Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 6 Doubt

In a side room at the back hall of the Zhaoqing government office, Qu Shisi was writing at his desk, with a thick pile of documents on the table beside him.

A blue-robed official suddenly hurried into the study, with an excited look on his face.
"You look so happy, Tong Chang, it seems like there is something good going on."

Qu Shisi looked up at the young man, smiled and said
"Sir Qu, this is a letter sent by the Gui Palace this morning, asking you to open it in person."

Zhang Tongchang wiped the sweat from his forehead and put the letter on the table.
Zhang Tongchang stood aside, looking at the middle-aged man behind the table, with a hint of admiration in his eyes.

Before Longwu was established, Qu Shisi believed that the bloodline of the Prince of Gui was the most legitimate and should succeed the throne. He worked hard to support the establishment of the Prince of Gui, and even resigned from his post at one point.
Fortunately, hard work pays off, and now this matter has finally been accomplished. Yesterday, the King of Gui persuaded the court officials to ascend the throne, and today the King of Gui sent a letter to Lord Qu's mansion.
Now, there are countless noble ministers in the small city of Zhaoqing, but the first letter from the King of Gui was addressed to Lord Qu. What a trust!

What does this mean? This means that the efforts of Lord Qu have been noticed by the King of Gui. When the King of Gui officially succeeds to the throne, he will definitely appoint Lord Qu as the Prime Minister.
Zhang Tongchang was excited. He watched Qu Shisi open the envelope, then read the letter. Then he noticed that Qu Shisi's expression suddenly changed.

"No, this is absolutely not allowed"

Qu Shisi put down the letter, stood up suddenly, and walked straight out the door.
"Tongchang, prepare the car quickly. I need to go to the Prince of Gui's Mansion. This is absolutely not feasible." Qu Shisi said solemnly.

Zhang Tongchang was slightly surprised, but seeing Qu Shisi's anxious expression, he did not dare to neglect him.
"Students are going now"

But just as Zhang Tongchang reached the door, Qu Shisi suddenly stopped, stood there with a frown in thought, and after a moment he went back into the room.

"Wait, let's not go to the Prince of Gui's Mansion yet. Invite Lord Ding and Lord Lu to the main hall and tell them that I have something important to discuss with you."

Zhang Tongchang responded and left in a hurry, while Qu Shisi sat behind the desk, frowning as he looked at the letter paper with a big red gold seal on it, and remained silent for a long time.
In the back hall of the government office, Qu Shisi sat on the right seat, closing his eyes in deep thought.

Soon, footsteps were heard outside the door, and two men in bright red official uniforms walked into the lobby.

The first person was about forty years old, with a beautiful beard. This person was Ding Kuichu, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi.

The other man had mixed black and white hair and a solemn expression on his face, which made people feel intimidated. He was obviously a high-ranking official who had held power for a long time. This was Lü Daqi, a scholar of the Longwu Dynasty who came to Zhaoqing from Fujian Province.

The three of them sat down in the hall, each took a sip of tea, and then the hall fell silent.
The three of them looked at each other, but no one spoke first.

Lu Daqi cleared his throat and suddenly took out an envelope from his sleeve.

"It just so happens that the three of us have gathered together. I have something else to do. This morning I received a letter from the Prince of Gui's residence..."

But before he finished speaking, looking at the familiar envelope, a strange look flashed in Qu Shisi's eyes, and then he took out an envelope from his sleeve.

Lu Daqi was slightly surprised, and then they looked at Ding Kuichu, only to see that Ding Kuichu also took out an envelope from his sleeve.

Three letters, identical handwriting, identical content, identical seal of the King of Gui
The three of them looked at the three letters on the table, all in silence.
Qu Shisi had no expression on his face.

Ding Kuichu held the teacup and glanced at Qu Shisi from time to time, with a scrutinizing look in his eyes.
Lu Daqi looked at Qu Shisi, then looked at Qu Shisi again.

This letter from the King of Gui seems to be a recommendation to the court, but in fact it is the first order from the King of Gui to the ministers of the previous dynasty after persuading them to take the throne.

He wanted to meet with the generals of Guangxi Province and also wanted to send Guangxi soldiers to Guangdong to form an imperial army.

Lu Daqi looked puzzled. They had just completed the first attempt to persuade the king to ascend the throne yesterday, and the next day the letter was sent to the Guiwang Mansion. It can be seen that the Guiwang, whom he had never met before, attached great importance to this letter. This letter was not so easy to refuse.

This was the first order issued by the King of Gui after he was confirmed as the regent. Any minister who objected would probably be remembered by the King of Gui for the rest of his life, and it would probably be heavily recorded in the history books of later generations.

But this matter is not so easy to agree to. Since the death of Emperor Chongzhen in the Jiashen National Disaster, wars have broken out all over the country, and the governors and generals of various parties have already shown signs of holding their own troops.
This transfer order has obviously touched upon the issue of military power that Ding Kuichu cannot tolerate the most. Once the Guangxi troops enter Guangdong, it will definitely change Ding Kuichu's monopoly in Guangdong Province. No one knows what Ding Kuichu will do.

Lü Daqi represented the orthodoxy of the Longwu court. In terms of status, these Longwu court officials were naturally famous and important. Lü Daqi was a cabinet minister, Li Yongmao was a cabinet minister, and there were also many assistant ministers and ministers who followed him.
But they fled from Fujian to Guangdong without any soldiers under their command. After experiencing the tyranny of Zheng Zhilong and others in the Longwu court, these ministers began to gradually recognize the reality of this world.
Among the three factions in Zhaoqing, although Lü Daqi's faction represented the orthodoxy of the Longwu Dynasty and had the most high-ranking ministers, they were the weakest faction.

At present, the situation is actually a battle between the Guangdong faction headed by Ding Kuichu and the Guangxi faction headed by Qu Shisi.

Lu Daqi had been fighting in the court for many years and had a very clear view of the current situation. Since neither of the two leaders had spoken, what could he, an outsider, say?
As the head of the Longwu court officials, Lü Daqi holds the title of orthodoxy. No matter which side wins, he must get a share of the spoils.
Thinking of this, Lu Daqi simply closed his eyes and rested, no longer caring about the two people in the field. "This matter has nothing to do with me."

I don't know how long it took, but finally Qu Shisi broke the silence.

Lu Daqi opened his eyes and looked at Qu Shisi, with some hesitation in his eyes.
According to the principle that whoever benefits is the mastermind, when he saw the three people taking out three letters, his first thought was that this was not the secret order of the King of Gui, and his second thought was that this was the handwriting of Qu Shisi.
After all, no matter how you look at this letter, the one who benefited the most was still Qu Shisi.

Qu Shisi was the governor of Guangxi, and the former fief of the Prince of Gui happened to be in Guangxi. Qu Shisi had always insisted that the Prince of Gui should succeed to the throne. Given his relationship with the Prince of Gui, he was fully capable of instigating the Prince of Gui to send this letter.

But looking at Qu Shixi's posture, it didn't seem like he was the one who did it.

As a minister in the same court, Lu Daqi had also heard of Qu Shisi. According to the reputation of the scholars, this man could really be regarded as an upright gentleman, while Ding Kuichu on the side had mixed reviews and it was hard to describe.
Moreover, Qu Shisi has always advocated that the King of Gui should succeed to the throne. At present, the persuasion has not been completed, and everything is still uncertain.

Hastily deploying troops to seize power at this time is likely to cause twists and turns in the succession of Gui Wang, and it seems that this is not something Qu Shisi would do.
After all, if he wanted to seize power, he could wait until the King of Gui succeeded to the throne and his status was determined. Then Qu Shisi could mobilize troops to seize power. It would only take ten days or half a month. Why was he in such a hurry?

"The memorial was sent from the Prince of Gui's Mansion, so of course it has nothing to do with Lord Qu. How could the memorial from the Prince of Gui's Mansion have anything to do with Lord Qu?"

Ding Kuichu's voice was light, his face was calm, without any expression.

Although Ding Kuichu seemed to agree, the other two people present felt that strange feeling.

Ding Kuichu responded, picked up his teacup and stopped talking. The scene became dull again.
"Lord Ding, how do you think we should deal with the request from the King of Gui?" Qu Shisi had no choice but to continue speaking.

"Absolutely not," Ding Kuichu put down his teacup, his face solemn.

"The national situation is difficult. How much money and food will it cost to mobilize troops from a long distance? The soldiers and civilians in the two provinces are struggling to raise military supplies. If we mobilize troops to expand the army, we will have to pay more. How can the people of the two provinces be blamed?" Ding Kuichu said with a compassionate look on his face.

Without waiting for Qu Shisi's reply, Ding Kuichu continued
"You must not mobilize troops. Lord Qu has always been close to the Prince of Gui's Mansion. I wonder if Lord Qu is willing to enter the Prince of Gui's Mansion. Please give up this idea, Prince of Gui."

Lu Daqi looked at Ding Kuichu, who had a calm expression, and a strange look flashed across his face. Ding Kuichu was indeed a local official who had climbed to the position of governor of two provinces. He was indeed a good man.
Didn't you say that this matter has nothing to do with you? That's perfect. This matter will cost a lot of money and manpower. You can ask the King of Gui to give up this idea.
Ding Kuichu is now fearless and it is absolutely impossible for him to transfer troops to Guangdong. Regardless of whether Qu Shisi did it or not, he wants Qu Shisi to solve this problem himself.
"The King of Gui is a vassal of the country, and I am a minister of the court. How can we be close to each other?"

Qu Shisi glanced at Ding Kuichu with a calm expression on his face.

"What the King of Gui said is a matter of great importance to the court. Since this order was given to the three of us, and we feel that it is not right, we should go to the palace together to advise and remonstrate. I wonder what the two adults think."

Seeing that Qu Shisi was so willing to go to the government office to advise, Ding Kuichu had a hint of doubt in his eyes. Could it be that this was not Qu Shisi's doing?

But how is this possible? It wasn't Qu Shisi who did it. Could it be that this was the idea of ​​the King of Gui himself?

The Prince of Gui is a fugitive prince whose hair is barely fully grown. He probably can't even understand the Cabinet, the Six Ministries, and the Inspectorate. How could he understand how to organize an imperial guard?
Ding Kuichu never believed that this was the King of Gui's own idea.
Besides, how could the King of Gui know the information of the military officials in Guangxi Province? Even if he could find out the information of these military officials, why did he have to transfer Jiao Lian, who was closely related to Qu Shisi, to Guangdong to form the imperial army?
But then again, it seems that the King of Gui did not just summon Jiao Lian to the court. Chen Bangfu, who had a very close relationship with him, was also summoned to the court. And judging from the meaning of the memorial, it seems that he is going to give Chen Bangfu a lot of importance.

More importantly, Guangxi Province was once under the jurisdiction of Qu Shisi, who was very influential in Guangxi Province. If Jiao Lian was transferred out of Guangxi Province, Chen Bangfu would be able to easily control Guangxi Province, and Qu Shisi would also lose his local foundation.

From this perspective, it seems that this transfer order was not issued by Qu Shisi.

Ding Kuichu's mind was full of thoughts, but the more he thought about it, the more complicated it seemed. He couldn't figure out what tricks Qu Shisi was playing.

"So, Lord Qu also thinks it's not okay to send troops to Guangdong?" Ding Kuichu asked suspiciously.

"This is an extraordinary time. We should keep calm. If we rashly send troops into the court, it will cause a stir in the court. Right now, everything should be based on the succession of Prince Gui. We should go to the palace to persuade Prince Gui to withdraw his decision," Qu Shisi said in a deep voice.

"What do you think, Lord Lu?" Ding Kuichu looked at Lu Daqi who had been silent.
"You two gentlemen are right."

Lu Daqi replied calmly that this matter had nothing to do with him and there was no need for him to express his opinion on it.

The three of them reached a consensus, so they walked out of the lobby with their own thoughts, prepared their cars and headed towards the Guiwang Mansion.
(End of this chapter)