Chapter 42: Yang Lin, the traitor who leads the way
"It's actually him?"
Yang Lin moved his body, but it still hurt terribly, and the hatred in his heart became a little worse.
This boy's second uncle was severely humiliated by him, and he must have received a letter from Yangzhou. It seemed that last time, old man Xu forgot about food and not about beatings, and he was hoping that his nephew would come back for revenge.
Liu Qingshui chuckled and said: "These bullshit civil servants usually have their nostrils turned upward, looking down on this and that. Last night, they were caught in the Imperial City Division 1. You didn't see the miserable scene. They said everything to beg for mercy. It's not as good as that."
There’s a dog.”
Yang Lin rolled his eyelids and said, "Don't report this to the emperor first. Let's go to Cai Mansion together."
Although Liu Qingshui was puzzled, fortunately he knew that he lacked tact and just asked, "Can you go in this state?"
Yang Lin gritted his teeth and said, "It doesn't matter!"
At dusk, on the street of Bianliang, a horse leads the way, followed by a carriage.
The seat cushions in the carriage are soft and the wheels are wrapped in cooked cowhide to minimize bumps.
Li Yunniang half-knelt in the car, letting Yang Lin's legs rest on her body and gently squeezing her.
Outside the gate of Cai Mansion, two strings of lanterns were hung. Liu Qingshui got off his horse and shouted to the carriage: "Da Lang, Cai Mansion has arrived."
The disciples, who were already familiar with each other, took the two of them to the study. After a while, a group of maids arrived, surrounded by Cai Jing, who was wearing a purple robe and a jade belt.
Seeing that Yang Lin was a little surprised, Cai Jing asked with a smile: "It's really you. Is your injury okay?"
"I'm thinking of you, Mr. Cai. This is Liu Qingshui from the Imperial City Division."
Of course Cai Jing knew him. He was still very respectful to the emperor's relatives. He immediately smiled and said: "It turns out to be Uncle Xiaoguo. Please sit down quickly."
Yang Lin didn't waste any time and said straight to the point: "Prime Minister Cai, the case of the student's arrest has been solved by Qing Shui, and the culprit is Xu Zhichang, a member of the Ministry of Rites."
Cai Jing's expression only changed suddenly, then returned to normal, and asked warmly: "Is there any evidence?"
"There are all the witnesses and material evidence, but he didn't think about the consequences at all."
Cai Jing's heart was moved and he asked: "If you find out the facts of the case and don't go to the officials to redress your grievances, why do you come to me instead?"
"Xiang Cai, people in the Ming Dynasty don't speak secretly. We are of the same mind. Uncle Xiao Guo is also my brother with the same heart and the same mind. This is a good opportunity. That Xu Zhichang has collapsed. He will bite whoever is allowed to bite him. He is an eyesore in the court.
There are too many, why don’t we do a big cleanup this time.”
Although the Song Dynasty valued civil servants, the civil and military defenses were very serious. Now there was Yang Lin who was related to the Imperial City Division. This was one of the reasons why Cai Jing looked at him particularly highly and insisted on getting him into his camp.
Now the opportunity for the two parties to cooperate has come, and it will not harm them at all. When a top conspirator at this level takes action, it is not comparable to Yang Lin and Liu Qingshui, and soon a perfect plan comes out.
Cai Jing could use the Imperial City Division to expand his victory; Liu Qingshui used this to increase the power and functions of the Imperial City Division and secretly had Cai Jing as his helper; Yang Lin took revenge and obtained the appointment and dismissal of three officials above fifth rank.
The power is handled by Cai Jing.
Yang Lin was not satisfied yet, so he encouraged Cai Jing and said: "Now there is Han Zhongyan, the prime minister in the court. This man is the soul of the conservative party. Removing him is better than getting rid of thousands of minions."
Cai Jing smiled bitterly and said: "Han Zhongyan has many party members and a deep foundation. This little thing cannot shake him at all."
Han Zhongyan is the leader of the old party and Zeng Bu is the leader of the new party. These two bosses are both veterans.
The sudden rise of Cai Jing had a great impact on both of them. Originally, Zeng Bu was very happy and transferred Cai Jing to restrain Han Zhongyan.
Who would have known that this young man was so capable that he had managed to get under the auspices of the chief prime minister Zuo Pushe and was granted the title of Grand Master. This was equivalent to a paid thug occupying his own yard and becoming his master. Zeng Bu was also dissatisfied with him.
Now Cai Jing is the common enemy of the old and new parties, so he needs such an opportunity to install his cronies.
Surrounding him are Yang Lin, Liang Shicheng, Yang Jinge, Lan Congxi, Tan Zhen and others. Now he can make arrangements. These people are Cai Jing's few confidants now. Yang Lin passed the imperial examination in Yangzhou.
Xie Yuan, went to Bianliang and won the provincial title, and was awarded the title of Number One Scholar in the imperial examination, all because of Cai Jing's energy.
Whether in Cai Jing's heart or in the eyes of others, he is Cai Jing's person.
Yang Lin was deeply afraid that he was not treacherous enough and would devise a vicious plan, so he said: "The most important thing at the moment is to gain the trust of the officials, and then he can exercise the power of removal as he pleases. In this way, there will be no rivals in the court."
Cai Jingshen agreed, but he was still worried, and whispered: "How can the official family really have no grudges if the Tang Dynasty is used so arbitrarily?"
What is the Tang Dynasty? In the Tang and Song Dynasties, it was said that the prime minister upheld the emperor's will and directly appointed officials to be the Tang Dynasty without going through the Ministry of Personnel. It was also called Tang Xuan.
In other words, you don't need to pass the examination of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. The prime minister has the final say as to what official position you want to take.
This was originally an emergency measure under special circumstances. All the prime ministers of the Song Dynasty used it occasionally, but when it came to Cai Jing, it became the norm.
Now Yang Lin pointed out this clear path to him in advance so that he could quickly gain momentum. He had given Zhao Ji a chance in the imperial examination, but he was not interested.
In this case, if you want to stop the Jin soldiers from going south, you have to find another way.
Counting on the success of assisting Zhao Ji is no less difficult than Zhuge Liang assisting Liu Chan in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Cai Jing breathed a long sigh of relief and said: "It is too early to deal with people like Han Zhongyan now, and your injury this time is not enough to bring down a prime minister."
Although Yang Lin felt uncomfortable listening to it, he also understood that this was true. Although he was the number one scholar, he had not yet become an important role in the officialdom. But regarding Cai Jing's caution, he could only say, you still don't quite understand the current situation.
emperor.
As long as you coax him to spend money, coax him to play, and show off your calligraphy and painting talents, you are sure to make this stupid emperor trust you very much.
Now Cai Jing is still testing the emperor's bottom line, but Yang Lin, from God's perspective, knows that this guy has no bottom line.
Yang Lin behaved too frivolously and was more unscrupulous than an old man in the officialdom. This made Cai Jing, who had just assumed the position of chief prime minister, a little afraid. After all, Cai Jing still had some integrity as a scholar and did not want to be a treacherous person who would be infamous for thousands of years.
In the end, Cai Jing decided to just dismount a group of people, place some of his cronies in place, and attack his political opponents. As for the big ones, he couldn't provoke them yet.
The three people discussed in detail and made a careful plan. Cai Jing got up in person to see the two of them out of the house.
The servants in the house were all careful and kept these two people in mind, knowing that Cai Jing had not sent anyone out of the house yet.
Outside the mansion, Liu Qingshui also abandoned his horse and got into Yang Lin's carriage.
Yang Lin knew that he must have something to say, so he ordered Yun Niang to pull down the curtain. Liu Qingshui came closer and said, "Dalang, this Cai Jing is so timid, is it possible to cooperate with him? I heard someone from the Imperial City Division said
, this court battle is all about life and death, you can't fight others if you are timid."
"Cai Jing? Hehe, just wait, there is no one in the world who can do it better than him."
After Yang Lin finished speaking, he ignored Liu Qingshui and closed his eyes in deep thought.
The Han family has been in the world for thousands of years. If there is a list of treacherous ministers, Cai Jing should have a place.