"Thank you Mao Shuaimei." Wei Bao immediately said: "It is impossible for me to get control of Mao Shuai, the court does not allow it." Mao Shuai's subordinates are used to following Mao Shuai, and they won't convince me. Even if Mao Shuai publicly says that I am your son-in-law, it is useless. Don't talk about sons-in-law, they obey you, even if you say I'm your son, it's useless. ”

Mao Wenlong smiled and nodded, Wei Bao always saw things so clearly, and he spoke very directly, very good at Mao Wenlong's temper.

"You want me to help you fight Jiannu, I don't have a word, but you have to try to give me some food, and you can't let me fight alone, you have to send some men from North Korea to cooperate with our actions. Also, you have to make it clear to what position we are fighting, we can at most hit a dozen of Jiannu's Niumao Village and Lao Zhai, no matter how far we go, we can't do anything, and we can only make a disturbance on the periphery at most. ”

Wei Bao didn't mention this topic, but Mao Wenlong was very shrewd and took the initiative to bring it up.

In fact, Wei Bao thought about whether to let Mao Wenlong fight, or let the North Korean soldiers and horses fight.

In fact, if you pay for Mao Wenlong to fight, it is better to transfer several thousand garrison headquarters troops from the North Korean side to disturb the rear of Jiannu, otherwise it will not be easy to settle accounts.

Originally, Wei Bao wanted to take advantage of Mao Wenlong.

Mao Wenlong said with a smile: "I know what you think, you want me to send troops, you don't come out with anything, just get good, I don't have anything, after I give you all the silver, I still have five or six hundred thousand taels of silver on my hand." I don't want anything, but my subordinates will settle accounts, if you don't have food, they will never be willing, even if the court lets us fight, we have to send enough grain and grass in advance. ”

Wei Bao understands the rules, Wei Bao nodded: "Please rest assured, Mao Shuai, as much food as I let you do, there will be as much food as I ask, and it will definitely not be less than what the court takes." I can directly deal with Jiannu alone, I mainly don't want to expand the situation and consume the combat power in vain. If you join forces with me, Nurhachi will be afraid if he can see our unity. ”

Mao Wenlong nodded: "I understand, Xiaobao, you don't want to fight with Jiannu, it's right to think so, Jiannu is good at riding and shooting, if you are endless, no one can please you, unless you have the ability to destroy Jiannu." ”

"Even if I have the ability, I probably won't destroy Jiannu." Wei Bao said with a smile: "They are also human beings, and they are just to survive, and they are subdued, and they are destroyed, these are two different things, they may spend five million taels to subdue each other, but if they want to destroy the other party, they may not be able to spend fifty million taels, so why bother?" ”

"That's right, if the imperial court had your idea, the north would have been peaceful a long time ago! Well, now Your Majesty trusts you so much, Dad believes that in less than three years, Liao affairs will be stable! After Jiannu is served, it will return to the period of Li Chengliang, honestly, and dare not invade the territory of the Ming Dynasty. Mao Wenlong said.

"Their current territory is my Daming territory!" Wei Bao corrected: "I only need you to capture Niumaozhai, in the future, you'd better put the town guard in Niumaozhai, it's too bad to put it on Phi Island." When others mention you, they are all talking about Phi Island Mao Wenlong, if you say Niu Mao Zhai Mao Wenlong, it is much more majestic. I hope you send 30,000 troops, and I will let the North Korean side do its best to provide your logistics! They should not send troops, otherwise it will be difficult for the two armies to be under control. ”

Mao Wenlong smiled bitterly, only then did he know the scope and strength of Wei Bao's troops, and nodded: "You think very thoughtfully, there is no problem with sending 30,000 troops, I will definitely send the most elite soldiers and horses, but I may not be able to capture Niumaozhai, and if I capture it, I will definitely not be able to defend it." ”

"Mao Shuai don't underestimate his strength, and besides, I will contact the Chahar Department and the Horqin right-wing tribe to oppress Jiannu from the front, and when the time comes, the pressure on your rear will be very small, and you will definitely be able to fight down. As for the defense after the fight, you don't have to worry, I asked people to send you more mines, as long as you don't plan to deal with Houjin, they want to take Niu Mao Zhai back, it is very difficult. Wei Bao said.

"Do you have what it takes to make the Chahar Ministry and the Horqin Right Wing listen to you? Lin Dan Khan of the Chahar Department was very arrogant, always regarded himself as the legitimate heir of Genghis Khan, considered himself the master of the steppe, and repeatedly attacked the northern part of the Ming Dynasty. And the Horqin right wing has already surrendered to the Jin people, how can they listen to you? Mao Wenlong said strangely.

"Don't worry, I naturally have a way, I will fight at the same time in front and behind you, and if I press on both sides, I will definitely force Nurhachi to submit!" Wei Bao said confidently.

"Okay, I'll wait for your news when the time comes, and you can get the things in front of you done first." Mao Wenlong said.

Wei Bao smiled slightly, knowing that Mao Wenlong was referring to Zhao Jinfeng's recognition of his father, and nodded.

"By the way, also, you have to be careful of Wei Zhongxian, I have ears and eyes in the imperial court, I heard that Wei Zhongxian is very unaccustomed to you now, you have to be careful, these eunuchs, one by one, are ruthless, and do everything!" Mao Wenlong remembered something and reminded.

Wei Bao sighed: "I know, I'll be careful." ”

"It's not a matter of your care, you either have a good relationship with Wei Zhongxian, or you are against Wei Zhongxian, and when you reach your current momentum, you can't hold neutrality, understand?" Mao Wenlong saw that Wei Bao didn't seem to take it seriously, and reminded anxiously.

"On the contrary, Wei Zhongxian is not moved, the emperor trusts Wei Zhongxian very much, and Wei Zhongxian's power is intertwined among the eunuchs, and it is impossible for the emperor to change all the eunuchs around him." Wei Bao said: "This is all determined by the operation mode of the Ming Dynasty, and no one can do it." But I can't take refuge in Wei Zhongxian, otherwise when the throne changes in the future and the Donglin Party regains power, I will have to be unlucky. ”

Because he regarded Mao Wenlong as his own, Wei Bao had nothing to talk about, so he simply told Mao Wenlong these secret ideas.

Zhu Yuanzhang's abolition of the prime minister did strengthen the imperial power. But it also brought a lot of work to the emperor, as the so-called "internal and external departments are all up to the top", so that the operation of the entire empire depends on the emperor alone.

Zhu Yuanzhang is a typical "model worker", although he is a little cold and harsh, but for governing the country, it can be described as a conservative business.

In his 17 years in Hongwu, he handled 3,291 major events in eight days, with an average of more than 400 cases per day, and he was indeed worthy of the title of model worker.

As the founding monarch of the country, Zhu Yuanzhang seems to have overlooked some things. He created a system for the operation of the imperial court, and the emperor's daily workload was based on his diligent work attitude towards government affairs.

It is set according to his ability to govern and his own will and character.

Although his descendants will also be surnamed Zhu in the future, this ability and character cannot be inherited.

History shows that the more a dynasty reaches the end, the emperors who grow up in the deep palace are often somewhat degenerate.

And after the abolition of the prime minister, the imperial power was supreme.

If the monarch is incompetent and neglectful, it is difficult for a force to correct it.

Therefore, although Ming Taizu strictly forbade eunuchs to interfere in politics.

However, the rise of the eunuch power of the Ming Dynasty was precisely in the Hongwu Dynasty.

After the death of Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Jianwen Zhu Yunwen, a well-educated Confucian monarch, ascended the throne.

He is gentle and elegant, and has the appearance of a benevolent gentleman.

Therefore, his attitude towards eunuchs is also the same as that of orthodox Confucianism, which, like his grandfather, believed that eunuchs were only subordinates and must be strictly controlled.

But in the Battle of Jingjing, the eunuchs who were under control by Emperor Jianwen's side became Zhu Di's source of intelligence.

As a result, Zhu Di mastered the reality of the capital, and only then did he succeed in one fell swoop.

And the eunuchs in Zhu Di's original palace also participated in the war with him, and made great contributions.

Therefore, after Zhu Di ascended the throne, he thought that the eunuchs were loyal to him, regarded them as confidants, and appointed more eunuchs, such as supervising the army and envoys.

In order to consolidate his rule and at the same time monitor his ministers, the Ming Dynasty set up Dongchang, which was controlled by the eunuchs who were close to the emperor.

The establishment of Dongchang marked the official entry of the eunuch forces of the Ming Dynasty on the stage of history and the beginning of the eunuch problem in the Ming Dynasty.

The system set up by Zhu Yuanzhang with his own standards began to be difficult to operate in the Ming Dynasty emperors after Zhu Di.

First of all, the prime minister was abolished, and power began to be vested in the cabinet, which used the voting system to deal with the affairs of the imperial court.

Normally, the Cabinet will unify the views on government affairs and handle them properly.

Then it was handed over to the emperor for approval, and the emperor thought that he agreed, so he approved it.

However, the emperors after Yongle often did not have the ability to work of their ancestors, so there was a situation where "all the daily documents, except for the imperial pen and several books, were divided into batches by all the eunuchs", resulting in a strange situation in which the ministers were subject to the eunuchs.

When he arrived at Zhu Di's grandson, Zhu Zhanji of Ming Xuanzong, he seriously violated the ancestral precept that Ming Taizu did not allow eunuchs to read and write.

In the palace, the "Inner Book Hall" was set up to teach eunuchs to read and write.

As the saying goes, hooligans are not scary, they are afraid that hooligans are educated.

Teaching eunuchs to read and write can be said to have opened Pandora's box, so that the eunuchs not only have power, but also have the wisdom to deal with the ministers.

The eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty had twenty-four yamen, and the leaders of the eunuchs in each yamen were called eunuchs.

Among these twenty-four yamen, the celebrant and the imperial horse supervisor are the two most powerful.

The celebrant is in charge of the internal and external chapters, and the imperial horse supervisor is in charge of the emperor's military talismans.

At the time of Xuande, the position of the eunuch of the master of ceremonies and the eunuch of the seal of the master of ceremonies was produced, one of them was responsible for mentioning the emperor's ghostwriting and approval, and the other was responsible for sealing.

These two positions can be described as high and powerful, and all the famous power supervisors in the history of the Ming Dynasty came from here.

When Yingzong arrived in the Ming Dynasty, the eunuch Wang Zhen was quite trusted by Yingzong and leaned towards the government and the opposition.

The unscrupulous Wang Zhen even directly stole the iron monument that Ming Taizu erected in the palace to prevent eunuchs from interfering in politics, which shows his arrogance.

At the time of Yingzong, the power of eunuchs had begun to touch the military power.

By the time of Zhu Jianshen of the Ming Dynasty, the expansion of the eunuch power of the Ming Dynasty was completed, and the eunuchs played with power, monitored the ministers, and interfered in the government and military affairs became the norm.

The main reason for the long existence of the power of the eunuchs and the large number of eunuchs is still the strengthening of the imperial power.

Although the eunuchs interfered in the government affairs, in the contest between the imperial power and the civil official group, the eunuch was always an assistant to the emperor and helped the emperor suppress the civilian official group.

Secondly, although Zhu Yuanzhang, the Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, strictly forbade eunuchs from interfering in politics, it was precisely his many measures to strengthen the imperial power that laid hidden dangers for the rise of eunuch power later.

Finally, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty after Chengzu were mostly wasted in court politics and regarded eunuchs as cronies, so that eunuchs had the opportunity to interfere in court politics.

Wei Bao knew these things, and Mao Wenlong naturally knew it, Mao Wenlong said strangely: "What do you mean by changing the throne?" ”

"This is top secret, and you must not tell anyone about it." Wei Bao looked around cautiously.

In fact, Wei Bao's mansion is the safest place in the world, but Wei Bao still has to do it to show caution.

Mao Wenlong nodded and said: "I'm so old, I can naturally distinguish which is more important." ”

"Your Majesty is sick and it will be difficult to survive next year, this is reliable news! In addition, I judge the situation of the imperial court, and the successor must be King Xin. King Xin is close to the Donglin Party, and when King Xin ascends the throne, the Donglin Party will regain power, and the good days of the eunuch party will come to an end! Therefore, at this time, you can't have a hard time with the eunuchs, because you can't touch it. You can't get close to the eunuchs, it's best to be able to leave Beijing to avoid trouble! I have already agreed with the emperor, after I marry Jin Feng, I will go directly to the Yamen, the governor of coastal defense in Shandong, and I will stay away from the affairs of the capital. Wei Bao said.

Mao Wenlong agreed with Wei Bao's analysis, and nodded again and again, feeling that Wei Bao's reasoning was very accurate, "I hope Your Majesty can give birth to an heir as soon as possible to inherit the unification!" Brother to brother, there is always a huge hidden danger, if King Xin takes over in this situation, this mess will be in trouble! Moreover, I have always heard that Wang is stubborn and self-serving, it is difficult to listen to other people's words, and his temperament is very dull! Such a person succeeds to the throne, I am afraid that it is not as good as His Majesty today. "The relationship between Mao Wenlong and Zhu Youxiao is still very good, Mao Wenlong's career is in the hands of Zhu Youxiao, so he has a lot of feelings for Zhu Youxiao.

Wei Bao secretly appreciated Mao Wenlong, he could see what happened in the future, because he was a giant through the crossing, but Mao Wenlong said through himself that Zhu Youzhen might succeed to the throne, and he could immediately think of the situation in the Ming Dynasty after Zhu Youzhen succeeded to the throne, which can be said to be very far-sighted.

"It's hard for Your Majesty to have children, Your Majesty doesn't like women in the first place, has deep feelings for the queen, and only favors a few concubines. Wei Zhongxian and the Hakka family are afraid that others will be in power, except for Wei Zhongxian's own niece, they will not let other imperial concubines have the opportunity to give birth to a baby boy, and even if they do, they will not be able to raise it. Wei Bao said.

When Mao Wenlong heard this, he waved his fist angrily, "These eunuchs, I really want to kill them all, and bring disaster to the country and the people!" Your Majesty's heirs are the foundation of the country, without the foundation of the country, how can the world be stable! ”

"Okay, Mao Shuai, let's say so much, it's not good for you to come to me for a long time, now Your Majesty is in Shanhaiguan, Dongchang and Jinyiwei have many eyes and ears, don't let people find out that we have been in contact for a long time, and don't let people notice our good relationship! When Jin Feng's side is done, I will have someone notify you of it. Wei Bao said.

Mao Wenlong nodded, then took his leave.

Wei Bao is still very confident in handling Mao Wenlong's matter.

Because Wei Bao believes that Zhao Jinfeng is a reasonable person, although Lin Xiaoyu is not highly educated, she can see that she is a very smart woman.

Wei Bao felt that as long as he told them about the situation, he needed to use Mao Wenlong's power to make Jiannu comply, and Lin Xiaoyu and Zhao Jinfeng would definitely support him.

After sending Mao Wenlong away, Wei Bao immediately asked people to arrange that he would go to see Lin Xiaoyu and Zhao Jinfeng overnight.

This was easy to arrange, and the people from the Statistics Department immediately went to spread the word, saying that Grandpa Wei had something very important to ask to see.

Lin Xiaoyu and Zhao Jinfeng didn't know what was going on, so they immediately agreed.

At this time, it was close to midnight, and Lin Xiaoyu, Zhao Jinfeng, and the maid Xiaocui had already rested.

At such a late hour, Grandpa Wei asked to see him, there must be something important.

Wei Bao walked through the secret passage of the Maritime Chamber of Commerce, came out of an alley behind, and then went to Zhao Jinfeng's house.

Shanhaiguan is Wei Bao's soldiers and horses, even the people around the emperor only let them go around the city gate and the emperor, these key positions, other places are not allowed to go around.

Of course, Wei Bao's people have no way to say that they don't let Dongchang and Jinyiwei's people go around, and they need to spend some silver, and it is not difficult to entertain them with good wine and food every day.

Wei Bao soon arrived at Zhao Jinfeng's house, and Xiao Cui waited at the courtyard gate.

"Grandpa." As soon as Xiao Cui saw that it was Grandpa Wei who had arrived in person, she hurriedly saluted.

"No need to be polite, go in." Grandpa Wei said softly.