After coming out of the Shen Mansion, Lin Tailai told the guardians on his left and right: "Now go to the Wang family as a guest."
Zhang Wu, the right protector, said puzzledly: "It's a bit late now. It would be too intrusive to be a guest."
Lin Tailai said: "I don't have to go to the Wang family. As long as I don't go to the Shen Mansion, the Wang family won't mind whether I go to the Wang family or not.
But since we have been to the Shen Mansion, we must go to the Wang Family, and the sooner the better."
Although Zhang Wu didn't know what he was doing, he just followed the instructions and did things.
At this late night, it would be quite scary if dozens of big men suddenly appeared outside the house.
The Wang family members were frightened until they saw Lin Tailai under the lantern through the crack in the door, and then they felt relieved.
Wang Zhiyuan, Wang Situ and Wang Xiangmeng Shiyu were all ready to go to sleep, but they were called out again.
Moreover, as a junior, Wang Xiangmeng had to go to Yimen to greet Lin Tailai.
After passing through the ceremony gate and walking into the atrium, Lin Tailai stopped pretending and directly did a few chest-expanding exercises, constantly moving his right shoulder and right arm.
He said: "I've been pretending to be injured all day long, and I can't move my right shoulder or arm in front of others. It's really uncomfortable! It's better to be relaxed in front of my own family!"
At this time, the winter night in the capital was already cold. Wang Situ asked his servants to set up a brazier in the small reception room in the middle hall, and then chatted around the brazier.
"Is "Jin Ping Mei" really written by Zhao Nanxing?" Wang Situ asked very curiously.
When my family members get together to talk, the atmosphere is completely different from Shen Shoufu's.
Lin Tailai replied: "In fact, it is still very possible, otherwise there would not be so many coincidences."
Wang Situ added: "I remember you said at the beginning that Wang Shizhen was most likely to be Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng, and then you also said that Li Kaixian, Wang Zhideng, Xu Wenchang and others were all possible."
Lin Tailai told the truth: "Actually, I can list twenty or thirty suspects regarding Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng's true identity.
I just point out who is the most likely person based on the situation! A few days ago it was Zhao Nanxing, and then Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng is Zhao Nanxing!"
Wang Situ asked with undiminished interest: "So besides the few I already know, who else is on the list of suspects?"
Lin Tailai did not disclose the list, but said: "If you weren't good at literature, especially popular literature, brother, maybe you would also be on the list of suspects. After all, you are from Shandong."
Wang Situ: ""
Doesn't being on the suspect list mean that he is not good at literature?
The Wang family did not know the results of today's multi-party negotiations, so Wang Xiangmeng took the opportunity to ask Lin Tailai:
"Has the matter of Zhao Nanxing beating you been resolved? Do you need help from our Wang family?"
"No need to bother you, we've already finished talking." Lin Tailai replied.
There is really no need for Wang Situ to come forward in this matter, because Wang Situ's role is relatively limited.
This lecture mainly involves organizational personnel and ideological aspects, which are not Wang Situ's strong areas.
The power of the Ministry of Accounts is more practical, and it is indeed separated from the retreat work.
For example, engaging in the salt industry in Yangzhou, or making fuss about money, grain and taxation, that is the Ministry of Household's expertise.
If Wang Situ were to come forward this time, it would not be inoperable, but it would be half the result with half the effort and not cost-effective. Lin Tailai felt that he could not afford it.
Wang Xiangmeng was very surprised and said in disbelief: "It has only been three days, and the agreement has been reached? Has Shen Shangshu given in so quickly?"
Based on Wang Xiangmeng's understanding of Lin Tailai, it would have been impossible for him to have relented after only three days if he had not received satisfactory compensation.
Lin Tailai sighed: "I originally wanted to apply pressure for a few more days, but they gave me a lot, so I don't want to have too many nightmares.
A Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, a quota for Jinshi who may even be in Huiyuan, and a quota for examiners. With these compensations, you can accept them as you see fit."
Wang Situ had also run things before, and was surprised again when he heard Lin Tailai's gains.
Ask yourself, even if he, the Minister of Household Affairs, takes action, he will not be able to get so much compensation.
"You have caused the Qingliu forces so much damage in the past two years, yet Shen Shangshu is willing to make such concessions to you, it is incredible." Wang Situ said with emotion from the bottom of his heart.
Lin Tailai said: "Brother, you can't think like this. Even if a few people are deposed, the Qingliu force will not be able to be called a casualty."
"Oh? I would like to hear your opinion, what do you think of Qingliu?" Wang Situ really wanted to hear more about Lin Tailai's views. They are all spoken by his own family members, so it doesn't matter if he goes out of his way.
Lin Tailai first expressed his thoughts: "Fortunately, these Qingliu party members were born in today's Ming Dynasty, otherwise they would not have the chance to maintain the party's power."
Wang Xiangmeng couldn't help but interjected: "Aren't you the same?"
As for the things my uncle did in Suzhou, if it were a less relaxed era, he would have been blacklisted by the imperial court.
But every time he thought about it, he still envied his younger uncle's carefree and domineering days.
Lin Tailai ignored his nephew and continued: "Those young people who have only been in officialdom for a few years will always be angry with the world. They are at their most passionate and want to control their destiny and change it.
Therefore, under the conscious guidance of certain superiors, there will always be many newcomers to the officialdom who will join the Qingliu forces in a steady stream. It is really a bad era!"
"Why is there an endless stream?" Wang Xiangmeng asked again.
Lin Tailai replied: "If you were an ordinary new official, what would you choose?
Are you willing to gain qualifications step by step, endure it for more than ten years first, and then decades later, will you be able to reach a position and realize your ambitions?
Or would you rather hold high the banner of free speech, be able to immediately participate in politics immersively, criticize people as you please, and criticize the government unscrupulously?
If someone tells a new official that as long as they adhere to and join the Qingliu forces, they can become a member of the righteous colleagues and immediately have the above-mentioned influence that exceeds that of ordinary officials.
How many new officials can look at themselves and resist the temptation to participate in temple games?"
Finally, Lin Tailai concluded: "In today's atmosphere, as long as there are new people coming into the court, the fresh blood of the Qingliu forces will continue to flow.
So what if I abolish a few members of the Qingliu force? New people will soon come to fill the ranks, a group every three years! So I say that the Qingliu force is not at a loss for now."
Wang Situ, who had been silent for a long time, laughed a few times and said to Lin Tai: "It seems that you have done a lot of research on today's temple issues.
In the past few days, you have been playing games with other cabinet ministers, and you must have some new thoughts. You might as well share them and teach the younger generation."
The younger generation that Wang Situ mentioned could only be Wang Xiangmeng who was over thirty years old.
Lin Tailai sighed: "My biggest feeling is that it is very boring to hang out in the imperial court.
Most of the time, problems can only be solved by wisdom and gaming, which is really not fun and not enjoyable at all.
I have begun to miss the time when I was in Jiangzuo, how pleasant it was to be able to resolve 80% of disputes directly by force without so many twists and turns."
Wang Situ said: "Maybe you are not strong enough yet, so you can't act too much as you want. You can't rush this, you can only accumulate step by step.
There are still two months until the exam, have you thought about what you want to do?"
Lin Tailai replied: "Now that the obstacles have been removed, there is no need to worry about the imperial examination. So I should take advantage of the free time during this period to fight with my relatives Zheng's family.
Moreover, the fight must be natural and reasonable, and the fight must be bigger and bigger.
This is more difficult, and I don’t have a good idea at the moment, so I need to think about it further.”
Wang Situ: ""
You, my little brother-in-law, what are you thinking about every day?
Lin Tailai asked back: "My brother just asked me what I will do in the next two months. Do you have any good suggestions?"
Wang Situ replied seriously: "I think that while you are fighting in the Zheng family, you should also devote your energy to building momentum for the imperial examination.
From the current point of view, your ranking in the imperial examination will not be too bad, after all, the joints have been opened. But for the sake of the long term, and in order to move forward more steadily, you cannot ignore the influence of public opinion.
Therefore, before the exam, you should build more momentum, publicize your literary name in the capital, and let as many people as possible know your talent.
In this way, when the final results of the exam come out, the criticism in the world will be reduced.
For example, Yang Shen, the number one scholar in the Zhengde Dynasty, was born to the elder Yang Tinghe, but everyone knew that Yang Shen was talented, and no one criticized him after he won the number one prize."
Lin Tailai nodded thoughtfully, "This is what an experienced person says, and what I said makes sense!"
You cannot take things like superficial reputation seriously. Even if you are deceiving yourself and others, you still have to manage things as they should.
Even Cao Cao, on the surface, doesn't he regard himself as a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty? Even if he is a celebrity, doesn't he have to attend a charity dinner?
Wang Xiangmeng suddenly glanced at Lin Tailai. Since we are talking about exams, don't forget what we agreed on before.
Lin Tailai then said to Wang Situ again: "Before the exam, I will ask nephew Xiang Meng to give me more guidance on my composition. He may even stay at my place often and say hello to my old brother first."
Although Wang Situ was very suspicious, how could he still guide others to write articles at Wang Xiangmeng's level?
But I also thought that it would be a good thing for young people to get closer to each other, so I agreed.
When Lin Tailai came out of Wang's house, it was already dead of night.
At this time, dozens of big men were walking on the street, which looked very suspicious and successfully attracted the attention of patrol officers.
After struggling for a while, I was able to successfully return to the Lin Mansion.
The area around Dashi Yongfang in the southwest of the imperial city is an area where official residences gather. The density of patrols by the government and army is very high, and the security intensity is the highest in the capital.
This made Lin Tailai feel that living in the core area of such a high-end area is safe, but sometimes it seems not so convenient.
By the next day, Lin Tailai began to plan two things he wanted to do. The first was to provoke the Zheng family and start a fight; the second was to build momentum in the literary world and reduce criticism of the imperial examination.
Immediately, someone was sent to Uncle Ningyuan's Mansion to send a message to Li Rusong, the commander-in-chief of the patrol camp in the capital, and arrange a time for a gathering.
Then he sent people to Dongcheng to greet the fellow villagers and see if there was a chance to launch an elegant gathering together.
Li Rusong replied to the post at noon and planned to meet at Xiyuan Hutong tonight.
With the efficiency of this era, Li Rusong responded and concluded contracts very quickly, and his enthusiasm can be seen from this detail.
There are two main reasons for this. One is that three years ago, Lin Tailai took advantage of the Dayu Mountain Imperial Tomb location incident to help Li Rusong consolidate the holy family and advance to a higher level.
As for Li Rusong, who was a loyal person, he definitely couldn't ignore Lin Tailai.
Second, Li Rusong's father, the famous general Li Chengliang, had been in Liaodong for a long time. He himself was not very clean, and he did a lot of bad things.
Therefore, Li Chengliang was very sensible and often gave generous gifts to Shen Shoufu in order to ask Shen Shoufu to take care of him in the court.
The relationship between Lin Tailai and Shen Shoufu was extremely close, and Li Rusong would definitely be happy to make friends with Lin Tailai.
The full name of Xiyuan Hutong is Jiaofangsi Xiyuan Hutong. Anyone who understands understands it. If you don’t understand, you can ask.
The Li family was very wealthy, so Li Rusong directly booked a place with someone he knew well to avoid being disturbed by irrelevant people.
Both of them arrived quite early, so they didn't rush to let the beauties come up and just sat and talked first.
Li Rusong said first: "I thought you wanted to prepare for the exam with peace of mind, so I didn't dare to disturb you."
Lin Tailai replied: "The imperial examination is not a big problem. I have an appointment with my brother today. In fact, I have something to ask for help."
Li Rusong responded readily: "If you have something to do, just tell me."
Lin Tailai said directly: "During this period, I need to fight with the Zheng family, have fierce conflicts, and create huge conflicts and hatred.
But I know very little about the situation of the Zheng family, and there is no credible channel in the capital to keep an eye on the Zheng family.
I need you to help provide updates and news about the Zheng family from now on, the more the better."
Li Rusong said with a strange expression: "Your idea is quite strange. It seems that you just want to find a reasonable excuse to start a fight with the Zheng family?"
Lin Tailai said: "Three years ago, I had an enmity with Zheng Guotai because of Wu Zhuangyuan's incident. But I can't still use Wu Zhuangyuan as an excuse until now, right?"
Li Rusong didn't hesitate to ask for the details. After thinking about it carefully, he replied:
"Zheng Guotai has not performed much in the past two years. In fact, the current active figure in the Zheng family is not Zheng Guotai. You can't find much clues if you look at Zheng Guotai.
The active figure in the Zheng family today is Zheng Guotai and Zheng Empress' father Zheng Chengxian. This father-in-law has many problems.
As far as I know, Zheng Chengxian behaves rather arrogantly, and often makes friends with eunuchs in the palace, and he recruits mountain men, sorcerers and the like."
Lin Tailai patted his forehead and almost fell into the inertia of his thinking.
The historical Zheng Guotai was active for nearly thirty years. His shadow was behind many of the Ming Dynasty's strange cases, which left a deep impression on Lin Tailai.
So when Lin Tailai thinks about the Zheng family, he always thinks about Zheng Guotai subconsciously, but he ignores that the leader of the Zheng family now is Zheng Chengxian.
So Lin Tailai asked again: "Brother, please help me collect more information about the Zheng family in the near future, so that I can know myself and the enemy, and prescribe the right medicine."
"This is a trivial matter." Li Rusong agreed immediately. It was indeed a trivial matter to just ask for information.
For a governor in charge of the patrol camp in the capital, collecting information in a targeted manner is not a difficult task.
In this way, the guests and hosts enjoyed themselves, and a pleasant night passed.
Tonight, Lin Tailai learned the lesson from last night and stayed overnight in the beauty's house to avoid being harassed by patrolling officers and soldiers on his way home in the middle of the night.
When Lin Tailai came to leave the next day, Zhang Wen, the Zuo protector who was waiting in the wing outside, quietly told Lin Tailai:
"The Li family sent me a box of stuff, saying it was a local product from Liaodong. I opened it and took a look, and the box was full of ginseng."
"Since it is Governor Li's kindness, then accept it!" Lin Tailai said with a dumb smile.
The Li family is really insecure. Will they give out gifts as long as they have the chance?
I've lost my train of thought, and I have no idea if I want to add more. I'll hold it back for a while, and I'll add another update when I've figured out the plot for the next stage, which I hope will be tomorrow.