Summoning the Peak of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 2928 Ming faction = quasi-princeling party?

Chapter 2924: Ming faction = quasi-princeling party?

After seeing Zhang Liang, Feng Yunshan and Zhang Baiqi hurriedly went to greet him, and very consciously stood on his left and right, giving up the C position on their own initiative, all with an attitude of putting Zhang Liang first.

Zhang Liang didn't care about this at all. After all, whether he was willing to admit it or not, he was the leader of the Ming faction. Not to mention Feng and Zhang, even Long Ju had to follow his attitude.

After some pleasantries, Feng Yunshan suppressed his excitement and asked tentatively, "Sir Shangshu, the palace urgently summoned us this time. Do you think it has something to do with Qingnan?"

Feng Yunshan couldn't help but be excited. After all, the army at the front had just occupied Qingnan when His Majesty's decree came from the front line. All those summoned were from the Ming clique, which obviously meant that he wanted to release them and make important use of them.

Zhang Liang glared at the man and scolded him harshly, "Stop asking questions. Is this something you should ask? Just listen to what His Majesty has to say."

"Yes, yes, it is my humble servant who has overstepped his authority."

Feng Yunshan was stunned into silence upon hearing this, but seeing Zhang Liang's attitude, he felt relieved. He should have been right in his judgment.

Since the loss of Sun Lingming, the Ming faction's influence in the military has greatly declined. Even with Zhang Liang and Long Ju as support, its status in Qin is no longer as good as before.

For example, this time, among the eight armies in the eastern expedition and the four armies in the western expedition, a total of twelve armies, only the commander of the northern army on the western front, Long Ju, was a member of the Ming faction.

The Ming faction was once the third largest faction in Daqin, after Qin and Jin, but now it has slipped to the fifth place, after Ji and Jing.

If this continues, the Ming faction will surely become worse day by day, and may even disappear completely.

Feng Yunshan's worries are not impossible. After all, all members of the Ming faction are descended from the surrendered Yellow Turban officials and their families and children, and their hematopoietic capacity is seriously insufficient.

In contrast, factions such as Jin, Ji, and Jing were able to rely on regional divisions to continuously absorb new members and produce a steady stream of new talents.

Once Zhang Liang and Long Ju grow old and there is no new pillar who can stand on their own, I am afraid that the Ming faction will either be disbanded or swallowed up by the Yuan Cong faction.

In fact, for the Ming faction, being annexed by the Yuancong faction was not unacceptable, but that would be tantamount to losing the right to speak and being completely subordinate to others. For such a huge interest group, obviously no one would be willing to do that until the last step.

Therefore, Feng Yunshan and other core members of the Ming clique still wanted to take advantage of the faction's still strength to expand as much as possible and delay its decline, at least so that it would not end in their generation and that of their sons.

Although Zhang Liang was well aware of the intentions of Feng Yunshan and others, he did not care at all about the survival of the Ming faction and had no intention of intervening.

In the eyes of Feng Yunshan and others, if the Ming faction continued in this way, it would disappear sooner or later, which would harm the interests of all of them. However, in Zhang Liang's eyes, this was the best outcome.

The apparent leader of the Ming faction was Zhang Liang, but the actual leader was Queen Ren Hongchang. So to be precise, the real name of the Ming faction should be the Queen's Party, and the current crown prince was born to the Queen, so the Ming faction is the quasi-prince's party.

On the surface, the Ming faction's power is growing weaker and it is in a dilemma of having no successor, but in fact the more this is the case, the better, because the future is on the Ming faction's side.

Although the prince is still young now, once he grows up and takes power, a weak queen's party will be able to better gain the prince's trust. After the prince ascends the throne, these people will become the new imperial party, and the wealth and glory of future generations will naturally be guaranteed.

Therefore, what Feng Yunshan and others thought were big problems were not problems at all in Zhang Liang's eyes. However, he would not stop Feng Yunshan and others from jumping around. Let these people fight and make a fuss. After all, no matter how good your political achievements are, only the emperor needs to know, and only the crying child gets the candy.

Looking at the two people who were constantly communicating, Zhang Baiqi had a confused look on his face. He could neither understand the deeper meaning of their words nor understand why the queen wanted to recruit him into the palace this time.

  He is just a small city gate guard and he hasn't been to the battlefield for many years. It's impossible to let an old man like him fight with those brutal young people, right?

Zhang Baiqi thought to himself that this was not just his idea. Most of the generals who nominated the second line would probably think so.

Back then, with the support of Zhang Baiqi, Zhang Niujiao and other generals, Ren Hongchang ascended the throne. In order to centralize power, the first thing he swung was at these generals.

In order to prevent the Ming Dynasty from falling into civil strife, Zhang Baiqi and others had to hand over most of the military power for the sake of the overall situation. However, they were still full of resentment towards Ren Hongchang. After all, it was too hurtful to put away the bow before the bird was killed.

It has to be said that Ren Hongchang during that period was simply a political machine that cheated people. The key point was that he only cheated his own people. Many heroes such as Xiang Yu and Luo Shixin were his victims.

But what Zhang Baiqi and others did not expect was that it was precisely because they gave up their power that they were unable to participate in the Taizheng coup and could only choose to remain neutral, which ultimately allowed them all to survive.

Just imagine, if they were in power at the time, how could Zhu Yuanzhang not look for them? And if they were persuaded by Zhu Yuanzhang, they would be doomed to eternal damnation and die without a burial place.

A Taiji coup allowed Zhang Ming to be completely integrated into the Qin Dynasty. Anyone who survived was incorporated into the Qin Dynasty, and those who were not incorporated basically died.

Zhang Baiqi, Zhang Niujiao and others, who were Zhang Jiao's disciples, were naturally treated with courtesy and valued by Ying Hao. However, as most of them had mediocre abilities, they were obviously unable to seize the opportunity and instead gradually faded into obscurity.

Zhang Baiqi was one of those who fell into silence. It was after he joined the Qin Dynasty that he gradually understood and accepted his mediocrity.

It would be fine if he had poor aptitude, but he also had poor learning ability. If he had not been lucky enough to meet his master Zhang Jue, he would have been just an ordinary person among the masses, and he would probably have never had the opportunity to leave his name in history books. Although Zhang Baiqi was hit hard, he still accepted his mediocrity and chose to leave the front line and retreat to the second line. Although he gradually faded into the crowd, at least he no longer had to worry and live a richer and more peaceful life.

Zhang Baiqi thought that this was how his life would be. After another dozen years, he would retire from the army and become a wealthy man in Luoyang. However, he did not expect to be summoned by the Queen suddenly, and his peaceful life of idleness was completely disrupted.

After arriving at the palace hall, Zhang Liang, Feng Yunshan and Zhang Baiqi were led into the palace by the eunuchs. They immediately saw the elegant and graceful Queen Ren Hongchang of the Great Qin Dynasty, who was dressed in a gorgeous palace dress and phoenix robe, sitting upright on the dragon throne that belonged to Ying Hao, looking down at them.

  After seeing this scene, Zhang Baiqi felt his scalp tingling. Even the emperor emeritus had never sat on His Majesty's throne, but the queen sat on it so openly. If this were to get out, wouldn't he be silenced?

Zhang Baiqi quickly lowered his head, not daring to look any more. In contrast, Zhang Liang and Feng Yunshan looked calm. It was obviously not the first time they had seen this scene. Regardless of the fact that the emperor was not there now, they had seen the queen sitting in front of the emperor.

Zhang Baiqi's current rank is too low, and he hasn't seen Ren Hongchang for a long time. The last time they met was at the founding ceremony, so he reacted so strongly.

"Your humble servant greets Her Majesty the Queen."

Zhang Liang and the other two saluted together, and Ren Hongchang smiled and said, "No need for formalities." Then his eyes fell on Zhang Baiqi.

Seeing him lowering his head with a look of panic, Ren Hongchang understood and couldn't help but smile: "Brother Baiqi, raise your head. I'm just sitting on the throne. His Majesty has entrusted me with the important task of supervising the country. It's okay for me to sit on the throne for a while."

Zhang Baiqi obviously didn't expect Ren Hongchang to call his name first, but after hearing what the other party said, he understood and said quickly: "It's just that I haven't seen the queen for too long, and I'm a little uncomfortable."

Ren Hongchang frowned and said, "Brother Zhang, you are practicing the Taiping Sutra. After so many years, you still haven't achieved a breakthrough to the Grandmaster level. You are too lazy in your practice."

Hearing Ren Hongchang's words, Zhang Baiqi couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart. It wasn't that he was slacking off, but that he lacked talent. He simply couldn't comprehend the advanced skills like the Taiping Sutra. Let alone becoming a master, he would be satisfied if he could break through to the initial stage of the super first-class in this life.

"I am so stupid and embarrassed my master..."

Before Zhang Baiqi could finish his words, he was interrupted by Ren Hongchang.

"With your current level of cultivation, it is too dangerous to serve in Qingnan. I will arrange a master guard to be responsible for your safety during your service in Qingnan. Of course, the same goes for Third Uncle and others."

Although Ren Hongchang said the same, Zhang Liang's security level naturally could not be the same as Zhang Baiqi and others. He probably had to start from a half-step grandmaster.

After hearing Ren Hongchang's words, Zhang Liang's face showed no expression, but Feng Yunshan's eyes lit up. He suppressed the ecstasy in his heart and waited quietly for Ren Hongchang's next words.

Ren Hongchang didn't keep the three waiting for long, and went straight to the point: "Your Majesty has ordered Zhang Liang to be the governor of Qingxu, Feng Yunshan to be the prefect of Qi County, Zhang Baiqi to be the prefect of Jinan, and Zhang Niujiao to be the prefect of Le'an..."

Now not only Zhang Baiqi and Feng Yunshan, but even Zhang Liang was stunned. He had not thought that he would be the governor of Qingzhou or Xuzhou, but he did not expect that he would be the governor-general of Qingxu.

The Qin Dynasty has never had the position of governor, and he will be the first governor of the Qin Dynasty. This trust and favor alone is enough to move him.

"Your Majesty, I, Zhang Liang (Feng Yunshan), will definitely live up to your trust."

Zhang Liang and Feng Yunshan saluted together, but Zhang Baiqi just stood there in a daze, looking at a loss. It was obvious that he didn't understand why His Majesty wanted him and Zhang Niujiao to be prefects when they were both military generals?

But at Feng Yunshan's reminder, Zhang Baiqi still knelt down and accepted the order.

After Ren Hongchang issued the order, he let Feng Yunshan and Zhang Baiqi leave, but only left Zhang Liang.

On the way back, Zhang Baiqi still couldn't figure it out, and Feng Yunshan took the initiative to explain to prevent him from getting stuck in a dead end: "Your Majesty ordered us to go to Qingnan to be the governor. What he values ​​is not our ability, but our status in the Taiping Sect."

"status?"

"Well, otherwise, why do you think you, the city gate guard, and Zhang Niujiao, the Hulao Pass guard, should be appointed as prefects with me?"

Zhang Baiqi was not a political idiot. He understood immediately after hearing this and said, "I see. I didn't expect that the Taiping Sect has been disbanded for so many years, but we can still benefit from it. Master, meeting you is Baiqi's greatest blessing."

But Zhang Baiqi asked again: "But Yunshan, I have never worked in a civil service position. What if this governor fails to do a good job and ruins your majesty's plan?"

"Don't worry, you don't need to do anything on this trip. You just need to appease the people. Your subordinates will help you with the government affairs."

After hearing this, Zhang Baiqi felt relieved, and soon the list of officials appeared in front of him. Among them were many officials who had passed the imperial examinations, and the ranks of Gongcao, Zhubu, and Juncheng were higher than his.

At this point, Zhang Baiqi was completely relieved and said to himself, "I don't know who the subordinates of that Niu Jiao guy are."

Among the four people transferred by Ying Hao this time, only Zhang Niujiao, the commander of Hulao Pass, is not in Luoyang. But precisely because Hulao Pass is closer to the front line, Zhang Niujiao also received the imperial edict, and now he has gone to Qingnan to take up his post ahead of the other three.