Walk out of Qianqing Palace.
Gu Bingqian stopped Huang Liji who was walking forward and asked with an ugly face: "What did Huang Ge always mean in front of the Holy Lord just now?"
"What do you mean? Mr. Gu Ge was confused by my question." Huang Liji said with a confused look on his face.
Gu Bingqian said coldly: "At this time, stop pretending to be confused. You and I are both sensible people. It's meaningless to talk about this anymore."
"If Mr. Gu Ge has nothing to do, you should meet with the cabinet as soon as possible. Your Majesty asked the cabinet to come up with a way to recruit people as soon as possible." After Huang Liji finished speaking, he stepped forward.
Gu Bingqian, who was behind, looked at the back of Huang Liji as he left and said, "Why did you stop the Holy One from knighting Liu Thief in front of His Majesty?"
Huang Liji, who was walking forward, stopped.
Slowly turning around and looking at Gu Bingqian, he said: "Mr. Gu Ge also said that he is just a bandit. Such untouchables do not deserve to be knighted. If this person had not served as the guard of Xinping Fort, I would not even want to be awarded a military honor. give him."
"You don't have to say it so righteously in front of me. I know what you mean. Don't you just want to prevent the imperial court from recruiting Liu thief? But have you ever thought about it. If Liu thief cannot be recruited this time, once he and the Liaodong slaves If the thieves are connected, they will threaten the Ming Dynasty." Gu Bingqian said with red eyes.
After hearing this, Huang Liji's face became solemn and said: "If the imperial court knights a bandit, and if there are more bandits to rebel in the future, will they still have to be satisfied with a knighthood? Once this is the first of its kind, everyone will do it in the future." Can Mr. Gu Ge bear the responsibility of rebellion?"
"Liu Thief is different from ordinary thieves. He has an army of 100,000 under his command. The court has suffered losses at his hands several times. That's why he has to use his title to recruit this person to bring peace to the world." Gu Bingqian said.
Huang Liji snorted softly and said: "The bandit's one hundred thousand army is just a bunch of people who can't fill their stomachs. How many people can really fight? Thousands? Or ten thousand? Mr. Gu Ge is too boastful. There’s a thief.”
"The thieves who were able to defeat Guan Ning's 50,000-strong army, even if they were a group of rioters, were enough to alert the court. Mr. Huang Ge, you have tried to prevent the knighthood several times. Are you really not afraid of turmoil in the court?" Gu Bingqian asked angrily.
Huang Liji said: "A bandit is not worthy of being knighted, and I will not confer a title in the Ming Dynasty to a bandit. If Mr. Gu Ge disagrees with our opinion, he can completely ignore this chamber and ask the Holy Lord to grant a bandit a title." Lord."
After saying that, he left Gu Bingqian and left alone.
"Are you really going to put the safety of the imperial court at risk for the sake of your position as chief minister?" Gu Bingqian looked at Huang Liji and shouted as he left.
However, Huang Liji ignored him at all until he disappeared from his sight.
In the Qianqing Palace.
Wei Zhongxian bowed and stood beside Tianqi.
"The eldest companion is here because of Liu Thief's business, right?" Tianqi picked up the hot tea offered by the palace maid, blew the hot air inside, and took a sip from it.
Wei Zhongxian on the side said: "I was worried that the emperor would make you angry. As soon as I heard about Xing Youwei's defeat in Baoan Prefecture, I rushed over here immediately."
"I am still loyal to you, my dear friend. What happened in Baoan Prefecture really bothered me." Tianqi said in a depressed tone.
Wei Zhongxian hurriedly knelt on the ground and said, "This slave is incompetent and cannot share the emperor's worries. This slave deserves to die."
Thief Liu is also a thorn in his heart.
Every time Liu Thief defeated the imperial army, he was always on tenterhooks, worried that Tianqi would remember his previous defense of the Tiger Flag and blame him for alienation.
Without the protection of Tianqi, he knew that he was nothing. Even though people outside called him nine thousand years old, there were many officials in the court who listened to him. valley
He is like a bright mirror. Without Tianqi's support behind him, everything he uses now will soon leave him. As many people flatter him today, there will be many people stepping on his head and shitting and pissing tomorrow.
"Okay, okay, sir, get up quickly. I can't blame you for this. It's just that the cabinet really disappointed me, especially the chief minister." Tianqi talked about his dissatisfaction with the cabinet in front of Wei Zhongxian.
This made Wei Zhongxian secretly breathe a sigh of relief, got up from the ground, and asked cautiously: "What do you mean, Your Majesty?"
"I remember that the number of people in the cabinet is not uniform." Tianqi said.
Wei Zhongxian said from the side: "The emperor wants to take this opportunity to replenish the number of cabinet members?"
"It's time to make up for it." Tianqi picked up the bowl and took a sip, then said immediately, "Mr. Han Ge and Mr. Zhu Ge left because of the Liu thief. This time, the defeat of the imperial army is like before. Someone needs to take care of it. This is responsible.”
After hearing these words, Wei Zhongxian understood that Tianqi intended to replace Gu Bingqian as his first assistant.
He already had a candidate in mind for the chief minister of the cabinet vacated after Gu Bingqian left.
Tianqi put down the tureen in his hand and said to Wei Zhongxian: "Do you have a thorough plan for the recruitment matter that my partner told me last time?"
"The emperor really wants to recruit Thief Liu?" Wei Zhongxian asked with a puzzled look on his face.
Tianqi sighed softly and said: "The imperial court can no longer afford the money and food to gather a large army to suppress the bandits again, so it can only recruit Liu bandits to stabilize the situation in the north."
The empty treasury mentioned by the cabinet ministers made him understand that it was no longer realistic to send troops to suppress the bandits in a short period of time. The only thing the court could do was to restrain the Liu thieves from continuing to cause trouble in the northern part of the Ming Dynasty in the name of recruiting peace.
"Your Majesty, it is better to leave the recruitment matter to the cabinet. I believe the cabinet will be able to come up with results that satisfy you, Your Majesty." Wei Zhongxian said.
And he himself didn't want to get involved in such a thankless matter as recruitment.
Tianqi snorted softly and said: "I am very disappointed with the cabinet. Just before the arrival of my companion, Gu Bingqian and Huang Aiqing argued endlessly in front of me about whether to knight Liu Thief, which made me upset. What do you think should be done, my companion?" Shouldn’t I be given this title?”
"Slave," Wei Zhongxian hesitated for a moment, then saw the little eunuch on the side winking at him, and immediately said, "Liu is just a bandit. It is not appropriate to be granted a title rashly."
"I think so too. If a bandit wants to be knighted, then the title of the Ming Dynasty is too worthless." Tianqi snorted.
Wei Zhongxian secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, he reacted quickly and did not support the knighthood, otherwise he would definitely cause Tianqi's displeasure.
"I remember that Daban had some friendship with Thief Liu back then, right?" Tianqi suddenly asked.
After hearing this, Wei Zhongxian knelt on the ground with a pop, his eyes suddenly became moist, and he said with a cry: "This slave is loyal to the emperor. Back then, I was also deceived and bought a few things from the thief's shop. , and then they all went back, and asked the emperor to take a closer look."
As he spoke, he knocked his head to the ground, his body trembling slightly.
"Get up quickly. I don't mean to blame you. Liu Thief hadn't rebelled yet. How could you have known his ambition? I don't blame you. I don't blame you." Tianqi instructed Wei Zhongxian to get up.
Wei Zhongxian stood up tremblingly, cold sweat soaking the clothes on his back.
