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"Is Huang Ge willing to go in the same car with the old man? The old man drove south this time, and Huang Ge Lao hadn't seen him for several months, and he missed it very much, if you and I were in the same car, we could also take the opportunity to catch up on the old days. ”

said that after a group of "Yellow Party" officials came to Huang Yourong's side, they were about to discuss countermeasures with Huang Yourong, but Shen Changmao suddenly appeared and invited Huang Yourong.

Hearing Shen Changmao's invitation, Huang Yourong's expression became more and more defeated.

Huang Yourong is not a stupid person, he naturally guessed the real purpose of Shen Changmao inviting him to go with the car.

It's nothing more than that Shen Changmao wants to take advantage of the fire to rob and plan to annex the "Yellow Party" forces through Huang Yourong.

After all, although Huang Yourong is about to fall, his influence on the "Yellow Party" still exists, and as long as Huang Yourong supports him, then Shen Changmao's action to absorb the "Yellow Party" forces will naturally be much easier.

Of course, in order to get Huang Yourong's support, Shen Changmao also needs to give Huang Yourong certain benefits!

Therefore, Huang Yourong first looked around at the surrounding "Yellow Party" people, then hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded: "The old man really wants to have a deep talk with Shen Shoufu, since this is the case, let's go in the same car." ”

After speaking, Huang Yourong didn't pay attention to the surrounding "Yellow Party" members, and walked in the direction of Shen Changmao's frame first.

Seeing Huang Yourong's choice, a trace of joy flashed in Shen Changmao's eyes, but the young master Zhang Cheng, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, Lin Wei and others all changed their complexions.

Now, Emperor Deqing's intention to use Huang Yourong as a scapegoat is very obvious, so Huang Yourong has only two options left. or desperately resist, fight, and try to turn things around; Or tie your hands down, accept your fate with peace of mind, and find a way to arrange a way back for yourself.

If Huang Yourong chooses the former, then Huang Yourong should urgently discuss countermeasures with the "Yellow Party" officials at this time, show his determination to fight hard, and boost the morale of the "Yellow Party" people.

If Huang Yourong chooses the latter. Then it would be the best choice for him to make a deal with Shen Changmao, after all, Shen Changmao is now the first assistant of the cabinet. is enough to shelter Huang Yourong to enjoy his old age in peace, and Shen Changmao wants to annex the "Yellow Party", Huang Yourong is also qualified to bargain with Shen Changmao by virtue of his residual influence on the "Yellow Party", and strive for the greatest interests for himself and the "Yellow Party".

In the end, Huang Yourong chose to travel in the same car with Shen Changmao and discuss secretly, obviously he had completely lost the courage to resist Emperor Deqing and completely accepted his fate!

In fact, this is also a matter of course. Up and down the Manchu Dynasty, except for Zhou Shangjing, no one can go against the will of Emperor Deqing! Since Emperor Deqing has decided to give up Huang Yourong, then Huang Yourong can only be gloomy!

Regarding Huang Yourong's decision, Shen Changmao was naturally secretly happy in his heart, while several of Huang Yourong's diehards were faintly disappointed.

Only Huo Zhengyuan, a bachelor who had already secretly taken refuge in Zhao Junchen, and Chen Dongxiang, a waiter in the Ministry of Works, glanced at each other, and their eyes were meaningful!

*****

said that after Huang Yourong and Shen Changmao boarded the carriage. The carriage followed Emperor Deqing's Luan drive slowly, but Huang Yourong and Shen Changmao in the carriage were speechless for a long time.

Huang Yourong, who has always shown people with the image of a smiling tiger, is now gray. Showing a disheartened look.

And Shen Changmao, who has always had a cold expression, also changed his face at this time, and his expression was also stunned. Silent.

After Shen Changmao became the first assistant of the cabinet, he was certainly ambitious to annex the "Yellow Party". to increase their authority, but the two of them have been fighting or cooperating for so many years. Shen Changmao knew that his ability and means were only on par with Huang Yourong, but now that he saw Huang Yourong's fate, he couldn't help but feel a little sad.

After the two were silent for a long time, after all, Huang Yourong was unwilling to delay any longer, and took the initiative to speak: "I heard, Shen Ge Lao, you have become the first assistant of the cabinet, but Huang is now too busy to take care of himself, I'm afraid he can't celebrate for you." ”

Shen Changmao shook his head and said, "The old man can become a pavilion elder, it seems that he is taking advantage of the fisherman, but in fact it is just the result of a temporary compromise between His Majesty and Zhou Shangjing!" Zhou Shangjing, the reason why he is Zhou Shangjing, is not only because of the position of the first assistant of the cabinet, in the same way, even if the old man becomes the first assistant of the cabinet, I am afraid that he will not be able to become the second Zhou Shangjing. ”

Huang Yourong was slightly stunned, and after looking at Shen Changmao seriously for a moment, he asked: "You can see it, but since you have such an awareness, why do you still want to take advantage of the fire to rob and expand your power?" ”

Shen Changmao's expression was silent, he shook his head again, and said, "It's one thing to see through, but it's another thing to be able to do it!" People in the temple can't help themselves! If I don't take advantage of the fire to rob and annex your power today, then in the future, someone else will take advantage of the fire to rob and annex the power of the old man! Having come to this point, does the old man have any other choice than to move forward? What's more, the old man has long been accustomed to many things, and if he suddenly gives up, he is afraid that he will feel uncomfortable. ”

The dialogue between the two seems to be quite philosophical, but in fact it implies a deep helplessness.

Speaking of which, Shen Changmao and Huang Yourong are both cabinet elders, and they seem to be in a high position, compared with ordinary officials and ordinary people, they are naturally high, but compared with Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing, their existence is just a chess piece, and they may be given up at any time.

They have all tried their best to resist this situation, but the more they resist, the more they feel their own powerlessness.

So far, Huang Yourong has given up resisting, but Shen Changmao still insists.

Therefore, Shen Changmao still wants to compete for power, ambitiously wants to annex Huang Yourong's power, and wants to make himself a real cabinet chief assistant...... But the seemingly active attitude is actually just for self-preservation.

After thinking about this, Huang Yourong sighed again.

On the other hand, Shen Changmao finally mentioned the topic. said: "Speaking of which, there were four cabinet elders in the cabinet that year. They are Zhou Shangjing, Wen Guanliang, and you and me, but now. However, in just over a year, the situation has completely changed, Wen Guanliang has fallen, and you are now about to do so, Zhou Shangjing has lost his position as the first assistant, but the old man, who has always been the most low-key, has been a little cheaper......"

When Shen Changmao said the sentence "You're almost right now", Huang Yourong's body shook slightly, but he didn't refute it after all, just quietly listened to Shen Changmao's words.

I only heard Shen Changmao continue: "It's really embarrassing to recall the scene when Wen Guanliang lost power. That Wen Guanliang is also an old minister, but just because of a little mistake, he was completely given up by His Majesty, and let the hundreds of officials in the court impeach him unscrupulously, if it were not for Wen Guanliang to hand over most of his family property to His Majesty, I am afraid that he would not be able to retire peacefully now. ”

Speaking of this, Shen Changmao's eyes flashed slightly, and he asked again: "Then, according to Huang Ge Lao." How much better is your current situation than your original view? ”

Finally, Shen Changmao gave up his senseless emotion and directly said the essence of the matter.

Huang Yourong was silent again for a moment. But he suddenly opened his mouth and asked, "So, how much can you shelter me?" ”

Shen Changmao replied slowly: "As long as you are willing to transfer all your authority, connections, and power to the old man, then the old man can at least ensure that you can retire in peace." You can save most of the wealth you have accumulated over the years! ”

Huang Yourong nodded. said: "Shen Shoufu has a good eye, and he can see through the old man's heart at a glance. However, the old man's disciples have all followed the old man for many years, especially Lin Wei and Zhang Cheng, who can be described as loyal and dedicated to the old man, after all, the old man is not ruthless, but he can't give up on them at will. ”

Shen Changmao assured with a serious expression: "As long as you can persuade them to join the old man's disciples, then as long as they don't have any dissent in the future, the old man will definitely treat them as his own people, and he will never owe them them. ”

Huang Yourong hesitated for a moment, and then said: "My current predicament can be understood by anyone, so my prestige among the factions has probably declined a lot, and I can no longer say anything like before!" So, although I will try my best to convince them to join you, I can't guarantee that I will succeed. ”

Hearing Huang Yourong's hesitation, Shen Changmao didn't care, but said: "Regarding these, the old man naturally knows that Huang Ge Lao, you just need to do your best!" In fact, the old man might as well tell you one thing, during this southern tour, His Majesty and Zhou Shangjing secretly fought the law, but the old man stood on Zhou Shangjing's side! And the conditions that Zhou Shangjing put forward at the beginning, in addition to the position of the first assistant to the cabinet, he also guaranteed that the 'Zhou Party' would not participate in the next action to carve up the 'Yellow Party', so except for Zhao Junchen, the old man has no other competitors! So as long as Huang Ge Lao can fully cooperate, then others will naturally not take much advantage! ”

"Oh? At that time, you had already thought about dividing up the power of the old man? After hearing Shen Changmao's explanation, Huang Yourong's face became more and more discouraged, but he finally made up his mind, and said: "Since this is the case, Huang agrees to your conditions, and I hope that Shen Shoufu will not break the contract in the future!" ”

"Naturally not!"

In this way, Shen Changmao and Huang Yourong reached a secret agreement, and Huang Yourong would take the initiative to cooperate with Shen Changmao's annexation of the 'Yellow Party', and try his best to persuade the officials of the "Yellow Party" to turn to Shen Changmao's disciples; After Huang Yourong loses power, Shen Changmao will do his best to protect the safety of Huang Yourong's net worth and property, and ensure that he will not treat those "Yellow Party" who have taken refuge in him.

After the agreement was reached, Huang Yourong only felt stunned and bitter in his heart, but he was unwilling to continue to face Shen Changmao, so he took the initiative to leave and left Shen Changmao's carriage.

After Shen Changmao watched Huang Yourong leave, he quickly restrained the stunned emotions in his heart and regained his usual cold expression.

Huang Yourong is about to fall, and he will stay away from the temple strife from now on, so Shen Changmao doesn't mind revealing his true emotions to Huang Yourong a little.

However, after Huang Yourong left, Shen Changmao was still the cold and resolute Shen Changmao!

……

PS: Well, today's second shift, and there are two more in the future!

…… (To be continued.) )