momentum

Qiu Luan's life can be described in one word - helpless.

This brother is a hereditary marquis. It is not easy to get this title. His ancestor, Mr. Qiu Yue, ran around, conquering the south and the north. After putting down the rebellion of King Anhua, he went to the suburbs of Beijing to fight against Liu Liu.

Liu Qi (Peasant Uprising) was eventually assigned to stand guard at the border, and he got this long-term meal ticket.

Qiu Luan took over the title, and wanted to do a good job, but he had no choice, he was really not the material. To defend Gansu, he neglected his duties and was imprisoned. To defend Datong, he had to rely on negotiation. To defend Beijing, it was still negotiation.

This is no longer a simple issue of attitude, but an issue of ability. Mr. Qiu has proved with facts that he is a useless waste.

Of course, Qiu Luan occasionally wanted to rise up, and he had tried before. For example, in the 31st year of Jiajing (1552), he led his army out of the fortress and encountered the enemy when passing through a place called Maoerzhuang.

Qiu Luan participated in the battle calmly, and under his wise command, the battle ended with the Ming army killing more than 200 people and injuring 220 people.

Afterwards, Qiu Luan proudly reported to the court to ask for merit, because he believed that his military exploits were quite remarkable - he killed five enemies.

If a person is so mean, he can be regarded as invincible in the world.

But this cheap brother turned out to be quite lucky. After the "Gengxu Incident", he who should be held accountable the most escaped and was named a general. The emperor also trusted him very much.

Qiu Luan, who was infinitely famous, became more and more arrogant, and even Yan Song didn't take him seriously. When he saw him, he dared to shout and drink, and Yan Song was filled with regret. He never expected that the white-eyed wolf would bite him back, but this man was legitimate.

Hong couldn't afford to offend him no matter what, so he had to swallow his anger.

The political arena is like the stock market. When Qiu Luan was showing his power, Gao Gong was working as a teacher in the East Palace, Zhang Juzheng was still cleaning the house in his new unit, and the other four top masters were pretending to be grandsons. But with Mr. Qiu like this

The reason why he is so arrogant despite his idiotic qualifications is because he does not understand the first principle of officialdom - stability.

If you are unstable, you will inevitably be unlucky. Brother Qiu Luan's misfortune will soon come.

Although he has become a very popular minister, he cannot retire honorably. After all, he is a military commander. After being praised, he has to go back and work hard. However, Brother Qiu is too weak and is always chased by Anda on the border. In order to save his life once and for all, he creatively

He put forward suggestions for the horse market.

This suggestion fully proves that Mr. Qiu Luan does not have the eyes of an eagle and the speed of a leopard, but he has the brain of a pig.

The so-called horse market means that the Ming Dynasty will give me goods, and I will give horses to the Ming Dynasty. It seems fair, but in fact it is a kind of blackmail, because Qiu Luan has no strength, and I will give him a few bad horses at will.

If you open your mouth, I'll beat you if you don't give. And Mr. Qiu had his front teeth knocked out, so he could only swallow them.

What made him even more unexpected was that brother Anda had no education and did not know how to write the word "honesty". Although he signed the contract, he never implemented it. He took Daming's things and grabbed what should be grabbed. On Sunday

No rest either.

The border became more and more chaotic, more and more property was lost, and the situation was out of control. Qiu Luan became dizzy and became seriously ill. However, this man was still conscious despite his illness. Jiang Yingkui, the Minister of War, was ordered to temporarily take charge of the General Seal, but he was half-dead from illness.

He actually delayed giving it.

Repudiation is temporary, and soon he will hand over his own life as well.

Soon he received the emperor's order. The full text was concise and concise - confiscate military power and return to Beijing to await trial!

What made him even more unexpected was that according to insider reports, the person who complained to the emperor turned out to be Xu Jie, who had been promoted with him and had a close relationship with him.

Qiu Luan was so angry that he died and went to the underworld to negotiate with the King of Hell.

General Qiu actually didn't know that in Xu Jie's eyes, he was just a piece of fat. Xu Shangshu was always kind to people, and the more deeply he hated him, the more affable he became. And the courtesy Qiu Luan received was second only to Lord Yan Song

.

The reason why Xu Jie wanted to get rid of Qiu Luan was because this guy was too hateful. He knew nothing but took credit for his reward and harmed the country. Moreover, he was also one of the accomplices who killed Xia Yan back then, so naturally he was one of the accomplices.

What's more important is that defeating Qiu Luan can gain more capital. Not only can he win the emperor's trust, but he can also increase his prestige, win over hundreds of officials, and strengthen his political power.

So Xu Jie, who had made up his mind, saw the opportunity and told all about Gansu's dereliction of duty, Datong negotiations, and Beijing's conspiracy in one go, and settled the general ledger.

Jiajing was extremely angry and immediately ordered Qiu Luan to return to Beijing to explain the problem and confiscate his military power.

Also keeping an eye on Qiu Luan was Yan Song. When he learned that Qiu Luan had lost power, he immediately called Lu Bing and prepared to deal with Qiu Luan in one fell swoop.

Lu Bing is worthy of being the number one Jinyiwei, and he is extremely efficient. With the hard work of the Jinyiwei agents, all the bad things that Mr. Qiu Luan has done since childhood were unearthed, including collaboration with the enemy and the country, corruption and bribery, molesting women, etc.

Not included.

Yan Song, who was confident of winning, met with Jiajing and informed him of the above crimes in detail. Jiajing was furious and immediately issued an order:

Dig out Qiu Luan's body (he had died of illness at this time), chop off his head, and patrol the nine sides!

Looking at the murderous emperor, Yan Song decided to strike while the iron was hot and use a knife to solve his own troubles:

"As far as I know, Xu Jie and Qiu Luan have a close relationship, and your Majesty must pay attention to it."

But Yan Song never expected that after hearing these words, the emperor suddenly lost his anger and showed an uncertain expression.

He took out the seal and handed it to Yan Song with a smile:

"Take a look."

Yan Song opened the document and saw the eye-catching signature - Xu Jie.

Yan Song, the bachelor of Wenyuan Pavilion, the chief minister of the cabinet, and the young master, finally got scared. He shuddered, handed back the memorial tremblingly, and left with Jiajing's mocking smile.

He already understood that that silent man, that inconspicuous minister, that man who treated him with respect, was not a political upstart, let alone a speculator.

He is a power ambitioner with ambitions and a master of maneuvering who is no less than himself. What he seeks is not just the official position of a minister or cabinet bachelor, but his own position - the chief minister of the cabinet.

He must be completely eliminated before he can replace himself.

It was later proven that Yan Song correctly judged Xu Jie's ability, but misjudged his purpose. What this Xu brother wanted was more than just his official position.

Yan Song returned home and told the prodigy Yan Shifan about his intentions, but to his surprise, the one-eyed son actually told him not to openly confront Xu Jie.

"Why?"

"He has become a climate and cannot be moved."

Yan Shifan indeed lived up to his talent and reputation. This conclusion is very accurate. At this time, Xu Jie was no longer what he used to be. His full title now is: Minister of Rites, Grand Scholar of Dongge, Crown Prince Taifu (from the first rank), Xu Jie, Second Assistant to the Cabinet

level.

The second most powerful person under the emperor, the hero who defeated Qiu Luan, and the emperor's personal confidant (in the near future), you can try it if you are not afraid of death.

It was difficult to deal with, but not impossible. After objectively analyzing the situation, Yan Shifan came up with a countermeasure—suppression.

After all, Yan Song is still the chief minister. Not only does he have the emperor's trust, but he also has a large number of accomplices and spies. As long as he keeps an eye on Xu Jie and restrains his actions, there is no need for a big fight. Once the limelight is over, this political upstart will

will be completely killed.

This strategy fully demonstrated Mr. Yan Shifan's fighting ability. Facts have proved that this soft-knife murderous strategy is very effective. Xu Jie, who has soared up, has no opponents, and no one openly opposes him, but secretly, there are countless pairs of eyes watching.

Follow his every move.

What made him even more depressed was that no matter what suggestions and plans he put forward when dealing with official affairs of the court, they were always unreasonably rejected. Faced with all this, he had nothing to do.

Because in the cabinet of the Ming Dynasty, although the first assistant and the second assistant were both cabinet members, only the first assistant had the final say. If a difficult-to-serve first assistant was appointed, the rest of the cabinet members would only serve tea and water.

, if you don’t accept it, you will be crushed to death by a senior official.

With this back and forth, Xu Jie was overwhelmed and Yan Song was unable to kill them all. The political situation once again entered a stalemate.

bystander

While Xu Jie tried his best to fight Yan Song to the death, the other five top masters behaved differently.

Xu Jie's biggest enemy is Yan Shifan. You must know that in the 31st year of Jiajing (1552), Mr. Yan was already over seventy years old. Although he was in good spirits and showed no signs of Alzheimer's disease, he could not compete with him in terms of intelligence level.

Compared with Xu Jie, his exquisite planning and vicious methods all came from Yan Shifan. Without this one-eyed son, he would have been finished long ago.

The most leisurely person is Yang Bo. He has temporarily left the political arena and been transferred to the left minister of the Ministry of War to engage in military affairs full-time. However, this man has a person he hates the most in his life - Qiu Luan. For this reason, he has collected materials and written a letter.

Mr. Qiu was impeached on 30 counts (more than Lu Bing), and he hated everyone. He had never had a good impression of Yan Song and his group.

Although he prefers Xu Jie in his personal relationship, that's all. Mr. Yang Bo is a veteran in officialdom. He knows that he is not strong enough and does not want to openly oppose Yan Song. But no matter what, he still supports Xu Jie (limited to

Spirit level).

The angriest person was Zhang Juzheng. After graduating from Shujishi, he was assigned to the Hanlin Academy as an editor. After witnessing the slackness in government affairs and the tragic scenes of burning and killing, this man in his twenties

The 6-year-old Hanlin official has become an angry young man in the standard sense.

As a student of Xu Jie, he wrote to his teacher many times, hoping that he would stand up and fight against the strict party that was eradicating the country and the people, but he never received a clear answer. He didn't understand Xu Jie, and he didn't understand himself either:

At that time, he was just an insignificant person, and the anger of a small person was useless.

Compared with Zhang Juzheng, Gao Gong is much smarter. Although he has just turned 40 years old, he is taciturn in appearance, but he is very scheming and has a deep understanding of the city. He is very aware of the struggle situation and the direction of the political situation. Among these six people,

Only he is the true centrist.

He neither took refuge in the dominant Yan Song nor ignored the forbearing Xu Jie. The wind and waves outside were high, but he remained motionless because he had already found the magic weapon for final victory in the complicated situation.

In the 31st year of Jiajing (1552), Gao Gong, who was well-educated in poetry and books, left the Hanlin Academy and became the lecturer of King Yu. He worked very hard and taught King Yu attentively. He stayed with him day and night and won the trust of King Yu.

The reason why Gao Gong worked so hard was actually very simple. Three years ago (the twenty-eighth year of Jiajing), the prince of Jiajing passed away, leaving only two sons - King Yu and King Jing.

Both of them were born in the 16th year of Jiajing (1537), but King Yu was born one month earlier than King Jing.

To the surprise of many people, among the six people, the most distressed person was actually Lu Bing.

In the eyes of many people, Lu Bing is Yan Song's minion and follows Yan Party's command. However, this is absolutely not the case.

In fact, Lu Bing's power far exceeded ordinary people's imagination. Not only was he thoughtful, smart and capable, he was also good at making friends in the court and had a wide network of contacts.

What's more important is that the spy leader who holds the Imperial Guard is also responsible for an extremely confidential mission.
To be continued...