For a regime, the biggest troubles are nothing more than two types, one is the invasion of foreign enemies, and the other is internal corrosion. Gao Pragmatic's efforts in the past twenty years have brought about Ming's economic and military strength, which is significantly higher than the level in the original history. Improved, concerns about invasion by foreign enemies decreased significantly.
However, due to the strict ancestral restrictions on the internal structure of the Ming Dynasty, and Gao Pragmatic's own age, which restricted him from entering the top level of the imperial court in a legitimate sense, his reform of the political system obviously lagged far behind his economic and military reforms. reform.
This means that the problem of internal corrosion in the Ming Dynasty has almost remained the same so far. Party strife is only the most obvious problem. Under the party strife, there are some deeper troubles, that is, the unlimited expansion of personal interests can even affect the entire party. .
Just as the alliance between Gao Dang, Xu Guo, and Shen Li, headed by Gao Pragmatic, was formed within the Practical School, the problems within the Xin School gradually surfaced with the Cajun uprising secretly promoted by Shu Yinglong.
In essence, the internal structure of the Heart School itself is looser than that of the Real School, and they don't even pay as much attention to many specific matters as the Real School does.
What they attach great importance to is the promotion and dissemination of a kind of theory, that is, Xin Xue, and they hope that through the ideological unification of high-level officials in the imperial court, the court will operate in accordance with Xin Xue thinking.
If we look at it from this perspective alone, as a school of "practical ethics", the fundamental purpose of the Xinxue School is to achieve "gentleman's government", that is, everyone in the court is a gentleman, and they should promote it in accordance with the etiquette and morality that a gentleman should have. social operations.
This idea may be very beautiful, but in Gao Pragmatic's view, it is like trying to build communism in the feudal era when the level of social productivity was extremely low. The idea looks very beautiful, but in fact it is simply impossible to achieve.
The production relationship must conform to the level of productivity. This is something Gao Xiang has heard about since he was in elementary school. He has basically formed a solid thinking in middle school, and the principles are clear in college. There is no need to have any doubts about whether this theory is correct.
Therefore, Gao pragmatism does not engage in mental learning, but implements practical learning honestly and diligently promotes social productivity.
The Xin School obviously does not recognize these things, and they still compete with the Practical School based on their own interests. However, in the face of various high-pragmatic practical results, the Xin School's days in the court can be regarded as Wang Xiaoer's New Year, and each year is worse than the last.
Seeing that Gao Jingshi will have a strong impact on joining the cabinet after the victory of the Battle of Yuan Dynasty, the political balance between the practical school and the Xinxue school is very likely to be broken. The possibility of the Xinxue school being completely overwhelmed by the Xinxue school is doubled. Some people It began to break away from the control of Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue, and began to put its own interests above the interests of the party.
Just like Shu Yinglong's "Operation Yellow Bird" this time, he ostensibly supported Wang Xijue's plan to cause a commotion in the Cao Army, but he deliberately used "excessive force" to turn the turmoil in the Cao Army into a riot.
Wang Xijue hoped to control the scale and create a riot of more than a thousand people, arouse the imperial court's vigilance and review the excessive investment in Fa Yuan, and then use formal party struggle methods to force the imperial court to reduce the resources in Gao Pragmatic's hands, such as military strength and financial resources. His ultimate goal was This makes it impossible for Gao Pragmatic to completely clean up the remaining Yuan, bring the situation back to "normal", and continue the previous political confrontation. As for other things, we have to take it one step at a time and wait until later.
If everything went as Wang Xijue thought, the Ming court certainly wasted a lot of energy, money and time but failed to complete the planned strategy. However, from the perspective of the Xin School, it at least stabilized the political balance between the court and China, which was a good deal for them. Risks are also controllable.
As for the bankruptcy of the imperial court's grand strategy, although that is a pity, you don't need to worry too much - it doesn't matter if Gao Pragmatic fails to succeed this time, because we gentlemen with high moral standards will naturally take care of it when there is a chance in the future!
However, just as the Reality School now includes the "radicals" headed by Gao Pragmatic and the "conservatives" led by Xu Guo and Shen Li, the Mind School, which originally had a relatively loose organizational system, also formed under the political pressure brought by Gao Pragmatism. Two similar factions.
Shen Shixing, who is smooth-tempered and tolerant when faced with difficulties, is of course a typical "conservative", while Wang Xijue, who is relatively more aggressive and decisive, is regarded as a "radical" by the officials below. However, for some people below, Wang Xijue's "radicalism" is not enough, he needs someone to add fuel to his fire.
Shu Yinglong's move is of course adding fuel to the fire for Wang Xijue. Not only that, Shu Yinglong himself also wants to reap full benefits from this - you, Wang Ge, can always be the initiator of this operation, but I, Shu Yinglong, must be the direct person in charge. And assume greater responsibilities in it, laying a solid political foundation for future leadership.
Therefore, Shu Yinglong acted quietly to aggravate and expand the situation, turning the riot of more than a thousand Cajun troops into a riot of tens of thousands of Cajun troops, and turning the dangerous and controllable Cajun riots in Zhenjiang and Yangzhou into a Cajun riot in Nanjing.
Nanjing under the "Two Capitals System" was attacked by tens of thousands of rioting Cao troops. The political risk involved would be ten times that of Wang Xijue's plan. This forced the court to take immediate action, and it was impossible to intervene immediately in high pragmatic conditions. When Yi Fei arrived in Nanjing, he handed over the task of quelling the riot to Shu Yinglong, the governor of water transportation.
This is internal corrosion, where personal interests override party interests and even national interests.
And this also means that under the pressure of the Practical School, the Xin School also experienced internal ideological splits and formed new changes. At the same time, Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue, as mature and steady old-school politicians, had to tolerate this split. , hoping to bridge the internal discord and strive to stabilize the current situation first before liquidating or purging it later.
However, Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue may have underestimated Zhu Yijun's courage and courage at this moment. After receiving the news that Nanjing was attacked by the rioting Cao army, Emperor Wanli's first reaction was not panic, but simple anger.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! All cabinet ministers and Minister of War Zhou Yong were immediately summoned to the Wenhua Hall to face the saint. Zhu Yijun simply asked about the cause of the riot and the current situation in Nanjing Whether it was occupied by the rioting Cao army, and then directly asked Wu Dui, Liang Menglong and Zhou Yong how to fight the counter-insurgency battle.
These three people have either been in charge of the Ministry of War or are currently in charge of the Ministry of War. Although the information received so far is not very detailed, it is at least clear that the city of Nanjing is still in the hands of the imperial court.
Wu Dui was the cabinet elder in charge of the Ministry of War in the past. After Liang Menglong joined the cabinet, he could nominally intervene in the affairs of the Ministry of War, but in fact he mainly helped the pragmatic Ministry of Household Affairs; Liang Menglong was directly in charge of the affairs of the Ministry of War, but mostly At the strategic and tactical levels, it is mainly up to Da Sima to do it himself.
Therefore, Zhou Yong had to stand up and prepare to answer the emperor's questions. However, this situation was not what Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue wanted to see. It was just that as Wang Xijue was a group assistant, the matter the emperor asked had nothing to do with his leadership, so it was not convenient to directly intervene.
Interrupted, so Shen Yuanfu had to stand up.
As the first assistant, Shen Shixing certainly had the right to say anything, so he said before Zhou Yong could answer "how to fight": "Your Majesty, I don't think it is appropriate to discuss how to pacify the enemy by force at this moment, or even rush to put it down."
This incident is defined as a riot."
This statement conflicts with Zhu Yijun's views, but the traditional power of the Ming Dynasty is strong enough. Even the emperor has to give the dignified chief minister a chance to speak. He can only be patient and nod with respect: "What's so great about Mr. Shen?"
About teaching me?"
Shen Shixing looked solemn and saluted: "I don't dare. I think that the Cao Army's accident was ultimately caused by Japanese pirates attacking and burning a large number of canal ships, which caused the Cao Army to think that it would have to bear 40% of the losses.
Therefore, there are two most critical points at the moment: first, why were the Japanese pirates able to march straight into Nanjing, and what happened to Susong's coastal defense? Second, although the Cao army's losses were huge, because the incident happened suddenly, no one in the world could predict it, and the imperial court
If the compensation for the Cao army's own losses could be reduced or reduced as appropriate, the commotion might have been eliminated without the need to use force to suppress it.
Your Majesty, the Cao Army is not actively plotting a rebellion. Suppressing it easily will only cause pain to relatives and happiness to enemies. There has been no war in Nanjing and surrounding areas for a long time, and the guards are not prepared for war. A rash war may not be a good opportunity, but will only make the situation worse.
The situation is getting worse and the harm is very serious. I ask your Majesty to think twice."
Zhu Yijun was silent for a moment and asked: "So, where did this group of Japanese pirates come from, and how did they escape the coastal defense surveillance and enter the Yangtze River, and even kill them outside Nanjing?"
This is also a matter for the Ministry of War, and Zhou Yong still has to come forward to answer. When Gao Pingqing was in Beijing, this great Sima rarely had the opportunity to perform. Now that he has such an opportunity, it is all bad things, which is unfortunate enough.
Zhou Yong subconsciously cleared his throat and saluted: "Back to the Emperor, regarding the Japanese pirates entering the Yangtze River, Liujiahe guerrilla Tang Wenfang stationed in Chongming County has reported back.
According to him, seven Japanese pirate ships entered the Yangtze River Estuary from the south of the island at that time. The Chongming Qianhu Guard Station and the Susong Anti-smuggling Fleet Chongming Coast Defense Station of the Customs Administration Tax Police Corps discovered the thieves at the same time. The Chongming Qianhu Guard Station immediately discovered the thieves.
A ship was sent to notify the main guard (Zhenhaiwei, stationed in Taicang Prefecture, Suzhou Prefecture), and the Susong Anti-smuggling Fleet of the Tax Police Corps of the Customs Department immediately dispatched a warship in the port at the time (that is, the armed transport ship) to follow and pursue.
The Japanese pirate ships were small, and if they sailed on the sea, they would be slower than the warships of the anti-smuggling fleet. However, because the sea winds dropped sharply when entering the Yangtze River, the large ships of the anti-smuggling fleet were actually slower than the Japanese pirate ships, so the pursuit effect was inevitably poor.
After Zhenhaiwei learned the news, they could only send two small warships from the nearby Fushan Inspection Department to join the anti-smuggling fleet warships to pursue them. Therefore, the three government warships could follow and get farther and farther away from the Japanese pirate ship.
Fortunately, God did not bless the thieves. Not long after, strong winds began to blow, and the speed of the large ships of the anti-smuggling fleet increased. Finally, the Japanese pirates attacked the Cajun army on the Qinhuai River. Within half an hour, they were attacked by three warships of the official army, which caught up.
He did not give up and continued to loot, burn boats and other evil deeds, and fled by trying to escape..."
Zhu Yijun stretched out his hand to stop him from continuing, but asked: "I want to ask two things: First, Chongming County is in the center of the Yangtze River Estuary. Da Sima said that those Japanese ships sailed in from the south of the island, does that mean they came from Suzhou?
Song or Zhejiang direction?
Secondly, the Japanese pirates have always acted for the purpose of making money. I heard that the prosperity of Shanghai Port is now as prosperous as Nanjing. Why did the Japanese pirates go to Nanjing instead of going to Shanghai Port? It should be noted that Nanjing not only has strong city defenses, but also had a large number of Cao troops gathered at that time.
There are more than 30,000 Japanese pirates, but the number of Japanese pirates is less than 11 of the Cao army. Why are they so brave?"
Zhou Yong replied: "I once listened to the introduction of Da Situ and learned that the Japanese pirates came to our country in the Ming Dynasty to take advantage of the wind and ocean currents. Therefore, when they came from the Japanese country, they would mostly drift to the Zhejiang line. It is not surprising that they appeared in the south of Chongming Island this time.
There is no need to elaborate on the strength of our Ming Dynasty's coastal defense, but the coasts of Jiangsu and Zhejiang have not been invaded by Japanese pirates for many years, and there are fixed patrol times in normal times. As long as the Japanese pirates have one or two inside lines, they will definitely be able to escape our patrol fleet. But there are indeed some
One doubtful point is that in addition to our naval patrols, there are countless merchant ships traveling along the coast of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. However, this time not a single ship discovered the thieves and reported them. This is really unusual.
As for why the Japanese pirates did not attack Shanghai Port and went to Nanjing... It is not clear why they went to Nanjing, but it makes sense for the Japanese pirates to harass Shanghai Port. Your Majesty, Shanghai Port is a private port of Beijing. The port has strong coastal defense and coastal defense.
There are twelve No. 1 guns and more than thirty No. 2 guns. There are also a large number of sea ships stationed in the port all year round, including many of Jinghua's gun-carrying armed transport ships. The Japanese pirate ships have few people, so the chance of success in attacking Shanghai is extremely low. Not only
It was unprofitable and even suffered a strong blow.
As for Nanjing, the Cao army gathered this time, with hundreds of ships and countless cargoes on board. The profits were huge, enough to make the Japanese pirates envy them and make them salivate. However, the Cao army was not good at fighting, and was defeated by the Japanese pirates many times at a very small price decades ago.
They plundered a large amount of goods, so the Japanese pirates were not afraid of the Cao army.
I believe that the issue at hand is not why the Japanese pirates dared to go to Nanjing, but how the Japanese pirates knew that a large number of Cao army ships were docked in Nanjing at that time - as far as I know, the Jiangnan canal ships gathering in Nanjing this time came from Shu Yinglong, the governor of water transport.
Order."
Zhu Yijun's eyes narrowed: "Is Grand Sima doubting Shu Yinglong?" As soon as he said this, Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue couldn't help but frown, thinking in their minds how to deal with such doubts.
But unexpectedly, Zhou Yong behaved very "fairly" this time and did not admit this statement. Instead, he said: "The emperor misunderstood. What I meant was that there was someone informing Shu Yinglong or within the Cao Army."
In fact, it was not that Zhou Yong did not doubt Shu Yinglong, but that he believed that his words were not pragmatic and effective, and he was not an official, so he could not just "hear and discuss matters" without any factual basis, so he could not say anything to death.
For him, the key to whether there is any problem with Shu Yinglong is whether he can investigate. As long as there may be Japanese pirates around him, he can go back and investigate. At this time, it is not surprising to investigate Shu Yinglong himself.
----------
Thanks to the book friend "Cao Mianzi" for the reward and support, and the book friend "Shadow Year" for the reward to Gao Pragmatic, thank you! (By the way, what is the reward for Gao Pragmatism?)
Thanks to book friends "klauszx", "Myzen0915", "Yun Covers the Moon and Rain", "Fat Belt Paper", "Liuguang Sword Language", and "Cao Mianzi" for their monthly ticket support, thank you!
