Unifying the financial power of various ministries into one, such a big move is obviously not something that can be easily negotiated. In addition to the important national ministers and officials in the capital who have to express their opinions, Nanjing officials and local officials obviously also need to make their voices heard. When all opinions were gathered in the Qianqing Palace, the emperor would finally make a final decision.
This will obviously take some time to ferment, so some opponents will have time to find reasons or find solutions.
On this day, in a grand mansion located in the northwest of Qingchengfang and southeast of Chengshou Temple, there were three people who were thinking of a solution.
This mansion has recently changed its owner. The original owner's surname was Xu, from Xu Jie. Later, the mansion was changed to Liu, from Liu Shouyou. Later, it was confiscated, and it was confiscated by the palace. Logically speaking, the mansion was confiscated. He said his surname was Zhu.
However, after a period of time, the house changed its surname for unknown reasons. It is said that the palace thought the house was useless and sold it to raise funds, so the house was named Zhang.
It’s not Zhang Juzheng’s Zhang, nor Zhang Jing’s Zhang, but Zhang Cheng’s Zhang.
Since Zhang Jing left, Zhang Cheng has become the third person in the palace. This sentence is actually a bit problematic. In fact, when the palace formally discussed the ranking earlier, Zhang Cheng was also before Zhang Jing, but Zhang Jing was Domineering, usually his arrogance seems to be higher, but many outsiders who don't know the inside story think that Zhang Jing is higher than Zhang Cheng.
Zhang Cheng witnessed Zhang Jing's defeat with his own eyes. Although there were still some minor doubts that he had not fully clarified, he still had some inferences about what the problem was. In the final analysis, Zhang Jing underestimated Gao Pragmatic. Not only did they underestimate the importance of Gao Jingsi in the eyes of the emperor, but they also underestimated the power of Gao Jingsi in the palace.
Zhang Cheng feels that the key to Gao Jingshi's power in the palace lies in three people: one is Huang Mengyu, the other is Chen Ju, and the third is Princess Yongning.
These three people are all people who have great influence on the emperor. The first two are the emperor's cronies, and the latter is the emperor's sister. If these three people are always by the emperor's side, Zhang Cheng wants to Furthermore, it is extremely difficult.
Perhaps Princess Yongning doesn't care whether Zhang Cheng is progressing or regressing, but as one of the chief ministers of rituals, Zhang Cheng is the third largest force different from Huang Mengyu and Chen Ju. It is impossible for Huang and Chen to allow this. He continued to grow bigger, because that would mean that one of the two of them would lose ground.
Therefore, the difficulty of progress is to get rid of Huang Mengyu and Chen Ju, but the more difficult point is that Huang Mengyu and Chen Ju are both highly pragmatic allies. When they are together, Zhang Chengcheng can't find a way. Moreover, ...Once you offend Gao Pragmatic, it will be no different than offending Princess Yongning.
It was no longer possible to win alone, so Zhang Cheng began to look for allies. At first, he thought of Shen Shixing and Yu Youding. Later, Shen Shixing was indecisive and promised to make Gao pragmatic a stumbling block after his expedition, but it turned out that they did not Although Yu Youding was more courageous, he died too early.
In short, that "union" was not dead on paper, at least it was not actually implemented. According to Shen Shixing, it was "waiting for the opportunity", but according to Zhang Cheng, it was dead.
So after that, Zhang Cheng returned his attention to the palace and looked for new allies - or backers.
There are actually only a few people with real status in the palace. Although the status of the queen mothers of the two palaces is respected, they have basically left the court's sight now, and their influence cannot go beyond the Forbidden City, so it's okay to rely on it.
The status of the Empress is actually not bad, but unfortunately, this empress is too strict. Zhang Cheng feels that it is useless to rely on her. If something happens to him, she might be the first to stand up and punish him, so it is better not to do anything.
Lean over.
If Zhang Cheng had the demeanor of Zhang Juzheng to burn the cold stove, he might choose Concubine Wang Gong at this moment. After all, the most pragmatic and hostile force in the outer court now is the Xin School, and the Xin School strongly recommended Zhu Changluo, the son of Concubine Wang Gong, as the crown prince.
It's a pity that Zhang Cheng doesn't like burning cold stoves. He feels that Concubine Wang Gong really can't speak in front of the emperor. Relying on her is no different from relegating himself to the cold palace. It's completely a secret conspiracy.
In terms of favor, the most favored woman by the emperor must be Concubine Zheng, so Zhang Cheng decided to seek refuge under Concubine Zheng.
This decision seems to be quite correct, because after Concubine Zheng was reprimanded by the emperor for being pragmatic last time, on the one hand she decided not to compare her importance with Gao pragmatism, on the other hand she also secretly reflected on it, and finally thought that she still could not rely solely on personal saints.
The dependents remain in a low position.
Even if this holy family cannot be weakened, we still have to find ways to continue to expand the favor in the emperor's mind, and this requires someone to help.
Zhang Cheng, as one of the chief officials of the Supervisor of Ceremonies, and not a well-known "high-ranking party" like Huang Mengyu and Chen Ju, was naturally an excellent candidate for Concubine Zheng to win over.
Naturally, they hit it off immediately, Zhang Cheng suddenly had a backstage, and Concubine Zheng suddenly had a helper.
When the matter reached this point, it should have come to an end, but Zhang Cheng suddenly realized that he seemed to have other more important roles, such as... bridging the gap between Concubine Zheng and the Heart School.
This idea sounds very nonsense at first: the prince whom the Xin School wants to promote is Zhu Changluo, the son of Concubine Wang Gong, and the prince whom Concubine Zheng wants to promote is naturally her own son Zhu Changxun. The views of the two sides are completely different. What kind of string are you pulling and what bridge are you building?
But Zhang Cheng doesn't think so. He believes that the two parties have something in common. The common point is that their views are different from Gao Pragmatism.
Gao pragmatically advocated waiting. When the queen has a legitimate son, there will be no need for these arguments to continue.
In other words, Gao Pragmatic neither supported Zhu Changluo nor Zhu Changxun. He was the opponent of both the Heart School and Concubine Zheng.
After Zhang Cheng thought about it, it was definitely impossible to persuade Concubine Zheng to agree to make Zhu Changluo the crown prince. This woman was so favored by the emperor that she would never give up the opportunity to make her son the emperor, so there was no possibility of compromise on her side.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! If you want to compromise, Zhang Cheng thinks that the Xin School can compromise. At least... Zhu Changluo is not their son. If you praise him to the sky, he will succeed to the throne in the future.
I won't call you Shen Shixing or Wang Xijue as "Shangfu" or "Yafu".
Therefore, Zhang Cheng believes that if he wants to fight against Gao Pragmatic and then take down Huang Mengyu and Chen Ju, the most critical alliance of forces is the alliance between the Xin School and Concubine Zheng. As for Zhang Dayun, that is of course the best alliance.
mixture.
Connecting the inside and outside, who else could it be than me?
So Zhang Cheng sent someone to quietly deliver the invitation today, inviting Grand Scholars Shen and Wang to come to his foreign residence for a chat.
When Shen Shixing arrived, Wang Xijue came as promised, but his face looked very solemn, and there was not much intimacy when he met Zhang Cheng.
Wang Xijue and Zhang Cheng were not familiar with each other, but they had met several times when they were working as Japanese officials in the past. They didn't even exchange a few words with each other, so it made sense that they couldn't bear to be intimate with each other.
Shen Shixing was not affectionate, but Zhang Cheng felt that it was probably intentional. After all, although the relationship between the two of them had turned cold some time ago, it was because of differences in views on the issue of dealing with Gao Pragmatism. In fact, the two of them had no relationship at all.
Broken Face, in theory, is still an ally.
As for why he did it deliberately, it must be because of Wang Xijue. Wang Xijue values face very much and always treats eunuchs like Zhang Cheng without pretense. Shen Shixing may be looked down upon by Wang Xijue, so he acted like this.
After Zhang Cheng understood this, he felt a little uncomfortable, but when he thought of his purpose, he calmed down and buried his dissatisfaction in his heart, with a smile on his face.
After a while of polite politeness, Zhang Cheng quietly brought the topic to the point. He asked Shen Shixing: "I heard that Gao Situ has been very active recently. Yuan Fu regulates yin and yang and governs the world. Is it possible that Gao Situ's
Are all the actions approved?"
Shen Shixing had no expression and his tone was dry: "Gao Rixin is the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. If he wants to talk about the affairs of the Ministry of Revenue, no one in the world can stop him."
Zhang Cheng was not angry, but instead asked Wang Xijue with a smile: "Wang Ge is always in charge of the Ministry of Industry in the cabinet. Could it be that he also agreed with Gao Situ to take over the power of the Ministry of Industry?"
Wang Xijue said calmly: "If I really want to oppose any political affairs of the dynasty, I won't stick to the Ministry of Works."
Zhang Cheng smiled and said: "So Wangge always really has no objection?"
Wang Xijue was silent for a while, and finally couldn't help but snorted softly and said: "Gao Rixin wants to take over the world's wealth and power in one hand. I am naturally opposed to this."
Zhang Cheng then asked: "Why does Mr. Wang Ge object?"
Wang Xijue frowned and said, "Why is this worth asking? If the financial power of each department is dispersed, even if the department suffers a loss, the damage will only be limited to one side. If the Ministry of War is in deficit and war breaks out, it can still be given to the Ministry of Husbandry; the Ministry of Husbandry is also in deficit.
Then we can still rely on the internal funds. If the ministries have no financial power, once the household department is short of money, won't the government be ruined? At that time, everything in the world will rely on the internal funds. I don't know if the emperor's internal funds can be so abundant?"
Zhang Cheng nodded repeatedly while listening. When Wang Xijue finished speaking, he even boasted loudly: "You are so sincere! What Mr. Wang Ge said is really a wise move for the country. Our family was really enlightened after hearing this."
Then he frowned fiercely: "But having said that... with Gao Situ's holy family and the power of the Real School, if all the princes in the court cannot refute it together, I am afraid that the emperor... will find it difficult to refuse the suggestion of this classmate and important minister.
.”
This was a completely correct nonsense, so although Wang Xijue snorted lightly, he didn't say anything.
Shen Shixing was still able to bend and stretch. When he put on his airs, he was the first assistant, and when he put it down, he could be a compliment. He immediately asked: "Mr. Zhang seems to have a high opinion, why don't you come and listen to it?"
Zhang Cheng smiled: "How can I say anything? But I think that although the practical learning is powerful, it can't beat the mental learning. The two elders are helpless at this time. The key is that there is no powerful support in the palace, so it is difficult to directly
Influence the emperor's mind."
Good guy, this is also a completely correct bullshit, so before Shen Shixing opened his mouth, Wang Xijue couldn't help teasing him, and smiled at Zhang Cheng: "Did Mr. Zhang mean that you are here to help?"
Wang Xijue is indeed very arrogant and has a tough temper. It would be fine if he didn't have the teasing expression on his face when he said this. But with this expression, it becomes a mockery, which means: You are worthy of being a pragmatic person in the palace.
The opponent?
Zhang Cheng's temples jumped twice, and he almost couldn't help but sarcastically, but after all, the desire for "progress" outweighed everything else. He actually held it back, but his smile faded, and he said in a neutral tone: "Of course our family is still not good enough.
A little bit, but not everyone in the palace has such ability."
Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue looked at each other, feeling puzzled. The two of them, as official officials, could react quickly enough to this kind of thing. In the time they looked at each other, they had already inspected the important figures in the palace.
, but they think it is impossible.
There are only a few people in the palace who can influence the emperor under the "shadow" of Gao pragmatism:
The empress dowagers of the two palaces can be counted. Regardless of whether the emperor is close to them or not, these two are his aunt and biological mother. In the Ming Dynasty, a country where filial piety is paramount, as long as the empress dowagers of the two palaces are determined to demand that the emperor will not listen to the pragmatic Gao
Even if the emperor is persuaded by Gao Pingshi to talk nonsense about taking all the wealth and power in the world, it will be useless. At least he has to give face to the empress dowagers of the two palaces.
However, the problem is that the two palaces will definitely not do this: Empress Dowager Chen is famous for treating Gao Pragmatism as a subordinate minister left to the emperor by the late emperor Mu Miao, and she herself does not interfere in the government affairs, and has not commented on the government affairs after returning to the emperor.
It is completely impossible to expect her to object to even one opinion.
Empress Dowager Li had several opinions about Gao Pragmatic, but it was later proven that it was her fault, either because of a misunderstanding or because she was deceived. She even lost face due to this, and finally had to let the emperor take charge.
Under such circumstances, it is almost impossible to expect her to jump out again.
After all, after she let him go, the emperor won consecutive battles and achieved national prestige several times. As long as she was not completely senile, she would not be able to humiliate herself again - look at this, Queen Mother Li is actually only four years old now.
How can you be so old and confused at just ten years old?
Next up is the Queen... Forget it, don't mention it. She is not only a high-pragmatic support object, but also a role model, and it is absolutely impossible for her to take the initiative to interfere in politics.
Below the queen is the imperial concubine, but this is even more impossible. For the imperial concubine Zheng, what Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue are going to do now is to "rob the throne that belongs to my son." She will not rebel even if her brain is convulsed.
It's better to go overboard and help the school of thought.
After Concubine Zheng, who else has enough influence on the emperor? Huang Mengyu and Chen Ju may have a little more, but that is probably unrealistic. Both of them were promoted by high pragmatism and have been high pragmatism for many years.
How could a die-hard ally, such as Duan Duan, betray Gao Pragmatism?
Going forward...it seems to be gone, right? Could it be that Zhang Cheng was talking about Concubine Wang Gong?
Forget it, Concubine Wang Gong can save her own life in the palace, even if the Bodhisattva opens her eyes, she has no ability to influence the emperor! If she had such ability, Zhu Changluo would be the fucking crown prince by now.
At this time, Zhang Cheng looked at the two pavilion elders who were full of suspicion, and Shi Shiran smiled and said: "You two don't need to guess anymore, we are talking about Concubine Zheng."
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