not be able to control Yang Xian." "Haha, please don't worry about this Bowen. Don't we want to suppress nobles? Yang Xian will become a very good stick. Wang Guangyang and Yang Xian are sitting in the same office. Yang Xian must monopolize the power. This is also my purpose. Yang Xian The nobles in Huaixi will definitely not have a good life when they are in power. Of course, if Yang Xian is appointed directly as Zuo Cheng, those nobles will not agree, so they have to arrange Wang Guangyang as Zuo Cheng."

Liu Bowen was shocked again when he heard this, he had to re-examine the emperor in front of him: bold and careful, everything is under control.It seems that the good days of those Huaixi nobles who take credit and pride are not long.There is such an emperor who is so talented, but at the same time he is omnipotent in doing things. The courtiers really don't know whether it is luck or misfortune. In the third year of Hongwu (1370), Zhu Yuanzhang took Wang Guangyang as Zhongshu Zuocheng to dominate political affairs.Taking Yang Xian as the right minister of Zhongshu, he assisted Wang Guangyang.

Yang Xian is smart and sees all this clearly.Right after taking office, relying on the emperor's favor, he appeared aggressive, making others feel that he was the chief of Zhongshu Province. One day, Cui Liang, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, went to Zhongshu Province to finish his work, and happened to meet Yang Xian when he went out. "Master Cui, why are you in a hurry when you see this hall, and you don't even say hello?" Yang Xian asked with an unhappy face. "It turned out to be Master Yang. I'm really sorry. I was in a hurry to go back because of important matters, so please forgive me." Cui Liang hurriedly apologized.He knew that Yang Xian was now a celebrity around the emperor, and he liked to make trouble for others, so he had to be more careful.

"It turns out that's the case. What's the matter with coming to Zhongshu Province?" Yang Xian was very happy to see Cui Liang's trembling look. "Oh, the Ministry of Rites has drawn up the candidates for promotion this time, come and report to Mr. Wang." Cui Liang said. "Master Cui, don't you know the rules of our Zhongshu Province? This kind of thing should be reported to me first! I'll see it and then hand it over to Mr. Wang for approval. Don't you know?" Yang Xian was very annoyed .Yang Xian thought to himself, fortunately, he had encountered this matter, how could the selection of the Ministry of Rites not pass my test?So, he asked, "Where is that list now?"

"Master Yang, the list has been presented to Mr. Wang for review." Cui Liang didn't understand why the list should be shown to Yang Xian. Logically, it should be handed over to Mr. Wang. "Hurry up to Mr. Wang to get it back, and tell him that the church wants to see it." Yang Xian ordered. This Wang Guangyang is also a smart person, he understands what he should do in this seat.Huaixi Xungui couldn't afford to offend himself, and of course the emperor couldn't afford to offend him.I, Wang Guangyang, just don't do anything. Yang Xian loves to do things so much, so I simply let him go to Zhongshu Sheng, which also fulfilled the emperor's wishes.So Cui Liang came to pick it up, and Wang Guangyang returned the list to him.

After reading the list, Yang Xian scolded Cui Liang loudly: "Lord Cui, your drafting of the list is too hasty, fortunately I saw it. If this is handed over to the emperor, we will all have bad luck." He gave a few names and handed them back to Cui Liang. Cui Liang took it and saw that Yang Xian actually replaced all the people from Huaixi on the list with his cronies.Cui Liang dared not speak out, so he could only say: "Master Yang is really wise, please give me more advice in the future!" Taking advantage of Yang Xian's laughter, he hurriedly said goodbye and left.

After this incident, Yang Xian became more confident and less concerned about Wang Guangyang.Although Wang Guangyang didn't care about anything, he was still Zuo Cheng after all, and Yang Xian had to report to Wang Guangyang for approval before it could take effect.Yang Xian felt that he should move Wang Guangyang and replace him.So they sent someone to watch Wang Guangyang all day, waiting for him to make a mistake. Strange to say, Yang Xian did everything, even if Wang Guangyang wanted to make a mistake, he had no chance.For several days, the people who followed Wang Guangyang failed.

On this day, a person in charge of following Wang Guangyang suddenly came to report to Yang Xian, saying that Wang Guangyang was afraid of his wife.Yesterday, when his mother and his wife had a quarrel, Wang Guangyang actually reprimanded his mother. If Yang Xian got the treasure, he immediately went to the palace to report to the emperor.He understood that all the emperor needed to dismiss Wang Guangyang was an excuse. "Your Majesty, Wang Guangyang is so unfilial to his mother. I suggest that he should be let go of Zuo Cheng and choose another talented person." After reporting Wang Guangyang's crimes, Yang Xian said again.

Zhu Yuanzhang felt very funny when he heard about it, and thought, we know that you Yang Xian wants to be Prime Minister Zuo, but you are too crazy to think about it.I just think Wang Guangyang's Prime Minister Zuo, he is too useless.Forget it, it's time to test the reaction of the Huaixi people, and take this opportunity to satisfy you, Yang Xian. Therefore, Wang Guangyang was expelled from Zhongshu Province by the emperor within a few days after becoming Zuo Cheng because of his unfilial piety, and was exiled to another country.In July of the third year of Hongwu (1370), Zhu Yuanzhang appointed Yang Xian as Prime Minister Zuo, and at the same time transferred Hu Weiyong, a native of Huaixi, to Zhongshu Province as a political adviser to appease the Huaixi people.Yang Xian won the initial victory in the struggle for power. But as Liu Bowen said, Yang Xian has the talent of a prime minister, but not the bearing of a prime minister. Li Shanchang once deposed Yang Xian's brother Yang Xisheng.Although Li Shanchang returned home due to illness, the emperor did not remove him from his official position.Now Yang Xian monopolizes power and is determined to overthrow Li Shanchang, the representative of Huaixi nobles. Yang Xian said to Zhu Yuanzhang many times: "Your Majesty, I think that Li Xiangguo has been old and weak in recent years, and has shown signs of fatigue. Besides, under his leadership, various departments of the Zhongshu Province have shifted the blame from each other and are inefficient. I think he used to be the emperor. You have done a lot of great things, now it's time to retire and enjoy your happiness." Zhu Yuanzhang thought of Liu Bowen's words and thought to himself, Yang Xian, you really count every penny.Li Shanchang is the representative of the Huaixi faction, it is impossible to get rid of him with a few words from you, I am afraid that you have to pay a price to move him, if you bite him like this, you may lose your life. At this time, Li Shanchang was not in the court, and the representative of the Huaixi faction became Hu Weiyong, the political counselor of Zhongshu Province.After hearing the news that Yang Xian wanted to stop Li Shanchang from speaking to the emperor, he immediately went to see Li Shanchang. "Li Xiang, Yang Xianjin said clearly that he wants to make himself bigger. Yang Xian is a good friend of Liu Bowen. If Yang Xian is the prime minister, Liu Bowen will naturally hold the power, so we people in Huaixi will not want to get ahead again." Hu Weiyong said. "Weiyong, you don't understand. The current emperor is a generation of sages, and he has his own deep meaning in doing things. You can't be greedy for the position of prime minister. Even if Yang Xian doesn't join me, I don't intend to continue to be this prime minister." Li Shanchang said. "But what should we do?" Hu Weiyong asked anxiously. "The ones I care about are the ones you know best, that is, our Huaixi children. With Yang Xian as a villain, I am afraid they will not have a good life." Li Shanchang said angrily, "We have to move him down. Such an official Has he not offended anyone for many years?" "Wang Guangyang!" The two said almost in unison.Thus a plan was formed among them. After returning to Beijing, Hu Weiyong immediately had an audience with the emperor.He reported to the emperor: "Your Majesty, I have to report that Yang Xian sent killers to kill Wang Guangyang on the way to exile. The Ministry of Criminal Justice has confirmed." The emperor understood that what was confirmed must be Li Shanchang's idea.So he hurriedly called Li Shanchang, and asked Li Shanchang: "Shanchang, are you still sick? In the future, you will not go to Zhongshu Province. You should rest assured that the matter over there will be handed over to Hu Weiyong. Yang Xian is too much, no The killing of refugees and the indignation of civilians." Li Shanchang understood that the emperor was going to trade Yang Xian's death and Hu Weiyong as the prime minister in exchange for his seclusion, and he felt very uneasy. He was afraid that his influence would be too great, and the emperor would not let him go.He hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, what can I do with my humble minister! Please allow your Majesty to return to your hometown and live a peaceful life for a few years." "Don't you like Hangzhou? We will build a mansion for you in Hangzhou, so you can enjoy the happiness there." The emperor thought for a while and said. "Thank you for your decree." Li Shanchang understood that the emperor sent him to Hangzhou not to return to his hometown, but to send someone to monitor him. In July of the third year of Hongwu (1370), in the month when he became prime minister, Yang Xian was executed and became a victim of the struggle between factions and monarchs. Soon after Yang Xian's death, Li Shanchang retired.Zhu Yuanzhang took the first crucial step in the struggle against Huaixi Xungui.