With Feng Ziying's reorganization of the 3rd team of Shuntian Prefecture's yamen officers, many of Ni Er's subordinates joined the 3rd team of police officers, and the cooperation between the two parties was greatly strengthened.
One of the tasks given by Wu Yaoqing was to inform Hongqing Temple and Cuihua Hutong, two known locations of White Lotus Sect activities, and told Feng Ziying that he paid great attention to them, so Ni Er was naturally very concerned.
"Is there anything unusual?"
"Cuihua Hutong is now inaccessible and has basically disappeared. According to the last two tracking paths of the people we followed, one group of people went to Gu'an and the other group went to Bazhou." Ni Er observed Feng Ziying while observing
Looking at his face, he explained in a low voice: "I happened to have a reliable brother whose hometown is Gu'an, so I asked him to go back to Gu'an to see if he could make a connection and understand the situation. He was lucky. After returning,
I quickly got in touch through a relative, and I finally joined Bailian over there, whose brand name is the Yuandun Sect..."
Feng Ziying was not in a good mood. Both Gu'an and Bazhou still belonged to Shuntian Prefecture, and the central and southern parts of Shuntian Prefecture were on the fringes. However, they still belonged to Shuntian Prefecture. If anything happened, it was still their own.
"what else?"
"The news from my brother is that they have very close contacts with Baoding Prefecture. He has followed a so-called preacher to Yizhou, Laishui, Dingxing, Xincheng, and Xiongxian County, walking from village to house.
very popular."
"What do they mainly do when they go from village to house?" Feng Ziying calmed down and then asked carefully: "Your brother can follow a missionary teacher out so quickly, and a new one will not be suspected?
"
"Hui Ye, my brother is smart and tactful, and he is a branch of a local family in Gu'an. In addition, I asked him to use some money and had several local guarantors as guarantees, so he got in smoothly...
"Ni Er didn't dare to lie, "But he can only follow the instructor around. When the instructor really comes into contact with important local people, he cannot see him. He can only interact with the instructor through various observations.
Friendship with disciples, trying to figure out something,..."
Ni Er said it in such detail, and Feng Ziying felt relieved. This person looked rough but was actually very cautious in nature. Otherwise, he would not be able to gain such a reputation in the west of the capital city. Although he has been supported by himself in the past two years, but
It also has a lot to do with his own temperament.
The person he can like must have some ability. Judging from what he said, it is relatively safe for his brother to join the White Lotus Sect.
"How about Hongqing Temple?" Feng Ziying brought the topic back.
"Hongqing Temple should be related to the Cuihua Hutong side, but they are not close, or they are not from the same group. Their people's movements are mysterious and they come and go in a hurry. It is also difficult for our people to follow them and they often cannot keep up.
Mr. Wu said that we would rather be lost than exposed, so we are also very cautious. Judging from the situation in the past two months, there were people from Shanxi who had close contact with them, but then there was no trace. In addition, some time ago,
There are more cases where they go to Huairou, but we can’t grasp the specific whereabouts..."
"Have you discovered anything else about those people in Shanxi? Where did those people come from?" After all, they are not professionals, and they cannot be exposed and have direct contact. Feng Ziying feels that it is good to be able to achieve this step.
Ni Er shook his head, "We can't follow the Shanxi side. It's too easy to be exposed. Those people hardly interact with outsiders and can't get close. The only ones who are a little suspicious..."
"What's suspicious?"
"Our people came close twice and heard the conversation between them. It didn't seem to be a Shanxi accent, but more like a foreign accent, mixed with Mongolian..." Ni Er scratched his head. He didn't dare to take this situation too seriously.
Sure.
"Oh?" Feng Ziying thought carefully. This issue needs to be paid attention to. Is there any connection between the White Lotus Sect and the Mongols? It is unlikely, but it is true that there is a large group of Old White Lotus Sect members outside the border wall.
Not long after staying in the government office, Feng Ziying received a summons from Wenyuan Pavilion, which made him feel as if he was already a candidate for the cabinet minister.
The series of news may have made the imperial cabinet a little at a loss. After all, Ye Xianggao, Fang Congzhe, Qi Yongtai and Li Sancai have never really experienced such a thing.
The ministers who served during the Imjin Japanese Rebellion had all died of old age, and they had never experienced such a turmoil.
Moreover, this incident is different from a foreign war. This is a real civil strife, a challenge from within.
The Nanjing Yamen was suddenly upgraded to the Nanjing imperial court that rivaled the capital. The cabinet, seven ministries and the Procuratorate were equally well-organized, and Prince Yi Zhong had already issued edicts to all parts of the country. This was a posture to directly replace it.
How can this not keep the cabinet ministers busy?
Although the attitude of each province is still uncertain, what is certain is that Southern Zhili, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi should have turned to the pseudo-imperial court of Nanjing.
Prince Yi Zhong’s years of accumulated prestige and the support of a group of Jiangnan gentry have made these three places his base, and Fujian is likely to follow suit.
Although Ye Xianggao and Li Tingji are very influential in Fujian, this is the general trend. Jiangnan is one, and the prestige of one or two people cannot change the overall situation, unless there are other changes that affect the entire trend.
Feng Ziying also had a special understanding of the situation of the Six Ministries in Nanjing at the time. It was similar to that of the Ming Dynasty, but different. Among the Six Ministries in Nanjing, the Household Department had the greatest power. All grain and taxes in the four provinces of Nanjing, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Huguang were collected and turned over to the Nanjing Household Department.
The Imperial Household Department and the Nanjing Military Department were responsible for the military affairs of the three provinces of Nanzhi, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi. The Nanjing Civil Service Department was in charge of the official affairs of the two provinces of Nanjing and Zhejiang. The Nanjing Ministry of Punishment, the Ministry of Industry, and the Ministry of Rites were only responsible for the affairs of the Southern Zhili area, and their powers gradually decreased.
.
So from this point of view, it seems that Fujian has always been independent of the jurisdiction of Nanjing ministries. Whether it is military affairs, taxation or even official inspections, they have nothing to do with Nanjing. However, in fact, because most Fujian scholars live in Nanjing
, Zhejiang and Jiangyou study and travel together, so they are almost one, and Fujian officials are mostly scholars from Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, so the relationship is very close. Therefore, once the Nanjing court is established separately, there is a high possibility that Fujian will fall to Nanjing.
Therefore, Jiangnan generally refers to the four provinces of Zhizhi, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Fujian. The four provinces are one, advancing and retreating together.
On the way to Wenyuan Pavilion, Feng Ziying was also thinking a lot. For him, such a scene was beyond expectations.
Although I had expected this scene before, when the moment actually arrived, I still felt a little confused. It was difficult to deal with such things coming out all at once. What should be done first and what should be done next?
As soon as she arrived at the entrance of Wenyuan Pavilion, Feng Ziying saw Qi Yongtai's entourage.
He immediately realized that summoning him might be different from the last time. Qi Yongtai specially asked his confidant to wait for him at the door. He probably had other arrangements.
As expected, Feng Ziying arrived at Qi Yongtai's office and residence first after following Chang Sui.
Wenyuan Pavilion is just a general name. In fact, it consists of a main hall and a circle of small courtyards. Each of the five ministers has his own separate office and residence, and they are all independent and do not interfere with each other. Once they enter the gate, they
Each goes his own way, and even when they come in together, you may not know which cabinet minister the other party is going to.
Ordinary collective discussions are held in the main hall. In Feng Ziying's view, such main hall discussions are equivalent to cabinet administrative meetings, and major officials from the Seven Ministries and the Metropolitan Procuratorate may be invited to participate.
Qi Yongtai's small courtyard was already crowded, which made Feng Ziying even more aware that today's summons should be a major event that all political forces in the capital need to seriously face, so he had to solicit votes from various political groups.
The opinions of important members meant that I was finally lucky enough to enter this Northland political group and become one of them.
As soon as she stepped into the courtyard, Feng Ziying saw Lian Guoshi. Feng Ziying was also very happy. She walked forward quickly and took the other person's arm, "Jun Yu, when did you come back? You didn't say anything to me?"
"I just came back at midnight last night. I was called here early this morning. I guess you will come too..." Lian Guoshi was also very happy.
Feng Ziying looked around, and then whispered: "Just the two of us?"
Lian Guoshi nodded slightly and understood the meaning of Feng Ziying's words. There were at least a dozen people in this courtyard. When he said "the two of us", he meant that there were only two of them among the younger generation of northern scholars, or simply that they were in the fifth year of Yonglong.
There are only two of them in one section.
He was a fellow scholar of Yongping who practiced state affairs, and he was the number one scholar in this subject in the fifth year of Yonglong. Feng Ziying was a scholar of the Hanlin Academy who was born as a second-class Jinshi Shujishi. Now he is a fourth-rank Shuntian Fucheng, one of the young scholars in the North.
They are unparalleled, and they are also near Gyeonggi, so it is appropriate to recruit them, in order to listen to the opinions of the younger generation of northern scholars.
"In addition to Prime Minister Qi, Duke Zhang, Duke Cui, and Duke Qiao, all the princes in the court, including Mr. Wang, Mr. Sun, Mr. Zhou, Mr. Han, etc. are also here." Lian Guo came for a while beforehand, and he should be with all the princes.
After saying hello, Zhang Huaichang, Cui Jingrong, Qiao Yingjia, Wang Yongguang, Sun Juxiang, Han Xu, Zhou Yongchun and others are also elite leaders among the northern scholars.
"Where is Prime Minister Li?" Feng Ziying asked after hesitation.
Lian Guoshi also hesitated for a moment, "I haven't seen him, maybe he doesn't want to come over, or maybe Prime Minister Qi will communicate with him then."
Li Sancai was from the north, but he was on good terms with the scholars from the south of the Yangtze River, but his relationship with the scholars from the north was a bit unfamiliar. Under such circumstances, it would be awkward for him to come or not.
"We should still call Prime Minister Li. It seems a bit narrow-minded to care about those sectarian opinions at this time." Feng Ziying shook her head, "Master Qi is not so shallow."
Just as he was talking, he saw Li Sancai coming in from outside, and all the princes also greeted him, looking very happy to see each other.