Just when Li Hongyun was still considering the next countermeasures, his confidant once again handed over a letter with fire paint.
Yan Maoqing’s letter?
Li Hongyun couldn't help but become a little nervous.
Because of his previous behavior, although he did not directly switch sides and stab Yan Maoqing, he prevented Magistrate Ning from destroying the embankment, allowing Yan Maoqing to annex the fields, and failed to curb the salt tax. Moreover, after missing the Dragon Boat Festival flood, this matter was no longer possible.
Reporting it as a natural disaster is equivalent to half defection.
Although Lin Xiangmin, played by Li Hongyun, covered up for Yan Maoqing in front of the emperor, this covering up was actually of little significance.
So what will Yan Maoqing’s letter say at this time?
Are you asking for help? Are you yelling at him? Are you calling him an ungrateful person?
Or should we pretend that nothing happened, and even talk nicely, hoping to win over Lin Xiangmin, a centrist who seems to be swinging between the two sides?
According to the development of the plot, if the emperor comes forward, the military supplies for the southeastern bandits should be in place at this time.
At this juncture, Yan Maoqing's secret letter is definitely not a dispensable scene, but must be deeply involved in the subsequent game content.
After Li Hongyun sent away his cronies, he calmed down a little and took apart the wax paint on the letter.
However, what surprised him was that there were only two short sentences in the letter.
“Thieves must not be suppressed, nor must they be suppressed completely.
"The day when the thieves and bandits are defeated is the day when disaster is imminent."
There was no fighting over friendship, no yelling, just two simple sentences with clear meaning.
In just two sentences, Li Hongyun saw Yan Maoqing, a scheming, cold and ruthless politician.
Only talk about pros and cons, regardless of feelings.
And these two sentences, like a sharp needle, instantly broke through Governor Lin's predicament at this time.
Li Hongyun's eyes couldn't help but widen slightly: "This...
"It turns out that the time when Governor Lin really wants to make a decision is not when he goes to Magistrate Ning to ask for two confessions, but now..."
Although there were only two short sentences, it caused many waves in Li Hongyun's heart.
Many plots before and after are all connected together.
At this moment, the confidant reported again: "Master Dutang, Mr. Xu wants to see you."
Li Hongyun couldn't help being stunned.
Mr. Xu?
Isn't that the aide he played before?
I just didn't expect that my identity would be swapped at this time, and I would become Governor Lin, while the staff would return to the aboriginal state in the game.
"Let him in."
Li Hongyun knew that according to the setting, this staff member was quick-thinking and very smart, and could be said to be the person Lin Xiangmin trusted the most. At this time, it would be a good choice to ask him to help analyze the situation.
After a while, Mr. Xu came to the inner hall and sat down after the ceremony.
"Lord Dutang, I heard that the new army trained by General Deng has achieved good combat effectiveness, and the new ordnance developed has also been prepared for the entire army.
"It seems that the decisive battle with the bandits and the capture of Buning Port will be in the near future."
Li Hongyun nodded: "That's right."
Mr. Xu paused for a moment and then said, "I wonder if there has been any news from the capital?"
Li Hongyun was silent for a moment: "Mr. Yan Ge just sent a secret letter."
Mr. Xu's expression was not surprised, as if he had expected it: "If it's not what I expected... Lord Dutang, what this secret letter says is probably 'the bird is hidden in the bow, the rabbit is cooked when the dog is cooked'"
.
"To be more precise, it's four words.
"Respect yourself as a bandit!"
Li Hongyun sighed softly: "That's exactly it. I wonder what Mr. Xu has to say?"
Mr. Xu said seriously: "Master Dutang, what Mr. Yan Ge said is true. Now, you actually have only this choice.
"If you can survive in Southeast, Yange Lao will not collapse; and conversely, only if Yange Lao does not collapse, you will not collapse.
"And the key link in all this lies in the gangsters.
"If it is only about fame and wealth, then Lord Dutang can naturally move forward with a clear conscience, but what if... it is about wealth and life?"
Li Hongyun took a deep breath and fell into silence.
As a player, as an actor who knows the ending, of course he clearly knows the final choice Lin Xiangmin made, and he also knows that this choice is the right one.
But at this time, when he actually played Lin Xiangmin and put himself into this dilemma, he found that this decision was so difficult.
Previously, in order to break the predicament, he could find a breakthrough in the three-party struggle in the court and get the opportunity to go to Beijing to meet the saint, and he made a risky move.
That is, he prepared two confessions and used one of them to deceive Sun Fanghua and Gu Qingzhang.
Gu Qingzhang thought that Lin Xiangmin would submit this confession to the emperor that "the strict party ordered the destruction of embankments and flooded fields", so he thought that the time had come and launched a fierce attack on Yan Maoqing.
But unexpectedly, what Lin Xiangmin finally submitted was another confession!
Yan Dang breathed a sigh of relief. The emperor was satisfied to see that the conflict did not intensify, but Gu Qingzhang must be very dissatisfied.
Because a scheming person like him was tricked, and Lin Xiangmin's methods can be said to be very despicable.
In this way, Lin Xiangmin had offended Mr. Gu Ge to death. The possibility of cooperation that had been barely there was now completely cut off.
At the same time, Lin Xiangmin spoiled Yan Party's good deeds of destroying dikes and flooding fields, and became a marginalized figure who was always on guard against Yan Party. Not to mention what Yan Maoqing thought, everyone in Yan Party wanted to
Put him to death.
As for the emperor...
Perhaps the emperor had a good impression of Lin Xiangmin because of this, but the emperor would never protect a minister to the death. Once the strict party was completely defeated, the top and bottom would be uprooted, and the emperor would not be able to break the political system for Lin Xiangmin.
The unspoken rules of struggle forcibly preserved him.
After all, there are plenty of available people, and Lin Xiangmin is not irreplaceable.
The only thing is that they are gangsters.
If the bandits are still there, replacing Lin Xiangmin rashly may cause the overall situation of the southeast bandits to collapse, which is something the emperor especially does not want to see.
But once the bandits were completely wiped out, Lin Xiangmin, the governor, would become dispensable.
Therefore, both Yan Maoqing and Mr. Xu keenly saw the situation at this time: if the bandits are still there, then the governor Lin Xiangmin will not move. Although the Yan Party has been suppressed, due to Lin Xiangmin's relationship, he will never move.
will be uprooted;
If the bandits are gone, then the governor Lin Xiangmin will be dispensable. The emperor has long thought of replacing Yan Dang, so he can just bring Gu Qingzhang up. Once Gu Qingzhang becomes the chief assistant, he will definitely have a negative impact on the entire Yan party.
Lin Xiangmin was certainly not immune to the party's liquidation.
By then, I am afraid that dismissal from office will already be a luxury.
So in the end it came down to the four words "raise the bandits and respect themselves".
Yan Maoqing said, "The thieves must be suppressed, and they must not be suppressed all." This means that Lin Xiangmin should be constantly attacking the bandits and beheading them to achieve victory, which makes the Southeast Asia indispensable. However, at the same time, the bandits cannot be completely eliminated, so that the court can always
No substitutions are allowed.
Only in this way can he be kept safe.
On the surface, this is just a stopgap measure, but in fact, procrastination is not a bad idea, because if you procrastinate, there may be a turn for the better, but if you don't procrastinate, you will be doomed immediately.
It is not impossible to drag Gu Qingzhang from a feudal official to an important minister in the cabinet.
It just cost the lives of countless people along the coast and countless money and food from the treasury.
The final choice was placed in front of Li Hongyun.
After a long silence, Li Hongyun said: "Mr. Xu.
"A scholar should do things in a way that is worthy of the sky, the earth, and the heart. For my own fame and wealth, I cannot do it to let the people of the southeast suffer the pain of having their wives and children separated, and their families being destroyed."
"Whether future generations call me a corrupt official or a fool, it doesn't matter. I didn't care so much about my reputation before and after my life.
"The glorious annals of history will always give me a proper evaluation."
Mr. Xu had a look of regret on his face, but he didn't say anything else.
"Master Dutang, please take care of yourself!"
After Mr. Xu finished speaking, he stood up and left.
Li Hongyun called his cronies again: "Order General Deng to march immediately and capture Buning Port, so that all these bandits will never come back!"
