Not to wait for everyone's surprise, Luo Longwen continued:
"Not only that, but doing so has the biggest advantage—"
"Think about it, since Zhu Mo's reforms are unstoppable, why not go along with him! If he wants to reform porcelain, then we'll make porcelain; if he wants to make iron weapons, we'll also make iron weapons... In short, whatever he does, we do too! If he does three parts, we'll do seven!
Everyone, come and take, come and share. We'll all be tightly bound together. If he's truly capable, he'll even take down the vassal kings, the meritorious officials, and Prince Yu! If he's not capable, then the future scapegoat will be his alone! By then, when the Emperor passes away and Prince Yu ascends the throne, with a single imperial decree, he will be branded as a great sinner in the realm, and we can still have him executed... This is what it means to 'desire to weaken him, one must first strengthen him; desire to destroy him, one must first promote him'..."
Hiss!
Hiss!
At this moment,
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Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief, suddenly feeling a peculiar sensation,
That was—
The feeling of controlling the realm, it suddenly returned…
Hiding behind Prince Yu, the vassal kings and meritorious officials united. Even if the Emperor wanted to make a move, this time he would be moving against his own sole heir, wouldn't he have to weigh it carefully? Moreover, this Emperor was obsessed with cultivating immortality. For decades, he had lived a meager life, and his body was already failing. He might not have many years left. Without the Emperor's support, that Zhu Mo would just be an ant, wouldn't he?
Yan Shifan pondered:
"Old Luo is right. If we can also win over Grand Tutor Zhang, Zhu Mo is doomed!"
Yan Song glared at him and snorted softly:
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves... Han Zhang is right, it's about sharing the spoils, but remember, those spoils are not ours, they are Prince Yu's spoils… You all convey this meaning to those below. Since reforms have already gained momentum, don't try to block them. They cannot be blocked… Whatever he does, don't oppose him."
He paused again before continuing:
"The Directorate of Weaving, the Twelve Directorates of the Inner Court, the imperial properties under their jurisdiction, the temples and estates managed by those eunuchs and court officials outside the palace, you need to pay close attention to them… Wen Hua, who have you been interacting with in the palace over the years?"
Zhao Wenhua cleared his throat and said:
"The major eunuchs we've interacted with over the years are mainly Chen Hong, Meng Chong, Huang Ying, Dai Yong, Yang Jin, Li Bin, and Du Tai. Yang Jin manages weaving, Li Bin and Du Tai manage construction, Chen Hong and Dai Yong manage procurement. Most of these are old acquaintances from the Xingxian Prince's residence. As for Lü Fang, Mai Fu, Huang Jin, and Huang Zhong, I haven't had any dealings with them..."
Yan Shifan also added:
"Wen Hua, visit these people more often. Also, the Embroidered Uniform Guard: Lu Bing, Lu Yi, Xu Jue, Li Long, Bai Shou, Chen Sheng, and the one who replaced Zhang Er last year, Yu Zhen. You and Old Yan should visit them more… Hmm, also, those Daoist priests, Wang Jin, Tian Yu, Duan Chaoyong, must also be sought out. The local officials should be instructed to show more respect to the temples and abbeys under their names…"
After speaking, he looked at Yan Song and asked:
"Father, should we conveniently take the initiative to visit those meritorious officials?"
Yan Song shook his head and said leisurely:
"Don't rush. Zhu Mo will drive them to us… Shifan, you were right just now, we must try to win over Grand Tutor Zhang. If he's unwilling, start with those under his command. Didn't we discuss this before? I asked you to investigate the people under Grand Tutor Zhang. Have you investigated them?"
As he spoke, he glanced at Luo Longwen and Yan Maoqing.
Luo Longwen quickly replied, "Reporting to the Grand Secretary, we have investigated. Most of the people under him are clean. Only Xu Xuemo has something shady about him. The others have minor issues…"
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Yan Shifan was displeased upon hearing this and said with a grim expression, "Old Luo, investigate again. If they don't care about money, they must care about something else! I refuse to believe there are any saints! Send more people. At this critical juncture, if we don't put in some serious effort, we will truly have no way out!"
"Yes, subordinates will attend to it upon returning."
Luo Longwen also knew that they had reached the final moment. If it weren't for Old Yan Song's exceptionally high skill, anyone else would have capsized long ago. If they didn't act ruthlessly now, there would be no way to survive.
Everyone shared the same thought—
The immensely powerful Yan family had been beaten to the point of being reliant on others in just one year, which was truly unbelievable. Several people still hadn't recovered. With the forces of the vassal kings, meritorious officials, Embroidered Uniform Guard, and inner court eunuchs, this was their last resort. If they lost again, it was likely that none of the people present would survive.
Seeing that everyone had come to their senses, Yan Song no longer possessed his former arrogance, and he felt a slight relief. After pondering for a while, he said slowly:
"I've said it before, don't be afraid of failure. Know where you failed and how to get back up. Han Zhang said it well earlier, 'desire to weaken him, one must first strengthen him.' The way out now is 'follow,' and 'obey.' What is obedience? It is like the Kun trigram, where the female controls the male… You all need to ponder this, read more, think more, and understand the principle of the soft overcoming the hard. If we survive, we will ultimately win."
"Yes, Grand Secretary, subordinates understand."
...
Zhu Mo decided to handle two matters simultaneously. He sent Lü Kun to be the Zhongwu Commander of the Zhoushan Public Office, to cultivate informants and establish frameworks and strategies. He himself, along with Zhang Juzheng and Zhang Han, would plan the final pursuit of the Japanese pirates. Zhang Han was included because he was already the Governor of the Grand Canal, and the title of Governor of the Grand Canal also included "concurrently managing coastal defense."
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Zhu Mo, recalling his trip to Jingdezhen, felt that Zhang Juzheng had begun to waver and wished to probe his true intentions, thus proposing a meeting to pursue the Japanese pirates and escort merchant ships.
On this day,
At the Poet's Shrine,
Zhu Mo first presented the strategy, pointing to a sea chart and speaking slowly:
"Now that Zhoushan has been pacified, the remaining Japanese pirates are being held in Zhenhai Guard's Shenlong Ling, including their top leaders, Okamura Junsei, Mao Lie, Torres, and Wu Ping. I have asked Liu Yingjie, and the case files should be ready within about ten days.
The Japanese pirates have always had several major strongholds. The first is in the southern provinces of Korea, such as Jeolla and Gyeongsang. According to the confessions of the Japanese pirates, the Goryeo pirates and Japanese ronin there account for one-third of the Japanese pirates, and their strength is not weak. I plan to send Yu Dayou personally… As for Yuegang, Nan'ao, and Qiongzhou, they are mostly pirates and not as fierce as the ronin. Any of Yu Dayou's subordinate generals can handle them. Then there are the various countries in the South China Sea, whose strength is still unknown. I think we can only set out after Yu Dayou has pacified the southern provinces of Korea…
Finally, there are the bandits on land, such as in Mount Tiantai, Mount Wuyi, Guangxi, and Qiongzhou, where mountain bandits also collude with Japanese pirates. I think we should let Qi Jiguang take command and let those volunteers follow to gain experience… What do you think?"
Zhang Juzheng pondered for a moment and nodded:
"Zi Xuan, your military strategy is very sound, but… there is no legitimate reason for the action. The court currently has no imperial decree, and the cabinet has no official order. To rashly attack another country might be difficult to justify to the public!"
Zhang Han also said:
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"Scholar Zhu, this matter is indeed true. Without a legitimate name, words are not proper, and if words are not proper, then things cannot be accomplished… I believe it is still necessary to first report to the cabinet and ask Grand Secretary Xu and the others for a pretext. This would be more appropriate."