So the two of them dismissed their attendants, opened Xu Rong's secret letter and read it carefully. However, the content of Xu Rong's letter shocked these two knowledgeable people - it turned out that Zheng Xin saw that Xu Rong was an old acquaintance of his, so he wanted to win him over and make important use of him; but Xu Rong saw that Zheng Xin was becoming more and more impatient and cruel in his work, so much so that he even imprisoned his own brother Zheng Sen; therefore, Xu Rong felt that following Zheng Xin was not only dead end, but would be harmed by him, so he wrote a letter specifically, wanting to leave a way out for himself with Qiu Yizi.
After reading the letter, Qiu Yizhi said angrily, "This Zheng Xin is so crazy that he has reached such a stage. What great things can he achieve by doing such a perverse thing?"
Lin Shuhan was still reading the letter, patiently analyzing, "He has no choice. If he wants to be the emperor, he can't just stay in Jiangnan. He must go north to fight with you. But although he has a lot of soldiers, most of them can't be commanded as he wishes. The only ones he can trust and rely on, in addition to the new recruits he trained in Shanxi and Shaanxi, are the cavalry brought by the second prince from Youyan Road. But he used a big lie to temporarily deceive the second prince Zheng Sen, and there will be a day when he will be exposed. By then, the cavalry from Youyan Road will not only not be able to serve him, but will become a bomb buried next to him. Therefore, he can only take the initiative, find a reason to imprison Zheng Sen, and then send his trusted men to take over the Youyan cavalry, so that he can completely control this powerful force."
"Alas! Can we really completely control the hearts of the army and the people by doing this?" Qiu Yizi sighed, "Look, even Xu Rong, whom he promoted, has started to put his eggs in different baskets. This is what is called being deserted by everyone, right?"
"Those who have the right way have many supporters, while those who have lost the right way have few. When few supporters are left, even their relatives will betray them. When many supporters are left, the whole world will follow them. Use the world's support to attack the opposition of relatives. Therefore, a gentleman will win even if he does not fight." Lin Shuhan suddenly recited the classics. "Although the saints stayed away from the kitchen and avoided weapons, they were knowledgeable about the world. This quote can be said to be very insightful. Zheng Xin has not even sent out his troops, but he has already lost a step."
Qiu Yizi said, "How can it be enough to win by just one step? This time I must make up an 80% chance of winning, force him into a desperate situation, and then annihilate him. I must make sure that he is ruined and his reputation is ruined, and he dies without a burial place!"
Lin Shuhan had known Qiu Yizhi for more than a year or two, and knew that although his character was a little frivolous and impetuous, he was also kind and gentle. However, since Zheng Miao's death, Qiu Yizhi gradually became arrogant and harsh, which made people who didn't know the truth feel chilled.
So Lin Shuhan swallowed his saliva and said, "Isn't this an opportunity for you? This Xu Rong seems to be in harmony with Zheng Xin, but he is not in harmony with her. It's a good opportunity to make a big fuss about him!"
Qiu Yizhi pondered for a moment and said, "I'm afraid Xu Rong is following Zheng Xin's orders and deliberately came to disrupt my deployment. Double agents like this are the most difficult to guard against. It's better not to have too much hope in him."
Lin Shuhan replied, "I don't think so. People like this who seek profit and avoid harm know how to judge the situation. My Lord, you can give him a high position and a generous salary, let him stay by Zheng Xin's side, and keep us informed. Then we can achieve 'knowing ourselves and the enemy, we can fight a hundred battles without danger'. After all, it's just cheap talk, it's better not to say it. My Lord, don't you think this is the truth?"
Qiu Yizi clapped his hands and laughed: "Hahaha! Mr. Lin is still very clever. I will write a reply letter and have the messenger bring it back to Xu Rong."
Lin Shuhan nodded and said, "Your Excellency is much better than Zheng Xin in this respect. The officers you are sending out to take over the troops are all from the militia you personally recruited. These people only recognize you and not the emperor. No matter how high the stakes Zheng Xin offers, they may not be willing to betray you."
Qiu Yizhi was quite proud after hearing this, and after calming down, he said, "It's a pity that our forces are not strong enough. In order to quell the rebellion of the King of Lingnan, the court's elite main forces have all gone south to fight. The troops I have now, excluding those useless local military governors, are only the more than 40,000 imperial guards in Guannei Road and the 10,000 elite troops guarding the border in Youyan Road. But Zheng Xin has 300,000 people, and he can mobilize at least 200,000 people, several times more than me. I want to face him head-on and win the battle. This battle is not easy to fight..."
When Lin Shuhan heard this, he suddenly opened the folding fan in his hand, smiled and said, "Speaking of this, I have a good news to bring to you, adults." As he said that, he took out a copy from a stack of official documents and handed it to Qiu Yizi.
Qiu Yizi took it and looked at it, and found that it was a list from the Jiangnan Canal Transport Office.
It turned out that Lin Shuhan had been assisting the regent Qiu Yizi in handling government affairs these days and had already become the de facto prime minister. It was natural that the documents regarding the water transport in the south of the Yangtze River were sent to him.
Lin Shuhan explained, "Please take a closer look at the numbers on this list, sir. I compared the numbers with those of previous years. The amount of grain sent from Jiangnan through the Canal Transport Office this month is five or six times more than in previous years. In other words, the Jiangnan Canal Transport Office has not missed a grain of grain that should be sent to the capital at this time of year. In addition, the grain and fodder in stock have also been sent up. Don't forget, sir, the south side of the Yangtze River is now under the control of Zheng Xin!"
"But the Jiangnan Canal Transport Office is under the jurisdiction of Zheng Tinghang." Qiu Yizi continued, "I didn't expect that Zheng Tinghang, who looks stupid, actually knows the current situation and knows that I will definitely win this fight."
Lin Shuhan shook his head: "I don't think so. In fact, the people who are least likely to take advantage of the situation are nerds like Zheng Tinghang. After the documents issued by the Lord in the name of the emperor, the Empress Dowager, and the Regent were circulated throughout the country, people with a little common sense already knew who was in charge of the world. In particular, the Lord's ability to make Zheng Xin's son the emperor was a brilliant move, which was equivalent to declaring to all the people in the nine provinces: the Lord has absolutely no ambition to usurp the throne. Those who are wavering between the saintly law and the orthodoxy of the Zheng family - like Zheng Tinghang - will probably lean towards the Lord."
Qiu Yizi nodded vigorously, showing a gratified expression: "Mr. Lin is really my confidant, I am just being sincere..."
Actually, Lin Shuhan hadn't said half a sentence yet - Zheng Xin actually had two sons. Based on his brief contact with him, if it was for the sake of the Han Dynasty, it would be more ideal to make the eldest son Zheng Chao the heir, regardless of age, experience, and character. But Qiu Yizi chose the second son, who was young, ignorant, cowardly and easily bullied. There might be other deeper meanings behind this.
However, Lin Shuhan could never say such words in front of Qiu Yizi. He was silent for a moment, then continued the previous topic and said, "Since Zheng Tinghang has already leaned towards you, then he will definitely help Marshal Dai Luanxiang who is still in Jiangnan as you expected..."
"Yeah—" Qiu Yizi dragged out his voice for some reason, "With Marshal Dai constantly harassing Zheng Xin from behind, Zheng Xin seems to be tied up. Humph! Even if he lets go, he may not be my opponent, let alone the current state."
Lin Shuhan echoed, "In fact, the late emperor was very good at judging people. The reason why he did not make up his mind to pass the throne to his eldest son Zheng Xin according to etiquette is because he saw that although Zheng Xin tried to win people's hearts everywhere, he was unpopular and did not have the virtue of a ruler. But what I am afraid of is that Jiangnan Road has experienced two major disasters in the past few years, the Japanese pirates' harassment and the rebellion of the King of Lingnan, and now it is facing a war with Zheng Xin. I am afraid that the people of Jiangnan have suffered too much, and it will be difficult to recover in a few years."
Lin Shuhan's words actually made Qiu Yi happy. She said with a smile, "Mr. Lin just said that the late emperor had the ability to judge people. I agree with him. I remember that the late emperor intended to promote you to be the next prime minister. Today, it seems that Mr. Lin is really kind-hearted and mature in planning for the country. He is indeed prime minister material."
Lin Shuhan was startled when he heard this, and hurriedly said, "Your Excellency, you are flattering me too much. Even if I have such talent, I may not have such energy. I am just helping you out of friendship. Besides, I really despise Zheng Xin for what he did, and I am helping you out of my indignation."
This was what Lin Shuhan really thought, and Qiu Yizhi would certainly understand, saying, "I originally thought that I could retire to the countryside after helping the late emperor quell the rebellion of the Lingnan Palace, but Zheng Xin, a traitor, appeared. Now it seems that defeating Zheng Xin is not enough, and I have to stay in the court for a few more years, and only after the political situation is stabilized can I retire with peace of mind. During this period of time, I hope that Mr. Lin can continue to be by my side and lend me a hand. Of course, I don't like being forced by others, and I don't like forcing others either. If Mr. Lin is unwilling to help, I will never blame him."
Lin Shuhan certainly didn't want to bother with paperwork, but Qiu Yizhi had a life-or-death relationship with him, so he didn't know how to refuse such a sincere invitation, so he could only say, "This is all a matter for the future. Right now we haven't defeated the traitor Zheng Xin yet..."
Lin Shuhan's words brought Qiu Yizhi back to reality: "Yes, I'm waiting now, waiting for news from the Bohai Kingdom in the north. With the Bohai cavalry, I can say that I have a chance of winning against him."
Bohai did not make Qiu Yizi wait too long. Three days later, Zhao Chengxiao, who was sent to the north to contact Bohai, returned to the capital Luoyang. Although he did not bring any soldiers from Bohai, he brought Yelu, the contact person of Dali Khan, the loyal king of Bohai.
Ye Lu and Qiu Yizi have a close relationship. They have even been through several dangerous situations together. With this relationship, they naturally speak more casually.
After Yelu arrived at Qiu Yizi's official residence, he exchanged a few pleasantries, drank two sips of tea, and then said, "His Highness the Regent Yi sent General Zhao to Bohai, asking our Khan to mobilize the entire army and prepare for battle. The Khan thought something big had happened, so he quickly sent me and General Zhao to inquire about the situation. However, we did not expect to receive a document from the court halfway through, saying that the emperor had passed away, and it was actually the work of His Highness Zheng Xin..." He had stayed with the Han people for a long time, and spoke Chinese fluently, without any accent.
In order to prevent the news from being leaked in advance and the Turks from taking advantage of the chaos to attack the northern border of the Han Dynasty, and also to prevent the Bohai Kingdom from having any improper intentions, Qiu Yizi only asked the Bohai King Dali Khan to make preparations in advance in the letter, but did not explain the reason to Dali, so Yelu would have such a statement.