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After coming to this conclusion, Zhao Junchen was naturally extremely horrified at first.
After all, once you become the target of Zhou Shangjing's calculations, although you cannot say that you will escape death, you will definitely be in danger.
With Zhou Shangjing's scheming methods, the moment he decides to plot against you, it means that he has put a rope around your neck, and may strangle your throat in the next moment.
In fact, Zhao Junchen was plotted by Zhou Shangjing once before.
At that time, Zhao Junchen, under Zhou Shangjing's secret calculation, unknowingly replaced him and became the leading figure in the temple and a thorn in the side of Emperor Deqing. Emperor Deqing's power continued to increase in order to suppress Zhao Junchen. , and even sought cooperation from Zhou Shangjing. This situation allowed Zhou Shangjing to gain himself the opportunity to escape from the temple when he retired and returned to his hometown, while Zhao Junchen became Zhou Shangjing's scapegoat.
Later, if Zhao Junchen had not revealed the true nature of the seventh prince Zhu Hejian to Zhou Shangjing in time, Zhou Shangjing would take the initiative to deal with Zhu Hejian out of overall considerations, once again becoming a thorn in the side of Emperor Deqing, sharing the pressure of Zhao Junchen, and adding Many changes in the situation in the temple have also strengthened the importance of Zhao Junchen, otherwise Zhao Junchen's current situation would definitely be extremely bad.
Precisely because of that lesson, when Zhao Junchen found out that he had once again become the target of Zhou Shangjing's calculations, he naturally felt deeply pressured and was even unwilling to accept the reality.
However, after Zhao Junchen thought about it repeatedly, he found that this was the only reasonable explanation, and only this explanation could explain all the abnormal situations that happened today!
Just like the detectives of later generations often quote that sentence - after eliminating all impossible options, the remaining option, no matter how incredible it is, must be the truth of the matter!
Therefore, no matter how unwilling Zhao Junchen is to accept it, he must admit the fact!
"Whether it's public or private, there is no need for Zhou Shangjing to share with me the news that the prince returned to Beijing early without permission. Such an approach would be detrimental to his own interests, but he still chose to share the information with me... ...In this case, after eliminating all the impossibilities, there is only one possibility left, and that is that he wants to use this information to influence my judgment!
The word 'unknown' has always been the greatest source of terror for mankind. Before hearing this information, facing Emperor Deqing's plan to divert the tiger away from the mountain without any warning, I was completely unable to judge what Emperor Deqing was thinking. Naturally, I would If you are cautious and guarded against everything like a frightened bird, the possibility of being plotted will be reduced.
Zhou Shangjing chose to share information with me, undoubtedly to dispel my doubts and stop me from being cautious and guarding against everything; and then he wanted to divert my attention so that I would only focus on the prince's early return to Beijing. things, so other things will be ignored!
These situations all mean that Zhou Shangjing has laid a trap somewhere, waiting for me to jump into it without any precautions... But where is the trap he has laid, and what does he want me to ignore? , but I had no clue for a moment! "
Thinking of this, Zhao Junchen's expression became more serious and gloomy!
After standing there and thinking for a long time, Zhao Junchen finally turned around and walked to his sedan chair. He first waved his hand to stop Xu Qingyan's inquiry next to the sedan chair. He just told Xu Qingyan to go home as soon as possible, and then bent down and entered the sedan chair. I fell into thinking again in the confined space.
"Zhou Shangjing's calculations and targeting are certainly terrifying, but what's even more frightening is that Zhou Shangjing deliberately revealed to me the news that the prince returned to Beijing early without authorization. Perhaps there is a deeper reason, that is, he wants to do something for virtue. To excuse and explain Emperor Qing’s drastic actions today, I think that Emperor Deqing’s actions are all excusable and are not specifically targeted at me!
If this is the case, the situation becomes even more terrifying!
Everything that happened today always made me feel like something was wrong, but after repeated thinking and testing, I finally found the reason!
That is, in the face of Emperor Deqing's plan to divert the tiger away from the mountain, seeing that the imperial power was in danger of overwhelming the ministerial power, Zhou Shangjing's performance was too calm and too tolerant!
In fact, when the Central Committee of the Imperial Court first formulated the plan to take over the power of the Six Ministries in Nanjing, I had proposed that Zhou Shangjing should go in person to inspect and sit near Nanzhili. However, when the Central Committee of the Imperial Court's plan to take back power entered the final stage , because Zhou Shangjing's physical condition was deteriorating, and Wang Baoren was doing everything right, so no one mentioned this matter again!
Therefore, if Zhou Shangjing really does not want to leave the capital and go south to inspect and patrol, he can easily achieve his goal, as long as he gets a serious illness at the right time! Zhou Shangjing is the current chief minister and a veteran of three dynasties. If he was unable to move due to illness, Emperor Deqing would not dare to force him!
In the officialdom, pretending to be ill is a common tactic, and Zhou Shangjing certainly doesn't understand. But when I discussed the follow-up countermeasures with him, even if I hinted repeatedly, Zhou Shangjing always pretended not to understand, and he always pretended not to understand. They don't even intend to use such means to stop Emperor Deqing's plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain!
Obviously, Zhou Shangjing not only secretly condoned Emperor Deqing's arbitrariness of the Holy Heart, but also wanted to use the information about Prince Zhu Heyu's unauthorized return to Beijing to explain and excuse Emperor Deqing's behavior. Remove all worries from my mind...
Considering that Emperor Deqing's violent reaction this time was also unusual and completely different from his past stability-seeking style, does that mean that... Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing have formed a relationship on certain matters? They had a tacit understanding, and all the things that happened today were all because of their secret understanding and working together? "
Thinking of this, Zhao Junchen's face turned pale, and he was even more frightened for a moment!
In today's temples, if there is anything more terrifying than Zhou Shangjing's calculations and targets, it is undoubtedly the joint calculations and targets between Zhou Shangjing and Emperor Deqing!
In fact, Zhou Shangjing and Emperor Deqing had been getting along with each other for many years. Although they were constantly fighting openly and secretly, Emperor Deqing had always been able to tolerate a powerful minister like Zhou Shangjing standing at the top of the temple, and Zhou Shangjing had always been willing to assist Emperor Deqing with all his heart. , naturally there is a reason!
That's because both of their personalities tend to seek stability, and they also tend to use balanced methods when doing things.
Although the balance pursued by Emperor Deqing was the balance between different factions in the temple, and the balance pursued by Zhou Shangjing was the balance between the selfish interests of the parties and the justice of the court, no matter what kind of balance it was, it was It is necessary to weigh the pros and cons, get used to compromise, understand where the other party's bottom line is, and be able to stick to your own bottom line!
Therefore, in a certain sense, although Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing were constantly fighting openly and secretly, in fact there was never a lack of cooperation and tacit understanding between them. It was more like a relationship between enemies and friends. Whenever they encountered major Difficult, Emperor Deqing has always been willing to trust Zhou Shangjing's judgment, and Zhou Shangjing has always been willing to consolidate the authority of Emperor Deqing.
From this perspective, it is not surprising that Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing would form a tacit understanding and work together on certain matters.
What's more, in the officialdom, there is always no argument between friend and foe, and the various forces always attack and cooperate sometimes. Zhao Junchen once plotted against Zhou Shangjing with Emperor Deqing, and also plotted against Emperor Deqing with Zhou Shangjing. So Deqing It is only natural that Emperor Qing and Zhou Shangjing would one day unite to plot against Zhao Junchen!
As for what happened this time, even if Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing were not working together, at least Zhou Shangjing was deliberately cooperating with Emperor Deqing, trying to steer the situation in the direction he wanted to see.
But for Zhao Junchen himself, facing the combined calculations of Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing was undoubtedly a horror story.
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In this way, Zhao Junchen returned to the Zhao Mansion in a sedan chair full of worries.
When he returned to the Zhao Mansion, the first thing he did was to send someone to urgently contact the palace spy to find out whether Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing had had any private meetings or secret conversations in the past few days.
Zhao Junchen also knew that he had always been suspicious and often battled with the air, so he hoped that he would be equally cautious this time.
If Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing had formed a tacit understanding and wanted to work together to plot against him, then they must have met alone and had secret conversations in the near future.
If Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing have not met alone and had secret conversations recently, it means that all the concerns in Zhao Junchen's heart are probably just persecution paranoia;
If the opposite is true, it means that Zhao Junchen's concerns are likely to be true!
About an hour later, Zhao Junchen received the exact news from Li Ru'an, the eunuch of the Imperial Study Room, and this news also broke the last trace of luck in Zhao Junchen's heart.
That is, just yesterday evening, Zhou Shangjing suddenly entered the palace and met with Emperor Deqing in the Imperial Study Room. Then Emperor Deqing, under Zhou Shangjing's initiative, dismissed all the people in the Imperial Study Room, and then this The two had a brief secret conversation. As for the content of the conversation, naturally no one knew.
In the study room of the Zhao Mansion, after Zhao Junchen heard the news, he took a deep breath first, and then finally suppressed the panic in his heart. He closed his eyes and sat behind the desk, thinking carefully about countermeasures.
After about a stick of incense, Zhao Junchen finally opened his eyes, first took out five pieces of rice paper, and then wrote a few large characters on each piece of declaration.
Finally, Zhao Junchen laid out the five edicts in parallel on the desk and stared at the handwriting on the five edicts with flickering eyes.
On these five edicts, there were written "what", "where", "why", "how", and "what priority" respectively.
The writing on each piece of rice paper represents the doubts in Zhao Junchen's heart.
Among them, "what" refers to - if the sharing of intelligence between Zhou Shangjing and Zhao Junchen was really to divert Zhao Junchen's attention, and then make Zhao Junchen relax his vigilance and ignore other things, then what exactly does Zhou Shangjing want Zhao Junchen to do? What things are being ignored?
And "where" means - if Zhou Shangjing has really dug a trap for Zhao Junchen and is waiting for Zhao Junchen to jump into it, then where is this trap? Is it in the center of the capital? Or is it Liaodong where Zhao Junchen will go next? Or somewhere else?
As for "why", this question is not directed at Zhou Shangjing, but at Emperor Deqing - Zhao Junchen has not done anything particularly taboo in recent times. If Emperor Deqing is teaming up with Zhou Shangjing to plot Zhao Junchen If so, for what reason?
In fact, after thinking about it, Zhao Junchen no longer wondered why Zhou Shangjing wanted to plot against him.
In the eyes of Zhou Shangjing, there is no difference in the nature of Zhao Junchen and Zhu Hejian. They are both young and resourceful, and both are unscrupulous in doing things. They are also hidden dangers and unstable factors for the stability of the country. Therefore, since Zhou Shangjing will take action against Zhu Hejian, he will naturally Will take action against Zhao Junchen!
Maybe Zhou Shangjing had no intention of letting Zhao Junchen go from the beginning, and all the cooperation during this period was just to paralyze Zhao Junchen; or maybe Zhou Shangjing has always been good at using intrigues and serial schemes, and this time, whether it was Zhao Junchen, who is about to go to Liaodong, and Zhu Hejian, who is stranded in Nanjing City, are both part of Zhou Shangjing's conspiracy and serial scheme!
And "how far" refers to how far Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing are planning to go to if they are working together to plot against Zhao Junchen? Do you just want to take the opportunity to warn and beat Zhao Junchen? Or do you want to take the opportunity to severely damage Zhao Junchen's influence? Or do you want to completely eradicate the hidden danger of Zhao Junchen?
The last question is "what's the priority" - if Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing teamed up to plot against Zhao Junchen, who would be the leader and who would be the auxiliary during the operation? Did Emperor Deqing have other plans? Did Zhou Shangjing reveal all his thoughts to Emperor Deqing? Or is it that Zhou Shangjing just guided Emperor Deqing's thoughts and decisions?
Each of these five questions is crucial, but Zhao Junchen was limited by the lack of information in his hands, and he was unable to find answers to these questions in a short time.
Therefore, Zhao Junchen was destined to have trouble sleeping that night!
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