Lu Ming

Chapter 564 Receiving (End)

Emperor Chongzhen silently read the proposal posted on the memorial.

Although this memorial was handed over to him just now, everyone already knew the contents.The reason why the decision was made today is because the cabinet ministers need to collect information and even exchange opinions after receiving the memorial, so the "draft draft" representing the collective opinions of the cabinet was delayed until today.

However, the content of the proposal has actually been known to the emperor and officials for a long time.After all, in the past two days, the cabinet ministers had openly discussed this memorial with their colleagues, disciples and students, and then several cabinet elders reached a consensus.During this process, from the emperor to the many officials who are concerned about this matter, they have long known the general decision of the draft.

However, the emperor asked for a draft today, just to finalize the content and go through the legal procedures.The result did not exceed everyone's expectations: the vote was drafted, and the cabinet ministers collectively agreed to the request for the memorial.

Zaifu's ink characters written in lower case are strong and powerful.However, in the eyes of the emperor, the draft is always weak: not because the words are weak, but because the person who wrote the draft is weak.

Those who can stand here today are all the top political figures of the Ming Empire.Since it is the highest level, it must be well aware of the situation in the world.Now that it is clear, it should be known that the imperial court has always had the intention of suppressing the military leaders outside the town.

This thought has nothing to do with personal matters, it is a pure business matter.Although it is inconvenient to say it clearly, as a normal "capital" bureaucrat, it is the most basic political accomplishment to suppress and contain the outer towns and maintain the centralization of power. ?

Sighing lightly, Chongzhen, who was a little disappointed in his heart, raised his head to look around, then shook the memorial in his hand, and asked softly: "Do you have any objections?"

Why did the emperor say this, all the ministers knew it well.However, the emperor's voice fell behind, and the scene was a bit awkwardly quiet, and no courtier stood up to share his worries.Even a few members of the Donglin Party, who should stand out in the eyes of the emperor, held their breath at the same moment, solemnly staring at the white marble floor in front of the hall, with a look of contemplation on their faces.

Chongzhen gasped.

In all fairness, the emperor had no intention of doing anything with this memorial.After all, the imperial court had previously agreed to the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi to "act cheaply", and Cao Chuan, the general of Zhangchao, was "unrivaled in loyalty and bravery".

The reason why the emperor was unwilling to let go of this memorial was pure inertia: for warlords with natural centrifugal force, one should not take it lightly at any time, and show the court's majesty when there is an opportunity.This is the emperor's instinctive operation. Li Longji, who ignored this, ran away with his family in mourning, and even strangled his own wife to death.

So when the emperor found out that even if he made a hint, none of the civil and military men in the hall stood up and boycotted him in a routine manner/procedural way, the young man's face suddenly became gloomy.Chongzhen is no longer the stunned young man who just came to power, he now knows the most important thing to be an emperor: balance.

Now, the balance is off, and that's a big deal.

It is true that the emperor is angry, but the courtiers are also very difficult!

In fact, it's not that everyone doesn't know the rules, but there are some things, once someone pinches the balls, it's hard to say it.

The courtiers present today, except for a few soy sauce lone wolves, are roughly divided into three factions.

First of all, it is naturally the "Cao Party" led by Wen Tiren, a bachelor and minister of rites.

Of course, the so-called Cao Party has always been an obscure alliance and has not been recognized by public opinion.Because a certain force has a strong force and abundant resources in the capital, most of the things can be solved at the Beijing station, and there is no trouble for Master Cao's important allies in the court.

This model is naturally excellent for people like Wen Tiren: there is no need to defend allies in everything, so that political opponents will catch the braid of "forming a party for personal gain".We must know that the reason why Lao Wen came to power was precisely because of the "lonely minister" personality created in Chongzhen's mind.

That's why the University scholar Wen Tiren, the eunuch Fang Zhenghua, old Wen's new ally, Minister of Rites Min Hongxue, and even the old Wen's superior have colluded with Tang Shiji, the left servant of the Ministry of War, Zhang Jie, the censor Gao Jie, Shi Fan and other de facto "Cao Party" lineages, of course, all can't speak.

Next is the Xungui Group.

Since Queen Qin last year, Cao Chuan of Yizhou was canonized as the genuine Zhongyong Bo.From that moment on, whether he wanted to or not, Cao Zongbing actually squeezed into the honorable group in the capital.

Of course, even though the nobles of Ming Dynasty were declining day by day, no one looked down on the country bumpkin surnamed Cao at first.

However, when the truckloads of industrial products were transported from Tianjin to Beijing, nobles flocked to the city. Uncle Zhongyong’s mansion was overwhelmed by the daily banquet threshold. "Old brother" and "brother", everyone has become their own family.

if not?The nobles who were suppressed by civil servants and their political rights were shrinking day by day, just like those Kaifeng generals in the Song Dynasty, they degenerated into commercial groups, and only the yellow and white things were left in their eyes.

So the Xungui Group will not speak out today.Even if someone jumps out and dares to talk nonsense against "Brother Cao", the old brothers will help resist one or two - if Brother Chongzhen has the Shang Dynasty APP, he can actually easily summarize a phenomenon through big data: In the court meeting in the past year, whenever there was an issue about Cao, the Xungui Group always had the most people.

In the end, it was naturally the key figures in today's mystery case: several members of the Donglin Party.

It is said that since Chongzhen came to power, the Donglin Party still had a short period of time.However, ever since the Manchus entered the Pass and surrounded the capital, they discovered that Chongzhen, who had been swayed by the Donglin Party, made a move the next day, and began to deal with these bastards.

After that, Chongzhen first killed Yuan Chonghuan, a military figure of the Donglin Party, and then exiled Qian Longxi, a civil official of the Donglin Party.

With the fall of the cabinet represented by Qian Longxi, and the promotion of Zhou Yanru and Wen Tiren, who were at odds with the Donglin Party, to the first and second assistants respectively, the Donglin Party immediately entered a period of decline in the pre-Chongzhen era: a large number of party members were cleared out of the capital In the officialdom, many bigwigs of the Donglin Party went back to their hometowns one after another, "teaching and educating people" for the future.

So for more than a year, the Donglin Party has been in great trouble in the political situation in the capital, and its right to speak has been reduced to a minimum.

Fortunately, Chongzhen will be the emperor now, so he didn't drive out the Donglin Party, but kept a few to maintain the balance of the court.As a result, today's release made Chongzhen unable to understand: What is the balancing role that you should play?
It's a pity that the emperor hasn't learned mind reading skills yet.If Chongzhen at this moment could hear the voices of these silent people, then he would probably not have any doubts.

Because of the existence of intruders in this plane, specifically, the existence of intruders with great skills and sufficient resources, the original landlord class of Ming Dynasty finally met a person who did not start with Completely eradicate the wealthy regime that they are responsible for.

As early as a year ago, Cao Zongbing not only made friends with nobles in the capital, he also made a public promise in the Golden Luan Hall: to sell the whole land in Yizhou.

Now, a year has passed, and the class of big landlords who spent a large sum of money to buy fields to eat crabs in this matter have already tasted the sweetness.

Yizhou's large-scale farms with endless stretches of land and criss-cross canals have already harvested two seasons of produce.

After these two seasons are harvested, they will be purchased and shipped by the government without stopping, and sent to Fujian and Guangdong across the strait for sale.The landowners received the grain money allocated by the Chikan District Government without even showing their faces.Then these grains are purchased by the housekeeper on the spot and turned into industrial products, which are shipped back to their hometown for sale.

This simple little triangular trade has brought huge income to the landowners.

The most important thing is that Mr. Cao fulfilled his original promise: the Chikan District Government did not collect agricultural tax on the sold land.In addition to the necessary service fees such as pesticides, fertilizers and water diversion, the government did not pay an extra penny for field taxes.

Landlords in this era don’t have the concept of industrial and agricultural scissors, so they don’t know that their own family has been secretly sucked by industrial products. Instead, they feel that the current cooperation model is very high: don’t worry about anything, everything is done by Chikan The government, the "big tenant", operates from digging to sowing to selling a full range of services. In the end, the landlords can count the money in their hometown.

In this way, the Donglin Party, which represents the big landlord class in the south of the Yangtze River, unknowingly changed from a state of tension with Cao Zongbing to a peaceful and drizzle.

Today, the generals of Donglin in front of the Golden Luan Hall also know the inside story.They even knew some other "secret high-end news": the Annan Farm mentioned in the memorial, that is really fertile soil, much more fertile than the land in Yizhou!Moreover, the land deeds Cao Zongbing "wrought" from Frangji were far more than the ones on the surface.

In other words, this time the money that everyone buried in the cellar has been spent again.

So, in the end, after carefully considering the meaning behind Cao's memorial, an important minister of Donglin walked out of the queue with square steps, and said the following words under the emperor's gloomy gaze: "Mr. Servant Shaoqing Hou Xun impeached the general Cao Chuan and had no courtesies, making the king and father unrighteous!"

Chongzhen was a little strange after hearing this, this crime is not common: "Oh? What does this mean?"

"Nowadays, the state affairs are difficult and there are wars in the northwest, and the warehouses of the household department are empty. It is time to urgently wait for replenishment."

"Oh, Hou Qing continued,"

"When Cao Chuan is so sloppy, he dares to ignore the rules of the court and openly offer bribes to his superiors. He really is a courtier!"

"what!?"

"Since ancient times, Ming and virtuous kings have always taken the well-being of the people of the world as their own responsibility. According to the wishes of the ministers, why not return the land deeds and property used by the commander-in-chief Cao Chuan to the Ministry of Households, so as to rein in the precipice and show the imperial court's love for the border generals. Hmm , By the way, the righteousness of the monarch and his ministers will be fulfilled, so that the monarch’s father will not be embarrassed, and the general will not be stumbled, this is a perfect strategy.”

After the court meeting ended, Emperor Chongzhen returned to the inner palace and did not speak for a long time.

Finally, when it was time for dinner, the emperor issued an order: "Come here, tell the prince of the East Palace to read and see me."

"Here!"

Soon after: "Your Majesty, I will see you on duty for the prince of the East Palace to give lectures."

"Pass! The rest of the people will go down."

"Here!"

"Chen Bu Daxing sees my emperor's long live."

"Get up."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Bu Daxing, tell me about the disaster of machines in the south."

"As ordered."

(End of this chapter)