Chapter 2776 Capital (one hundred and twenty-nine)
In the past few years, he has been secretly collecting dirty information about the restoration of the society, preparing for a fatal blow. Wen Tiren knew that the emperor's most taboo was "forming parties".
When the emperor first came to the throne, in order to exclude the eunuchs, he appointed members of the Donglin Party, but later alienated Donglin. The reason was that he hated ministers who planted the party, not just the "eunuchs". After the Wei Zhongxian clique was eradicated, Donglin
The party's problems gradually became prominent, attracting Chongzhen's attention. He turned his attention to those "lone ministers" with no party background. He gradually excluded the Donglin Party members from the center of the cabinet.
After excluding the Donglin Party, the emperor did not reinstate members of the eunuch party. In the selection of cabinet members, he preferred to choose ministers with no obvious partisanship. Zhou Yanru and Wen Tiren entered the cabinet, and they were "non-partisan" in the eyes of the emperor.
"It has a lot to do with it. Of course, only God knows whether they are independent or not.
Zhou Yanru wants to return to the cabinet with the help of Donglin's restoration, which must be prevented at all costs. This is not just a matter of power distribution, but once Zhou Yanru returns to the cabinet, Donglin will definitely have to deal with him.
Attack Qian Longxi and settle the old accounts of Yuan Chonghuan.
As for the "conquering Kun" and "opening of ports" mentioned during today's meeting, they were not on his mind.
His most important thing now is to fight back against Donglin and Fushe.
Wen Tiren's attacks on political opponents were very powerful. Unlike other politicians, he never launched a public opinion offensive that was "like snow". This was useful for some emperors, but for Chongzhen, who opposed "party formation", it was not suitable for certain emperors.
If someone impeaches too much and too concentratedly, it will only arouse his doubts - if it weren't for forming a party, how could so many people come together to attack?
A very important reason why Wen Tiren can still stand is that the Donglin Party's methods are not suitable for the emperor's thinking mode. Wen Tiren, on the other hand, does the opposite. If he wants to exclude someone, he will wait patiently for the opportunity.
This person made a mistake, and then went up to add insult to injury. If he didn't take action, he would often kill the opponent. Ever since he attacked Yuan Chonghuan and brought down Qian Longxi, he has basically never failed to punish his opponent.
This is what is called "taking action for the sake of things, making them spontaneous, without any doubts". Sometimes he would pretend to be magnanimous and say good things for a person, but in fact he connected this person with things that the emperor was taboo about, making the emperor
Make him even more angry, thereby increasing the punishment for this person. This is called overt rescue and hidden harm. If he wants to recommend someone, he will secretly instruct others to make suggestions, and then express his opinions himself. In short, no matter what he does, he will do it secretly.
Take action and never show up in person.
He had the same idea when dealing with Fushe. Although he did not take action, he always asked his brother to secretly discuss whether there were people who would return to Fushe. Last year, Lu Wensheng and Zhou Zhikui's attack on Fushe gave Wen Tiren an excellent opportunity.
Opportunity.
If Zhou Zhikui's opposition to the restoration of society was due to his past political differences and his subsequent "loss of office", Lu Wensheng's attack contained elements of the local Jin gentry's struggle for power and profit.
Lu Wensheng is also a native of Taicang. Although he has no fame, he is also a member of the Jin gentry. When he was young, Zhang Cai and his classmates lived in the home of his grandfather Zhou Wenqian. In the ninth year of Chongzhen, the two had a falling out due to trivial matters. Lu Wensheng held a grudge and wanted to seek revenge.
Zhang Cai then came up with the idea of going to the capital to accuse Fu She.
Naturally, going to Beijing to accuse such a big matter was to deal with the "Fushe" whose reputation was at its peak. A "white person" like Lu Wensheng would not dare to make any independent claims. Naturally, he had the support of "big shots" behind him.
This important figure is not Wen Tiren. He is Wang Shimin, a prominent family member in Taicang. This gentleman is a descendant of the former chief minister of the cabinet Wang Xijue. He has a "family friendship for two generations" with Wen Tiren. He is deeply relied on by Wen Tiren and is more generous than other close relatives.
thick.
At that time, the prominent families in Taicang were the Wang Shizhen family, who was an official in Wanli and the Minister of Justice in the Ministry of Justice, and the Wang Xijue family, who was an official in Wanli and became the chief minister of the cabinet. After Zhang Pu advocated the restoration of society, the gates and walls became prosperous, and many descendants of prominent families lived under the sect. Wang Shimin thus harbored resentment.
In Fushe, Lu Wensheng saw exactly this and went to the door to tell him that he wanted to enter the capital.
Wang Shimin said: "The Prime Minister has resumed the society, and it is the right time to participate in it. However, the Prime Minister is serious and does not treat people lightly. The only person in charge is Deqing who governs the government and it is appropriate to do business." Lu Wensheng followed his instructions and went to Beijing to visit Cai Yichen.
Submit a rough draft.
Wen Tiren read the rough draft sent by Cai Yichen and thought that Zhang Cai was of no importance, so he instructed Lu Wensheng to change the target of his attack to Zhang Pu. He also criticized Zhang Pu from the perspective of "using excuses to raise wages and chronicling treachery".
However, this opportunity was offset by the influence of Fushe. Ni Yuangong, the Tixue censor who was responsible for investigating the case, and his successors Qi Wei and Zhang Fenghe either returned to Fushe or delayed the case. During this period, Fushe also used the relationship of its members to
By giving Lu Wensheng a "good job", he was transferred to Yongzhou Prefecture in Hunan Province to serve as an official. Wen's close confidant Cai Yichen's intention to induce him to submit another letter completely failed.
Wen Tiren did not lose heart, because he still had a card in his hand, which was Zhou Zhikui, who was the first to come out to rejoin the society. For this reason, he specially sent his party member Cai Yichen to Fuzhou to persuade him to submit a letter again.
According to the letter, Zhou Zhikui is already on his way to Beijing and will arrive in the capital soon.
This is his first move. The second move is to deal with Qian Qianyi and eradicate the leader of Donglin. A two-pronged approach. Qian and Zhang are the leaders of Donglin and Fushe. It is inevitable that there will be many conflicts between them.
The exchanges must also include discussions about the imperial court and some political operations. Moreover, according to the information he obtained, Zhou Yanru intended to revive, and Qian Qianyi was also one of the operators.
If these three people can be linked together, the label of "forming parties and disrupting government" will be firmly established. Once a prison breaks out, even if one can escape with one's life, there will be no political future.
Wen Tiren's calculation was very shrewd, and he himself was not involved in the whole process. The emperor was determined not to understand the tricks behind the case.
"Will Wen Tiren be deposed in June this year?" Wang Yehao asked in a low voice.
"This is what is written in the Book of Heaven." Zhou Lezhi said, "Master also said that it is correct."
"Looking at his appearance, the emperor still has great trust in him!"
Even though the Book of Heaven has successfully predicted many major events, Wang Yehao is still a little uneasy about such major court events. Because many of the predictions of court affairs and world events in the Book of Heaven have gradually become less accurate in recent years. About
Zhou Lezhi naturally couldn't solve this problem, because he could only read the "Book of Heaven". As for his master, he could only mutter some crazy things like "butterfly", "Caribbean" and "typhoon", and Mr. Wang was too lazy to ask any more questions.
Wang Yehao's meeting with Zhou Lezhi today was conducted in secret. Zhou Lezhi had already warned him that there must be many spy spies around the palace, and their meeting must be very confidential, otherwise Zhou Lezhi's life would be in danger.
If Zhou Lezhi farts, the "Book of Heaven" will be just a piece of waste paper. Wang Yehao is the Minister of the Ministry of War and the Minister of the Ministry of War, so he has to follow the instructions. Mr. Wang changed his disguise today and left home among the businessmen going in and out of the mansion. On the way
After changing his clothes once, he came to this secret place to interview Zhou Lezhi.
Regarding the court situation, Zhou Lezhi's judgment was naturally not as good as Wang Yehao's, so he did not express an opinion.
"Forget it, this matter has nothing to do with us. We are happy to sit back and watch." Wang Yehao said, "It's just that today's court meeting seems to still require a war. In the emperor's heart, he probably still wants to seek peace through war."
"It doesn't matter whether we fight or not. Just don't let the imperial court lose its vitality." Zhou Lezhi sighed, "After this battle, I'm afraid Zuo Kunshan will lose his troops! Zhong Lun doesn't have many soldiers in his hand, so he has to recruit Kun.
Nine times out of ten, he will call upon Commander Zuo’s troops..."
"Haha," Wang Yehao sneered, "Zhong Lun only holds the title of governor of Southern Jiangxi. How can he command those arrogant and powerful generals in the Central Plains? Zuo Kunshan has always been arrogant and self-willed. Zhong Lun takes command this time and only wants to
It’s a good ending if you don’t lose too badly!”
Seeing that Zhou Lezhi was a little disappointed, he said: "Sir, don't worry too much. You can talk about the opening of the port..."
When he summoned today's cabinet, everyone said what he said.
"...Wu Cheng is right. Shanghai is an important coastal town in the south. It is indeed a big deal to discuss its opening as a port!"
Zhou Lezhi thought for a moment and said: "No matter how many ships the Jin gentry travel, it is still a private matter and cannot be put on the stage. It will be very difficult to cross the open road! Alas!"
"Qian Tai rushed there..."
"It's not in the way." Zhou Lezhi said, "If it doesn't work in Shanghai, we can change it to Ningbo."
"Ningbo?" Wang Yehao is very familiar with Ningbo, not only because he is from Zhejiang, but also because he has rummaged through many old materials about the opening of the port. Ningbo's port geographical environment is better than that of Yuegang, and it has a prosperous port.
The Jiangnan region serves as the hinterland. Although Shanghai does not have the Yangtze River water transport in terms of transportation, it can also reach Hangzhou directly by using the Yongjiang River and is connected to the Grand Canal. In terms of water transport, it can also enjoy the benefits of being accessible in all directions.
"I'm afraid this will be difficult..." Wang Yehao shook his head and said, "Since the opening of the sea in Longqing, officials from Zhejiang Province have petitioned three times to open the sea in Zhejiang, but the court has refused."
"This time, that time." Zhou Lezhi said, "In the Jiajing and Wanli dynasties, the world was peaceful. The opening of ports and tax collection were just the icing on the cake for the court. Naturally, it is better to have more people in the center than to do less. Now that the world is in turmoil, the court is most lacking.
All that matters is money. Is it possible that the Jin gentry of Zhejiang Province just watched China Merchants Bank make money?"
Although there are many Jin gentry from Jiangsu and Zhejiang participating in the investment bank, most of them belong to the Fushe Group, and the majority are from the four prefectures of Su, Song, Hu, and Hangzhou. There are much fewer Jin gentry in the southern states.
These people are the potential supporters of Ningbo Kaihai. If they are willing to take an active role, there is still hope for this matter. What's more, the government is currently discussing the "Conquest of Kun". In the past, the merchants who turned a blind eye to the Kun thieves made money.
The Jin gentry probably also wanted to cut off and "cross the clear road" to feel at ease.