Faced with Shi Xing's angry accusation, Shen Yicheng obviously did not want to admit his guilt.
"Rebellion? Hahahahaha … … "
Shen Yi shook his head, "This old man is almost seventy years old, why would I want to rebel? What reason do I have to rebel? Shi Butang, don't you think that it's ridiculous for an old man like me to rebel? What good will it do me if I rebel? "
"The most absurd thing in the world is for a person who has done an absurd thing to tell me that my question to you is absurd! Shen Yicheng, you killed the eunuchs of the Imperial Stables, transferred the soldiers of the Four Guards Battalion and the Warrior Battalion away and replaced them with soldiers from the Capital Battalion. You even brought the Capital Battalion soldiers into the palace. What are you doing? If you are not rebelling, what are you doing? "
Shi Xing stared at Shen Yicheng: "And those people outside, whether I know them or not, they are all influential people in the court. What are you doing? Ministers, assistant ministers, and nobles! What are you doing?! "
Shen Yicheng looked at Shi Xing.
"Good question! Shi Butang, we are of the same mind and we are determined to kill the rebels. Therefore, we gathered here to kill the rebels and rebuild the world. "
Shi Xing had a strange look on his face.
"Kill the rebels? Rebuild the world? Hahahaha! Shen Yicheng, you used a good reason! Then let me ask you, does His Majesty know that you want to kill the rebels? "
Shen Yicheng shook his head.
"Of course His Majesty doesn't know. His Majesty has been bewitched by these rebels. He turns a deaf ear to all of this and ignores our pleas. We are forced to do this to prevent the Daming of the world from collapsing. We have to take the risk and do this. This is to clean up the Emperor's side!"
"Clean up the Emperor's side? Without His Majesty knowing, you secretly transferred troops into the palace. Don't you think that in my eyes, you are the rebel who should be killed? Who do you want to kill? Who is the rebel? If there is a rebel, why don't I know? I am the Minister of War! How could I not know?!! "
Shi Xing roared at Shen Yicheng.
Shen Yicheng took out an envelope from his pocket.
"Let's take a look first."
Shi Xing snatched the envelope. There were a few pieces of paper filled with words. Shi Xing read them quickly. He was shocked at first, then angry. After a while, Shi Xing slammed the letter on the table.
"Hsiao Jixin is rebelling?! Why would Hsiao Jixin rebel!? Shen Yicheng, if you want to frame me, you should use some clever methods! Let alone me, no one in their right mind would believe this kind of nonsense! Who would believe that?! "
"It's right that you don't believe it. This means that Shi Butang is sober. Like Shi Butang, none of the officials outside believe it. Of course, Hsiao Jixin wouldn't rebel. He is a loyal subject of His Majesty, but they still sit outside and listen to my orders."
Looking at the furious Shi Xing, Shen Yicheng nodded as expected. He then took out another envelope and handed it to Shi Xing.
"Those letters just now were fabricated. This old man planned to kill Xiao Ruxun and settle this matter, then let the historian record it in the history books and pass it down to future generations. Look at this, this is the real thing. Naturally, only I know of it, and it can't be passed down to future generations."
Shi Xing took the envelope and quickly read it. Halfway through, Shi Xing was stunned.
"This … Three years ago, Wang Xijue suddenly resigned because …"
Shen Yicheng nodded.
"That's right. Three years ago, Wang Xijue's resignation wasn't a normal one. At that time, His Majesty planned to take advantage of Xiao Ruxun's arrival at Tianjin Garrison to secretly order Xiao Ruxun to bring troops to the capital to rescue the Emperor.
The reason was that Zhang Wei had gone too far in forcing the Emperor to abdicate. His goal was to capture all the officials and launch a mutiny to directly condemn us. Because it happened so suddenly, no one expected it. Even so, Wang Xijue still did his best to cooperate with the Empress Dowager to stop His Majesty's action.
Finally, things calmed down. They all thought that His Majesty would calm down. In the end, they didn't expect that His Majesty was actually planning more things. The four Soaring Dragon Guards and the Brave Warrior Battalion were not enough.
His Majesty originally planned to let Xiao Ruxun bring troops to the capital to coordinate with us from the inside and from the outside. Then, he would control all of us and take back his power. But now, His Majesty seems to want to take things slowly. He will first let Xiao Ruxun control the capital camp. His final goal is still a mutiny to catch all of us in one fell swoop. "
Shen Yicheng poured himself a cup of wine and drank it in one gulp.
He slowly said, "Do you understand now? Shi Butang, Xiao Ruxun snitched on us. After the incident in Shanxi, His Majesty no longer trusts us. He knows what we have done locally. He knows that we have taken away his power. Even the Imperial Bodyguard has been infiltrated by us. So, he feels uneasy and wants to take back his power. "
Shi Xing opened his mouth, but no words came out.
What Shen Yicheng said was really too terrifying.
And what he said next was even more terrifying.
"His Majesty wants power, which means he wants our lives. We have a tacit understanding on this point. Once His Majesty obtains the military power, everything we have done in the past 100 years will be known to His Majesty. The first to bear the brunt will be the Cabinet and the Six Ministries. How many of us can survive?
Not to mention us, even our families can't absolve themselves from the blame. The Jin Party is a good example. We have no way out. From the moment we got the military and financial power, we had no way out. Only by making the Emperor a mere figurehead can we continue to survive. Otherwise, we will all die without a burial place.
Let's not talk about others. Shi Butang, tell me about yourself. How many people have given you a lot of money over the years? How many people have given you a lot of money? How many people have given you a lot of money? How many people have worked behind your back? "
Shen Yicheng held his wine cup and walked around Shi Xing to the door. He looked at the civil and military officials in the hall.
"You are like this, this old man is like this, Zhao Butang is also like this, Cai Butang is also like this, Duke of British is like this, Duke of Dingguo is like this, Marquis of Yongkang is also like this. Among the civil and military officials in the imperial court, how many of them aren't like this?"
Shen Yicheng turned his head to look at Shi Xing, "In the entire imperial court, civil and military officials, which one of them isn't greedy, which one of them doesn't accept gifts? Oh, maybe there are some, but they aren't greedy personally. What about their families? What about their clansmen? What about their students and old friends?
Shi Butang, take a guess. Your family, your clansmen in your hometown, did they use your power to commit crimes and force people to buy and sell? Did they enclose their land? Did they avoid taxes? Everyone in your family, including your relatives and friends, is there anyone who is clean and hasn't broken the law?
If you check in detail, all of us are breaking the law. More or less, we have all broken the law. There isn't anyone who doesn't break the law. Sitting in this position, holding the power of life and death, with tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of allocations flowing past our hands, yet we only receive a few hundred taels of salary. Tell me, how many of us feel at ease? How many of us don't break the law?
You should be clear that what His Majesty wants is for the officials to break the law. Only then would he be able to grab hold of our weaknesses and make us work obediently for him, defend his empire, defend his power. In this way, if we don't listen, he will abandon us.
At that time, he can casually pin a crime of corruption on us, and the investigation will be accurate. Then he will be able to obtain the glory of a wise monarch, his position will be even more stable, and the people's hearts will be in his hands. But what about us? We are just pawns that have been tragically abandoned.
You, me, Zhao Butang, Cai Butang, Yang Butang, the Duke of Ying, the Duke of Dingguo, and all the nobles in the imperial court, were originally pawns in His Majesty's hands, but now we aren't. Do you know why we aren't?
Because the military power and political power are in the hands of the dukes. You hold the lifeline of the imperial court, and all the civil and military officials in the imperial court work together to make His Majesty's power a mere figurehead. In this way, His Majesty can't use us as pawns.
We advance and retreat together, maintain unity, obtain the financial power, control the military power, and make His Majesty's orders unable to be carried out without our consent. In this way, we can become our own masters, and not pawns in His Majesty's hands that can be abandoned at any time.
Think of Hongwu, think of Yongle, at that time, we court officials were in a precarious situation. Emperor Taizu used the lives of hundreds of thousands of officials in exchange for the Daming Dynasty's eternal stability. But for you and me, this is too tragic, isn't it?
It wasn't easy for us to seize this power, but now some people have appeared and want to take this power back, bringing back the rules of Taizu when he became an ancestor, and once again turning all of us into pawns … Shi Butang, do you want to be a person, or do you want to be a pawn? "
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