Sitting in the carriage, Zhao Junchen leaned against the carriage wall, looking thoughtful, not knowing what he was thinking about.
Opposite Zhao Junchen, Huo Zhengyuan was sitting upright, quietly waiting for Zhao Junchen to speak - he knew that Zhao Junchen suddenly invited him to ride with him, so he must have something to discuss with him - at the same time, he looked at the people in front of him. Zhao Junchen and Huo Zhengyuan had vague doubts flashing in their eyes.
Based on Huo Zhengyuan's understanding of Zhao Junchen, he knew that Zhao Junchen was the best at forbearing, and he always kept his emotions and anger hidden. Regardless of whether he treated enemies or friends, he always had a kind attitude on the surface. He would never speak harshly to each other, let alone deliberately humiliate the other party. ——You may call him a hypocrite or he may be well-educated, but this situation is the normal state of Zhao Junchen.
However, the situation today is very different. Facing the chief minister of the cabinet Shen Changmao, Zhao Junchen actually took the initiative to provoke and deliberately humiliate him. His arrogant and arrogant attitude was far inferior to that of the former Zhao Junchen.
Although anyone could see that Shen Changmao had bad intentions, and if Zhao Junchen took a step back, Shen Changmao would chase and beat him, Zhao Junchen's initiative to humiliate Shen Changmao was still beyond Huo Zhengyuan's surprise Unexpectedly, judging from Zhao Junchen's usual performance, Zhao Junchen's usual method should be to retreat before advancing and counterattack tactfully.
According to Huo Zhengyuan's guess, Zhao Junchen is by no means a frivolous person, and his frivolous behavior today must have a deeper meaning.
Huo Zhengyuan is a smart man who always likes to figure out other people's thoughts, not to mention that Zhao Junchen is now his backer? So Huo Zhengyuan naturally thought seriously about Zhao Junchen's deep meaning, but in a short period of time, even Huo Zhengyuan could not guess it. All of Zhao Junchen's thoughts, so naturally he couldn't hide his doubts.
Just when Huo Zhengyuan couldn't help but guess, Zhao Junchen finally ended his thinking, raised his head and glanced at Huo Zhengyuan. After seeing Huo Zhengyuan's puzzled look, he suddenly smiled softly and asked: "Master Huo, are you guessing?" , Why was my performance tonight so different from usual, so aggressive and proactive in humiliating Shen Changmao?"
After hearing Zhao Junchen's inquiry, Huo Zhengyuan couldn't help but was stunned, but he quickly nodded and admitted: "It is true, Mr. Zhao, your performance tonight is very different from the past. Not to mention your attitude is a little frivolous, but it is also completely different from the previous ones." Shen Shoufu is so embarrassed, he must have a deep meaning, and the subordinate naturally wants to figure it out."
Seeing Huo Zhengyuan's frank admission, Zhao Junchen's eyes flashed with appreciation.
To be honest, among the "Zhao Party", there are really few smart people like Huo Zhengyuan.
So, Zhao Junchen asked with a smile: "So, did Academician Huo guess anything?"
After Huo Zhengyuan hesitated for a moment, he tentatively asked Zhao Junchen: "Master Zhao, are you doing this... to reassure His Majesty?"
The admiration in Zhao Junchen's eyes was even greater, he put his hands on his hands and said with a smile: "Master Huo is indeed a discerning person! Indeed, after I obtained the authority to rectify commercial taxation, although I was just a pilot shipping company, Your Majesty, he has always understood me As a person, I know that I will definitely take the opportunity to make a big move. At that time, no one can accurately guess to what extent my power will expand. Therefore, Your Majesty must check and balance one or two, so today's In the morning, Your Majesty took back the rights of the West Factory and the inner transport warehouse from me... However, if my plan to rectify the business tax goes well..."
Having said this, Zhao Junchen frowned slightly.
Huo Zhengyuan responded: "Mr. Zhao, you are a little worried. After His Majesty took back the authority of the West Factory and the Inner Transport Warehouse, he will still be a little uneasy and will have to carry out further checks and balances! So, Mr. Zhao, please take the initiative to contact Shen Shoufu Completely break your face and deliberately create conflicts. In this way, with the checks and balances of Shen Shouxu, His Majesty will feel relieved and will not further restrict you?"
Speaking of this, Huo Zhengyuan frowned a little and said: "Sir Zhao's considerations are certainly reasonable, but Huo thinks that your actions, Mr. Zhao, are not worth the gain. Although you and Shen Shoufu have some conflicts now, but It may not be impossible to resolve. Now, just to reassure His Majesty, he is completely hostile to Chief Minister Shen. I am afraid there will be a lot of troubles in the future. Chief Minister Shen has always had a vengeful temper and a very strong character. Now he is also the Chief Minister of the Cabinet. He also gained a lot of reputation through business tax matters, but he is not as easy to deal with as Wen Guanliang and Huang Yourong."
While expressing his views, Huo Zhengyuan carefully observed Zhao Junchen's expression.
Since joining the "Zhao Party", this is the first time Huo Zhengyuan has refuted Zhao Junchen's ideas. Although Zhao Junchen does not seem to be a headstrong person, Huo Zhengyuan will inevitably be a little cautious.
On the other side, after seeing the change in Huo Zhengyuan's expression, Zhao Junchen shook his head with a smile and said: "Master Huo, you are too cautious. Although your ideas are different from mine, after all, they are for my consideration, and I am not stubborn. Our temperament is just a private conversation now, so there is no need to be so careful."
After saying that, Zhao Junchen's expression became a little more serious, and he said: "I deliberately broke up with Shen Changmao tonight for three reasons: to reassure His Majesty, which is just one of my reasons; to express my disapproval to those 'yellow party' officials Showing toughness and making those 'yellow party' officials have confidence in me is my second reason; but the third reason, and the most important reason, is for the subsequent rectification of business and taxation!"
"Commercial tax rectification?" Huo Zhengyuan was stunned at first, but he was always smart and soon understood the deep meaning of Zhao Junchen. However, he showed admiration and praised: "Master Zhao, you have a long-term vision. Huo is not as good as him." .”
Indeed, Zhao Junchen and Shen Changmao had completely opposite positions regarding the court's rectification of commercial taxation. They could be described as having completely different political views. Zhao Junchen was not only the biggest supporter of the rectification of commercial taxation, but also the person specifically responsible for the rectification of commercial taxation. Shen Changmao, on the other hand, is opposed to the rectification of commercial taxes and is even the spiritual leader of all officials in the DPRK and China who oppose the rectification of commercial taxes. From this aspect, the contradiction between the two is destined to be irreconcilable.
At the same time, Zhao Junchen's specific plan to rectify commercial taxes is to unite a group of powerful businessmen to form a large-scale shipping company, and then provide certain preferential policies to this shipping company, and finally use the advantages of scale and policy to completely monopolize Beijing and Hangzhou. Shipping business on the Grand Canal.
However, because Shen Changmao took the lead in opposition, the power of North Korea and China to obstruct the rectification of commercial and taxation was very huge. After seeing this situation, those merchants from Huizhou and Zhejiang would inevitably retreat, which would undoubtedly seriously interfere with Zhao Junchen's plan.
Therefore, Zhao Junchen's tough stance today is also to let those Anhui and Zhejiang businessmen understand that Zhao Junchen is enough to compete with Shen Changmao and is not afraid of Shen Changmao's power at all.
In this way, Huizhou and Zhejiang merchants will act according to Zhao Junchen's plan after they gain confidence in Zhao Junchen.
Thinking of this, Huo Zhengyuan only felt that Zhao Junchen had a long-term vision and comprehensive thinking. Although he was young, his foresight was no less than that of the veterans in the court. Every move contained profound meaning, and he couldn't help but admire him. Regarding Zhao Junchen's future, It also added a lot of confidence.
Therefore, Huo Zhengyuan's expression of admiration at this time was sincere and not just to please Zhao Junchen.
On the other side, seeing Huo Zhengyuan's admiring look, Zhao Junchen didn't look too proud. He just said: "Master Huo is too praised. There are some things that are not unexpected by you, but that you and I stand in different positions and look at things from different angles." That’s all.”
Hearing Zhao Junchen's humility, Huo Zhengyuan shook his head, but did not take it seriously.
However, after thinking for a moment, Huo Zhengyuan said again: "However, Mr. Zhao, although you are thoughtful and have a long-term vision, this approach still has advantages and disadvantages. Putting aside Shen Changmao's hostility, what happened tonight In the eyes of those "Yellow Party" officials, I am afraid that many people will think that Mr. Zhao is frivolous and makes enemies everywhere, which is not a safe choice, and will abandon you. In this way, our plan to annex the "Yellow Party" will But it can’t overcome the full power.”
Zhao Junchen didn't care about Huo Zhengyuan's worries and just said calmly: "In this world, no matter what approach you take, it is impossible to get all the benefits. The choices you and I make are often just the lesser of two evils after weighing the pros and cons. Forget it, if I had been weaker today and allowed Shen Changmao to bully me, I am afraid that more "yellow party" officials would think that I was weak and unreliable, and would also abandon me. In comparison, now It is the best choice, and some losses are acceptable. As long as we can annex most of the "yellow party" officials, our power in the DPRK will grow by leaps and bounds, and we will not be weak at all in the future, but we don't need to expect more. "
After hearing Zhao Junchen's explanation, Huo Zhengyuan nodded slightly in agreement, and then said again: "In addition, Mr. Zhao, you deliberately humiliated Shen Changmao tonight. With Shen Changmao's unyielding character, you will not be punished until tomorrow morning." If there is going to be a counterattack, we should be prepared in advance."
Seeing Huo Zhengyuan constantly making suggestions for him, checking for leaks and filling gaps, Zhao Junchen's smile grew stronger. He felt that after getting Huo Zhengyuan's support, he might be able to worry less about party disputes in the court in the future.
However, this time Zhao Junchen still shook his head and said in a casual tone: "As for Shen Changmao's revenge, there is no need to worry. If Shen Changmao really wants to take revenge on me, there is no need for me to do anything. Your Majesty will naturally take action to stop it personally... At least in the short term, Your Majesty will never allow this to happen."
After Huo Zhengyuan thought for a moment, he also nodded in agreement.
Indeed, Emperor Deqing was naturally happy to hear about the mutual hostility between Zhao Junchen and Shen Changmao, but in a short period of time, Emperor Deqing would never allow the "Zhao Party" and the "Shen Party" to conflict. After all, Because of the commercial tax matter, the current situation in the court was already turbulent and chaotic. Emperor Deqing finally managed to control the situation slightly. How could he allow Shen Changmao and Zhao Junchen to cause chaos at this time?
Therefore, if Shen Changmao wants to criticize Zhao Junchen tomorrow morning, there is no need for Zhao Junchen to deal with it personally. Emperor Deqing will naturally take action to stop it.
At least until the situation in the court was stable, Emperor Deqing would never allow large-scale partisan conflicts to occur.
On the other side, Zhao Junchen saw that Huo Zhengyuan no longer had any doubts, but he changed the topic and suddenly said: "The topic about Shen Changmao is over for now. I invited Academician Huo to ride with me, but it was for another matter. things.”
After the conversation just now, Huo Zhengyuan did not dare to underestimate Zhao Junchen's wisdom. Seeing Zhao Junchen's serious expression at this time, he thought there was something important and said quickly: "Oh? I don't know what it is? I just ask Mr. Zhao to give me instructions."
