Qianqing Palace.
Zhu Qiyu leaned on the throne, holding two secret letters in his hand, which were covered with silver lacquer wax seals specially used by Jin Yiwei. He looked at them carefully, not knowing what he was thinking.
In the center of the hall, Lu Zhong, the commander of the Jinyi Guards in a flying fish robe, was calmly describing the information he had just received.
"...Your Majesty, this is what happened. After Yang Jie set off from Xuanfu, he first secretly went to Datong and met with the king, and then went to Ningxia and met with Jin Shangshu..."
"This Yang Jie is really capable of twisting things!"
Putting down the two secret letters in his hand, Zhu Qiyu shook his head gently, not knowing whether he was happy or angry. He rubbed his forehead and sighed.
"However, he has posed a big problem for me!"
The battle in the court is always more hidden under the iceberg than exposed.
It should be said that the plan for this action against King Xiang began a long time ago.
This is also the test Zhu Qiyu gave Zhu Huixun!
In the final analysis, it was he, the emperor, who made the final decision in the court. When Zhu Zhanxun and Zhu Huixun fought in Prince Min's Mansion, although it was Zhu Huixun who acted first, Zhu Zhanxun was not without fault.
Therefore, if Zhu Qiyu found it troublesome, it would not be without reason for each of them to have a fifty-fifty ban and drive both of them back to their fiefdoms.
However, he did not do that. On the contrary, he was even partial and gave the position of Da Zongzheng to King Xiang.
On the surface, this is because the emperor is closer to his uncle and vassal king and believes in kinship, but in fact, the existence of King Xiang is a test left to Zhu Huixun.
The chronic illness of Zongfan is a major hidden danger in the court. Although there is no time to take care of it now, it must always be solved.
The establishment of a religious school and the establishment of a clan mansion are all preparations for rectifying the clan affairs in the future.
In this case, who will be in charge of the clan mansion is particularly important!
If it is just to deal with some daily sect affairs, then this big sect can recruit anyone at will, as long as they are of the same mind as Zhu Qiyu.
However, since it is to prepare for the future sectarian reform, then it is necessary for this large sect to have seniority, prestige, ability, and means.
In addition to being loyal to the court, because it involves the level of government affairs, you must also have the ability to thrive in the complex and ever-changing court situation.
Zhu Huixuan has some means, but in the complex and ever-changing political situation, it is unclear how effective he can be.
Therefore, King Xiang is his touchstone.
Zhu Qiyu had planned this matter since the time he re-established the Zongren Mansion and left King Xiang in the capital as Zuo Zongren.
Among the clans, King Xiang has a very high prestige. He always abides by etiquette and has outstanding abilities. He is also the brother of the former emperor. He has a noble status and has natural advantages.
The obstacle that Zhu Huixun had to overcome if he wanted to get the position of Da Zongzheng was Prince Xiang. When he got married to Jing'an Bofu, he actually had no other choice.
Therefore, from the moment Zhu Huixuan entered Beijing, he probably realized what he should do.
In this process, Zhu Qiyu will not help him too much. If he cannot prove his strength, then naturally he will not be able to become the new great lord. A better ending is to return to the feudal land and be an idler. My lord, if the outcome is not good, I am afraid that you will be the first to bear the brunt of the sectarian reform in the future.
After all, it is impossible to take the benefits of the emperor without paying the price.
Zhu Huixuan knew this very well, so he probably started very early and was ready for a fight with King Xiang.
You must know that King Xiang is now so notorious among the sects, and many of them are due to Zhu Yinqi.
Achieving this is not something that can be accomplished in a day.
However, to truly bring down King Xiang, an opportunity is still needed.
Zhu Huixun needs to find this opportunity himself!
Originally, according to Zhu Qiyu's plan, after the death of King Lao Min, King Xiang and Zhu Huixuan were to compete for the position of Da Zongzheng. However, if that didn't work out, they would just be the same as before, one would be Da Zongzheng and the other would be Zuo Zong.
Over a long period of time, the two of them will always come out victorious.
But King Xiang was too impatient and wanted to take a preemptive strike and drive King Min out of the capital, which led to a scene of riot in Prince Min's palace.
Originally, if Zhu Qiyu wanted to be biased, he could favor Zhu Huixun.
But, he didn't!
The reason was that he wanted to see if this great-uncle could make a comeback in this situation.
It turns out, he can!
Asking for forgiveness at the Meridian Gate and inciting the clan members to cause a riot in the Ten Princes' Mansion were all prologues. His real killing move was hidden under the seemingly failed situation.
When King Xiang thought he had won a great victory and obtained the position of Da Zongzheng, and was about to drive King Min and his son out of the capital, the real crisis was brewing.
He further incited the resentment of the Zongxue disciples, accelerated the investigation of Min Fan's military camps, and persuaded King Dai to come forward to report King Xiang.
When King Xiang was immersed in his victory, an invisible net gradually enveloped him.
To achieve these three conditions, the first two are not difficult. The first one has been arranged for a long time, and the second one is Minfan's own matter. Although Zhu Huixuan said to the outside world that he had just taken over Minfan, But in fact, since the old Min King came to Beijing, basically all the affairs of Min Fan have been taken care of.
The most critical thing is to persuade King Dai to impeach King Xiang. Only in this way can the imperial affairs be turned into court affairs and the power of the court be mobilized to deal with King Xiang.
Only in this way can the competition between the two of them over Da Zongzheng evolve into the dissatisfaction of various sects with King Xiang, creating an impression that King Xiang is unpopular.
Zhu Qiyu didn't know when Zhu Huixuan had this plan, but there was no doubt that achieving this was the most difficult of the three conditions.
Although the first two are not easy, at least Zhu Huixuan and his son can control them by themselves.
But Prince Dai's mansion was far away on the border, beyond his reach.
The only thing Zhu Huixun can do is to influence the Prince Dai's palace through Zhu Chenglian.
However, after all, Zhu Chenglian was only the prince of Dai Wang. Although he had stronger opinions and more courage than Dai Wang himself, he could not be the master of Dai Wang's palace after all.
However, Zhu Huixuan himself could not really interfere directly in this matter, otherwise, as King Xiang accused him in the palace, he would be caught with the vassal king as the reason.
Once this charge is confirmed, it is a big taboo!
However, whatever he was afraid of, he got what he wanted. In the end, everything was ready, and the problem turned out to be King Dai.
This Dai Wangye has been cowardly and incompetent since he was a child. He is afraid of this and that. Now that he has inherited Dai Fan, his temperament has not changed.
Even though Zhu Chenglian had made it very clear in his heart that if he refused to help, he would go to the temple and cry in the tomb by himself, the acting prince was still hesitant.
Seeing that King Xiang had repeatedly impeached King Min and his son for staying in the capital, time could no longer be delayed, but good news came...
Perhaps even Zhu Chenglian didn't know why his father suddenly made up his mind.
However, Zhu Qiyu knew...
It's Yang Jie!
This child was indeed extremely intelligent. When he arrived in Datong, he only did one thing, and that was to throw all the evidence that the Yang family had collected over the years about the land that Dai Fan had occupied on the border in front of King Dai. After asking whether the Yang family should hand over the evidence to the court, or whether the king should plead guilty to the court himself, the king gave up.
Perhaps it was a mistake, but after seeing the evidence, King Dai quickly wrote a secret letter and sent it to Zhu Chenglian.
When the east wind comes, it will naturally strike with thunder!
The reason why Yang Jie is said to be smart is because his move to find King Dai was entirely out of his own courage and vision, rather than speculation after knowing the inside story.
From the memorial that Yang Jie himself sent back through the Jin Yiwei channel, he went to find the king because he guessed that after the imperial court attacked the nobles, the next step would be to target the feudal king.
Among the vassal kings on the border, King Dai was the easiest breakthrough point, so he was willing to take a risk and face King Dai's wrath on behalf of the court.
You know, that is the notorious Daifan!
Before the death of King Lao Dai, Dai Fan was no less domineering than Yi Fan.
Although it is said that the new king has always behaved himself after taking the throne, he is a vassal king after all. Yang Jie is just a Jin Yiwei town governor. Even with the identity of the son of Changping Hou, if he wants to speak nonsense in front of him, Still not qualified.
But Yang Jie just dared!
And, more importantly, he did not receive any instructions or support from the imperial court. Just relying on the news of the restoration of the Duke of Chengguo, he guessed the next move of the imperial court, and dared to go one step ahead and go to Dai Dai alone. The palace lobby.
This courage is unparalleled.
Of course, indirectly helping Zhu Huixuan break the situation in the capital was something Yang Jie never thought of.
However, when Zhu Qiyu said that he had given himself a big problem, he was not referring to this, but...
"What's the situation at the border?"
Rubbing his eyebrows, Zhu Qiyu asked.
During this period of time, under Zhu Qiyu's instruction, Jinyiwei sent many people to penetrate into the grasslands and various parts of Liaodong.
Nowadays, it should be said that it is quite effective.
"Back to Your Majesty, the situation is very chaotic. Confirmed news has been sent from the front. Tuotuo Buhua's army is already marching towards the various tribes in Oara. There have been dozens of battles, large and small, and each has its own victory or defeat. , but overall, Wala is at a disadvantage."
"However, since King Bodu returned to Oara, he led the Junggar army to fight back and saved a lot of the situation."
"Now the two sides are in a stalemate. According to the latest news, they have already begun to block the trade routes between the Tatar ministries and the Ming Dynasty. At the same time, they have made way for retreat to the south and part of the Kansai passage... "
"retreat?"
Zhu Qiyu's eyes flashed, as if he had thought of something, and asked.
"What do you mean, are you planning to lure Tuotuo Buhua to open the Western Region passage first?"
It should be said that one comes first. Perhaps Tuo Tuo Bu Hua can compete with him in terms of intelligence and strategy, but in terms of strategic vision, five Tuo Tuo Bu Hua tied together cannot compare to one person.
He knew very well where the Achilles heel of Tuo Tuo Bu Hua was.
The puppet Khan he supported was able to mobilize troops so quickly. On the one hand, it was because the Tatars did not contribute much in the battle to attack the Ming Dynasty. They even retreated first in the end and reached a peace treaty with the Ming court. On the other hand, it is because, through mutual trading, Tuotuobuhua has truly won the support of the five major Tatar tribes.
The grassland believes that the strong is king. This is due to the harsh environment of the grassland. If they cannot get enough supplies, then the tribe will be destroyed in the biting cold wind.
Tuotuo Buhua is no longer a member of the Golden Family, but if he cannot lead the five tribes to strength, he will never be able to gain their true allegiance.
Today, the reason why Tuo Tuo Bu Hua dares to launch troops against Oara is because the five major tribes have obtained abundant supplies from the mutual trade with the Ming court, and all of this stems from Tuo Tuo Bu Hua's original agreement with the Ming Emperor. .
Therefore, as soon as he took action, he took the lead in blocking the channel between Tuo Tuo Bu Hua and the Ming Dynasty. This move directly hit Tuo Tuo Bu Hua's Achilles' heel.
If the mutual market cannot be maintained smoothly, then his prestige will inevitably be damaged. At the same time, he will maintain the defensive position and wait for work, making it clear that he will fight a protracted war with Tuotuo Buhua. In this way, over time, he will be able to get used to it. The five major tribes that have received a large amount of supplies will definitely cause trouble.
At this time, we also gave way to the Kansai Passage. It seemed that we were running away in embarrassment and had to give up, but in fact, it was a bait.
Once Tuotuo Buhua divides his troops, first of all, the pressure on the frontal battlefield will be greatly reduced. Secondly, a lot of effort has been spent to open up the Western Region Passage. However, due to the existence of the Seven Guards of Kansai, the Western Region Passage is still interrupted. Continued from time to time.
Therefore, if Tuotuo Buhua hopes to obtain supplies through the Western Region Passage, it will inevitably conflict with the Seven Guards of Kansai.
As a result, under pressure from both sides, Tuotuo Buhua will inevitably be in chaos. Once the operation is improper, it is very likely that the situation will be reversed first.
In addition, the Seven Guards of Guanxi are guarding Hexi on behalf of the Ming Dynasty. If Tuotuo Buhua takes action against them, it is likely to offend the Ming Dynasty, and it may affect the mutual peace treaty.
But if the passage to the Western Regions is not opened, let alone whether Tuotuo Buhua can resist this temptation, even if he can resist it, now Wala only defends but does not attack, and can adopt a style of not fighting. If he wants to win quickly, he will almost impossible.
Once we fail to win quickly, we don’t know in what direction the situation will evolve.
It can be said that Ye Xian's series of tricks hit the seven inches of Tuo Tuo Bu Hua, making him unable to advance or retreat.
What's worse is that because the Western Region Passage has been controlled by Ye Xian for a long time, Tuotuo Buhua rarely has the opportunity to obtain this passage. This temptation is obviously not something that Tuotuo Buhua, a great Khan who is very happy with his achievements, can resist.
Facing Zhu Qiyu's question, Lu Zhong cupped his hands and said in a deep voice.
"Back to Your Majesty, judging from the current situation, yes!"
"According to the latest news, the Ordos tribe, which was originally chasing the Waladurbot tribe, has begun to gradually withdraw its troops and move closer to Hexi, which also gave way first..."
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