In a special garden somewhere in the capital, a group of officials from Jiangnan gathered together to discuss something.
"Feng Gong was an upright and upright official. He also had the legacy of ancient sages. He rested with the people and opposed arbitrary expropriation. When he was in Nanzhili, everyone's life was still very good."
"But who would have thought that he would be dismissed and go home like this, without even retaining any honors or credits? It's really infuriating."
One official couldn't help but sigh.
"There is no way. Who has allowed a villain to be in power now? The emperor has been deceived by others. He likes to impose excessive taxes and engage in military warfare. He has been engaged in foreign campaigns for many years, resulting in countless deaths."
"Domestically, I also like to carry out large-scale construction projects, which wastes money and wastes money. If I don't have money, I will tax the people indiscriminately, making it difficult for the people to make a living."
Some people also said angrily.
"Isn't that right? Our family has worked hard to run a small business. We have worked hard all year round, starting early and working late at night. We have only made a few hundred thousand taels of silver. However, the tax office actually asked us to pay 50,000 taels of silver.
Taxes, why should we pay half of the money like this?"
"Yes, why?"
"Our family has a textile factory, and the business is pretty good. We can earn 300,000 taels of silver a year. However, according to the tax office, we actually have to pay 150,000 taels of silver a year. If we don't pay, we will directly
Just send tax agents to seize the factory."
“This is really unreasonable”
"Since ancient times, the sage kings have been doing light corvee and paying little in taxes, recuperating with the people. However, nowadays, they are so extortionate and extortionate that they really don't want us ordinary people to survive."
"You can't blame the emperor. It's Liu Jin, a treacherous villain, who deceived the Holy One and deceived the Holy One. We have written so many memorials to impeach Liu Jin's son, but why is there no news so far? It's like a stone sinking into the sea."
"In order to rectify the source and restore the bright and prosperous Ming Dynasty, the first thing to do is to get rid of Liu Jin's son. As long as he is still in the court, the Ming Dynasty will never have peace, and the people like us will have to endure arbitrary taxation and expropriation."
"It is not easy to get rid of Liu Jin. He is a popular person around the emperor, and he is deeply rooted in the court. He has countless disciples and former officials."
"He is also the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, in charge of the officials of the world. I don't know how many people have secretly taken refuge in him, and the emperor has always had great trust in him. Feng Gong was dismissed from office just because he contradicted him a few words."
"I don't believe that the Ming Dynasty has no royal power, and Liu Jin can really cover the sky with one hand."
"As long as we unite as one and work together, we will be able to bring him down!"
"Yes, as long as we persist in writing to the Holy Father to impeach Liu Jin, he will fall sooner or later."
"What did Mr. Sange say?"
"You still expect Mr. Sange?"
"The three of them are all clay Bodhisattvas. They can do whatever the emperor says. Even as cabinet ministers, they often have to listen to Liu Jin's children. Don't expect them to make a difference."
"But without the support of Mr. Sange, it would be even harder for us to overthrow Liu Jin."
"Everything depends on manpower. Liu Jin is the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the richest man in the Ming Dynasty. Who doesn't know how much money he has embezzled by relying on the power in his hands?"
"As long as we hold on to this, we will definitely be able to bring him down."
"I think that if you want to bring down Liu Jin, you need to take a long-term approach. He is deeply entrenched, has a close relationship with the nobles in the court, and has a close relationship with His Royal Highness. It is very difficult to bring him down. It is very difficult."
"The top priority is to find a way to put our people in the position of chief envoy of Southern Zhili. If Liu Jin is allowed to put their people in the position of chief envoy of Southern Zhili, we won't know the whole situation by then.
What kind of terrible storm is coming to Jiangnan."
"With the protection of Feng Gong, we are still struggling to survive. Once someone from Liu Jin is placed in this position, our good days as Jiangnan gentry will really come to an end."
"At that time, we have worked hard for a year to earn some money, and finally paid taxes on everything."
"Yes, yes, the top priority is to keep the position of Chief Envoy of Southern Zhili."
After hearing this official's words, others also nodded.
Although there are still many officials from Jiangnan in the court, there are only a few who can really stand up and take the lead.
After several major cases that year, Emperor Hongzhi severely cracked down on officials from Jiangnan, which greatly weakened the strength of officials from Jiangnan.
At the same time, after Liu Jin became the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, he also focused on cracking down on these officials with Jiangnan origins. Few were promoted, but many were demoted and dismissed because of poor performance.
There is no way, Liu Jin, who has traveled through time, knows very well the urinary nature of these people.
If people like them are allowed to gain power, they will most likely die miserably. At the same time, the situation they have worked so hard to manage may be destroyed, and a civil war may break out in a short period of time.
The new type of capitalists and colonists will never want to return to the previous situation, and what these stubborn old forces represented by the Jiangnan gentry want most is to return to the previous situation.
The emperor ruled from the top and left everything to them, the Gonggun princes, who valued civil servants over military affairs. The court allowed the people to rest and recuperate, and neglected corvee and underpaid taxes. It would be best to let them continue to monopolize many hugely profitable industries.
Such a day is the day they pursue. The power and interests of the world are in their hands. As for the prosperity of the country, the life and death of the people are not their concern.
Anyway, even if there is an invasion by foreign enemies, they will just come here every year to plunder, and they will naturally go back after plundering enough. What's more, the place they rob is a border area, which is thousands of miles away from the south of the Yangtze River.
What's more, the common people cannot be regarded as the people. Only the gentry and the gentry can be regarded as the people. What is the importance of their life and death?
Naturally, Liu Jin could not let these people gain power, because Liu Jin knew that if this continued, it would not only ruin the Ming Dynasty, but also the Chinese nation's backbone and confidence in being at the top of the world.
Naturally, we must crack down on these conservative officials who were born in the south of the Yangtze River. The government needs hard-working officials like Wang Shouren and Zhong Fan who can truly do something for the country and the people.
What is needed are people with a long-term vision, who can see the great changes of the times, and who can fight for the long-term interests of the Ming Dynasty and the Chinese nation, not just those who only think about the little power and interests they have at hand.
"I heard that Liu Jin'er and Wang Shouren walked together a few days ago."
"I'm afraid that Liu Jin'er deliberately pushed Wang Shouren to the position of chief envoy of Southern Zhili."
"What?"
When someone mentioned Wang Shouren, everyone immediately exclaimed.
Wang Shouren was a very good person. He served as the tax governor in Nanzhili, but the big businessmen and gentry in the Jiangnan area suffered a lot, and a lot of money had to be sent to the tax yamen.
They tried all kinds of methods, but they still couldn't do anything about Wang Shouren.
Now that they heard that Wang Shouren was very likely to be pushed to the position of Chief Minister of Southern Zhili, these people suddenly became even more frightened.
If Wang Shouren were to become the chief envoy of Southern Zhili, the gentry in the Jiangnan area would really be doomed.
"Wang Shouren must not be allowed to become the chief envoy of Southern Zhili!"
Someone said firmly.
"Yes, he must not be allowed to be the chief envoy of Nanzhili, otherwise Jiangnan will never have peace!"
"It would be best to transfer him from Jiangnan to another place. If he stays in Jiangnan for one day, the blood of us Jiangnan people will be sucked clean."
Others immediately started shouting, and many people gnashed their teeth in hatred for Wang Shouren.
Without it, Wang Shouren became the tax governor and collected their taxes and affected their interests. Naturally, they wanted to drive Wang Shouren away completely.
"The chief envoy of Southern Zhili is a high-ranking official of the imperial court. Liu Jin's son's decision does not matter. The cabinet must discuss it before submitting it to the Holy Emperor."
"We will contact Mr. Li and Mr. Xie immediately. Mr. Xie must support us, but it is hard to say for Mr. Li."
"No matter what, we still have to contact you. In addition, during this period, we will impeach Wang Shouren and Liu Jin more. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and a dike of a thousand miles breaks in an ant nest. As long as we persevere, there will always be success."
He defeated Liu Jin in one day."
"Yep"
"In addition, you can also contact the factories, trading houses, workshops, etc. in the Beijing-Tianjin area. Let's work together to put pressure on the court. The current taxes are really too heavy, making me and other people miserable."
"People from our Jiangnan area are easy to talk to, but these Yankees in Beizhili are stubborn and unwilling to join us. What's more, many of them are inextricably linked to the noble groups in the DPRK and China.
, In addition, many important factories, businesses, and industries were jointly established by Liu Jin's son, the emperor, the prince, and the nobles in the court."
"This is Liu Jin's cleverness. He tied himself up with many people, deceived the Holy One, competed with the people for profit, and made the people of the world miserable."
"It would be great if we could get the Holy One to withdraw from these properties."
Someone said with red eyes.
Thinking of the many industries that Emperor Hongzhi and the Crown Prince are involved in, if you take any one at random, they will earn at least one million taels of silver every year. There are many people who earn more than a thousand taels of silver a year. The properties under the command of Emperor Hongzhi and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince
And the assets are simply too huge.
In the past, the Ming Dynasty royal family was very poor. Emperor Hongzhi managed to save some money from his own money, and was often stared at by officials. But now, the Ming Dynasty royal family is definitely synonymous with extreme wealth. It is easy to feed an elite army of millions. With money,
There are so many that there is no room to spend them.
"These can only be realized after the treacherous villains like Liu Jin Xiao'er are driven out of the court. The top priority is for everyone to discuss who to recommend as the chief envoy to South Zhili."
