Chapter 32 Chapter Two: Three Strategies for the Lord
Chapter Two: The Rebellion of Xiaoqiang
After sorting out my thoughts, I ordered the book boy named Li Xin to inform him that I want to see him after His Royal Highness King Yong wakes up.Who knew that within a short while, I saw King Yong and Shi Yu hurried in, and they were neatly dressed and looked a little tired, as if they hadn't slept all night.I was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly realized, it seems that King Yong is waiting very anxiously?
Please ask King Yong to sit down, and chat a few words casually first, seeing that King Yong has calmed down, I said: "Excuse me, Your Highness, why do you want to ascend the throne?"
King Yong was taken aback for a moment, he had already regarded ascending the throne as something he had to do in his heart. Apart from thinking that he should get such a reward, he felt that no one but himself could make Dayong rule the world. Yong Sheji himself had to disregard the reputation, but when Jiang Zhe asked this question, he suddenly found it difficult to answer. Normally, he and his subordinates took this matter for granted, but they didn't know how to explain it to Jiang Zhe.
I smiled slightly. This is something I discovered a long time ago. When King Yong persuaded me to surrender, he did not explain his philosophy at all. From the beginning, if there is no such concept as the foundation, then the great cause of King Yong will be a castle on the water after all.
I continued: "Based on the current situation, Dayong's foundation is already quite stable, and His Royal Highness the crown prince occupies the position of the eldest son, and there is no obvious lack of morality, so why should the civil and military officials go against the emperor's will and support His Highness?" Well, His Highness holds the military power, and everyone responds to it. If he forcibly seizes the throne, he will inevitably be criticized by the system, saying that His Highness conspired to usurp the throne. His Highness is indeed wise and mighty, but if he leaves a wrong example for future generations, he thinks that as long as he has power and meritorious deeds, he can If you are enthroned as emperor, then rebellion can be carried out justifiably, the monarchy will be questioned, and a stable system is more effective than a sage monarch, so although your highness's achievements are world-class, they cannot be used as a reason for your highness to seize the throne."
Li Zhi thoughtfully said: "Is this probably the reason why the elders in court and China valued my achievements but refused to actively support my succession?"
I nodded and said: "If I were the elders, watching Dayong grow from nothing to nothing, I would definitely not want to reduce Dayong's power due to civil strife, so they would not support His Highness's succession, even if His Highness is the better heir apparent in their minds They will not categorically support the candidate. At this time, most of the people who are willing to support His Highness are for the future glory and wealth. Only a few people can see that only when His Highness ascends the throne can the Dayong Society be preserved. Those ordinary people do not understand His Highness's succession importance, then His Highness should tell them."
After hearing what I said, Li Zhi asked, "To be honest, this king just thinks that he can't hand over the throne to his elder brother. He is too close to Fengyimen, but the reason is still unclear."
I said solemnly: "So the first policy I offer to Your Highness is Mingzhi policy. Although Dayong is thriving now, but there are many hidden worries inside. This hidden worry is the Fengyi Gate. The worry of Dayong is not strong enemies in the four directions, but rather Within Xiao Qiang, Fengyimen takes benevolence and righteousness as its outer clothing, and power and strategy as its inner, controlling the harem, and controlling hundreds of officials. If things go on like this, sooner or later, Fengyimen will become the Supreme Emperor who listens to the government behind the curtain. Instead of restraining the hearts of officials with respect, filial piety, and colluding closely with Fengyimen in order to secure a stable position, if His Highness allows the crown prince to ascend the throne, not only will his own life be in danger, but the pillars of the country will be destroyed by himself, and Dayong Society will be destroyed by women. If His Royal Highness screens out the courtiers around him and cuts off contact with Fengyimen, even if His Royal Highness does not have a single soldier to defend himself, Your Highness, you dare not point a finger at the Crown Prince. This is because the Crown Prince lost his virtue first, not Your Highness Intentions to seek rebellion. What's more, to put it in a word of hatred, the world is not a world of one family and one surname. If Fengyimen is really a good choice, then I don't need your Highness to eradicate it. But from my point of view, the disciples of Fengyimen are arrogant. Arrogant, unaware of the sufferings of the world, and only focused on fighting for power and profit. Although the minister is from Chu, Liang Wan has been in Southern Chu for many years, and the minister understands it quite well. All the people in the world will be affected by it, or the head of Fengyi Sect was indeed for the country and the people, but now Fengyi Sect has degenerated into a tool to seize power. If His Highness cannot eradicate the influence of Fengyi Sect, I am afraid that Dayong will not To unify the world, it will still fall in the hands of women. As the prince of Dayong, how can he see the country fall and the people suffer? Since His Royal Highness is ignorant of the temptation of power and cannot fulfill the duties of the prince, it is natural for His Royal Highness to replace him things."
Hearing this, Li Zhi beamed and said: "Sir, I really told the truth about my king's thoughts. This king also thinks the same way, but it's never been so clear. That's right. If it weren't for the existence of Fengyimen, I would just be a peaceful prince. What's wrong."
I smiled slightly, and didn't care about the truth in Li Zhi's words, anyway, that's not important.
I said lightly: "One policy with clear ambition can make His Highness firm in his resolve. Please Rong Chen explain the current situation to His Highness first. The reason His Highness feels besieged by all sides is because of the close relationship between the Emperor, the Crown Prince, King Qi, and Fengyimen. Your Highness has no way of doing it, but in my view, first of all, they are not a whole body. The Emperor, Prince, and King Qi are not as defenseless against Fengyi Sect as His Highness imagined, but only condone the existence of Fengyi Sect because of their own selfishness. Your Majesty If there is no fear, then Concubine Ji will not have no heirs. Over the years, the emperor's harem has been loved and favored, and they have given birth to more than a dozen concubine princes and princesses, which shows that the emperor is in good health, but Concubine Ji has no heirs. I don't think the emperor wants to Concubine Ji has a prince, let's compete for the reserve position. Although the prince loves his side concubine, he loves his son very much. As the saying goes, mothers are more valuable than their sons, and sons are more valuable than their mothers. Since ancient times, people who love concubines have killed their wives and children There are not a few of them. If His Highness the Crown Prince hadn’t been jealous of Fengyimen, I’m afraid the prince would have fallen out of favor long ago. There is also His Highness King Qi. Although the king has a romantic nature, it's a bit strange to neglect the concubine in this way, so the emperor and the others don't trust Fengyimen very much, but if there is no Fengyimen, they don't have the capital to fight against His Highness."
"Secondly, although the emperor prefers the prince, if the prince endangers the country, the emperor will not tolerate the prince no matter how partial he is. Therefore, although His Royal Highness King Yong has suffered many dangers over the years, he is still as stable as Mount Tai, because His Royal Highness is the pillar of the sky, and the emperor is absolutely The Crown Prince will not be allowed to hurt His Highness, as long as His Highness does not violate the Emperor's bottom line, then His Highness's safety is guaranteed. As long as His Highness removes the Crown Prince, even if the Emperor is angry again, he can only pass on the throne to His Highness, so His Highness must If the emperor controls all the powers when he is in power, then His Royal Highness can take the throne justifiably."
"In the end, the crown prince relied heavily on the king of Qi, and the king of Qi supported the crown prince. Your highness may think that they are an inseparable alliance, but Yichen doesn't think there may be no grievances. From the information collected by your highness, the crown prince is not a person who can tolerate others. Qi The king's personality is domineering and domineering, even in front of the prince, he often reveals it. It was only to deal with His Royal Highness that the prince wins over the king of Qi. The minister learned from the intelligence that the prince once left the king of Qi in the cold for many days because of King Qi's defeat. It was because of His Highness that he began to show his favor to the king again. His Highness King Qi’s heart is like a mirror, how could he not know the prince’s fickleness and ungratefulness? It seems that if His Highness ascends to the throne, then he will have no room to display his strengths. In fact, I have to remonstrate with His Highness on this point. The so-called son of a daughter cannot sit down. His Highness has already made great military achievements, and he should train generals. Why bother with subordinates? Let's compete for credit, not to mention, His Highness will rule the world in the future, so we can't just focus on military affairs, if there is no one who can conquer the Quartet on behalf of His Highness, why should His Highness go to conquer the world?"
Speaking of this, I saw Li Zhi looking at Shi Yu with some embarrassment, and Shi Yu's face was full of approval, it seemed that he had also made such admonishment before.
After a pause, I saw that Li Zhi had shown an expression of agreement, and I continued: "I have already explained the situation to Your Highness, so Your Highness, please listen to me and explain the second strategy—the heart-cutting strategy. Although His Highness is in danger, the enemy still has suspicions." In my opinion, the biggest weakness of the alliance formed by His Highness's enemies lies in His Highness the Crown Prince, because His Highness the Crown Prince cannot make mistakes, otherwise the Emperor will doubt his decision, the King of Qi must be worried about his future, and the Fengyi Gate will also be lost. The basis for confronting His Highness, so as long as the Crown Prince makes a mistake, then His Royal Highness can disintegrate that alliance, but His Royal Highness is not a fool, and there are counselors around him to persuade him. It is not easy to make the Crown Prince make mistakes, so we must start from two aspects. One is to place someone of ours next to the prince, this person must be able to gain the trust of the prince, so that the prince will obey him, and second, His Highness must let the prince take the superficial advantage, so that the prince will get carried away and self-destruct the Great Wall."
Li Zhi frowned and said, "We still have ways to show weakness, but how can we insert such a person beside the prince, the prince is still very careful about this matter, although we have a few people around the prince, we can't participate in the secret."
I chuckled and said: "Since I have said it, there is a way. As long as His Highness can provide a suitable candidate, I will naturally be able to make the prince trust him, and even obey him. This person must be good at pleasing the prince, and he must be able to replace him." The prince solves the problem. In short, he must have the ability to replace the prince's adviser, Lu Jingzhong. Under the plan of the minister, this person will become the prince's confidant who cannot leave at all times, and His Highness can manipulate the prince, the prince If it is under control, His Royal Highness can clear the inner world and shake the court, so why worry about not being able to inherit the great order."
Li Zhi's expression was both shocked and confused, he thought for a while and said, "Controlling the prince is not easy, not to mention that Lu Jingzhong should not be taken lightly, even Fengyimen will not let us succeed easily."
I laughed and said: "I said that controlling the prince is not to control the prince's life or death, but to control the prince's thoughts. As long as the prince can act according to our plan, no matter what the prince originally thinks, it has nothing to do with your highness. Don't worry, your highness, I already have it." It is a feasible plan, although there will inevitably be some twists and turns in the middle, but as long as our goal is achieved, His Highness will be safe and sound."
Li Zhi said: "We will talk about the details later, since Mr. is sure, then Li Zhi can rest assured, but after controlling the crown prince, what should we do?"
I laughed and said: "I didn't do anything, I just made the prince jealous of the king of Qi. People like the prince are suspicious by nature. If they are jealous of His Highness's achievements today, they will inevitably be jealous of the king of Qi in the future. I just let this happen earlier. The prince thinks that he has suppressed His Highness, so it will be revealed naturally. I will arrange to lure the prince to do some arrogant and wrong things. In less than two years, the prince will become a tyrant in the eyes of the world. Your Highness is fighting for the crown, Fengyi Sect will definitely be in a difficult situation when the time comes, and when Shichen and His Highness discuss it carefully, it is necessary that Fengyi Sect can no longer influence the government."
Li Zhi was overjoyed when he heard that, and thought, Jiang Zhe is indeed a genius. Why didn't I think that the enemy's strongest point is its weakness. The prince is the core of their alliance. If there is something wrong with the prince, their alliance will naturally collapse , although he didn't know the specific plan yet, but li zhi's worries and worries had already been swept away.He stood up, bowed and said: "Listening to the king's words is better than reading ten years of books. Thank you for your teaching."
I stood up and returned the courtesy and said: "Your Highness is too famous, please listen to the third strategy of the minister - the strategy of accepting talents. Although Your Highness is well-known for his reputation and has many civil servants under his command, in the eyes of the minister, there are still some shortcomings. Your Highness Since you have ambitions for the world, you have to consider how to govern the government, and now there are many officials in the court and the Fengyi Sect, if His Highness still appoints these people after he ascends the throne, then it is inevitable that the Fengyi Sect will be revived."
Li Zhi frowned and said, "I know this too, but if there is a sudden change, I'm afraid that the government will be in turmoil and the wealthy family will rebel, and my country, Dayong, will be destroyed in an instant."
I said indifferently: "Your Highness regards civil and military officials as important, but ignores the hearts of the soldiers and the people. Over the years, His Highness has been invincible in every attack and victory, and has repeatedly raised eyes for the people. No one in the world knows it, but when Dayong founded the country , relied on a lot of local tyrants. At that time, this practice certainly accelerated the process of unification, but now these tyrants occupy the land of the people and do not pay taxes. As far as I know, many civilians have lost their land and have to be slaves to the tyrants of the aristocratic families. Everyone hates being strong and strong, but His Highness uses the strong army as an excuse to allow civilians to open up wasteland and farm. The land belongs to the army in name, but in fact it belongs to the people. Therefore, many young and strong men are willing to join the army so that their families can get the land. One of the reasons why Zhonghaoqiang leans towards the prince is that if His Highness tolerates this situation, one day Dayong will fall into a situation of separatism among the princes. It is better to take advantage of the current battle for storage and let these powerful people get involved. His Highness uses this as an excuse. To cleanse the world's wealthy families, appoint talented people from poor families, and rebuild Dayong. As long as His Highness plans properly, these wealthy families will never have a chance to rebel. Although Dayong will inevitably be weakened in a short period of time, Dayong can be completely reborn in a few years. , become the real number one power, and when the time comes to pacify the Southern Chu, destroy the Northern Han, and expel the Northern Barbarians, it will be as easy as pie."
Li Zhi listened fascinated. He also knew these disadvantages. He just wanted to propose reforms many times, but was suppressed. But it can not hurt Dayong's muscles. After all, it is not uncommon for hundreds of thousands of people to be involved in the struggle for the throne. As long as you do it skillfully, you can eliminate most of the wealthy families, and then add your own talents to the court. Within ten years , so that Dayong can no longer be controlled by the rich.
After thinking about it, Li Zhi stood up again and saluted: "The previous two strategies, although I can let the king ascend the throne, I just admire it, but this strategy can make the Dayong society safe and healthy. This king will act on behalf of the Dayong royal family and the people of the world." , thank you sir."
I stood up and returned the salute: "Your Highness is willing to listen to my mad words. It should be that I thanked Your Highness on behalf of the people in the world. I am a commoner and know more about the suffering of the people. It is a great fortune for all people that Your Highness is willing to open eyes for the people."
After sitting down, I said: "Eradication of wealthy families is only part of this strategy. If there are no talented people to assist, the court will be empty, how will Your Highness govern the world, so Your Highness must recruit talented people to govern the world. , Your Highness can ask the emperor for territory, and then His Highness will appoint and reserve talents in his own territory, and after His Highness ascends the throne, he can let them fully take over the government affairs."
Li Zhi said: "This king has been fighting abroad. Although the emperor gave me Youzhou as a fief, and the governor of Youzhou, Pei Ji, is my confidant and manages the territory in an orderly manner, I'm afraid it's not his specialty to cultivate talents. In my opinion, Mr. How to deal with it."
I laughed and said: "Your Highness is worried that if you replace Pei Ji, you will hurt the hearts of your subordinates. In fact, you don't have to worry too much. Your Highness can tell His Majesty to let the son go to Youzhou to guard, and then you can send Mr. Shi to assist the son. Mr. Shi is the commander-in-chief. Shi, Your Highness can promote Pei Ji's position. It is best to transfer Pei Ji back to His Highness, and then Mr. Shi can recruit talents for His Highness. If His Highness meets talented people, it is easy to be jealous if they stay with them. It is better to send them Send them to Yongzhou temporarily to familiarize them with government affairs, of course, Mr. Shi must guide them well so that they can take over the government immediately in the future, and when His Highness gives an order, they can enter Beijing as officials."
Li Zhi suppressed the excitement in his heart. Although he was very happy for Jiang Zhe's surrender, he still had some suspicions about Jiang Zhe's temptations a few days ago. Now, the three strategies of Mingzhi, cutting out the heart, and accepting talents made him feel that a few days ago All the sufferings have been rewarded. If I hadn't revered and respected the Magi, how could I have heard such a plan.He tried his best to calmly say: "In this case, I will entrust everything to Mr. Ziyou and go to Youzhou to establish a foundation for this king. This matter is of great importance, and no one but Ziyou can share his worries."
Shi Yu naturally understands that he has a great responsibility, but he is a little worried. If this happens, almost all the courtiers of the new king will be his disciples in the future, then he has too much power. He glanced at Jiang Zhe worriedly, After all, it is not easy to tell King Yong clearly.
I was already prepared and said: "Your Highness, Mr. Shi has a great responsibility, and the son has no one to take care of him. Why don't His Highness select a talented person to assist and teach the son, so that Mr. Shi can relax a bit, and avoid delaying the son's studies."
Li Zhi thought about it for a while and said, "Well, the son's uncle Gao Rong is smart and capable, and Chu Wenyuan, the son of Taifu Chu Ping, has good character and talent, so he can assist the son. In this way, Zi You can concentrate on recruiting talents."
Only then did Shi Yu feel relieved, and said: "Zi You will definitely do his best, Your Highness, please rest assured, once His Highness's decree arrives in Youzhou, Zi You will definitely come back in the starry night, and all the affairs in Beijing will be entrusted to Sui Yun, please take care of Sui Yun."
I also solemnly said: "Mr. Shi, don't worry, since Suiyun has made a plan, he will definitely implement it, otherwise he will not only be sorry for His Highness, but also for his painstaking efforts in Youzhou."
Li Zhi smiled and said: "Okay, we've been talking for so long, and the king feels hungry, why don't we go eat first, and then the two gentlemen have a good rest, otherwise the two of you will be exhausted, who will give advice to the king? With Ziyou, I don't have to worry about the future, and with Suiyun, I don't have to be afraid of those monsters anymore."
I shook my head and said, "Your Highness is not right." Seeing Li Zhi and Shi Yu's astonished expressions, I said, "Your Highness is glorious, never afraid of those villains, they just have no way to clean up the filth, the minister is just some conspiracy, gentleman If you can't deal with it, I can do it."
Li Zhi looked at me with sincerity and was moved, but he didn't know what to say.Hee hee, presumably he wouldn't have guessed that although some of my truths were true, some of them were just flattery. If Li Zhi was a pure gentleman, he might not be qualified to become emperor.