Chapter 197 Xu Jie takes action, the final battle!
Hearing Jiajing's words, Lu Fang was stunned.
The feeling of being touched in my heart was instantly diluted at this moment.
What does it mean? Master, is it that Lord Xu is just putting on a show, deliberately for Zhang Juzheng and the others to see?
Hiss! This doesn't look very similar! Lu Fang took a deep breath and subconsciously looked at the life in front of him.
"Humph," Jiajing snorted, "Who is Xu Jie? He has finally built his current family business, will he let it go so easily?"
"You have only seen Lord Xinling 'stealing the seal to save Zhao' in this poem, but this is what Xu Jie wants to show you!"
"It is true that he wants to emulate Lord Xinling, but don't forget that Lord Xinling also presided over the fourth coalition attack on Qin..."
"Xinling Jun is also a politician at heart!" Jiajing said, as if he was giving Lü Fang some advice, his arm draped comfortably over the edge of the tub, he raised his finger slightly and said:
"Everything a politician does is for profit!"
"As long as the result leads to what they want, then no matter what they did before, it was just a means..."
Hearing Jiajing's words, Lu Fang was shocked. Wasn't his master making malicious assumptions? Did Xu Jie really have other plans?
Looking at Xu Jie in the courtyard of the Xu Mansion, who had already discussed with Zhang Juzheng and others how to deal with Li Chengwu next, and had also received the promise of Zhang Juzheng and others to take care of the Xu family, and who looked like he was ready to sacrifice himself and die together with Li Chengwu, Lu Fang didn't think it was fake.
But the master was so sure in what he said. Lu Fang had to choose between trusting himself or the master. He chose to trust the master without hesitation.
Looking at Xu Jie in his natal chart, Lu Fang suddenly felt like a rookie recruit at this moment.
Before this, he always felt that on the political level, he was on the same level as Yan Song and Xu Jie.
But at this moment, he suddenly found that he was not as good as Xu Jie? This made Lu Fang a little bit unacceptable.
"You don't have to feel inferior to others," Jiajing said as he stood up from the bathtub. "I'm afraid Xu Jie is going to cut off the source of the trouble this time. If he can't grasp this measure well..."
"Hua La!" A clean Taoist robe fell from his body, and Jiajing swung his hand and threw out a "cleaning talisman". After cleaning his body, he glanced at Xu Jie, who was seeing Zhang Juzheng and others off.
"Then don't blame me for being so one-size-fits-all."
After hearing his master's words, Lu Fang fell silent.
At this moment he understood that even if his master had omnipotent means, he could never see through people's hearts.
For example, now, the master knows that Xu Jie will not give up, but he doesn't know what Xu Jie will do next.
"Don't feel sorry," Jiajing's voice sounded again, and Lu Fang immediately came back to his senses. "I know that you feel that if you give up the immortal cultivators you have cultivated with great difficulty, it will affect the Ming Dynasty."
"But I also want to tell others, don't rely on your high level of cultivation to become the backbone of the court. I can't give up. There is nothing I can't give up..." After saying this, without waiting for Lu Fang to speak, Jiajing said again:
"Go and arrange twelve concubines for me."
"Yes!" Lu Fang put away the bathtub and retreated respectfully.
Xu Mansion, at the back hall entrance.
Xu Jie looked at Zhang Juzheng and others who were walking away in the snow and fog, and suddenly said, "Everyone, the Xu family will rely on you from now on."
Hearing Xu Jie's voice, Zhang Juzheng and others subconsciously turned around. Through the thick snow fog, they saw Xu Jie actually bowing deeply to them. At this moment, the three of them felt a tremor in their hearts.
Even Gao Gong was moved at this moment.
Just now they asked Xu Jie about his next plan, but did not get any response from Xu Jie. He just asked them to cooperate and he would bear all the consequences himself.
It seems that Xu Jie really intends to sacrifice himself.
"Don't worry, Lord Xu. We will do our best!" Zhang Juzheng bowed solemnly to Xu Jie from a distance.
Gao Gong and Zhao Zhenji also returned the greeting.
Then the three of them had an idea and turned around and walked away.
Xu Jie stopped at the entrance of the lobby, staring at the gradually disappearing figures of the three people in the snowy night fog, his expression gradually becoming calm.
"Father," Xu Jie's son Xu Fan stepped forward and came to Xu Jie, hesitating to say, "Is there really no other way?"
A look of unwillingness emerged between Xu Fan's brows.
Hearing this, Xu Jie came back to his senses and looked at his son with red eyes, but he said nothing, just said: "Go down and rest."
"Father..." Xu Fan wanted to say something, but he saw that his father had turned and left, so he could only leave unwillingly.
Late at night, in the Yan Mansion, in the Lingtian courtyard.
Yan Song sat alone, cross-legged in his thatched hut. As the 'Qi-Inducing Technique' circulated in his body, spiritual energy lingered around him. At this moment, the window was suddenly pushed open by a stream of spiritual energy.
It was also at this moment that the spiritual energy surrounding his body trembled violently, and then dissipated in an instant, and Yan Song's eyes slowly opened.
With a thought in his mind, Yan Song put away the 'Qi-Inducing Technique' he was practicing, then slowly pushed open the door of the study, walked out, and came to the yard. The yard was brightly lit and covered with a layer of snow.
There was heavy snow falling from the sky.
However, at this moment, Yan Song's gaze was fixed on the outside of the courtyard, at the end of the path, where there seemed to be a faint black shadow.
"Crunch, crunch, crunch." The sound of footsteps on the snow was very clear in the dark night.
After a while, Yan Song saw a figure slowly approaching. This was a man covered in a black cloak.
The man did not step into the yard, but just stood at the door, letting the orange light shining from the yard cover half of his body, and his face appeared and disappeared.
"You're here after all." Yan Song hunched over, raised his drooping eyelids, and tilted his head slightly as if to see the newcomer clearly. After a moment, he sighed softly and said, "Alas..."
"You should know that I can't help you..." As he spoke, Yan Song waved his hand, then continued to hunch his back, turned around and was about to go back to his thatched hut. However, after hearing what Yan Song said, the figure covered in a cloak finally spoke.
"When will the reform end?" the man in black robe asked calmly.
"Well," Yan Song did not hesitate to return after hearing this, but he did not slow down his speech, "This year is the 50th year of Jiajing, and it can be completed by the end of the 51st year of Jiajing."
"The first imperial examination in the spring of next year will allow me to submit a satisfactory answer to the emperor."
"Where is the Immortal Dynasty?" the black-robed man asked calmly again.
This time, Yan Song paused, and after a long while he said, "In the fifty-second year of Jiajing, the cultivation of immortality will be announced to the people..."
"Rustle, rustle." On a snowy night, heavy snow fell, landing on the clothes of the two people, making sounds.
"I come with sincerity." After a while, a figure in the dim light took out a piece of letter from his cloak.
"Don't you want to take a look?" Seeing Yan Song stopped and did not respond, the visitor said, "Since you expected me to come to see you, you should have expected that my sincerity could move you."
"Hmph!" Upon hearing the black-robed man's confident words, Yan Song, who was about to leave, snorted and laughed. Then he slowly turned around, looked at the letter in front of him, and after a slight hesitation, he raised his hand to take it.
"This is the first time I've seen you so confident. It's like I've returned to the old days..." Before Yan Song could finish his words, the man in black robe raised his hand and interrupted him, "Give me an answer tomorrow."
After saying this, the man in black robe slowly stepped back, bowed to Yan Song, then turned around and strode away, disappearing into the night.
Although the huge Yan Mansion has been connected to the spiritual vein, the Lingtian Courtyard is still the core area. However, this person can come and go freely. His identity is clear without further explanation. He must be one of the high-ranking officials of the Ming Dynasty.
"Dad!" At this moment, Yan Shifan, who was also practicing, seemed to have heard the noise and hurried out.
Yan Shaoting also appeared in a small thatched hut not far away, looking around warily with a slightly frown on his face.
"Haha, nothing happened, let's all go back, okay?" Looking at Yan Shifan and his son, Yan Song smiled kindly and waved his hand, while also pushing Yan Shifan and his grandson Yan Shaoting.
"Dad, what is in your hand?" Yan Shifan was sharp-eyed and noticed the letter in his father's hand at the first time.
"Nothing, the falcon delivered the message." Yan Song said casually.
Spirit falcons sending messages? Hearing his father's words, Yan Shifan was stunned and confused. The Yan family had a special spirit falcon messaging channel and had established its own intelligence network, but he was in charge of all these spirit falcons. How come he didn't remember that there would be spirit falcons coming to his house tonight?
Besides, every time the letter from the Falcon Spirit was delivered to him first, the old man seldom cared about these trivial matters now. Why did he suddenly receive the letter today?
However, seeing that his father did not intend to elaborate, Yan Shifan did not ask any more questions, but he kept in mind the letter with no name on it that his father was holding in his hand.
Back in the study, Yan Song opened the letter and began to read.
After a long while, Yan Song, who had finished reading the letter, sat back in his chair, silent, not knowing what he was thinking.
"Hey!" Yan Song suddenly chuckled, "It seems that I really can't refuse..."
The next day, it was snowing heavily in the Wenhua Hall.
Lord Yan, who had not attended court for a long time, suddenly came.
As for Prince Yu and Prince Jing, since the day they learned that Jiajing had taken a concubine, they no longer actively assisted the cabinet, but took the initiative to return power to Yan Song and others.
The two of them spent the whole day either teaching in the Immortal Palace or practicing in the Prince's Palace. However, the officials of all ranks in the court were not at all surprised by the reactions and behaviors of the two princes.
After all, they thought, since they already knew that the emperor would not choose one of them to be the crown prince, why should they be so active?
After the two kings left the court and Yan Song and his son also gave up their power, the cabinet seemed to have suddenly become a one-man show for the Qingliu faction. To be more precise, it was Xu Jie's one-man show because Zhang Juzheng and others all listened to him.
Xu Jie's power seemed to have reached its peak.
However, on this day, Yan Song suddenly appeared in the Wenhua Hall, which immediately attracted everyone's attention. In the absence of the two kings, the top seat in the Wenhua Hall was naturally occupied by the chief minister Yan Song and the second minister Xu Jie, and on both sides below were the cabinet and six ministries, and the Supervisory Office, the Dali Temple, and the Hanlin Academy were around.
At this time, the person sitting in the first chair of the six ministries was the Minister of War Li Chengwu.
At this moment, the forces in Wenhua Hall were clearly divided.
Apart from the cabinet, there is Lee Seung-moo's group. Of course, there are also some groups that chose to remain neutral and not take sides.
These people have no background but are capable. Because of the previous conflict among the three religions, a large number of people were purged from the court and there was no one available, so they were promoted out of turn.
Although these people have no background, they have a clear understanding of the situation.
In their view, no matter whether Li Chengwu's side wins or the cabinet's side wins in the end, as a group of people occupying high positions, they will ultimately have only two choices: either to be won over or to be squeezed out of the court. Of course, they will choose the former.
Well, it's a bit like sitting on the fence and waiting.
Although they will most likely not be integrated into the core circle of the winner in the future, it is enough to land smoothly. They have no background and no capital to fight, and they can't afford to lose!
"Do the six ministries have anything to discuss today?" Yan Song looked at the people below and said with a smile.
"I have something to discuss!"
At this time, the Minister of Justice Xu Zhengzhi suddenly stood up, bowed to Yan Song, and then turned to everyone and said, "Just yesterday, the Ministry of Justice received a report from Zhang Bowen, the Tongpan of Songjiang Prefecture, that the prefect of Songjiang Prefecture, Zhang Wenyuan, committed suicide a month ago out of fear of punishment!"
Hearing this, everyone was stunned and then started talking.
For a moment, everyone's eyes subconsciously turned to Xu Jie who was sitting next to Yan Song. After all, everyone present knew that Songjiang Prefecture was the territory of Xu Jie's family.
Besides, everyone knows what the current situation is like in the court and the factions' positions.
The Minister of Justice suddenly stood up and pointed directly at Songjiang Prefecture. It was obvious that Li Chengwu's side was going to launch an attack!
Zhang Juzheng and Gao Gong looked at each other, and after understanding the meaning in each other's eyes, they silently looked away.
They knew that Lord Xu had taken action!
"The prefect committed suicide out of fear of punishment?" Upon hearing this, Yan Song showed a look of surprise on his face, and then said in a deep voice: "Tell me quickly, Minister Xu, what exactly happened? Why would a prefect commit suicide?"
Li Chengwu sat in the first chair among the six ministries. He glanced at Yan Song and sneered in his heart, but finally his eyes turned to the calm Xu Jie, with a cold light flashing in his eyes.
"Today's incident is a big deal. Yan Song alone cannot clean up the mess. This matter must be brought to the attention of the Emperor!" Li Chengwu, who had been preparing for a long time, naturally would not let it go lightly.
He was very satisfied with Xu Jie's current condition.
What he wanted was the other person's expression of being accustomed to it.
After all, ever since he decided to take action against the cabinet, he had been secretly accumulating strength, constantly impeaching officials who had connections with Xu Jie in the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty for big and small matters.
These officials were all promoted by Xu Jie after he had rectified the administration of officials. Many of them could be said to have been sponsored by Xu Jie's family to become successful and pass the imperial examinations.
When the civil service was rectified, too many people from the Xu Jie family were killed, but those who passed the imperial examinations but were idle and had no official positions escaped.
However, what Xu Jie and his family did did make many of those who had been favored and promoted in the past feel disheartened. In recent years, as Prince Yu promoted Wang Chonggu, these people also turned to Prince Yu.
But there are still many people who remember Xu Jie's good deeds.
Zhang Wenyuan, the prefect of Songjiang Prefecture, was a student of Xu Jie and also his confidant.
Originally, he would naturally not pay attention to Zhang Wenyuan, but just a month ago, Zhang Bowen, the Tongpan of Songjiang Prefecture, reported to the Ministry of Justice that Zhang Wenyuan, the prefect of Songjiang Prefecture, was secretly smuggling.
Now, among the six ministries, except for the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue, the heads of the other four ministries are all from his faction.
They had already agreed to secretly deal with the cabinet, or more precisely, everyone headed by Xu Jie.
Zhang Wenyuan, the prefect of Songjiang Prefecture, was a disciple of Xu Jie, which made him keenly aware that there was great potential in this!
However, before taking action, he kept the matter secret, and then investigated covertly, trying to catch the big fish!
And things turned out just as he expected. After secretly using the connections of the Five Military Governor's Office and contacting the Nanjing Military Governor's Office, he transferred people from Jinshanwei in Songjiang Prefecture to conduct an in-depth undercover investigation.
It wouldn’t matter if I didn’t check it, but when I did, I found a big surprise!
He originally thought that Xu Jie's disciple Zhang Wenyuan was smuggling to overseas countries, and then collecting money to honor Xu Jie, so that he could get evidence of Xu Jie and his family's corruption and bribery.
Then he took this opportunity to have the ministers impeach Xu Jie and defeated him in one fell swoop. The remaining Zhang Juzheng and others were leaderless and he was defeated one by one.
However, what he didn't expect was that it was not as simple as smuggling and embezzlement of money, because the matter actually involved Yingzhou Prefecture!
Yingzhou Prefecture was under the jurisdiction of Nanzhili.
Everyone in the court knew that Yingzhou Prefecture was previously Japan, and it was changed to its current name after the Ming Dynasty conquered the country.
Of course, these are not the point. The point is that although Yinzhou Prefecture was under the jurisdiction of Nanzhili, other officials had no right to land on the island.
The entire Yingzhou Prefecture was like a special territory independent of the daimyo, and there were troops stationed in Yingzhou Prefecture before.
But later, as Hu Zongxian, Wang Chonggu and Yu Dayou were promoted to the cabinet and became the New Party, and Tang Shunzhi, who was originally stationed in Yingzhou Prefecture, was promoted to Governor-General of Zhejiang, two more garrisons were established on the island.
The two guards were the "Ming Tiger Cavalry" led by Qi Jiguang, and the "Ming Dragon Cavalry" led by the famous general Ma Fang. Qi Jiguang was under the command of Prince Jing, while Ma Fang was under the command of Prince Yu.
The entire Yingzhou Prefecture was tightly locked down by the two guards, the dragon, the tiger and the two guards.
The only thing they knew was that Yingzhou Prefecture might be related to the imperial court’s greatest secret, namely, fate with the gods!
In recent days, he has learned through inquiries from many sources that the Emperor, Prince Yu, Prince Jing, and all the elders in the cabinet have already embarked on the path of cultivating immortals, and what is needed to cultivate immortals are spiritual resources!
In other words, there is a high possibility that there are a large number of spiritual resources in Yingzhou Prefecture that are specifically supplied to the emperor.
Xu Jie and his family are secretly embezzling spiritual resources!
God knows how excited he was when he learned this secret. He had no contact with the emperor, but with his background and connections, it was not difficult for him to know the emperor's character and temper.
As long as this matter is exposed and made known to the emperor, the suspicion will be infinitely magnified and Xu Jie will definitely be investigated.
Even if you don't die, you will lose a layer of skin!
The most crucial thing is that, regarding the cultivation of immortals, it is obvious that it is only allowed to be known within the cabinet. If because of Xu Jie's affairs, the matter of the cultivation of immortals is spread, and even the affairs of Yingzhou Prefecture are known to the world, then Xu Jie's sin will be great.
The emperor will definitely not forgive him!
Unfortunately, their talents were discovered shortly after they began their investigation, and Zhang Wenyuan hanged himself out of fear of punishment.
When he died, he wrote a confession, admitting that he had committed smuggling and embezzlement. He confessed to all the crimes by himself.
But this did not pose a problem for him, because he still had something in his hand. Although it was not evidence, it was enough to bring honor to Yingzhou Prefecture.
As his thoughts raced, the Minister of Justice Xu Zhengzhi had already taken out an investigation file.
Yan Shifan took the case file and handed it over to Yan Song above him.
"According to the secret investigation of Li Yi, a captain of Jinshan Guard, Zhang Wenyuan secretly hired merchant ships in the Songjiang Prefecture area. In name, he was smuggling from overseas and collecting money. However, after comparing the accounts, it was found that all the losses were made up by himself in the end!"
"Since all the money has been filled, how can it be said to be collecting money?" Hearing this, Zhang Juzheng suddenly spoke up and said:
"Is there some hidden secret?"
At this time, even Yan Song, who was looking at the files, raised his head slightly, as if trying to find out the reason.
Li Chengwu, who was sitting at the head of the six ministries, looked back and forth at the faces of everyone in the cabinet with his tiger eyes, as if he was exploring.
He didn't believe that these old guys in the cabinet didn't know who Xu Zhengzhi was targeting when he suddenly mentioned Songjiang Prefecture today.
"Let's see if you can still remain so calm later!" Li Chengwu sneered in his heart.
This concerns Yingzhou Prefecture and even more so spiritual resources. No one dares to neglect such a taboo!
Upon hearing this, the Minister of Justice Xu Zhengzhi nodded, bowed to Zhang Juzheng, and then said, "What Lord Zhang said is correct!"
As he spoke, Xu Zhengzhi took a deep breath and continued, "The strangest thing is that all the smuggled goods have disappeared!"
"It seems that smuggling money is not important, as if the goods are the most important!"
"After a month of investigation, we finally found out that the so-called merchant ships did not trade with overseas countries at all, but opened up another route on the sea!"
"And this route," Xu Zhengzhi said coldly under the gaze of everyone, "starts from Songjiang Prefecture, goes down the Huangpu River, and reaches Wusongkou."
"Wusongkou is an important port at the mouth of the Yangtze River. If we choose to set out at night or in bad weather, and collude with some officials, we can perfectly reduce the risk of being discovered by the authorities."
"Then from Wusongkou to Chongming Island, starting from Wusongkou, sailing along the northern shore of the Yangtze River Estuary, and arriving at Chongming Island."
"Finally, we arrived at Yingzhou Prefecture from Chongming Island!"
"After that, we will go from Yingzhou Prefecture to the Ryukyu Islands, and then from Ryukyu, we will transfer to Fuzhou Prefecture. From Fuzhou, we will sail along the Zhejiang coast to Wenzhou. From Wenzhou, we will continue northward to Hangzhou Bay."
"Finally, we'll start from Hangzhou Bay, go upstream along the Huangpu River, and return to Songjiang Prefecture." Xu Zhengzhi said, and directly took out a route map scroll and spread it out in front of everyone!
"In this way, after going through all the layers and taking care of things along the way, naturally, these goods shipped from Yingzhou Prefecture will disappear smoothly."
"The point is, the officials in Fujian, I remember were promoted by Lord Xu, right?" At this time, Li Chengwu spoke directly.
Of course, the focus at this moment is that it involves Yingzhou Prefecture!
"..."
There will be more updates, but they may be later, so you can check them out tomorrow.
I will try to finish the mortal dynasty stage and the court part from tonight to tomorrow, and then let the Ming Dynasty officially enter the immortal dynasty and start the next stage. Emmm, it seems that there are two route maps under review, remember to come back and take a look later~~~
(End of this chapter)
