Chapter 1500. Catch them all in one fell swoop (7).
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In recent years, as he has gotten older, Zhou Shangjing's behavior has become more low-key and tolerant. It seems that the edges have been smoothed away and his edge has been lost. His ambition and energy have faded together, and nothing can be disputed.
In the face of the aggressiveness of Emperor Deqing and the rapid rise of Zhao Junchen, he often remained unmoved and unresponsive.
But in fact, although Zhou Shangjing is old and has lost his energy, his ambition and edge have never diminished, and are even getting stronger. However, Zhou Shangjing has completely eliminated these edges and ambitions.
Hidden.
And this time, taking advantage of the various changes in the situation in Nanjing, Zhou Shangjing was even more ambitious and ambitious.
Preventing Zhu Hejian from ascending to power and maintaining the long-term peace and order of the Ming Dynasty are of course Zhou Shangjing's overall priority and main task, but it is only one of the goals!
At the same time, with the emergence of the "United Shipping Company", the profits from the smuggling business of the Song family and the Lianggang were greatly reduced, and the financial resources of the "Zhou Party" were quickly showing signs of depletion. If this situation continues, the "Zhou Party"
It is very likely that it will gradually decline, so Zhou Shangjing must find a solution;
In addition, as the power of the "Zhao Party" grew stronger, various reform policies more or less shook the interests of the gentry class in the Ming Dynasty, and the "Zhou Party" was essentially the spokesperson for the interests of the gentry class.
Sooner or later, the two sides will launch a decisive battle to the death, so Zhou Shangjing needs to mobilize the gentry class in Jiangnan in advance to once again consolidate the leadership position of the "Zhou Party" over the gentry class, and cannot allow Zhao Junchen to use the "United Shipping Company" and Huo Zhengyuan's
The responsible ocean-going plan gradually divided and weakened the gentry class, and then wiped out the "Zhou Party" before the decisive battle between the two sides.
Then, the "Zhou Party" itself still has a major hidden concern, that is, Zhou Shangjing's successor, Song Qiwen, the Minister of Civil Affairs, has not yet been promoted to the cabinet. Emperor Deqing has been delaying the matter. The reason is self-evident, that is, he wants to delay it until
After Zhou Shangjing abdicated due to health reasons, Song Qiwen was limited by his own status and could no longer lead the "Zhou Party". The influence of the "Zhou Party" on cabinet decisions would also be greatly weakened, so Zhou Shangjing
We must find a way to create an opportunity to force Emperor Deqing to agree to Song Qiwen's entry into the cabinet;
These goals are not only numerous and complex, but also extremely difficult and full of obstacles to implement.
But Zhou Shangjing wanted to take advantage of the situation in Nanjing and achieve all his goals at the same time, all in one battle!
The situation in Nanjing has developed so far. Although there have been numerous changes and twists and turns, the general direction has still not escaped Zhou Shangjing's control. The various forces and dignitaries in Nanjing have still not jumped out of Zhou Shangjing's chessboard, so Zhou Shangjing is still confident.
According to Zhou Shangjing's plan, everything will be settled before noon today, and "Zhou Party" will definitely be the ultimate winner!
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Zhu Hejian naturally did not understand Zhou Shangjing's lofty plans, because Zhou Shangjing's inability to complain about illness during this period had paralyzed him to a certain extent, and he mistakenly believed that Zhou Shangjing had no energy to take care of other things, and was only focusing on himself wholeheartedly, so Zhu Hejian was trying his best to prevent Zhou Shangjing from doing anything.
As a result, some more critical things were gradually ignored.
At this time, Zhu Hejian felt extremely ashamed and angry, and became increasingly afraid of Zhou Shangjing.
He deliberately took time out to meet Zhou Shangjing, originally to test Zhou Shangjing's true intentions. Not only did he get nothing, but he was scolded and threatened by Zhou Shangjing. In the end, he was misled by Zhou Shangjing and made serious mistakes in his decision-making.
He was simply being manipulated by Zhou Shangjing.
In this way, Zhu Hejian naturally hated Zhou Shangjing very much, but Zhou Shangjing was too powerful, senior and prestigious. Even if Zhu Hejian hated Zhou Shangjing in his heart, he would not dare to show it on the surface.
Finally, after Zhu Hejian was silent for a moment, he turned to Lu De and ordered again: "As for the Nanjing students, just follow my instructions just now, and leave everything to Mr. Lu!"
Seeing that Zhu Hejian had no chance to reverse the situation, Lu De nodded gently with a serious expression, raised his eyes and took a peek at Zhu Hejian and Zhou Shangjing, and then quickly turned and left.
After Zhu Hejian left Lu De, he still didn't intend to leave. He still pestered Zhou Shangjing and kept chatting, with hints and temptations in his words.
It's a pity that Zhou Shangjing has given Zhu Hejian one last chance. After seeing that Zhu Hejian is still stubborn, he no longer responds to any hints and temptations from Zhu Hejian. He just talks and does Tai Chi with a smile and looks at Zhu Hejian.
There are no more mood swings, neither hostility nor wariness.
But this extremely calm look made Zhu Hejian's back even more intense.
In this way, after the two sides chatted for about a stick of incense without having anything to say, Lu De left and returned, entering the small study again and reporting the latest news to Zhu Hejian and Zhou Shangjing.
After Lu De's persuasion, he finally convinced the Nanjing students who came to the Confucius Temple to accept Zhu Hejian's proposal and selected eighty people as representatives to enter the Confucius Temple to witness. The vast majority of Nanjing students were
I can only stay outside the Confucius Temple and wait for the result.
Of course, as expected, although the Nanjing students who stayed outside the Confucius Temple reluctantly agreed to the matter, they were all very dissatisfied and could easily be instigated and exploited by people with ulterior motives.
At the same time, Lu De also reported another news - while Zhu Hejian and Zhou Shangjing were chatting, as the public debate between the Jin gentry forces and the Huangzhuang forces was about to begin, the sages from all walks of life in Nanjing who were invited to watch and witness,
They have also arrived at Confucius Temple one after another.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Xu Jingxian, the head of the Xu family in Nanjing, Wang Baoren, the prince's grand master, He Lian, the headmaster of Nanjing Gongyuan, Master Daoyuan, the abbot of Qixia Temple, Qian, the chief shopkeeper of "United Shipping Company" in Nanjing
Lai...
These audience members were all of high status and important. Zhu Hejian naturally did not dare to neglect him and had to show up in person to greet him. He did not bother to continue testing Zhou Shangjing and was about to get up and leave immediately. He also invited Zhou Shangjing to go to the debate site to greet the distinguished guests.
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Seeing that the debate was about to begin, Zhou Shangjing agreed to Zhu Hejian's proposal. With Zhu Hejian's support, he left the small study and walked side by side towards the Dacheng Hall of the Confucius Temple.
When Zhu Hejian and Zhou Shangjing arrived outside Dacheng Hall, they found that the place was already very busy.
Under Zhu Hejian's arrangement, four awnings have been erected outside Dacheng Hall. They are all rectangular in shape and are close to each other. They are only half a foot apart. The overall layout is like a "mountain" character.
The shed is located in the center and is semi-surrounded by three other awnings.
Among them, the awning in the middle is smaller in area, with two rows of seats arranged on the left and right. Representatives arranged by the Jin gentry forces and the Huangzhuang forces will hold public debates in this awning.
There are also a large number of tables and chairs arranged in the three outer awnings, but all tables and chairs are facing the center, which is where Nanjing's distinguished people from all walks of life sit to watch and witness.
When Zhu Hejian and Zhou Shangjing arrived at the scene, they naturally exchanged greetings with distinguished people from all walks of life in Nanjing, and they were polite for a while.
After finally finishing the entertainment, Zhu Hejian helped Zhou Shangjing to sit in the innermost front row to watch. The people around him were all the most important people in Nanjing. The prince and grand master Wang Baoren sat on the left hand side of Zhou Shangjing, and Xu Jingxian, the head of the Xu family
He was sitting on Zhou Shangjing's right hand side.
After Zhou Shangjing sat down, Zhu Hejian greeted and chatted with the surrounding distinguished guests for a few words. But seeing that it was already getting late, he quickly left and turned around to enter the central awning, preparing to host this public debate in person.
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Looking at Zhu Hejian's back as he walked away quickly, Zhou Shangjing still had a calm attitude and a calm expression. He just turned to look at Xu Jingxian on his right and asked: "Master Xu, what do you think of this public debate?"
Although Xu Jingxian has no official position in the imperial court and has no outstanding talents, he is the current head of the Nanjing branch of the Xu family. His elder brother is Xu Zunxian, the current Duke of Wei. However, because Xu Zunxian was valued by Emperor Deqing, he has remained in the center of the capital for many years.
He was also in charge of the Governor's Office of the Five Armies, so the Xu family's power in Nanjing was dominated by Xu Jingxian. Even Xu Shengying, who was guarding Nanjing, was only Xu Jingxian's nephew.
Therefore, Zhou Shangjing believed that he should reconfirm Xu Jingxian's attitude before taking formal action.
Xu Jingxian perfectly inherited the low-key family tradition of the Xu family. Although he himself did not have the abilities and means of his brother Xu Zunxian and nephew Xu Shengying, he was extremely self-aware and well versed in hiding his clumsiness. He never showed his true thoughts. For Zhou Shangjing
Such scheming and powerful officials have always been kept at a respectful distance.
At this time, after hearing Zhou Shangjing's inquiry, Xu Jingxian's attitude was still ambiguous, and he smiled and said: "I don't have any opinion! Although I am the head of the Xu family, I have always only cared about matters within the family. As for all kinds of rights and wrongs outside the Xu family, I have always
I will leave everything to my nephew Sheng Ying! Sooner or later he will succeed Wei Guogong, so I will not interfere with his judgment based on seniority!"
After hearing what Xu Jingxian said, Zhou Shangjing nodded with satisfaction.
As long as the Xu family still has no clear position, Zhou Shangjing will have no more worries.
On the other side, when Wang Baoren saw that Zhou Shangjing ignored him, he couldn't help but frowned and interjected: "In my opinion, this public debate will cause a lot of trouble for the Jin gentry!"
Zhou Shangjing finally turned to look at Wang Baoren and asked, "Why did Master Wang say this?"
Wang Baoren raised his hand and pointed at the representatives of both sides in the central awning, and sneered: "Why should Zhou Fu ask questions knowingly? Look at the people arranged by Jin Shen to appear in the debate. They are all great scholars in the world. They seem to be famous and have high status.
But in fact... Zhou Shoufu should know better than me what the so-called 'Jiangnan Great Confucian' is like!"
Later, Wang Baoren changed the topic and reminded: "By the way, does Zhou Shoufu still remember the bet you and I made early yesterday morning?"
