Hearing the news that Zhang Ximin died of serious injuries, Chen Xinbo felt dazed for a while. The more he thought about it, the more troublesome the matter became. Who would have thought that Association Zhang was so ruthless that he would kill his own son without delay. He was the one who would
If doubts are raised, the emperor will not believe it, but may drag himself into the shit.
Chen Xinbo and Wang Qishan first went to Taihe Palace to complete the order. Just as they were about to return home to plan carefully, they were walking in the aisle when they heard someone shouting from behind: "Master Chen, Master Chen..."
Chen Xinbo looked back and saw that it was Lu Huizong, the chamberlain's young eunuch and the steward of Wanshou Palace. Looking at him, he seemed to have been waiting here for a long time.
Lu Huizong was from the Wanshou Palace, so he must have been sent by the Queen Mother to find him. Chen Xinbo thought in his mind: The Liang family was discouraged by the Donghu people in the battle of Chentangyi, and the official Xu Liang family occupied Shandong. On the one hand, they hoped that the Liang family could clean up the river.
In the chaos in Huai, on the one hand, Prince Li Ning could use the Liang family to suppress the uncontrolled expansion of Jiang and Huai forces; on the other hand, Yan and Hebei could count on the Liang family to come to their aid when in danger; for a time, the Wanshou Palace also became active in Beijing.
The Liang family failed to recover from the chaos in the Hehuai River, and the Donghu people invaded. The Liang family's troops stopped advancing in Pingyuan Mansion. The abacus in Jiangning was even more heart-wrenching - the Huaidong Army would be the future King of Qin, and the people here were gnashing their teeth with hatred.
The Longevity Palace has naturally become a stinky cesspool, and no one cares about it anymore.
Chen Xinbo thought of Li Zhuo's words before his death: You must not go to Jinhai. Going south may have a chance of survival... Going south is the territory of the Liang family, so the Longevity Palace may not be useless.
Chen Xinbo couldn't figure out for a while why Li Zhuo said he couldn't go to Jinhai, but his expression softened and he stood there waiting for Lu Huizong to come over and asked, "Why did Master Lu call me?"
"If Mr. Chen has some free time, the Queen Mother would like to invite Mr. Chen to visit the Wanshou Palace," Lu Huizong said.
Chen Xinbo hesitated for a moment and said, "I have nothing else to do. I just want to go back to the mansion..." Then he followed Lu Huizong and the two young eunuchs who accompanied him to the Longevity Palace.
The passage between the palace walls is deep and long, and through the door is a white marble screen wall with a height of more than two feet. In the center is the Chinese character "Shou" inscribed with a size of more than ten feet, surrounded by small characters. Chen Xinbo has poor eyesight, but he knows that the small characters he encountered this week are all
The character "Shou" presented by ministers on the occasion of the Empress Dowager's 60th birthday was rubbed and engraved on it.
After walking around the screen wall, he saw a sedan parked in the front courtyard. Chen Xinbo asked Lu Huizong in a low voice: "But King Lu is here?" There were not many people in Beijing who could directly enter the Longevity Palace in a sedan - although the situation was chaotic,
But the rules in the palace still need to be followed. Except for Chen Xinbo, a veteran of three dynasties, not just anyone can go directly to the front yard of Wanshou Palace to get off the sedan chair.
"Well," Lu Huizong said, "Prince Lu and Princess Yangxin have been invited over to talk to the Queen Mother to relieve their boredom. They haven't left yet..."
In the 10th year of Chongguan, Yuan Jianhai inherited the title of King Lu and stayed in the capital. Although he and Ning Wang Yuan Jianwu were both nephews of the present emperor, Ning Wang Yuan Jianwu was the heir of the late emperor, and the current emperor had no heirs.
It is natural to inherit the throne.
Of course, if we can successfully break out of the siege and go to Jiangning to establish a new capital, Jiangning will definitely depose King Ning based on Jiangning's stand-by and watch at this time. But even if we get to that point, it may not be King Lu's turn to take the throne. There are still several
The nephew is going to fight.
Zhang Xie even abandoned his son, probably because he had made up his mind to stay in Yanjing. If Chen Dingbang or Lu Xiong broke out of the city and leaked the news of Li Zhuo's death to Chen Zhihu, he might not be able to survive.
I hope Chen Zhihu will do his best to escort him out of the encirclement - if he can fight for it, he will win!
Chen Xinbo felt a kind of indulgence that would stop everything, and he thought: If Zhang Xie's doubts were exposed in front of the Queen Mother, maybe he could beat Zhang Xie? But after thinking about it carefully, he shook his head and denied it. In the end, the emperor would have to believe it.
That's too risky. There's no chance of a sure hit or a sure kill, so we can't just break up.
Chen Xinbo was led by the young eunuch to drink tea in the side hall. Lu Huizong went in to inform and returned shortly, asking Chen Xinbo to come. After passing through the hall, Chen Xinbo and Lu Huizong walked into the courtyard where the Empress Dowager Liang lived. Princess Yuan Yan of Yangxin came from the inside.
He bowed and saluted: "Master Chen..."
"Little princess, you are polite." Chen Xinbo bowed in return and respectfully sent Princess Yang Xin off first.
Princess Yuan Yan of Yangxin was the daughter of the original King Yuan Jiancheng of Lu, and was considered the grand-niece of the Empress Dowager Liang. Jinan city was destroyed. Except for a few people such as the former general Zhenguo, Yuan Jianhai, the current King of Lu, and his niece Yuan Yan, who escaped in the chaos, most of the people in the Royal Palace of Lu escaped.
Some died in an accident or were taken to the north to be slaves.
The Empress Dowager Liang took pity on Yuan Yan, kept her in the palace, adopted her, and named her a princess. More than three years later, the little girl three years ago is now a fifteen-year-old girl with bright eyes and good eyesight.
Chen Xinbo thought to himself: When retreating south, the Queen Mother should take King Lu and Princess Yangxin with her, right?
Entering the inner room where the incense was burning, Chen Xinbo saw that King Lu Yuan Jianhai was also present. Chen Xinbo bowed to the Queen Mother and King Lu and asked, "The Queen Mother summoned the old ministers to come here. Do you have any important instructions?"
Queen Mother Liang was the empress of Emperor Qingyu. She was even three years older than Emperor Qingyu when she got married and had no children. Sixteen years ago, Emperor Qingyu was assassinated in Qiuye Prison and died without leaving a will.
With the support of his family, he negotiated with the ministers to establish the late emperor, the then King of Jin, as the emperor, and she became the most powerful woman in the court for a while. As a supporting minister, Chen Xinbo served as the left minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs at that time, and then gradually took over the power of the prime minister.
.
Using this as a wedge, the Western Qin Party was able to control the government, the Liang family was able to control the border troops, and together with the Liang family who controlled the inner court, they supported the rule of the Dai Viet Dynasty.
Thinking of the scenery back then, Chen Xinbo felt a little sentimental: How great would it have been if there had not been the defeat of Chentangyi?
"I heard that you went to see Li Zhuo off for the last time," said Liang, who had white hair and a bright head, a face like a crane skin, and his eyes hidden under the white hair were still energetic. He asked Lu Huizong to bring Chen Xinbo a stool to sit down and talk, and said
, "The Ai family also knew that Li Zhuo was wronged, but they could not let the emperor take this responsibility. The Ai family also went over to see Hao Zongcheng. Although the Ai family did not like Hao Zongcheng, he would not betray the emperor. He
With things like this, it would be too pitiful to ask him to bear the responsibility for the defeat of Liaoxi. But if the responsibility for the defeat of Liaoxi is not determined, and the morale of the army is not stabilized, the move of the capital cannot be done, and Li Zhuo can only be wronged.
The emperor is very proud and will not say these things, but in a few years, he may not be able to discuss them again."
Chen Xinbo knew that the Queen Mother was just talking to comfort him and Li Zhuo's teacher-student friendship, so he kept his voice silent to show that he was in a heavy mood, and secretly tried to figure out the Queen Mother's intention of calling him over.
"Li Zhuoke, what message do you want you to leave to the emperor?" Liang asked.
"Li Zhuo left a message saying that Yanjing broke through and left behind Chen Zhihu Palace, and there was still a glimmer of hope for the southward journey. We must not listen to Hao Zongcheng's words and go east to Jinhai! Yuan Lishan will be brave, and his relatives are all in the capital, so there is no way he can go without a fight.
Surrender! Please ask the emperor to give generous rewards to the generals and their family members of Jizhen, so as to calm the hearts of the generals who were forced to surrender to the Donglu... In addition, Li Zhuo also left a suicide note to Chen Zhihu. The suicide note is with the emperor at this time.
The emperor still has to decide whether to send it to Chen Zhihu or not." Chen Xinbo said, except for adjusting the words to express the meaning more completely and accurately, but without distorting Li Zhuo's meaning. After all, Wang Qishan was present and listening at the time.
"What was the emperor's reaction after hearing this?" Liang asked.
Chen Xinbo hesitated for a moment and said: "The emperor was furious and wanted to drag Li Zhuo's body to the Meridian Gate for execution. After the old ministers persuaded him, he reluctantly gave up!"
"What nonsense," Ms. Liang sighed, and asked, "In your opinion, Hao Zongcheng lied about Yuan Lishan?"
"Li Zhuo is just speculating. Although he has no plans, it is still not as good as Hao Zongcheng's personal experience. But we can't doubt Li Zhuo's intentions because he guessed wrong," Chen Xinbo said, "Furthermore, the emperor has sent someone to bring Yuan Li
Shan's family members were captured in Tianlao, and Mr. Hao did not suggest that the emperor break out to Jinhai..." At this time, I thought to myself that the Donghu people were indulging Zhang Ximin, and Hao Zongcheng came back, probably because he expected that even if Hao Zongcheng was loyal to the emperor, he would
If the responsibility for the defeat in western Liaoning is placed on others, then Li Zhuo's death and Yuan Lishan's family will be held accountable and executed, which will make the situation in Yanjing even more chaotic. This should be the purpose of the Donghu people in carrying out this conspiracy.
Lu Huizong stood aside, glanced at Chen Xinbo, and sneered in his heart: Hao Zongcheng returned home yesterday. If you hadn't said something on the side, "The Huaidong Army agreed to come to Qinwang, but it happened that Gao Zongting and Geng Quanshan went to Jinhai, and this matter would have been lost."
"The emperor might not be murderous... To be honest, Lu Huizong couldn't figure out why Chen Xinbo wanted to kill Li Zhuo?
Liang closed her cloudy eyes, then opened them again and asked, "Is it true that we can't go to Jinhai?"
"The old minister is also panicking and has no plan," Chen Xinbo said. "How to leave, when to leave, who leaves and who stays, all these are decided by the emperor. The old minister has only these old bones left, and he only wants to be loyal. As long as the country can turn the crisis into peace, the old minister can
Even if I go to see the late emperor now, I will have no regrets."
"The loyalty of Lao Qing's family is obvious to all, but it's a pity that the emperor only trusts Zhang Xie." Liang sighed softly, "The Ai family knows about Li Zhuo's last words. You can go and work for the emperor."
Chen Xinbo bowed his body and left. As soon as he left Wanshou Palace and got on the carriage waiting outside the palace gate, he heard from his family members waiting outside the palace gate that the emperor had just driven to Zhang Mansion to offer condolences.
Zhang Ximin was seriously injured and died, and Zhang Xie was so sad that he fell ill and was bedridden. It was normal for the emperor to go to Zhang's house to express his condolences.
Chen Xinbo rolled his eyes. If there was an opportunity to fish in troubled waters in the past, he might be able to expose Zhang Ximin's huge handle in front of the emperor. Zhang Xie could not defend himself clearly. Even if the emperor did not hold him accountable, Yanjing would stay behind.
The position will not be taken by him and other officials of the Chu Party.
Arriving at Zhang's house, Chen Xinbo handed the name card in and said he was here to express his condolences.
After waiting in the foyer for a while, Zhang Xie's old retainer Zhang Cheng led him in. As soon as he entered the courtyard where Zhang Xie lived, he heard Zhang Xie crying in the room: "...Although Xi Min disdains him, the old retainer regards him as a treasure.
When I begged the emperor to let Ximin go to western Liaoning to deliver the decree, the old minister had his own selfish motives, hoping that Ximin would be appreciated for his service to the emperor and have a good official career. When Liaoxi was defeated, Ximin was captured and would rather die than surrender. But what happened to him?
Torture, I hate it in my heart! I wish I could eat the flesh of the Eastern captives and drink the blood of the Eastern captives. Although I hate it at times, I dare not harm justice for personal hatred. Now that the matter has come to this, it seems that if the emperor does not go south, the reinforcements from the south will never come.
Send it. Please make a decision immediately and go to the Taihu Army immediately. Chen Zhihu will be left behind the Taihu Palace. Zhou Zongxian will protect the emperor as he goes south, and the old minister will risk his life to guard Yanjing City for the emperor."
Zhang Xie's voice was hoarse and his cries were so mournful that Chen Xinbo couldn't bear to doubt him anymore.
"Over the past few years, Aiqing has tried his best to plan everything for me. If I go to Jiangxi and Aiqing is not by my side, how can I do it?"
"Although Xitong is not talented, he also has a little plan. Furthermore, as long as the emperor goes to Jiangning and takes charge, he will definitely be able to mobilize reinforcements to relieve the siege of Yanjing..." Zhang Xie added.
Hearing Zhang Xie bring up his eldest son Zhang Xitong, Chen Xinbo reaffirmed that Zhang Ximin's death was strange. Zhang Xie was really ruthless. By bringing up his eldest son at this time, he was undoubtedly hinting to the emperor that there were several people in the court at this time.
Among the ministers, Zhang Xie was the only one who could rest assured that he was left to guard Yanjing: the eldest son was in Jiangning, and the second son died at the hands of the Donghu people. Thinking of this, Chen Xinbo, who had been plotting for half his life, felt cold in his heart.
Thinking carefully about Zhang Xie's words, he did not directly say that he wanted to break through to Jinhai, and from the literal meaning of his words, it could even be understood as a suggestion to break out directly south. Chen Xinbo was shocked again: Could it be that Li Zhuo's last words came from Wang Qishan's mouth?
Did Zhang Xie find out? He never knew that Wang Qishan was Zhang Xie's person.
The emperor was suspicious by nature, and it was hard to figure out whether he believed Li Zhuo's words or not. However, Zhang Xie's cry and admonishment concealed the meaning of Li Zhuo's words. Although it was hard to say whether it would prompt the emperor to break out directly to the south, it could.
Completely dispel the emperor's doubts about him.
In the past six or seven years, Zhang Xie had actually held the power of the prime minister. Chen Xinbo did not know how many people in the temple and the inner court were his minions, either openly or covertly, so he gave up his plan to confront Zhang Xie head-on.