Chen Wenyue, the secretary of the Ministry of War, and several important members of the imperial court sat in the three halls of the Chen family's mansion, looking at Li Zhi's famous post on the table, with both joy and a hint of surprise on their faces.

Chen Wenyue looked at Dong Jiuqi, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and asked, "What does Dong Gong think?" ”

Dong Jiuqi smiled and said, "This sacrifice to the sky has a great mystery. ”

Jia Sanwei, the squire of the military department, changed his face and asked anxiously, "How?" ”

Dong Jiuqi looked at Jia Sanwei. He saw that Jia Sanwei's face was very nervous, and he couldn't help but ponder for a while.

However, after thinking about it for a long time, Dong Jiuqi still said: "This is obviously a signal that Li Zhi wants to win over us officials in the capital and want to control the court situation. ”

Chen Wenyue's face was overjoyed, and he asked, "How can Dong Gong see it?" ”

Dong Jiuqi stroked his beard and said: "Sima Zhao's heart is known to passers-by. ”

"Sacrificing to heaven is a major event of the family and country, and it should have been the Son of Heaven who ascended to the Temple of Heaven and led hundreds of officials to offer sacrifices. However, Li Zhi, as the king of Qi, held the male soldier Chen Bing in the suburbs of Beijing, but he summoned his ministers to the canal to worship the heavens without authorization. ”

Glancing at the left and right people, Dong Jiuqi said: "There is no doubt that Li Zhi wants to pass the Son of Heaven to command the ministers and exercise the power of the Son of Heaven. ”

"The Grand Canal leads directly to Tianjin, which is the key to Cao Yun and the symbol of Tianjin's control of the capital. Offering sacrifices by the canal instead of at the Temple of Heaven is an obvious signal, indicating that the future imperial court will have the final say in Tianjin, and it will depend on Tianjin's snort. ”

"I'm afraid that after this sacrifice to the sky, Li Zhi will lead his ministers to the court. When the Son of Heaven knows about this sacrifice to the heavens, he will also understand that the ministers are on Li Zhi's side and will no longer resist meaninglessly. From then on, it was Li Zhi who had the final say in the court. ”

Everyone listened to Dong Jiuqi's analysis and remained silent.

After a long time, Chen Wenyue sighed and said: "This Li Zhi is so arrogant and domineering. ”

Dong Jiuqi laughed and said, "What we want is Li Zhi's domineering." ”

"If Li Zhi is not domineering, how can he challenge the Son of Heaven to try to control the imperial court? If Li Zhi had not led a thousand officials to worship the heavens together, he and the Son of Heaven would not have had a fight. There is no conflict between the Son of Heaven and Li Zhi, how can we, civil officials, survive? ”

"Only by instigating Li Zhi to be domineering, more domineering, and fighting with the Son of Heaven, can we, the civil servants, be like fish in water and benefit from it."

Everyone looked at each other for a while.

Chen Wenyue suddenly asked: "Has Zhang Guanghang, the lackey of the Son of Heaven, been invited?" ”

Wang Heze, the young secretary of Dali Temple, replied: "No, Li Zhi did not invite him. What Li Zhi invited this time was not just a few dozen fools who were loyal to the Son of Heaven. ”

Chen Wenyue touched his beard and thought about it, and said, "This Li Zhi's information is accurate. It seems that Dong Gong's analysis is good, this Li Zhi wants to control the imperial court, so he only invited those of us who know the current affairs. ”

Dong Jiuqi bowed slightly, indicating that Chen Wenyue was not bad.

Jia Sanwei, who was sitting on the side, suddenly said: "Li Zhi brought together us ministers who know the current affairs... It's not going to kill someone, is it? ”

When everyone heard Jia Sanwei's words, they looked at Jia Sanwei in surprise.

After a long time, everyone burst out laughing.

"Jia Sanwei, you were really frightened by Li Zhi. No matter how bold Li Zhi is, can he kill more than a thousand of us? ”

Dong Jiuqi pointed at Jia Sanwei and said, "Jia Sanwei, you can talk about it, Li Zhi can join forces with us to control the government, why do you want to kill us?" ”

"Could it be that Li Zhi is a murderous demon king who kills Confucianism when he sees it? Although those gentry in Tianjin were given all the fields, as long as they didn't resist Li Zhi, wouldn't they also live well? ”

Jia Sanwei was young after all, and when he was pointed at by Dong Jiuqi like this, he became nervous and speechless.

Dong Jiuqi shook his head and smiled, and said no more.

Chen Wenyue smiled and said, "I heard the little eunuch in the palace say that Li Zhi and the Son of Heaven did not have a good conversation in the Qianqing Palace, and Li Zhi walked out of the Qianqing Palace with a black face. ”

When everyone heard Chen Wenyue's words, they pondered it one after another, and their faces were full of joy.

Wang Heze suddenly said: "It's okay for us to join Li Zhi's camp to fight against the Son of Heaven, and it's okay for us to help Li Zhi control the government, but Li Zhi can't give us a little benefit." ”

Hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up, and they collectively looked at Wang Heze.

Wang Heze said: "We have to ask Li Zhi before the ceremony of worshiping the heavens, and ask Li Zhi to promise to maintain the status quo of Tianfu in Jiangnan, and never promote the evil law of the Son of Heaven to Jiangnan, and leave a piece of royal paradise in Daming." ”

When everyone heard Wang Heze's words, they all nodded.

Chen Wenyue said: "Good! Since Li Zhi wants to use our strength, he naturally has to consider our roots. We made this request before the Heaven Sacrifice Ceremony, and if Li Zhi didn't agree, we would withdraw! Let Li Zhi challenge the imperial power of the Son of Heaven alone. ”

The crowd applauded.

The scheming Dong Jiuqi also nodded, and said: "That's it, send someone to the homes of the officials to spread the word, saying that this sacrifice to the heavens is very important, and everyone must be there." At such a critical juncture, I think Li Zhi will definitely agree to our request. ”

####

Wang Dehua, the eunuch of Dongchang, knelt on the ground of the Yangxin Hall and reported to Zhu Youzhen, the son of heaven, that Li Zhi invited thousands of officials to worship the heavens together.

Zhu Youzhen turned his back to Wang Dehua, looked at the towering Forbidden City outside the window, and did not speak for a long time.

Wang Chengen looked at the back of the Son of Heaven, walked up cautiously, and said, "Holy Lord, what does Li Zhi want to do?" ”

Zhu Youzhen gently closed the newly installed Tianjin glass window of the Yangxin Palace, stuck the window bolt, and then said slowly: "Li Zhi is going to kill someone." ”

When Wang Chengen heard this, his body shook and he knelt on the ground with a thud.

His face turned snow-white, and he knelt on the ground and thought about it from side to side, and the more he thought about it, the more terrifying he felt. This is more than 1,000 important members of the imperial court, which is equivalent to the entire Ming court. Li Zhi said that he would kill it, but the Son of Heaven did not agree, so Li Zhi did it himself?

Is there any royal law in Li Zhi's eyes, and are there any rules?

If Wang Chengen is not mistaken, there are Confucians who have taught the Son of Heaven in the list of 1,000 people, and there are Wenchen who worked in the palace when the Son of Heaven was still the king. All these people were killed? Just because he provided intelligence to the Jiangbei Army, he uprooted the entire center of the Ming Dynasty?

The more Wang Chengen thought about it, the more he felt that Li Zhi was terrible, and his body couldn't help but tremble.

Zhu Youzhen turned his head to look at Wang Chengen and asked, "Wang Chengen, what are you shaking?" ”

Wang Chengen trembled like a sieve, and said tremblingly: "Slave, slave and maid don't know why they tremble." ”

Zhu Youzhen took a breath, opened a copy of "Zizhi Tongjian", took out the list of 1,161 traitors he had hidden inside, and read it carefully.

Wang Dehua took a step forward and asked: "Shengshang, Yao Mingling is a direct speaker, and Shengshang still has to listen to him talk about "Spring and Autumn", do you want to inform him privately and save him?" ”

Zhu Youzhen put the long list on the table and sighed.

"Save? How to save? If the news leaked because of the rescue, I am afraid that King Qi's plan will be ruined. ”