Longping Marquis Zhang Xin, of course this person Xia knows, I'm afraid that no one in the Manchu Dynasty will not know him now.

Zhang Xin was originally a junior officer guarding the border pass, but he was proficient in the art of war, wise and brave, and made many military exploits in the border pass, so he accumulated merit and was promoted to the commander of the capital. He is also very honest and humble, and has a good relationship with many generals in the army.

When Emperor Jianwen Zhu Yun ascended the throne, some ministers recommended to the emperor, saying that Zhang Xin was brave and resourceful, and could be of great use, so Emperor Jianwen transferred Zhang Xin to the Beiping Metropolitan Division, in charge of the Beiping army, and monitored Zhu Di, the king of Yan.

Later, Emperor Jianwen listened to the advice of Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng, and after cutting down the five feudal kings, he decided to take action against Zhu Di, the king of Yan. On the one hand, he secretly arrested the ministers under the command of King Yan and tortured the so-called evidence of rebellion, and on the other hand, he issued a secret edict to Zhang Xin, asking him to join Zhang and Xie Gui, the political secretary of Beiping at that time, to raise troops to arrest Zhu Di, the king of Yan, and the officials of the palace.

Since Zhang Xin arrived in Beiping, King Yan has treated him well, so after receiving the secret edict, he hesitated and was afraid in his heart. When his mother learned about it, she advised him: "No, King Yan treats my family well, and your father often says that the king is angry in Yan, and he is afraid of being wiped out on his back." Zhang Xin listened to his mother's words, so he went to Yanwang's mansion to tell the truth.

Zhu Di, the king of Yan, was in the palace at this time to avoid illness, and Zhang Xin was not the old subordinate of the king of Yan, but was sent by Emperor Jianwen to monitor him, so Zhang Xin asked to see him three times, and Zhu Di, the king of Yan, was sick and did not see him.

Zhang Xin knelt outside the gate of the palace, insisted on asking to see, and was finally able to enter the palace and visit King Yan's sickbed. Zhang Xin took out the secret edict and told him, and Zhu Di, the king of Yan, was terrified, and immediately convened the generals to discuss, and immediately raised troops to capture the nine gates of Beiping.

Since then, the battle of Jingjing has been launched for nearly four years.

In the end, the Yan army invaded Nanjing, Emperor Jianwen died, Zhu Di ascended the throne, rewarded for meritorious deeds, promoted Zhang Xin to the governor of the capital, named the Marquis of Longping, and attacked the lord for generations. For Zhang Xin's mother, Zhu Di also rewarded him greatly.

Zhu Di was very grateful to Zhang Xin's secret report back then, and often called him "Enzhang" before the courtiers, and wanted to accept Zhang Xin's daughter as a concubine to show his favor, but Zhang Xin resolutely refused.

With such a legendary experience, as well as an extraordinary friendship with the emperor Zhu Di, Zhang Xin, Marquis of Longping, naturally became a celebrity in the government and the opposition.

However, what Xia Xiang didn't understand was that such an important minister, who was deeply favored by the emperor and was famous in the government and the opposition, would be of any help to the current crisis in Lanzhou, thousands of miles away?

Jian Yi looked at Xia's confused face and asked, "What do you think of the Marquis of Longping?"

Xia thought for a while before he replied solemnly: "Although the Marquis of Longping is highly meritorious and favored by the emperor, this person is quite arrogant and arrogant, and there are many illegal acts. I often hear about small profits and forcible occupation of people's land. ”

"The little nephew heard that Cheng Ying was collecting evidence, and was ready to impeach him for wanton corruption, forcibly occupying more than 80 miles of Lianhu Lake in Danyang and more than 70 hectares of Guantian in Jiangyin. Now this Marquis of Longping is only afraid that he is too busy to take care of himself, right?"

Jian Yi smiled and asked Xia: "In your opinion, this time Cheng Ying is impeached, what will happen to Long Pinghou?"

Xia hesitated for a moment and said: "The emperor hates corruption the most, if Cheng Yushi's impeachment is confirmed, even if he will not be stripped of his title, he will inevitably be severely punished, and if he doesn't do well, he will be imprisoned." ”

Jian Yi laughed and said: "I can bet that what Cheng Ying played will inevitably be found to be unsubstantiated, and the Marquis of Longping will be reprimanded by the emperor at most, and there will not be even a single hair." ”

Xia was shocked and asked movingly, "Why is this?"

Jian Yi smiled: "Have you ever thought that Zhang Xin was honest and humble, selfless, so he was very prestigious in the army, and even after the emperor ascended the throne, he wanted to accept his daughter as a concubine to show his favor, what a privilege this is? How can such a person who has no desire for fame, fortune and status become pampered and arrogant now, and run amok for some petty profits?"

Xia was stunned when he heard this, and also asked, "Yes, why?"

Jian Yi whispered with a cunning look on his face

"Because that's what I taught him." ”

Xia was stunned and looked at Jian Yi in confusion.

Jian Yi saw that he didn't understand at all, and sighed softly and said: "Today's emperor is a world where it is difficult to raise troops and appease, and he naturally takes the military spirit and military power very seriously. For a general like Zhang Xin, who has a high reputation in the army, he will really be completely relieved and trusted?"

"Zhang Xin was not the old department of King Yan, although the whistleblower in Beiping was a miracle, but it may also be his last resort due to the situation. Now that the emperor has won the world, he is rewarded for his merits, but he is cautious everywhere, showing that he is indifferent to fame and fortune, and he is selfless, what do you think the emperor will think?"

Xia hesitated for a moment and didn't answer, how could the emperor's thoughts be something that a young man like him could speculate about?

Jian Yi didn't wait for him to answer, and then said: "The emperor will think at this time, you are not my old department, and you can only betray the old master and come here halfway." Now that you are a marquis and have a prominent position, you are still careful everywhere and show your selflessness in everything, why is this? The more you show indifference to fame and fortune, the more the emperor will suspect that what you have behind your back. Coupled with Zhang Xin's prestige in the army, how could he not arouse the suspicion of the emperor?"

He nodded again and again when he saw Xia listening, seemed to understand a little, and said: "In fact, since Zhang Xinjian resigned from the emperor's suggestion to accept his daughter as a concubine, although the emperor has not changed anything about Zhang Xin on the surface, he feels a little more and more estranged, and secretly ordered Jinyi Wei to monitor his every move. ”

"Zhang Xin was so frightened that he came to me and asked me for a way to protect himself. After thinking about it, there was no other good way, so I gave Zhang Xin a way to defile himself. ”

"Self-defilement?" Hearing this, Xia basically understood a little.

Jian Yi said: "What the emperor is suspicious of is just Zhang Xin's reputation and reputation, and the plotter is big, if you want to eliminate his doubts, you can only pour some dirty water on yourself." deliberately made a pampered and arrogant appearance, oppressed the people from time to time, forcibly occupied the people's land for petty profits, and did some small illegal things. ”

"Actually, I know that Zhang Xin's oppression of the people, the forcible occupation of the people's land, he will use a lot of money to appease afterwards, Cheng Ying found the so-called forcibly occupied official land, as soon as the emperor speaks, it will be returned, according to the law and fined some silver, what kind of crime can be counted?"

"But when these things reach the emperor's ears, he will think, it turns out that you Zhang Xin is just a little bit of a mouse, and he is just a villain who bullies people for some small profits. In that case, what is there to be suspicious of?"

Xia listened with a look of sudden realization on his face, nodded incessantly, but secretly said in his heart, sure enough, only this old fox can understand the emperor's thoughts.

Jian Yi looked at him and said with a smile: "So I can bet that as soon as Cheng Ying's impeachment recital goes up, the emperor will not only punish Marquis Longping heavily, but will excuse him in many ways, because the emperor will not be willing to leave behind an ungrateful and ruin the reputation of a meritorious hero for such a trivial matter." ”

But Xia still didn't understand, what could Zhang Xin, Marquis of Longping, do about the situation in Lanzhou thousands of miles away at this moment?

Jian Yi seemed to see through Xia's thoughts, and said: "When Zhang Xin was guarding the border passes, he had a lot of friendships with the generals in the army, especially with Song Sheng, the old marquis of Xining, who had the best relationship, and when Song Sheng was later transferred to the northwest border, most of the subordinates he brought with him were all under Zhang Xin's command before. ”

Xia only felt that his eyes lit up, and blurted out: "Uncle means the Marquis of Longping......"

Jian Yi nodded and said: "If the little marquis Song Hu wants to deal with His Royal Highness King Su, he will inevitably mobilize the border garrison, and the only one in the court who can stop the border generals is Zhang Xin, the Marquis of Longping!"

Xia Dao: "But thousands of miles away, how can he stop it?"

Jian Yi smiled faintly and said, "You don't have to worry about it." I know that Zhang Xin has been secretly in correspondence with his old subordinates, so you just need to quietly go to his house to meet with him, tell him about the current situation, and ask him to repair a letter and send it to the army as soon as possible. ”

"I expected that Song Amber was nothing more than because of his father's death, listen

believed the rumors, thinking that it was His Royal Highness King Su who did it, so he raised troops to take revenge. As long as the Marquis of Longping makes the stakes clear in his letters, Song Hu is the emperor's concubine and the newly attacked Marquis of Xining, and he will definitely not be punished seriously. Once a military disaster occurs, it must be these rebellious border guards who really become scapegoats. ”

"As long as these generals can be persuaded to no longer be controlled by Song Hu, and Song Hu has no troops to adjust, the danger of Lanzhou City will naturally be lifted. Later, the emperor will definitely reorganize the northwest frontier defense, and Song Xiaohou will not have to worry about it. ”

Jian Yi said it so confidently, obviously it had been carefully considered, which made Xia feel puzzled in his heart, and couldn't help asking: "Since my uncle has already calculated a last resort, he has already thought of this method, why don't you just go to Longping Hou Zhang Xin to explain it, why do you need to let the little nephew do it for you?"

Jian Yi couldn't help but show a wry smile on his face: "Don't you know, the emperor is the most jealous of us civil officials and military generals colluding with each other, especially as the head of the cabinet like me, I don't know how many pairs of eyes are staring at it." If I go to the Marquis Longping Mansion, tomorrow at dawn, those imperial history masters in the Imperial History Observatory will impeach me in the recital book on the emperor's dragon case!"

Xia couldn't help but tighten in his heart, and said, "Then the little nephew goes, wouldn't it be ...... too?"

Jian Yi sneered and said: "Who will notice if an unruly official like you goes to the door? As long as you don't beat gongs and drums, you can come to the door." ”

Xia smiled a little shyly, and was about to get up and say goodbye.

Jian Yi stopped him and asked, "When I talked about teaching Zhang Xin's method of self-defilement just now, I saw that you seemed to have a different look, could it be that you were touched in your heart?"

Xia couldn't help but feel secretly frightened by Jian Yi's amazing observation, and he didn't dare to hide it at the moment, so he lowered his head and said, "The little nephew just remembered his father. ”

Jian Yi pondered for a moment and asked, "It's been more than a month since your father left Beijing, right?"

Xia nodded and said: "Exactly, my father was escorted to Beiping by the holy decree to transport the wood and workers needed to build the palace, and it has been more than a month since he left Beijing. ”

Jian Yi asked in a deep voice, "What are you worried about?"

Xia hesitated for a moment, and said softly: "After hearing about the Marquis of Longping, the little nephew couldn't help but think of his father. I heard that the emperor was afraid that the workers would be lazy this time, so he specially sent Jinyi Wei to escort and strictly supervise him. My father, fearing that the workers would be punished for violating the ban, gathered them together in advance and warned them before setting out, so everyone was very grateful to him. ”

"And before my father was responsible for managing the floods in western Zhejiang, relocating displaced people, doing his best, and being selfless, the government and the opposition and even the people were all praised, and there were many words of praise. ”

Jian Yi looked at Xia and asked, "Isn't this good?"

Xia sighed and said: "The little nephew heard that when Li Si was the prime minister of Qin, all meritorious deeds were given to the king, and if there was a fault, it was attributed to himself, and this sincerity was also the way of a courtier." Although my father acted selflessly, they all said that these were the credit of my father, but they did not mention the emperor's kindness at all. In the long run, I am afraid it will not be a good thing. In addition, I heard my uncle talk about the Marquis of Longping just now, so I couldn't help but worry about my father. ”

Jian Yi looked a little surprised, and looked at Xia Hao for a while in a daze, before he said: "At a young age, what do you know! Your father's talent is far better than yours, how can you not know the key points? Don't worry, it's important to go to see Long Pinghou as soon as possible." ”

Xia was really worried about the three brothers in Lanzhou City, so he answered, hurriedly got up and left.

Jian Yi looked at his back in a daze, and couldn't help but sigh secretly in his heart, Xia Yuanji, Xia Yuanji, how did you give birth to a son so smart! But unfortunately, this son may be far smarter than you, but his future achievements may not be as good as yours.

This is often the case in the world, the more intelligent people are who can see through everything, but their achievements are often not very large, because they are too smart to find a goal that they can devote themselves to and sacrifice for.

And the people who can really get things done are often those who are not smart and admit death.