The strongest devouring system in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 470 Left and Right Arms

Upon hearing Chen Er's words, the Emperor's eyes lit up. He felt incredibly foolish for not having thought of something so simple.

Fortunately, she had Chen Er, an exceptionally intelligent man, by her side who gave her advice.

Otherwise, the Emperor would never have imagined it. "Chen Er, I am so proud. With such a capable right-hand man as you by my side, I believe the Ming Dynasty will not last long."

"It will return to my hands once again," the Emperor said very seriously.

Chen Er's analogy is quite apt. The emperor had experienced embarrassing situations before, as some civil and military officials no longer respected him at all.

In many cases, when dealing with important matters, the emperor made the decisions, and his voice was far less powerful than Wei Zhongxian's.

Therefore, it can be seen how embarrassed the emperor was at this moment. After hearing Chen Er's words, the emperor immediately felt that this idea was quite good.

"That's right, that's what I think too. I'm focusing all my efforts on training you now, after you and Zhang Shaoqing make great contributions in the impoverished mountainous areas of Jiangnan this time."

"I'll do everything I can to push you one step further, and then you'll be my trump card."

The Emperor's words left Chen Er feeling utterly helpless: "Your Majesty, you can't train me properly. You have to start from scratch. Right now, I'm just a second-rank official."

“He’s not worth your careful nurturing at all. I feel you should do everything you can to cultivate Zhang Shaoqing.”

"At the very least, let Zhang Shaoqing hold the power of war. At that time, no matter how powerful the Empress Dowager is, or how arrogant Wei Zhongxian is, Zhang Shaoqing will be here to guard the battlefield."

"They can't continue to be so arrogant and domineering here."

The emperor burst into laughter. He was full of energy and couldn't help but give Chen Er a thumbs up.

The emperor wasn't stupid; he knew that while this matter sounded easy, it was incredibly difficult to carry out. How could Wei Zhongxian possibly relinquish his military power?

He willingly gave it to Zhang Shaoqing; only a fool would do that. Chen Er sighed, wondering if the Emperor was a blockhead.

However, Chen Er dared not say this aloud. If he displeased the emperor, he might lose his head.

"Your Majesty, I have a good idea. We should give your command of the army to Zhang Shaoqing. Wouldn't that be much better?"

Chen Er's words immediately made the emperor's heart beat faster. Good heavens, why has the emperor never been able to stand firm and why has he always been able to put up a little resistance against the Empress Dowager?

That's because the Emperor has the support of the Imperial Guards, but if I were to lose that support, things would become very difficult, not to mention whether the Empress Dowager would let me off the hook.

It's estimated that Wei Zhongxian alone managed to get the emperor under control, so the emperor had a firm grip on his military power, even tighter than anyone else.

"Chen Er, are you kidding me? The soldiers under my command are the ones who protect my own safety. Take today for example, I wanted to capture Sun Yunhe."

"I want to capture Zhao Beixing. Besides Ma Dazhi under your command, the only other people I have are the Imperial Guards. If I give up my command, I'll be all alone. How will I survive here?"

The Emperor isn't stupid; how could he willingly relinquish your war power? The Emperor's words made Chen Er take a deep breath.

"Your Majesty, I haven't finished speaking yet. I'm not just asking you to relinquish your command of the war effort; I also want Wei Zhongxian's Eastern Depot and Zhang Xingchen's Embroidered Uniform Guard—all three of these forces should be handed over to the Minister of War for control."

That was mainly to control the military forces of the Ming Dynasty. Now, Zhang Shaoqing has been completely sidelined, with only a few bodyguards around him.

After that, he had no more battle rights. That's why Sun Yunhe was so arrogant back then, daring to personally stay at Zhang Shaoqing's residence.

This shows that no one took the Minister of War seriously. Only now does the Emperor understand the meaning behind Chen Er's words.

It is obvious that if the emperor himself were to hand over his command of the army, then it would be unreasonable for the other two not to as well.

However, after much hesitation, the Emperor looked at Chen Er and asked, "Chen Er, why do you trust Zhang Shaoqing so much? Aren't you afraid that Zhang Shaoqing is in cahoots with Wei Zhongxian?"

"For so many years, they've been using the 'bitter flesh' ruse in Yan'an, just waiting for us to hand over control of the war effort." The Emperor has truly been bitten by a snake once and is now afraid of even a rope for ten years.

Because the emperor had trusted Wei Zhongxian too much in the past, he was fooled by the empress dowager. The emperor never imagined that Wei Zhongxian was actually a spy sent by the empress dowager to his side.

So now the Emperor is just more sensitive to this aspect. Chen Er smiled again and looked at the Emperor to ask.

"Then, Your Majesty, may I ask you a question: why do you trust me so much? Aren't you afraid? I've also taken bribes from Wei Zhongxian and have been playing along with you all this time?"

Chen Er's words made no attempt to conceal his mockery of the emperor.

This was the first time Chen Er had spoken to the Emperor in such a tone. If it had been anyone else, the Emperor would probably have been furious at that one sentence.

But now it's different. The person speaking to him is none other than Chen Er. The Emperor has placed all his bets on Chen Er.

Therefore, the Emperor understood the meaning behind Chen Er's words: it was all about trust in Zhang Shaoqing. There's a saying that goes, "If you doubt someone, don't use them; if you use someone, don't doubt them." That's the principle.

Chen Er always likes to follow his feelings when doing things. If Chen Er thinks something can be done this way, then he will do it without hesitation and do it well.

When he does something perfectly, that's the essence of Chen Er's respectful character. The emperor hesitated for a long time, as if he had just made a huge decision.

"Alright, let's do it your way. We'll discuss this matter when we have our morning court session tomorrow."

The emperor was about to leave after speaking, but Chen Er stopped him. Chen Er was completely exasperated.

"Your Majesty, can you please stop being so foolish? If you bring this up again tomorrow, will it be any more convincing?"

"There's nothing I can tell you. The most important thing is that we must naturally hand over the command of the battle to Zhang Shaoqing."