Life is the best teacher, and suffering is the most precious wealth.
Because Yang Shiqi, who lost his father at a young age and lived under the influence of others for the first half of his life, only entered officialdom in his middle age, he is more mature and prudent than other officials, cautious in his words and deeds, and can always avoid crises before they arrive.
Turning an unfavorable situation into an advantage - in the Yongle Dynasty, he was not implicated by Fang Xiaoru. Together with Xie Jin and others, he was appointed as one of the seven academicians in the first cabinet of the Ming Dynasty, and became an important minister of the court.
Although he is known as the smartest person in the Ming Dynasty after Jie Jin, Yang Shiqi and Xie Jin are completely different. Just like in this protracted battle for the throne, he and Xie Jin both support Zhu Gaochi, but Xie Jin is very high-profile, lest the world does not know about it.
He was the protector of the prince, and eventually he was killed. Yang Shiqi was much more cautious. It was true that he was a loyal supporter of the prince, but he was cautious in his words and deeds on weekdays and did not show it at all. Although he was good at tactics and tricks, he never showed it.
He doesn't stand out, leaves all opportunities for others to express himself, and never interacts with the prince, so he gains the emperor's trust...
For example, last year's incident in the East Palace. All the assistant ministers in the East Palace were imprisoned and have been imprisoned until now. However, Yang Shiqi only slept in the imperial prison for one night before he was released by special order and reinstated. In the past year, the emperor visited the north, and he once again
He was appointed as the left-behind minister to assist the prince, and was still deeply trusted by the emperor.
Although Yang Shiqi was genuine, he knew that haste makes waste. While other civil servants were rushing to express their loyalty to the prince, he kept a distance from the prince and served the emperor wholeheartedly. In this way, the emperor's attitude toward
After he was very trusted, he would naturally entrust him with the task of assisting and monitoring the prince when he was on patrol. At this time, he could legitimately contact the prince, and because he was deeply trusted by the emperor, he was of great value to the prince.
His role was far greater than that of the senior officials in the ministry, so the prince naturally valued him particularly. This is the saying that comes first and comes last.
Generally speaking, the result of trying to please both sides is that neither side can get favors from both sides, but with a great person like Yang Shiqi, he can have both sides, and both sides regard him as a good person. It is much smarter than Wang Xian's method of offending people everywhere.
I don’t know how many.
Moreover, Yang Shiqi was not blindly playing both sides. He would always give the prince clever and covert help at critical moments. Many times when the emperor was about to attack the prince, he spoke out to eliminate the disaster for Zhu Gaochi, which made the prince feel deeply and extremely respected.
, extremely trusting.
"Why is Your Highness so worried?" Yang Shiqi asked.
At this moment, there were only two people in the study, the emperor and his ministers. Zhu Gaochi naturally stopped hiding it and said with a bitter face: "I just went to visit my aunt alone, and ended up running into the King of Han."
"Oh..." Yang Shiqi asked softly: "How did the King of Han behave?"
"I'm even more angry than I thought." Zhu Gaochi said, "I just had to tear Gu Da into pieces on the spot." He said with a worried look on his face: "He finally threatened to retaliate tenfold. I don't think it was just angry words."
"Yes..." Yang Shiqi nodded and said in a deep voice: "From the moment the emperor saw Zhu Zhanqi and Princess Zhao, the two sides had no choice but to fight to the death."
"Hey, Zhongde's people are really brave," Zhu Gaochi sighed: "Although they were unjust first, but Zhanqi and Mu are also members of the Tian family, and they shouldn't be so ruined..." After saying this, he felt like this
His words sounded like a bitch setting up a memorial arch, and he added hurriedly: "Of course, my lonely aunt cannot be ruined... Hey, with such chaos in the struggle for power and profit, how can the Tian family's face be saved?"
Although the prince spoke confusingly, Yang Shiqi could understand his complicated feelings. Firstly, he hated the other party for making a fuss about Xu Miaojin and then harming himself, so he felt relieved that he could retaliate in kind. But secondly, the prince felt that Wang Xian's
The subordinate went too far and hurt the royal family's face, making him feel very conflicted.
Quickly grasping the contradiction, Yang Shiqi whispered: "Can this matter be handled more appropriately?"
"No." The prince shook his head and said: "If there was no one on board at that time, or someone who was not related to us, the emperor would definitely know that it was our people who rescued Wang Xian and my aunt, and there would still be bad associations.
.”
"Isn't that the end, things have to be governed by authority. He is unkind and I am unjust, so there is nothing to say." Yang Shiqi said: "It's just that Beizhen Fusi's behavior is really evil. It's just right to deal with Ji Gang and the others. When the overall situation is decided in the future, it's better to
You need to be disciplined strictly." Yang Shiqi's intentions were quite bad. He knew that the current situation must be dealt with by Wang Xian's people, but he also laid the groundwork for the birds to die, the good bows to hide, the cunning rabbits to die, and the lackeys to be cooked.
"What the master said is true." The prince said with deep understanding: "It is useless to talk about this matter, so I won't mention it. But in this way, my two brothers and I will have no room for change."
"With all due respect, I'm afraid this is exactly what Wang Zhongde and the others want to see." Yang Shiqi said quietly: "The last time the banknote bill was passed, His Highness stopped their actions, and his people were very unwilling. Later, he and Xu Zhenren were captured.
, in the eyes of the people in Beizhen Fusi, it is precisely the consequences of defeating the tiger but not dying, and it is inevitable that there is an attempt to push His Highness to completely make up his mind."
These words were heart-wrenching. The prince was stunned for a moment and then said after a while: "Isn't that true?"
"Perhaps I am over-concerned. It's just that Beizhen Fusi's behavior makes me feel that I am no different from Ji Gang, so I am worried." Yang Shiqi said slowly: "In short, Your Highness should not indulge them too much, lest one Ji Gang falls, and the other
A discipline has arisen again."
"I... know that Master Yang is thinking about the country." Zhu Gaochi thought about it and said, "But Zhongde is not Ji Gang, he knows what he is doing."
"Yes." Yang Shiqi knew that because of the prince's trust in Wang Xian, he wanted to give him eye drops, which would not be effective once or twice, so he accepted it and said, "It is best for your highness to know in advance."
"Well." Zhu Gaochi stopped the topic, closed his eyes for a while and then said: "This prince, Gu, is actually in a very embarrassing situation. No matter how hard my two younger brothers are, my father turns a blind eye. If I do something,
If you cannot tolerate them, you will be severely punished..."
"That's what His Highness said." Yang Shiqi nodded and said, "But the King of Han is indeed making too much trouble now, and I don't think the Emperor will tolerate it forever."
"If my father really wants to touch them, there will always be a will. If there is no will, it means that we haven't made up our minds yet." Zhu Gaochi muttered: "At this time, we'd better not act rashly."
"What His Highness said is absolutely true." Yang Shiqi followed the prince's words and said: "I always have a feeling that the emperor will not know that the turmoil in Beijing has been like this in the past few months, and given the emperor's temperament, he will not really
He didn't care, maybe it's just that the time has not come yet. When the time comes, there will definitely be many heads on the ground." After a pause, he said: "Based on my understanding of the emperor, your majesty is probably watching with cold eyes, looking at the two brothers and King Ji Gang.
Xian, what kind of trouble can this cause? We will catch them all in one fell swoop when all the monsters, demons and snakes appear."
"That should be the case." The prince nodded, convinced.
"So I think that in the current situation, if you strike later, you will control others, and if you strike first, you are likely to be controlled by others," Yang Shiqi said solemnly.
"Then we continue to stand still?" The prince looked at Yang Shiqi.
"It's not about standing still, it's about attacking later, and the latter also needs to be launched..." Yang Shiqi said slowly: "Has Your Highness forgotten the anecdote we told you earlier?"
"You mean... Zheng Bo Duan?" the prince said suddenly.
"Yes, does Mr. Zheng Zhuang want to kill his younger brother, Uncle Duan? Obviously he does." Yang Shiqi said: "But he can't kill him, because he is his biological brother, and their mothers are still alive. Mr. Zhuang's passivity that day,
It was exactly the same as His Highness, so what did Duke Zhuang do? He was just passive on the surface, but in fact he had been secretly creating the conditions to get rid of Gongshu Duan. He sealed Gongshu Duan in the capital, making him even more arrogant. He also sat back and watched Gongshu Duan.
Secretly controlling the border towns in the west and north of Zheng, Duan felt that he could be an equal to him, which fostered his ambition to usurp the throne. Then he allowed him to expand his territory to Linyan, which completely strengthened his determination to rebel."
"Because of Duke Zhuang's weakness, Gongshu Duan unscrupulously repaired the city wall, trained his troops and horses, gathered grain and grass, and made armor. At this time, everyone in the Zheng Kingdom knew that he was going to rebel. And his mother was also preparing to attack the capital when Gongshu Duan
Opening the city gate to respond internally, everyone in the world thought that Duke Zhuang had to fight back. The time he was waiting for finally came, so he decisively sent troops to attack Gongshu Duan. Gongshu Duan was caught off guard, and the people turned against him one after another. The rebellion was quickly put down.
"Yang Shiqi continued: "Gong Zhuang's apparent weakness is actually to create conditions for attacking Gongshu Duan, and secretly he has been working hard, making plans, and planting spies, so that he can succeed when the time comes. I think,
The ancients can teach you.”
"Well..." After mentioning Kf Burke's paragraph that time, Zhu Gaochi almost turned over the "Spring and Autumn" to death. He already knew this anecdote and sighed: "Zhuang Gong is still too much."
I'm impatient, if I wait until my uncle Duan sends troops to the capital, I'm afraid I won't get so much infamy."
"How can everything go as expected," Yang Shiqi said: "Once the other party takes action, the situation will be out of our control, so Zhuang Gong's approach is advisable.
"Dong Zhuang is the head of a country, but Gu still has a father." Zhu Gaochi said quietly: "It is desirable for him, but not for Gu."
"Haha, Your Highness is overly worried." Yang Shiqi said with a smile: "We are just following Duke Zhuang's method of inducing Duke Duan to rebel. The possibility of a real military confrontation is very small. As you said, there is still an emperor in the Ming Dynasty.
"
"Hey, this is the only way," Zhu Gaochi sighed: "I don't want the tragedy of fratricide to happen..."
"But... we still have to prepare for the worst..." Yang Shiqi said in a deep voice: "What if the emperor does not rush back to the capital in time? Or what if the King of Han jumps over the wall in a hurry before the emperor comes back? In any case, we should be on the one hand at the moment.
Try to induce the King of Han to think that the time is ripe. On the one hand, let everyone in the capital know that the King of Han is going to rebel. At the same time, we must be prepared. Even if we want the King of Han to fire the first shot, we must fire it at the time and place we choose to ensure that we can fight.