Three hundred miles south of the Ming Jingshi, Baoding Mansion, Gaoyang County Sun House. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

This was the first time Sun Yueling saw Sun Chengzong, and he couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive. This time he traveled north, and he only brought out more than a dozen brothers with excellent martial arts, and he didn't dare to go on the road together, but divided into several batches to enter Beijing.

A group of five of them disguised themselves as traders who had entered Beijing to do business, and traveled north along the canal to Cangzhou. After arriving in Cangzhou, Sun Yueling abandoned the ship and landed on the shore, all the way to Gaoyang County.

Not for anything else, just because there is a world-famous Donglin old man living here, Zhishi Dongge University Scholar, and the military department Shangshu, Jiliao Governor Sun Chengzong.

Sun Chengzong's name was thunderous in later generations and was respected by everyone. Sun Chengzong, with his great wisdom and courage, built the Guanning defense line that captured the Houjin Jianyu outside the country, and created the Guanning Iron Cavalry that could compete with the elite of the Houjin Eight Banners, and created a cadre of generals including Yuan Chonghuan, Zhao Shujiao, and Man Gui, and the reputation can be said to be resounding throughout the Ming Dynasty and the opposition.

Therefore, no matter what, Sun Yueling also had to pay homage to him, meet with him, and ask about many important matters of the family and country.

Now, the emperor of the Son of Heaven and the patriarch of the three dynasties are sitting in front of him, Sun Yueling only feels that sweat is oozing from his back, and his heart is also beating drums up and down, and it is difficult to feel at ease.

Sun Chengzong in front of him is as described in the history books of later generations, with a strange face, a beard and a halberd, and the corners of his eyes and the dense wrinkles on his face are enough to witness the ups and downs he has experienced for most of his life, but he still does not hide his heroic nature. Although he is a retired pavilion elder, he sits in a chair, which makes him have a kind of calmness like Yuanyu Yuezhi, and he is not angry and arrogant.

At this moment, he was quietly looking at Sun Chengzong, and Sun Chengzong was also looking him up and down, and the light projected from a pair of old eyes seemed to be able to reach his heart and see him completely through.

"Sun Gebu!" Sun Yueling became more and more uneasy under his direct gaze, and felt that it was necessary to speak quickly to break the embarrassing atmosphere in front of him, stood up, and bowed to him again and said, "The late life has been in Beijing this time, and there are many worries in my heart, so I specially came to visit the cabinet, and I hope that the cabinet department will give you some advice, and open the stubbornness in the heart of the late life!" ”

In the face of Sun Chengzong, he did not intend to respond left and right, but directly stated the purpose of this trip. Although it was the first time for the two to meet, there was a strange feeling in his heart, it seemed that he and the Donglin veteran in front of him had already had a deep relationship, but he had not been masked for a long time, so all the false politeness seemed a little redundant at this moment, it was better to get straight to the point and say it bluntly.

As soon as he finished speaking, the essence in Sun Chengzong's eyes suddenly dissipated, and he replaced him with a calm and supple gaze, and said with a smile: "Sun Zhentai can say anything unclear, the old man happens to be with you." Sure enough, he was a bold person, he didn't drag the mud and water at all, and took his words directly.

Sun Yueling was immediately admired, and at the same time relieved in his heart, Sun Chengzong was really different from the ordinary Confucian elders, neither his eyes were higher than the top of the shelf, nor did he pretend to be perfunctory, so he said: "The late student dared to ask for advice from the cabinet, this time the late student entered Beijing, how to contribute to Donglin Ganxuan?" ”

Sun Chengzong and him are both members of the Donglin Party, one is a famous old man in Donglin, and the other is the backbone of the new head of Donglin, so the negotiation is naturally focused on the future of Donglin. Sun Chengzong's attitude will also represent the attitude of many Donglin veterans, and he has to pay attention to it.

When Sun Chengzong heard this, he said lightly: "Why don't you tell the old man about the plan in your heart first?" ”

Sun Yueling took a deep breath and said slowly: "Don't hide it from the cabinet, I entered Beijing this time, because the eunuch party was a tart for my Donglin valve. They not only arrested Miao and Zhou Zhugong into Beijing, but also mobilized the forces in the Beijing division to strike a blow at the old department of my concern for the mansion, and now that Huang Tianlai is dead, Fang Yichen is hiding, and Donglin's forces in Beijing have completely fallen, I entered Beijing this time to unite the old department of the care hall, counterattack the Citigroup, and recapture the position of the Beijing division in one fell swoop. ”

Sun Chengzong actually sighed after hearing this, and said: "If it weren't for the old man's hesitation and concern, maybe things might not have developed to this point......" When the eunuch party launched an offensive against the Donglin Party in the fourth year of the Apocalypse, he intuitively felt that things were not good, so he led the horse from Shanhaiguan to Jingshi, wanting to find the Emperor of the Apocalypse to intercede. But Wei Zhongxian actually cried bitterly in front of the bed of the Apocalypse, and deceived the Emperor of the Apocalypse into ordering him to return to Liaodong and not to enter the capital without permission.

Every time he thought about this, Sun Chengzong's heart ached, if he could have been more decisive at that time and disobeyed the holy order and went directly to Beijing to die, maybe the Donglin Party would not have been completely defeated by the eunuchs.

Of course, Sun Yueling had also heard of this, if it was him, with his character at that time, let alone entering Beijing and dying, he could do it even if he led troops into the city, and at this time he could only accompany Sun Chengzong and sigh.

After Sun Chengzong sighed, he immediately returned to his usual demeanor and asked him, "Are you entering Beijing this time just to deal with the eunuch vassal Citigroup?" ”

Sun Yueling's heart jumped, and he added: "Maybe I can still make some efforts to stop the eunuch party from suppressing other Donglin colleagues who are still officials in the DPRK......"

Sun Chengzong shook his head resolutely and said: "This is a policy, not a good method. ”

Sun Yueling's old face turned red, and he sobbed: "Late born foolish, please also ask the cabinet to teach!" ”

Sun Chengzong asked rhetorically: "Do you understand the current situation between the DPRK and China?" ”

This is to test his grasp of the situation in the DPRK and China, but fortunately, he has done his homework long before coming here, and replied: "Now the six ministries of the imperial cabinet and the five monasteries have all been reduced to the control of the eunuchs. The six auxiliary ministers in the cabinet, in addition to Wei Guangwei, who had just been deposed, and Zhou Rupan, who died of illness, the remaining four were Gu Bingqian, Feng Quan, Ding Shaoshi, and Huang Liji; The six departments were also mostly controlled by the eunuch party, Wang Shaohui, the secretary of the Ministry of Officials, Guo Yunhou, the secretary of the Ministry of Households, Cui Chengxiu, the secretary of the Ministry of Labor, Wang Yongguang, the secretary of the Ministry of War, and Xue Zhen, the secretary of the Criminal Department, were all the backbone of the eunuch party, as well as the Imperial History Fang of the Left Capital of the Metropolitan Inspection Yuan, and the Jinyi Guard commanded Tian Ergeng ......"

Sun Yueling spoke out all the members of the eunuch party who occupied prominent positions in the court. At the same time, I felt a deep pain in my heart, how can there be the grand occasion of the Donglin Dynasty when the Donglin Dynasty was still in power, and almost all the major interest departments were occupied by the eunuch party.

Sun Chengzong also frowned when he heard this, and said: "In such a situation, if you want to gain a firm foothold in the capital division and regain your position, I am afraid that it may not be easy to do it." ”

Sun Yueling sighed: "The late life was also unsure in his heart, so he came to consult the cabinet department to see if there was a proper way to deal with it." ”

Sun Chengzong pondered for a moment, and suddenly his eyes shot a sharp light, looked at him and said: "All causes and effects have roots, the local roots lie in the imperial court, and the roots of the imperial court lie in the cabinet. If you want to completely defeat Citigroup and regain control of the Jingshi Jianghu, you have to go through the cabinet, otherwise even if you succeed, it will only be a flash in the pan and will not last. ”

"The Cabinet?" Sun Yueling was taken aback, this was a question he had never thought about.

Sun Chengzong continued: "Today's important affairs of the dynasty are nothing more than the cabinet and the celebrant eunuch, who is controlled by Wei Zhongxian, Wang Tiqian, Xu Huazhen and others, and it is absolutely impossible to influence it. But the cabinet is different, the cabinet inherits the Son of Heaven and the six departments of the Lower Qi, as long as you can control the cabinet, you may not be able to fight with Wei Zhongxian and them. ”

"Left and right cabinets?" Sun Yueling was completely petrified, how is this different from the Arabian Nights, where can he do it with his ability, and hurriedly said, "Cabinet, how can a person who is only a deposed person in his later life have the ability to influence the decision-making of the cabinet?" Besides, the cabinet is now all eunuchs, so how can they follow the advice of me, a Donglin man? ”

Sun Chengzong smiled and said, "What? If you dare to launch a popular uprising against the government in Jiangnan, don't you dare to point to the government and control the cabinet? ”

Sun Yueling sighed and said, "Let the cabinet see the smile, when I was in Jiangnan, I was forced to do it as a last resort to protect myself." Now that the Cabinet has asked me to direct the government and control the cabinet, I really have no certainty in my heart. ”

Sun Chengzong restrained his smile, looked elsewhere, and said lightly: "This is not a new thing, you should also know the story of Li Sancai and Gu Xiancheng, right?" ”

Sun Yueling nodded and said, "Late life knows." "Although Li Sancai, Gu Xiancheng and others had low official positions when they entered the court, they were able to influence the major affairs of the imperial court by scheming and using tactics, and even the ministers in the cabinet had to bow down to them. Now that Sun Chengzong mentioned this matter, the meaning of his words was unclear, that is, to let him follow the example of Li Sancai and Gu Xiancheng to use various strategies to influence the government and influence the development of the entire situation.

Sun Chengzong's gaze at him softened, and said: "The same head of Donglin, the same backbone of Donglin, they could do it back then, why can't you do it today?" You have to have faith in yourself. ”

Sun Yueling took a deep breath and his expression became resolute. Yes, what Li Sancai and Gu Xiancheng could do back then, why can't he do it today, in vain he still boasted of Li Sancai in front of Qian Qianyi, and now even Sun Chengzong agrees with this matter, what else does he have to worry about.

So he said sincerely to Sun Chengzong: "Wansheng understands the meaning of the cabinet and will definitely follow the instructions of the cabinet." You can rest assured that my Sun Yueling will do his best to revitalize Donglin and live up to your expectations of me. ”

Sun Chengzong nodded, stroked his beard and said with a smile: "Although the cabinet is controlled by the eunuch party, the eunuch party is not monolithic. As far as I know, the first assistant Gu Bingqian is old and frail, and Wei Zhongxian has long had the intention of replacing him with his henchman Feng Quan. Feng Quan is insidious and vicious, Donglin's prison is mostly raised by him, if he becomes the first assistant, Donglin will be difficult to return to the sky, so when you enter Beijing this time, the first thing is to prevent Feng Quan from becoming the first assistant. ”

Sun Yueling frowned when he heard this, and he didn't know how to answer.

Sun Chengzong looked at him with a sad look on his face, and said with a smile: "Feng Quan and the eunuch think tank Cui Chengxiu have always been estranged and have enemies with each other, as long as you can use your strength to make them fight with each other, they may not be able to achieve what they want, so you can be regarded as taking the first step." ”

Sun Yueling chewed on his words carefully and asked, "What about the second step?" ”

Sun Chengzong said: "Although the cabinet minister Huang Liji is attached to the eunuch party, the old man has been friends with him for many years and knows his personality very well. As long as you can make enough influence to make the eunuchs feel that Donglin still has some power in the Jingshi, he will most likely remain neutral. Or further, if you can help him become the first assistant, then the old man promises that even if he does not fall to Donglin, he will definitely act according to your words. At that time, it will be a good time for you to point to the government and control the cabinet! ”

These words were like thunder, deafening, Sun Yueling couldn't imagine that things could be done like this, and he sighed: "The cabinet is really far-sighted, and the kid has been taught!" ”