After more than 30 years of painstaking efforts by Zhou Shangjing, the foundation, connections, and information channels of "Zhou Party" are more than just "deep-rooted" enough to describe it? It can simply be called "shocking"!
Therefore, although Zhang Bozhen cannot be regarded as the core figure of the "Zhou Party", the information he has access to, both in terms of confidentiality and depth and breadth, is far beyond the reach of ordinary court officials.
In this way, after Zhang Bozhen decided to assist Prince Zhu Heyu in his work, he immediately offered another great gift.
"Speaking of which, from my perspective, if His Highness the Crown Prince wants to convict the feudal clan, apart from smuggling and tax evasion, the best way to break through is to illegally annex land, interfere in local government affairs, and collude with local officials!"
Hearing Zhang Bozhen's eloquent talk, Prince Zhu Heyu nodded repeatedly. This was also the conclusion he had reached after discussing with Li Chuanwen and Xiao Wenxuan.
After Zhang Bozhen smiled slightly, he continued: "However, whether it is illegal annexation of land, interference in local government affairs, or collusion with local officials, the vassals committed these crimes for the following three reasons. One of them is for
The various properties under their names were linked together to facilitate management; the second was to bully the people and force them to exchange bad land for good land; the third was to conceal the true size of their fields from the court; at the same time, whenever they encountered
During natural disasters, they will also force local government agencies to abandon ordinary people and prioritize protecting their farm output...
Therefore, if you want to implement the crimes of the vassals, the focus is not on Henan, or even on Prince Fu's Mansion in Luoyang, but on Huguang!
Huguang is the most fertile land in our dynasty, and is known as the granary of the world. Although the fiefdoms of important vassals are different, most of the fields awarded to them by the court are concentrated in Huguang! It can be said that Huguang is the land of Huguang.
Nearly half of the land of our vassals is gathered together, and all kinds of crimes committed by each vassal are also the most common in Huguang!"
This time, after hearing Zhang Bozhen's statement, Zhu Heyu couldn't help but frown.
There are only three to five days at most before Wang Youlun, the newly appointed imperial minister of the imperial court, arrives in Luoyang. In such a short period of time, how can he go to Huguang in time to collect evidence?
Thinking of this, Zhu Heyu couldn't help but feel anxious.
On the other side, Zhang Bozhen suddenly stopped talking. He just put on an air of knowing the pearls of wisdom and waited for Prince Zhu Heyu to take the initiative to ask him for advice.
Obviously, Zhang Bozhen already had a countermeasure in mind, but he still deliberately set a difficult problem for Zhu Heyu. He wanted to wait until Zhu Heyu thought hard about countermeasures to no avail before he stood up to answer Zhu Heyu's questions.
Confused, he took the opportunity to strengthen his weight in the eyes of Prince Zhu Heyu.
In ancient times, this was also a common method used by literati to win the attention of superiors.
Li Chuanwen keenly discovered Zhang Bozhen's intention, and of course he would not give in, otherwise he would soon lose his place in Zhu Heyu's heart.
Therefore, Li Chuanwen immediately said: "Your Highness, I have also considered this point. When Governor Zhang paid a visit to you, I was just about to talk about this matter!
In fact, from my point of view, this situation is not a good excuse to buy time. After we implemented the suggestion Wenxuan mentioned before, we immediately left Luoyang and headed to Huguang to collect further evidence!
In this way, when the new imperial envoy appointed by the imperial court arrives in Luoyang, he will not be able to see His Highness the Crown Prince, and will not be able to hand over power. Before he catches up with His Highness the Crown Prince, Your Highness the Crown Prince can still use your status as an imperial envoy to investigate the vassal domain.
We can also have much more time to do our work!
Because we have not received the imperial edict yet, the fact that the imperial court is replacing a new imperial envoy is just a rumor. It is the duty of His Highness the Crown Prince to go to Huguang to collect evidence. No one can restrict the actions of His Highness the Crown Prince, and no one can challenge
There's nothing wrong! The new imperial envoy couldn't meet His Royal Highness in time to hand over power. That's because his schedule was too slow. No one else can blame him!"
Upon hearing Li Chuanwen's suggestion, Zhu Heyu's eyes suddenly lit up.
Yes, although he cannot violate the Holy Will and must hand over power after meeting the new imperial envoy, he can hide!
Although he had long heard rumors that the imperial court was replacing a new imperial envoy, and although he had received conclusive news from Zhang Bozhen today, if he insisted on saying that he had no idea about the news in the future, he had just accidentally missed the schedule with the new imperial envoy.
, that’s why he has been unable to hand over power, so who can do anything to him?
Zhu Heyu has been staying in Luoyang during this period entirely because of Zhu Hezeng, the eldest son of Prince Fu. However, in fact, his mission as an imperial envoy this time is to investigate suspicions of political chaos in many vassals in various places, and there is no need to stay in Luoyang.
One place, now Zhu Hezeng is dead. But he left all the evidence before his death, so Zhu Heyu has no reason to stay in Luoyang.
Thinking of this, Zhu Heyu looked at Li Chuanwen with admiration in his eyes, and nodded repeatedly: "Mr. Li's words are reasonable, and he woke up the dreamer with just one word! Indeed, I can completely pretend not to know about the new imperial envoy, and quickly
Finish the matter at Prince Fu's Mansion and leave Luoyang early. As long as I move fast enough, by the time the new imperial envoy catches up with me, I can finish everything!"
On the other side, Zhang Bozhen saw that his plan failed, and he couldn't help but glance at Li Chuanwen again, with a hint of vigilance in his eyes.
Then, Zhang Bozhen no longer held back and directly expressed his thoughts: "What Mr. Li said is exactly one of the suggestions that Xiaguan wanted to make. But at the same time, Xiaguan has another suggestion here.
This small gift can help His Royal Highness greatly reduce his travel, energy, and time after arriving in Huguang."
After saying that, Zhang Bozhen took out a thick booklet from his arms, stood up and sent it to Zhu Heyu.
Zhu Heyu was stunned again. After looking down for a few times, his expression suddenly changed, and then he handed the booklet to Li Chuanwen behind him.
Li Chuanwen also flipped through it quickly, and saw that this book contained densely packed information, including the distribution of the property of each feudal king in Huguang, and the various public grievances created by the feudal clans in Huguang over the years.
As well as the relationship between officials at all levels in Huguang and the vassals, etc., it can be said to be very detailed.
Especially at the end of this booklet, there is a list of people from Huguang who had complained to the government about the feudal king's crimes. However, the local governments suppressed all these cases because of the feudal clan's status.
Go down.
It can be said that as long as there is no fraud in this booklet, coupled with the evidence left by Zhu Hezeng before his death, it will be enough to reduce Zhu Heyu's troubles by 70 to 80%. After going to Huguang, it is almost impossible to find too detailed an investigation.
There is a lot of evidence that is enough to make a conclusion.
However, Li Chuanwen also keenly discovered a phenomenon in this booklet, that is - in this booklet, among all the local officials who colluded with the vassal to oppress the people, none of them came from the "Zhou Party"
, and no one is even a current official in Huguang. All related cases are old cases from many years ago!
In other words, after the imperial court convicts the vassal, once it wants to hold local officials accountable, there will inevitably be a phenomenon of passing the blame. In the end, most likely, they will only find some people who have lost power and stepped down, or who have no background.
Officials in the background were used as scapegoats.
"I see, this is Zhou Shoufu's plan! No wonder Zhang Bozhen would be so proactive in assisting His Royal Highness to make enemies of the vassal forces, I see!
The vassals have been wreaking havoc in Huguang for more than two hundred years. Once all the old cases are unearthed, it will be ten times more difficult for the court to sort out the current situation. The chaos and public resentment caused will also be huge.
Increase! Moreover, the Hubu Yamen has always been Zhou Shangjing’s favorite. As long as Zhou Shangjing makes some manipulations about the term of office of local officials in Huguang, it will be enough to turn the local accountability issue into a mess!
In this way, after the imperial court punished the vassal, even if it wanted to continue to hold local officials accountable, it would be helpless in the face of a mess. When the matter developed to the end, Zhou Shangjing was not only able to protect the 'Zhou Party' and himself,
It can also preserve all current officials involved in related cases, and his official influence will increase again, especially for local officials in Huguang. After receiving such favors, I am afraid that the entire Huguang area will have to obey Zhou Shangjing in the future!
What a good plan! What a good plan! Whether it is Zhou Shoufu or Zhao Gechen, they all have the same ability, that is, they can always turn crises into opportunities. Whenever the situation between the government and the opposition changes, they can always find opportunities to fight for themselves.
The biggest benefit... It's no wonder that the two of them are the most powerful in the imperial court...
Comparatively speaking, Zhao Gechen's ambitions were greater, so he also distractedly intervened in military power, made friends with merchants, and penetrated all three religions and nine streams, making his business bigger. However, Zhou Shoufu only focused on managing the power of the prime minister, but his vision was different.
If you want to be more long-term, you can often reap benefits beyond ordinary people's expectations..."
While thinking about it, Li Chuanwen couldn't help but feel filled with emotion.
However, Li Chuanwen did not reveal the thoughts of Zhang Bozhen and Zhou Shangjing behind Zhang Bozhen, but quietly handed the booklet back to Prince Zhu Heyu.
On the other side, Zhu Heyu might not be aware of these things, or he might be pretending not to be aware of these things, but he just asked with a slightly excited expression: "Governor Zhang, where did you collect these information and intelligence?"
?When was it collected?"
Zhang Bozhen said with a smile: "Since the prince came to Luoyang to investigate King Fu, the official went to Nanyang Mansion in the south of Henan Province and stayed there for more than a month. On the surface, it was to observe the people's sentiments and inspect the disaster relief situation, but in fact it was
It’s because Nanyang is the closest to Huguang, so it’s convenient to stay there to contact Huguang officials!
Xiaguan has been in the official career for more than 20 years and has some connections in the officialdom. Many of his friends are currently serving in Huguang. That is, during the time when Xiaguan stayed in Nanyang, he contacted local officials in Huguang many times and then collected the information.
With this information and information... Your Highness, did you think that the official stayed in Nanyang some time ago just to avoid the conflict between you and Prince Fu?"
After hearing Zhang Bozhen's explanation, Zhu Heyu couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.
In fact, since Prince Zhu Heyu arrived in Luoyang to investigate Prince Fu, Zhang Bozhen, the governor of Henan Province, suddenly found an excuse to leave Luoyang City, saying that he was going to Nanyang for inspection six months ago.
This inspection lasted for more than a month! During that time, Zhang Bozhen brought his good character of loving the people like his own children to the extreme, and repeatedly inspected every disaster-stricken village, and so on.
Lai stayed in Nanyang and was reluctant to return to Luoyang. Prince Zhu Heyu certainly regarded Zhang Bozhen's behavior as a kind of avoidance and was very disdainful of Zhang Bozhen's behavior.
But now, Zhu Heyu discovered that Zhang Bozhen actually had a deeper meaning. He had completely misunderstood him. Apart from being embarrassed, his impression of Zhang Bozhen also changed greatly.
In fact, Zhu Heyu did not misunderstand Zhang Bozhen from beginning to end. Zhang Bozhen had been staying in Nanyang some time ago to avoid the battle between the prince and Prince Fu. However, as a rising star among the "Zhou Party", he had never
There is no lack of political wisdom, so Zhang Bozhen knows very well that some things cannot be avoided, and he must make all preparations in advance before he has to make a choice.
What's more, regarding this matter, Zhang Bozhen had already received some instructions from Zhou Shangjing.
Therefore, during Zhang Bozhen's stay in Nanyang, he secretly contacted Huguang officials, secretly collected the crimes committed by the feudal clans in Huguang over the years, and prepared a memorial to impeach the feudal clans. On the other hand, he paid close attention to Luoyang.
He kept a close eye on the movements of the government and closely followed every move of Prince Zhu Heyu, and also prepared a memorial to impeach Prince Zhu Heyu.
In this way, no matter who wins the battle between the prince and the feudal lord, Zhang Bozhen can remain invincible!
Today, under Zhou Shangjing's further instruction, Zhang Bozhen's advance preparations have really come in handy.
At this time, Zhang Bozhen naturally would not mention that he had actually prepared relevant evidence and impeachment memorials regarding Prince Zhu Heyu's wanton behavior during this period, oppressing the clan and causing trouble to the local area.
*
In this way, after receiving this great gift from Zhang Bozhen, Prince Zhu Heyu treated him better and invited Zhang Bozhen to the study, so that Zhang Bozhen could see with his own eyes the batch of evidence that Zhu Hezeng left behind before his death.
It is worth mentioning that Zhao Lei, the eunuch in charge of Prince Fu's Mansion who was responsible for guarding these evidences, when he learned that Zhang Bozhen was Zhou Shangjing's close disciple, he treated Zhang Bozhen with great attentiveness, just like he treated Li Chuanwen and Xiao Wenxuan.
On the other side, after seeing the batch of evidence left by Zhu Hezeng, the eldest son of King Fu, Zhang Bozhen was also shocked, and then discovered that the prince Zhu Heyu also had his own trump card, but there was no sign of it leaked beforehand, and he couldn't help but feel sorry for Zhu Heyu
Gao took a quick look and felt that His Royal Highness's palace was much deeper than the rumors said.
Zhu Heyu was determined to completely pull Zhang Bozhen into his camp. Not only did he let Zhang Bozhen see the batch of evidence left by Zhu Hezeng, but he also revealed his next plan to Zhang Bozhen - that is, to investigate Zhu Hezeng's poisoning murder case.
In the name of Prince Fu, he put everyone in Prince Fu's Mansion under house arrest, took the opportunity to search the warehouse account books of Prince Fu's Mansion, interrogated relevant personnel, and thoroughly implemented the crimes of Prince Fu's family.
Hearing Zhu Heyu's bold plan, Zhang Bozhen couldn't help but turn pale, completely losing his previous calmness and elegance. However, he hesitated for a moment and did not raise any objection.
After all, for the "Zhou Party", Prince Zhu Heyu's actions did no harm. On the contrary, they further distracted Emperor Deqing and had no time to suppress Zhou Shangjing.
In this way, after several people gathered to discuss for more than half an hour, Zhang Bozhen stood up and left. Before leaving, he said that he would try his best to cooperate with Prince Zhu Heyu in the future.
Obviously, Zhang Bozhen's position is somewhat similar to that of Luoyang Magistrate Zheng Yicheng. They would all help Prince Zhu Heyu for various reasons, but they did not want the world to think that they were too close to Prince Zhu Heyu.
Zhu Heyu was well aware of this, so he did not try to retain Zhang Bozhen.
However, just as Zhang Bozhen was leaving, Li Chuanwen suddenly expressed that he wanted to send Zhang Bozhen off in person.
Hearing Li Chuanwen's statement, Prince Zhu Heyu was silent for a moment, but in the end he agreed with a smile as usual.
*
But it was said that on the way Li Chuanwen sent Zhang Bozhen away from Prince Fu's Mansion, the two of them tested each other frequently, and almost every word he said was laced with wit.
"Actually, Mr. Li's reputation is well known to me. As far as I know, Mr. Li is the founder of the Shaoxing industry. He has served as an aide to many high-ranking officials in the imperial court. I have a good friend.
, when he took office, he specially sent someone to Shaoxing to invite Mr. Li to assist him, but later he learned that Mr. Li had been invited by a big shot in the imperial court. My good friend felt deeply regretful at the time... It’s just that
, I heard that the big shot who invited Mr. Li was Mr. Zhao Junchen and Mr. Zhao Ge. I didn’t expect that Mr. Li would now be a guest in the Prince’s East Palace... Well, maybe the information I collected is wrong..."
Zhang Bozhen's words seemed to be flattering and complimentary, but in fact they were hidden threats.
After all, Zhao Junchen was just a foreign minister, and his close aides were now following the crown prince Zhu Heyu, so it was inevitable that they would be suspected of interfering with the vassal clan beyond their authority.
Li Chuanwen smiled and nodded, but did not respond to Zhang Bozhen's threat. He just said: "I can't stand such praise from Governor Zhang. No matter how good the staff is, they are just staff after all. At most, they can only check for leaks and fill in the gaps and make suggestions.
But it is far inferior to the vision and courage of the great figures in the temple...
By the way, the intelligence and materials that Governor Zhang sent to His Highness the Crown Prince were said to be obtained from officials in Huguang, but I don’t know which officials they were? After I accompany His Highness the Crown Prince to Huguang, I can borrow more of their power.
, when pursuing accountability afterwards, we should try our best to avoid accidentally injuring them!"
Although Li Chuanwen did not respond to Zhang Bozhen's threat, he also threatened Zhang Bozhen, implying that he had seen the plans and intentions of the "Zhou Party". Now that he was with Prince Zhu Heyu, he would naturally have the opportunity to destroy the "Zhou Party"
"Plans and intentions.
It can be described as a confrontation.
Zhang Bozhen's eyes flashed, and then he mentioned the names of several officials, and then added meaningfully: "Indeed, we should naturally communicate more and cooperate closely to prevent hurting one of our own and let others sit back and take it easy.
A fisherman’s profit!”
Li Chuanwen also smiled and said: "It should be so."
While they were talking, the two of them had already arrived at the gate of Prince Fu's Mansion.
Seeing that Zhang Bozhen was about to leave, Li Chuanwen's expression became serious again and he asked softly: "Governor Zhang has had many contacts with the current Prince Fu, so he should have some understanding of his character, right?"
Zhang Bozhen nodded and said, "I understand a little bit."
"So, Governor Zhang now also knows His Highness the Crown Prince's follow-up plan. Do you think... His Highness Prince Fu is someone who is ready to die?"
Zhang Bozhen shook his head decisively and said: "His Royal Highness Prince Fu has long been accustomed to act wantonly and will never sit back and wait for death!"
Li Chuanwen sighed and said: "His Royal Highness, there are now only more than sixty factory guards waiting for orders. If they want to control Nuo Da's Prince Fu's Mansion in one fell swoop, they may not be able to do so. If there is a conflict, they will be at a disadvantage.
ah."
Zhang Bozhen hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said: "I will mobilize a group of military households and stay near Prince Fu's Mansion, waiting for orders at any time...His Royal Highness can call it at any time! However, a written record must be left to indicate that this group of military households
It was called by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince as an imperial envoy."
"This is naturally the best thing to do!"
*
On this day, at Shen Shi in the afternoon, a riot broke out in Prince Fu's Mansion. The riot lasted for more than half an hour, during which three factory guards and eleven escort servants of Prince Fu's Mansion died. It was not until the Luoyang City defenders joined in that
was able to calm down and once again shocked the entire city of Luoyang.
But for Prince Zhu Heyu, this kind of thing can no longer be taken care of.