Because Yang Pu came to Jiangnan this time to shoulder a heavy burden, Li Yuntian and he didn't drink much wine at the reception banquet, and the two of them ordered.

The banquet was held in the Yangzhou Division of the Lecture Hall, and after the end, Yang Pu followed Li Yuntian to the wing room in the backyard.

After entering the wing, after the guards brought twice the hot tea, Li Yuntian withdrew from everyone, what Yang Pu told him belonged to the top secret of the imperial court, and naturally could not be known to outsiders.

"Lord, the Empress Dowager is ill after the New Year, although the people in the Tai Hospital did not disclose the Empress Dowager's condition, but the situation must not be optimistic." Waiting for Lin Xin to lead the guards away, Yang Pu put down the teacup in his hand and looked at Li Yuntian worriedly.

"How so!" Li Yuntian, who was slowly sipping tea, was taken aback when he heard this, although he also received a report that the Empress Dowager Zhang was unwell, but he didn't expect the situation to be so serious, which made Yang Pu feel so worried.

According to the news obtained by Li Yuntian, the Empress Dowager Zhang still summoned the family members of the ministers of the court and the central government normally, and Zhou Yuting had already entered the palace to accompany the Empress Dowager Zhang several times, and did not find anything wrong.

"Before the official came to Beijing, the Empress Dowager had summoned the empress dowager, but the empress dowager vomited a few mouthfuls of blood during the banquet, and the official knew that the empress dowager's condition was not good." Yang Pu sighed and shook his head a little helplessly, the Empress Dowager of the Zhang family was really a strange woman, and she was able to cover up her illness so well.

Yang Pu had privately inquired about the condition of the Empress Dowager Zhang from the imperial doctor in charge of treating the Empress Dowager Zhang, and the imperial doctor told him that the Empress Dowager Zhang was just overworking and that there was no major problem.

"The Empress Dowager is a lot of hard work!" Li Yuntian came back to his senses at this time, and couldn't help but sigh with emotion, the reason why the Empress Dowager Zhang would hide her illness was completely to suppress the situation in Beijing.

Although the orthodox emperor has been on the throne for seven years, he is now only a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy son of heaven, and there is no way to control the situation, so the Empress Dowager Zhang must hold on to buy more time for the orthodox emperor, which is really admirable.

"The Empress Dowager has a good deal, and the situation in the capital will become complicated." Yang Pu looked at Li Yuntian with a wry smile, his face full of depression.

Li Yuntian deeply felt this way, and the existence of the Empress Dowager Zhang filled the vacancy of the orthodox emperor who was too young to govern himself, which made the various factions in the capital dare not make a mistake.

Once the Empress Dowager Zhang dies of illness, then the forces of all factions in the capital will be ready to move, fighting to the death for power, and then the capital will inevitably have another bloody storm.

Although Yang Pu did not say it explicitly, Li Yuntian knew very well what he was worried about, and was worried that once the Empress Dowager of the Zhang family died, the inner court would take the opportunity to use the orthodox emperor to sit big.

With the secret support of the Empress Dowager Zhang, the strength of the inner court gradually increased, and it was able to compete with the civil official group and the Xungui group in the court, which was the greatest reliance of the Empress Dowager Zhang to escort the orthodox emperor.

And once the Empress Dowager Zhang's restraint on the inner court is lost, the power of the inner court will inevitably expand dramatically, and the civil official group and the Xungui group in the court will be suppressed by it, and maybe even Li Yuntian and Jiangwutang will be calculated by it.

After all, those eunuchs in the inner court were ministers, and the military attachés of civil and military officials, including Li Yuntian, belonged to foreign ministers, and the relationship between the two sides was both complementary and mutually restrictive.

Although Li Yuntian can suppress those eunuchs in the inner court, who can restrain the people in the inner court after a hundred years of Li Yuntian? Whether it is Emperor Yongle, Emperor Hongxi and Emperor Xuande, they all show great trust and dependence on eunuchs, and they also have very high means to control them.

Li Yuntian believes that if the orthodox emperor can have the experience of Emperor Xuande, he will definitely control the eunuchs in the inner court with ease, but the problem is that the orthodox emperor is not Emperor Xuande, and now he is only a teenager who has not yet reached adulthood, and he will inevitably trust the eunuchs who get along with him day and night after the death of the Empress Dowager Zhang, which makes things extremely complicated, and it is not uncommon in history to blackmail the Son of Heaven to make the princes.

Therefore, the role of the Empress Dowager Zhang is particularly important, and her presence makes it possible for the various factions in the capital to have a buffer zone between them, so that they will not meet each other.

According to historical records, the Empress Dowager Zhang was the most shrewd and capable among the empresses of the Ming Dynasty, and she usually paid special attention to internal and external political affairs, the talents and conduct of the ministers.

After the death of Emperor Hongxi, Emperor Xuande would make a decision every time he encountered a major military event, and the Empress Dowager Zhang often asked Emperor Xuande about government affairs, and often reminded Emperor Xuande to be sympathetic to the suffering of the people.

It is precisely because of the existence of the Empress Dowager of the Zhang family, so that the Ming monarch and the ministers are harmonious, and the various factions are divided and keep to themselves, although the inner court has intervened in the political affairs of the imperial court at that time, but the inner court in the early stage of orthodoxy is not enough to suppress the Wenchen group, although the orthodox emperor favors Wang Zhen, but Wang Zhen has not yet reached the level of autocratic power, and the political situation of the imperial court remains generally stable.

It is worth mentioning that before the death of the Empress Dowager Zhang, Jin Ying has been the eunuch in charge of the seal, although Wang Zhen is pampered and arrogant, but he has not been able to control the inner court, in the opinion of the Empress Dowager Zhang, Jin Ying is stable and experienced, and is the best candidate to take charge of the inner court.

It was not until after the death of the Empress Dowager Zhang that Wang Zhen replaced Jin Ying as the eunuch of the palm seal of the celebrant eunuch, which led to the misuse of power and the country, and gradually reached the peak of power, becoming a powerful person above 10,000 people, and led to the fiasco of Tumubao.

"Elder Ge, now it's just you and me, just say what you have to say." Li Yuntian felt that Yang Pu looked like he wanted to speak in front of him, so he said with a smile.

When it comes to the position of Li Yuntian and Yang Pu, there is no need to beat around the bush anymore, both of them are very smart people, and they have a good relationship with each other, so there is no need to play some word games.

"I don't know if the prince knows what happened when the emperor held a banquet in the palace in October last year." Yang Pu suddenly smiled slightly when he heard this, with Li Yuntian's words, he had no worries, and asked after a deep groan.

"Elder Ge, do you mean Wang Zhen's banquet?" Li Yuntian immediately understood what Yang Pu meant, and his brows furrowed slightly.

In October of the sixth year of orthodoxy, the reconstruction of the three major halls of Fengtian, Huagai and Jinshen was completed, and the orthodox emperor held a banquet in the palace to celebrate.

According to the regulations of the Ming Dynasty, eunuchs were not eligible to participate in the palace banquet, but at this time, Wang Zhen had won the favor of the orthodox emperor, and the orthodox emperor saw that Song Dashan and Wang Ying were missing from such a lively banquet, so he sent someone to reward the two most trustworthy personal eunuchs with a table of banquets.

Compared with Wang Zhen, who acted a little domineering, Song Dashan was unusually low-key on weekdays, and he was quite introverted, so he respectfully thanked the orthodox emperor for the banquet, but Wang Zhen compared himself to the Duke of Zhou, and complained to Song Dashan, saying, "Duke Zhou assists the king, why can't I wait to sit at the banquet?" ”

Song Dashan just smiled when he heard this, without words, but the eunuch who came to reward him reported the matter to the orthodox emperor with interest, and the orthodox emperor not only did not blame but felt that Wang Zhen had been wronged, so he ordered to open the middle door of Donghua Gate and let Wang Zhen and Song Dashan enter the palace to participate in the banquet.

From this incident, it can be seen that Song Dashan and Wang Zhen are deeply favored by the orthodox emperor, and it also means that the orthodox emperor, who has become a teenager, begins to have his own thoughts, which is not a good thing for the civil official group and the Xungui group.

Therefore, after the palace banquet incident, some civil officials and nobles have begun to get close to Song Dashan and Wang Zhen in private, and the eunuchs in the palace have moved closer to the two, and everyone knows that with the support of the orthodox emperor, Song Dashan and Wang Zhen will become the eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty.

Li Yuntian knew about this a few years ago, but he was not surprised, because he knew Wang Zhen's personality very well, and he also knew that the orthodox emperor was no longer the child who had nothing to do in the past, and this kind of thing would only increase in the future.

"Wang Zhen is cunning and treacherous, and he will become a big disaster for the court in the future." Yang Pu knew that Li Yuntian was well-informed, and the affairs of the capital could rarely be hidden from Li Yuntian, so he said worriedly after bowing his head slightly.

"What does Elder Ge mean......" Li Yuntian heard that Yang Pu had a deep prejudice against Wang Zhen, so he looked at him quietly.

"Lord Wang, this person will not have a peaceful day in the future except for the Ming Dynasty." Yang Pu hesitated for a moment, and then said solemnly, "I hope that the prince can help, except for this scourge." ”

"Ge Lao, Wang Zhen has won the trust of the emperor, I am afraid that even if this king comes forward, the emperor will protect him."

Li Yuntian knew what Yang Pu meant, not that he would kill Wang Zhen, which was a taboo for the orthodox emperor, but to find a way to make Wang Zhen fall out of favor, and he couldn't help but smile bitterly and shook his head when he heard this, no matter how he said that Wang Zhen also grew up with the orthodox emperor, as long as Wang Zhen did not commit the crime of rebellion, then the orthodox emperor would definitely trust him, so he had no good way.

What is particularly important is that Li Yuntian still hopes to use the inner court to contain the Wenchen Group and the Xungui Group, how can he destroy Wang Zhen, which will not benefit her in the slightest.

"Have you forgotten that the Empress Dowager wanted to kill Wang Zhen and was stopped by the emperor!" Subsequently, Li Yuntian opened his mouth to remind Yang Pu.

"Alas!" Of course, Yang Pu knew what Li Yuntian said, and he couldn't help but let out a long sigh when he heard the words, after all, the orthodox emperor had grown up and had his own preferences, and even the Empress Dowager of the Zhang family couldn't kill Wang Zhen, let alone Li Yuntian?

Moreover, Wang Zhen's existence is also a good thing for Li Yuntian, which can make the martial arts hall avoid disputes above the court, and Yang Pu is a smart person who naturally knows the doorway.

However, Yang Pu also has no way to do it, because of the favor of the orthodox emperor, he has no way to destroy Wang Zhen, so he can only ask Li Yuntian for help, Li Yuntian and Taowu are very good, plus he is respected and trusted by the orthodox emperor, maybe Wang Zhen can fall out of favor.

Judging from the current situation, if you want to deal with Wang Zhen, you can only rely on Yang Pu and the civil official group, after all, Wang Zhen has not done anything that requires Li Yuntian to come forward to clean up the mess, so how could Li Yuntian do it at this time to repair him? Such a case would inevitably lead to hostility in the inner court.