Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 329
There is still some chill in Beizhili in March, but this so-called chill is insignificant compared with the atmosphere in the capital.

The not-so-large study room in Prince Qi's mansion is full of officials at this moment, and at a casual glance, they are all high-ranking senior officials.

It's just that these big figures who can stir things up at will, but at the moment they lower their heads like a cicada, looking at their noses and their hearts...

"Den...Den...Den..."

In terms of position, Zhu Youjian's hands beat rhythmically on the table, and every blow seemed to hit everyone's hearts.

In such a deadly environment, Zhu Youjian suddenly said: "Cui Yingyuan..."

"I am humble!"

Cui Yingyuan came out in cold sweat, his feet softened, and he knelt directly on the road between the two rows of officials on the left and right.

"Drought in eight provinces, how many powerful gentry and corrupt officials have become fat, are you blind in the eyes of Fusi of Nanzhen?!"

"I am guilty of crimes, but I really don't know about Weibei. According to your Highness, since the five years of the apocalypse, inspections have been sent every season to inspect, but those who come back report the well-being of the people throughout Shaanxi. ...humble position...this...that..."

"What this and that!"

Zhu Youjian grabbed the memorials and hit Cui Yingyuan in the face. A thick stack of memorials was scattered all over the place. They were all memorials that Sun Chuanting rushed to the capital in three days.

"Death penalty for a humble job!" Cui Yingyuan threw himself into the ground, while Gu Bingqian, Lu Wenzhao, Wang Chengen and others all tensed up.

"Soldiers and horses, servants of the Ministry of Justice, Dali Temple of the county government, Huangdian, Huangzhuang..."

Zhu Youjian read out the departments he arranged in the local area one by one, and scanned everyone with sharp eyes:

"With so many pairs of eyes, except for the six Yanshan officials in Luochuan County, are the rest blind?!"

"I'm waiting for death..."

Gu Bingqian and others took the lead in kneeling down, and this kneeling was followed by more than thirty fourth-rank officials.

"Death crime and death crime! You only know how to talk about life and death, but not the solution. Could it be that you have also accepted the money below?!"

Zhu Youjian maintained a questioning tone all the time, invisibly putting pressure on everyone, Gu Bingqian immediately took the lead and said: "I don't dare to wait..."

"We don't know about the Weibei incident this time. Your Highness, you should know that we mainly live between the Ministry of Households and the Ministry of Rites. The soldiers, horses and yamen are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Punishment. Dali Temple is also autonomous. The cabinet can only deal with the matter, I really don't know about it..."

Gu Bingqian's words are sincere. Although they are also greedy for money, they also know what can and cannot be greedy.

They are actively handling the famine in the eight provinces. If they are really greedy for money, they just get some kickbacks from it. How could they do something like Weibei.

Those who can become senior officials of the fourth rank or above are all good people. They may not be able to lead troops to fight or govern their country, but they are definitely good at manipulating people's hearts.

Weibei officials' eating looks are too ugly, and they are completely forcing the people to fight against them.

It would be impossible for Gu Bingqian and the others to do this. Instead, they would select some people from among the victims as representatives to tell the difficulties of the imperial court, and then strictly control the food so that no one would starve to death.

Select one person from among the disaster victims to give power, and the person selected is not the one who is famous among the disaster victims and can gather people's hearts, but the kind of person who will be despised, gossiped, and looked down on all the year round.

Once this kind of person came to power, he would punish all the people he looked down upon, and wantonly use his power to oppress the victims.

When this person has accumulated grievances to a certain point, officials can stand up, push the matter onto this person, and use his life to quell public grievances.

In the end, the corruption problem of officials was solved, and the pent-up breath in the hearts of the people was relieved.

As long as they don't make a big fuss and don't attract the attention of the people above, officials can simply corrupt Mi Mai, because after the people get angry, they won't think about where Mi Mai has been corrupted.

Or, the officials say that the corrupted Mimai is found, and then the victims are given some good food, and after a few days, another person is pushed up, and the cycle repeats.

This method is a commonly used method in politics, and it is even more common in the management of some companies.

The boss cannot directly conflict with the employees. At this time, it is necessary to support the management to squeeze the employees.

But the difference is that in ancient times, there was not much pressure and moral principles to restrain people who were once looked down upon by others, while modern management needs to bear this kind of pressure.

After a few months, a year and a half, when the management finally got tired and tired, and offered to resign, the boss had to pretend to be reluctant, but in fact he was so happy that he died.

Disperse the focus, change the subject of contradictions, use the bottom people to manage the bottom people, and fight each other...

This is called the "bottom management model" in modern times, but it was called "the art of controlling the people" in ancient times.

With this method in hand, Gu Bingqian and the others naturally knew how to control the people, and Zhu Youjian didn't think they would do such a stupid thing.

On the contrary, the five parties of Qi, Chu, Zhejiang, Xuan, and Kun who are getting worse and worse, and the shameless eunuch party can do such things.

The reason is very simple, all the officials in the Royal Qi Party know about one thing.

His Royal Highness King Qi is a person who likes to be lenient and strict with others. If he is strict with outsiders, he will not be held accountable. But if he is strict with others, he will often be dealt with by Jin Yiwei.

Jiugang, Annan, Xiaoxiyang Supervisory Commission... and the Nanzhou Propaganda Division that will be established soon.

These are all places where you can go to get money for nothing, and come back for nothing.

Right now, Gu Bingqian and other senior officials of the fourth rank and above receive more "moistening pen silver" from officials who want to go to these places.

Officials who have gone to these places will continue to hand in "moistening pen silver" in order to keep their positions.

Zhu Youjian is very clear about this, but he has been opening and closing one eye all the time.

The official salaries of the Ming Dynasty are too low, and it is very sad and nourishing not to be greedy. It is impossible for everyone to be like Hai Rui and Yang Lian.

Therefore, he did not blame everyone, but only opened his mouth after Gu Bingqian's self-report:

"How many places in the eight provinces are the same as Weibei?"

"Detain Yanshan officials, resell food stamps, embezzle money for labor relief, falsely spread the name of corvee, and let the people bring their own dry food to work..."

"There is also the joint gentry to raise food prices, and the annexation of the "division of land" that the imperial court has explicitly banned cannot be bought and sold. What else is going on? How many other places are doing this?"

"Not to mention the fact that officials in Yanshan did not dare to report, and the eunuchs in Huangdian and Jinyiwei, Fusi of Nanbei Town, acted like no one else, and they jointly committed corruption with local officials."

"Your Highness, calm down..." Lu Wenzhao, Wang Chengen, and Li Ruolian all knelt down.

"The supervisory department took several actions, and each time it checked thousands of people from the Yuma prison and thousands of people from the Jinyi guards. I really thought that the only ones left were clean officials."

A hint of mockery appeared on Zhu Youjian's face, while Lu Wenzhao and the others buried their heads deeper.

"The Supervision Department of Jinyiwei dare not investigate, right? Then should the East Factory and West Factory come to investigate?!"

Zhu Youjian drank softly, but Lu Wenzhao had no choice but to say:

"Your Highness, it's not that the Jinyiwei of the Supervision Department dare not investigate, but that the foundation of the Jinyiwei has been broken. Among the more than [-] people, except for the [-] people who entered later, the remaining [-] people are old people left during the Wanli period. .”

"This checks a batch, beats a batch, and raises another batch. It's really rats everywhere, and it's hard to eradicate..."

"The same is true for the Huangdian and Huangzhuang of Yumajian..." Wang Chengen lowered his head, and Zhu Youjian took a deep breath and said:
"Okay, it's because I didn't understand enough?"

"It's not... Your Highness..." Lu Wenzhao and Wang Chengen hurriedly explained, but Zhu Youjian said in the next second:

"The fourth batch of Yanshan students graduated ahead of schedule. Ten days later, after referring to Enke, they will be divided into Jinyiwei, Huangdian, Bingmasi, Yamen, and Dali Temple..."

"Appoint Sun Chuanting as the governor of the four provinces of Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, and Hexi, and hold the lonely marching flag to act as the governor of the four provinces."

"If you encounter corrupt officials, you don't need to ask for instructions, and you can deal with them in accordance with the "Law of the Ming Dynasty" on your own with evidence!"

"I'll take orders..." Gu Bingqian and others responded one after another, while Zhu Youjian's side just got angry, but the eunuch party was in chaos.

Cui Chengxiu, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, summoned all the officials of the fifth grade and above in the eunuch party, and hundreds of officials gathered in Cui Chengxiu's mansion.

Regarding the civil uprising in Shaanxi, some of them were anxious, some whispered, and some were uneasy.

Obviously, the Shaanxi civil uprising has an inseparable relationship with the eunuch party.

There are hundreds of officials with various appearances outside the hall, but there are only a few dozen people sitting in the hall.

Cui Chengxiu sat at the main seat, and Wang Tigan who came from the palace sat beside him. The two tacitly held tea and sipped it from time to time.

Below them are Yao Zongwen, Tang Binyin, and Gu Tianjun, three Zhejiang, Xuankun and other parties who formed a party to protect themselves.

When the incident broke out, they quickly abandoned the Chu party officials, and the Qi party began to weaken after Qi Shijiao, Zhou Yongchun, and Han Jun resigned and were dismissed one after another.

It can be said that in the five-party alliance of Qi, Chu, Zhejiang, Xuan, and Kun, the Qi party has existed in name only, and the Chu party has also been abandoned following the Shaanxi civil uprising.

Zhexuankun and other three parties with southern Zhili and Zhejiang as their territories have protected themselves.

The current leader of the Chu Party is Huang Yanshi, who is the supervisory censor, but at this moment Huang Yanshi obviously has some difficulties in protecting himself.

With the strength of the Chu Party, after being abandoned by the three parties of Zhejiang, Xuankun and Kunming, it is bound to become a victim of this political turmoil.

Now the only way for the Chu Party to survive is to hold tightly to the thighs of Cui Chengxiu, Wang Tiqian, Wei Zhongxian and others, and become a real eunuch.

Cui Chengxiu understood this very well, but he also had a headache.

He wanted to completely annex the Chu Party, but this time he was going to face the Qi Royal Party, which made him have to be cautious.

However, the person who really had a headache this time was actually not him, but...

Cui Chengxiu glanced at Wang Tigan secretly, and Wang Tigan was also cursing in his heart.

In his capacity, he should not be involved in this situation right now, but there is no way, he has to come to wipe the ass of several people.

Why did Huangdian and Nanzhen Fusi in Weibei know about it and not report it?This question involved two people, Wei Liangqing and Hou Guoxing who were in Jinyiwei.

These two idiots made money for disaster relief funds, which made Wang Tiqian have to go off the field to do off-field rescue in person.

"Okay... everyone is here, let's start discussing, Cui Shangshu..."

In the end, Wang Tiqian couldn't help but put down the tea in his hand first, and urged Cui Chengxiu.

"Naturally..." Cui Chengxiu didn't want to offend King Qi, but he couldn't offend Wei Zhongxian either, so he had to laugh with him, then turned to look at the people in the hall and said:
"In the civil uprising in Shaanxi, the magistrate Han Chao and all Weibei officials should have been killed, but..."

Cui Chengxiu emphasized his tone, then glanced at the officials in the hall, and then said:

"However, the civil uprising and the killing of officials, this kind of thing cannot be indulged. The thief leader Liu Si and more than a dozen people should be arrested and brought to justice!"

When Cui Chengxiu said something, all the officials in the hall kept silent, obviously they did not support Cui Chengxiu's position.

To put it bluntly, Cui Chengxiu's move is to shift the focus, from the original focus of official corruption to the killing of officials by civil uprisings.

But everyone knows the problem. Rumors spread in Prince Qi's mansion this morning, and Zhu Youjian also made a conclusion on this matter. Liu Si and others were not guilty.

That is to say, Cui Chengxiu has to launch an offensive against the royal party because of certain things...

"Isn't this... courting death..."

After understanding Cui Chengxiu's thoughts, Yao Zongwen and others couldn't sit still.

Jiangnan parties are best at judging the situation. Like duckweed in the wind, they will land in places where water, fertilizer and grass are beautiful.

The situation in the Great Ming Dynasty Hall is very clear. Without Zhu Youjian's support, the Qi royal party has already dominated the family. If Cui Chengxiu launches an offensive and annoys Zhu Youjian, what will happen?Who can control it?
The current emperor?Zhu Youxiao?
stop joking...

After the Battle of Restoring Liao Dynasty, Zhu Youxiao couldn't grasp the sudden emergence of the King Qi Party at all.

After the reform of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies, Zhu Youxiao was even more unable to control the government and the opposition, and it was Zhu Youjian who carried the burden alone.

Who can control the eunuch who seems to be defending the imperial power on the surface?

Wei Zhongxian?Cui Chengxiu?Or Wang Tiqian?

Just these three people, their weight is not enough to control the eunuch party.

In fact, the eunuch party is a group of officials who do not want to integrate into the Donglin Party or the Qiwang Party, and can only rely on Wei Zhongxian to gain the trust of the emperor.

They did not choose to join the Qi Wang Party at the beginning, because the Donglin Party was the most powerful in the temple at that time, and the Qi Wang Party was unobtrusive and unrevealed. This made them unite and join Wei Zhongxian, forming a An organization called the Eunuch Party.

The main force of the so-called eunuch party is nothing more than the five parties of Qi, Chu, Zhejiang, Xuan and Kun, plus a group of officials under Cui Chengxiu who were originally non-partisan.

Their original idea was very simple, that is to overthrow the Donglin Party first, and then clean up the Qiwang Party.

As a result, the Qi royal party gradually expanded its influence with the help of Zhu Youjian, and finally reached the point where it could no longer be influenced.

Such a scene made many officials who defected to the Eunuch Party regret it.

If they had known that the King Qi Party was powerful, they would have gone to join the King Qi Party.

What does the eunuch party use to fight against the Qi royal party?

The Qi Party survived in name only, the Chu Party was paralyzed, and the three parties of Zhejiang, Xuankun, and Kunming were under investigation again, thinking about self-preservation all the time.

If Zhu Youxiao stepped down, Yao Zongwen and the others even thought about how to join Zhu Youjian.

Because in their view, Zhu Youxiao without Zhu Youjian is a dough emperor sitting high in the temple.

Without the military power in Zhu Youjian's hands, Yanshan students, Yumajian...

Even if Zhu Youxiao has internal funds, the three guards of the imperial city and the generals of the Han Dynasty, as well as the East Factory and the West Factory, it is difficult to compete with the three parties of Zhejiang, Xuankun and Kunming.

As long as Zhu Youjian remains neutral, the three parties of Zhejiang, Xuankun and Kunming can still suppress the imperial power after they jump out.

Zhu Youjian's example cannot be replicated, and it is impossible for the entire Ming Dynasty to find someone who is so young, so capable of fighting, and knows how to innovate tax collection and play with people's hearts.

Therefore, if Zhu Youxiao steps down, then Yao Zongwen and others can wait and see the good show.

It's just that Cui Chengxiu is not stupid, he can't really conflict with Qi Wang's party, because if he really dares to do it, he will be the first one to be accused of crime.

Therefore, what he just said was just to test the minds of the officials.

With just one glance, he roughly figured out Baiguan's thoughts, so his tone changed instantly:
"However...it is indeed as His Highness King Qi said, it is justifiable for victims of disasters to kill officials, and although Liu Si and others are people, they are victims of disasters, and they should not be punished as ordinary people."

"Liu Si and others have no merit or guilt, but all the officials in Weibei must be guilty. Therefore, long live the Ming Dynasty, please quickly arrest all officials from the sixteen counties of the three prefectures and sixteen counties in Weibei and bring them to Beijing. The three divisions will make a verdict immediately after the joint trial."

Cui Chengxiu's words changed so quickly that many officials outside the hall frowned, but Yao Zongwen and others could hear the trick.

The civil uprising in Weibei was most directly involved in the murder of Han Chao, the magistrate, and Han Chao was an official of the Chu Party.

That is to say, the civil uprising in Weibei should be directly implicated in the Chu Party. Why does someone like Cui Chengxiu demand a quick decision on the Weibei incident? ?
"Could it be that Huang Yanshi has given Cui Chengxiu any benefit?"

Yao Zongwen and others glanced at Huang Yanshi secretly, but they also saw Huang Yanshi's slightly puzzled eyes.

The three of them were puzzled for a while, unable to figure out why, and Cui Chengxiu also said:

"This is the case, please join us to write a letter, so as to return the disaster victims in Weibei to a blue sky."

After all, Cui Chengxiu stood up holding the teacup, and all the officials got up one after another, and after returning the gift, they left Cui's mansion with confusion.

But when they left, Cui Chengxiu also looked at Wang Tigan, and Wang Tigan also said:

"The things in the palace are handled by Mrs. Feng Sheng and the factory guild. You have done a good job..."

"Xie Bingbi..." Cui Chengxiu smiled back, and Wang Tiqian also got up and nodded slightly, then left Cui's residence.

At the same time he was leaving Cui's Mansion, Yao Zongwen, Tang Binyin, Gu Tianjun and the other three came to a mansion in the inner city, got off the carriage and walked into the mansion.

Led by the servants, they passed through pavilions and pavilions, and finally came to a study.

"Old man..."

The three stood in the courtyard outside the study, bowing to the inside of the study, and a familiar voice came from the study:

"come in……"

The three of them walked into the study immediately after hearing the words, and saw Fang Congzhe in Taoist robes sitting on the main seat in the hall of the study.

Since Fang Congzhe returned to Beijing, he has advised Yao Zongwen and others in private. It is precisely because of this that under Zhu Youjian's previous attacks, the Qi Party survived in name only, the Chu Party was paralyzed, and the Zhejiang, Xuankun, and other parties were still alive and kicking.

Fang Congzhe's method was honed during the Wanli period. Although Zhu Youjian's method was very clever, Fang Congzhe could still resolve it.

"Old Ge, the Shaanxi civil uprising..."

The three of Yao Zongwen sat down, and then told the whole story of what they had discussed at Cui Chengxiu's mansion today, while Fang Congzhe, who was holding a book and watching it with the reading glasses made by Huangdian, did not respond immediately when he heard the words.

Yao Zongwen and the others waited for a while before he spoke:
"Jinyiwei, Huangdian, Bingmasi, Yamen servants, Dali Temple..."

"In these places, do you think that Long Live didn't bury nails?"

"Naturally buried." Yao Zongwen and the three responded back and forth, but Gu Tianjun said:

"But even if the nails are buried, Zhu Youjian should know that since he hasn't moved these nails before, it's impossible to move them now, right?"

"The world is impermanent, and we cannot respond to all changes with the same." Fang Congzhe said without raising his head:
"If the nails are rusted, it will affect the stability of the house. It is more in the interests of the house owner to pull out the nails and replace the wood, and then drive in new nails."

"But you can't find nails just by looking for them. If you can't use them well, then..." Tang Binyin continued, but Fang Congzhe said:

"The current house is different from the previous house. The previous house had only one owner, but the current house has two."

"Zhu Youjian should care about Wansui's thoughts, so why not Wansui?"

"Don't you think that Zhu Youjian will indulge Long Live blindly?"

"This..." Tang Binyin and Gu Tianjun looked at each other, a little uncertain.

At this time, Fang Congzhe put down the book in his hand, took off his presbyopic glasses, rubbed his eyes and eyebrows, and then slowly said:

"Disaster relief should not be trifling. It is because you are too trifling with Su Chang Husong Sizhou, which led to Su Hu Changsong being stolen by Zhu Youjian and benevolent to the place."

"At the moment of the civil uprising in Shaanxi, what Zhu Youjian has to do is not simply to clean up the Yumajian and Jinyiwei, as well as the surrounding yamen."

"What he has to do is to take down all the powerful gentry involved in this civil uprising."

"The state of the treasury, didn't you hear about it during the court meeting?"

Fang Congzhe looked at Yao Zongwen and the other three with hatred, and said earnestly:
"This year, there are more than five million taels of silver and more than [-] million stones of rice and wheat. How can these things be used to deal with drought, border affairs, disaster relief, immigration and other actions?"

"If many of the above-mentioned matters are to be completed, then the national treasury will be short-lived within a few months."

"The national treasury has always been short-lived. Either the idea of ​​the common people and merchants, or the idea of ​​the powerful gentry."

"Currently, the Fourth Department of the "Salt, Wine and Tea Market" collects taxes from the common people and merchants, so how can the gentry be spared?"

"Elder Ge means..." The three of Yao Zongwen tentatively asked, but Fang Congzhe picked up the book again, put on his reading glasses and said slowly:
"You don't need to do anything right now, just wait and see what happens."

"Don't look at Zhu Youjian scolding the officials in Prince Qi's mansion right now, but everything is going according to his plan. His methods are far more than what you think, and more than what Wansui thinks."

"Horror is the only thing I can do right now..."

　The update in the afternoon is estimated to be updated around five or six o'clock. After all, after the number of words increases, the writing is not as fast as before.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)