Chapter 74 The Xu family’s choice
Xu Zengshou said: "It's what my brother meant. It's also what I meant."
Xu Da had four sons, one of whom died in infancy and the other was a concubine with little weight. The opinions of Xu Huizu and Xu Zengshou were equivalent to the unanimous decision of the Xu family.
Xu Da did not expect that Xu Huizu, who had always shown closeness to the Nanjing court before his death, would make a 180-degree turn after his death.
Xu Da's original intention was to maintain the Xu family's position in this dispute, hoping that when the dust settled, the Xu family would be the family it is today. But Xu Huizu didn’t think so. From the perspective of an elder, Xu Huizu is a good boy.
Loyalty and filial piety come first.
While keeping filial piety for Xu Da, Xu Huizu reflected on himself countless times. Reflect on what you have done. In addition, what Zhu Yunwen did was indeed unkind. Coupled with Fang Xiaoru's death, Xu Huizu felt that he would turn to Beijing.
In his opinion, his father has always been dissatisfied with Zhu Yunwen, so his father must know something. Taizu had no intention of passing the throne to Zhu Yunwen, so Taizu chose Zhu Xiongying. It's just a done deal. For the sake of peace in the world, it was hard for my father to do anything.
Only then did he endure it.
In fact, this rumor has always existed.
After all, Zhu Xiongying is the legitimate son. Zhu Yuanzhang decided to inherit by the direct eldest son.
But before, when Zhu Yunwen ascended the throne, Fang Xiaoru was there, and Fang Xiaoru was supported by the scholar-bureaucrats all over the world. This rumor can be suppressed. When Fang Xiaoru died, Ding Xian used Fang Xiaoru's death to establish his authority with blood.
Even if Ding Xian controls the public opinion power in the newspaper system, there is still a market for the public opinion of traditional scholar-bureaucrats.
Xu Huizu was a loyal minister and filial son in the traditional sense. Xu Da hopes that Xu Huizu will become a qualified head of the noble family. But the country is easy to change and the nature is hard to change. Especially people of Xu Huizu's age. He is difficult to change. His change was nothing more than a shift from allegiance to Nanjing to allegiance to Beijing.
If Xu Da had a spirit in heaven, he might be speechless.
It’s just that the child can’t help his father when he grows up. I can't control it even if I'm alive, let alone dead. In fact, the biggest factor in Xu Huizu's change was his dissatisfaction with Xu Da's death and his guilt for his father.
Only by being loyal to Beijing can loyalty and filial piety be combined. Not only was he loyal to the Zhu family and the court, but he was also venting his anger on Xu Da. Show your filial piety.
Li Jinglong said to the people around him: "Go and ask for Mr. Yao."
Soon Yao Guangxiao came over.
Yao Guangxiao was suddenly stunned when he saw Xu Zengshou. Naturally, he knew Xu Zengshou. After all, I have been living in Nanjing for so many years. Even He Xi can be considered a member of the noble circle. Some interactions are normal. He first looked at Li Jinglong and then calmed down.
He felt that Li Jinglong had not betrayed him. Even if it means betraying yourself. He was also betrayed to the Xu family, and there was still room for reversal.
He immediately calmed down. Said: "I have met Fourth Master Xu."
Xu Zengshou immediately returned the greeting and said, "I have met Mr. Yao. I would like to say hello to Brother He on behalf of my brother."
When Yao Guangxiao heard this, he immediately understood that the Xu family was here to surrender. Yao Guangxiao was shocked because he naturally understood the importance of the Xu family. Said: "Fourth Master Xu, everything is well in my family in Beijing. Duke Wei is driving to the west, and he is also very sad. Duke Wei is the first hero in the founding of the Ming Dynasty. He is also the elder he respects the most. There is no way to come to express his condolences, and that's it. Regarding his misfortune, I would like to ask Fourth Master Xu and Mr. Xu to express their condolences and accept the change."
What Yao Guangxiao said was official. But official language is sometimes very useful. For example, now, Yao Guangxiao is really not sure, what does the other party mean? Surrender also has several levels. Show your kindness this time and leave a way out. Still willing to break with Nanjing and fully surrender to Beijing.
Yao Guangxiao's words showed that Beijing attached great importance to the Duke of Wei. But no specific details were given at all.
Naturally, Xu Zengshou knew these words very well. Logically speaking, Xu Zengshou should talk to Yao Guangxiao about some noodle soup. Get closer to the topic bit by bit, test each other's bottom line and intentions, and finally make a price.
Only in this way can we get the maximum gain at the minimum cost.
but
, Xu Zengshou didn’t want to do this anymore. In other words, Xu Zengshou wanted more.
Xu Zengshou said: "Mr. Yao, please take a look at some things left by my late father."
Yao Guangxiao took it with both hands, took a look at it, and was immediately overjoyed.
This is nothing else but Xu Da's manuscript.
In the last period of time, Xu Da had actually been studying He Xi's new tactics. This was his pleasure and he didn't find it hard work. He put all his thoughts into writing. Record them one by one. But this may be Xu Da's negligence one day.
In the middle of his notes, he wrote something about nothing else but the edict. He felt that it was very problematic that Zhu Yunwen did not have a posthumous edict. Of course, there is no detailed expansion. He just clicked a few words, "Is it true? Is it false? Who is Zhao Gao and who is Li Si."
Xu Da probably forgot about it.
After all, many of his ideas never made it onto paper.
But whether he forgot or not.
This sentence has weight.
Ordinary people say nothing no matter how extreme they are. But Xu Da is different. He is no ordinary person. The words he left behind, even if they were only ambiguous, were very important.
If the Xu family comes up with these words, they will endorse ***. It was a huge blow to the legitimacy of Zhu Yunwen's accession to the throne.
Even Nanjing's orthodoxy will be shaken.
Of course, if we do this, the Xu family will not end well.
This is the Xu family's declaration of support for Beijing.
After all, everyone knows the allusion of Zhao Gaolisi.
That is to say, in Xu Da's view, Zhu Xiongying was Fusu of the generals going north, and Zhu Yunwen was Hu Hai.
Yao Guangxiao said: "I will definitely tell my adults about this matter. Please rest assured, Fourth Master Xu. From now on, the Xu family will be our own."
Xu Zengshou said: "Please Mr. Yao tell Brother He that if he needs it, our Xu family can do anything, including my whole family, to go to Beijing immediately."
Xu Huizu is very energetic.
There is a bit of Xu Da's style. Since he decided to defect to Beijing, he made the most decisive decision. That is to show Beijing that all the Xu family's loyalty includes giving up all family property in Nanjing and even abandoning the lives of some of the Xu family's children.
After all, he knew very well that the end of the wallflower would not be good.
Either don’t do it, or do it thoroughly.
Of course, it’s one thing to reach a certain point, but your attitude must be shown.
Yao Guangxiao understood He Xi's thoughts very well, and he would not let the Xu family defect to Beijing. The Xu family's defection to Beijing would bring little benefit to Beijing. Overall, the benefits are not big, at most, there is only one more general. Xu Huizu may be able to command an army.
Even Yao Guangxiao never thought about letting the Xu family use their influence to provide intelligence to the front line.
It was of no use at first.
After all, transmitting information these days is very troublesome.
It is difficult to deliver information in a timely manner. Even if there is information, it is of little use.
Secondly, in Yao Guangxiao's view, the value of the Xu family does not lie in this.
Yao Guangxiao thought to himself: "I originally thought that Li Jinglong's strength was too weak. He couldn't handle many things. Now that we have the Duke of Wei, many things will be much easier to handle."
Yao Guangxiao said: "Why did the fourth master say this? The court will never force anyone to do anything. If the fourth master wants to do things for the court, then there is one thing."
Xu Zengshou said: "What's the matter?"
Yao Guangxiao took out a map from his sleeve and placed it on the table.
Xu Zengshou originally thought it was a map of that important military location, but after taking a closer look, he frowned and said, "Isn't this the map of Jiangning Town?"
Yao Guangxiao said: "No, it's Jiangning District."
As soon as the three words "Jiangning District" came out, Xu Zengshou and Li Jinglong couldn't help but look at each other.
The concept of Jiangning District was just obtained from Ding Xian. Although, they all knew what Ding Xian was preparing. But I didn’t know where it was for sure until today.
And they just knew it at the same time. As a result, Li Jinglong also knew.
This news is a little too fast.
This gave them a bit of mixed feelings.
I am happy that Beijing is strong. It means they made the right choice. There are also concerns about Beijing's strength. Perhaps, their future will not be easy.
It can be considered a happy trouble.
