Gu Junen is a rebellious minister and thief who once surrendered to thieves, and Shan Minglei is also ambitious. It is almost impossible for these two people to be extremely popular ministers in the Ming Dynasty for their own reasons, even if they are appreciated and promoted by Chen Yue. People who have no fame are destined to not be able to go further in the Ming Dynasty, and when they are put in the officialdom, a provincial governor is the limit of these two people.

However, that wasn't enough for the duo, who wanted more space to carry out their ambitions. And now, in the eyes of the two, that opportunity has arrived.

With the success of the Northern Expedition, the prestige of Chen Yue, the king of Qi, was unrivaled for a while, and if the king of Qi could go further, the two of them would also rise.

"Brother Jun'en, the time you and my brother have been waiting for has come." Shan Minglei's face turned red and said excitedly.

Gu Junen was much calmer: "It's so easy." We all know the relationship between King Qi and His Majesty and the princess of the prison country, and he will not do anything to be sorry for His Majesty's father and daughter no matter what. ”

Shan Minglei said angrily: "Could it be that in the eyes of King Qi, this world is not as good as a woman?" The Zhu family has been sitting in the country for nearly three hundred years, and they have already made a mess of the world. King Qi is wise and martial again, and he can turn the tide. But as long as the Zhu family is the Son of Heaven, this Ming Dynasty will get worse and worse. ”

Gu Junen sighed: "Brother Shi Jian, why should you be in a hurry, hasn't the King of Qi been making changes, Jiangxi, Fujian, and the northeastern Zhili of Shandong, which we just captured, the power of the gentry has basically been swept away, and everything is changing according to the blueprint we planned."

Now that the princess is in charge of the country, half of the court is the prince's person, and this Ming is already the prince's decision. As long as you follow the steps, it won't take long to reproduce the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty and completely change the appearance of the Ming Dynasty. Why force the prince to do what he doesn't like? ”

Shan Minglei sneered: "Hehe, what you think is quite beautiful, don't you know, Your Majesty has woken up and regained the ability to walk!" ”

"What!" Gu Junen was shocked, this news was the first time he had heard of it.

"Just yesterday, the day before the prince arrived in Beijing, a secret report came from Jinyiwei, saying that this is the matter, Your Majesty's body is about to recover, Brother Jun'en, have you ever thought about the consequences of Your Majesty's recovery?" Shan Minglei said lightly.

Gu Junen was speechless for a moment, he knew that Shan Minglei was in charge of the Zhenfu Division and had close ties with Jinyiwei, so it was impossible to talk nonsense about this kind of news.

Chongzhen's coma made the Ming monarchy fall into the hands of Princess Kunxing, if Chongzhen died, King Qi could take the opportunity to push Princess Kunxing to the throne of the empress, which was most in line with the interests of King Qi's family. But Chongzhen actually came back to life, which made everything in the future full of uncertainties.

Chongzhen has been the emperor for 20 years, even if the emperor does very badly, he is the rightful son of heaven in the Ming Dynasty, and he is the orthodoxy of the Ming Dynasty. As long as he said a word, he could take back the power from Princess Kunxing.

And Chongzhen himself is a stubborn and suspicious person, since he is here, how can he let the power fall?

Now the power of the Qi dynasty is so great that it is completely able to shake the rule of the imperial court and subvert the Ming dynasty. More than half of the entire Ming army is in the hands of Chen Yue, and several provinces are under Chen Yue's control, how can Chongzhen tolerate such a thing?

Of course, Chen Yue, the king of Qi, has made great contributions, and Chongzhen will not do anything to him openly, but it is inevitable to secretly reduce power. No king would tolerate such power over his courtiers!

And as the confidant of King Qi, it is almost impossible for Shan Minglei, Gu Junen and others to think about any extremely popular ministers.

Therefore, if you want to keep the power in your hands or even go further, there is not much way to go.

"However, the King of Qi will not be a rebellious minister and thief, and with the character of the King of Qi, he will definitely not, otherwise he would not have gone to Dongfan to create a foundation." Gu Junen said.

After getting along for a few years, he thinks he knows Chen Yue's character better. Chen Yue has great ambitions and a lot of baggage. The shortcomings are also very obvious, that is, they attach too much importance to friendship and do not have the basic qualities of a hero. At this point, Chen Yue is not as good as Li Zicheng.

Only by being like Cao Cao "would rather me bear the people of the world than the people of the world bear me", can we achieve a vigorous cause. If you attach too much importance to your feelings, you will inevitably be constrained by your feelings.

Therefore, Gu Junen thought that it was almost impossible to persuade Chen Yue to rebel against Ming.

Shan Minglei smiled mysteriously: "King Qi naturally won't be a chaotic minister and thief, how could Zhao Kuangyin be willing to be ungrateful and bully orphans and widows." But when the situation forced it, it had to be done. ”

Gu Junen was shocked: "Could it be that we also give the prince a yellow robe?" This is trapping the prince in injustice, and the prince will not spare us! ”

Shan Minglei said with a smile: "Brother Junen, King Qi is a man who stands up to the sky, and he naturally does vigorous things, and he should be loyal and righteous. But we must also understand that in fact, King Qi is extremely entangled in his heart.

On the one hand, it is picturesque, on the other hand, it is the beauty of deep love, and the world is safe and secure.

Brother Junen, since we are going to do something big, we can't help but take some risks, how can it be so easy to learn from the dragon's work?

Many times, there are many things that are not easy for the Lord to do and choose, and those of us who are subordinates should promote them, even if we bear some notoriety. ”

Gu Junen smiled bitterly when he heard this, could he still say the words of refusal?

"Brother Jun'en, let's do this and this." Shan Minglei whispered in Gu Junen's ear, Gu Junen's eyes widened wider and wider, and he was not as good as Shan Minglei.

.......

When the first rays of the morning sun shone obliquely in the courtyard, the hangover crowds in the Chen family's house woke up one after another.

After a night of drinking and a night of reminiscence, everyone was drunk and lived in the house.

They were all young people, who had been in good health for a long time, and a hangover was nothing, and they all woke up in the early morning when there was a slight movement outside. asked Chen Yue for peace.

"What should I do when I wake up, do you want to wait for breakfast?" Chen Yue waved his hand and ordered them to get out.

Wu Ping rode on a horse and walked towards the outer city with a few personal soldiers. Yesterday, Chen Yue had already told him that he would be appointed as the commander-in-chief of Xuanda, responsible for the reorganization of the two towns of Xuanfu and Datong. In a few days, he had to lead his troops from Beijing.

When he returned to the camp and arranged some military affairs, he reported that Shan Minglei, the governor of Shandong, had sent someone to invite him to discuss important matters.

They are all old people who came out of Xishan, Wu Ping and Shan Minglei have a good relationship, and now he has no reason not to go when he comes to invite.

Wu Ping immediately left the camp and followed the people to the inner city.

In a restaurant on Qipan Street, Shan Minglei stood in front of the building to greet him and took Wu Ping's arm to the restaurant.

Obviously, the entire restaurant was packed, and the restaurant was empty, and there was not a single customer.

"Man ran away in a hurry, the whole Beijing was in chaos, and it was really rare that there was such a restaurant opened!" Sitting in the private room, looking at the elegant decoration in the restaurant, Wu Ping couldn't help but say.

"Haha, does Brother Wu Ping know who opened this restaurant?" Shan Minglei asked with a smile.

Wu Ping smiled: "How do I know this." ”

"Fan Tianyu," Shan Minglei smiled, "Have you ever heard of this name?" ”

"Is it the one who persuaded Wu Sangui to surrender and persuaded the Mongolian cavalry to flee north during the Linqing War?" Wu Ping asked. During the Linqing War, Wu Ping was in Ningyuan, and he knew about the war in Linqing, and knew that there was such a person as Fan Tianyu, who played a key role in the battle.

"That's the man!" Shan Minglei said with a smile, "The reason why the battle of Linqing was won so easily was that the surrender of the Guanning army was indispensable, and Fan Tianyu, who persuaded Wu Sangui to surrender, made a great contribution.

Originally, the Fan family made a fortune by smuggling, and had a close relationship with the Mongols, and did too many things that harmed the interests of my Ming Dynasty, but with Fan Tianyu's credit, the Fan family at least avoided the disaster of raiding the family.

Fan Tianyuhe was very knowledgeable and vowed never to do smuggling business again. Since people have made meritorious contributions, we can't help but take care of one or two, such a good location on Qipan Street, such a big restaurant, it is cheaper for this kid. ”

"I see."

Fan Tianyu is not there, according to the restaurant shopkeeper, Fan Tianyu returned to his hometown in Shanxi, most likely to compete for the power of the family.

Shan Minglei and Wu Ping are both extremely powerful people, and the shopkeeper of the restaurant is sincerely afraid to serve him, Wu Ping felt uncomfortable, and waved his hand to drive him out after the wine and food were served.

The two chatted casually, very pleasantly. After three rounds of drinking, Shan Minglei waved his hand and drove out the maids who served. Wu Ping knew that Shan Minglei was going to get down to business.

"Brother Wu Ping, our brothers have been friends for many years, and they are all confidants of King Qi, so I will tell you some things directly."

Wu Ping nodded: "Brother Shi Jian, please speak." ”

"Brother Wu Ping, now everyone knows the situation, the King of Qi led everyone to expel the Manchurian to recover the rivers and mountains, and made immortal achievements, the prestige of the King of Qi is unparalleled for a while, he will be rewarded for meritorious deeds in the court, and the future of you and my brother seems to be like a flower, and it is not impossible to be a marquis and a prince.

But Brother Wu Ping, have you thought about it, and now there is a great crisis in our Qi Wang family. ”

Wu Ping pinched the wine glass and didn't speak, just listened quietly.

"Your Majesty has woken up, and will soon take back power from the princess. King Qi has certainly made great contributions, but the rabbit and the dead dog cook the birds and hide the bow, the prince's credit is too great, and there are too many troops in his hands, Chongzhen must not let this situation continue.

I estimate that soon, the imperial court will think of taking back the authority in the hands of the prince, taking back the prince's military power, sending officials from the imperial court to manage the recovered provinces, and then transferring the prince and your brother back to Nanjing. ”

Wu Ping smiled lightly: "No, the prince has made a great contribution." ”

Shan Minglei said: "What about making great contributions, did Xu Da make a lot of contributions back then?" Li Shanchang, Lan Yu and others have a lot of credit? It's not that he was killed by Taizu, and he was resigned. The so-called high merit is not rewarded, the prince is already a very popular minister, the title and official position have reached the peak, and now he has made such a great achievement, how should Chongzhen reward the prince, there is only one result if there is no reward, you know this result. ”

Wu Ping said with a smile: "Most of the army in the world is in the hands of the prince, how easy is it to move the prince, Your Majesty is not stupid, Brother Shi Jian, you are alarmist." ”

Shan Minglei shook his head and said solemnly: "I am by no means alarmist, the struggle for power has been extremely cruel since ancient times. Did Yue Fei and Yue Wumu contribute a lot back then? Is the army in your hands strong or not? But Song Gaozong's twelve gold medals recalled him, and it was not that Fengbo Pavilion died unjustly. ”

Wu Ping hesitated: "It's impossible, the prince is not Yue Fei, he has a deep relationship with His Majesty and the princess, and besides, there is no Ming without the prince, how can Your Majesty do something to the prince?" ”

"The emperor is the most ruthless and unrighteous person in the world, not to mention this little relationship with the prince, since ancient times, for the sake of power, even parents and brothers can be killed, is there less such a thing?

If we don't take precautions, it's hard to say that such a thing won't happen to the prince and us.

Brother Wu Ping, our army seems to be strong and numerous, but after all, it is still under the banner of the Ming Dynasty. If Chongzhen issued a decree to make a wish to the generals, the generals may not have the intention of revenge for the prince, and many people may be happy to become officials and make a fortune.

Brother Wu Ping, you are different, your sister is the princess's concubine, you are the prince's own family, if the prince falls, you will not end well. ”

Wu Ping's face finally became solemn: "If that's the case, what should I do?" ”

"Brother Wu Ping, if there was no prince, the world would have been full of staggering, and even Chongzhen's father and daughter would have died in the chaos long ago.

To put it bluntly, this world was beaten down by the prince and our brothers, Chongzhen, what qualifications does he have to continue to sit on the throne of the emperor after losing the country?

The prince expelled the Manchurians, saved the people of the world, and was more qualified to sit on the throne of the emperor. Instead of worrying about the imperial court and always worrying that the imperial court will deal with the prince and deal with us, why not overthrow the Ming court, drive Chongzhen from the emperor's throne, and make the prince the emperor and create a new dynasty. Your sister is the queen of a country, and Brother Wu Ping is even more of a relative of the emperor, and you are above 10,000 people under one person, isn't it beautiful! ”

Shan Minglei's words were very incendiary, and Wu Ping's heart fluctuated, breathing rapidly, but he still retained a trace of reason in his heart.

"However, the prince has a deep relationship with the princess of the prison country, and he will not betray His Majesty and the princess."

"Brother Wu Ping, don't be stupid, with the princess here, your sister can only become the prince's concubine. The prince is unwilling to betray, but as long as our brothers have their minds, they can't help the prince. It's a big deal to learn from Zhao Kuangyin, and also give the prince a yellow robe. At that time, he couldn't rebel even if he didn't want to. ”

"However, my sister is still in Nanjing, if the prince rebels, how can my sister still die?" Wu Ping shouted.

"Don't worry, Liu Neng, the governor of Nanjing Jinyi, is our person, and Jingying has our brothers, so it's easy to take your sister out of Nanjing. Brother Wu Ping, you just have to rest assured, I will write to contact Liu Neng. ”

Wu Ping hesitated, he had a heartfelt fear of Chen Yue, and he also understood that Chen Yue was very afraid of Chongzhen's feelings for Princess Kunxing, and of forcing Chen Yue to rebel.

"Brother Wu Ping, let's be like this, even if the prince notices it, he has no choice but to push the boat down the river."