The next day is the early dynasty.

As soon as the civil and military officials finished worshipping, Emperor Longwu said in a heavy tone: "Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to inform you of a sad news, due to overwork, Sun Ge Lao has fallen ill and is bedridden, and the imperial doctor told me that Sun Ge Lao's illness is very serious, even if there is the best panacea, it will take at least half a year to recuperate. ”

Except for a few high-ranking officials such as Gao Hongtu, Shi Kefa, Qian Qianyi, Lu Daqi, and Wang Pu, who knew the inside story, the rest of the civil and military officials did not know about it, and even Yang Tingjian, the new champion who Gao Hongtu regarded as his confidant, did not know about it, and the officials of the Donglin Party looked at each other, and a whisper sounded in the hall for a moment.

"Silence." Zhang Zi'an shook off the dust and stepped forward and shouted, "There is no noise in the court." ”

"Alas......" Emperor Longwu lamented, and said in a tone of great regret and regret, "On this eventful autumn, Sun Ge Lao unfortunately fell ill, which is really the misfortune of me, the misfortune of the country, and the great misfortune of the people in the world......

As he spoke, Emperor Longwu actually shed two lines of tears.

Wang Pu, who was standing in the military general's class, was secretly frightened, if he hadn't known the inside story, he would almost have believed that Emperor Longwu was revealing his true feelings, this master had such a skill and scheming at a young age, and what was even more terrifying was that his acting skills were so good, compared to Emperor Chongzhen, how could he get it?

In an instant, a terrible thought crossed Wang Pu's mind: Emperor Longwu was too scheming, and he was really not an ideal candidate for a puppet emperor, should he abolish Emperor Longwu and set up another Yongwang or make him emperor?

However, this idea flashed in Wang Pu's mind, Wang Pu listened to Professor Yi Zhongtian's lecture on the Three Kingdoms, and knew that Dong Zhuo's abolition, Yuan Shao's establishment and Yuan Shu's self-reliance did not end well in the end, and only Cao Ying's support for the emperor was able to achieve positive results, which is not a historical accident, but has a deep-seated reason.

The deep-seated reason for this is the powerful Shilin gatekeeper, while in the Ming Dynasty it was the much larger Shilin class.

Emperor Longwu is the eldest son of Emperor Chongzhen, representing the most orthodox royal bloodline, Wang Pu supports Emperor Longwu can obtain a high degree of moral, bloodline and emotional recognition of the entire Shilin class, but if Wang Pu forcibly deposes Emperor Longwu with the army in his hand, and sets up King Yong or sets Wang as the emperor, he will immediately become the public enemy of the entire Shilin class.

It is foreseeable that if Wang Pu really deposes Emperor Longwu, even if he is a traverser, the end will not be much better than Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu and others, and it may even be the next Zuo Liangyu.

In the Fengtian Palace, Emperor Longwu's "true feelings" deceived almost everyone, and many civil and military officials who didn't know the inside story sighed, and the situation was similar to Sun Chuanting having sacrificed his life for the country.

Yang Tingjian, the champion of the new department, suddenly came out of class and knelt down on top of the Danqi, and said loudly: "Long live, Sun Ge's illness is certainly a great loss for the Ming Dynasty, but the cabinet can't be presiding over it. ”

Sun Chuanting hugged the bed at home, and the position of the first assistant of the cabinet was vacant, and only Qian Qianyi and Lu Daqi were obviously unable to preside over the heavy government affairs of the cabinet, and it was a matter of course to add cabinet members, but the position of the first assistant of the cabinet should be taken by Qian Qianyi or Lu Daqi according to the convention.

After all, Emperor Longwu is still young now, and he is not in power, his prestige is far from enough to be compared with Emperor Chongzhen, and the selection of the first assistant to the cabinet seems to be a bit overstepping, just like Zhang Juzheng, the first assistant of the cabinet of the Wanli Dynasty, was appointed after the fall of the high arch, not the young Emperor Wanli.

Yang Tingjian's voice fell, and almost everyone's eyes fell on Qian Qianyi and Lu Daqi.

If Qian Qianyi and Lu Daqi are strong enough, they can completely rely on the authority of the second assistant of the cabinet to reject the advice of Yang Tingjian, the new champion, and they can also use the supreme authority of the cabinet to indulge and control the upcoming cabinet meeting, and they can even secretly control the final candidates for the cabinet.

But Qian Qianyi and Lu Daqi kept silent, and actually acquiesced to Yang Tingjian's advice.

This made the officials of the Donglin family very discouraged, but the officials of the Gao Hongtu family looked excited, and the forbearance and concession of Qian Qianyi and Lu Daqi confirmed the rumors from the side: Qian Qianyi and Lu Daqi were just Sun Chuanting's echo boards in the cabinet, and once Sun Chuanting fell, they would be nothing.

Emperor Longwu happily bowed his head and said: "Since Elder Qian Ge and Elder Lu Ge have no opinions, then according to the regulations, you Aiqing will nominate a suitable candidate." ”

"The minister recommended Gao Hongtu to be a tall man."

Emperor Longwu's voice fell, and Yang Tingjian knelt on the ground and said, "The tall man is an honest official, and he has outstanding ability, and his reputation in terms of seniority is enough to enter the cabinet." ”

"The minister seconded the proposal."

"The minister also seconded the proposal."

"The ministers and others seconded it."

Yang Tingjian's voice fell, Jiang Yueguang, Wang Duo and all the officials from the new science and technology scholars came out of class and knelt on the ground, a few officials who did not belong to the Gao Hongtu department and did not belong to the Donglin department hesitated, and also went out of the class to kneel down Danqi, Shi Kefa and Ma Shiying were expressionless, and the officials of the Donglin department looked at each other, without the instructions of Qian Qianyi and Lu Daqi, these Donglin officials did not dare to express their positions at will.

Qian Qianyi and Lu Daqi looked at their noses and noses, and their noses looked at their hearts, and they didn't notice all this.

Gao Hongtu is more shameless than Sun Chuanting, Sun Chuanting pretended to pass the buck when he was first promoted, but Gao Hongtu even saved this basic procedure.

It is undeniable that Gao Hongtu is a clean official, he is indeed honest and self-disciplined as an official, and he has never been greedy for a silver or two, but this does not mean that he is a good official, he is just to gain fame, and to gain fame is just to seek higher authority, and the first assistant of the cabinet is undoubtedly the limit of the ministers, Gao Hongtu has been longing for this chair for many years!

Emperor Longwu looked around and saw that there was no objection, so he happily bowed his head and said: "Since all of you Aiqing strongly agree, and Elder Qian Ge and Elder Lu Ge have no different opinions, then this matter is so decided......"

"Hooray!"

Before Emperor Longwu finished speaking, Shi Kefa suddenly came out of class and knelt down on Danqi, and said loudly, "The old minister has a play." ”

Gao Hongtu's eyelids jumped suddenly, and Ma Shiying's slightly closed eyelids suddenly opened, and his expression seemed to be a little surprised, and Wang Pu in the military general class was even more heartbeating: Good girl, what the hell is this old guy Shi Kefa? Don't you want to stop Gao Hongtu from entering the cabinet, right? That's a good thing for Wang Pu.

"Shi Aiqing, what are you doing?"

Emperor Longwu's brows were already frowning, Chrysostom Yuyan was interrupted by his courtiers, who would be the emperor Yanjing would be unhappy, Emperor Longwu could still bear to call Shi Kefa Aiqing, and his cultivation was already very good.

Shi Kefa completely ignored the fact that he had already touched Long Yan, raised his teeth and said proudly: "Long live, the old minister thinks that Gao Hongtu is narrow-minded and has no grace to tolerate people, and he is not enough to preside over the cabinet. ”

Gao Hongtu's face turned blue with anger when he heard this, but he couldn't bear to refute it at work, if he came out of class to refute, wouldn't it just respond to Shi Kefa's comment of "narrow-mindedness and intolerable elegance"? Thinking of this, Gao Hongtu hurriedly relaxed his facial muscles and tried his best to pretend to be calm.

"Tall people have no grace?"

Emperor Longwu's brows furrowed even tighter, Shi Kefa was an old minister of the former dynasty, and his identity was not trivial, "Shi Aiqing, do you know the weight of these two sentences you said?" ”

"The old minister is terrified."

Gao Hongtu knew that the opportunity to defend himself had come, and without waiting for Shi Kefa to answer, he rushed out of the class and knelt on the ground, and said loudly, "The old minister has been an official for decades, although he has no power, he can also clean himself and love himself, but compared with Sun Ge Lao and Shi Daren, it is like a firefly than Haoyue, and the old minister is ashamed of himself. ”

Ma Shiying, who was standing on the side, pursed his lips, and a trace of disdain appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Wang Pu in the military general class couldn't help but cheer, thinking that Gao Hongtu's hand was playing beautifully by retreating, even if he couldn't get rid of Shi Kefa and Ma Shiying, these old oilmen in officialdom, but at least gave Emperor Longwu a reason to play on the topic.

Sure enough, Gao Hongtu's voice fell, and Emperor Longwu said loudly: "Gao Aiqing dares to humble himself in public, and his ability is not as good as that of Sun Ge Lao and Shi Aiqing, let alone Shi Aiqing's questioning in the palace, but instead repaying his grievances and promoting Shi Aiqing into the cabinet, how can this kind of behavior be said to be intolerable?" Shi Aiqing, what do you say? ”

Shi Kefa's black and thin old face suddenly turned into a pig's liver color, at this time, the more he said that Gao Hongtu has no tolerance for people's elegance, the result can only show that Gao Hongtu has the amount of tolerance, this is really called lifting a stone to shoot himself in the foot, Shi Kefa is upright, his sleeves are clean, but he is far from scheming.

"Hahaha." Emperor Longwu laughed and said, "You have also seen it, how elegant Gao Aiqing is? If such a virtuous person is not enough to preside over the cabinet, who else is qualified to be in the cabinet? I have made up my mind, and it will be in the cabinet of Prime Minister Gao Aiqing. ”

"The old minister is terrified." Gao Hongtu hurriedly raised his teeth, put on a sincere and fearful expression on his face, and said respectfully, "Since Long Live Chrysostom has been opened, the old minister does not dare to disobey, the old minister can only effectively imitate the high wind and bright festival of Sun Ge Lao, self-denial, diligence and thrift, self-discipline, always think of the court, always think of the country, always think of the world, and never dare to slack off." ”

Emperor Longwu said happily: "Gao Ge Lao, now you are the first assistant of the cabinet. ”

"Hooray." Gao Hongtu said loudly, "The old minister thinks that Jiang Yueguang and Wang Duo can serve the public with their qualifications and abilities, but they can be the old minister, the old Qian Ge, and the old Lu Ge. ”

Wang Pu's brows jumped, this result was a bit unexpected by him, he thought that it must be Ma Shiying and Shi Kefa who entered the cabinet with Gao Hongtu this time, but he really didn't expect that Shi Kefa would actually jump out against Gao Hongtu in the end, and Ma Shiying was once again left aside.

The overall situation has been decided, and it is time to clear the remnants of the Sun Wang Group in the court, Yang Tingjian, the champion of the new section, threw an inquiring glance at Gao Hongtu, but Gao Hongtu shook his head imperceptibly, Yang Tingjian was stunned, and his right hand retracted into his left sleeve was withdrawn, and the letter signed by the hundred officials was not taken out.

Emperor Longwu on the dragon chair suddenly yawned, and Zhang Zi'an hurriedly stepped forward and shouted: "The time has come, and the hundred officials will retreat from the court......"

■■■

It's night, Sun Chuanting's mansion.

Sun Chuanting was feasting on a table of good dishes, and Wang Pu said with a smile: "Old man, Yuanyuan's craftsmanship is not bad, right?" ”

"It's not bad, it's really good." Sun Chuanting had food in his mouth and said vaguely, "I didn't expect Yuanyuan's cooking skills to grow a lot, boy, do you know how lucky you are?" I don't know how many wooden fish I broke in my previous life to build this good daughter-in-law who 'can go to the hall and the kitchen'. ”

"Haha." Wang Pu smiled proudly, "That is, the Buddha said that five hundred times of looking back in the previous life can be exchanged for passing by in this life, if you want to marry a good daughter-in-law like Yuanyuan, you can't knock it just by knocking on the wooden fish, hehe." ”

Qian Qianyi on the side was a well-known merry sect leader in Jiangzuo, and when he heard this, he said with envy: "That's, who doesn't envy the Yanfu of the Hou Ye in Jiangzuo?" I heard that in addition to Mrs. Yuanyuan and Mrs. Xiaowan, Hou Ye also has two confidants in the army, Li Shiniang, Li Xiangjun, Gu Mei, Kou Baimen and other Nanqu celebrities are afraid that they also have a secret relationship with Hou Yefang. ”

"Hehe, don't talk about this, let's get down to business, let's get down to business."

Wang Pu snorted and perfunctory the topic, Li Siniang and Li Xiangjun don't care about him Wang Pufang, it doesn't matter, the important thing is that now they are partners in Wonderland, so sooner or later they have to become Wang Pu's forbidden body, otherwise how can Wang Pu rest assured that they will take care of the business of Wonderland?

Getting back to the point, Lu Daqi asked Sun Chuanting with concern: "Elder Sun Ge, is your body really okay?" ”

Sun Chuanting smiled and asked rhetorically: "Old Lu Ge, do you see that the old man looks like he is seriously ill?" ”

"Not really." Qian Qianyi said flatteringly, "Old Sun Ge's face is ruddy. ”

"That's it." Wang Pu laughed and said, "The old man is fierce and fierce, and it is more than enough to clean up the little goblins in the fairyland." ”

"Go, go." Sun Chuanting's face turned red when he heard this, and he said angrily, "Lao Tzu is not good at that." ”

Wang Pu said proudly: "Old man, why do I look at you with a little weak heart?" ”

Sun Chuanting is really a little weak-hearted, he really goes to the fairyland every once in a while, not to covet the beauty of the girl in the fairyland, but to covet the pleasure of bathing, Sun Chuanting likes to take a bath the most in his life, and the service of the fairyland makes him feel like he has found a home, and he is hooked when he goes back.

In addition, every time Sun Chuanting goes to the Wonderland, it is the highest level of "Heavenly Realm", although he is older, he is a little powerless to do that, but it is impossible to say that he has not touched any meat, anyway, Wang Pu gave him a "gold card", and Sun Chuanting [***] has no psychological obstacles.

Qian Qianyi and Lu Daqi looked at each other and laughed, their expressions were very ambiguous, and the two of them often went to the fairyland to be merry and happy, because they also had the "gold card" given by Wang Pu in their hands.

After laughing, Lu Daqi said: "Master Hou, Elder Sun Ge, are we making a fuss about this?" Originally, as long as you are in the cabinet for a day, who else in the court can turn the sky upside down? The central army is firmly controlled by Hou Ye, and the troops in other towns dare to act rashly, and Zuo Liangyu is their example. ”

"yes." Qian Qianyi also said worriedly, "There is a way that is too much, in case Gao Hongtu really relies on the identity of the first assistant of the cabinet to make something, it will be unbeautiful." ”

Sun Chuanting nodded, turned his eyes to Wang Pu, and said in a solemn tone: "Although the old man guessed your intentions the day before yesterday and cooperated with you in a play, the old man still felt that Qian Ge Lao and Lu Ge Lao's worries were not unreasonable, and the only people who could make trouble in the court were Gao Hongtu, Ma Shiying, Shi Kefa, Liao Liao, and a few people, so it was strictly monitored, so why bother so much?" ”

Wang Pu said solemnly: "Dad, two elders, I don't know if you have heard a sentence?" ”

Sun Chuanting asked, "What words?" ”

"There are only thousands of thieves, and there are no thieves!" Wang Pu said in a condensed voice, "Gao Hongtu, Ma Shiying, and Shi Kefa are in the open, not terrible, what is really terrible is those opponents hidden in the dark, don't underestimate them because of their humble position, sometimes, a small person is enough to change the whole world!" ”

■■■

Gao Hongtu Mansion.

Jiang Yueguang, Wang Duo, Yang Tingjian and other henchmen are also discussing with Gao Hongtu.

Yang Tingjian asked: "This is the early dynasty, why didn't Gao Ge Lao let the students present the joint performance of the hundred officials to long live?" ”

Gao Hongtu waved his hand and said in a condensed voice: "After the last dynasty, the old man thought about it carefully, and felt that it was not yet time to tear his face with Wang Pu, although Sun Chuanting and Wang Pu did not have a deep foundation in Jiangnan, but the Central Army was Wang Pu's descendant, and he was really going to tear his face, and the old man was worried that Wang Pu would break the jar and break it, so it would be bad." ”

Jiang Yueguang hurriedly said: "Gao Ge Lao is very worried, if you want to bring down Wang Pu, it is indeed not appropriate to be in a hurry. ”

Wang Duo also said: "Yes, yes, this matter needs to be considered in the long run." ”

Yang Tingjian secretly scolded the three old guys in his heart, the older they were, the less courageous they became, but they had to put on a teachable look on their faces, and said respectfully: "It's the students who are reckless." ”

"Bingru, you can't be blamed for this." Gao Hongtu shook his hand and said, "The old man is also inconsiderate. ”

Yang Tingjian said: "Gao Ge Lao, what should we do next?" ”

Gao Hongtu said: "The top priority is to change the national policy, send a peace mission to Yanjing, and then find a way to break the alliance between the Sun Wang group and the Donglin Restoration Society, and finally find a way to disintegrate Wang Pu's central army, but the last two are urgent, the most important thing is to negotiate peace, Bingru, how about you as the envoy for this peace?" ”

Yang Tingjian hurriedly said: "The subordinates are willing to serve the work of dogs and horses." ”

Gao Hongtu patted Yang Tingjian's shoulder, and said in a harmonious voice: "Bing Ru, the bottom line of this peace negotiation is to cede the area north of the Yangtze River, and it is better not to cede the Jiangbei provinces in the south and directly under the Yangtze River, after all, these provinces are still under the control of the Central Army, and the condition for peace is that no swords will be used within five years!" ”

As he was talking, the housekeeper Gao Fu suddenly came in and whispered a few words in Gao Hongtu's ear.

Gao Hongtu changed color slightly, got up and said to Jiang Yueguang, Wang Duo, and Yang Tingjian: "Elder Jiang Ge, Elder Wang Ge and Bingru, let's discuss it here today, you each go back to the house and prepare to go." ”

"So, the men and the others will take their leave."

Jiang Yueguang and the three of them left one after another, Gao Hongtu sent out of the gate and turned back, and asked Gao Fudao: "Gao Fu, who is this person?" ”

(To be continued)