Chapter 282 Political events inside and outside the palace (35)
The news was naturally sent by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Gao Pragmatic was "burn it after reading it", so he threw the secret letter into the stove and burned it, and then began to ponder the value of this information.
In fact, Li Wen's actions after entering Guangjinfang last time were already known, and Gao Wushi knew that he had investigated the garrison situation of Kunning Palace. But what was the reason this time? Gao Wushi couldn't be sure now.
Regarding Li Wenjin's investigation into the garrison of Kunning Palace, Gao Pragmatic paid great attention to it but was not worried about it. In addition to the two sets of guard systems on the table, the overt and the dark ones, Gao Pragmatic did not have other arrangements for Kunning Palace.
Many movies and TV dramas of later generations like to portray Dongchang Dajue as various martial arts masters. This is of course family talk or artistic processing. However, although there are no martial arts masters at the martial arts level, there are indeed martial arts masters. In
After confirming that Wang An could be trusted, Dongchang had already mobilized some martial arts masters from the inner court to quietly enter Kunning Palace on duty.
Speaking of martial arts masters, you may need to say a few more words to avoid misunderstandings. Gao Pragmatic has met many martial arts masters in his life, among which famous figures include Qi Jiguang, Ma Fang, Liu Xian, Liu Wei, Totto Chataiji, etc.
people.
If we want to be more relaxed, then the wives and concubines in his family, such as Huang Zhiting, Liu Xin, and Narita Kai, are also from Lianjia. Let's put it this way, any three of them can defeat him, the invincible, in close combat.
In Nanning, it may only take two or three breaths to do it.
However, from a high and pragmatic perspective, martial arts is more about a combination of good physical fitness and proficient fighting skills, rather than the mysterious and mysterious so-called internal strength described by writers.
Regarding the nature of martial arts, he also seriously asked Huang Zhiting and Liu Xin, both of whom had taught Gao Yuan martial arts. Huang Zhiting's answer was very similar to his. She replied: "Martial arts is nothing more than strength and
It’s a combination of techniques, and different people have their own techniques that are suitable for them to practice.”
Liu Xin's answer was more modern. She said: "You can understand that martial arts is the formation of muscle memory through countless exercises, and then through countless actual combats, this muscle memory reaches the level of conditioned reflex."
She further explained to Gao Pragmatic, using her and her brother Liu Wei as examples, saying that the martial arts she had practiced since she was a child was mainly about dodging and seizing the enemy's weaknesses to make quick breakthroughs. The attack move she practiced most was stabbing, which focused on one blow at a time.
To kill, you must avoid fighting with others, and avoid protracted fighting, which may lead to your own lack of strength;
But Liu Wei is not like that, it can even be said to be exactly the opposite. Liu Wei is born with supernatural power. The main skill he practices is to attack the opponent's unavoidable vital points and force the opponent to use his moves forcefully, so he can only compete with him in terms of strength.
——That basically became Liu Wei’s unilateral murder.
In fact, speaking of it, "Yu Long Qi Hu" was the real master of martial arts in the Jialong Wan era. Unfortunately, Gao Pingshi had never met Yu Dayou. Although he had a close friendship with Qi Jiguang, he almost never discussed martial arts.
It can’t be said that Qi Jiguang didn’t discuss martial arts with him. In fact, martial arts in the military were briefly discussed. For example, Qi Jiguang told him at the beginning that martial arts training in the military should not be flashy. There is no need to have a lot of moves.
The most common and practical moves are taught to soldiers, with no more than seven moves before and after.
Seven moves are still for infantry, and even less for cavalry. All together, there are no more than five moves. As for training, it is to practice these moves, practice them well, and be able to use these moves without thinking when facing the corresponding situation.
Suitable moves to deal with. According to Qi Jiguang, the so-called martial arts, those who reach this standard in the military are considered elite.
All the above can confirm a doubt that Gao Pragmatic had when he was a child in his previous life: How exquisite a move can make a "young hero" who just learned this move from a picture instantly become invincible?
After arguing for a long time, this kind of thing does not exist at all. Instead of believing in this magical move, it is better to believe in the saying "The only martial arts in the world is fast."... So if it weren't for the fact that firearms were not allowed in the palace, Gao Pragmatic would have wanted to let Kun
Ning Gong's reliable eunuch has a short flint gun, which is probably more reliable than a martial arts master.
Now that he has arranged a back-up, Gao Jingshi is naturally confident. In addition to continuing to send people to monitor Li Wenjin's every move, Guangjinfang itself is also the focus of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. But other than that, Gao Jingshi does not pay much attention to the follow-up of this matter.
developed.
According to his previous predictions, the follow-up development should probably be that some eunuchs and even Jing soldiers were bribed, and took advantage of the gap between the Kunning Palace guards and the Jing army to change defenses, and sneaked into the palace armed with weapons such as daggers and daggers.
He attempted to commit an assassination, but was subdued on the spot by a hidden stake in Dongchang, and both the man and the stolen goods were seized.
It has to be said that things like Minister Wang gave Gao Pragmatic a kind of mental attitude, thinking that many major events in the Wanli period were as ridiculous as children playing house, and they were really not worth bothering with, just casually
Arrangements are made for people. To a certain extent, this can be regarded as a kind of inflated mentality.
However, the news just now reminded Gao Pangshi - if they had discussed everything before, and there is no good news about "the assassination was successful" now, why would Li Wenjin go to Guangjinfang again?
Gao Pragmatic was a little unsure, so he could only order further exploration and reporting, and requested that all the information discovered should be reported in detail.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Gao pragmatically had a hasty lunch, signed several departmental replies (replies to official documents) from the Ministry of Household Affairs, and finally received detailed information from the Ministry of Internal Affairs again.
In this news, the Ministry of Internal Affairs lived up to its high expectations and brought several details: The first detail is that Li Wenjin did not go to Guangjinfang on his own initiative, but someone went to his house to invite him. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has already sent the person who invited Li Wenjin
Monitor it and wait for orders at any time to see if you want to control it further.
The second detail is that Qian Menggao from the Criminal Division went to Guangjinfang last night, and with him was an old man who smelled vaguely of medicine. He looked like a doctor.
Another characteristic of this new old man is that he speaks Mandarin with an obvious Jiangnan accent. The reason why this was discovered is because after he entered Guangjinfang, he happened to meet a gambler who had lost his money.
I had to smash a teapot, and the boiling tea in the teapot splashed on the old man, causing him pain and he yelled at the gambler.
It is not surprising that the Ministry of Internal Affairs can get this news. After all, it is too simple for Jinghua to arrange for a few gamblers and the like to go to a casino like Guangjinfang. Business under the name of Gao Jingshi can be found all over the world, and arrangements can be made
A few "business people" from all over the world went to the casino to have fun, and no one could figure out why.
The third detail is that Qian Menggao returned to his home less than an hour after entering Guangjinfang last night, but the old man did not appear with him. Now the Ministry of Internal Affairs can conclude that the old man stayed
Guangjinfang, so far has not been out again.
The fourth detail is that the Ministry of Internal Affairs, jointly with the Federal Reserve Bank of China and the Beijing Branch of Beijing Bank of China, found that in the past month alone, Beijing Branch of Beijing Bank of China has handled more than 1.4 million taels of banknotes from some customers of the bank’s account in the Jiangnan area.
Bank bill settlement business.
To put it simply, within a month or so, some Jiangnan customers conducted intensive financial activities at the Beijing Branch of Jinghua Bank. The so-called financial activities can be divided into many types, such as deposits, withdrawals, transfers, account merging, etc.
of.
According to Gao's pragmatic understanding, this is an uncommon phenomenon. The Beijing Branch of Jinghua Bank is indeed the largest branch in the Jinghua system, and the financial activities that occur in the bank every year are as high as tens of millions of taels of silver (note that this is
Not referring to profit), but it is obvious that this kind of financial activity is centered on the Beiyang Maritime Trade Alliance system, plus most of the officials and wealthy businessmen in the entire capital. The financial activities from the Jiangnan area are relatively small.
It's relatively few.
Funding activities in the Jiangnan region are generally distributed among the five major branches in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, namely Nanjing Branch, Suzhou Branch, Yangzhou Branch, Hangzhou Branch and Ningbo Branch.
These five places themselves are also places where business activities in the Ming Dynasty are particularly prosperous. Even though there have been a lot of open and secret fights between Jinghua and the local chaebols in Jiangnan, the local banking business is still doing very well, attracting a large number of depositors, and also releasing many
Loans not only have considerable profitability, but also promote the further prosperity of local businesses.
So now the question arises. There have been no special business events in the recent period. How come the capital activities in the Jiangnan area are so intensive in the capital? Which Jiangnan chaebol or which Jiangnan chaebol mobilized funds so generously in the capital? He
Or what is their purpose in doing this?
The root of any military problem is a political problem, and the root of any political problem is an economic problem. Since Jinghua Bank has discovered such an abnormal situation, it is impossible for Gao Pragmatic to feel at ease without investigating.
Jinghua Bank does have internal regulations not to disclose customer information to the outside world, but this practice has no legal effect in the Ming Dynasty of this era, but is just a kind of business self-discipline. What's more, "not to be disclosed to the outside world" is just "not to the outside world", and it does not mean that Jinghua Bank
He couldn't even check it himself. At this point, Gao Pragmatic naturally ordered an investigation into the holders behind these funds without any psychological burden. At the same time, he also asked the bank to try to figure out what the money might be used for.
Four details, four doubts everywhere. Gao Pragmatic is almost certain that things are not as simple as he thought before. However, although there are many doubts now, the response he can do is always very passive, and he can only wait for the other party to make the first move.
It seems that there is no place where he can take the initiative, which makes Gao Pragmatic very unhappy.
At present, in addition to keeping surveillance on some characters, the only thing Gao Pragmatic can do is to keep an eye on the key figure Li Wenjin. Not only must he be monitored at his residence outside the palace, but he must also pay special attention to his behavior after entering the palace.
Condition.
For example, Chen Ju, Wang An, and Liu Ping all received high and pragmatic instructions. Once Li Wenjin enters the palace, they must send people to keep an eye on him. And once he goes to Kunning Palace, everyone must be guarded.
The "three lines of defense" of Kunning Palace have all entered a state of "war preparation". They mustered their utmost vigor and made every effort to restrict Li Wenjin's activities and never let him do anything evil.
Regarding the flow of huge amounts of funds in Jinghua Bank, it was only after Gao Yingshi returned home from get off work that he finally gained some insights. Gao Guoyan, chairman of the Ming Dynasty Federal Reserve and president of Jinghua Bank, personally came to Nanning Houfu to report the situation to his cousin Gao Jingshi.
"Rixin, the source of these funds has been roughly locked. They mainly come from the wealthy chaebols in Yangzhou, Suzhou, and Hangzhou. Most of the money owners have very strong political backgrounds." Gao Guoyan said with an expression.
Reported very seriously.
"How powerful?" Gao pragmatically asked.
"Far away are the Xu family of Huating, nearby are the Shen family of Changzhou, the Wang family of Taicang, the Zhu family of Shaoxing, the Pan family of Xinchang, etc., they are all among them."
"The Zhu family in Shaoxing refers to Zhu Jinting? The Pan family in Xinchang...could it be Pan Shuilian?" Gao Pragmatic asked with a frown.
"Yes, both companies are involved. The former accounts for about 80,000 taels in this capital flow, and the latter accounts for about 60,000 taels."
Zhu Jinting is Zhu Geng, and Pan Shuilian is Pan Cheng. Jinting and Shuilian are both their nicknames. Among them, Zhu Geng is the current minister and is currently the left minister of the Ministry of Rites; Pan Cheng has retired long ago and currently has no heirs serving as officials in the court.
There is a grandson named Pan Zhisheng, named Lu, who is famous for his good painting. He is good at ink flowers and orchids and bamboos. He is especially famous in the Jiangnan area and can be regarded as a romantic and talented person.
As for the Xu family in Huating, that is the Xu Jie family. Of course, Xu Jie has passed away fifteen or sixteen years ago. His three sons all have Yin officials, but none of them holds real power.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! A relatively accomplished grandson is Xu Yuanchun, who was a Jinshi in the second year of Wanli. This person became the minister of Taichang Temple in the eleventh year of Wanli.
—However, I am still in this position and have become a deadlock.
Of course, this is also because Taichang Temple is a relatively powerless yamen, which is in charge of various sacrifices, rituals and music. Because the emperor Zhu Yijun was very lazy, he did not go to many sacrifices in person, but just let a group of nobles take turns to perform sacrifices on their behalf.
, so the sacrificial work was not taken seriously by the court.
In addition, as his name suggests, Gao Pragmatic is very "pragmatic", and the allocation for sacrifices is quite strict. As a result, the amount of money passed by Taichang Temple every year is very limited, and there is no way to make money, so no one covets his Taichang.
The duties of the temple minister.
But even so, the Minister of Taichang Temple was still a third-rank official in the imperial court, and Xu Jie was also an old chief minister who had disciples and former officials all over the world, so the political status of the Xu family was still preserved, especially in the Jiangnan Shilin.
General reputation.
As for Shen Shixing, Wang Xijue needs no introduction. It has only been a few years since he stepped down, and the tea cannot get cold that quickly.
However, Gao Pragmatic still felt that something was not quite right. Even if each of these families had 70,000 to 80,000 taels of silver, it was still far from the scale of capital activities of more than 1.4 million taels.
When asked, Gao Guoyan's expression became more serious and he said: "That's the problem. On the surface, these families are the main ones, but the trouble is that there are too many families that follow them."
"How many?" Gao Pragmatic asked with a frown.
Gao Guoyan said: "Forty-two families in Yangzhou, seventy-five in Suzhou, and fifty-three in Hangzhou. The amount of funds remitted by these followers is variable, ranging from thousands of taels to hundreds or thousands of taels.
It doesn’t look conspicuous at first glance. But after analysis, we found that almost all of these families are Shilin families, and there are very few pure businessman families.”
As soon as he said this, Gao Pragmatic realized the seriousness of the problem: This was indeed a political incident, and it was not even particularly closely related to economic interests.
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ps: This chapter is to make up for yesterday. It is said that these chapters are a bit difficult to write, and they will affect a lot of the plot, so I took a look at the outline... There were only two sentences in the outline, and I burst into tears, Zhuo.