Zhao Junchen sat on the bedside, listening to Fang Ru's report, speaking softly and thoughtfully.
Fang Ru sat aside, quietly waiting for Zhao Junchen's reply.
After pondering for a moment, Zhao Junchen nodded and said: "This is a good way to infiltrate the inner court. In the future, we can really pay more attention to the Eunuch Lane. If there are useful people, we can also contact them. We can provide financial support."
If so, I think it would be easy to select some of them to enter the palace, and these people who enter the palace might be of great use in the future."
After a pause, Zhao Junchen continued: "However, the eunuch alley is too chaotic. Those eunuchs who have not been able to enter the palace are mixed, and most of them are rogues. Ru'er, it will be inconvenient for you to contact them. This matter is
Let Qingyan take charge."
Hearing what Zhao Junchen said, Xu Qingyan nodded in agreement. But a hint of disappointment flashed in Fang Ru's eyes.
This disappointment was not because Zhao Junchen left the matter to Xu Qingyan, Fang Ru herself did not want to have much contact with those eunuchs.
However, although this method of infiltrating the inner court through the eunuch alley was just a flash of inspiration from Fang Ru, Fang Ru also had great expectations for it. She thought it would attract Zhao Junchen's attention, but she did not expect that Zhao Junchen would pay attention to it.
After learning about it, although he agreed to her plan, his expression showed a lack of interest.
Fang Ru's loss was naturally not hidden from Zhao Junchen's eyes.
"Ru'er, after all, you don't know the inner court very well." Zhao Junchen explained in a broad voice: "Nowadays, all the eunuchs in charge of the inner court are literate people. It would be very difficult if they don't know a few big characters.
It is difficult to get ahead in the inner court. And the inner court has its own standards when selecting new eunuchs over the years. Among them, the first choice should be those who can read and digitize. Of course, such people are only a handful after all. After all, there are literate and digitized eunuchs.
With their abilities, there is no need to become eunuchs; next are the young ones, among whom the smart ones will be sent to the inner study hall to teach knowledge; there are twenty-four yamen in the inner court, each palace, and many eunuchs in charge
, most of them are born like this. For the remaining places, some strong and strong people will be selected, but after these people enter the palace, they can only do menial work and backbreaking work, and most of them will have no future."
After a pause, seeing Fang Ru thoughtful, Zhao Junchen continued: "As for those people in the eunuch alley, most of them are losers. It can be seen that they all have flaws, or have bad character, or
If they are too old or have insufficient abilities, it is not difficult to bribe the eunuchs in charge with some money and send them to the palace. But it is even more difficult for these people to get ahead in the inner court, and they will not be able to help us.
At best, it can only deliver some insignificant news, and if you want to control the inner court, the key points are the three major yamen: the inner study hall, the ceremonial supervisor and the imperial horse supervisor."
"I see." Although Zhao Junchen explained clearly, Fang Ru became even more disappointed. She felt that she had made a fool of herself in front of Zhao Junchen, and whispered: "I can see clearly, I took it for granted."
"You can't say that." Zhao Junchen raised his hand and waved it lightly, smiling and comforting: "Your plan is actually not bad. The investment is small and the risk is small, but the rewards are not necessarily low. Although it is difficult to arrange these people to enter the palace,
But as long as we invest more money and let them manage it, it may not be useless. What's more, when Wei Zhongxian was so powerful, why couldn't he even write his own name? It can be seen that nothing is inevitable, but
If we had better luck, we might not be able to make it happen."
They were just words of comfort to Fang Ru, but as he spoke, even Zhao Junchen himself felt that this method might not be impossible to try. So as soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Junchen warned Xu Qingyan: "Qingyan,
Since you are responsible for this matter, you should be more attentive. If we can really find some talents, we can help you. Speaking of which, the inner court will soon be supplemented by more manpower."
Xu Qingyan nodded in agreement and said: "Don't worry, young master. There are countless eunuchs in the eunuch alley. I think there will always be a few available. I will carefully select them for the young master."
Zhao Junchen nodded and said nothing more. He just picked up the folder in his hand and continued to examine it with his head lowered.
Zhao Junchen has been preparing this document for many days and has revised it several times. Now it is finally almost completed and is undergoing the last inspection.
Seeing Zhao Junchen like this, a hint of helplessness flashed across Fang Ru's expression.
Although Zhao Junchen claimed to be ill these days, he still showed no sign of rest. Not only was he keeping a close eye on all the disturbances in the center of the temple, he never neglected them, and the various plans were constantly consuming his energy.
I don't see any relaxation at all.
Although Fang Ru had tried to persuade Zhao Junchen to do this, Zhao Junchen was now used to thinking about everything and planning all the time. Although he listened to Fang Ru's advice, he still couldn't take it easy.
………
Now, according to Zhao Junchen's public announcement of illness, five days have passed.
However, there is still no conclusion on who should be responsible for the various arrangements for the southern tour.
However, when making the plan, Zhao Junchen, Zhou, Shen, and Huang finally underestimated Emperor Deqing's determination to protect the crown prince Zhu Heyu.
Emperor Deqing could leave errands to Zhao Junchen or even anyone in the court, but he would never leave them to Prince Zhu Heyu.
As a result, although Zhu Heyu petitioned Emperor Deqing every day, although Zhou Shangjing, Huang Yourong, and Shen Changmao had been competing openly and secretly for help, although the prince's party was now the most powerful candidate, because of Deqing
Because of Emperor Qing, everyone still couldn't get what they wanted.
However, such a stalemate, with no decision being made, could change at any time, was naturally not conducive to the plan. Zhao Junchen couldn't stand it anymore, and finally decided to take action to "help" Zhu Heyu get what he wanted.
………
And Zhao Junchen's solution was the envelope in his hand.
After checking the folding paper again, Zhao Junchen suddenly handed it to Fang Ru and said, "Ru'er, take a look, how do I write this folding paper?"
Fang Ru was slightly startled because Zhao Junchen had not let her participate in court matters for a long time, but she still nodded obediently and took it, opened it and looked at it carefully.
However, Fang Ru became more and more surprised the more she read this excerpt.
After reading it, Fang Ru looked even more incredulous and asked Zhao Junchen: "Sir, do you really want to present this envelope to His Majesty?"
It turns out that Zhao Junchen’s excerpt was some suggestions on preparations for the southern tour.
The cost of the Southern Tour was huge, but in summary, it can only be summarized in five major aspects: the Southern Tour ceremonial guard, the food, clothing, housing and transportation of the entourage, the reception and delivery of officials from various places, the construction of the palace, and the preparation of the Southern Tour route.
But now the Central Committee's advance preparations for the Southern Inspection only have one aspect, namely "preparation of the Southern Inspection Route."
It sounds simple, but in fact it involves all aspects, such as route survey, road repair, river widening, preparation of dragon boats and carriages, etc.
However, these things are most likely to cause waste of people and money.
Zhao Junchen's letter is exactly a countermeasure that he came up with in view of this.
Generally speaking, the suggestions in Zhao Junchen’s excerpt can be summarized into three aspects.
First, the survey of the route and the preparation of dragon boats, horse-drawn carriages and other items were not handled by the local government, but were directly responsible for the central government. The expenses required were also borne by the Ministry of Revenue and the inner treasury.
In this way, fairness and justice can be achieved and symptoms among the people can be reduced.
Secondly, road repairs and river widening require a large amount of migrant labor. In order to reduce public grievances, the recruitment of migrant labor can be done voluntarily by the people. However, once the people participate in the work, they will be rewarded, and local governments can rely on the people's contributions.
Depending on the level of work effort, taxes will be reduced in the next three years, and even those who perform well will receive monetary rewards. Among the people who participate in the work, those from poor families will be given priority.
In this way, it can not only save people's labor and reduce people's grievances, but also provide wealth to the people, give back to the people, and support poor people.
Third, in order to ensure the quality of road and river construction, the Center can segment road sections. Each state and county along the southern patrol route is specifically responsible for the local government. The Center is only responsible for supervision, and based on the length of the road section,
As well as the difficulty of renovation, money will be allocated after the review, but no direct intervention will be made. It will be judged after completion. If the county is excellent in speed and quality, not only will the parent officials of that place be credited by the Ministry of Personnel, and they will be promoted.
The county will also receive preferential policies from the court in the future.
In this way, not only can the energy and manpower of the central government be saved, but the quality of the project can also be maintained. The most important thing is that even if something goes wrong in the future, the fault lies with the local government, not the central government.
These three suggestions were commonplace in later generations, but they were quite novel at this time. At least in Fang Ru's view, if Zhao Junchen's suggestions were followed, the responsible person would not only avoid causing public resentment and damaging his reputation, but also be able to
Winning praise from both the government and the opposition means gaining both fame and fortune.
………
Thinking of this, Fang Ru couldn't help but said: "Master, once you submit this letter, Your Majesty will definitely hand over the matter to the prince when he sees the benefits. And if the prince follows the plan, this southern tour will be a success."
Preparation will not only not harm him, but will also increase his reputation in the government and the public and win your majesty's favor and trust. In this case, wouldn't it be completely opposite to your plan, sir?"
Hearing what Fang Ru said, Zhao Junchen smiled half-heartedly and asked, "Do you really think these are good strategies?"
Seeing Zhao Junchen's leisurely expression, Fang Ru couldn't help but be stunned. After thinking for a moment, she still nodded.
Zhao Junchen smiled and said leisurely: "In this world, good intentions and bad intentions are actually the most indistinguishable. Take the preparations for this southern tour as an example. I want the prince to personally take charge of this matter. It seems to be a good intention, but
I have the idea of framing him in my heart, and the three 'good strategies' I have prepared now will not only secretly help the prince achieve what he wants, but also have the same effect."
After a pause, Zhao Junchen looked a little more emotional, and then said: "Throughout the ages, between the government and the public, there are countless so-called good strategies, but how many of them can ultimately achieve good results? What is the reason? First, timing and environment.
It's inappropriate. Secondly, it's taken for granted. Thirdly, the person responsible for it has different intentions. However, I have taken all three of the so-called 'good strategies'. They seem to have good prospects, but after implementation, compared with continuing to do things as a routine,
The harm caused may be even greater."
Hearing what Zhao Junchen said, Fang Ru looked thoughtful...!
