Brother Zhu Youxiao

"The people in Nanjing city have already moved tens of thousands, and the number of people in the city is less than 160 million..."

On the fifth day after the Mid-Autumn Festival, Zhu Youjian received a message from Nanjing from Zhu Youxiao.

He only read the beginning of the message, but he didn't read the rest.

Because at this moment, he needs to look up at the group of cabinet ministers in front of him.

"Chen Qiyu, Zhou Yanru!"

"The next officer is..."

When Zhu Youjian spoke the names of Chen Qiyu and Zhou Yanru, Sun Chengzong and others in the Chengyun Hall of the Qi Palace had a bad feeling in their hearts.

"Soldiers and horses, don't the yamen servants mainly focus on managing the city's law and order? Are they even needed to drive away the hungry people now? There is really no one available in my Ming Dynasty..."

As soon as Zhu Youjian opened his mouth, Chen Qiyu and Zhou Yanru gave up.

They didn't know about the matter of soldiers, horses and yamen servants driving out the hungry people in the city, and they were dragged down again this time.

"Your Highness, I don't know..."

"Your Highness, I don't even know..."

Chen Qiyu and Zhou Yanru sat in their seats, bowed to each other and honestly said that they didn't know about this matter, and put aside the relationship and said:

"The soldiers, horses and yamen servants in Nanjing City and South Zhili are all in charge of the Nanjing Ministry of War and the Nanjing Criminal Department, and the North Zhili has no jurisdiction."

The topic touched on the Ming Dynasty's two-capital system, which made people feel a little tricky.

But that was someone else, not him, Zhu Youjian.

"Hong Chengchou, Sun Chuanting..."

"The subordinate is here."

As soon as the matter was involved in Nanzhili, everyone knew that Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou would be involved, because one of them was the Minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing, and the other was the Minister of the Ministry of Officials in Nanjing.

"It turned out to be waiting here..."

Zhou Yanru and Wen Tiren squinted their eyes. It seemed that Zhu Youjian was not ignorant of the Nanjing affairs, but that Zhu Youjian was going to hand over the Nanjing affairs to Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou.

When this matter is done, it may be when they serve as the first and second assistants.

Fortunately, Sun Chuanting said that he still had that unsmiling appearance, but although Hong Chengchou's face was neither sad nor happy, Zhou Yanru and the others could feel his joy.

For them, if Hong Chengchou is the chief assistant, they can accept it more, but if it is Sun Chuanting, it will not work...

Everyone in the world still remembers what Sun Chuanting did...

Thinking of this, Zhou Yanru and others looked at Sun Chuanting, and Zhu Youjian also said:
"Let the two of you go to Nanzhili to inspect and rectify the local officials, and there must be no mistakes!"

"The next official ordered..."

Zhu Youjian had overstepped. When the Ming Dynasty had an emperor and a state supervisor, he actually directly issued an order to mobilize cabinet ministers as a vassal king. This is probably the first time in the history of the Ming Dynasty.

"Gu will inspect all provinces in the world after Zhengdan in the 23rd year of the Apocalypse, and will become a feudal clan on the winter solstice of the 23rd year of the Apocalypse. Let the cabinet draw up a note and announce it to the world!"

Zhu Youjian spoke instantly, catching everyone off guard.

What's more important is that he didn't give everyone time to react, and he got up and signaled to leave after speaking.

During this process, everyone's minds were shaken, especially Cheng De, who was sitting among the officials, tightly clenched the hem of his clothes, obviously feeling very uncomfortable.

"The next official...receive the order."

Hearing that Zhu Youjian was about to leave, Sun Chengzong, who was the chief assistant of the cabinet, felt very uncomfortable.

It is true that he is a member of the Donglin Party, but he is a practical faction among the Donglin, and is not favored by other Donglin civil servants who pay attention to literary talent.

When Zhu Youxiao's two brothers cleaned up the party, although he survived, he was in constant panic. It was not until he was appointed as the chief assistant of the cabinet that he breathed a sigh of relief.

He knew that Zhu Youjian's letting himself be the elder was just a transition, the purpose was to pave the way for Hong Chengchou and others.

He has no complaints about this, after all, he feels that no matter what Zhu Youjian does, it is for the sake of the people of the world.

It's just that right now, the burden of the Ming Dynasty is still heavy, and his disciple and his children can't afford such a heavy burden.

Just one natural disaster is enough to crush the Ming Dynasty...

Zhu Youjian left the Chengyun Hall first, and his behavior was more like running away, leaving everyone at a loss for words.

"Is there really a person in the world who is not greedy for power?" Even a powerful person like Wen Tiren couldn't help but feel a little dazed.

He knew that if the news got out, except for some Yanshan faction officials who were loyal to King Qi, most of the officials would dance their crowns to celebrate King Qi's passing.

"The price of alcohol in the capital is going to rise..."

Sighing, Wen Tiren left the Chengyun Hall first, followed by other officials with their heads bowed.

Whether it is Sun Chengzong, Hong Chengchou, Sun Chuanting, Chen Qiyu, Zhou Yanru, Li Changgeng, Cheng De, or Cao Huachun guarding the Chengyun Hall...

In short, everyone has a sense of unreality.

Qi Wang Zhu Youjian, who has been fighting for so many years and cannot be defeated, finally announced that he was leaving?
Could this be a feint, and then a big case is brewing?
Everyone was in a trance. In the end, they didn't know how they got out of Prince Qi's mansion, how they got home, and how they changed their clothes...

For example, Sun Chuanting, when he came back to his senses, the sky was completely dark.

"I'm afraid this matter will not be so easy..."

As Sun Chuanting's staff member, and also the left servant of the Ming Dynasty's Ministry of War, Zhou Xun, after thinking for a long time, confessed to Sun Chuanting who came back to his senses:
"I have been in the capital for so long, and I haven't seen any other officials. Those officials from the Shan Yanshan Sect can be seen in groups every day on duty."

"The lower officials once looked through the documents of the Ministry of War, only to find that the generals of the 60 soldiers and soldiers of the Kingdom were all generals related to the Yanshan faction."

"This is just the army and horse department. The lower officials suspect that the situation in the army and the officials is more serious than this."

Zhou Xun said what he had seen for so long.

For some people, it seems that they can understand these things just by opening their mouths, such as Zhu Youjian.

But the problem is that the people below will also deceive the upper and lower, and this is why Jin Yiwei did not report internal corruption back then.

It is not difficult to sort out the relationship between the various yamen, but it is difficult to sort out the relationship between everyone.

"In your opinion, how powerful are the officials of the Yanshan faction?"

Sun Chuanting felt the difficulty of the matter, 60 soldiers and horses, this is not a small number.

He asked Zhou Xun, facing his inquiry, Zhou Xun frowned and said:
"After a few years of investigation by the officials, the Yanshan School has developed so far. It is no longer simply a relationship between Yanshan School and Yanshan School."

"After the closure of Yanshan Academy, Yanshan officials have already started planning how to get fresh blood."

"The easiest and most direct way is to cultivate it from official studies."

"Because the teaching of the official school is basically taught by Yanshan, it is easy for them to instill their own ideas for the students below."

"Isn't such an approach explicitly prohibited by His Royal Highness King Qi?" Sun Chuanting clenched his fists involuntarily.

"It is expressly prohibited." Zhou Xun nodded in approval, but then said:

"But according to the lower officials, the Jinyiwei who are in charge of monitoring in the official school have long been replaced."

"Not to mention the people below, but in the Fusi Yamen of Jinyiwei Nanbei Township, any officials with some power at present, it is difficult to say whether the Yanshan faction took the initiative to support them."

"Their people are everywhere, and every government office has its own people."

"If they want to train a Jinyiwei, they just need to keep giving credit."

"The easiest credit is that the officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate passed the news to Jin Yiwei, and Jin Yiwei reported it, and then the Zhenfu ordered an investigation."

"Officials from the Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple, Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the Fourth Department of Jinyiwei act together, and it is enough to give the credit to the officials of Jinyiwei in the end."

Speaking of this, Zhou Xi regretted: "The power of the lower officials is insufficient, and they can't investigate the other six ministries, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and Jinyiwei, so they can only learn about this."

"I see..." Hearing Zhou Xun say that he could only understand this point, Sun Chuanting understood that the relationship network compiled by the Yanshan faction might not be as small as they imagined.

"Over the years, many officials from the Yanshan faction have been arrested, but the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Cheng De, Li Demao, and Zhang Maocai have never been implicated."

Sun Chuanting thought that compared with the other parties, the Yanshan faction has been honest and stable in recent years, and it seems that many corrupt officials have been found out by Jin Yiwei every year.

On the face of it, it seems that this is a manifestation of the Yanshan faction being hit, and it is also a manifestation of their current malaise.

However, is the fact really what they see with their eyes?

"Do you think His Highness knows about this matter?"

Sun Chuanting asked Zhou Xun, but Zhou Xun also seemed a little hesitant when faced with this question.

The two sat in the study room, and the dim candlelight brought by the oil lamp made them silent for a moment.

After a while, Zhou Xun hesitated and said, "In the past, Emperor Taizu Gao, Qin Shihuang, and Han Xiaowu would all be deceived by others, let alone Your Highness?"

"Although His Highness often walks among the people, his news still comes from Jinyiwei, Yumajian, and the dictation of people around him."

"If any of these dictated news is false, then..."

Zhou Xun didn't dare to continue, but Sun Chuanting couldn't sit still and stood up.

He turned around and wanted to take a step, but stopped again, turned around and looked at Zhou Xun:
"Don't go to investigate the case by yourself, write a handwritten letter and send it back to Zhenwu, and let the children of the family go to various places to check the situation of officialdom in various places."

"But... without official status, how should they investigate?" Zhou Xun was a little puzzled, but Sun Chuanting narrowed his eyes:

"Thieves start in the countryside, and if you want to investigate, you must first investigate in the villages and towns!"

------

"His Royal Highness King Qi is about to take over..."

Back in the mansion, when Hong Chengchou said these words, a young man guarding the mansion couldn't help being taken aback.

"Where did Lord Hou hear it?" The young man couldn't help bowing his head and asking, but Hong Chengchou sat at the head of the hall, and then stroked his beard and said, "Your Highness said it in front of us."

"In addition, His Highness also sent me and Sun Chuanting to Nanzhili to rectify the administration of officials."

"I came to you because I am confused by the authorities, but you are clear by the sidelines. You may be able to give me some explanations for the reason."

It's not that Hong Chengchou can't analyze, but he is not good at analyzing his own affairs.

If he uses his own thinking to think about Zhu Youjian's arrangement, it will be like "the hunter cages the rabbit, and the rabbit gets into the cage".

He wants to use other people's ideas to see what Zhu Youjian's arrangement is for in the eyes of others.

Faced with this question, the young man replied without hesitation: "Maybe it's a slap in the face."

"Sounds from the east to the west? What's the explanation for this?" Hong Chengchou showed displeasure, but the young man bowed and said:
"If it's just to rectify the administration of officials, then there is absolutely no need for His Highness to announce that the two of you will rectify the administration of officials at this juncture."

"At present, this matter and this arrangement, others may think that His Highness is preparing for the promotion of the two, and specially gave the two merits."

"But the question now is whether the two of you will join the cabinet?"

"Whether there is a party in Daming right now, and how powerful the party is, Lord Hou should know better than me in Bai."

After the young man finished speaking, he immediately bowed in return to signify the end.

His words made Hong Chengchou suspicious, but when he thought about it carefully, he came up with more things than young people.

Facing the answers that appeared in his mind, Hong Chengchou couldn't help but squint his eyes:

"You mean, His Highness plans to clean up the Yanshan faction this year?"

"But now the Yanshan faction is very powerful, how should we deal with it?"

"Of course from the inside!" The young man replied without thinking:
"I have seen His Highness's previous moves. Unless the officials themselves lead to a major case, every time His Highness makes a move, it is often a slap in the face, and then disintegrates and splits the interior to achieve its own goals."

"In the first year of the Apocalypse, it was the Donglin Party's thorough investigation of the Huaibei Great Famine, and the "West" who attacked the West was the Four Guards of the Imperial Horse Supervisor."

"When the farce of the Huaibei Great Hunger is over, His Highness has already trained the four guards of Tengxiang."

"After that, when the White Lotus Sect rebelled, His Highness personally led the troops to put down the rebellion."

"The "East" is the prince leading the army to suppress the rebellion, but the "West" to attack the West is to restrain the feudal vassals and at the same time unite the vassals, form an alliance with the vassals, earn money and land from the vassals, and solve the shortage of internal funds. The problem of raising soldiers."

"In the future, no matter who the opponent is, His Highness will always play this trick."

"All officials can understand it, but no one knows when His Highness 'sounds east' and when he 'hits the west', and what is the west that 'hits the west'."

After the young man finished his opinion, he said firmly:

"Right now, I'm afraid His Highness will start this method again..."

"But..." The young man hesitated for a moment, then bowed and said cautiously:

"As Lord Hou said, the Yanshan faction is very powerful, no matter how we proceed, it will affect all parties."

"Besides, there is still a severe drought at the moment, and no one can say whether the drought will be more severe next year, so it is inappropriate to act at this juncture."

"Well..." Hong Chengchou responded, but he said uncharacteristically: "It is precisely because everyone feels that it is inappropriate to do it at this time, that His Highness is more likely to do it at this time."

After sorting out by the young people, Hong Chengchou was sure that Zhu Youjian would do it, and even roughly guessed when he would do it.

"Master Hou, I feel that it is best for us not to act rashly. It is enough to complete the "Shengdong" work."

The young man opened his mouth, which is also in line with Hong Chengchou's consistent character.

In the absence of being sure that the emperor and the crown prince can provoke the big beams, and that the king of Qi can solve the Yanshan faction, being a neutral faction is what he has to do.

It's just that it's not easy to be neutral. If neutrality is really just a stupid thing to ignore everything, then when a faction gains power, the neutral people will be the first to be cleaned up.

Therefore, Hong Chengchou stroked his beard, stood there and thought for a while before saying:
"Let my family send a letter from home to come to the capital, and I must arrive in the capital when I am already on the way to Nanjing."

"You don't need to go to the cabinet or the official department, just cry at the gate of the mansion, saying that my mother is seriously ill, please ask me to go home and take care of her."

"Besides, all the people in the mansion, except for a few children who look after the house and the door, all followed me to the south of Nanjing to make a false impression of staying in Nanjing for a long time."

"Finally, let our people in the Ministry of Rites and the Metropolitan Procuratorate take the initiative to write a letter, and ask the supervisor to allow me to go home to Ding You."

Hong Chengchou finished his thoughts, but the young man was puzzled and said:

"Master Hou, all these actions of yours are just to help His Royal Highness, but if His Highness cannot solve the Yanshan faction, then you will be in trouble, Lord Hou."

Zhu Youjian was busy leaving, but Hong Chengchou had a hard time. Once Zhu Youjian couldn't kill the Yanshan faction, the Yanshan faction would definitely seek an opportunity to kill Hong Chengchou.

Such a desperate behavior seems to be inconsistent with Hong Chengchou's character and behavior style.

The young people were puzzled, but Hong Chengchou said indifferently:
"It's not difficult, I'll tell you later..."

With that said, Hong Chengchou walked to the desk and found a memorial to the promotion of officials from the Ministry of Officials.

In front of the young people, he wrote "Shanxi Apocalypse's 17th year official school leader Yu Jackie Chan" on it, then raised his head and said to Jackie Chan:

"I'm going to take refuge in Nanjing, and you should do the same, but your place is not Nanjing, and where you go depends on how the officials arrange it."

"Thank you, Lord Long En!" Seeing that he was recommended by Hong Chengchou, Yu Chenglong immediately knelt down and expressed his gratitude with a big gift.

After a while, he stood up, but he was still worried about Hong Chengchou and said: "Although you can do it, Lord Hou, I'm still worried..."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." Hong Chengchou smiled when he heard this.

Obviously, he already had confidence in his heart that he could stay out of this turmoil.

------

"This is not right..."

When both Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting sensed something was wrong, a voice sounded in Mingshifang.

On the eve of the storm, if some people are neutral and others support, then naturally there will be people who will resist and speculate.

There are many smart people in Daming, and it just so happens that the smartest group of people at the moment are all dragged to the capital by Zhu Youjian.

In the mansion of Mingshifang, Zhou Yanru, Wen Tiren and Feng Quan had a long talk about today's affairs.

They also wanted Feng Quan to analyze the two of them with the attitude of a bystander, and Feng Quan lived up to his expectations, and immediately shook his head and said something was wrong.

"What's wrong?"

Zhou Yanru and Wen Tiren frowned, Feng Quan couldn't sit still and stood up, walking back and forth while constantly talking:
"I don't know what's wrong, but I know it's not how he does things."

"As long as it's not his behavior, there must be something wrong with this matter."

"There is only one force that can make him change his behavior."

Feng Quan looked at the two, and Wen Tiren blurted out as his eyes met, "You mean Cheng De and the others?"

"There is no one else but them!" Feng Quan said firmly:

"Let's not mention whether the King of Qi will take action, just today, the King of Qi said that Tianqi will be a vassal in the 23rd year, which is enough for Chengde to do it first!"

"What they think, you know better than me, it's impossible not to know."

"For more than two years, whether it is long or short, if you want to plan, you can only do it early."

"What we have to do is to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, and wait for the tiger to slump before fighting for the prey."

Feng Quan was a little excited. After all, their conservative party had been suppressed for too long. This time, the Yanshan faction, the leader of the reform forces, and Qi Wang Zhu Youjian, the leader of the reform forces, were in trouble, which happened to allow them to benefit from it.

If there is no further profit, with the current situation of the conservatives, it may not take 30 years before they will be swept into the garbage dump.

"Chengde should know about this, he is not a fool."

Wen Tiren came to his senses and thought of Cheng De's reaction.

"Of course he's not a fool, but it's hard to say whether he can beat King Qi." Zhou Yanru said without thinking, then frowned and said:

"The Yanshan faction is powerful, if there is a conflict with King Qi, then Daming..."

As soon as the words were spoken, there was a sudden silence in the study.

They really wanted to make a profit, but they also didn't want Daming's order to be disrupted.

Right now, this group of conservatives does not have the support of the gentry. Although it is somewhat difficult, it is much easier to do things.

Besides, their lives are pretty good right now. If Daming really had civil strife, even if they were high and powerful, they might not escape death.

Daming can be chaotic, but it must be controlled well. If one is not controlled well, it will be an Anshi Rebellion.

"King Qi is setting himself on fire..."

"It's okay for the Yanshan faction to stay."

Facing the troubled times, Feng Quan and Wen Tiren couldn't help but change their words.

Faced with their words, Zhou Yanru's expression was cloudy, obviously he didn't even know what to say.

The power of the conservative faction only stays in the temple, which is different from Qi Wangfu and Yanshan faction in terms of army, temple and finance.

Not to mention them, even if Hong Chengchou, Sun Chuanting, and Sun Chengzong were brought in, it might not be enough for the Yanshan faction to drink a pot.

This situation of looking at the turmoil but being helpless makes the three of them silent, but they can be silent, but some people cannot be silent.

"Shasha... Shasha..."

When footsteps sounded, Cheng De, who had already returned to Guanlifang, was walking on the road of Guanlifang with his head lowered.

After several expansions, the official squares in the capital have occupied an area of ​​no less than [-] mu. Among the ten thousand mu official squares, some are brightly lit, while others are completely dark.

Cheng De walked to the door of his residence, but the lights behind the door were already brightly lit.

He put his hands on the door, and his suppressed temper was released at this moment.

"boom!"

The door was pushed open heavily and slammed into the walls on the left and right sides. The sound was deafening, and it even shocked more than a dozen senior officials of the Yanshan faction who were discussing affairs in Chengde Yuan after the shift.

"to make……"

A person who was acquainted with Cheng De wanted to speak, but saw Cheng De's gloomy face.

Everyone was undecided for a while, they could only watch Chengde walk into the meeting hall with a gloomy face.

In front of everyone, he took off his official hat, his forehead was covered with beads of sweat.

"Your Highness, it's about to be Fan..."