Chapter Seven Hundred and Sixty-Four. Changes in the Capital (1).
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Ever since Zhao Junchen left the capital for the northwest as an imperial envoy, the political atmosphere in the center of the capital has become somewhat strange.
The originally stable party balance was suddenly broken because the "Zhao Party" was leaderless.
During this period of time, the "Zhou Party", "Shen Party", "Princeling Party", and even the "Emperor Party" are all ready to take advantage of the "Zhao Party" and interfere with the "Zhao Party". sphere of influence.
Especially in recent days, the major factions in the imperial court have been making frequent moves, either looking for opportunities to find trouble with the core figures of the "Zhao Party", or fabricating reasons to interfere in the government affairs of the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Household Affairs, or even coveting them. Although the actions taken by "United Shipping Lines" to control the company are not big, their attitude is unpredictable and thought-provoking.
Many discerning people have understood that these actions are just tests. Once the major factions have figured out the true and false bottom line of "Zhao Party", they will probably make big moves soon! If there are no accidents, "Zhao Party" will The trouble has just begun!
However, just when everyone was waiting for the show to start, an accident happened.
Bao Wenjie, the deputy imperial envoy who left Beijing with Zhao Junchen for missions in the northwest, suddenly hurried back to the capital.
After returning to the capital, Bao Wenjie rushed to the palace to meet Emperor Deqing without any delay.
On this day, after the morning court session, several cabinet ministers came to the Wenhua Hall in the Forbidden City to discuss government affairs and approve official documents.
In recent times, the most important thing on the surface of the court is the agricultural rectification proposed by Zhao Junchen. Although the plan formulated by Zhao Junchen is considered detailed, the situation in different places is very different, and private farmers do not understand the imperial decree. Many officials are disobeying the rules, but their execution is unsatisfactory, and they always encounter various problems.
Many of these issues are submitted to the cabinet and require discussion and decision-making by several cabinet ministers.
In addition to the agricultural rectification, the imperial court was also secretly watching the changes in the situation in Nanzhili. Compared with the agricultural rectification, both Emperor Deqing and the cabinet ministers paid more attention to the imperial government's resumption of power from the Six Ministries of Nanjing. things.
At this time, in the Wenhua Hall, the elders were discussing these two matters.
"Henan's chief envoy sent news that the promotion of corn planting was not going well. Although the imperial court gave farmers corn seeds for free, most farmers were still willing to plant grains, and local officials did not dare to force the promotion, fearing that Provoking civil unrest..."
Zhou Shangjing flipped through the memorials sent from Henan, his gray eyebrows slightly wrinkled, his old face showed no sign of calm, and he spoke slowly.
Chief Assistant Shen Changmao sneered: "Seven or eight copies of similar memorials have been received now, right? Seeing that the autumn planting is about to end, Zhao Junchen's agricultural reform plan has not been completed for three days in a row. I am afraid it is bound to fail. ...In my opinion, this agricultural reform plan was originally decided by Zhao Junchen on his head. There was no preparation at all. It was announced in a hurry a month before the autumn planting. No preparations were made anywhere. To this day, corn planting is still going well. Yes, the promotion and cultivation of potatoes is even more unbearable. Not enough seeds have been collected so far, so how can we promote it? This time, Zhao Junchen is bound to make a joke. Now because of this incident, he has been dismissed by the people. They are scolding me miserably. Once it wastes people's money and arouses public resentment, I would like to see how it ends!"
Zuo Lanshan glanced at Shen Changmao, but said with deep meaning: "The agricultural reform plan is not just about promoting corn and potatoes. The new agricultural book compiled by the Ministry of Housing has received some praise, and the Ministry of Industry has The large-scale construction of water conservancy projects and the construction of canals, waterwheels and other things in various places have also been praised by the people... In fact, if someone hadn't secretly made up unrealistic rumors and maliciously spread rumors to cause trouble, claiming that this matter was from the Ministry of Household Affairs As a result of exploiting the people, the promotion of new crops may not be so smooth..."
Shen Changmao glanced at Zuo Lanshan and didn't answer at all, but continued to sneer.
During this period of time, Shen Changmao had indeed made many small moves secretly in response to Zhao Junchen's plan to rectify farming. He himself believed that Zhao Junchen's plan was a fantasy and was destined to fail, so he wanted to take the opportunity to take Zhao Junchen's plan. Junchen's reputation was further ruined, but all of this was done in secret. Shen Changmao didn't want to completely fall out with the "Zhao Party" yet, so after hearing Zuo Lanshan's hints and warnings, he just pretended not to understand.
Seeing the hidden secrets of Shen Changmao and Zuo Lanshan, Liang Fuchen said something fair: "Zhao Junchen's agricultural rectification plan this time is indeed a bit hasty. I'm afraid it will be difficult to see results in a short period of time. Judging from the current situation, there will definitely be no results this year, but it often takes four or five years for agricultural work to see results. It is also a bit hasty to conclude that the plan has failed based solely on the current situation... In my opinion, Zhao Junchen’s original intention is still good. Although it is a bit hasty this year, it is better than doing nothing. The imperial court has indeed encountered a problem with food."
Zhou Shangjing raised his head and looked at the elders, then suddenly smiled and said: "From my point of view, Zhao Junchen's plan is quite detailed and he has put a lot of thought into it. Don't underestimate him... I After receiving the news, those Shanxi and Huizhou merchants who have close relations with Zhao Junchen have joined forces with the Ministry of Household Affairs. When tomorrow's autumn harvest comes, they will raise prices to purchase crops such as corn and potatoes. By that time, farmers will When they see that these crops are profitable, their attitudes will inevitably change, so this year is just Zhao Junchen's test, and the real results will have to wait for another two years... and then when Zhao Junchen is responsible for the rectification of commercial taxes, Sichuan Salt development, agricultural rectification and other things have achieved results, and he will become a great hero of the imperial court. No one can suppress him. By next year or the year after, there will be another one in the Wenhua Palace. Seats are reserved.”
Upon hearing Zhou Shangjing's hint, the expressions of several pavilion elders present changed slightly.
Zhao Junchen has not yet joined the cabinet, but he already has such great momentum and power. If he is allowed to join the cabinet to assist the government, wouldn't everyone be suppressed?
Cheng Yuandao was a little hard to accept, and suddenly interrupted: "How can it be so smooth! The agricultural rectification is now full of obstacles, the Sichuan salt development is still a mess, the commercial tax rectification has achieved remarkable results, but I checked the transfer The ministry's accounts only added less than one million taels of commercial tax to the accounts. This small amount of political achievements alone is far from enough to allow him to join the cabinet to assist the government!... Zhao Junchen is too young and has a poor reputation. If you want to join the cabinet to assist in government, in addition to His Majesty’s full support, your political achievements must also be particularly significant!”
Hearing Cheng Yuandao's rebuttal, Zhou Shangjing just smiled and did not comment. He did not continue to explain his statement. He just wanted to increase the sense of urgency in the hearts of several elders. Now that the goal has been achieved, Zhou Shangjing will naturally not go any further. What to say, people like Cheng Yuandao, Shen Changmao and others are all stubborn, and Zhou Shangjing is too lazy to waste his words to convince them.
Seeing that several ministers gradually began to deviate from the topic, Li He asked: "How should we reply to the memorial of the Chief Envoy of Henan? But should we follow the precedent?"
Zhou Shangding nodded and said: "Let's follow the precedent and let Henan officials do their best. There is no need to force it, let alone trigger a civil unrest. Even if they cannot complete the tasks of the court, the court will not deliberately punish them... Place Officials repeatedly submit such memorials just because they want to get this guarantee. In this case, we don't need to make things difficult for them."
Seeing that Zhou Shangjing had no respect for himself as the chief minister of the cabinet and directly jumped to the conclusion, a trace of dissatisfaction flashed across Shen Changmao's expression.
But Shen Changmao tolerated it after all, and instead started the next topic, saying: "Just yesterday, Wang Baoren sent news from Yingtian Mansion, saying that the six new Nanjing ministers had taken office, and Wang Baoren and the others also arrived soon. He will return to the capital... The plan for the Six Ministries in Nanjing has also begun the next phase."
Zhou Shangjing nodded and said: "I don't know when Zhao Junchen will return to the capital. The next plan still needs to be handled by him personally..."
Zhou Shangjing was just halfway through speaking when he saw a eunuch on duty from the Wenhua Palace walking over in a hurry. He handed Zhou Shangjing a piece of paper and said softly: "Mr. Zhou Ge, this is news from outside the palace."
Zhou Shangjing nodded lightly, reached out and took the note. After opening it and reading it, his gray brows wrinkled again, and a look of deep thought flashed through his old eyes.
When the other pavilion elders saw this scene, they knew that Zhou Shangjing must have received some important information, and they couldn't help but feel curious, but they did not expect Zhou Shangjing to explain it to them.
However, after Zhou Shangjing thought for a moment, he did not hide anything. After putting the note in his hand, he said to everyone: "I just received news that Bao Wenjie, the deputy imperial envoy who left the capital with Zhao Junchen, has returned to the capital, and is I met with His Majesty urgently, it seems that something big happened."
After hearing Zhou Shangjing's explanation, all the pavilion elders were shocked.
Zuo Lanshan asked quickly: "Is it just Bao Wenjie? Has Zhao Shangshu returned to Beijing?"
Zhou Shangjing shook his head and said: "Zhao Junchen has not returned to Beijing. He should still be in the northwest on business... It seems that the situation in the northwest is more complicated than we imagined!"
Speaking of this, Zhou Shangjing thought of the secret letter sent by Sun Miao, the prefect of Lu'an a few days ago, and felt a little worried in his heart.
While several pavilion elders were thinking secretly, Zhang De, the eunuch of Emperor Deqing, hurriedly entered the Wenhua Hall.
After entering the Wenhua Hall, Zhang De said with a serious expression: "Dear elders, Your Majesty wants you to go to the imperial study room urgently for an audience! There are urgent matters that need to be discussed together by all the elders!"
Seeing this scene, several pavilion elders felt their hearts sinking.
Shen Changmao asked: "Do you know what the specific matter is?"
Zhang De shook his head and said: "We don't know the specific details. We only know that Bao Wenjie, the deputy imperial envoy, suddenly returned to Beijing and submitted a secret document from the imperial envoy Zhao. After your majesty read the secret document, he He got so angry that he almost broke the imperial case! Now His Majesty has dismissed everyone in the imperial study, leaving only Bao Wenjie to talk, so our family doesn’t know the specifics... It’s just that His Majesty has not been so angry for a long time. , it must not be a trivial matter!”
Several pavilion elders looked at each other, their expressions becoming more serious.
Then, they got up one after another, left the Wenhua Hall under the leadership of Zhang De, and walked quickly towards the Imperial Study Room.
