The emperor's allies outside the palace responded through Cen Wei the next day: "This time the Shazhou warehouse was burned, thanks to the blessing of Darui's ancestors, and the secret assistants of the Jiang family were involved. These people have already fallen into the trap." Qiu Jinglan’s hand! Therefore, both Qiu Jinglan and the Jiang family have concerns about thoroughly investigating this matter, not to mention that the two parties have been feuding for a long time, how can they trust each other? "
... In short, after a lot of reasons, I came to the conclusion, "This matter will definitely not involve your Majesty, so please don't worry, Your Majesty!"
Hearing this, the emperor breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "What about donation?"
"There are only a few wealthy businessmen in the country, and those who are not in the capital cannot be detained by force, right? Those who are in the capital are just a few of the Tian family's face-saving donations, and they may not be able to sustain the Zhenxi Army for long. After all, when you are a well-known wealthy businessman, how can you not have some connections with the powerful? It is cheaper to make requests to the powerful in private than to donate the rewards. The reason why Qin Guogong suggested this method is probably because of the previous court meeting with Xue. Chang has calculated that with the current inventory of the treasury, the Zhenxi Army will only be out of food for two or three months before the autumn harvest. It will not be difficult to survive with the help of merchants! "
"But, if after three months, the autumn harvest tax is insufficient, or something unexpected happens... In short, the donation is not enough?"
"Not enough donations?" The emperor narrowed his eyes, "Qin Guogong will definitely take this into consideration. The previous Shazhou warehouse can be said to have caught them off guard... But this time there may not be such a good thing, right?"
Cen Wei bowed and said: "Your Majesty is right!"
After a pause, he continued to report, "The gentleman said, I heard that the reason why the Duke of E and his wife had served in Guanzhou for many years and never returned to the court was not because they had no hope of becoming officials, but because, first, the Duke of E and his wife were arrogant. , I don’t want to be subordinate to others after returning to Beijing, I would rather be the only one in Guanzhou! Secondly, Guanzhou is rich, so it is easy to make money..."
At this point, the emperor already understood what he meant: "You mean to incite the Duke of E and his wife to intervene in the donation? This was ordered by the Duke of Qin himself, and they dare to reach out?!"
"The Duke of E may not dare to be alone, but his wife is the niece of the Duke of Qin, the only daughter of the late Marquis of Jibei! With Qin's care for his brothers and heirs, and the fact that his mother, Mrs. Ou, is still alive, E How could the Duke’s wife not dare?”
Cen Wei whispered softly, "Furthermore, according to that gentleman's speculation, the Duke of E and his wife should be eager to increase their gifts - so that they can get more benefits! Your Majesty, please think about it, the Xin family has grown very fast in the past two years, so-called Birds of a feather flock together, and most of their followers and close friends are also gluttons... But the Jiang family's status remains stable, and it is difficult for these latecomers who are attached to the Xin family to rise above them. There are not many fat vacancies and high positions in their hands, so how can they let it go? A good opportunity like this?”
The emperor pondered for a while: "The Xin family will inevitably be hit... After all, they are the emperor's maternal family. If there is no other way, I don't want the Xin family's development momentum to be frustrated by this!"
He also hopes that the Xin family, for the sake of Chu Shao, will spare no effort to fight against the Jiang family in the future!
After all, the imperial power is declining now, and with these few cards in his hand, there is no hope of shaking the Jiang family's regent status. If he wants to seize power, he must win over foreign aid as much as possible. This is why the emperor has doted on Xin Fubing since he married her as the main palace. Except for Concubine Jiang, it is said to be the main reason for the virtual six palaces.
Even though he is a puppet, he is still the Supreme Being. His favor was very useful for the growth of Xin Fubing's natal family, especially after Chu Shao was born. On the surface, both the Jiang family and the Xin family were happy about this, but in fact, there was a huge hidden danger between the two families!
"The Duke of E and his wife are both greedy people. If Shao'er becomes the East Palace in the future, their ambitions will further flourish... How can we not think that the Jiang family is an eyesore?" The emperor thought in his mind. In fact, the Xin family now feels that Some people in the Jiang family are an eyesore and block the way, such as the big house that has turned against them, the sixth house that has partially turned against them, and so on.
Even the fourth room who had a honeymoon with the Xin family now makes the Xin family complain - Jiang Tianchi declined Mrs. Ou's request and did not agree with establishing Chu Shao as the crown prince at this moment.
His intentions in doing so were obvious to the emperor, since restraining him was also a blow to the Xin family.
However, since the Duke of Qin and the Queen Mother Jiang were still there, and Jiang Tianchi had many troops at his disposal, Jiang Tianhe could use his identity as the daughter of the Jiang family to act arrogantly, but the rest of the Xin family did not dare to make a mistake.
The emperor secretly sighed, "As long as Uncle Zhenbei, who firmly controls the Zhenbei Army, is here...even if something happens to the Duke of Qin and the Queen Mother, the Xin family may not be able to defeat the Jiang family!"
Jiang Tianchi was forced to come directly to Qingjun's side - if he was in the army at that time - not only would the Xin family be in trouble, but Chu Shao, who was related to the Xin family by blood, would probably not be able to survive either. Even his biological son cannot survive. Can Jiang Tianchi rest assured that he will survive as a parent? If it really comes to this point, the emperor and the empress will definitely be in tragedy, and it will be a major event that will directly change the world.
If Jiang Tianchi had already returned to the court at that time, with his patience, perseverance, city government, and methods... it is hard to say whether the Duke of E and his wife could defeat him - maybe it will be another Duke of Qin!
The emperor thought about the years when Duke Guo of Qin handed over the Zhenbei Army to the Marquis of Jibei, and since returning to the court, he has led the Jiang family to rise step by step and become the recognized "Jiang Ban Dynasty", and now it has become the "Jiang Man Dynasty", and he feels that he can't bear it anymore: " It’s so easy to survive until the Duke of Qin is about to die. If another Zhenbei uncle comes, will I have to live like the late emperor? "
It's better to just hit him to death!
After exhaling, the emperor emphasized again: "Don't move the Xin family for the time being, and then think of other ways!"
Even if the Xin family doesn't seem to be a match for the Jiang family at the moment, it is still a hope. What's more, with Chu Shao as a bloodline hub and a hub of interests, the Xin family is naturally the emperor's ally against the Jiang family.
Of course, the emperor in a weak position must cherish them.
Cen Wei's lips twitched and he was about to say something but stopped. He hesitated for a while and then said: "The Lord said that if Your Majesty is not willing to let the Xin family add fuel to the flames, then the only other thing you can consider is... the Jiang family's big room!"
"The Jiang family's main house?" The emperor thought for a while and said, "You mean they were just involved in the burning of the baggage train in Shazhou, so they are eager to make meritorious deeds?!"
Cen Wei said respectfully: "Your Majesty, your Majesty!" After complimenting the emperor, he continued, "The secret of the Jiang family's main house fell into the hands of Qiu Jinglan. Although the Duke of Qin was here, he would definitely not allow Qiu Jinglan to announce this matter. But The Duke of Qin is old, and Qiu Jinglan is very capable. Even if he passes the test now, he may still have something to manipulate them later! "
"So, the person who most hopes to do something to fight against the Western Barbarians is probably the Jiang family's eldest family?" The emperor murmured, "The idea of donating losses came from the Duke of Qin and has nothing to do with the Jiang family's eldest family. Besides, this It's not a glorious thing! But the donation is still not enough. It's better to have food shortage. At this critical moment, the Jiang family sent food and grass, which is enough to make a name for themselves. With such a reputation, will Qiu Jinglan take it in the future? Provide evidence and they can make excuses!"
He narrowed his eyes, "This is a good plan! It's just... Since the Jiang family is eager to leave a good impression on others, why would they disturb the people? If they don't disturb the people, how can we take advantage of it?"
The emperor's current concern was not at all about the war between Western Xinjiang and Northern Xinjiang - he even burned the baggage that Shazhou had hoarded for the Suppressing Western Army for three years. He had long been mentally prepared to suffer a defeat on both fronts.
What he is most concerned about now is that he has prepared such a price, can he regain the strength he deserves
After all, at his age, even if Northern Xinjiang and Western Xinjiang lose large areas of territory, as long as Beihu and Ximan do not attack Dari's heart, he has a chance to drive them back to the grassland and restore Dari's territory in his lifetime!
Therefore, he actually had little hope that Qiu Jinglan would counterattack and win. Only the Zhenxi Army's continuous defeats would bring greater pressure to Northern Xinjiang. In this case, the Duke of Qin might consider increasing the tax, thereby launching the emperor's long-planned plan of "Jiang Manchao" to force Li Shu into rebellion.
The emperor did not think that the Qin Guoguo would agree to negotiate peace, especially in the case of defeat - after all, this old man stepped on the corpses of Beihu to ascend to power, and forcibly created the name of "Gancheng of the Country". A veteran who had spent half his life in the army, even if the city government Deep down, how could someone so strong and strong be able to bow down to a foreign race so easily!
If you refuse to bow your head and cannot receive donations, what else can you do if you don’t add gifts? Let the Jiang family pay out of their own pocket? Let's not talk about whether it can afford it - even though the Jiang family has great power and is definitely not short of money, the Zhenxi Army is an entire army after all! And who can guarantee that the war in Western Xinjiang will not drag on for several years like in Northern Xinjiang
Even if they could afford it... would the other children of the Jiang family agree
If Qin Guogong could still get up, he might have been able to control the situation, but now he is ill and lying on the bed. The emperor can guarantee that those spoiled children of the Jiang family will never agree to use the property originally inherited by them to help the Zhenxi Army tide over the difficulties!
"The head of the Jiang family has a motive for doing this. After all, compared to the crime of colluding with foreigners, a mere property is a trivial matter. Moreover, with the current power of the Jiang family, it will be easy to get back all the money!" The emperor felt very happy. Troublesome, "What should they do to make them angry and resentful, and the whole country is eager to raise the flag of righteousness in order to clear the emperor's side?!"
Now is the best opportunity - Dali and Rui are fighting on two fronts, the Western Front is defeated, and Northern Xinjiang cannot finish the war for the time being. This is a situation that is neither embarrassing nor embarrassing. If there is another civil unrest in the country at this time, and the spearhead is directed at the regent Jiang family to force Li Shu to rebel, the Duke of Qin will probably have to compromise and promise to let the emperor personally govern...
Although this pro-government is probably to allow the emperor to go to court, observe political affairs, and make decisions on some insignificant matters, but it is better than just hearing about political affairs and leaving now, right
What's more, after he has the title of pro-government, he can truly participate in this battle for imperial power. Although he can be said to be involved in the battle now, in fact, he can't do anything except some small actions. All the real planning is done. It's people from outside - they are too passive and powerless!
The emperor was thinking hard when he heard Cen Wei say softly: "The lord said that the Jiang family's head family may now think that the shortfall in food and grass for the Zhenxi Army this year is not very big. But once they entered the game, they found that the shortfall was actually It’s so big…it won’t be that easy to get out by then!”
"The question turns back again: How to make the gap large without arousing suspicion from the Jiang family?"
"That gentleman said that the people in your Majesty's hands... can just be passed on to the remnants of the Gu family, and your Majesty's suspicions can be completely cleared!"
"... Do you know that this is the most important manpower I have?! Even when the Imperial Grandmother was here, she would not use it unless absolutely necessary!"
Cen Wei only said that he was unwilling. In fact, Cen Wei did not agree with such a desperate move. But when he was about to say something, he heard the emperor say, "So let him tell me how sure he is - more than 50%, I... I will give him the go-ahead." !”
Cen Wei looked up in shock, only to see the emperor's eyes burning with madness!