The next day, at 3:30 p.m., under the respectful greetings from all walks of life in Yangzhou, the southern patrol fleet finally left Yangzhou after staying for seven days, and slowly sailed to the next stop, Changzhou. ◎,
At this time, Suzhou was getting closer and closer, and the secret and open fight between Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing had gradually become known and could no longer be concealed.
As the saying goes, "when gods fight, mortals suffer." The conflict between the emperor and the cabinet ministers will not affect the scope much less than the fight between gods. In this way, no one knows whether they will be implicated, especially those who
The middle and lower-level officials of the imperial court had no access to detailed information and could only get some specious rumors. They couldn't help but feel a little panicked, but they didn't know what they were panicking about.
The accompanying ministers had their own news channels, and they did get some news. However, in the past two days, most of them had been attracted by Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing. They were either considering self-protection or siding with each other.
They looked thoughtful, and their behavior further aggravated the worries of the officials below.
Therefore, when leaving Yangzhou, the atmosphere in the southern patrol team was somewhat strange and solemn.
Among all the people, there were only two people who remained calm and calm.
These two people are none other than Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing, the two protagonists of this game!
Obviously, they are all full of confidence!
At this moment, the capital city thousands of miles away was also experiencing a turbulent undercurrent.
A few days ago, among the official circles in the capital, a rumor suddenly spread more and more widely that it was an alliance between Huang Yourong and Shen Changmao. In fact, it was malicious and contained evil intentions. The alliance was just an illusion. Huang Yourong planned to take advantage of Emperor Deqing's southern tour.
, the opportunity to accompany Shen Changmao to leave Beijing, annex Shen Changmao’s power, and buy off Shen Changmao’s party members!
The officialdom is a gathering place for rumors. There are 80 if not a hundred similar rumors every day. No one would take it seriously. However, this rumor is really flesh and blood, vivid and vivid. It is not only logical and clear, but also lists out
There is so much evidence that one cannot believe it.
The most important thing is that this rumor is not just a solid point of view, but also contains a series of questions to guide people's thinking, and let people analyze the doubts and draw conclusions by themselves.
For example, the timing of the alliance between Huang Yourong and Shen Changmao was really strange. They did not form an alliance earlier, but they did not form an alliance too late. It was too coincidental to wait until the southern tour was about to begin. You must know that after the southern tour began, Huang Yourong stayed in Beijing to assist the government.
, the family is the only one, and Shen Changmao is accompanying him on his southern tour, beyond his reach. Isn't this a great opportunity for Huang Yourong to annex Shen's party?
Another example is that during this period of time, Huang Yourong has deliberately given many favors to Shen Party officials in order to win over them. Today, many Shen Party officials are biased towards Huang Yourong and have forgotten Shen Changmao.
Just look at how many Shen Party officials actively go to Huang Yourong's mansion to express their greetings every day. If this continues, what will be the result?
For another example, Shen Changmao has been running the court for many years and naturally has many cronies. It is completely impossible for these cronies to be bribed by Huang Yourong. However, where are Shen Changmao's cronies now? A detailed investigation will reveal that they may have been bribed by Huang Yourong for some reason.
Go to work outside the capital, or be promoted or demoted by Huang Yourong, losing his position of real power. So, what is Huang Yourong's purpose in doing this?
Many doubtful points are thought-provoking.
In the officialdom, everyone prides themselves on being smart and has no doubts about the conclusions they draw. When people are guided by rumors and carefully analyze many doubts, they naturally come to similar conclusions. Conclusion! So, most people believed the contents of the rumors, because in everyone’s eyes, these conclusions were “independently” analyzed by themselves and could never be wrong!
It can be said that this rumor not only takes advantage of people's gossip and gloomy psychology, but also takes advantage of people's self-confidence. In this way, the smarter people are, the more they will believe this rumor!
In just two or three days, everyone in the capital knew about this rumor! Then, the atmosphere between Shen and Huang, who had been working closely together, gradually became... It's become more subtle.
If that was the case, Huang Yourong could still barely control the situation. But at this moment, a seemingly unexpected incident completely broke the cooperative relationship between Shen and Huang.
Before the Shen and Huang factions joined forces, in order to compete for power, they naturally had to fight openly and secretly to get in the way of each other. As a result, there were many mortal enemies among the two parties.
Among them, Wang Xin from the Yellow Party and Sima Zhuo from the Shen Party are mortal enemies!
Wang Xin is the left general secretary of the General Affairs Department, and Sima Zhuo is the right general secretary of the General Affairs Department. They belong to the same yamen, and they are such a crucial yamen as the General Affairs Department. For the benefit of their respective backers, the two of them were naturally former After fighting countless times, they have formed a deadly feud with each other. Although the Shen and Huang factions have joined hands, they still dislike each other. However, under the strict orders of the two pavilion elders, they can still maintain their hatred. restraint.
However, although Wang Xin and Sima Zhuo could maintain restraint, the people around them were used to fighting each other, but they did not have such a city.
On this day, Wang Ye, Wang Ye's son, and Dong Qing, Sima Zhuo's nephew, met in a brothel. Under the instigation of some thoughtful people, the two became jealous over a red card. I don't know who made the move first. , the two got into a fight, and the entourage also participated. In the end, in the melee, it was unknown who dealt the heavy blow, and Dong Qing was seriously injured!
This matter was not a trivial matter, and it naturally came to Huang Yourong's side in the end. Sima Zhuo wanted Huang Yourong to seek justice, and Wang naturally resisted to the end in order to protect his son.
As a result, Huang Yourong naturally felt embarrassed. On the one hand, Wang Bin had followed Huang Yourong for many years and had always done his best. He was considered one of Huang Yourong's most capable disciples. Huang Yourong did not want to treat Wang Bin badly; on the other hand, Shen Dang Sima Zhuo After all, his nephew was seriously injured, and Huang Yourong was worried that if he favored Wang Bin, he would cause a backlash from Shen Party officials.
Coupled with the interference of rumors, Huang Yourong was even more hesitant and unable to make up his mind.
According to Zhao Junchen's evaluation, Huang Yourong is more tactful than courageous. When encountering problems, he only knows how to compromise the interests of all parties, but he only treats the symptoms but not the root cause. Huang Yourong's performance at this time also proves the correctness of Zhao Junchen's evaluation. !
In the end, Huang Yourong actually brought together the main figures from the Shen and Huang parties to solve the problem through mutual consultation!
It was this decision that completely broke down the cooperation between the Shenyang and Huang parties!
Before that, Huang Yourong was indeed determined to take advantage of the opportunity of the southern tour to gradually encroach on Shen Changmao's sphere of influence and bribe Shen Party officials for his own use. Today, some preliminary results have been achieved. The position of many Shen Party officials is Gradually, he was leaning towards Huang Yourong.
Therefore, when officials from the two factions met for consultations, the stance of some Shen Party officials was surprising. Not only did they fail to uphold justice for Sima Zhuo of the Shen Party, but they always put in good words for Wang Xin of the Yellow Party. Such a situation Afterwards, the final result of the negotiation was that Wang Xin only needed to pay a few hundred taels of medical expenses and the matter would be over!
Faced with such a result, how could Sima Zhuo be convinced? In addition, he himself was not a deep-minded person, so he made a fuss on the spot!
During the commotion, disturbed by rumors, Sima Zhuo even spoke more eloquently, claiming that some Shen Party officials had been bribed by Huang Yourong, so they turned their elbows outward! Huang Yourong was also uneasy and took advantage of the Southern Tour. An opportunity to poach Elder Shen Ge! He also said that everyone in the Shen Party had no vigilance at all and watched Huang Yourong cannibalizing the Shen Party, but remained indifferent!
Then, Sima Zhuo repeated all the rumors he had heard in public!
Then, you can see that all the officials from the Yellow Party have strange expressions. Some officials from the Shen Party have serious expressions, as if they are worried, while other officials from the Shen Party have unpredictable expressions, as if they are a little guilty.
Shen Changmao was not a fool. Before he left Beijing, he also thought about the possibility that Huang Yourong would take the opportunity to encroach on the Shen Party, and he also left many countermeasures!
After Shen Changmao left Beijing, the person in charge of Shen's party was Shaobao Zhao Zhenghe. In these days, Zhao Zhenghe also heard many rumors and was quite suspicious. He was already on guard against Huang Yourong. At this time, he was also attacked by Sima Zhuo. Zhao Zhenghe finally made up his mind, stood up and appeased Sima Zhuo, and suddenly announced to Huang Yourong that the cooperation between Shen and Huang was temporarily suspended. , we will wait until Shen Changmao returns to Beijing!
Then, Zhao Zhenghe didn't say anything more, and didn't give Huang Yourong a chance to explain. He just led all the officials of the Shen Party and left Huang Yourong's mansion. Huang Yourong was left staring at their departing figures in shock, feeling confused!
In fact, Huang Yourong's troubles are still to come!
Prince Zhu Heyu wanted to take advantage of Emperor Deqing's southern tour to carry out commercial tax reform, but was unable to carry out the reform due to Huang Yourong's suppression. However, the reason why Huang Yourong was able to suppress Prince Zhu Heyu was also because of Shen Dang With the great assistance of officials, now the Shen and Huang parties have suddenly broken up. Because of Sima Zhuo's incident, there may be conflicts in the future. Huang Yourong only relies on the power of the Yellow Party, and his power is partly contained by the Shen Party. How can it still be done? Continue to suppress Prince Zhu Heyu?
As a result, Prince Zhu Heyu’s ambitious business tax reform plan is inevitable!
