Number of People

  Chapter 1236 Layout of Geng Scroll

  What Wang Wenyan said is not without reason.

  The First and Second Mansions have a deficit, and the imperial court is well aware that this kind of demolition of the east wall to make up for the west wall is nothing new. Didn’t the Liangzhe Salt Administration have such a situation a few years ago? But five or six big houses have used this method to cover up. This is not really to make up for the shortfall, but to demonstrate, which is obviously unreasonable.

It is impossible for the imperial court not to investigate this kind of situation. At that time, many people will lose their positions or even be imprisoned. Since they know that this will happen, why don’t they think of a way to make up for it first? At least don’t make this ugly. If the situation continues, if you don't give the court face, you are going to kill yourself.

Who can sit on the magistrate position in these big houses, who is easy to deal with, in terms of means and ability, if you want to raise one or two hundred thousand taels of silver or tens of thousands of shi grains, no matter what you do The solution is not difficult for them, otherwise these situations would not have accumulated in one or two years, and even many of them were dragged down by the previous term. After so many years of fooling around, why don't they plan to fool around this year?

  Although this is a year of great planning, people from the Metropolitan Procuratorate of the capital city will definitely be extremely strict, but it happens every three years, hasn't it happened before? I didn't see how many people fell from the horse, why did they deal with it like this this time?

   "Then classical Chinese, what do you think is wrong here?"

  Feng Ziying asked after a long time, but Wang Wenyan immediately heard the meaning hidden in Feng Ziying's words, "Your Excellency also has doubts?"

   "Well, tell me first, and I'll see if our guesses are consistent." Feng Ziying nodded.

"One possibility is that there have been too many arrears over the years, and some people worry that they will not be able to make it through. Moreover, the Minister of the Ministry of Accounts will change hands at the beginning of the year. It should be a scholar from the south of the Yangtze River who will be the Minister of the Ministry of Accounts. Instead of waiting to be exposed and imprisoned in the future, for example With my own person serving as Minister of the Household Department, and the three Jiangnan scholars in the cabinet, plus Daofu Gong who has always been close to the Jiangnan scholars, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and it happens to be resolved together, which can be regarded as pulling out this pustule."

It has to be said that Wang Wenyan has a very clear view of the situation in the DPRK and China. Zheng Jizhi will definitely not let it go when he is the Minister of the Household Department, but he will retire after the turn of the year. The new Minister of the Household Department is from the Jiangnan lineage. There are as many as four cabinet ministers in the south of the Yangtze River, and it is a good time to solve such problems.

Taking advantage of the absolute superiority of the Jiangnan party, which is in charge of the central government, it is undoubtedly a good option to completely solve the problems left over from the previous years and avoid damaging too much Jiangnan's interests, but this will make the court How is the Cabinet responding to the extremity of the treasury? What would Emperor Yonglong think?

   "Well, it makes sense, but judging from the meaning of classical Chinese, this is only a possibility, is there anything else?" Feng Ziying smiled and nodded, motioning for Wang Wenyan to continue.

"There is also a possibility that Jiangnan has undergone changes. Because the imperial court invested too much in the Nine Frontiers and added the governor of Denglai in the early stage, it also caused dissatisfaction in Jiangnan, especially after the Japanese pirates harassed Nanzhi along the river, which caused turmoil among the people in Jiangnan. , Jiangnan gentry were greatly affected by this, so they took this opportunity to force the court."

  Wang Wenyan considered his words carefully, and probably felt that this possibility was a bit alarmist.

"Nanjing Six Departments has always been a place for the imperial court to spend idle time, and basically most of them are scholars from Jiangnan, such as Tang Binyin, Gu Tianjun, Miao Changqi, He Shijin, Yao Zongwen, etc. Now they gather in Nanjing Six Departments, the market is clamoring, commenting on current affairs, Among them, Tang Binyin is running outside, Gu Tianjun is planning inside, and Miao Changqi and Yao Zongwen are the backbone, and now they are also seizing this opportunity to attack,..."

  Gu Tianjun was the secretary of the Ministry of War in Nanjing, while Miao Changqi served as the censor of the right capital of the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate the year before last, Yao Zongwen was the right servant of the Nanjing Household Department, and Tang Binyin served as the secretary of the Nanjing Ministry of Officials last year.

   "Although Huang Yanshi is the secretary of the Nanjing household department, he was attacked by Tang Binyin, Miao Changqi, Yao Zongwen and others. He was in a very difficult situation. He has already written to the imperial court to ask for transfer, but the imperial court has not agreed,..."

Among the six ministries in Nanjing, the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Household are the two most powerful. The Ministry of War in Nanjing is in charge of the transfer of guards in the four provinces of Nanzhi, Jiangxi, Huguang, and Zhejiang. The Ministry of Households is in charge of the taxation of these four provinces. Local officials are selected and appointed, while the Nanjing Ministry of Industry is in charge of the affairs of the four provinces, but its power is much smaller. The Ministry of Punishment is the same as the Ministry of Officials, and only the Ministry of Rites is purely for retirement.

"Wenyan, do you think it's just these Jiangnan gentry's provocations?" Feng Ziying shook her head, "These gentry certainly have some influence, and the Sixth Department of Nanjing did find the right time and reason, but they are court officials after all, and they are conscious Don’t you know the risks involved? Once the emperor is furious, if the cabinet supports it, wouldn’t it be a matter of official documents to purge the Six Ministries of Nanjing?”

  Wang Wenyan hesitated and shook his head: "But even if the emperor is furious, how can the cabinet follow? The first and second ministers will not agree, especially the second minister, and the second Li..."

"It's not the same. Although they are scholars from the south of the Yangtze River or those who are close to the scholars from the south of the Yangtze River, they are also courtiers. They stand at different angles and stand at different heights. It is clear that the needs of the nine sides are the top priority. , if they don’t solve the needs of the Nine Sides, then the world will collapse, unless they dare to think that they would give up the whole north in the Song Dynasty,..."

  Feng Ziying explained patiently.

Wang Wenyan shook his head subconsciously. No scholar-official official could bear such a responsibility. Even the most conservative and localistic scholars in the south of the Yangtze River dared not say that they would abandon the north. Weakness has always been criticized by scholars, and the current concept of the times is simply unacceptable to anyone.

"Of course, what I'm talking about is just an extreme situation. The Six Departments of Nanjing are not completely dominated by a group of short-sighted scholars. It is more likely that it is a game process between the scholars in the south of the Yangtze River and the imperial court. It is just a bargaining. Maybe they think In the current cabinet, there are four Jiangnan faction and pro-Jiangnan cabinet ministers, the Qi division cannot support alone, and the emperor dare not be too tough in the current situation where there are Taishanghuang and Prince Yizhong holding back."

  Feng Ziying’s analysis is also in line with Wang Wenyan’s opinion. The Great Zhou has established a dynasty for a hundred years, and the great unification is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. If a group of scholars from the south of the Yangtze River dare to talk about planning to rule the river, it is purely courting death, but...

  Wang Wenyan suddenly remembered something, and raised his head to look at Feng Ziying.

Feng Ziying also knew that Wang Wenyan must have thought of it, so she nodded, "That's right, a group of literati alone won't be able to make a fortune, and scholars who rebelled will not succeed in ten years, but if there are some other ambitious people involved, even themselves It’s hard to say if these people are fanning the flames behind their backs.”

  Wang Wenyan's face turned pale. Of course he thought about it, but subconsciously he didn't want to believe it, or thought it was impossible.

The Supreme Emperor is still there. Although Emperor Yonglong is in poor health, he is still in court, which means that there is no problem with basic operations and office work. Now he is gradually solving the problem of controlling the capital. At this time, if Prince Yizhong wants to make trouble, no matter where There is no chance in terms of righteousness and strength, isn't it just asking for a dead end?

   But I want to come back. If Prince Yizhong doesn’t make trouble at this time, it seems that there will be no chance in the future. Could it be that Emperor Yonglong slowly suffocates him to death in Beijing?

   "My lord, you mean that Prince Yizhong may be among them... and he wants to take the opportunity to make trouble?"

Feng Ziying shook her head and nodded again, "It's hard to say, I think Prince Yizhong must be behind the scenes, otherwise Jiangnan would not be in turmoil all of a sudden, especially when the court's main energy is still dealing with the war in the southwest and the unrest in the north. There are different opinions on how much damage and impact Japanese pirates' harassment has brought to Nanzhi and Zhejiang. So far, no accurate figure has been given. They suddenly demanded millions of taels of silver to form the Jiangfang Fleet and Jiangbei Town, and even asked to intercept Jiangnan and Zhejiang. The taxes paid by Huguang are simply a drudgery for the imperial court, and the Six Departments of Nanjing suddenly become far-sighted? Gu Tianjun and Tang Binyin have such courage?"

Wang Wenyan also nodded in agreement: "Although the scholars in the south of the Yangtze River are self-confident, there are also many scholars in the north who are officials in the south of the Yangtze River. Similarly, there are also many scholars in the north who are officials in the south of the Yangtze River. I am afraid that they will not agree with some people. Going against the grain, I am inclined to what you said that someone is fanning the flames behind the scenes, but you may not dare to take that step, or it is an excuse to bargain with the imperial court, forcing the imperial court to completely solve these remaining problems and reduce the burden on the south of the Yangtze River,..."

"This is just one of our idealized assumptions. Classical Chinese, you are from the south and I am from the north, but we are from the Zhou Dynasty. We can distinguish the importance of this, but some people are easily blinded by selfish desires. , Dazed to the mind, I am afraid we cannot underestimate the possibility of some people going crazy once they are blinded by interests."

   After this dialogue with Wang Wenyan, Feng Ziying basically straightened out the general situation in Jiangnan. Maybe Wang Wenyan's guess is more likely, but he still believes in his intuition.

Without him, Prince Yizhong is much healthier than Emperor Yonglong. Prince Yizhong will not believe that Emperor Yonglong will let him go before he dies, because Emperor Yonglong knows that once he dies first, his sons will definitely not be able to beat his elder brother Prince Yizhong, whether it is virtue prestige or the influence of connections.

  Wang Wenyan's heart sank when Feng Ziying spoke so seriously. Feng Ziying seldom speaks in this tone, which often means that he has a very positive judgment on this issue.

   After adjusting his mentality, Wang Wenyan asked, "Then, my lord, what do you think we should do now?"

"Let Yaoqing come back from Yongping Mansion, go to Yangzhou and Jinling immediately, and restore your personal connections and intelligence systems there. My father-in-law has been the censor of the Lianghuai patrol salt for so many years, so he should stay more or less Order something? He has only been gone for two years." Feng Ziying took a deep breath.

  (end of this chapter)