Chapter 692: First Meeting Zheng Xuhong

Li Feng knew very well that at this moment he needed to project sufficient confidence, so that Zheng Xuhong would believe him. Otherwise, old foxes like them would not easily trust anyone. The more arrogant and pleased with himself he appeared, the more they would believe him.

Zheng Xuhong watched Li Feng, who radiated pride and righteousness, and his heart kept sinking, as if plummeting into an abyss.

He hadn't expected things to have developed to this point.

And from Li Feng's manner of speaking, he truly was confident.

Zheng Xuhong's eyes turned red. He gritted his teeth and said, "Then I want to meet with Lord Zhang."

At this point he truly dared not trust anyone. From the moment this affair came to light, the whole matter had been treacherous and unfathomable—everyone was reaching out their hands, making him feel like he was the only naive one.

In fact, Zheng Xuhong really was quite naive in this matter.

Whether it was Li Feng or that Lin Dechang, everyone was sneaking around, making grand claims, all saying they could persuade the Great Ming and had backing behind them. But the truth of the matter rested entirely on their words alone. Only this Li Feng before him could arrange for him to meet Lord Zhang. Under such circumstances, he naturally preferred to believe Li Feng.

"That's certainly no problem. I'll arrange it." Li Feng nodded and said.

Meanwhile, at the residence of Grand Prince Bongnim.

Lin Dechang recounted everything to Grand Prince Bongnim. When he finished, he caught his breath and said, "Zheng Xuhong has agreed to support us, as long as we save his life."

Zhao Chenqi on the side said, "That's good news."

Their falling out—Zhao Chenqi had always thought it was a good thing. At this point, he was no longer afraid of exposing anything; turning against them openly didn't matter anymore.

A brilliant smile also appeared on Grand Prince Bongnim's face, as if he had breathed a sigh of relief.

Regarding this matter, Grand Prince Bongnim's heart had been full of anxiety. Now that someone finally supported him, it was a good thing.

"Then what should we do next?" Grand Prince Bongnim looked at Zhao Chenqi, then at Lin Dechang, and asked.

"What needs to be done now is to rescue Lord Zheng first." Zhao Chenqi said. "This matter probably can't be accomplished by us alone—we need people from the Great Ming to step forward."

Having said that, he turned to look at Lin Dechang and asked, "Do you think you can manage it?"

Lin Dechang patted his chest and said with a smile, "Leave this matter to me. But regarding this affair, I have another idea."

"Speak." Grand Prince Bongnim said after a moment's thought.

"I think it's time for the Grand Prince to step forward." Lin Dechang said with a grave expression. "If we rely solely on the Great Ming to apply pressure, I'm afraid that won't be enough. Better for the Grand Prince to enter the palace. There are two advantages to this approach: first, to win over people's hearts; second, to establish your claim openly. Now is the perfect opportunity to buy loyalty, and since the Crown Prince cannot return, we must let the court ministers see the Grand Prince's capability. This approach kills two birds with one stone. Zheng Xuhong will be utterly devoted, and the court ministers will see the Grand Prince as a wise sovereign—this is an opportunity not to be missed."

Grand Prince Bongnim looked at Lin Dechang, then turned to Zhao Chenqi and asked, "Is this appropriate? It doesn't seem quite right, does it?"

Zhao Chenqi felt somewhat helpless.

This Grand Prince was good in every way except that he was timid—or rather, he would abandon righteousness for profit, eager to seize any advantage, yet afraid to stick his neck out. Even now he still wanted to reap benefits from behind the scenes, but sometimes one couldn't just do that!

Zhao Chenqi stepped forward and said, "Grand Prince, what Lin Dechang said makes sense. As the saying goes, 'with a proper title, words carry weight; without a proper title, words carry none'—without legitimacy, nothing can be accomplished. If you want to contend for the succession, how can you do it without standing up and raising your banner?"

"You need to give those who want to pledge themselves to you confidence, to make them understand what you intend to do. Otherwise, if they follow you and you never step forward, what if you pull the ladder out from under them at some point?"

But Grand Prince Bongnim still hesitated and said, "What if the Crown Prince comes back?"

Zhao Chenqi was exasperated.

This Grand Prince was far too timid. If his own strength weren't insufficient, he truly wouldn't want to waste time on him. Wouldn't it be better to find someone younger?

But unfortunately, he didn't get along with Kim Jeong-min and the others. If he jumped out on his own, he didn't have the strength.

Zhao Chenqi looked at Lin Dechang and said, "Can you arrange for Lord Zhang to meet with our Grand Prince? To discuss the matter of the Crown Prince."

Lin Dechang looked at Zhao Chenqi with an expressionless face.

Zhao Chenqi felt somewhat embarrassed and turned his head away. This Grand Prince was simply too disgraceful—it made him lose face.

The people from the Great Ming coming over would at most give a guarantee—a guarantee that the Crown Prince wouldn't return, a guarantee of support for the Grand Prince before them. But you should understand your own position—how could someone of our standing possibly get the Great Ming to make such guarantees? Isn't that wishful thinking?

Lin Dechang was utterly contemptuous in his heart.

Trash. But there was no helping it—who told him this trash was still useful.

Lin Dechang looked at Zhao Chenqi, pondered for a long while, and only then said, "I can go try at Chen Facai's place, but I can't guarantee whether it will succeed. If this matter comes through, Chen Facai's side will certainly want no small reward."

"Don't worry about that." Grand Prince Bongnim said with a magnanimous air at this point. "Bring gifts when you go. Our household may not have much else, but we do have some fine things."

Zhao Chenqi was even more speechless.

Give you a ladder and you'll climb right onto the roof.

"Alright, then let's do it this way." Lin Dechang said after some thought. "I'll make the arrangements right away."

The Great Ming embassy.

Song Xiang walked behind Zhang Yu, reached out and gently placed her hands on his shoulders, slowly kneading them. While massaging, she said, "News just came in. Li Feng's side says Zheng Xuhong wants to see you. Chen Facai's side says Grand Prince Bongnim also wants to see you."

Zhang Yu sat up straight, gently leaning against Song Xiang, and said, "The timing is about right. It's time for me to step forward. Letting them see me is fine too."

"They're all useless. How could something like this require you to appear in person?" Song Xiang frowned slightly and said, "It's too dangerous."

"What danger is there in this?" Zhang Yu said disdainfully. "What can they do to me? I am an envoy of the Great Ming—would they dare kill me? Do you know what crime it is to kill an envoy? If I died in Joseon, His Majesty would send a great army to trample Joseon flat."

"The war with Japan is already over, and those troops have just been freed up. The newly subjugated Japanese are far more warlike than these Joseon people before us. If fighting broke out, they could conquer Joseon quickly—don't forget what happened in the Wanli years. With the Great Ming's support, they're far more ferocious than Joseon."

"While the war in Japan hadn't ended, we still had some reservations; now we don't need them anymore." Having said that, Zhang Yu stood up and said directly, "Even if they knew everything was my doing, what could they do about it? And besides, there's no way they could know. It's time for me to make my move."

Song Xiang watched the spirited Zhang Yu and said, "You're right about that. The Staff Office just sent word—the Imperial Navy has begun gradually withdrawing from the battlefield, and the reorganization of Japan has also started. More Joseon people will go to Japan afterward, and more Great Ming people will go as well. The court has already formulated a strategy—Lord Sun is coming here, apparently to back you up."

Zhang Yu said with a smile, "Then I'll strive to sort out matters here before Lord Sun arrives. Otherwise, Lord Sun will laugh at me."

Song Xiang rolled her eyes and said with exasperation, "You still have the mind for that?"

"Of course I do." Zhang Yu said with a smile. "Lord Sun is the youngest Staff Minister in the Staff Office. My idea is to break his record and become the youngest Staff Minister in the Staff Office."

"Then you probably have no chance," Song Xiang said. "The Staff Office won't take you."

This time Zhang Yu didn't argue back.

Although he wanted to enter the Staff Office, he estimated his chances were slim. Compared to Lu Xiangsheng, he was better suited to the civil official track. He estimated that after returning this time, His Majesty would send him out to the provinces—to govern a county as County Magistrate, or serve as a deputy in a prefecture.

Although His Majesty valued his strategic counsel, at this stage what His Majesty would look at was no longer that, but his administrative ability. As long as he performed well, he could rise smoothly—from the localities to the capital, and then into the Grand Secretariat.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yu sighed and said, "If only I had gotten closer to Lu Xiangsheng and the others back then, then I wouldn't have to be sent out to the provinces."

Hearing this, Song Xiang said, "That Lord Lu is no simple figure."

"Proficient in both letters and arms—of course he's no simple figure." Zhang Yu said with a smile. "It's been some days since I last saw him. I do miss him somewhat. Let's finish matters here as quickly as possible, so I can return home sooner."

"You're missing your wife, aren't you?" Song Xiang pouted and said.

"You can be jealous of this too?" Zhang Yu asked.

Not continuing on this topic, Song Xiang knew that if she kept going she would likely be pestered, so she decisively changed the subject and said: "Who do you want to see first?"

"Zheng Xuhong, I suppose." Zhang Yu thought for a moment and said: "My meeting with him still needs to be kept secret; no one else can know about it. He can't get out right now, so I have to go to him. Have him make the arrangements—don't let anything go wrong."

"No problem." Song Xiang nodded and said: "I'll take care of it."

In the afternoon, the weather was no longer so hot, but there still weren't many pedestrians on the streets.

The group quietly arrived at Zheng Xuhong's door, and without being announced, they were received inside.

Zhang Yu glanced at Li Feng and said: "You've worked hard."

"I wouldn't dare," Li Feng smiled and shook his head, saying: "For the Great Ming."

"Which graduating class of the Imperial Academy were you in?" Zhang Yu looked at Li Feng and asked.

"The fourth class. I was recruited by the Staff Office while still at the Academy; at the time I thought I'd be able to enter the Staff Office and work as a clerk. But who would have thought that entering the Staff Office wouldn't be what I expected. The Special Intelligence Section of the Staff Office—back then I had no idea what it did. Once I found out what it did, my life was no longer my own. Still, that's fine—once this business is finished, I can go back and work as a clerk."

Zhang Yu nodded, smiled, and said: "Actually, this kind of life is good too—you won't feel bored. Once you go back and work as a clerk, you might start feeling bored, and then you'll want to be posted abroad. It's just that when you're out in the field for a long time, you'll miss home a bit."

Li Feng smiled and said: "Maybe. But I still want to work as a clerk for a while; otherwise I won't be satisfied. If I feel bored later, then I'll request an overseas posting."

Zhang Yu smiled and said: "That day will come."

The two exchanged a few casual remarks, then Zhang Yu turned the conversation to business and asked: "This Zheng Xuhong—what do you make of him?"

"He's shrewd enough in handling people and affairs, but he also has his flaws—he's overly cautious in his actions and lacks ambition."

"What's his feeling toward our Great Ming?" Zhang Yu narrowed his eyes slightly and asked: "If something goes wrong with this business, it will become very troublesome. We'll have no choice but to activate the final contingency plan."

Hearing these words, Li Feng's expression turned serious.

The Staff Office's final contingency plan was basically always used before military action. In other words, if even the final plan wouldn't work, then military action would have to be taken. That plan was far more violent, and far less concerned about casualties.

Li Feng quickly said: "Rest assured, my lord. Zheng Xuhong is at the end of his rope right now—other than us, he has no one he can turn to. The Joseon king clearly can't protect him; Zhang Fu is his example. Whether you call it killing the chicken to warn the monkey, or a lesson from the overturned cart ahead, he doesn't have the guts. Besides, this time the Great Ming is offering him nothing but benefits—what's unacceptable about throwing in with the Great Ming? The Great Ming isn't asking him to rebel, so I think there's no problem with this business."

Zhang Yu nodded and said: "If that's so, then nothing could be better."

The two walked into the study, where Zheng Xuhong was already waiting.

Upon seeing Zhang Yu, Zheng Xuhong's face was filled with disbelief. He stood up, walked before Zhang Yu, and said respectfully: "This humble one greets Lord Zhang."

"No need for formalities." Zhang Yu waved his hand and said: "Sit down and let's talk."

After Zheng Xuhong sat down, Zhang Yu finally said: "Everything that needed to be said, Li Feng has already told you. Now, if you have any questions, feel free to ask—I can tell you all of them."

"May I ask, my lord—the Crown Prince truly cannot return?" Zheng Xuhong raised his head, looked at Zhang Yu, and said in a deep voice.

"He cannot return." Zhang Yu said in a casual tone: "You don't need to worry about this matter. I say he can't return, so he can't return. However, he can still inherit the position of Joseon king—for instance, as a nominal ruler from afar. As for how Joseon is governed domestically, a Grand Administrator would be more suitable."

Upon hearing these words, Zheng Xuhong's face was full of disbelief.

This Lord Zhang spoke far more bluntly than Li Feng, and was far more ambitious than Li Feng as well.

Nominal rule from afar—that was a distant word indeed. With nominal rule from afar, this land would have nothing to do with you.

"There's one more thing I can tell you," Zhang Yu looked at Zheng Xuhong and said: "The war in Japan has been concluded. If nothing unexpected happens, the Imperial Navy will soon leave Japan and will very likely dock at Busan for some rest and repairs. After all, there were successive major battles in Japan—having fought for so long, the officers and soldiers are exhausted in both body and mind. It would be good to stop and rest for a while."