Three days after Fang Yichen left the secret lair of the Fenghua Society, Liu Duo was escorted to the West Market to be beheaded for public display. Fang Yichen, the www.biquge.info of the pen, the fun and the pavilion, endured not to go to the court to make trouble, and worked with Sun Yueling to protect Liu Duo's wife and daughter, so that they could be resettled.

After the Xiao family collected Liu Duo's bones, Sun Yueling ordered someone to escort them to help them return to their hometown, and asked the Jiangnan Fenghua Society to send people to answer them all the way and give them a large sum of gold and silver, so that they could live in peace.

After sending off the grief-stricken Xiao family, Sun Yueling sent someone to contact the elder Huang Liji, who at first turned away the person he had sent, until Sun Yueling ordered the person to present a letter written by Sun Chengzong himself, and Huang Liji said that he could meet with him.

Sun Yueling knew in his heart that although Huang Liji was willing to meet with him, most of it was for Sun Chengzong's introduction and his sake, which did not mean that he would favor Donglin from now on, so Sun Yueling did not dare to be sloppy, and ordered someone to prepare a rich ceremony, and went to visit him in person after nightfall.

That night, Sun Yueling entered from the back door of the Huang Mansion, and was led to the study by the people in the house, and saw Huang Liji, a scholar of the Wuyingdian University and an old pavilion of the dynasty.

When Sun Yueling served in the imperial court before, although he had heard of Huang Liji, they were all in a hurry when he was in office, and the two actually had no deep friendship, and they had never had formal contact with each other. Now that they finally met face to face, Sun Yueling felt apprehensive in his heart, and he didn't know what Huang Liji's impression of him was.

As far as he knew, Huang Liji had many contradictions with the radicals in Donglin back then, especially with Zhao Nanxing, Miao Changqi and others, and he did not make a small contribution when Wei Zhongxian eliminated the Donglin Party. Although Huang Liji rejected the radicals in Donglin, he had a good personal relationship with the conservatives Ye Xianggao, Sun Chengzong and others in Donglin, and he also agreed with some of their political concepts, otherwise he would not have agreed to see Sun Yueling as soon as he received Sun Chengzong's handwritten letter.

Sun Yueling cleaned up his clothes, saw him with the gift of his juniors, and leaned over and said: "Sun Yueling, who was born in Jiangning, was born in the late years, and I have seen the old Huang Ge!" ”

Huang Liji waved his hand and said: "No courtesy, you are the Sun Yueling mentioned by the Sun Pavilion Department?" Sure enough, the appearance is extraordinary, and the atmosphere is outstanding. ”

Sun Yueling leaned over again and said humbly: "The elder of the pavilion has praised it, he was vulgar in his later life, how dare he be praised by the elder of the pavilion!" ”

Huang Liji smiled and said, "The virtuous nephew is too humble!" He saw that Sun Yueling was very respectful, and he did not show any arrogance, and he had a good feeling in his heart, and even his title changed.

The two talked about the scene, sat down opposite each other in front of the bookcase by the window, and after the next person served tea, Huang Liji said lightly: "When the virtuous nephew patrolled Sichuan and Fujian, he made many achievements for my Ming Dynasty, and there are very few people in the younger generation who can be like the virtuous nephew!" ”

Sun Yueling's face was as usual, and he replied like a stream, and said: "Serving the emperor and contributing to the Ming Dynasty is what you should do in your later life." Although Huang Liji in front of him is close to the sixtieth year, his eyebrows are thick and his forehead is broad, and he really looks like an awe-inspiring and dignified high-ranking official, and the big eyes under the face of the national character are even more blazing and intimidating.

Huang Liji waited for him to finish speaking, but he changed his words and said: "The virtuous nephew established the Fenghua Society in Jiangnan to spread the way of practical learning, and the old man admires it tightly, which can be described as something that no one can do, and no one can send it!" ”

Sun Yueling's heart tightened when he heard this, Huang Liji was still praising him on the surface, but there was something in his words, which was clearly accusing him of inciting the people to fight against the government and killing the lieutenants sent by the palace. He secretly thought to himself in his heart, the purpose of coming this time was to persuade Huang Liji to fall to Donglin, and the polite humility just now was due to courtesy, but if he blindly kept a low profile, it would inevitably make Huang Liji look down on him.

So he shook his head and smiled: "The younger generation is dull, so the elder Ge can see it." In fact, in the land south of the Yangtze River, he did his best in everything in his later life, just seeking the right path and not being alone, and having a clear conscience. This is also implying that Huang Liji, in fact, what he did was a last resort, and what he pursued was only justice and justice, and the way of heaven and the hearts of the people.

"The right path is not lonely, and the heart is clear!" Huang Liji was silent, and only after a while did he say leisurely, "The virtuous nephew is really an extraordinary person, no wonder the Sun Pavilion Department will highly respect you in the letter." ”

Sun Yueling knew what Huang Liji was worried about, and his behavior of launching a popular uprising against the government like him could be said to be sensational and extreme, but any normal official was afraid of this, let alone a cabinet minister like Huang Liji. Therefore, this time we must not be complacent about this matter and show the slightest arrogance, otherwise Huang Liji may avoid him from now on.

Also, he couldn't show a hint of wooing him and persuading him to deal with Wei Zhongxian when he came this time, so Huang Liji would not stand on his side, everything needs to be done step by step, step by step, especially a cabinet minister in a high position like Huang Liji, it is impossible to impress him with just the words of justice and truth, and he has to come up with actual dry goods.

Sun Yueling's mind spun rapidly, and he said slowly: "The elder must think that the late life entered Beijing this time to overturn the case for Donglin and correct the traitorous party, in fact, the elder of the pavilion misunderstood, and the late life entered Beijing this time, and he didn't plan to mention the old things of the year at all, but wanted to persuade all the friends in the court to contribute to the Ming court, so he came to visit the elder of the pavilion and let the elder know our thoughts of Donglin." ”

Hearing him say that he did not intend to target those officials of the DPRK and China who had attacked Donglin, Huang Liji's face softened significantly, and said: "Of course, it is very good for the virtuous nephew to have such a will, but now that the court is in power, you Donglin courtiers have to nod through the Duke of Wei if you want to make a difference." He knew that Sun Yueling was one of the leaders of the Donglin Party, and there was no lack of desire to return to the court through his own help, so he clearly told him that Wei Zhongxian was now in power, and if Donglin wanted to make a difference, he had to pass Wei Zhongxian first.

Speaking of which, Sun Yueling knew that it was time to play meat, and Zhengrong said: "Please forgive me for my false words, the elder of the pavilion is wrong!" Looking at Huang Liji's slightly frowning expression, he continued, "Although Gonggong Wei is deeply favored by the Son of Heaven, he may not be able to lean over the government and the opposition. Pavilion elders must not laugh, first of all, the henchmen sent by Gonggong Wei to Jiangnan to deal with us returned in vain, and failed to damage my Donglin Jiangnan foundation; The second is that Gonggong Wei and Feng Quan have been separated, and they have self-destructed a group of henchmen in the court, including the cabinet minister Ding Shaoshi and the ministry Wang Shaohui, which shows that as long as everyone in Donglin works together, some things may not be impossible! ”

As soon as these words fell, Huang Liji was taken aback and said, "The contradiction between Gonggong Wei and Feng Quan is also because of your Donglin?" ”

Sun Yueling looked sincere, and replied cautiously: "Don't hide it from the elders, the reason why Gonggong Wei abandoned Feng Quan, Ding Shaoshi and other henchmen and old ministers is all because of the concerted planning of all my Donglin people!" ”

Huang Liji's expression became solemn, and he said: "But as far as the old man knows, the reason why Feng Quan lost power was because the conflict with Cui Chengxiu intensified, and this fuse was because of the objection to the disposal of Liu Duo, the prefect of Yangzhou. ”

Sun Yueling nodded and said: "What Elder Ge said is very right, we are using Liu Duo's matter to provoke the old and new factions of the Wei Party to fight each other, please forgive me for the specific details that I can't describe them one by one here, but I can assure Elder Ge that we Donglin people just want to tell the princes of the court that although we are weak now, we may not have a place in the court, and some things may not be able to make our own voices!" ”

After saying these words, Sun Yueling no longer spoke, just quietly watched Huang Liji's expression.

Huang Liji's brows furrowed even deeper, and he didn't speak for a long time, and finally sighed, looked at Sun Yueling and said: "Virtuous nephews don't have to be too humble, you Donglin people are already amazing!" His words are also from the heart, Feng Quan's loss of power, Ding Shaoshi's death, and Wang Shaohui's dismissal, if they are all the work of the person in front of him, then no matter what aspect it is, Donglin's power in the court is still not to be underestimated.

Sun Yueling smiled, noncommittal, and continued: "Now that Feng Quan is no longer trusted by Wei Zhongxian, then he is very likely to nominate Cui Chengxiu into the cabinet, and the first assistant Gu Bingqian has been at home for a long time, I think, nine times out of ten Wei Zhongxian will replace Gu Bingqian with Cui Chengxiu, I don't know if the pavilion elder thinks so?" ”

When Sun Yueling said this, he was actually beating drums up and down in his heart, in case Huang Liji only wanted to be a peaceful prime minister and had no further political ambitions, his words would only provoke Huang Liji's disgust. Unexpectedly, Huang Liji didn't move, just sighed slightly, and said: "You are right, since Feng Quan lost power and Ding Shaoshi was deposed, Wei Zhongxian is looking for a new candidate to enter the cabinet, and the proposed list has a total of three people, the first is his henchman Cui Chengxiu, followed by Shi Fenglai and Zhang Ruitu. ”

Sun Yueling saw that Huang Liji's expression was slightly gloomy, and he knew that what he expected in his heart was correct, Huang Liji was not willing to be a mediocre auxiliary minister, but wanted to have further glory, and his heart couldn't help but be excited, as long as Huang Liji was unwilling to commit to Cui Chengxiu and others, then things would be promising.

In fact, his guess was very right, Huang Liji was also very aggrieved in his heart, as a Jinshi in the thirty-second year of Wanli, he was the oldest in the cabinet, twenty-seven years older than Feng Quan, who was only thirty-two years old and was in the second place, but he ranked last in the cabinet, all because he was not as thick-skinned as Gu Bingqian, Feng Quan and others, and dared to put down the dignity of his courtiers to curry favor with Wei Zhongxian.

Because of this, although he also joined the cabinet because of his attachment to the eunuch party, he has never been ranked among the important ministers of the eunuch party, and he is only a marginal figure in the eunuch party, and he can only obey Feng Quan and others in everything in the cabinet. Now that Ding Shaoshi is dead, Feng Quan is about to leave his post, he thought that he could finally become the power of the Ming Dynasty, but Wei Zhongxian actually wanted to promote Cui Chengxiu, Shi Fenglai and others into the cabinet, these three people are the core members of the eunuch party, if they enter the cabinet, I am afraid he is still the same as before, everything depends on people's breath, although people are in the cabinet, but they are only in vain, and continue to sit on the cold bench to the end.

Sun Yueling seemed to have seen through his thoughts, smiled faintly, and said: "Huang Ge Lao, if you are the first and auxiliary honorable position, we Donglin people will definitely give full support, whether it is in the court or in the opposition Donglin courtiers, from now on will take you as the head of the horse, and under your guidance, devote yourself to serving the emperor and the Ming Dynasty!" ”