Prime Minister dare not be

Chapter 57

There was a lot of discussion among the officials, and some even brought up the issue of re-election of generals.

Originally, everyone was afraid of Xie Shu and didn't dare to mention it, but once someone started it, they couldn't help it. You talked to each other for a while, and when it came to this critical juncture, the glory of the past is just a cloud, and the ability to keep the present is the key .

The emperor didn't express his opinion, the situation was difficult, and he couldn't make up his mind for a while.King Wuling is already the No. 1 general of the Jin Kingdom, and he has no confidence in using others.

Almost all families have spoken out, some support King Wuling to continue to use troops, maybe he can turn defeat into victory; some support the use of other generals, for example, when King Wuling went to the battlefield for the first time, everyone did not expect him to have the glory later , so others should be given a chance.

Xie Shu walked out of the queue and saluted the emperor, his voice was like a clear spring that just broke through ice in February, clear and cold: "This matter is the responsibility of this humble minister. This humble minister risked the felony of contradicting His Majesty to give King Wuling a chance, but he failed to make up for it , really failed His Majesty's expectations."

She straightened up, and suddenly shouted out: "Come here! Send the order of the truth, the king of Wuling is seriously ill, and he is not suitable for leading the army. From now on, he will hand over all the military power in his hand, and wait for the truth to discuss with His Majesty to select other generals." Make arrangements again!"

Everyone was astonished, and the emperor was also shocked.The prime minister who had publicly supported King Wuling abandoned him as soon as something happened.

Xie Ziyuan seconded.

Xie Yun seconded.

Huan Peisheng seconded.

Members of the Xie family, who had already controlled more than half of the power in the imperial court, seconded the proposal one after another.

Huan Ting... is inexplicable.

Wang Jingzhi glanced at Xie Shu, turned around a few times in his mind, and got some counts, but he didn't know if it was accurate.

After coming down to court, Xie Shu took the initiative to meet the emperor.It was the first time for the monarch and his ministers to walk and talk in the imperial garden, and they felt a little uncomfortable.

"Your Majesty, I feel that at this moment, I should clarify some things with you privately."

The emperor stood still in front of a clump of golden chrysanthemums, and glanced at her: "It doesn't matter if you thank me for speaking bluntly."

Xie Shu said: "I only said one word, please think twice, Your Majesty. You and I have had a lot of differences over the past few days because of the war. If the news spreads to Qin, what kind of impact will it have? The reason why Qin is strong is because of the monarch and his ministers Concentric, why can't Your Majesty and my ministers abandon the past?"

The emperor looked her up and down, accustomed to her coercive methods, so he was naturally surprised by her sudden appearance.

Xie Shu had already saluted and left, and didn't seem to care about his answer.

The emperor looked at her back and left, then turned his head and said to Xiang Gong: "Why do I feel that Xie Xiang is different from before?"

Eunuch Xiang said with a sneer: "The prime minister has been hanging around in front of His Majesty for several years, there must be some changes."

"No," the emperor shook his head and sighed, "Maybe I'm getting old."

The emperor's throne has been passed down to the present, from the original view of the world to being wise and wise, gradually, the duty of generation after generation of emperors has become to strive to preserve the throne amidst the power struggles of these aristocratic families.

The royal family and the aristocratic family are destined to rely on each other and fight each other, but now Xie Shu asks him to give him trust.

Or maybe none of them are willing to change, but the current situation is forcing them to change.

The emperor really felt that he was old. He didn’t feel old when Concubine Yuan Gui looked at him sadly after attending bedtime. He didn’t feel old when the queen mother said that he had a lot of white hair on his head. I didn't feel old when I was dizzy and dizzy, but at this time, I had to be old...

Wei Yizhi placed the remnants in Wuling County, ordered the Jingzhou defenders to deploy a tight defense, and was called back to the capital.

Xie Yun's [-] soldiers and horses had already returned, and they were already waiting outside the city. The force that was supposed to support him unexpectedly changed its normal routine and surrounded him. Xie Yun even read out the prime minister's order on the spot, ordering him Take off your armor and plead guilty.

"The King of Wuling failed to make up for his crimes, but returned in a big defeat, which harmed the prestige of the country. As a military governor, he failed to monitor the betrayal and dereliction of duty of the commander-in-chief Wei Shizhi in time, and he owed the emperor's kindness. The witchcraft case and Wei Shizhi's treason case will be re-investigated from now on. , and ordered his military power to be handed over to the prime minister's mansion, and to be confined in the mansion, and if there is any violation, he will be severely punished."

Xie Shu waited in the prime minister's mansion until the dead of night, and then ordered Mubai to prepare an unremarkable carriage, and hurried to Da Sima's mansion.

The story of Wei Shizhi has spread throughout the Da Sima Mansion, and Mrs. Xiang fell ill because of this and was unable to see guests.Although the butler was angry at Xie Shu's decision to seize Wei Yi's military power and imprison him, he had no choice but to lead her obediently to Wei Yizhi's room.

She ordered everyone to stay outside, and pushed the door open by herself.

The housekeeper was so anxious that he wanted to step forward to stop her, even Fu Xuan looked at her in a bad way.If the king of the county hadn't issued the order, I'm afraid that the direct line generals would have already started to make trouble at this time. I didn't expect that the prime minister would actually take away his military power. It was a waste of his affection.

The lights in the room were dim, Xie Shu went around the screen, walked to the bedside, and called softly: "Zhongqing."

Wei Yizhi lay on his back, opened his eyes and looked at her, like pearls and jades that had lost their luster and paled.

"Brother may have let me discover the flaw on purpose, may be out of remorse, may be trying to test my reaction, or may be waiting for me to join together... But the result is the same, after all, I killed him..."

Xie Shu leaned over to hug him and interrupted him.

Wei Yizhi closed his eyes, buried his head in her arms, and his hands around her waist trembled slightly.

Xie Shu knew that saying anything at this time was superfluous, so he hugged him tightly with his backhand, and was speechless for a while, and the room was silent.

At dawn on the second day, Xie Ran squatted in Liuyunxuan's flower garden and was busy arranging flowers and plants.

"Oh? The prime minister actually did such a cruel thing to King Wuling?" He looked absent-minded, but there was a lot of interest in his words.

Guangfu followed him several times and wanted to help, but he blocked him.

"Where is the prime minister now?"

"Master Hui, he is in Da Sima's Mansion."

Xie Ran paused, looked up at the pale sky just now: "Go so early?"

"No, the prime minister went there last night and didn't return all night."

Xie Ran's face darkened slightly, and his subordinates damaged a rare Xifu crabapple.But when he realized that he was angry, he simply destroyed the entire flower garden.

Guangfu was so frightened that he didn't dare to make a sound for a long time. Now that the son is involved in the prime minister's affairs, why is his temper so volatile? If this is the case, why let him report the prime minister's actions.

He suddenly remembered that there was still one thing he hadn't reported, so he shrank back and said, "Prime Minister seems to be in poor health recently, and has been taking medicine. It's a pity that I can't get close to Dr. Zhong, and I don't know what's going on."

Xie Ran was startled suddenly, and the anger dissipated: "When did this happen?"

"it's been a while."

He didn't speak anymore, staring at the broken branches and leaves on the ground, clutching the hem of his clothes tightly, his eyes were uncertain.

When Xie Shu woke up, he found himself lying in an unfamiliar environment. After looking carefully, he found that it was Wei Yizhi's room.She really couldn't bear the tiredness more and more, and she actually slept next to Wei Yizhi all night like this.

Wei Yizhi was not around, she got up quickly to get dressed, and hurried out of the screen, only to see him standing in front of the wooden frame with his back turned to her in a loose robe, looking at the map motionlessly, and he didn't know how to maintain this position. How long is the pose.

Xie Shu walked up to him, looked at his side face, and persuaded: "You are sick, so don't worry about it for now."

Wei Yizhi took her hand hanging by her side, and his eyes were still fixed on the map: "I just received the frontline information, because I designed to trap and kill Shi Di and Tuobakang, Emperor Qin was furious, and has decided to march in person."

Xie Shu stroked the folds of his clothes, not surprised: "This is expected, he is used to doing important battles by himself."

Wei Yizhi slid his fingers across the Yangtze River: "I retreated all the way back without using the troops from the surrounding counties to support it. Although the Qin State is strong and strong, it is difficult to attack these places by force. Just hold them back and force them to go along Badong The county has been advancing to the territory of Jingzhou, in order to enter the hinterland of Jin, they will eventually gather on the north bank of the Yangtze River."

"It makes sense. The Yangtze River is a natural danger. Since they have won two counties all the way, they will not let go if they have the opportunity to go deep into the hinterland of Dajin. So you think they will use..."

"Water battle." Wei Yizhi was completely different from yesterday, and he became the king of Wuling who commanded well: "Northern people are not good at water, but if they want to drive straight into the hinterland of Jin, they have to cross the Yangtze River. To break them, water warfare is the best way."

Xie Shu showed joy on his face, turned to face him, and grabbed his arms: "The family members are either anxious to protect themselves, or they are only looking for immediate benefits. Many people want to use the excuse of re-election of generals to seize the opportunity. Your military power. I keep it here for you, just wait for you to regroup and kill the enemy. I thought it would take a long time, but I didn't expect you to have planned it."

Wei Yizhi lowered his head and stared into her eyes: "I understand your intention."

"I still like the high-spirited King Wuling." Xie Shu put his hand on his cheek: "Don't worry, I will advance and retreat with you."

Pushing the door open, Mubai, Fu Xuan and a group of attendants were all waiting outside with their heads down, she didn't know about others, Mubai must have been waiting all night.Xie Shu put his hands together on his lips and coughed dryly, and went out without looking sideways: "Mubai, prepare to go up."

"Yes, young master." Before leaving, Mubai glanced at King Wuling's room, but didn't see anything, and slandered all the way.

The prime minister dealt with King Wuling in large numbers, which would somewhat lead to resentment and backlash from the Wei family, but unexpectedly, the emperor stood on the prime minister's side and turned a deaf ear to everyone's opinions.

The officials found helplessly that, with their fragile hearts, facing the ever-changing court, the pressure was really increasing.

Only Wang Jingzhi looked the most relaxed. He walked up to Xie Shu and said with a smile: "It seems that I guessed well, and the prime minister has arranged everything."

Xie Shu smiled, noncommittal.

Wei Yizhi is actively recuperating from his illness, and in a few days most of them will be cured, but he ordered people to spread the news that he is depressed and sick, and he will not heal for a long time.

Since he came back, he has been avoiding Mrs. Xiang, one is because he feels ashamed, and the other is because he is afraid of irritating her.But now he is much better, Mrs. Xiang is still bedridden, he finally couldn't bear it anymore, he knelt down in front of his mother's bed with the iron whip in his hand, asking her to punish him.

Although the emperor and Xie Shu agreed that Wei Shizhi was coerced into betraying him, he killed him after all.

"Impossible... Impossible..." Mrs. Xiang said these three words the most.After she became a loyal minister, her father Xiangyi fought with all his strength until there was only one person left, and he shouted and refused to surrender even after being cut off by the enemy. It is impossible to have a treasonous son.

He had been a prisoner of war for 18 years and hadn't surrendered, so how could he be coerced all of a sudden?She can't take it.

Wei Yizhi's throat was slightly choked: "Mom, it's been 18 years, and we don't know Big Brother anymore."

Mrs. Xiang suddenly sat up, picked up the whip and raised it high, facing his lowered eyebrows but trembling, she couldn't move her hand.

She knows better than anyone else how much Wei Yizhi values ​​this elder brother. She still remembers Wei Shizhi's smiling face when he first came back, as if he was a different person.

She threw away the whip, fell from the couch to the ground, grabbed his collar with both hands, and cried bitterly: "The Wei family still has only you and me after all, after all, there are only you and me left..."

Wei Yizhi hugged her back, his eyes were full of sorrow, and he couldn't speak a word.

Xie Shu's series of actions against Wei Yizhi were actually just passing scenes, especially the witchcraft case, which was never investigated again.But the news had already reached Qin.

King Wuling was ill, and Prime Minister Xie took the opportunity to add insult to injury. An Heng really wanted to clap his hands and laugh three times. Originally, he planned to wait and see, but now he finally made up his mind to support Emperor Qin to lead his army to the north bank of the Yangtze River in Jingzhou.

It takes a long time to build a ship, and Qin cannot allow itself to be surrounded by enemies on three sides, so it is natural to immediately capture the surrounding counties.For a time, all the counties north of the Yangtze River in Jin State fell into the battle of defending the city.

When Wei Yizhi was in trouble, he was not willing to use the troops of the counties, so at this time the guards in the counties in Jiangbei were still in a state of waiting for work, not to mention that the previous battles had made the Jin army suffocated, so how could they give up easily.

Xie Shu took the opportunity to write to Wei Yizhi's subordinates, saying that as long as he wins more battles, it will prove that King Wuling is able to lead his troops well, and he will return the military power to him.Such a shameless argument naturally provoked a group of veterans to throw tables and kick benches, but they were much braver when they went into battle to kill the enemy.

Qin and Jin were at a stalemate, and even though Qin had an overwhelming advantage in military strength, it failed to gain the upper hand.Emperor Qin was very anxious. He thought that King Wuling would retreat, and the rest of the counties would also be in his pocket. He didn't expect it to be so difficult.

He also doubted whether Wei Yizhi deliberately lured him to go deep, but he has fought so far, and there is absolutely no reason to turn back, so he must continue, not to mention that he is still full of confidence in the strength of the Qin army.

Jiankang City was the same as before, but during this period of time, Xie Shu's people on the way back to the palace became much more peaceful, and no one threw veils or melons at her as usual.

Mubai said regretfully: "Young Master, since you seized the military power of King Wuling, the common people seem to have blamed you."

Xie Shu raised the curtain with the handle of his fan and looked at the passers-by on the road: "Complaints are only temporary, and it's better than being slaughtered by the Qin army."

As soon as he returned to the Prime Minister's Mansion, a servant from the Wei family came to report that the King of Wuling had moved to the old house of the Wei family in order to concentrate on military affairs, so that Mrs. Xiang could concentrate on recuperating from her illness.

Xie Shu didn't have any orders for the time being, but he remembered that Wei Yizhi hadn't recovered yet, and worried that he was too tired, so he decided to visit him.

Wei Yizhi was sitting behind the case studying the map of the Yangtze River waters, with one hand propping his forehead and the other holding a pen.

It's late autumn, and the trees outside the window behind him are already full of fallen leaves, some even floated into the window and fell on the hem of his bamboo-green toga.He lowered his eyes, his long eyelashes were lightly covered, he was as peaceful as a dream, without any hostility of a military general, he looked like an idle poet.

Xie Shu couldn't help but relax a lot, walked to sit beside him, so as not to disturb him, and watched quietly for a long time.

In fact, Wei Yizhi knew she was coming a long time ago. After reading a section of the topographic map, he turned to look at her, but saw that she had fallen asleep with her forehead propped up and her eyes closed.

It seems that she is also exhausted these days.Wei Yizhi hugged her and put her on his lap, took off his robe and covered her body, held her hand in one hand, and continued to write with a pen in the other hand.

Fu Xuan came in with the decoction and opened his mouth to speak, but Wei Yizhi raised his head, covered his mouth with his fingers and made a silent movement.He took a closer look and found that the prime minister was lying on his lap, the snow clothes were laid out, his eyes were peaceful, and he was sleeping soundly.

He put the decoction on the table, and retreated silently, but he thought in his heart that the county king was really fascinated, that the prime minister had treated him like this, and he was still so determined.

It was dark when Xie Shu woke up, and when he opened his eyes, he saw Wei Yizhi looking at him, sat up quickly, and sighed secretly, his energy was getting worse and worse.

Wei Yizhi held her arm: "Looking at you like this, you look more like you just got off the battlefield than me, you need to take a good rest."

Xie Shu intentionally avoided his words, and leaned over to ask, "What arrangements have you made?"

Wei Yizhi moved the map towards her eyes: "I found a few waterways with special terrain, which should be of great use, but..."

Seeing that he hesitated to speak, Xie Shu couldn't help being surprised: "Just what happened?"

"It's just that water warfare requires shipbuilding. Now that the national treasury is empty, and I have just been defeated, this matter will be very difficult."

"It's true, shipbuilding is not a small expense." Xie Shu thought for a while, raised his hand and rubbed his frowning brows away: "Don't worry, I will arrange this matter, you can just prepare for the war with peace of mind."

Wei Yizhi touched her thin chin: "Don't force yourself too much."

"How could it be? The King of Wuling shouldn't question the truth's ability." Xie Shu hooked his neck and pulled him closer: "Do you think Lu Cheng is rich enough?"

"Nan Shi is famous for being rich, so he is naturally rich."

"Well, you go out and ask him to pay, just say that you will deal with me after winning the battle, and he will definitely agree."

Wei Yizhi suddenly understood that Xie Shu had seized his military power now, and it was at the time when he was "at odds with him", and Lu Cheng had always hated Xie Shu, and Nan Shi was also very determined to stick to his hometown in the south of the Yangtze River, and it was really possible to succeed .

"As for the other aristocratic families, I'll figure out a way. They're all guys with a lot of money, and it won't hurt to peel off a little."

Wei Yizhi reached out and pulled her into his arms.

Xie Shu put his hand on his chest, a little puzzled by his actions: "What do you want to say?"

"I don't need to say anything, because you understand everything."

(End of this chapter)