Gao pragmatic learned about Shen Yuanfu's appointment today at the Yamen of the Ministry of War. At that time, he was discussing with Qi Jiguang, who came to discuss the issue of salary payment for the Imperial Guards. He was suddenly invited over by Liang Menglong. Liang Menglong told him that Shen Shixing had today.
It is a matter of recommendation from the superior.
Looking at Liang Menglong who looked cautious, Gao Pragmatic suddenly laughed.
Liang Menglong was surprised and said: "If you seek truth, why are you laughing?"
Gao pragmatically said with a relaxed smile: "I laughed at Shen Changzhou (note: Shen Shixing's native place is Changzhou County, Suzhou Prefecture, Nanzhi). He was so ill that he rushed to the doctor. Seeing that we were about to cut off Wang Taicang's return to the court in advance, he unexpectedly
Instead of thinking about how to ensure that Wang Taicang can return to the court smoothly, he instead 'considers victory before defeat' and plans to get Zhao Lanxi back to Shenjing first."
But Liang Menglong hasn't discovered anything wrong with Shen Shixing's approach. He even thinks... isn't this very sound?
"Consider victory before defeat. What's wrong with Shen Yaoquan's approach?"
Gao pragmatic shook his head and said: "There is nothing wrong in thinking about victory before defeat, but the effect of doing the same thing at different times is very different. For example, Shen Yuanfu's timing was very inappropriate."
He paused for a moment and said: "Everyone with a discerning eye knows that Pan Xinchang's incident happened on behalf of others. It stands to reason that Shen Yuanfu should vigorously rescue him. This can not only show that he cares about his colleagues and is a reliable chief assistant, but also
You can also spend thousands of gold to buy horse bones, which will help him gain a good reputation as a person.
But Shen Yuanfu was lucky. Not only did he not come out to seek help, but he continued to implement the previous plan and was eager to find help for himself. He just changed the order slightly and moved the matter of Wang Taicang's return to the court later.
Zhao Lanxi's northward diversion is ahead of schedule.
Doing this will not only make Pan Xinchang regret it, but it will also inevitably make others look down on him. What good will this do to him, Shen Yuanfu? What's more, he picked Zhao Lanxi, and Zhao Lanxi... haha."
Liang Menglong understood the previous meaning, but what's the problem with Zhao Zhigao?
"What's wrong with Zhao Lanxi?" he asked.
Gao Pingshi raised his eyebrows slightly: "If Shen Changzhou vacates the throne and is replaced by Zhao Lanxi, the Xinxue school will definitely be overwhelmed by my Shixue school."
"Oh? How can you see it?" Liang Menglong was a little surprised as to how he came to this conclusion.
Of course Gao Pragmatic couldn't tell him that "history has proven" that Zhao Zhigao was "soft and cowardly". He could only say: "Mingquan Gong was in the Hanlin Academy for a short period of time. It seems that he only studied in the Imperial Academy for a period of time?"
Liang Menglong nodded and replied: "That's right. After I left the academy, I went to work in the military department. My time in the Hanlin Academy was very short."
Gao Pingshi smiled and said: "Besides, I studied at Mingquan Mansion quite early, so I didn't know that when Zhao Lanxi was in the Hanlin Academy, someone had nicknamed him 'Grandma Zhao'."
Liang Menglong was stunned for a moment, then frowned and said: "How could someone in the Imperial Academy ridicule a colleague like this?"
Hey, there's something wrong with your thinking, Da Sima!
Gao Jingshi did not answer the question, just smiled and shook his head, saying: "Wan Sheng has not been in the Hanlin Academy for a long time, so I don't know why he is in this situation... However, doesn't Mr. Mingquan feel that this is also true?"
Does it mean that Zhao Lanxi lacks courage and skill?"
Liang Menglong suddenly realized that this was the focus of Gao Pragmatic's attention.
"I see." He nodded thoughtfully, and said slowly: "As the saying goes, names may be wrong, but nicknames are hard to miss. It seems that Zhao Lanxi's 'mature and prudent' person in the outside world is just that.
It's just a euphemistic way of saying it. If that's the case, it's not a big deal for him to return to Beijing."
"Exactly." Gao pragmatic nodded and said: "Don't say that he returned to Beijing just to be a minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Even if he is allowed to join the cabinet in a few years, Wansheng is not too worried. Therefore, Shen Yuanfu's move, in Wansheng's view
There is no point in coming, but it may create some opportunities for us to prevent Wang Taicang from returning to the court."
Liang Menglong did not accept the challenge for the time being, but instead asked with a smile: "You may not be afraid of having the right minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs let out, but what if he takes over as the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs in the future?"
Gao Pragmatic didn't mean that it didn't matter if he was the Minister of Civil Service - that really did matter, very much.
He pondered for a moment, shook his head and said: "Of course the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel cannot be let out easily, but it depends on the situation, what the other party will give in exchange, and who will be the heavenly official - if Zhao Lanxi is allowed to do it
, we can still talk about it, but if they want Wang Taicang to do it, then there is no need to talk about it."
Wang Xijue was ten times tougher than Zhao Zhigao, and if he was asked to be the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, life would be difficult for the Shi School. Especially if he were to catch up with the Jingcha Year, a large number of people would have to be killed by Wang Xijue.
Liang Menglong nodded and said: "So, we can acquiesce in the transfer of Zhao Lanxi to the north. But speaking of it, I still think that exchanging the right minister of the Ministry of Personnel for the left minister of the Ministry of Justice... It doesn't seem to be very cost-effective, especially
The current Heavenly Official cannot be considered one of our people."
"Mr. Mingquan is worried that the staff is out of control?" Gao pragmatically asked.
Liang Menglong did not deny it, and nodded slightly: "I know that Yang Tianguan has been in Da, Shanxi, and Shaanxi for many years, and he has always been on good terms with Fengpan Gong, but to be honest, today is different from the past after all..."
Gao pragmatic shook his head and said: "Meng Shanggong's three poems and various officials returned to his hometown to support his mother for more than ten years. If Yuan Fu (referring to Zhang Siwei) hadn't invited him again and again, I'm afraid he wouldn't have done it again.
He has become an official in the imperial court. Such a person... Wan Sheng thought that at least he would not be bribed."
Yang Wei is also a well-known filial son. He resigned three times and returned to his hometown to take care of his mother when his career was going smoothly. In the end, his mother passed away peacefully at the age of over 100 years old, which made him highly praised by the world. The last time Zhang Siwei died three times because of his mother's death.
At the end of the year, I personally revised the book and contacted him many times to invite him to come out. Only then was he invited back to the court to serve as the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.
After careful consideration from all aspects - including his official experience - Gao Pangshi came to the conclusion that Yang Wei may not be a serious pragmatic school, but in a practical sense, he cannot avoid being labeled as a "Jin Party"
.
Since it is definitely classified as the Jin Party by outsiders, it is not much different from being directly classified as the Practical School. After all, the current Jin Party is completely different from the historical Jin Party. It can be regarded as joining the Practical School with Gao Dang as the core.
A series of.
Therefore, Yang Wei seems to be neutral and neither a group nor a party, but in fact he is definitely a pseudo-neutrality based on the standpoint of the Real School.
Liang Menglong was a disciple of Zhang Juzheng and was not particularly familiar with these "old news" about the Jin Party, but since Gao Pragmatic was so sure, he had no choice but to believe it.
So he changed the topic and asked: "We can agree to Shen Changzhou's exchange, but what's next for Pan Xinchang? Should we take advantage of Shen Changzhou's disregard for him and pull him over again?"
So that even if Wang Taicang returns to the court, he will not have a chance to join the cabinet?"
Well, it is possible to do this, but Gao Pragmatic does not intend to do it this way.
Gao pragmatic shook his head: "This time the situation is different from the past. Pan Xinchang's impeachment cannot be turned back."
"Why?" Liang Menglong asked. According to Liang Menglong's understanding of Gao Pragmatic, he felt that Gao Pragmatic acted with a businessman's attitude in many things. What is the attitude of a businessman? The attitude is that as long as the benefits are in place, there is nothing that can't be done
Talk about.
It may not be difficult to defeat Pan Xinchang, but after defeating him, the pragmatic school does not seem to be able to gain any practical benefits. According to Liang Menglong's understanding of Gao Pragmatic, in this case, if Pan Xinchang can be stabilized, he may even be able to defeat him.
If you win over, the benefits should be greater, and Gao Pragmatic should not refuse.
But Gao Pragmatic said: "Wansheng said before that one of the main reasons for dealing with Pan Xinchang this time is to let the people of the Xinxue school know that even if we don't have the first assistant to hold the battle, we still can't be bullied and cannot be bullied.
Humiliation. This means that we cannot compromise casually this time and must show our prestige."
He paused and narrowed his eyes slightly: "Besides, I guess the reason why Shen Yuanfu didn't save Pan Xinchang this time was probably because he wanted to weigh my weight. Haha, this master of mine is also a loser.
Those who are preparing for the battle...If this is the case, let him know about it and be ready for another battle next time."
Of course, Liang Menglong would not be so stupid as to take these words completely seriously. He did not believe that Gao Pragmatic really wanted to reveal all his cards to Shen Shixing, and then fight him openly.
How is this a pragmatic style?
Liang Menglong was fully confident that Gao Pingshi's so-called "let him understand" was definitely calculated. Everything that Shen Shixing could understand was what he wanted Shen Shixing to understand.
These things may be true, false, or both true and false, but that doesn't matter.
As for the reason, Liang Menglong certainly couldn't guess how specific it was, but generally speaking, the word "digging a hole" could not be escaped.
He nodded and said: "In that case, who should go to court to impeach him next? Isn't it time to change to an important minister with enough weight?"
Gao Pingshi laughed, nodded and said, "What Mr. Mingquan said is absolutely true... The person who impeached him this time has enough weight."
Liang Menglong raised his eyebrows slightly: "Who is it?"
Gao Pingshi said: "Mr. Que'an."
"Ah!" Liang Menglong said in surprise: "Wei Que'an is far away in Nanjing. You contacted him so quickly, and you were even able to impeach Pan Xinchang on the forum?"
Gao Pinggong said sincerely: Of course, you don't think that I really waited until the discussion on the Double Ninth Festival was over before starting to implement the plan? Was I sleeping all that time?
He smiled and did not explain the details. He just said: "Because of Ding You, the time for Duke An to return to the court was not good last time. There was no vacancy in the court, so he had to go to Nanjing to be the Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing. This time
It was a coincidence. Some time ago, he investigated the tax situation in Yingtian, Zhejiang and other places, and found that the economic development of some places was very good, but the taxes were shockingly low, so he checked some local things by the way, and the result was
Many frauds were discovered..."
Liang Menglong obviously didn't believe Gao Pragmatic's words. For example, after Wei Xuezeng became the Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing, he investigated the tax situation in Yingtian and Zhejiang. This may be true, but he "happened" to find out some fraud cases.
Something is very wrong - how can there be so many coincidences in this world?
Liang Menglong felt that it was very possible that this "coincidence" was entirely arranged by Gao Pragmatic or instructed by Wei Xuezeng.
As for the reason... Zhejiang maritime merchants are not just opposing Jinghua today. Including the big businessmen in Yingtian, they have been resisting Jinghua's "invasion" openly and covertly for at least ten years.
Three feet of ice does not freeze in a day. What happened to Liu Shou last time has already shown this.
And since the big businessmen in Jiangsu and Zhejiang regard Jinghua as a hostile bandit, how could Jinghua not react at all? Maybe they have already been collecting evidence of their crimes.
In fact, Liang Menglong's conjecture was basically true, but he overestimated Gao's pragmatic energy.
Ever since he was named on the gold list, Gao Pragmatic has been busy in the past few years and has no spare time to launch any countermeasures against the Southeast Merchant Gang.
Jinghua really started to investigate the big businessmen in Yingtian, Zhejiang and other places only after Wu Dui and his son Wu Xun had a conversation with Gao Pragmatic. And the person responsible for this matter was also a colleague from Jinghua Ningbo Port.
Manage Wu Xun.
Early the next morning, the Secretary of General Affairs sorted out the memorials sent by various yamen as usual and submitted them to the cabinet. Shen Shixing and Shen Yuanfu came to duty early, and drank West Lake Longjing, which must be genuine, in their duty room.
While starting to review various memorials.
After reading for a while, I wrote a few notes. When I opened the next memorial, my face suddenly froze, and then my face suddenly darkened.
The title of this memorial reads "I impeach the great scholar Pan Sheng and request that Ningbo and other places be increased in grain tax or increase the commercial tax rate".
How are the impeachment of Pan Sheng and tax increases in Ningbo and other places connected?
Shen Shixing guessed that this sparse text was extremely unusual before he even read the text. He immediately took a look at the person who wrote it, and it was written "Wei Xuezeng, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs in Nanjing"!
Shen Shixing gasped - Wei Xuezeng was far away in Nanjing, why did he go to court to impeach Pan Sheng so quickly? This couldn't be a coincidence!
Looking at the content of the text again, Shen Shixing's face became more and more ugly, and soon his face became as dark as water.
Wei Xue once stated in his memorial that when he investigated the land tax and commercial tax situation in Yingtian, Zhejiang and other places, he found that in places such as Ningbo, the people were obviously very wealthy, but the land tax collection was extremely low, and the proportion of commercial tax (excluding ports)
It is pitifully low.
Taking Ningbo as an example, the imperial court's largest income now actually comes from several local private ports. But the tariffs paid by the private ports may also have big problems: Jinghua Ningbo Port, the largest single private port, pays as much as
Twenty-seven thousand taels. However, the other private ports in Ningbo combined are more than twice the size of Jinghua Ningbo Port, but the taxes that can be paid are only more than 19,000 taels.
The tariffs of the Ming Dynasty are now implemented according to the method that Gao Jingshi suggested to Gao Gong, that is, regardless of the goods, it is only based on the size of the ship. Therefore, since the scale of Jinghua Ningbo Port is smaller than the sum of other private ports, then
Logically speaking, taxes should be lower. Why is it that Jinghua now pays 27,000 taels in taxes per year, while other private ports combined still pay 8,000 taels less than Jinghua?
As for why this matter is linked to Pan Sheng again? This is simple: Wei Xue once found out that Pan Sheng's nephew Pan Yi suddenly became the boss of a private port.
Seeing this, Shen Shixing immediately became restless.
----------
Thanks to book friends "Cao Mianzi" and "book friend 20200611115727398" for their reward support, thank you!
Thanks to book friends "Too Fat to Fly", "Zhou Yanyy", "Cloudy Good Mood", and "1 Optimistic and Good Young Man 1" for their monthly support, thank you!