Xie Ming

Chapter 731 Entrapment of Qiu Weizhen

Qiu Weizhen had a keen eye and was becoming increasingly shrewd. No matter how eloquently Ma Shiying presented his arguments, Qiu Weizhen could pinpoint the crux of the matter and hit the nail on the head.

At the crucial juncture, a sentence is inscribed.

Minister Ma was briefly stunned.

"Uh, this"

"Your Excellency, you are overthinking this."

"How can you succeed if you're afraid of everything?"

These were just empty words; it seemed Qiu Weizhen had barely raised his eyes when he was about to back down again.

Hurry up, Ma Shiying is making up for it.

"Your Excellency."

"Why don't you understand?!"

"Zheng Zhilong, who holds considerable military power, has been trapped in a corner of Fujian for a long time."

"In the past, this man relied on his powerful ships and cannons, leaving the court with no time to attend to the southeast."

“Those who engage in smuggling at sea have already made a fortune.”

"They don't lack money, so they don't lack guns or manpower."

"What's missing?"

"It's just a pretext for expanding northward."

"This is obvious, something that anyone with eyes can see clearly."

"Xiao Jingchuan, you little brat who hasn't even grown a single hair yet."

"At the beginning, he was nothing more than a second-rate guerrilla general."

"In just two short years, thanks to his merit in supporting the emperor, he has easily won several battles."

"In a flash, he transformed from a hen into a duck, flew to the top of a branch, was granted a title of duke or marquis, and became the Duke of Jingguo today."

"The lotus leaves stretch to the sky, an endless expanse of green; the lotus blossoms, bathed in sunlight, are a uniquely vibrant red."

"Who wouldn't be envious and jealous if they saw this?"

"They all came from military backgrounds."

"Do you think Zheng Zhilong shouldn't have had this thought?!"

Ma Shiying's incisive argument turned the tide.

Upon hearing this, Qiu Weizhen was unsure and fell silent.

Minister Ma seized the opportunity to add fuel to the fire.

"So, Your Excellency."

"Heroes emerge in times of chaos."

"If not now, when?"

"He held the rank of Fujian General and was around forty years old, in the prime of his life."

"Having this ambition is only natural and understandable, it's just human nature."

Having finished speaking, he agreed. Seeing that things were looking promising, Ma Shiying quickly took action.

Calling servants to serve tea was not a good idea, so he simply lifted the curtain and went into the main room himself, bringing in a bowl of hot tea for the Grand Secretary and handing it to him personally.

After much deliberation, Qiu Weizhen was now filled with anxiety.

The main problem is that Ma Shiying is holding him back, leaving him no room to maneuver. Even if he wants to push things away, it will be difficult to achieve his goal.

Therefore, he sighed with sorrow and grief, and had no choice but to do so despite his worries.

When Ma Shiying brought in tea, he exhaled a breath of stale air and uttered a few words of complaint.

"Ugh"

"Yao Cao, why do I feel so panicked?"

"The worst thing about this matter is that killing He Jin might attract Dong Zhuo."

"In my opinion, it would be better to take things further," Qiu suggested.

Upon hearing this, Ma Shiying immediately became anxious.

He slapped his thigh, bent down and brought his face close to Qiu's, his anger rising.

"Grand Secretary!"

"you"

"oops!"

"Stop being so steady." Frustrated, he started pacing back and forth in front of him again.

"If problems are not dealt with decisively, endless troubles will follow."

"Regardless of whether he is Zhang, Wang, Li, or Zhao, or whether he is Erlang Shen or Sun Wukong."

"Whether the commander is surnamed Xiao or Zheng, we don't care."

"But the right approach is to make it work for you."

"The Ming Dynasty is still the same Ming Dynasty."

“I recall that since the reign of Emperor Chengzu of this dynasty, the capital has been moved to Beijing.”

"Our Southern Party faction in the wartime capital is becoming increasingly weak."

"Having endured one or two hundred years of hardship, when have we ever seen such glory as we do today?"

"It's not easy, it really isn't easy."

"You always say I'm impatient, but in this world, we've already been born into this situation." "All I know is that this is an opportunity that won't come again."

"Don't say that Zheng Zhilong and I have some old friendship."

"Even without that, at the very least, he is a person from the Southern Territory."

"Just this one point alone is better than those northern officials and generals like Xiao and Ni."

"If we can turn misfortune into good fortune and get through this crisis by working together from the inside and outside."

"It really happened."

"Then, Southern Party, you and I can both be saved, my Grand Secretary."

“Not only our two families, but also the gentry and powerful families of Jiangnan, this foundation that is intricately connected and interdependent, will be preserved.”

"And even if Zheng Zhilong is not good enough, we still have a place to recommend him."

"When the political situation stabilizes, you will still be the Grand Secretary."

“I, Ma Shiying, can still be my Minister.”

"Of course, if things take off like a rocket, it's not impossible for his rank and title to rise even higher, perhaps even reaching the rank of one of the Three Dukes, or being granted the title of Duke or Marquis."

"It's man-made."

How many times in life can one gamble?

"At the very least, following the strategy of 'taking over from Zheng and leaving Xiao,' this is a sure-fire way to make a profit without any risk of loss."

“I, Ma Shiying, just can’t understand why things don’t go smoothly with you, sir.”

Regardless of whether it's true or not, Minister Ma is certainly adopting a pushy stance at this moment.

After saying that, he pulled up a chair and plopped down opposite Grand Secretary Qiu, kneeling to knee.

"Your Excellency, let's get back to the point."

"Even if we take a step back and maintain the status quo, we will still use Xiao Jingchuan."

"But you are wise and discerning, so you see things much better than I do."

"Judging from that brat's current behavior and mannerisms."

"Can't you see it?"

"His military power is a sign of his rebellious intentions!"

"When we sent Zeng Ji to Nanjing before, what kind of treatment did he receive, and what was his situation like?"

"This, this, isn't it obvious?"

"Which end is colder, and which end is hotter?"

"Your Excellency, you can't be so foolish now, with the sword tip practically at your throat! Huh?!"

After saying this, Ma Shiying grabbed Qiu Weizhen's hand, clearly intending to force him to submit.

This move caused Grand Secretary Qiu to subtly raise an eyebrow, his heart filled with apprehension.

The reason is that Qiu Weizhen, being an old man, is simply unable to withstand the hardships of travel after his recent retreat to Hangzhou.

As a result, he fell ill every few days, making it difficult for him to attend to all matters, big and small, in the court.

Left with no other choice, the responsibility was passed on to Ma Shiying.

After a while, I realized that in the past month, I couldn't see any problems, and nothing seemed amiss.

But tonight, this matter is of utmost importance, and we are plotting alone in the Cabinet's private chamber.

Qiu Weizhen seemed to have a hunch of danger.

Looking at Ma Shiying again, I felt something was off.

It's possible that this person had already set things up in private.

Otherwise, without this plan, he wouldn't have been so confident in his ability to force himself into this predicament tonight, when the two of them were alone together!

It's a pity; we let the wolf into our house.

One wrong move could lead to utter ruin.
At this moment, Grand Secretary Qiu's heart was churning with mixed feelings.

But outwardly, he remained outwardly composed.

He took a deep breath to calm himself.

Then have another meal.

"Phew—" He let out that pent-up breath.

After a long silence, his lips clenched in pain, he managed a bitter smile before finally managing to reply.

"Hehehe"

"It seems I am indeed getting old."

"Originally, I thought that because of the marriage alliance I had with that Xiao Lang, we had some connection."

"It's the right thing to do is to save my own life."

"Heh, it shouldn't be a complete defeat."