After staring coldly at Zhou Shangjing for a long time, Zhao Junchen took a deep breath and finally calmed down a little.
Then, Zhao Junchen said coldly: "Zhou Shoufu said that this proposal would be of great benefit to me. Could it mean that... the way I die in the future will be remembered in history and be written down by future generations?"
Hey! After the merger of Zhou and Zhao's two parties, my power seems to have greatly increased, but it will definitely arouse His Majesty's strong jealousy! Your Majesty, of course, he does not like to use violent means to overturn the table, but that also depends on the situation! Once Your Majesty is
Having determined that my existence has seriously threatened his imperial power, he will still arrange for the imperial army and factory guards to take action without hesitation!
At that time, the imperial army closed down the city, factory guards arrested people, and under a prison sentence, even if I had the military exploits of Shaanxi and Gansu, even if I had the control of the court's finances, and even if I had the support of hundreds of officials and gentry, what would be the use?
Aren’t you defenseless and can only surrender and be slaughtered?”
In fact, with the various back-up plans currently arranged by Zhao Junchen in major military towns and the imperial guards in the capital, even if Emperor Deqing decides to use violent means to overturn the table, Zhao Junchen may not be without resistance.
If there is enough time, Zhao Junchen can even secretly mobilize troops from Shaanxi, Gansu and Xuanfu towns to rush to the capital. At the same time, he can also let Liaodong Town try to hold back Jizhen, who is most loyal to Emperor Deqing.
Under such circumstances, Zhao Junchen might still have a chance to fight back in desperate situation!
But these things are the core secrets of Zhao Junchen's future plan, and he will naturally not reveal anything to Zhou Shangjing.
After a pause, Zhao Junchen's tone became colder and he continued: "So, what you call the merging of Zhou and Zhao's parties, Chief Assistant Zhou, actually wants me to become a leader and take the initiative to die! And after I am killed,
, the ultimate beneficiary will not be His Majesty and the Royal Family, but the gentry of the world!
Because you, Zhou Shoufu, know my methods and abilities very well, you can naturally guess that I still have many reform ideas and ways to make money in my heart that I have not yet had the chance to put into practice! After the merger of the two parties, I will naturally have the ability to pay
It depends on the power of practice, but at that time I had become the spokesperson of the Jin gentry, so when I implemented various reforms, I had to try my best to take care of the interests of the Jin gentry. When I used various means to make money, I also
We must give the gentry a share of the pie!
In the end, my fate will inevitably be a tragic death in a prison of unprecedented scale, and my power will be torn apart, and the trees will fall and the hozens will be scattered, but that's it. Even if Your Majesty lifts the table, he will only target me and
My confidants will never target the gentry in the world!
By that time, the gentry have already reaped huge benefits from my various reform measures, and have learned my various methods of making money. Their power will be as powerful as ever!
In this way, even if the subject power is temporarily frustrated due to my fall and death, it will soon make a comeback with the support of the Jin gentry. Because the Jin gentry and the subject power have a two-sided relationship, the subject power will also be the same after its comeback.
Unprecedentedly powerful, the ministerial power and the imperial power can once again restore the balance of mutual checks and balances!
Such a change in the situation... is your future plan, Zhou Shoufu, right? You just want to strengthen the power of the ministers and the gentry by sacrificing me, right?
After all, as you just said, you don't care about the survival and decline of the 'Zhou Party' family, as long as your ideas still exist in the government and the public, even if the 'Zhou Party' and the 'Zhao Party' merge, and then follow
I was destroyed together, but when the ministerial power comes back, the 'Zhou Party' will also be reborn, just with a different name and form!
What a good plan! It’s really a good plan! It’s really good for me!”
Speaking of the latter part, Zhao Junchen's voice became uncontrollably louder, and even alarmed the Song family's grandson and Wang Baoren outside the room who couldn't help but poke their heads to see what was going on. Apparently they were worried that Zhao Junchen couldn't help but beat Zhou Shangjing on the spot.
*
Zhao Junchen has always had a calm and steady personality, and he can be said to be unfazed by changes.
But today, since he learned about Zhou Shangjing's plan to embezzle "United Shipping Lines", he was in a very strange state.
At this moment, Zhao Junchen is in excellent condition, sober and sharp as never before. Even Zhou Shangjing, who has always been scheming and deep-tempered, has no way to hide in front of Zhao Junchen. No matter how obscure Zhou Shangjing's calculations and layout are, they are always hidden.
Zhao Junchen saw through it at a glance.
But at the same time, Zhao Junchen's mood swings were also unprecedentedly violent. He was completely unable to control the anxiety in his heart and lost his temper repeatedly in front of Zhou Shangjing.
The more he understands Zhou Shangjing's "selflessness", the more he understands Zhou Shangjing's "good intentions", the more he appreciates Zhou Shangjing's "firm belief", the more Zhao Junchen's heart is uncontrollable!
It is not an exaggeration to say that Zhou Shangjing was "selfless", had "good intentions" and had "firm beliefs".
In order to achieve his goal, he could even hand over the "Zhou Party" that he had worked hard for decades without hesitation, just to maintain the balance between ministerial power and imperial power, and thus ensure the stability of the country!
If you want to take something, you must give it first. Zhou Shangjing has used this skill to the extreme!
But in addition, Zhou Shangjing obviously has another goal.
That is to get rid of Zhao Junchen!
Because in Zhou Shangjing's eyes, Zhao Junchen has an extremely dangerous trait.
That is - Zhao Junchen doesn't care about the rules of this era at all, and is even vaguely hostile to the rules of this era!
Zhou Shangjing has always regarded maintaining the status quo of the rules as his own responsibility. Ever since he discovered this trait in Zhao Junchen, he regarded Zhao Junchen as a hidden danger and enemy that must be eliminated!
It is a big lie to say that you admire Zhao Junchen and regard Zhao Junchen as his successor!
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! And Zhou Shangjing’s hostility is probably the real source of the annoyance in Zhao Junchen’s heart!
Although they are enemies, Zhao Junchen must admit that Zhou Shangjing is probably the wisest and most enlightened person of this era.
Although he is already old, he is still willing to accept new things. He can quickly understand the advancement of the "United Shipping" model, and he can fully understand the necessity of agricultural reform under Zhao Junchen's persuasion. He can even
Deducing the future changing trends of ministerial power and imperial power.
At the same time, Zhou Shangjing can completely break away from the limitations of one household. After discovering that the descendants of the Zhou family have no talent, he can fully support the Song family to rise to power without any selfish motives. He also finds that the existence of Zhao Junchen is beneficial to Jin Shen to some extent.
After becoming more powerful, he could hand over everything to Zhao Junchen without any hesitation.
But even Zhou Shangjing, who is so wise and open-minded, still cannot understand Zhao Junchen at all. Instead, he regards everything Zhao Junchen does as a hidden danger and intends to completely eradicate Zhao Junchen at any cost or by any means!
Therefore, since even Zhou Shangjing cannot understand himself, then...are there still people who share the same path with him in this world?
In the future, can I only rely on myself to overcome the obstacles?
And his followers are all corrupt officials, speculators and profiteers. How long can they continue to follow him?
After having such thoughts, Zhao Junchen felt a strong sense of loneliness in his heart.
This feeling of loneliness not only made Zhao Junchen's mind sharper, but also made Zhao Junchen's heart become more and more out of control.
*
On the other side, Zhou Shangjing quietly watched Zhao Junchen's gaffe and angry rebuke, and did not find it strange.
Zhou Shangjing couldn't understand Zhao Junchen, he just thought that Zhao Junchen's gaffe at this time was only due to his vicious calculation against him.
Zhou Shangjing was just surprised that Zhao Junchen was completely immune to his temptation and could quickly expose his conspiracy!
He found that he had underestimated Zhao Junchen again.
When Zhao Junchen became serious, all his methods were exposed by Zhao Junchen at a glance, but they were all useless!
After discovering this, Zhou Shangjing even regretted his original attempt to embezzle "United Shipping Lines".
He originally tried to embezzle the "United Shipping Company" in order to ensure that the basic base of the gentry class would not abandon the "Zhou Party" and switch to Zhao Junchen in the future.
Because Zhou Shangjing had always believed that Zhao Junchen was only a little smart and had no great wisdom, and was a pure profit-seeking speculator, so he could never allow the Jinshen Group to follow Zhao Junchen.
But now it seems that it may be the right thing to let the gentry waver in their stance, change their families, and gradually integrate into Zhao Junchen's influence. The merger of the two parties just proposed by Zhou Shangjing is precisely to make up for his own mistakes.
After frowning and thinking for a moment, Zhou Shangjing tried to convince him for the last time: "Actually, the future situation may not be as bad as Zhao Gechen expected, as long as..."
But before Zhou Shangjing could finish speaking, Zhao Junchen had already interrupted coldly: "Zhou Shoufu, you don't have to waste any more words! When things have developed to this point, I will definitely give you a sure word! No matter which step I can take in the end
, in my future layout, there is no place for those gentry!
Hey, you tried to embezzle the "United Shipping Company" this time, probably because you were worried that the gentry would be jealous of the huge profits of the "United Shipping Company" and abandon the "Zhou Party" and switch to me, right? But in fact, you are completely worried.
, ever since I founded the 'United Shipping Company', I have been secretly obstructing the joining of the gentry! Even if those gentry want to join me, I will not accept it at all!
Those gentry families may be indispensable pillars of the country in your eyes, but in my eyes, they are the source of trouble for the country!"
After hearing this, Zhou Shangjing, who had always been calm and collected, finally changed slightly and his expression became extremely serious: "What do you mean by this?
The existence of the Jin gentry is naturally the pillar of the country, so how can it be a disaster? Of course, the Jin gentry also has various shortcomings, but their role is even more indispensable! The governance of the countryside cannot be separated from the Jin gentry, and the education of the people cannot be separated from the Jin gentry.
Inheriting the learning of the saints is inseparable from the Jin gentry, and the emperor's control of the people is also inseparable from the Jin gentry! All officials are from the Jin gentry, and the power of the Jin gentry is the power of the civil servants. If there are no more Jin gentry in this world, do you think there will be chaos in the world!
"
Obviously, Zhao Junchen described the Jin gentry as the source of trouble and completely denied the justice of the Jin gentry. This statement finally completely touched Zhou Shangjing's objections!
At this time, after hearing Zhou Shangjing's question, Zhao Junchen wanted to answer directly - "No! If the gentry class ceased to exist, not only would the world not be in chaos, but it would become a better place! At least it would be far better.
Live now!"
Because Zhao Junchen himself came from a world where Jin gentry did not exist.
The so-called "gentry" was one of the "three mountains" that had been toppled in that world, and it was also a reactionary class that had been completely destroyed!
It's a pity that Zhao Junchen couldn't describe that kind of world to Zhou Shangjing. Even if he told Zhou Shangjing, Zhou Shangjing would never believe it due to his limitations, and would only regard Zhao Junchen's description as wishful thinking and crazy talk!
However, Zhao Junchen still did not give up his criticism of the gentry class!
"It's just the source of trouble! Why have I been secretly preventing the gentry from joining the 'United Shipping Company'? Because 'United Shipping Company' is too profitable, and what the gentry will do after making money, Zhou Shoufu, you know better than me! Annexing land,
They keep private servants, oppress the people, and cause harm to the countryside! The richer the gentry are, the more serious the people's resentment will be! The more unstable the country will be!
Hey! Not only is the 'United Shipping Company' unable to let Jin Shen join, I am currently secretly building an ocean-going fleet. I must not be able to hide this from Zhou Shoufu, so I will tell you directly again. After the establishment of this ocean-going fleet, I
Jin Shen will not be allowed to participate in it either!
Why? For many years, ocean smuggling has been one of the ways for the gentry to make money, but how did they smuggle it? Those short-sighted misers only knew how to sell Chinese products to foreign countries in exchange for silver from the East and Southeast Asia, but they refused to take it at all.
Use your own money to buy supplies from outside the territory to supplement the deficiencies of the Ming Dynasty! For them, only white money is the real wealth, because with money, they can annex land, keep private slaves, and bribe officials!
But in fact, Zhou Shoufu, do you know how much the purchasing power of silver has dropped in all countries in the world at this moment, except for our Ming Dynasty? At least 60%! At least 60%! Except for our Ming Dynasty, all countries in the world have abolished silver as a
It is legal tender! And those idiots of the gentry are obviously running a smuggling business, but they have no idea about the outside world. It is clear that the people of the Ming Dynasty are naked and hungry, but they still want to smuggle the precious products of the Ming Dynasty abroad in exchange for low prices.
of silver!
When the silver depreciation trend in various countries around the world extends to the territory of the Ming Dynasty, the wealth that the Ming Dynasty has accumulated for hundreds of years will shrink by at least half! Zhou Shoufu, do you know what this means?"
After talking about it, Zhao Junchen became calmer and calmer.
Suddenly, he had a clear idea!
He used to worry about gains and losses because he had a group of corrupt officials and profiteers under him, and he really didn't have the confidence to lead such a group of people to accomplish great things.
But since the feudal dynasties of the past dynasties were able to rule stably based on the gentry class, and since a wise man like Zhou Shangjing also firmly believed that his ideas would be passed down through the gentry class for thousands of generations, what if his team was a group of corrupt officials and profiteers?
At least, those corrupt officials and profiteers have become staunch reformers under the guidance of Zhao Junchen.