Chapter 134 Yan Song: I was defeated by Xu Jie in the end! Cracks and suspicions!
Although he was surprised that his son Prince Yu's real mother was a naked woman, Jiajing did not take it too seriously.
After leaving Prince Yu's consciousness, Jiajing turned his gaze to his other son, Prince Jing.
In the small courtyard, everyone discovered that after conferring the title of Prince Yu, the emperor seemed to have fallen into a brief silence again.
For a moment, I couldn't help but start making all kinds of guesses in my mind.
However, everyone in the cabinet has already "landed" at this time, so naturally they will not worry too much about what others are doing.
Because we care too much, we get nervous easily.
But soon, without giving Prince Yu and Prince Jing any time to wait, Jiajing's voice rang out again.
"King Jing, you have both talent and virtue, and you have a gentle temperament, and you are deeply loved by me. King Jing has been studious since he was young, and has great ambitions. He has read a lot of classics, history, and literature, and he can sympathize with the people and care about them. I now specially confer the title of King Jing and grant him the imperial seal to show my praise and high hopes.
King Jing should know that the title of king is both an honor and a responsibility. I hope King Jing will continue to be humble, open up new paths for talents, work diligently and love the people, inspire the world with virtue, and govern the fiefdom with wisdom... I decree this!"
Hundreds of words are presented again.
As the imperial seal fell on the imperial edict, Prince Jing and Prince Yu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Fortunately, there was no accident.
Well, Prince Yu was worried that nothing would happen to him. Otherwise, he would be worried about his father's opinion of him. Prince Jing was worried that Prince Yu would not affect him.
"Swish!" In the sea of consciousness, a golden imperial edict fell with golden light, illuminating the sea of consciousness.
"Heh," when Jiajing saw his other son, Prince Jing's real name, a smile appeared on his serious face again, "This kid is really good at making money..."
In the sea of consciousness, I saw a golden treasure bowl the size of a washbasin, carved with dragons, phoenixes, unicorns, mountains and rivers.
That’s right, King Jing’s natal chart is a treasure pot.
"At least he's not as absurd as Prince Yu..." Jiajing muttered to himself and turned his gaze to Lu Fang again.
This great companion who has followed me for many years.
Jiajing guessed that Lu Fang's destiny might be extraordinary, so this time he could take a look at it in advance.
"Lv Fang." As the voice like a huge bell rang out, Lu Fang's heart moved. He raised his hand, and the imperial edict of the Chief Eunuch of the Imperial Household Department flew out from his storage bag.
Lu Fang's magical operation stunned others. They did not expect that Lu Fang had such a method.
However, Prince Yu and Prince Jing, who knew the inside story, were a little jealous and looked at the small cloth bag around Lu Fang's waist with envy.
A few times before, when they entered the palace, they saw Lu Fang using the storage bag. Father was really good to Lu Fang, but he didn't even give them this kind of magic weapon.
Thinking of this, both of them felt somewhat resentful.
"I am the minister of the inner court, assisting me, and having a heavy responsibility. Since entering the palace, Lv Fang has been diligent and cautious... and lived up to my expectations. I now specially promote Lv Fang to the position of the eunuch in charge of the seal of the Silijian... I decree this!"
As the voice fell, the imperial seal was stamped.
The golden imperial edict turned into a stream of light and sank into Lu Fang's mind.
A small bronze tripod in the sea of consciousness opened and burst into brilliant golden light as the golden edict fell.
Seeing that Lv Fang's natal star was a tripod, and thinking about his spiritual attributes of fire and wood, Jiajing immediately understood, "No wonder he has the dual attributes of fire and wood. It makes sense for a tripod to be his natal star."
……
After conferring titles on Lu Fang, his close companion, Jiajing began to confer titles on Lu Bing.
"Lu Bing, I am a minister of the imperial court... Now we have Lu Bing, who was born into a noble family, but he does not rely on his family background... He has made many outstanding achievements and his reputation has spread far and wide... Now I specially appoint Lu Bing as the commander of the Jinyiwei... I decree this!"
The golden imperial edict fell into his sea of consciousness, revealing Lu Bing's true identity, which was actually a giant white rhinoceros.
There was a faint blue light flickering in his eyes, and he looked defiant and cold enough to crush everything.
……
"Wang Yongji, I have heard that talents are the foundation of a country, and education is the foundation of eternity. Now we have Wang Yongji, who is knowledgeable... Therefore, I specially promote Wang Yongji to be the Chancellor of Prince Yu's Palace... I decree this!"
Wang Yongji's zodiac sign was a pen, which looked ordinary, so Jiajing did not pay much attention to it.
After that, it was Chen Hong, Huang Jin and Shi San from the Imperial Household Department. The natal charts of these three people were a dice, a rock and a piece of jade respectively, and there was nothing special about their natal charts.
Finally, Jiajing looked at the young imperial teacher Qingfeng.
"I don't know what this girl's destiny is." Thinking of this, Jiajing continued to speak, "Qingfeng..."
In the small courtyard, Qingfeng raised his head slowly when his name was called last, and the imperial edict in front of him slowly rose.
"I have heard that following the laws of nature and the unity of heaven and man are the foundations of a country's long-term peace and stability. Now there is a woman named Qingfeng, whose secular name is Zhang Qingwu, who is very pleasing to me... I hereby decree to confer upon her the title of Qingfeng Xuanling Shouzhen Huiwu Zhenren, and grant her the position of state teacher, to honor her... I hereby decree to Qingfeng State Teacher, and to announce it to the world, so that everyone will know. I decree this!"
"Boom!" The imperial seal fell, the golden scroll was rolled up, and it turned into a golden stream of light and sank into Qingfeng's sea of consciousness.
The moment the golden imperial edict entered his mind, Qingfeng felt his mind become clear instantly. He felt as if there was some kind of resonance between himself and the world. This feeling was very magical.
At this time, Jiajing's gaze also turned to Qingfeng's sea of consciousness.
“Cloud?” After seeing Qingfeng’s true destiny, which turned out to be a pure white cloud that rolled and changed shapelessly, Jiajing was stunned, and then smiled slightly, “Clouds have no form, they follow nature and change freely…”
"He is indeed a cultivator, and his destiny is so consistent with his fate." Thinking of Qingfeng's views on worldly affairs, Jiajing nodded secretly.
The golden imperial edict fell into the clouds, and the clouds suddenly turned golden.
At this point, everyone's destiny has been sealed.
"All the officials of the Immortal Dynasty have been conferred titles," Jiajing's voice rang out in the courtyard, and everyone thanked him respectfully, "We thank the emperor for his grace, and wish our lord a long life..."
At this moment, everyone was extremely excited.
The previous incident caused by Hai Rui seemed to have been forgotten by everyone.
They were finally recognized by the emperor.
Although they didn't know the purpose of this imperial official title, they believed that there must be a deeper meaning behind it.
At least, after being conferred the title of immortal officials, the mysterious connection between them and the heaven and earth was not false.
"There are many wonderful things about being an immortal official," Jiajing's voice sounded again at this time, "When you truly cultivate immortality, you will understand the deep meaning of my words today."
"I intend to bestow the immortal magic upon you right now..." Hearing this, everyone's hearts suddenly tightened. Could it be that today not only would he confer the title of immortal official upon them, but he would also be bestowing the immortal magic upon them?
At this moment, both Yan Song and Xu Jie had their hearts pounding. Are there any more surprises?
But then, Jiajing's voice rang out, and everyone's hearts sank again.
"However, what Hai Rui said is not without reason," Jiajing said, his tone remained calm, "Nowadays, our Great Ming has limited resources, and the spiritual fields are only used by a few people..."
"If too many people are needed, it will be a waste of resources. Immortal magic appeals to people's hearts, and you will inevitably be too busy to take care of yourselves between government affairs and the path to immortality, so we will postpone it for now."
"After the Ming Dynasty arrives and the Immortal Dynasty is officially established, I will grant you the Immortal Technique, Lu Fang..."
"I'm here." Lu Fang had no idea about Jiajing's arrangements.
"From today on, the spiritual resources of Lingtian Courtyard can be distributed to the Cabinet and the Imperial Household Department according to the official rank."
"Yes!" Lu Fang said respectfully.
The immortal method that was supposed to be issued today is gone just like that! Yan Shifan and the others felt a dull pain in their hearts.
For a moment, everyone began to hate Hai Rui more and more.
In their opinion, the emperor must have been influenced by Hai Rui's previous words, otherwise he would not have failed to bestow the magic.
However, Yan Song and Xu Jie were much more stable.
Although he had some resentment towards Hai Rui in his heart, he also knew that the emperor's thoughts were not something Hai Rui could influence.
Based on their understanding of the emperor, he probably had not originally intended to give them the magic so early.
Hai Rui was just an excuse made up by the emperor.
"Okay, the immortal conferring is over, let's all go..." After everything that needed to be done was done, Jiajing waved his hand and took back the imperial seal.
The next moment, everyone in the courtyard felt golden clouds rolling above the sky, and then the world changed. Then they trembled all over and suddenly came to their senses, only to find that the sky instantly returned to its azure blue color.
The original strange phenomenon of heaven and earth also disappeared at this moment.
What everyone didn't know was that the moment the imperial seal was taken back, their consciousness was pulled into their original Ming Dynasty and at the same time was sent back to their original bodies. Of course, Jiajing would not be enthusiastic about explaining all this.
Well, he is the emperor, how he should act, does he need to explain to these officials? No need.
In the small courtyard, Hai Rui's figure had disappeared. He had left Yuxi Palace and returned home to prepare to go to Ningbo Prefecture.
"Everyone," Lu Fang slowly stood up, then looked at everyone and said, "Next, we will arrange immortal salaries based on your official ranks and existing spiritual resources."
"It may take a few days, I hope you will wait patiently."
Hearing what Lu Fang said, Yan Song was the first to smile and bow, saying, "In that case, I'll have to trouble Eunuch Lu."
The others also smiled and bowed to Lu Fang.
After all, Lu Fang is the one who is in charge of their immortal fortune, so he cannot be offended.
After some polite greetings, everyone turned around and said goodbye, leaving the small courtyard behind Yuxi Palace.
However, Prince Yu and Prince Jing stayed.
After all, they have to practice in the Lingtian courtyard every day.
A group of people walked out of the West Garden in a mighty manner. After saying goodbye to Xu Jie and others, Wang Yongji hurriedly got on a sedan chair and headed towards Hai Rui's home. Too many things happened today.
He must have a good discussion with this good friend.
Although the immortal official's status was conferred, for Yan Song and Xu Jie, the matter was far from over. Xu Jie listened to Gao Gong and others discussing everything related to the immortal official's status in a low and enthusiastic voice, but he could not help but turn his head to look at Yan Song who was supported by Yan Shifan, and then retracted his gaze.
In the back, Yan Shifan was supporting Yan Song and was also very excited.
"Dad, with the official status bestowed by the emperor, it is equivalent to confirming that the emperor will not forget us in the future development of the Immortal Dynasty!" Yan Shifan was very excited.
"I've waited for so long, and finally it's here!" Yan Shifan suddenly seemed to have thought of something, and his face turned ugly again. He cursed in a low voice: "It's all the fault of that damn Hai Rui!"
"If he hadn't caused this, he would have been conferred the title of immortal official, and we would have definitely embarked on the immortal path. It is also very likely that the emperor would have bestowed immortal magic upon us..."
Listening to his son chattering and cursing Hai Rui, Yan Song remained hunched over and said nothing.
"Dad, what's wrong?" Seeing his father not saying a word, Yan Shifan, who had just finished cursing, realized that something was wrong with his father.
"I was thinking about the emperor's arrangement for Hai Rui," Yan Song said in a submissive tone, "Prince Jing supports Japan's Oda Nobunaga. In the future, there must be a secret deployment for many military supplies..."
"And arranging Hai Rui to go to Ningbo Prefecture is probably also for the purpose of making arrangements against Japan. Hai Rui, the emperor's sword..." Yan Song frowned as he spoke, "Where is Tan Lun after the cleanup of the bureaucracy?"
"Tan Lun?" Hearing his father say this, Yan Shifan was stunned, and then said: "Dad, you know this best."
Yan Shifan paused and continued, "Now, the national policy of replacing rice with mulberry trees that was originally set has begun to generate benefits, and the Hangzhou Weaving Bureau is now full of Prince Yu's people."
"Not long ago, Zhao Zhenji proposed to transfer Tan Lun to Fujian, but you rejected it because changing rice to mulberry was not enough and needed to be stabilized."
"After all, Tan Lun once fought against the Japanese in Taizhou and even served as the prefect of Taizhou. We plan to take over the area from Taizhou to Fujian as a covert deployment for collecting resources in the future."
“So, we naturally cannot allow Qingliu to intervene in Fujian.”
"So Tan Lun is still in Hangzhou, presiding over the national policy of replacing rice with mulberry trees..."
"Hangzhou Prefecture..." Yan Song said, with a thoughtful look in his eyes, and his brain started working at high speed.
"Yes!" Suddenly, Yan Song's eyes flashed.
"What happened?" Yan Shifan hadn't reacted yet. Looking at his father's appearance, he couldn't help but feel curious.
"The Qingliu faction is secretly deploying against Japan to collect resources in the future..." Yan Song looked forward at Xu Jie who was walking in the crowd, "What a Xu Jie, I didn't expect him to be so bold."
"The family has just been cleaned up, but now they are still planning to deploy their future in the Songjiang Prefecture area..."
"Isn't Prince Yu planning to take over Fujian?" Yan Shifan was puzzled when he heard his father's words.
Logically speaking, the Xu Jie family's presence in Songjiang Prefecture is the best covert deployment for collecting resources in the future.
But after a major purge of officials, Xu Jie's family cut off its roots in order to survive, and directly sold out all the gentry and powerful families in the Songjiang area.
All the networks of interests they deployed disappeared.
Most of the officials in that area are now promoted by the Yan Party, and the Xu Jie family has long been notorious in the officialdom.
Therefore, some time ago, Prince Yu promoted a large number of officials in Fujian, obviously to deploy them along the coastal areas of Fujian and enter the Huguang region from Fujian. Originally, the Huguang region was controlled by their Yan family.
However, after the rectification of the civil service, there was a major reshuffle in the Huguang region, and it is now basically controlled by Prince Yu's lineage.
In this light, it is reasonable for Prince Yu to place his secret deployment to collect resources from Japan in Fujian.
Therefore, when Qingliu proposed to let Tan Lun be the governor of Fuzhou, my father directly refused because he saw through Prince Yu's lineage and wanted to enter Huguang from Fujian. After that, he decisively placed people in Taizhou.
Yan Shifan was still thinking when Yan Song's voice sounded again.
"If the emperor hadn't suddenly arranged for Hai Rui to be the prefect of Ningbo Prefecture, I'm afraid I would have been deceived by them..."
"Some time ago, after Tan Lun was rejected as the governor of Fuzhou, did Your Highness Prince Yu promote a lot of officials in Fujian?" Yan Song slowed down his voice, as if he was asking, but also as if he was confirming.
"That's right. At first I thought it was Prince Yu who was angry because of shame..." Yan Shifan frowned, and then suddenly said:
"Dad, you mean that the Qingliu's future deployment plan for Japan is not focused on entering Huguang from Fujian, but on the Songjiang Prefecture area? Is Xu Jie so bold?"
"After the major overhaul of the administration, that area is now accepted by our people..."
"This is his cleverness." Yan Song said in a deep voice: "Fujian is just their cover! Their focus is still the area around Hangzhou and Songjiang."
"The Xu Jie family is in Songjiang Prefecture," Yan Song said, his brain working at high speed at the same time, "deployment of interests from Japan, sailing from Zhoushan into Hangzhou Bay, and into the inland..."
"Songjiang Prefecture and Hangzhou Prefecture are located in the north and south. In this way, the entire southeast and northern part of the country will be under the control of Prince Yu's lineage."
“As for the officials we arranged for promotion, do you think those people can stop them now that they have been deployed?”
"We have already chosen Taizhou Prefecture for our deployment, but there is Ningbo Prefecture in between!"
"It is impossible to interfere in the areas of Hangzhou and Songjiang. Prince Yu and his men must have already made arrangements in Ningbo!" As he spoke, a cold light flashed in Yan Song's eyes.
He didn't expect that this time he was tricked by Xu Jie.
"We didn't choose Ningbo Prefecture at the beginning because it was too big a target. It was a strategic place in the southeast to fight against the Japanese pirates along the coast..."
"Now, as our national strength increases and our finances soar, the Japanese pirates along the coast have been completely wiped out. They basically have no strategic significance..."
"Secondly, we misjudged that Prince Yu's lineage would deploy in Fujian, so we chose Taizhou in order to cut off Prince Yu's path, but we didn't expect to be fooled!"
"Third, Taizhou Prefecture is located on the coast. The port conditions are rich, but also complicated. All the people we promoted are also in this area. If Prince Yu and his men use Ningbo Prefecture as a starting point to attack us, we will be overwhelmed..."
"In this way, the southeast, north and south areas will be completely safe for Prince Yu's lineage!"
"Hiss!" After hearing what his father said, Yan Shifan couldn't help but take a deep breath, and then looked at the group of people in Qingliu in front of him with a gloomy face, and said angrily: "This bunch of sinister villains!"
Suddenly, Yan Shifan seemed to have thought of something, and heaved a sigh of relief, saying, "But now, with Hai Rui in Ningbo Prefecture in charge, Prince Yu and his men's plans are all meaningless!"
"No," Yan Shifan said, his face darkening again, "Hai Rui, the leader of the group, will definitely investigate the Qingliu and us if he is in charge of Ningbo Prefecture!"
"That means the Emperor has seen through our intentions!"
Although Yan Shifan was arrogant and rebellious, he naturally understood after Yan Song's analysis.
"Huh," Yan Song exhaled a breath of turbid air, raised his eyes to the blue sky, and the scene just now appeared in his mind, "This is the emperor's intention!"
"He will not let our deployment go to waste and allow Prince Yu to dominate. This time we may have to thank Hai Rui..." Yan Song said with a sigh.
"I'm old, old. I lost this battle to Xu Jie!"
"We were deployed in Taizhou, thinking we had cut off the flow of clean water from Fujian to Huguang, but in fact we were tricked."
"If the Emperor hadn't suddenly sent Hai Rui to Ningbo Prefecture, once the arrangements for Japan had yielded results and the island nation had been developed into a place for cultivating spiritual fields, and secret lines had begun to transport supplies, the Prince Yu's faction deployed in Ningbo Prefecture would have been devastating if they had taken action!"
"The way of an emperor is to maintain balance. Thank you, Your Majesty..."
After listening to his father's analysis, Yan Shifan broke out in a cold sweat and looked up at the sky with gratitude.
At the same time, Qingliu side.
Zhang Juzheng and others, looking at Xu Jie who was thinking with his head down, temporarily suppressed the joy in their hearts at being conferred the status of immortal officials and walked forward.
"Lord Xu, what happened?" Zhang Juzheng asked.
Seeing everyone looking at him, Xu Jie moved his lips and said, "Our deployment has been seen through by the Emperor."
Deployment? Was it seen through by the Emperor? Zhang Juzheng was stunned at first, then he frowned as if he had thought of something:
"Your Excellency is saying that Hai Rui was sent to Ningbo Prefecture to serve as the prefect?"
"That's right," Xu Jie nodded, "Your Majesty, after all..." He wanted to say that he favored Yan Song, but when he thought of the means the emperor had just displayed and his current status as an immortal official.
He dared not speak nonsense!
"Ningbo Prefecture Governor, I already have a candidate. I will find a chance to promote him once this matter is resolved."
"We will wait until the Immortal Dynasty is established and the land in Japan is developed into spiritual fields, and then we will deal a fatal blow to the Yan Party when they are transporting supplies. But I didn't expect that the emperor would let Hai Rui go to Ningbo Prefecture."
As he spoke, Zhang Juzheng shook his head and sighed, saying: "In fact, I had a bad feeling just now, but unfortunately..."
"Hai Rui went to Ningbo Prefecture because the emperor was helping the Yan Party. The reason for this is that he did not want Prince Yu's family to become too powerful." Gao Gong also spoke up.
"I think there is something more important to do right now," Zhao Zhenji said slowly, looking at everyone, "Hai Rui's advice today may have planted a seed in Your Highness' heart. It is better to resolve this misunderstanding as soon as possible."
After hearing what Zhao Zhenji said, everyone suddenly realized that, yes, what Hai Rui said today could be said to have expressed the deepest thoughts in their hearts as well as those of Yan Song and his son.
Now that they have become immortal officials, the emperor has even stated that once the Ming Dynasty is stabilized and prosperity arrives, he will bestow immortal magic upon them. It is basically a foregone conclusion that they will embark on the path of cultivating immortals.
They no longer need to regard the Second King as their only hope.
If the crown prince is not appointed in the future and the emperor has other children, what should they do?
Not to mention that Prince Yu is full of suspicion at the moment.
Even they themselves didn't know how to convince Prince Yu and make him believe it.
"There has finally been a rift between us and His Highness..." Zhao Zhenji saw it clearly and sighed softly.
"Once a crack appears, it means more and more suspicion, until the conflict breaks out completely!"
"What should we do then?" Gao Gong also looked worried.
"Alas!" For a moment, whether it was the Yan Party or the Qingliu, when they thought of the suspicion that existed between them and the two kings, they could not help but sigh helplessly in their hearts.
Hai Rui's words were mercilessly revealing an issue that they had always avoided talking about.
That is, if the Xian Dynasty is established in the future and the emperor has other children, will they continue to support the second king?
Everyone asks themselves this question in their hearts, but dares not speak out the answer.
They themselves don’t have the confidence to convince themselves!
How can they make the two kings believe them?
"..."
(End of this chapter)
