With a "crash", the Jun Kiln imperial porcelain bowl, which was worth more than gold, was smashed to pieces on the ground. The housekeeper who was serving tea to Liang Shicheng was so frightened that his face turned pale and he quickly ignored the broken porcelain pieces and hot tea soup on the ground. He knelt down and confessed his guilt.
But Liang Shicheng didn't even look at this confidant butler. He just stared gloomily at the middle-aged men in front of him with the same deep faces: "How should we deal with this matter today?"
To be able to make Taifu Liang, who had always been somber and always had a gentle smile on his face, so furious was a testament to how huge the impact of the current events was on him. This time, Cai Jing and Tong Guan actually joined forces to openly launch an attack in the court, beating a local official whom Liang Shicheng relied on to death. For him, it was like being slapped hard in the face by them in public, and he was completely humiliated. .
And this is not the key point, what is more terrible is the impact of this incident. Everyone in the court knows that Yuan Wang is Liang Shicheng's man, and now he has ended up like this. I wonder how other low-level officials will view this matter. Will they change their families and abandon him for others? Or, will Cai Jing and the others? Will use this as an opportunity to launch a campaign against him. This is a problem that Liang Shicheng urgently needs to solve at present.
In fact, as early as the year before last, after being granted the high position of Taifu by the officials and being called the Hidden Prime Minister, Liang Shicheng had already guessed that he would become a thorn in Cai Jing's side, and the other party would definitely try his best to eliminate him. After all, one mountain cannot accommodate two tigers, and the court cannot tolerate two prime ministers. Even if one of them is just hiding behind the scenes, it still violates Cai Jing's taboo.
He just didn't expect that Cai Jing's offensive would come so fast and be so strange. It actually started from Jiangzhou, which is far away from the capital. Moreover, he would not give himself any chance once he took action. Yuan Wang's people were already dead and he wanted to use him to make a comeback. It's impossible.
The events at today's court meeting made it obvious to Liang Shicheng how big the gap was between himself and Cai Jing, which made him even more frightened. At the same time, the anger in his heart became more and more intense, so he suddenly broke out in his home.
"There is no need to panic, Mr. Liang. After all, they are only targeting a small official in Jiangzhou and they cannot hurt our roots. What we have to do at this time is to respond calmly instead of getting into trouble. Otherwise, we will be taken advantage of by them." You can take advantage of it." A scholar sitting on his left said with a solemn expression, but his tone was quite calm.
After this reminder, Liang Shicheng calmed down a little, waved his hand to the housekeeper who was still kneeling in front of him, and motioned him to step back, then sighed and said: "This happened suddenly, I did lose my sense of proportion. Xianze, you What I’m saying is that the most important thing at this time is to keep calm, after all, it’s just Yuan Wang, and it can’t hurt my roots.”
The staff member on the right frowned slightly: "I think this matter cannot be underestimated after all, and something must be done to stabilize people's hearts."
"Brother Yan, what you said is wrong. Now that they are in great momentum, Mr. Liang must not fight with them, otherwise the situation will only become more unfavorable." Chu Xianze quickly objected: "As for other people's opinions, , As long as Duke Liang invites the officials from the central government to the palace to explain a few words in the past few days, they can always be appeased. After all, they have been following Duke Liang for many years, how could they rebel because of this trivial matter? "
After saying a few words, Liang Shicheng finally regained his composure. Yes, he was a little confused by this sudden blow, so he was so anxious. In fact, if you calm down and think about it, things are not so bad that they are irreversible. Jiangzhou is also thousands of miles away from the capital, and the sins of a sixth-grade official there cannot really be used to affect you.
But Yan Beifei didn't see it that way, and immediately said: "Even so, this matter has opened a hole in the court, which will only encourage some people's arrogance. If Mr. Liang doesn't do something, I'm afraid Similar things will happen in the future. By then, Liang Gong's reputation in the court will really face challenges."
"Then what should I do according to your wishes?" Of course Liang Shicheng didn't want such a result to happen, but he still felt a little nervous when he thought of becoming Cai Jing's enemy. After all, the other party is the current prime minister of the Song Dynasty. He has been in power for many years and has won the trust of the emperor. He has disciples and former officials all over the world. This is not what he, a recent servant of the emperor, can handle.
Yan Beifei also understood his concerns and said: "Of course we can't offend Prime Minister Cai. Not only him, but also Cai Dezhang, the prefect who has completely controlled the power of Jiangzhou. We can't touch him, otherwise it will only bring trouble to us." Bigger trouble.”
"What else can we do besides that?" Liang Shicheng asked impatiently.
"Forgive me to be honest, in fact, Prime Minister Cai has been keeping Liang Gong in check, so it is reasonable for him to benefit from this matter. However, if another person wants to take advantage of Prime Minister Cai's advantage, he cannot be allowed to stand up. It's allowed." Yan Beifei suddenly changed the subject.
However, Liang Shicheng quickly understood what he was referring to: "You mean Tong Guan?" He also felt itching at the mention of this name. They were enemies in the same industry. Tong Guan, who was born as a servant like him, was naturally tabooed by him, but Tong Guan was in charge of military affairs, and there was no conflict of interest with him. The two parties had been living in peace and harmony over the years. But this time, Tong Guan suddenly fell towards Cai Jing and rushed to the front, forcing him to face up to his opponent.
"It is Privy Tong, he is the one who Duke Liang needs to suppress, otherwise there will be endless troubles." Yan Beifei nodded.
"This is easier said than done. He is as trusted by the officials as I am, and he has made military exploits in the northwest before. He is also very powerful in the Forbidden Army. The saint will not touch him at will." Liang Shicheng shook his head in despair.
"It may be difficult for Mr. Liang to threaten him alone. Just as he had to cooperate with Prime Minister Cai to achieve today's situation, we can also cooperate with others." Yan Beifei said with a smile.
"Well..." Liang Shicheng thought for a moment and then understood who he was referring to: "You mean you want me and Gao Qiu to join forces to deal with Tong Guan?"
"Exactly. Just as Cai Xiang is very wary of Mr. Liang, Gao Taiwei is also wary of Privy Tong. This time he cooperates with Cai Xiang, which will definitely make Gao Taiwei wary. As long as Liang Gong, you take the initiative to communicate with Gao Taiwei. If Wei has contact, he will definitely be willing to join forces with us." Yan Beifei nodded.
Liang Shicheng fell into deep thought again. As the most trustworthy ministers in front of Zhao Ji, none of them had any intention of forming a clique. This was not only because of the emperor’s overt and covert indications, but also because they each had their own interests and demands, and they respected their status and refused to give in.
Because of living under others.
But now, Tong Guan suddenly broke this rule and balance, immediately putting Liang Shicheng into a passive position, making it seem that he had no choice but to join forces with Gao Qiu, who had the same status.
But given their status, it is not easy to join forces. There must be an opportunity. For example, the reason why Tong Guan was able to cooperate with Cai Jing was because of the chess piece Sun Tu. Because he was sent to Cai Jiu and played an assisting role, the two high-ranking officials in the DPRK and China cooperated seamlessly. But there is no such a chess piece that can serve as a pivot between Liang Shicheng and Gao Qiu.
After seeing his difficulty, Yan Beifei added: "Actually, how to open up the situation is not a problem. Then Sun Tu, the regiment trainer in Jiangzhou City, is the most suitable candidate. I heard before that this person had worked with him when he was in the capital. Lieutenant Gao had a feud, and it was only because of Prime Minister Cai that he was allowed to serve outside... Since he had enmity with both Liang Gong and Lieutenant Gao, why not form an alliance by dealing with him? "
"Hmm... It's interesting." Liang Shicheng nodded in approval.
At this time, Chu Xianze also understood and echoed: "This is a clever trick that kills two birds with one stone. Sun Tu was one of the culprits who put Yuan Wang into despair. Since Liang Gong can't attack Cai Jiu, then take him It's a good choice to vent your anger, and it can also give the officials an explanation. However, this person has just made great achievements and has done nothing wrong. It is not easy to convict him. "
Yan Beifei chuckled: "It's just that we can't punish him for the time being, but it will be difficult to say in the future. It just so happens that this time he made a lot of contributions, which Cai Jiuzou clearly stated on his face and inside. No one can deny that. He took the opportunity to ask Taiwei Gao to transfer him out of Jiangzhou and transfer him to a place where he could be convicted. It was obviously to promote him, but in fact... In this way, Liang Gong could also cooperate with Taiwei Gao. Now that we have spoken, what do you think?"
"This is a very clever plan. If you do this, even Prime Minister Cai or Tong Taiwei will not be able to find any problems. Even in the eyes of others, Liang Gong is repaying evil with kindness. It will be of great benefit to your reputation." Chu. Xianze also nodded and said.
Both of his most trusted staff believed that this plan was feasible, and after thinking about it carefully, they also felt that this was the only way to reverse the current unfavorable situation. After being silent, Liang Shicheng finally nodded in approval: "In that case, let's do as you say. Let’s do it. Let’s operate on Sun Tu first. I want to see what kind of trouble he can make as a military attaché without the protection of his superiors. Where do you think we can put him?”
"This... Qingzhou magistrate Murong Yanchao has always been loyal to Liang Gong, and his subordinates are also very clever. There was a time when a local military attache disobeyed his orders and ended up with his whole family destroyed. Recently I heard that Qingzhou was in trouble with bandits, why not send Sun Tu to prison? Go to Qingzhou and let him serve as an official under Magistrate Murong?" Chu Xianze quickly came up with his personal selection.
After hearing this, Liang Shicheng finally showed a smile on his face, but it was a smile with a knife hidden inside: "Yes, Murong Yanchao's ability is enough to restrain Sun Tu and finally eradicate him. Then let Gao Qiu help me put that Sun Tu will be transferred from Jiangzhou to Qingzhou!"
Sun Tu, who was in Jiangzhou, never imagined that his chess piece would become a key point in Liang Shicheng's attack on Tong Guan...