I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 107 If you want to have a big harvest, you must be willing to invest
Xu Jie pushed the stack of drafts forward along the table.

"Uncle, take a look first."

Zhang Juzheng took the manuscript paper suspiciously and read it quickly.

"'Anti-Counterattack Plan of Altan Khan - March of the 44th Year of Jiajing'."

After reading it, Zhang Juzheng raised his head, with an even more suspicious look on his face.

"Teacher, this manuscript seems to have been produced by the Supervisory Office. How did it end up in your hands?"

Xu Jie sighed softly in his heart. It seemed that the closeness between his favorite student and the Prince's Party exceeded his expectations.

But on second thought, this is a good thing. The closer Zhang Juzheng is to the Crown Prince, the brighter his future will be, and the more secure his later years and his descendants will be.

Xu Jie felt that he was somewhat confident about Zhang Juzheng's character.

He raised his head and looked towards the West Garden, "Just now, in the Wanshou Palace, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince mentioned the word "contingency plan" in public, and then gave this draft.

The emperor said in front of the four of us, the cabinet will not make the plan, so just copy it. "

Xu Jie smiled bitterly.

Zhang Juzheng knew that Emperor Jiajing was difficult to serve, and that even though his teacher was the chief minister, he had to "endure humiliation and bear heavy burdens" in front of the emperor.

But he didn't say anything.

I am not blessed enough to endure humiliation, so it is best not to say some words casually.

Disaster comes from the mouth.

"Now His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has asked the Council of Counselors to hand over the plan. According to the Emperor's order, the Cabinet must copy it. But how should it be copied? We are confused.

Uncle Da is in Xi'an Gate Academy, and has frequent contacts with Mr. Wenchang. He is also a teacher and student of the Crown Prince. It would be most appropriate for you to copy this plan for the Cabinet."

Zhang Juzheng thought for a while and said, "Teacher, I am only the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue now."

Xu Jie took one look at Zhang Juzheng and knew that he was seeking power.

This is normal. In the court, anyone with great ambitions knows that you must have power before you can do things, and only if you can do things can you achieve your ambitions.

So was Gao Gong, and so was Zhang Juzheng.

If I want this favorite student to repay me in the future, I have to be willing to invest now.

Xu Jie leaned back in his chair and answered leisurely.

"I will submit a memorial later to recommend you as the Right Vice-Censor of the Censorate and the Minister of War. You will represent the Cabinet to inspect the nine frontiers and supervise the implementation of this plan."

"Thank you, teacher."

"Uncle, do your job well. The teacher is getting old and will have to leave this duty room sooner or later. You have been to this duty room quite a few times in the past few years, so you must be very familiar with it."

Zhang Juzheng glanced around the small duty room and nodded: "The teacher often summons students here to teach in person, so they are naturally familiar with it."

"As long as you are familiar with it, I don't need to worry about whether you will be uncomfortable when you sit in it."

Zhang Juzheng looked at Xu Jie, who was leaning back in his chair with his eyes slightly closed and a tired look on his face. A fire rose in his heart and burned fiercely.

Sooner or later, I, Zhang Juzheng, will have to sit in this duty room, which holds the highest authority in the court.

Zhu Yijun returned to the counselor's office and Nangong Ye reported to him.

"Your Highness, Governor Tan and Mr. Wenchang came from Jizhou Town to report that Fox Dong took the initiative to knock on the gate of Xifeng."

"What?" Zhu Yijun was shocked by the news.

What is this fox Dong up to?

He took the initiative to knock on Xifengkou. Is he going to surrender?

"What did Mr. Zili and Mr. Wenchang say?"

"Your Highness, the urgent report said that Fox Dong said that he was the cause of this incident, and he is willing to exchange his body for Xin Ai."

Nangong Ye answered, with a puzzled look on his face. "Your Highness, what does this Dong Huli mean? General Qi, General Ma, General Li and General Zhou severely damaged Xin Ai's Kharachin tribe in the battle of Liuhe, but Dong Huli's Kharawusu tribe was not hurt at all.

General Li led the Liaodong cavalry to chase him for more than a hundred miles, but he still escaped. Now he actually took the initiative to knock on the Xifeng Pass and surrender, which is very strange. "

Zhu Yijun sat on the chair and patted the armrest.

"This Dong fox is indeed an old fox."

"Your Highness, he knocked on the gate of Xifeng. Does he have ulterior motives?"

"It's not that I have any ill intentions. I just took this risk out of desperation to protect myself."

"Self-protection?" Nangong Ye thought for a moment and understood a little. "Your Highness means that after Dong Huli escaped, he learned that Xin Ai was captured by our army. He felt that he could not escape his duty and was in a dilemma, so he had to resort to this last resort."

"That's right." Zhu Yijun nodded.

Nangong Ye was good at being meticulous and perceptive, good at handling complicated and tedious matters, and good at finding problems in the details of documents. He was far inferior to Xu Wei in strategizing and making plans.

Since he was already his confidant, Zhu Yijun didn't mind giving him some advice.

"Dong Huli's Kharawusu tribe is located between the Tumed tribe and the Chahar tribe. The reason why they have survived between the two northern Mongolian Khans is that they have been able to play both sides and balance the situation.

This time, in order to please Xin Ai, he pretended to surrender and secretly ambushed our border troops, but he got it wrong. The Tumed right wing lost more than 20,000 soldiers and Xin Ai was captured alive. How do you think Dong Hu will explain to Altan Khan?"

"Your Highness, why don't you tell the truth? Originally, this matter was planned by Xin Ai and Dong Huli, but Your Highness and Mr. Wen Chang were more skilled and saw through their tricks and used their tricks against them.

Isn't it enough to explain the cause and effect clearly? "

Nangong Ye is still a bit bookish.

Zhu Yijun smiled faintly, "Mr. Nangong, things are not that simple. Xin Ai was captured, but Dong Huli escaped unscathed. In this case, will Altan Khan believe what Dong Huli said?
And we are a big variable. For Dong Huli, it is like a sharp knife hanging on his neck, ready to fall at any time."

Nangong Ye was a little puzzled, "Your Highness, what does this big change mean for us?"

"Even if Dong Huli used all his tricks to convince Altan Khan that this matter had nothing to do with him, Dong Huli. The Ming Dynasty only needs to issue a written document to the nine borders to commend Dong Huli for sacrificing himself to lead the enemy, helping the Ming Dynasty capture Xin Ai and severely damaging the Kharchin tribe.

What do you think Altan Khan would think when he sees this document? How should Dong Huli respond? "

Of course, Altan Khan was furious and Dong Huli was killed without a burial place.

Nangong Ye, who finally understood, sighed and said, "Your Highness, if that's the case, Dong Huli is indeed a cunning and treacherous person with deep scheming."

"That's right. This old fox from Luanhe predicted our prediction. Fox Dong should have figured it out. Since his life and death are in our hands, he might as well take the risk and come knock on the gate and give it a try."

“Take a chance?” Nangong Ye was confused again.

"Yes, we and Dong Fox each have our own needs. Maybe if we talk, we can come to an agreement and each get what we want."

"To each his own?"

"Yes, Fox Dong wants to save his life now. And we also have our own plans."

"Your Highness, what do we want?"

Nangong Ye was a little confused. Wasn’t it just a plan to defeat Xin Ai and relieve the pressure on Jizhou Town?

What else do you want?
"Mr. Nangong, if we had no intention, why would I, Mr. Wenchang, Mr. Ruzhen, and Mr. Zili go to so much trouble to set up this plan and let General Yuanjing and the 6,000 new troops take the great risk of going out of the pass as bait?"

Nangong Ye's heart skipped a beat. The more money he was willing to invest, the bigger his ambition would be.

The Crown Prince is willing to invest so much, which means that his ambition is not ordinary.

"Mr. Nangong, write a letter to Mr. Wenchang and ask him to quietly escort Dong Huli back to the capital."

"Yes."

"Okay, sir, keep busy. I'm leaving now."

"Where are you going, Your Highness?"

"It's ten days later today. I should go to the East Palace to see my father, the Crown Prince, and visit my mother." Zhu Yijun stood up and waved his sleeves, "Let's go!"

(End of this chapter)