"That old fox can't be said to be a great villain, but with your majesty's trust in him, his power in our Daliang Dynasty is definitely second only to one person and above ten thousand people."

"Master Xia, do you still remember the two princes who attacked you after you came to the capital?"

As Zhao Gongming was speaking, he suddenly asked Xia Yun a question.

"Master Zhao is talking about Xiao Tiannan and Mu Tianxin, right?"

Xia Yun nodded. The other party asked this, obviously knowing what happened between him and these two people.

"Yes, there are at least a dozen princes like Xiao Tiannan and Mu Tianxin in the entire capital."

"From the perspective of outsiders, these princes are at their peak, all of them are monstrous."

"But in fact, even if all the princes in the capital are added together, including the Ninth Prince, they are still far inferior to Lord Xu alone!"

As soon as Zhao Gongming finished speaking, a gleam of brilliance instantly appeared in his eyes!

Hearing this, Xia Yun finally showed a hint of surprise on his face.

This was the first time he heard such a statement.

In particular, Zhao Gongming's words also emphasized Xiao Yan of the Ninth Prince's Mansion.

In his intuitive impression, among all the princes in the capital, the Ninth Prince Xiao Yan should be considered a person of extremely high status.

After all, Xiao Yan controlled the entire capital's imperial guards.

But from what Zhao Gongming said now, it is not difficult to hear that the Ninth Prince Xiao Yan is not good enough in front of Xu Jinsong.

"This is the truly terrifying and brilliant part about Lord Xu. On the surface, he is the chief minister of the imperial cabinet, and there is a conflict between him and Your Majesty regarding the power of the emperor and the power of the prime minister."

"But privately, he is the minister that His Majesty trusts the most. If it weren't for this, His Majesty would never have handed over the actual command of the Shen Ce Army to Xu Jinsong."

After saying this, Zhao Gongming let out another slight sigh.

Xia Yun reacted immediately.

If what Zhao Gongming said is all true, then the outside world's view of Xu Jinsong, or the Jiangnan Party officials, may be problematic.

On the premise that Xu Jinsong is absolutely loyal to His Majesty, the actual leader of the entire Jiangnan Party has never been Xu Jinsong, but the current empress!

Thinking of this, Xia Yun gradually felt a sense of enlightenment in his heart.

Yes, both the previous emperor and the current empress control the Shenjiying, which is absolutely loyal to the imperial power.

Among all the armies of the Daliang Dynasty, the Shenjiying was the most powerful.

In addition, there are a number of princes inside and outside the capital who are loyal to the imperial power.

Large-scale groups like the Jiangnan Party that form cliques for personal gain should not exist in the first place!

But over the years, the Jiangnan Party has always stood firm both inside and outside the court.

There is only one explanation: the Jiangnan Party was originally supported by the late emperor and the current empress!

"Master Xia is a smart man. I think he has understood what Zhao meant."

Seeing the enlightenment in Xia Yun's eyes, Zhao Gongming spoke again.

"Xia has learned his lesson."

His thoughts returned to reality, and Xia Yun rarely bowed to Zhao Gongming.

If Zhao Gongming had not invited him here tonight, he would probably have remained confused for a long time.

"Master Xia, do you know why Zhao thought you were different from others when he first met you?"

Before one problem is solved, another one arises. Zhao Gongming raised another question at this time.

Hearing this, Xia Yun narrowed his eyes slightly.

He remembered that when he had just arrived in Zhili, Zhao Gongming had asked him to make a statement before the emperor to exempt the entire province of Zhili from all the taxes owed over the years.

If it weren't for the sudden invasion of the Tatars, he would have planned to tell the empress about this matter when he went to the palace to meet the emperor tomorrow.

"Because you were sent to Hangzhou by Her Majesty herself. This is the first time that Her Majesty has personally appointed or dismissed a fourth-rank prefect since she ascended the throne."

Zhao Gongming looked into Xia Yun's eyes again, and his expression became extremely solemn.

No matter who sees it, Xia Yun, as the prefect of Hangzhou directly promoted by the empress, must be a trusted minister of the empress.

"To be honest with you, Lord Xia, until today, I still believe that you are His Majesty's confidant."

At this point, a hint of smile appeared on Zhao Gongming's serious and dignified expression.

Xia Yun smiled bitterly when he heard this.

It's not just Zhao Gongming. Since he came to Beijing, many people have thought that he is His Majesty's man.

Even the censors from the Inspectorate are among them.

But the fact is, until today, he still has not seen the empress, and he doesn't even know what she looks like, so how can he call her a confidant?

"Master Xia, there is no need to rush to deny it."

Seeing Xia Yun's bitter smile, Zhao Gongming thought Xia Yun was going to deny it again and immediately waved his hand.

"It is no exaggeration to say that before you, Lord Xia, went to Hangzhou, the entire Zhejiang Province was dominated by Jiangnan Party officials."

"And as the actual leader of the Jiangnan Party, why did your Majesty send you to Hangzhou? And he also successively removed Chen Hanzhi and Zuo Anning, two ministers of the Jiangnan Party."

Zhao Gongming continued to speak, his words full of questions.

Xia Yun's inner curiosity was completely aroused at this moment.

Zhao Gongming was right. If the empress was the actual leader of the Jiangnan Party officials, why did she send him, an outsider, to Zhejiang?

Xia Yun had had similar thoughts about this matter before, although he didn't know the true relationship between the empress and the Jiangnan Party officials at that time.

But he roughly knew that the empress sent him to Zhejiang, on the one hand for disaster relief, and on the other hand, wanted to use him to disrupt the power of the Jiangnan Party officials in Zhejiang.

If it weren't for this, the empress would not have given him such strong support.

"In my opinion, there is only one reason why Your Majesty did this."

"Your Majesty still has absolute trust in Lord Xu, but Lord Xu is old now. Your Majesty may want to support a new candidate for the Prime Minister of the Cabinet."

After saying that, Zhao Gongming looked at Xia Yun's expression, and there was no trace of gloom on his face anymore, only a smile on his face.

Having said that, only a fool can understand the hidden meaning in Zhao Gongming's words.

"Master Zhao, you are joking. Xia is only in his twenties. Even though he has been promoted to the governor of Zhejiang, it was only because he was recommended by Governor-General Lei Zhenning."

"What Lord Zhao just said really embarrasses me."

Xia Yun was secretly surprised, but he laughed it off on the surface.

According to Zhao Gongming, the reason why the empress promoted him and valued him was that she wanted to replace Xu Jinsong with him.

However, such a statement is inevitably shocking, and once the news gets out, it will inevitably lead to the charge of making irresponsible remarks about state affairs.

Seeing this, Zhao Gongming burst into laughter, which lasted for more than ten breaths.

After the laughter died down, Zhao Gongming spoke again: "I will tell Master Xia a story."

tell a story?

Xia Yun raised his eyebrows, wondering what Zhao Gongming wanted to say next.

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