Gu Bingqian heard the threat in Wei Zhongxian's words.
After being able to sit on the position of chief minister, he naturally didn't want to go down anymore. Even if he was still not young, he didn't want to beg his body and return home.
"Our family can let you come up, and naturally we can also let you down. Ye Xianggao and Han Xu are lessons for you. Don't think that without them, our family will not be able to control the cabinet." Wei Zhongxian said coldly.
Gu Bingqian's eyes shrank.
One person in the cabinet comes to mind, Feng Quan.
This person entered the cabinet as the Minister of Household Affairs, and was the Taibao of the Crown Prince, a scholar of Wuyingdian. He was also a member of Wei Zhongxian, and since he entered the cabinet, he, the chief minister, has been hampered in every way.
It has long been obvious that the other party is seeking to seize the position of chief minister of the cabinet.
He was very dissatisfied with this, and he was also dissatisfied with Wei Zhongxian. If Wei Zhongxian had not insisted on letting this person enter the cabinet, his qualifications would not be enough to take over the position of the Six Ministers, let alone become a cabinet bachelor.
"I will never forget my kindness. If my father-in-law has any instructions, I will never refuse." Gu Bingqian, who was reluctant to give up his position as chief minister, surrendered in front of Wei Zhongxian.
The contempt on Wei Zhongxian's face flashed, and he said: "We asked people to call you here because we want to ask you personally, is the cabinet sure about solving the Liu thief in Datong this time?"
"This!" Gu Bingqian hesitated.
Seeing his hesitation, Wei Zhongxian's face sank and he said, "Is it possible that you don't want to tell our family about such a trivial matter? Could it be that you were just deceiving our family!"
"No, no, no, I don't mean that." Facing Wei Zhongxian's question, Gu Bingqian waved his hands repeatedly and said immediately, "The Liu thief in Datong is really confusing. The imperial court has lost troops and generals in front of him several times. Generally speaking, The bandits have long been expanding aggressively and captured the surrounding state capitals. However, the thieves have occupied Xuanda and Dazhou for so long before they start to use troops against Shanxi, which gives people the feeling of holding back and attacking. This kind of restraint makes people a little confused."
After hearing this, Wei Zhongxian touched the outer wall of the bowl in his hand with his fingers and said, "You mean you are not optimistic about the army going to Datong to suppress the bandits this time?"
"Not really." Gu Bingqian said, "This time the imperial court mobilized more than 50,000 troops from Liaodong, and many soldiers and horses were mobilized from various guards along the way to join. The number of troops has reached 150,000, almost catching up with the Sarhu army back then. The number of soldiers and horses commanded by Yang Shilang during the battle."
Wei Zhongxian's face darkened, and he said with dissatisfaction: "Do you think the Liu thieves in Datong can compare with the slave thieves in Liaodong, and Xing Youwei will be defeated as miserably as that idiot Yang Hao."
The Tiger Character Banner was causing a lot of trouble in Shanxi, but he still didn't think it could compare with the slave thieves.
If the people in Datong were slave thieves, he believed that the army of slave thieves would have reached Shuntian, instead of being blocked outside Shanhaiguan.
"Of course Thief Liu can't compare to Thief Slave." Gu Bingqian chuckled, thinking that maybe he was overthinking.
The slave thieves in Liaodong were the most threatening to the imperial court. Although the Liu thieves in Datong gained power for a while, they were ultimately a group of thieves with no reputation.
Wei Zhongxian looked at Gu Bingqian and said, "Then what are you worried about? The soldiers and horses from Liaodong this time defeated Lao Nu's army of 130,000."
Gu Bingqian's forehead.
I think what Wei Zhongxian said makes sense.
The Liaodong soldiers and horses were able to defeat an army of more than 100,000 slave thieves, and with the help of soldiers and horses from various guards, he had a little more confidence in defeating the Liu thieves in Datong out of thin air.
Wei Zhongxian picked up the bowl and took a sip of tea, and continued: "The emperor is very dissatisfied with the Liu thief in Datong. It is precisely because the cabinet failed to recruit him successfully that he was allowed to operate in Datong for such a long time. This time your cabinet must declare Get rid of the rebels in Yamato Shanxi, otherwise you won’t have to be the chief assistant, let someone else do it!”
"Don't worry, father-in-law, Thief Liu will definitely die this time." Gu Bingqian had to take it seriously as his black hat was involved.
In the past, even if the encirclement and suppression failed, Wei Zhongxian would still work for him. Now that there is Feng Quan in the cabinet, if there is another defeat, the position of chief assistant may really have to be given up.
Wei Zhongxian nodded with satisfaction and said: "It's good for Mr. Gu Ge to have this confidence. When he meets the emperor, he must say the same thing. Don't do the same thing as before."
"Thank you for your advice, father-in-law." Gu Bingqian cupped his fists and cupped his hands.
At this moment, the door outside the house was pushed open, and a young eunuch walked in. He came up to Wei Zhongxian in a few steps and said, "Godfather, the emperor Xuan Gu Ge will go to Qianqing Palace to see you."
"Our family knows." Wei Zhongxian turned to look at Gu Bingqian and said, "Mr. Gu Ge, please remember what you just said!"
Gu Bingqian was stunned for a moment.
Only then did he understand Wei Zhongxian's purpose.
Not only was it warning him not to try to break away from the other party's control, but it was also reminding him what to say about the Datong Liu thief when he met Tianqi.
"Mr. Gu Ge, let's go, the emperor is still waiting!" The young eunuch raised his hand and made a gesture of invitation.
Gu Bingqian bowed his hand to Wei Zhongxian, and then left with the young eunuch.
As soon as they left, a young eunuch waiting outside came in.
Walking to Wei Zhongxian, he refilled the tureen in Wei Zhongxian's hand with water and said, "Godfather, do you want to leave the palace to rest later?"
Wei Zhongxian has his own house outside the palace, and he likes to live in the house outside the palace when he has nothing to do.
"The emperor is in a bad mood these days, and our family lives in the palace." Wei Zhongxian said, "Go and see Cui Chengxiu and ask him to come into the palace. The emperor wants to know about the situation of the army sent to Shanxi to suppress bandits."
"I'm going to see Cui Benbing now." The young eunuch put down the kettle in his hand, took two steps back, turned and left the room where Wei Zhongxian was.
Juyongguan.
Xing Youwei was sitting in the lobby, flanked on his left and right by the Yanqing Guard Commander and several thousand households from the Qianhu Office, while the Juyong Pass Guard General sat in the second position on the left, next to the Yanqing Guard Commander.
"Governor, please tell me something. Seeing that the troops from Liaodong will arrive soon, everyone is counting on you to make the decision." Commander Wei Cheng said, looking at Xing Youwei on the throne.
When Xing Youwei first came to Juyongguan, he only had the title of Governor Xuan, and he had no soldiers or generals under his command. Even the government offices temporarily occupied a few rooms in Juyongguan.
Fortunately, the affairs of Juyongguan were taken care of by the city guard. As the governor of Xuanda, he had no official position and no power. He had nothing to do all day long. A few houses were enough to serve as government offices and residences.
"You should know that I, the governor, am the governor of Xuanda. I can't control them. Of course, you can't control them either." Xing Youwei picked up the bowl, brought it to his mouth and blew in the hot air inside.
In the past year, he has been treated coldly in Juyongguan. Counting this time, it was only the second time he saw the commander of the Yanqing Guard, and it was the first time for him to see several other Qianhu Stations. myself.
When he first came to Juyongguan, even if he had the status of governor, no one from the several thousand households under the Yanqing Guard had ever visited him. Even the commander of the Yanqing Guard only showed up when he first arrived. Once seen, never seen again.
