The first thousand and fifty-five chapters fight for power
Zhu Hao took a boat south from Tianjin Port.
The northern coast is basically free from pirates and Japanese pirates, and the fleet sails in peace and calm.
In the early years of Jiajing, there were very few merchants in the north doing overseas trade, while the south of the Yangtze River was relatively prosperous and closer to the trade center of Nanyang. It had convenient and fast overseas trade channels. In addition, there were many islands along the coast of the south of the Yangtze River, which was very suitable for pirates and Japanese pirates to survive. Therefore, it was necessary to eradicate the bandits.
The main battlefield can only be Jiangnan.
at the same time.
Railways connecting various parts of the northwest continued to be built, and the most difficult part was to dig tunnels and build bridges, and the part involving Juyongguan was the top priority. However, before Zhu Hao left, many technical problems had been overcome.
The construction of the entire railway network will last for about a year. By then, Xuanfu will be closely connected to the capital, and road construction crews from all walks of life are rushing to meet the construction deadline.
At this time, the activities of the Northwestern Tatars suddenly became more frequent, and they once again launched harassment in Yansui and other places. Many passes on the three sides were under martial law. Zang Feng, who had just taken up his duties in the northwest, was arrested before everything was ready.
The Tatars pressed him to the ground and rubbed him.
In May, reports of the Northwest War were sent to the capital one after another. The ministers were a little worried about side affairs, but the emperor was hiding in the palace and "cultivating Taoism" in peace.
I don't know if it's fate, but Zhu Si has recently taken a liking to "meditation", a seemingly relaxing and health-promoting thing, and he is a little indifferent to court affairs.
Since the matter cannot be resolved at the court meeting, the busiest people are the bachelors in the cabinet. Fei Hong, the chief assistant, has a headache because he doesn't know much about the northwest affairs. This is not his area of expertise.
Even if he wanted to restrict Yang Yiqing, he still gave Yang Yiqing, who was well versed in military politics, room to develop.
Zhang Zuo repeatedly came to the cabinet to inquire about the war situation in the northwest. Each time, Yang Yiqing was needed to accurately analyze the enemy's situation and come up with a response plan. Yang Yiqing's importance gradually became apparent.
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At the end of the day's official duties, Yang Yiqing stayed behind at the cabinet for the night. This was the standard during the Northwest War, and cabinet ministers must stay behind to take turns.
Because Yang Yiqing's military knowledge is higher than that of several others, he has been on night watch lately.
Fei Hong and Liu Chun left Wenyuan Pavilion.
Fei Hong looked pale and staggered when he walked. He had been ill recently, and it was not a serious illness. He just looked a little weak. Liu Chun quickly stepped forward to help him, and then carefully asked a few questions.
"I'm okay."
Fei Hong looked at Liu Chun.
In terms of age, Liu Chun is nine years older than Fei Hong. He even died once before, but he happened to be rescued by Zhu Hao. Fei Hong couldn't understand why Liu Chun looked more energetic than him now?
Could it be that because he is not the chief assistant, he does not have to bear too much pressure?
Liu Chundao: "Wang Dehua was re-appointed by the imperial court. Although your Majesty entrusted him with the important task of military staff, he did not put him in a position of real power. Faced with the current chaos in the northwest, should we mention it to your Majesty?"
There were some things that Liu Chun was not allowed to say in public in the court or in the cabinet.
Because Wang Qiong was convicted, it always happened after Jiajing ascended the throne. In other words, it was the emperor who forced Wang Qiong to be suppressed. Regardless of whether Yang Tinghe was in power at the time, or whether Yang Tinghe forced the emperor to do so, at least for now
The emperor completely reversed his previous decision, which is a bit unreasonable.
Lu Wan was able to be re-activated not only because of Zhu Hao's recommendation, but also because Lu Wan was imprisoned during the reign of Zhu Houzhao.
Although Zhu Houzhao died during the conviction process, after all, Lu Wan was already a sinner when the new emperor ascended the throne.
When Zhu Si ascended the throne, Wang Qiong was the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.
Fei Hong shook his head: "You want me to recommend Wang Dehua to form a check and balance with Yang Yingning, right?"
Although Liu Chun spoke a bit cryptically, Fei Hong understood it immediately and did not shy away from the topic.
"Haha, what do you think?"
This is what Liu Chun meant.
Although it seems that Wang Qiong and Yang Yiqing belong to the same faction, after all, they were both pillars of the court. Who obeys whose command?
After Yang Yiqing entered the court, didn't he speak for Wang Qiong?
Everyone in the cabinet can understand the subtle relationship between this. If Fei Hong wants to challenge Yang Yiqing in areas that he is not good at, or even steadily dominate Yang Yiqing, he must have a professional counterpart as a strong assistant.
And this person can only be Wang Qiong.
Fei Hong expressed his resistance, shook his head and said: "Wang Dehua's conviction is the result of His Majesty's decision. Moreover, you and I should know who Wang Dehua is. During the Zhengde Dynasty, he almost covered the sky with one hand... Although I was not in the court at that time,
But the reputation of him among the people is extremely unfavorable. People in the court have suffered from his cowardice for so many years, and now they want to recommend him to return to high positions. I really can't get over the hurdle in my heart."
Although Fei Hong seemed sleek and sophisticated and knew how to get along with the emperor better than Yang Tinghe, Jiang Mian and others, he was still principled.
Even if he and Yang Tinghe belong to different camps, at least Fei Hong agrees with Wang Qiong's conviction.
Now that Wang Qiong has gained a certain amount of power, even if he is still guilty, at least he is not doing too badly. Why should he really take control of the military and political power in the northwest and disrupt the order of the court?
"Um."
Liu Chun nodded. After listening to Fei Hong's words, he understood that although he competed with Yang Yiqing for the right to speak in the cabinet, Fei Hong would not ignore the interests of Ming Dynasty because of personal honor and disgrace.
Liu Chun smiled and stopped mentioning the matter.
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Liu Chun didn't mention it, but it was inevitable that someone in the court would miss him.
There are many people who want to use Wang Qiong to check and balance political opponents, and the ones who can challenge the two elders Fei Hong and Yang Yiqing are not the few ministers in the court, such as the Minister of Civil Affairs, Shi Yun... I am afraid that even he himself knows that he is in this position.
If you can't do it for a long time, you will always be waiting to be ordered by the emperor to retire.
As for Huang Zan, Jin Xianmin and others, they all have their own agendas and really have no qualifications to challenge the authority of the cabinet.
The only person who intends to join the cabinet and hold power is Zhang Cong.
Next to Zhang Cong, there is Gui E, who is equally ambitious.
Zhang Cong and Gui E are currently Hanlin bachelors in the Hanlin Academy. When Zhu Hao is unable to perform his duties, they have firmly grasped the power of promotion, appointment and dismissal in the Hanlin Academy. Of course, they have not acted rashly, like those in the Hanlin Academy.
Those who looked down on them were tit for tat, because at this time both Zhang Cong and Gui E had the same idea, which was to accumulate political achievements and prepare for the next step in joining the cabinet.
Now that Zhu Hao was not in the capital, they lost a strong competitor, and they still had conflicts with the emperor. They had previously displeased the emperor with their remonstrances.
Right now, the most eye-catching thing in the DPRK is the northwest military.
Zhang Cong calculated that he had no military talents around him. Although Zang Feng was trained by the new emperor after he ascended the throne, his ability did not appear to be very high, and he did not have a deep friendship with them... Summing up, he only had Wang Qiong, the former Minister of Civil Affairs, was a master of military affairs in the Ming Dynasty.
Another point... After Wang Qiong obtained a certain degree of autonomy, he began to operate in the capital.
Wang Qiong did not send his family members to carry out lobbying tasks. Instead, he relied on some old disciples and people who sympathized with and recognized his abilities. These people had considerable influence in the court. After all, Wang Qiong had been in the center for a long time in the Zhengde Dynasty and controlled many people. Isn't it natural for people to use their position as an official to place their confidants in important positions?
"...This Wang Butang, despite being in prison for many years, is very generous. I heard that as long as someone can say something beneficial to him in public, he will be punished. The number is not small. Currently, there are many people in the capital. While praising his righteousness for his courage in bringing order out of chaos, they have forgotten that he actually frequently visited the Leopard Room and was the chief culprit of endangering the imperial court."
Gui E went to see Zhang Cong and when she mentioned Wang Qiong, she actually didn't have a good impression of Wang Qiong.
Unlike Zhang Cong, who was admitted to the Jinshi examination after Zhu Si ascended the throne, Gui E was a Jinshi in the sixth year of Zhengde. He had been in the government for a longer time and experienced the sadness and helplessness of officials who had no hope of promotion when the court was controlled by Wang Qiong.
Although theoretically speaking, it is a good thing to cooperate with Wang Qiong, Gui E still subconsciously feels some rejection.
Zhang Cong said: "Actually, Wang Dehua has written frequently to important officials in the capital, including those who are looking for me. He means that as long as he is used to re-manage the military and political affairs in the northwest, he will take my lead whenever it comes to border affairs in the future. Although it is not stated explicitly, it is roughly the same. That’s what it means.”
"He's really brave. How dare he say such nonsense?"
Gui E frowned.
Zhang Cong shook his head: "With his age, how long can he stay in the northwest? Naturally, he has to consider future generations... Zhu Jingdao didn't know why he wanted to use Wang Dehua to coordinate military affairs in the northwest... Now Zhu Jingdao is stunned. He left but left a mess in the northwest."
Gui E asked curiously: "Zhu Jingdao also intervened in the northwest military affairs?"
"Huh, what do you think?"
Zhang Cong said, "I also went to Shaanxi and realized how unpredictable Zhu Jingdao's methods are... When he was in the capital, he looked pleasant and never quarreled with others, but he often did amazing things. Just talk about Yang Yingning. , do you know how much they were working behind the scenes?"
Gui E was also very depressed after hearing this.
Originally, Zhang Cong had discussed with him that they should work together to invite Yang Yiqing to the court to suppress Zhu Hao's arrogance.
The result was counterproductive. When Zhu Hao saw that Zhang Cong was doing something behind his back, he immediately relegated him to another place, leaving the Yili sect "leaderless". Although the Yili sect was nominally headed by Zhu Hao, in fact, these people had already recognized it in their hearts. Zhang Cong.
"After Yang Yingning entered the court, he did have a bad relationship with Zhu Jingdao, and he continued to be dismissed and impeached. Later, he even ordered Zhu Jingdao to go south to be the Minister of the Ministry of Industry in Nanjing. But who knows when Zhu Jingdao will come back? Tang Yin has a good reputation in the northwest, so he still has to Thanks to the emperor's trust in Zhu Jingdao, now we can only use Wang Dehua to get the northwest general to move closer to us as soon as possible."
Zhang Cong was very concerned about controlling the border troops.
Gui E asked: "Shouldn't officials in the capital, especially those in the cabinet, avoid taboos?"
Zhang Cong sneered and asked: "Look at Yang Jiefu before, did he care? Why did His Majesty show so much respect to Yang Jiefu in the first two years after he ascended the throne? Isn't it because all the military power in the northwest is in the hands of Yang Jiefu and Peng?"
"Originally, Li Yue's ability in running the army was not low. But look at it now. It is difficult for him to gain the respect of His Majesty, and the Ministry of War will not let him return. Isn't it because Li Yue failed to meet His Majesty's expectations when he was in command of the army in the northwest?
"If you want to gain a foothold in the court, you must not only understand His Majesty's intentions in governing the country, but also have someone to rely on. Northwest must not delegate power to others."