Looking at the smiling Zhu Yi in front of him, Wu Xing shook his head inwardly, knowing that he could no longer find out the true purpose of Duke Cheng Guo.
However, this is normal. His relationship with Duke Chengguo is not very deep. If he opens his heart and soul without any reservations when they meet, then he should be wary of any traps behind this...
"So, besides that, what about the other thing?"
After all, Wu Xing had been in the military mansion for a long time and was very cautious. He did not immediately agree or reject Zhu Yi's request, but continued to ask cautiously.
Zhu Yi was quite happy. With a flip of his hand, another document was placed in front of Wu Xing. The difference was that the names recorded on the document this time were all generals who were not particularly famous.
Wu Xing glanced at it, his expression a little complicated.
The military government is responsible for the military status of the world and participates in the assessment and promotion of generals. Naturally, he knows something about each general. These names may not seem like much, but each one is inextricably related to the honorary minister.
Moreover, if he remembered correctly, the military mansions these people were close to were all nobles who had good relations with Duke Chengguo.
"It turns out that this is what the Duke wants. He builds the plank road openly and secretly builds the warehouse. Isn't this what the Duke calls bone scraping to cure poison? If it cannot be destroyed, it cannot be established?"
Perhaps it was because Wu Xing felt that he shouldn't believe Zhu Yi's righteous words just now, but emotionally he still had some hope.
But when he saw the list, his heart dropped. At the same time, he also understood Zhu Yi's true purpose.
Scraping the bones to cure the poison is scraping the bones of the British Duke, and curing the poison of the Chengguo Duke; if it is not broken, it cannot be established. What is broken is the British Duke's control over the military government, and what is established is the new order of the Chengguo Duke.
Originally, the power of death was still there in the military palace. After Zhang Fu and Zhang Fu died one after another, although there were faint signs of dissipation of the power that originally belonged to the British government, it was still able to stabilize the overall situation. This is the bottom line.
Even for those who defected to Renli, many of their original intentions were because he was supported by the British government, but later they were too involved and couldn't explain clearly.
However, even if they really switch to Ren Li, after all, Ren Li still has to rely on the British government. Unless Ren Li intends to completely get rid of the British government, otherwise, in many military affairs, the British government's words Quan is still very strong, but it just needs to be consistent with Ren Li.
To put it bluntly, this is what Renli has been striving for. After all, he is a marquis with long-standing military exploits. How can he be willing to serve as a subordinate of the British Duke like an ordinary military minister? What he hopes even more is to be able to reconcile with the Duke of England. Like the old families such as Ningyang Houfu and Dingxi Houfu, they have an alliance with the British Duke and can achieve a relatively equal status.
So in fact, as long as Zhang Xi can understand the situation clearly and hold his nose and not care about Ren Li's "betrayal", then, although Ren Li will use the influence of the British government to become more and more powerful, he will become a powerful family among the nobles. , however, the British government was able to barely maintain its control over the military government.
After all, even if he cannot truly control Ren Li, as long as Ren Li relies on his position in the British government, it will be difficult for him to do anything detrimental to the British government. Otherwise, it will easily lead to the rejection of the nobles.
After ten years, the young British Duke will get married as an adult. As long as he is a little more successful, it will not be difficult to regain control of the military government.
After all, at Ren Li's age, it was almost time to take care of his old age. He knew that with the virtue of Ren Shou, the legitimate son of the Ren family, it would be impossible for him to take over the political resources left by Ren Li.
So when the time comes, Ren Li will have to hand over power whether he wants to or not.
In this way, although the process has been a lot of twists and turns, the British government has survived the most difficult stage and ushered in a new person in charge. Even if this person in charge may not be in the military government, at least he can be in the court again. With the right to speak, it will naturally make everyone in the military mansion feel at ease.
Of course, on the other hand, although Ren Li hands over power, the prestige and connections he has accumulated over the years will make the Ren family one of the top aristocratic families in the capital. Even if the descendants are incompetent, there is no need to worry about declining within one or two generations. It can be said to be a win-win situation.
In fact, in Wuxing's view, this should have been Zhang Fu's original plan. This third master is different from the second master who is now in charge. He sees far, plans deeply, is neither arrogant nor impetuous, and can understand The situation changes at the right time.
But now this Mr. Zhang, it's not that Wu Xing wants to belittle him, but he is really short-sighted and impulsive.
When Ren Li was imprisoned, there was a lot of private discussion from the outside world, and they felt that what Mr. Zhang was doing was unfair. After all, if the British government had not warned them in advance and asked several key dignitaries to remain silent at the court meeting, Ren Li would have been The Marquis would not argue with Yang Hong in court alone.
Although, the various governments did have the intention to protect themselves wisely at that time, and during Ren Li's time, they were indeed a bit too public.
But you must know that since the Civil War, the situation of the entire Xungui Group has not been optimistic, especially due to Zhang Shi's series of operations, due to the incident of the King of Zhennan, the incident of the envoy, the prince's resignation and other events. , the reputation of the honorable nobles in the court became worse and worse, and they became like to tangle with each other and threaten the image of the court.
The most serious incident, when more than a dozen noble families were imprisoned at the same time, is still fresh in the memory of this group of pampered nobles.
Under such circumstances, Ren Li, a distinguished minister with military exploits, qualifications, and power, could at least play a supporting role in the court.
Although what Ren Li himself did was not very authentic, there were many such things in the officialdom, and everyone tolerated each other and limited the fight within a reasonable range.
But when it came to Mr. Zhang, his men were a bit too cruel.
Of course, this is also Ren Li's own fault for committing such a serious crime. The nobles thought that Ren Li was at best the one responsible for occupying the military camp. Even if he was impeached, it would not hurt him at all, so they remained silent. If you don't say anything, it will just make him lose face.
So there is no need to argue with the British government on this point.
But who would have thought that Ren Li was carrying a big gun that intercepted tribute envoys and assassinated courtiers on his back. As a result, he had a big gun and no backup, so he was thrown into prison.
Even after that, there was faint news that the British government wanted to rescue Ren Li, but in the end, nothing was done.
Now Renli is gone, but the people spying on the influence of the British government will not disappear because of this, but will appear one after another, such as...
This Duke Cheng is in front of me!
This reversal of the world seemed to be Zhang Shi cleaning up the family and frightening other Xiaoxiao who had dissident intentions, but in fact, it was an increase and decrease in strength.
In the first list that Wuxing saw just now, the number of people involved included more than a dozen of the current military ministers, and even more low-ranking ones.
Even for the British government, this was nerve-wracking.
Once these people fall, the influence of the British government, which originally had absolute say in the military government, will plummet.
Of course, because Zhang Fu's strength and prestige were too strong at the time, and the family fortune he left behind was strong enough, even after clearing out this group of people, the British government still had the largest say among the military government.
However, the gap between it and the other most powerful noble mansions is not insurmountable.
Again, Zhang Shi was too reckless and impulsive. He took the British government's face too seriously. He treated Ren Li the same way, and he naturally treats these people the same way now.
Wu Xing believed that if it were Zhang Fuzai, he would be able to calm down and calculate the gains and losses, instead of being so impulsive and being plotted for the sake of the so-called 'deterrence' that is illusory.
You must know that the loss of cleaning up these people is only apparent to the British government. If the impact is just that, it is not completely unbearable.
However, it is a pity that the British government still has such a 'good' ally!
Once Wu Xing agrees to Zhu Yi's two requests just now, if this combination of punches continues, the British government will really lose control of the military government completely.
Of course, on the surface, the British government is still the strongest among the military governments.
However, the problem is that the real direct lineage left behind by the British government after cleaning up the family is actually not the real direct lineage.
Many of them are still being manipulated by Duke Chengguo's government, which will inevitably make them worry about the attitude of Duke Chengguo's government when making many political statements.
This is what Zhu Yi said, to make them 'be able to do things with heart and put the interests of the military government first'.
The so-called putting the interests of the military government first means, from another perspective, that the British government cannot take the lead.
In this way, although it seems that the British Duke's influence is still there, in fact, it is just a showpiece. In terms of real strength, I am afraid that even several other Dukes may not be able to match it.
This has to be said about the brilliance of this Duke Cheng.
If he had shown the entire real list to Zhang Xi, even if Zhang Xi was impulsive, he would not do such a stupid thing as cleaning up the family. After all, there were too many people. Even if Zhang Erye couldn't bear it any longer, I would hold my nose and endure it, pretending not to know.
And if he hid the list and then used it as a private excuse to blackmail these military ministers, let alone whether it would make people feel bad about the actions of the Duke of Chengguo, and feel that the high-ranking government would use this method. Losing one's identity, if someone is stubborn and thinks they can "pay for their crimes" and accuses Zhang Shi of Zhu Yi's blackmailing, then the relationship between the two governments will be completely broken, and naturally it will be even more unreasonable.
But Zhu Yi's brilliance lies in his extremely precise sense of proportion.
The list he brought out happened to be within the range of losses that Zhang Xi felt the British government could accept. Once Zhang Xi decided to resort to cruel means to 'clean up the family', all the military ministers, especially those with evil intentions, would look at it. When you see how the British government treats 'traitors', you will naturally not have unrealistic illusions.
At this time, Zhu Yi handed over the news through Wuxing, and used the excuse to sell the favor, and did not use it to make them do anything difficult. These people must be grateful and cautious in everything in the future.
At the same time, it can be seen from the second list that the Duke is not satisfied with weakening the influence of the British government.
You must know that in the original military government, more than 70% of the officials were monopolized by a few powerful nobles. They occupied an absolutely dominant position, and the remaining part was divided up by other nobles. Only a few are reserved for people who really have no background to get promoted.
However, these people with no background at all, in this environment, will quickly find a backer and turn into noble people.
What Zhu Yi is doing now is to scrape off a large number of people from the base of the British government, and then stuff them in with many nobles who originally had little influence in the military government.
This point is very obvious in the second list. You must know that among the nobles, there are big and small powers, high and low status, and there are also close and slightly distant relationships with the Duke of Chengguo.
However, among the candidates for promotion given by Zhu Yi, these nobles were treated almost equally.
In other words, Zhu Yi's move was not only to enhance the influence of the Chengguo Duke's family in the military government, but also to completely disrupt the original order of the military government.
With so many aristocratic families joining the military government, the original monopoly of a few large aristocratic families will inevitably be broken and fall into fierce competition again.
The more factions there are, the more struggles there are.
The more struggles there are, the possibility of monopolizing power will become slim. That's why Wu Xingcai felt that Zhu Yi's move was to completely end the British government's dominance over the military government.
After understanding this, Wu Xing roughly understood what Zhu Yi wanted to do.
He not only wanted to suppress the British government, but more importantly, he wanted to make the Chengguo government the most powerful force in the military government.
Zhu Yi knew very well that he did not have Zhang Fu's military exploits and prestige, so it was impossible to completely control the military government. It was too difficult to do it silently, and once clues were revealed, the British government was not in good shape after all. Provoked.
Therefore, he changed a way. On the one hand, the Chengguo Palace could control more officials than other palaces, gaining an advantage in the right to speak.
On the other hand, he has cut off the possibility of all the mansions regaining their former power and muddied the waters, relying on his own methods to either hold the handle or spread favors to form substantial influence to achieve his own goals. .
It is conceivable that once the people on the second list come to power, although they already have factions, they will also be grateful for the help of the Duke Chengguo.
As for the nobles behind them, although it is not ruled out that they will have other thoughts after they become more powerful, at least now, they can have the opportunity to reach into the military government and form their own influence, so they are naturally happy.
As for the other powerful nobles in the military government, it would not be easy for them to stop them.
The friendship between nobles and nobles is so intricate that it is difficult to see each other without looking up. It is not easy to get such an opportunity, and it is justifiable. If you really want to stop it, then I am afraid that the nobles will start fighting among themselves.
Looking at Zhu Yi in front of him who didn't care about his sarcasm, Wu Xing couldn't help but sigh inwardly. This Duke of Xiaocheng was really like his father!
When Zhu Yong was here, he did not seize power or create factions. He only extended favors and forged good relationships. After the civil engineering work in Chengguo Palace, he had so many people to help him speak, and he was not immediately deprived of his title by the imperial court. The room for maneuver is the good result achieved in the first place.
Putting these thoughts behind him, Wu Xing's expression slowly calmed down, and he finally focused on the situation in front of him.
Holding the two lists in his hands, he pondered for a moment and asked.
"The Duke of the State has a good plan, but what does the matter you want to do as Duke of the State have anything to do with Wu?"
"Could it be said that if Wu doesn't help the Duke do these two things today, you are going to beat Wu to dust as well?"
