Xu Tong was completely confused.
Ever since he was arrested by the people of Tiger Character Banner, he felt that he was dead. He never expected that he would be released again, and even the blood edict obtained from the Supreme Emperor would be returned.
But he didn't plan to tell anyone about his arrest, since no one knew about it anyway.
As for the people in the Tiger Character Banner spreading the news about his arrest, he was not afraid. It could be said that the people in the Tiger Character Banner were deliberately tampering with the situation. Who knew that the Tiger Character Banner was the enemy of the Ming Dynasty.
After leaving Peiping, Xu Tong rushed back to the southern capital of Ming Dynasty with the blood edict obtained from Zhu Youjian.
As long as this blood edict is sent back safely, no one can erase his contribution.
In a guest room in Qian Qianyi's home, many officials from the Ming Dynasty were sitting.
In addition to Qian Qianyi, the first assistant, there were Ma Shiying, the second assistant to the cabinet, Zhang Shenyan, the minister of the Ministry of household affairs, Gao Hongtu, the minister of the Ministry of war, Shi Kefa, the left deputy censor of the imperial court, Qu Shichu, the chief minister of Yingtianfu, and so on.
The common characteristic of these people is that they all have civil service backgrounds, and each has a supporting force behind them.
"We are all here today because of one thing." Qian Qianyi glanced at everyone present and continued, "I have received a blood edict from the Supreme Emperor."
As soon as the words of the Supreme Emperor's blood edict came out, the expressions of some people in the room changed, but there were also others whose expressions were very calm, as if they had already known about it.
"Mr. Qian Ge, since there is a blood edict from the Supreme Emperor, take it out quickly!" Shi Kefa, who heard that there was a blood edict, hurriedly said, wanting to know the content of the blood edict.
Upon hearing this, Qian Qianyi waved his hand slightly to the side.
The steward of the Qian Mansion came over holding a wooden box in both hands and respectfully placed the wooden box on the table beside Qian Qianyi.
Qian Qianyi took out a key, opened the copper lock on the outside of the wooden box, and then said to his housekeeper: "Take the contents inside and give them to your lords."
The housekeeper took out the things from the wooden box and held them in front of Ma Shiying with both hands.
After the blood dries, it won't smell that good.
Ma Shiying did not go to receive the blood edict, but waved his hand and asked the other party to hand it over to someone else.
The steward turned around and handed the blood edict to Zhang Shenyan, the Minister of Household Affairs.
This was the first time that Zhang Shenyan knew about the blood edict. Naturally, he didn't know what the content was, so he asked the steward of the Qian Mansion to open the blood edict.
The steward of the Qian Mansion held the two corners of the blood edict and opened it in front of Zhang Shenyan.
There were not many words on the blood edict. Zhang Shenyan quickly read the contents. However, he did not ask the steward of the Qian Mansion to take it away immediately. Instead, he examined the handwriting on it to determine whether the blood edict was written by the Supreme Emperor.
After observing for a while, he had a good idea and asked the steward of the Qian Mansion to show the blood edict to others.
When it was Shi Kefa's turn, he was already the last one.
At the same time, he recognized the handwriting on the blood edict as being written by the Supreme Emperor.
"What do you think?"
Qian Qianyi waited until everyone was sure whether the blood edict was true or false before he asked everyone.
"Now that we have the blood edict of the Supreme Emperor, we must naturally act according to the Supreme Emperor's wishes. Maybe you guys have other ideas!" Shi Kefa said.
When Qian Qianyi heard this, the corners of his mouth twitched upward slightly.
Shi Kefa's words entered his heart.
Being able to become an auxiliary minister is a step up in power compared to the chief minister of the cabinet, and with the bonus of being the chief minister of the cabinet, his position will be higher among the several auxiliary ministers.
"Xianzhi is right. Brother Shou, you should be the auxiliary minister." Ma Shiying said with envy.
When there are no assistant ministers, the cabinet is the center of power in the Ming Dynasty. He can be considered satisfied if he can become the second minister of the cabinet.
But with four auxiliary ministers, the cabinet has become a echo of several auxiliary ministers. To put it nicely, he is the second assistant in the cabinet, but he does not have much power.
This time Qian Qianyi could become the auxiliary minister as the chief minister of the cabinet. How could he not be envious of this.
"Teacher, it is the Emperor's decree that you become the auxiliary minister. Anyone who dares to disagree is disobeying the decree and disrespecting it." Qu Shishu said.
At this time, Zhang Shenyan suddenly said: "There are already four auxiliary ministers in the court. Although there is this blood edict, I am afraid that the four auxiliary ministers will not easily agree to have one more auxiliary minister to share power with them."
As his words fell, Qian Qianyi, who was originally smiling, immediately paused.
Although what the other party said didn't sound very nice, he knew that what the other party said was the truth.
No one likes to be decentralized. Several auxiliary ministers in the court are fighting over each other. In the end, what they are fighting for is not only the power in the court. With one more auxiliary minister, there is naturally one more person to divide the power.
"How dare they disagree with the bloody edict written by the Supreme Emperor himself!" Shi Kefa said loudly.
Zhang Shenyan looked at him and said, "Things are not that simple. Besides, we know that this blood edict was written by the Supreme Emperor himself, but the auxiliary ministers have no need to acknowledge it."
"They dare!" Shi Kefa slapped the table, his tone became excited because of irritation, and said, "I know the name of the Supreme Emperor. Everyone here has seen it before, and there are many people in the court who can tell the truth from the lie. , do they still dare to call a deer a horse?"
Zhang Shenyan glanced at Shi Kefa and said nothing.
He knew that Shi Kefa was a man who did not rub dirt in his eyes, but he knew better that some things could not be solved by Shi Kefa's directness, otherwise they would not all be sitting here today. .
"Eunuch Yang won't have any objections." Ma Shiying interjected.
The Eunuch Yang he spoke of was Yang Guorui, the Nanjing garrison eunuch who was one of the four auxiliary ministers.
He was able to become the second assistant in the cabinet because of the efforts of Eunuch Yang. He came to Qian Qianyi today to represent Eunuch Yang.
Without Eunuch Yang, how could Qian Qianyi and others be able to command the Jin Yiwei?
"Eunuch Yang is still fair." Qian Qianyi said with a smile.
At this time, Gao Hongtu said: "With the support of Eunuch Yang, things will be much easier. If we can win the support of one or two of the remaining auxiliary ministers, the matter of the elder can be done."
"Don't think about the others." Ma Shiying said.
Shi Kefa said with a dark face: "Tomorrow morning, I will personally deliver this blood edict. I don't believe that anyone dares to disobey the Supreme Emperor's holy will."
"Master Shi can stand up, but the blood edict cannot be handed over by Master Shi." Qu Shishu said.
Hearing this, Shi Kefa looked at Qu Shiqi with dissatisfaction and said, "I am not doing anything shameful, so why can't I submit it to the court?"
