A secret chamber.
Mao Yifan, the Commander of the Imperial Guards, Grand Commander Tang Wei of the Imperial Army, and Yang Xian, the de facto controller of the Central Secretariat, were all present.
Just then, the door of the secret chamber opened again, and another person walked in.
The three of them, upon seeing this person, their faces stiffened, and they immediately said, "So it's Eunuch Huang who has arrived!"
The person took off his cloak, revealing Huang Minghao, the grand eunuch by Zhu Yuanzhang's side!
Huang Minghao waved his hand and said cautiously, "The Huai Xi faction has many eyes and ears, and we need to be especially careful of military mutiny..."
"Fortunately, the Emperor's decision has been made this time, giving us the opportunity to bring down this towering tree of the Huai Xi faction."
Huang Minghao looked at Grand Commander Tang Wei of the Imperial Army and asked, "Can the Imperial Army still be used?"
"Although the Imperial Army has undergone several reductions and reorganizations, who knows how many of them are Xu Da's, or even Tang He's men..."
Grand Commander Tang Wei of the Imperial Army heard this and shook his head, saying to the others, "I can only ensure that the Imperial Army does not revolt. That is the limit of what I can do..."
"However, you guys have been up to quite a lot recently!"
...
Yang Xian let out a chuckle.
As Liu Bowen's direct disciple, he was naturally the leader of the "Qing Liu" (pure faction).
And the influence of the Qing Liu among scholars was the greatest. If nothing else, he could control public opinion; no one would dare claim to be second to him in the Great Ming dynasty.
Mao Yifan, the Commander of the Imperial Guards, replied to Grand Commander Tang Wei of the Imperial Army, "It is enough for you to control the 300,000 Imperial Army. Leave the rest to us."
Huang Minghao echoed his sentiment.
In fact, the main executors of this operation, collecting evidence against the Huai Xi faction and finally arresting these officials, were the Imperial Guards and the Eastern Depot.
On the other side, Zhu Yuanzhang, looking at the secret letters, was seething with rage.
Among these secret letters was one detailing the secret transactions between Zhang Shunchang, the Governor of Zhejiang, and Li Shanchang.
The few of them had secretly transported a portion of the taxes originally owed to the court from Zhejiang province to Li Shanchang's home in ten carriages.
In simple terms, it was corruption, and millions of taels at that, millions of taels stolen.
Zhu Yuanzhang took a deep breath and picked up the second secret letter.
It was about the corrupt dealings of Lan Yu in northern Shaanxi, with the ultimate goal still being money.
He was still using his power to siphon money from the national treasury into his own pockets.
Zhu Yuanzhang felt his head was about to explode, and with a sweep of his hand, he knocked the documents on the table to the floor.
He took a sip of tea, barely suppressing his anger, and began to consider how to deal with the resurgence of the high-ranking officials of the Huai Xi faction.
Zhu Yuanzhang's plan to deal with the Huai Xi faction was actually very simple.
The method was simple, but also very effective.
Throughout history, as long as the army was controlled and did not revolt, there had never been an official capable of resisting the emperor.
Zhu Yuanzhang's large-scale actions would undoubtedly reach the ears of those with keen senses.
Instantly, the entrance to the Yang residence was bustling with traffic, noisy and lively.
And at the morning court today, Yang Xian's appearance made it even more vibrant.
Many court officials had been waiting for a long time. As soon as Yang Xian alighted from his sedan chair, they flocked towards him.
The crowd was dense, shoulder to shoulder. A rough count showed no less than twenty to thirty people.
These officials greeted him, paid their respects, and showed their favor, the actions varied.
Looking at the officials before him, Yang Xian's pride grew even more.
In his eyes, his prestige among the hundred officials in the court had long surpassed Li Shanchang's. It was only a matter of time before he succeeded as the Left Prime Minister of the Central Secretariat.
Therefore, Yang Xian waved his sleeves, appearing extremely arrogant and overbearing, his eyes almost reaching the heavens.
"Lord Yang, yesterday I sent someone to your residence with a hundred thousand taels of silver. Have you seen it?"
"Lord Yang, I intend to host a banquet at the Yellow Crane Tower today. Would you honor us with your presence?"
"Greetings, Lord Yang. I, Liu Xiaofeng, wish you continued success in your promotions!"
After a lively period, Yang Xian raised his hands to signal for quiet. The officials, seeing this, all fell silent, looking at Yang Xian with anticipation.
Yang Xian said with a smile, "The day after tomorrow, I will host a banquet to thank all of you for your strong support in recent days."
"Well, let's set it for the afternoon of the day after tomorrow, at Chen Shi, at Wangyue Tower in the north of the city. What do you all think? I will send out invitations one by one. All colleagues who can honor me with their presence are friends of Yang Xian."
Hearing Yang Xian's words, the officials gathered around him readily agreed.
Suddenly, someone snorted out of turn and said, "Brother Yang Xian. You've been quite triumphant recently. Do you truly believe you have already won?"
Yang Xian turned his head and saw that Hu Weiyong, the Minister of Personnel, had appeared somewhere nearby. He was now looking coldly at the crowd.
Seeing that it was Hu Weiyong speaking, the court officials gathered around Yang Xian instinctively fell silent.
Hu Weiyong held a second-rank official position, wielded considerable power, and was a trusted subordinate of Li Shanchang, the Left Prime Minister of the Central Secretariat. Although these people wished to align with Yang Xian, the matter was not yet settled, and offending Hu Weiyong without reason was not worth it.
Yang Xian's face turned ashen, and he retorted without hesitation, "A defeated general, a stray dog, dares to bark here?"
Hu Weiyong saw Yang Xian's growing arrogance and a flicker of disdain flashed in his eyes. He snorted, "How long can a petty man who has achieved success remain so rampant?"
As he spoke, Hu Weiyong cupped his hands again and left, saying, "Today's defeat is preparation for tomorrow's victory. The outcome is not yet decided until the very end?"
As he spoke, without waiting for Yang Xian to retaliate, Hu Weiyong turned and walked towards the gathering place of the Huai Xi faction, leaving a furious Yang Xian with a face as dark as a pot bottom.
Li Shanchang, the leader of the Huai Xi faction, outwardly had a gentle and kind face of an old man. Even if he hated someone to the bone, his outward expression remained sincere and friendly, making it impossible to distinguish friend from foe, or truth from falsehood.
"Be low-key in life, and high-profile in action" was Li Shanchang's motto.
In Yang Xian's eyes, Li Shanchang was hypocritical, two-faced, and falsely pious.
However, there was one thing that even Yang Xian had to admit: Li Shanchang's mastery of courtly infighting was unparalleled, especially his art of "open schemes" for killing, which was invincible.
What is an open scheme, and how does it differ from a conspiracy?
A conspiracy is a means of achieving great benefits by employing evil techniques and taking advantage of a smaller force.
However, in this world, no matter how devious a conspiracy, it loses its effectiveness once it is discovered.
An open scheme, on the other hand, is entirely different.
An open scheme is a forthright strategy that, once launched, is virtually unsolvable.
His teacher, Liu Bowen, was known as a reincarnation of Zhang Liang.
And Li Shanchang was known as a reincarnation of Xiao He.
However, for the past twenty years, his teacher, Liu Bowen, had always been at a disadvantage, fundamentally because his conspiracies were inferior to open schemes.
If it weren't for the Emperor's decision this time to kill Li Shanchang and Xu Da and others, he would never have dared to attack the flourishing Huai Xi faction.
This morning's court session lasted for two to three hours, during which dozens of people, from Li Shanchang and Tang He to Lan Yu, were arrested.
As for Xu Da, he was ill and did not attend this morning's court, thus temporarily escaping this disaster.
...
Imperial Army camp.
"Report, there is a secret decree."
A eunuch approached and handed a scroll of imperial edict to the Grand Commander of the Imperial Army.
The Grand Commander of the Imperial Army unfurled it, laughed heartily, and then said, "Issue the order: beat the drums, summon the generals!"
Dong dong dong... Dafen Novel
The sound of drums suddenly erupted.
The military law in the Imperial Army was extremely strict. If a general did not arrive after three rounds of drumming, they could be beheaded directly.
"Dong..."
During the first round of drumming, generals already in full armor had arrived at the center of the main camp.
After three rounds of drumming, dozens of commanders lined up according to their official positions and status.
They looked solemnly at the Grand Commander of the Imperial Army and bowed in unison: "Greetings, Grand Commander!"
The Grand Commander of the Imperial Army was quite satisfied with this.
Because all the commanders who controlled military power were present, all he needed to do was control them to control the Imperial Army.
"By the grace of heaven, the Emperor decrees that all commanders of the Imperial Army shall remain in this place for three days."
"Within three days, without imperial decree, no one is allowed to leave. Those who violate this will be beheaded without mercy!"
The Grand Commander of the Imperial Army held the imperial edict in both hands and read it aloud.
"Yes!"
The many commanders, regardless of their thoughts, all accepted the order in unison.
Then, they were about to go out to pack their belongings.
As the commanders stepped off the platform, they were blocked.
The hearts of these commanders skipped a beat, and they suddenly felt a sense of suffocation.
Outside the platform, densely packed, stood over a thousand people. Judging by their attire, they were all personal guards of the Grand Commander of the Imperial Army.
At this moment, they stood with cold faces, looking at the commanders as if they were dead men.
"Grand Commander, what are you trying to do? You must at least let us pack our luggage and speak to our subordinates..."
A commander named Zheng, seeing this scene, was filled with anger and stepped forward to the Grand Commander of the Imperial Army, shouting angrily!
Immediately, Grand Commander Tang Wei drew his saber and struck.
Commander Zheng looked at the blood flowing from his neck, his face filled with disbelief: "You dare to kill me?"
"It's over, there must have been a change in the capital..."
Seeing this, these commanders instantly understood.
Whenever a major change was about to occur in the capital, the most powerful armed force in the capital, the Imperial Army, would be controlled by one faction.
And the faction that successfully controlled the Imperial Army would possess absolute power within the capital!
"The Grand Commander's order is that anyone who dares to take a step forward will be executed!"
A sub-lieutenant waved his hand, and countless Imperial Army soldiers in silver armor stepped forward, encircling the platform tightly.
...
"Alas, the storm is coming, and the tall trees will fall one by one!"
Inside the Duke of Xu's mansion.
Xu Da looked at the weather and suddenly sighed.
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