"You know," Ye Yongjia sighed to Cai Xianqing behind him and sat quietly on the chair, "I'm tired of talking about this."
"But your skills in the officialdom are very good," Cai Xianqing brushed his sleeves, "no worse than me. Besides... we have entered Dengzhou, and there will be a grand parade in the next two days. If we don't hurry up and figure it out, How can their position be ok?”
"So... we can only choose between the Liu Party and the imperial power?" Ye Yongjia shook his two fingers, showing fatigue.
"Probably so. To be honest, what is in our best interests right now is the Liu Party. Whether the emperor can borrow troops to take power is still unknown. We must not take risks."
"Profits, benefits," Ye Yongjia pressed his forehead and smiled bitterly, "It seems that those of us who pride ourselves on being smart are no different from them."
Cai Xianqing felt a little unhappy when he saw that he looked a little abnormal: "There is never a good thing in the world that can achieve success in one step. Tinglong will not know that only by keeping our status can we continue the previous reforms."
"We will never be at the helm of this big ship of reform," Ye Yongjia shook his head helplessly. "Where is it going? We can't control it. We can only have self-deceptive fantasies until all political opinions become tools for other people's party struggles. , it’s just a talk in pen and ink, nothing more.”
"But you have already jumped on this ship, so you can't give up halfway, right?" Cai Xianqing said, "Only doing some tinkering with benefits can also benefit the people, which is better than doing nothing. In comparison, You don’t want to see Mr. Wei being forced to be free and easy like that.”
"Giving up halfway..." Ye Yongjia murmured in a low voice. Yes, he has reached the center of decision-making and is within a few steps of changing the fate of the country, but he seems to be out of reach. Wandering in the darkness, he could only place his spirit on the dim light. But he felt extremely powerless about the current situation of the country. There was a vague invisible force between heaven and earth, which restricted his progress, and he seemed to be wandering in a dead end.
However, once Ye Yongjia recalled what happened in Chenzhou and Nanjing, he couldn't bear to let all the hard work he had done before go to waste. He had no choice but to cheer up for the time being and deal with the situation that was not going well.
"Speaking of it, I am also a person who is afraid of difficulties," Ye Yongjia responded, "I... really don't want to let go of this hard-won great future."
"That's good, that's good," Cai Xianqing smiled and patted his shoulder, "Tinglong's head should be turned around. Thinking about useless things will do us no good."
"Then Mr. Cai...what do you think of those people?" Ye Yongjia's expression was still a little dazed.
"Zhang Longlu is the most worth mentioning." Cai Xianqing's eyes were particularly stern when talking about people. "He was extremely indifferent to the pick-up before, but just a few days later, he took the initiative to invite the Holy Emperor to Dengzhou for a grand tour. There is something strange in it. , obvious.”
"Is it possible that the prince's trap is set here?" Ye Yongjia asked.
"Everyone knows about this matter, but they don't know the prince's intention. Liu Dang doesn't dare to doubt Governor Zhang without permission. After all, he has been a confidant for many years and cannot be touched lightly."
"What might the emperor have in mind?"
"At that time, many people regarded the emperor as a puppet, but in fact it was not that simple. Zhang Longlu was a high-ranking official in Xinjiang, and he was never a loyal person. I prepared for the worst. If he wanted to launch a mutiny, he would only become the next Liu Zhen. Years. However, talents from the Liu Party have emerged in batches. Even though the country has its shortcomings, it is actually stable. The emperor still needs to rely on them to control the country, and he will use the Liu Party's notorious reputation to shield himself from the gun. If true. Uncovering this Long Lu Lai will not only shock the Liu Party, but also lead to killing people... His Majesty must be the same as us in making this choice."
Ye Yongjia pondered for a moment and still wanted to ask, but heard a knock on the door. Cai Xianqing leaned against the wall, holding the door latch with his left hand: "Who? If you have something to report, please report it outside so that you can hear it."
"I am Mr. Ye's secretary. I just heard from someone sent by Manager Shen that a place for the reading has been chosen."
"where?"
"Zhu Gaoshan is located more than eighty miles southeast of Penglai County."
"What's the situation like on this mountain?" Cai Xianqing frowned slightly.
"I just asked a few questions. This mountain is not too rugged. There are mountain roads carved into several peaks and can be connected. Looking down from the cliff is the sea, so you can enjoy the view."
"Okay, I understand," Cai Xianqing turned around and looked at Ye Yongjia, "the waves will not be calm tomorrow."
In the early morning, when the mist had not completely dissipated, several warships quietly set out from the mountains, making ripples on the calm sea.
The sailors looked back and saw Zhang Longlu standing upright on the top of the mountain.
"Don't spread the content of this audition." Zhang Longlu squinted his eyes and looked at the line of water and sky in front of him. "His Majesty ordered Liu Zhennian to be killed. We must protect him."
"Yes!" The deputy general held his fist resolutely.
"Do you want to use a Western telescope?" A deputy general stepped forward, holding a stick-like object in his hand.
"No need," Governor Zhang shook his head, "I can see it." He saw the warship stopped in the distance.
The soldiers on the warship were busy running around. The captain was so anxious that there were beads of sweat on his face. He had no time to wipe it off. He got into the cabin and shouted to everyone: "What did the governor instruct you? Aim the cannon at the east mountain peak and take turns." bombing!"
When he saw everyone looking confused, he was extremely angry: "Damn it, you are also called soldiers! Governor Zhang said, just treat Liu Zhennian standing on that mountain peak, and you must kill this rebellious minister and traitor!"
"Yes!" Several sailors picked up their binoculars and looked at the peak from the hatch of the ship. Under the instructions of the captain, they began to set up the cannon and point the trigger.
boom!
There was a loud noise and a flash of fire, sending several rocks flying and hitting the mountain peak.
"Okay!" Zhang Longlu couldn't help but clapped his hands and looked at the lieutenants with joy, "I never thought that the cannon on this ship could really hit this place!"
"Your Majesty's method is indeed brilliant!" The lieutenants knelt down and congratulated, "Next... what are you going to do?"
"When the time comes, I will place His Majesty on the top of the mountain. When the ship is ready, I will ask Liu Zhennian to go to the east mountain peak to watch. He said that it is a little closer to the coast and he can watch its formation and record it by himself. Take advantage of this to wave the red flag on the top of the mountain. , turn the muzzle of the gun and hit the willow thief directly, then the thing will be done!"
"I'm afraid that Liu's party has so many people that we won't be able to resist if chaos breaks out." The lieutenants complained.
"I have prepared myself," Zhang Longlu walked down the top of the mountain confidently while asking people to wave the flag, "When the time comes, hundreds of guards will be placed in each camp. When the cannon fires, they will immediately enter the tents and kill Ye Yongjia and other confidants, and then take His Majesty hostage. Proclaim the imperial edict to all the people, and the rest will be dispersed."
