Xiao Ruxun's tone was very heavy, and his words made Ye Mengxiong's heart thump.
But Ye Mengxiong could not refute it, because it was the truth.
He had been forced by the capital's scholar-bureaucrats to go to Nanjing as the Minister of War to avoid disaster, and he had a deep understanding of this point.
Xiao Ruxun pressed his advantage.
"Duke Ye, killing Shen Yicheng and restoring His Majesty to the throne is in accordance with the will of the heavens. Now that the time, place, and people are in our favor, why should we watch as His Majesty is deposed and a traitor takes over the court? For Shen Yicheng to still be the Grand Secretary, who knows if he is thinking of Cao Mengde or Sima Yi?
If he dares to depose the Emperor today, he will die tomorrow. He will no longer be a threat, and it will be hard to say whether the Daming Dynasty will still be the Daming Dynasty or not! Duke Ye, by defending Wuchang to the death, are you showing your loyalty to His Majesty or to Shen Yicheng? "
These words stabbed into Ye Mengxiong's heart. Ye Mengxiong did not like to be used by others, and he was even more unwilling to have his actions used by evil people. It was indeed as Xiao Ruxun had said. If he stood against Xiao Ruxun, he would be defending Shen Yicheng, defending this traitor who had deposed the Emperor.
Perhaps it was very ironic, but the general in front of him was really defending the Daming Dynasty, and he really did not know what kind of evil plan the Grand Secretary was hiding in his heart.
Cao Mengde?
Sima Yi?
Wang Mang?
One name after another flitted through Ye Mengxiong's mind. He suddenly realized that if he continued to stand in front of Xiao Ruxun, he would be digging the grave of the Daming Dynasty, digging the grave of the Emperor he had sworn loyalty to.
It was time to make a decision.
The astute and circumspect Shen Yicheng or the loyal Xiao Ruxun. It was almost certain which one to choose.
"Ji Xin, tell me, what will you do after you successfully kill the traitors on the northern expedition?"
Ye Mengxiong looked at Xiao Ruxun seriously.
Xiao Ruxun's reply was also extremely serious.
"Your Majesty, please return to the throne, renew the great rule, and rebuild the universe! After that, His Majesty will naturally take action, and we, the officials, only need to follow his orders. "
Ye Mengxiong asked again, "Don't you want something for yourself?"
Xiao Ruxun shook his head and said, "I'm already the Duke of Qin. My title of nobility is already at the top and I'm in the highest position. What else can I want? If I have to say something, it's to help Daming train another million elite soldiers to go on the northern expedition to the grasslands, remove the threat of the Northern Barbarians in one fell swoop, restore the glory of Hongwu, and fulfill my ambition so that the people of the Central Plains will no longer be threatened by the Northern Barbarians! When the day comes, I'll bring my family back to Myanmar and continue to be Marquis Zhennan. "
"How should the rest of the traitors be dealt with?"
Ye Mengxiong asked again.
"We should discuss with His Majesty. The mastermind should not be kept alive. The rest should be punished according to the seriousness of the case, such as demotion, exile, and confiscation. People have to be responsible for what they've done. It's impossible to completely escape punishment!"
Xiao Ruxun replied.
"Well, that's good."
Ye Mengxiong nodded and then asked, "Do you still want the Commander-in-Chief's Office of the Five Armies to resume its original function and return the military power to His Majesty?"
Xiao Ruxun nodded.
"Of course. Now that we have such a situation, why not? Civil officials govern and military officials fight. There's no distinction between high and low, only success and failure. Civil officials don't interfere with military affairs, and military affairs don't interfere with politics. I'll do my best to help His Majesty accomplish this! "
Hearing this, Ye Mengxiong let out a long sigh.
"I can't tell whether what Yu Qian did was right or wrong, but I won't oppose you on this matter. Shen Yicheng has gone too far. If we can't return the military power to His Majesty, the crack between us officials and His Majesty can't be healed. Ji Xin, when the time comes, we still need your help to mediate."
Indeed, after this mutiny, Zhu Yijun would definitely be unable to accept the current situation of civil officials holding military power. If he didn't get the military power back in his hands, he would definitely not rest. He might even do other terrible things. Therefore, Ye Mengxiong also had this worry.
Zhu Yijun's situation was different from Zhu Qizhen's. Zhu Qizhen's situation was special. He was placed under house arrest by his younger brother and had to rely on the officials to regain the throne. However, Zhu Yijun was deposed by a traitor, so his mentality was naturally different.
Therefore, Xiao Ruxun expressed that he understood.
"Don't worry, Master Ye. I'll definitely persuade His Majesty not to overdo it."
"I don't know what the outcome of this incident will be!"
Ye Mengxiong's tone suddenly became low. "But there's one thing I can be sure of. Ji Xin, I didn't misjudge you."
With that, Ye Mengxiong stood up.
"Ji Xin, do you still remember? When we parted that year, you swore to me that you would never forget your ambition in this life. The rise and fall of the country is everyone's responsibility. I believed in you, so I once said that the one who will rule the world in the future will definitely be you. Now, it has come true. "
Ye Mengxiong raised his wine cup. "This cup of wine, this old man salutes you, salutes your loyalty, salutes you for not forgetting your original intentions."
Xiao Ruxun quickly stood up and also raised his wine cup. "I will never dare to forget my oath!"
The two of them drank the wine together.
"If that's the case, there's no need for Wuchang to be on guard. Count me, Ye Mengxiong, in your army to suppress the rebels!"
Ye Mengxiong revealed a kind smile.
Xiao Ruxun bowed deeply to him. "Master Ye is wise, Ruxun is extremely grateful!"
Ye Mengxiong helped Xiao Ruxun up.
"I'm the one who should be thanking you, Ji Xin. Without you, I really don't know what this Daming world would be like. In short, Ji Xin, bring your troops to Wuchang as soon as possible! I'll listen to you on what to do next. "
Ye Mengxiong made up his mind.
The outcome was set.
Xiao Ruxun breathed a sigh of relief.
But as he watched Ye Mengxiong's departing figure, his eyes gradually grew solemn.
He was different from before. At the very least, he was different from the person outside the capital who said that everyone was responsible for the rise and fall of the country.
He did not completely tell the truth to Ye Mengxiong. Of course, he did not intend to completely tell the truth. For example, he concealed the fact that he was carrying out land reform.
This was an action to completely destroy the foundation that the Confucian gentry relied on to survive. It was very unlikely that Ye Mengxiong would understand. So, not to mention Ye Mengxiong, even Yuan Huang and Mei Guozhen did not know that Xiao Ruxun had secretly sent a land reform team out to work.
Xiao Ruxun had isolated the news of this matter through Blackwater. He himself was in charge of preventing Yuan Huang and Mei Guozhen from coming into contact with this matter, and he even had Blackwater monitor Yuan Huang and Mei Guozhen to prevent them from learning of this matter.
Xiao Ruxun was not confident in his ability to convince the scholars under his command to accept his methods, so he chose not to speak of it. The land reform had not yet caused too much of a ruckus, so he could keep Yuan Huang and the others under wraps for a while.
Once the momentum of the land reform was complete and the land reform was irreconcilable, even if they learned of it, they would be powerless to do anything.
At most, Xiao Ruxun would protect their hometowns, but the land reform had to continue and could not be stopped.
Xiao Ruxun had even thought of fighting for a period of time, delaying it for a period of time to buy more time for the land reform to expand to more places. At that time, even if Yuan Huang and the rest did not support it, what could they do?
After all, the army was in his hands!
This was the most important thing!
At present, the general situation had been set. As long as Xie He and the others were given a little time to grow up, let them build a new foundation for themselves, and cultivate a new team of civil officials, there was nothing else to worry about.
In the future, how to select civil officials, what to study, how to assign work, and so on, would it still be the same as today's imperial examination system?
No, it should not be. Xiao Ruxun would not foolishly continue with the imperial examination without any changes, so as to continue to cultivate a group of powerful gentry.
It was also imperative to abolish the privileges of scholars.
After deciding on the land reform, Xiao Ruxun suddenly found that there were many things in his political blueprint.
How could he be stopped by these Juren and Jinshi?
Although he felt a little guilty for Ye Mengxiong's trust in him, but …
No one could stop me.
No one!
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