Chapter 80: Test the Edge, and Learn from the Wisdom of Later Generations

Zhu Yijun held the report in his hand and looked around in surprise.

Naturally, there was no need for anyone to answer this question; he just spoke to himself in surprise.

Li Chunfang's move was really beyond Zhu Yijun's expectations.

It's fine if you just slide down on your knees, but no one will hold you accountable if you go home and retire. Why are you trying to send your granddaughter to the palace?!

Putting aside the ancestral law that the emperor does not associate with wealthy and powerful families - the ancestral law will only be taken into consideration when there is a dispute between the monarch and his subjects. The monarch and his subjects will not care about the ancestral law when they have a consensus.

But for this kind of imperial examination family, becoming a relative by marriage is not a good choice.

According to the custom of the imperial court, although relatives by marriage could take part in the imperial examinations, they would not be granted official positions. Even if they passed the examinations, they could only hold the title of Jinshi and raise fish and farm at home.

Although Li Chunfang's three sons were not successful, he still had grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Once a prime minister becomes emperor, he will be able to stay in a place as long as his descendants are prosperous.

Historically, Li Chunfang's descendants grew into a prominent family in Xinghua, and produced many governors and ministers, who were no worse than their in-laws.

So, what exactly does Li Chunfang think?

Zhu Yijun sat cross-legged on the cushion, lost in thought.

Zhang Hong waited carefully on his left and right, and said softly, "Your Majesty, should this memorial be sent to the cabinet?"

Hai Rui's secret memorial was sent directly to the Imperial Household Department by the Embroidered Uniform Guard. It is still unclear whether it will be submitted to the cabinet.

Zhu Yijun looked up at Zhang Hong and did not answer for a moment.

After a moment's silence, he shook his head and said, "Let's go ask Yuan Fuhe to come first."

It is better to hold a small meeting for such important matters.

It was not convenient for him to announce to the public that he wanted to split up Southern Zhili.

No matter what Xu Jie and Li Chunfang guessed, he himself could not admit it.

Some words, if not spoken, are controlled by people, but once spoken, things control people.

However, it is still necessary to discuss this with the cabinet.

Firstly, he didn't know Li Chunfang well enough and was not sure about this person's thoughts and intentions.

Zhang Juzheng and Li Chunfang were both Jinshi in the 26th year of Jiajing, classmates in the same exam, and served in the cabinet together.

Gao Yi and Li Chunfang had been colleagues in the Ministry of Rites for many years.

They can all be considered familiar.

After consulting each other, three insignificant generals are better than one Zhuge Liang.

Secondly, it is impossible to figure out the result of such a major matter by hiding in Xiyuan by yourself.

Under Zhu Yijun's intentional or unintentional influence, a political atmosphere has been created both inside and outside the country, in which all major issues will be discussed with ministers.

This kind of political mutual trust is a rare thing, and he will not easily break this tacit understanding.

Zhang Hong reminded him, "Your Majesty, the Prince of Hongnong and the Prince of Kuaiji did not survive this winter. Today, Gao Gelao and Prince Consort Xu went to various temples to perform funeral ceremonies on behalf of Your Majesty."

Zhu Yijun said "Oh", he really forgot about this.

When a prince died, the court was suspended according to custom to hold funeral ceremonies.

Although they didn't die in one day, I put them together to save effort.

After all the busy work, Gao Yi has no time today.

Zhu Yijun waved his hand, indicating that he should invite Zhang Juzheng first.

Even if the court is adjourned, one still has to be on duty in the cabinet, so naturally one should be in the cabinet.

Since the cabinet was quite far away from the Western Garden, Zhu Yijun specially gave sedan chairs to several cabinet ministers.

The so-called "Every time he was promoted to attend banquets, he would be given a sedan chair at the Donghua Gate" - these honors were all overused means to win people's hearts, but precisely because they are easy to use, they are overused.

Only four cabinet ministers were given this honor during the Zhengdan period. Although all four of them repeatedly requested to be dismissed, they still sat firmly in their seats every time they passed through the Forbidden City from the Cabinet to the Western Garden.

The other ministers were even more envious when they saw the words engraved on the sedan chairs of the ministers. In order to prevent the ministers from making the wrong sedan chair, the emperor thoughtfully engraved the words "Pillar of the State", "Teacher and Guardian", "Assistant Government" and "Great Virtue" on them to distinguish them.

Everyone said privately that it was a pity that they could not get a single word out.

In this way, Zhang Juzheng was invited from the cabinet to the Western Garden.

……

Zhu Yijun did not plan to hold the meeting in Wanshou Palace. Instead, he calculated the time and waited for a while before changing into casual clothes and going to Chengguang Hall outside Qianming Gate.

Chengguang Hall is the former Yitian Hall. After Emperor Chengzu renovated it, he gave it a new name, which means to inherit the bright light.

The Buddha statues that were originally enshrined were moved out one after another by Zhu Yijun and used as the place for him to summon foreign officials.

At this time, Zhang Juzheng was already waiting outside Chengguang Hall.

"Your Majesty." Zhang Juzheng saluted.

Zhu Yijun hurriedly held his hand and helped him up: "Prime Minister, there is no need to be so polite. Is your father feeling better?"

It's always helpful to start with a greeting naturally.

Zhang Juzheng was dragged along, half a body length behind the emperor, and entered the palace together: "On behalf of my father, I would like to thank Your Majesty for his concern. The doctor said that it is an old lung disease. After taking medicine, it will be cured after the winter."

Zhu Yijun couldn't help but glance at Zhang Juzheng.

Old illnesses are chronic diseases that cannot be cured by any medicine.

Life span is determined by fate. In this era, there is basically no way to deal with chronic lung disease. The only thing we are afraid of is... dying at the wrong time.

When my father passed away, I had to return to my hometown to observe mourning for three years.

Zhu Yijun still needs a prime minister who can control the situation. Now is the time for the two of them to work together, so it is not easy to replace them easily.

This reminded him.

Before next winter comes, we must show more kindness and build a few greenhouses for the homes of people like Zhang's father and Gao Yi.

The two men came to the hall, and Zhu Yijun gave Zhang Juzheng a seat and signaled Zhang Hong to hand over Hai Rui's memorial.

He slowly sat behind the imperial desk, waiting for Zhang Juzheng to take a closer look, and said, "Li Chunfang's intention is to ask the central government to show some mercy."

"He also has those people behind him. They threw out the few troublemakers who were plotting rebellion, let go of the salt administration, gave up part of the grain tax, 30% of the tea tax, and..."

Zhu Yijun paused and said in a helpless tone: "And send his granddaughter to the palace."

Zhang Juzheng was doing two things at once: he was listening to the emperor while looking carefully at the report.

He did not respond immediately, but said with an unhappy look: "Your Majesty, the report should have been copied to the cabinet after it was sent to the Tongzhengsi. How could it be sent directly to the Silijian?"

Although Zhang Juzheng was very satisfied with the emperor's current growth, the cabinet still had to fight for what it should fight for.

This has nothing to do with personal feelings. You have to do what you are supposed to do according to your position.

Zhu Yijun quickly begged for mercy: "It was the Minister of Public Affairs He Yongqing who was ignorant. I have already taught him a lesson. Yuan Fu, please be at ease."

Regardless of whether it is true or not, since he said so, it can only be that the Ministry of Public Security is ignorant.

Zhang Juzheng nodded when he heard this.

He was just expressing his attitude and pointing out the normal procedures.

After all, it was not easy to make the matter in the report public, so it was normal to conceal something, at least it was not concealed from Zhang Juzheng.

Zhang Juzheng closed the report and pondered for a moment before saying, "Your Majesty, have you made a decision on what Li Chunfang said?"

Whether the emperor wanted the cabinet to cooperate or was willing to discuss it with him, Zhang Juzheng's attitude would naturally be different depending on the choice.

Zhu Yijun shook his head: "I don't know much about government affairs, and I was just about to ask Yuan Fu's opinion."

"However... with this result, I am inclined to call it a day."

Now that the central government has expressed its determination, some people in Southern Zhili have made some concessions.

But if we say that all these people surrendered to being killed, the answer is naturally no.

If the talks fail this time, it will be difficult to resolve the situation later.

So far, the counterattack by Southern Zhili has only been superficial. If they really want to break off relations, it will not be so simple.

By then, I am afraid that not a single grain of grain will be able to enter the capital, the Japanese pirates in Songjiang Prefecture will burn, kill and loot again, and the gentry and common people will kill officials in protest.

In a sense, it was not the local party members in the central government or the high-ranking officials of Nanzhili who represented Nanzhili.

It was based on the widespread demands of the people that these officials were able to represent the soil of Southern Zhili.

The so-called broad range includes merchants, landlords, farmers, petty clerks, low-ranking officials and so on.

It is precisely because of the widespread demands of these people that the so-called senior officials can represent an area.

It doesn't mean that if all these leaders are killed, there will be peace in Nanzhili.

Just like An Lushan in the Tang Dynasty, the soil for his existence lies in the widespread demands in Hebei.

Even if he is captured and killed, it will not prevent Hebei from introducing other spokespersons and stirring up trouble for decades.

If Zhu Yijun were to make up his mind now and plow through all the high-ranking officials and nobles in Nanzhili, it would not only be of no help, but would also destroy the tax base, and the whole country would be in ruins in the blink of an eye.

Therefore, now that these spokespersons have bowed their heads, we have to talk.

Everyone should give in and tolerate each other for the sake of the country.

In the past, when it came to tax reform, didn’t the Zhu family have to go to the south to discuss it slowly?
This is the truth.

Therefore, Zhu Yijun never thought that he could control Nanzhili by killing all these so-called spokespersons.

It was just that Xu Jie did not play by the rules, forcing him to show his determination to these people.

Now that we have offered chips above the psychological price, it is not impossible to give these people a decent deal.

This trip is to make money.

Now that the money is in hand, there is no need to create unnecessary trouble.

Zhang Juzheng did not comment, and then asked: "What about the conditions proposed by Li Chunfang?"

Zhu Yijun looked at Zhang Juzheng and asked, "I don't know Li Chunfang. Yuan Fu, why don't you tell me what you think?"

He asked questions instead of answers, wanting to hear Zhang Juzheng's opinion.

Zhang Juzheng did not shy away from saying, "Li Chunfang is not honest. He is testing me!"

Zhu Yijun was stunned.

He leaned forward and asked doubtfully, "Testing?"

Zhang Juzheng nodded: "He is testing your majesty's situation after this incident..."

"Has the cabinet been vigilant? Has the two palaces been dissatisfied? Has this caused a rift between the monarch and his subjects?"

Zhu Yijun was originally frowning in deep thought.

After hearing what Zhang Juzheng said, an idea suddenly occurred to him.

He slapped his thigh and said, "No wonder he wants to send his granddaughter to the palace!"

Zhang Juzheng gave him an approving look, and he really understood everything.

He went on to say, "If Your Majesty is resented too much this time," "With the opposition of the court officials and the two palaces, it is impossible to allow his granddaughter to enter the palace."

"He wants to see if everyone will... be afraid that His Majesty will take power too soon!"

Zhu Yijun remained silent.

According to his previous thoughts, he thought that Li Chunfang slid to his knees too quickly.

Now that I have been enlightened, I have to sigh that these people are almost becoming spirits!

Sending the granddaughter into the palace was actually completing the selection process in advance.

This matter is of great benefit to the emperor with no harm at all.

As long as the emperor has enough support, she can be included in the harem at any time.

However, the emperor’s wedding has great significance - getting married basically means ruling the country personally!

Li Chunfang deliberately handed the pillow to the emperor to test the reactions of court officials and the two palaces, and then judge the situation in the central government.

If his granddaughter could not be sent to the palace, it would mean that everyone would obey on the surface, but once it came to fundamental issues, they would still be afraid and oppose the emperor.

In this case, you don't have to become a relative by marriage, and you can also adjust your strategy towards the central government in a timely manner according to the situation.

The so-called splitting of Southern Zhili would become a delaying tactic.

On the contrary, if the two palaces were happy, the court officials would agree and smoothly send their granddaughter into the palace.

This means that the emperor had already grasped the overall situation when he ascended the throne at a young age, and he did not suffer too much resentment in this incident.

In this way, Li Chunfang naturally fell to his knees, transformed himself into a maternal relative, and gambled on another hundred years of wealth.

Then the so-called splitting of Southern Zhili would be to be willing to be a pawn and share the emperor's worries.

But we can't blame him for being so indecisive - he has already sent his granddaughter to the palace, isn't this statement enough?
What a smart man.

Zhu Yijun continued Zhang Juzheng's words: "So, whether it is for the sake of showing off to others or to reassure my own people, I have no choice but to accept this beautiful girl?"

Since Zhang Juzheng pointed this out, it means that at least he is not afraid of ruling the country himself.

What a good prime minister.

But…it always feels weird that a girl is a junior in college. Well, it’s even weirder that she’s still a young girl.

Zhang Juzheng nodded: "Even if Your Majesty simply does not want to accept Li Chunfang's kindness, outsiders will probably suspect that there is some resistance."

Stability trumps all else.

In order to give a clear symbol to the provincial governments that are unclear about the situation, this matter should not be rejected.

Zhu Yijun shook his head helplessly and just let it go by being tricked by Li Chunfang.

The question is, what if it is extremely ugly?

Zhang Juzheng seemed to see through the emperor's thoughts and said in a caring and consoling manner, "Your Majesty, rest assured. In my dynasty, if you don't have an official, you can't reach Li Chunfang's position."

Zhu Yijun understood what Zhang Juzheng meant.

It’s just that the emperor looks at the face. If you are too ugly, you can never get the position of a court official.

So the offspring won’t be too ugly.

Zhu Yijun barely convinced himself to believe it, and waved his hands with a look of despair, indicating that he could accept it.

He skipped over this matter and continued, "What do you think of the split of Nanzhili proposed by Li Chunfang?"

Zhang Juzheng pondered for a moment and shook his head: "I think it's a bit too hasty."

Li Chunfang was negotiating terms, so naturally he put things in a positive light.

But standing in Zhang Juzheng's position, one can see at a glance that the beautification is excessive.

He added: "Even if a governor is appointed to distribute the taxes, the grain transport will still have to be used."

"The problem is that Lianghuai is now in the hands of Nanzhili, and it can't be solved by simply assigning a provincial governor."

"I'm afraid it will cause a backlash and damage the tax revenue."

"Besides, the so-called ten years of hard work is inevitably a bit exaggerated."

The precedent established over the past 200 years in our dynasty has become ingrained in our bones and cannot be accomplished in just ten years.

After hearing what Zhang Juzheng said, Zhu Yijun nodded in agreement: "I am also concerned about this."

"Li Chunfang is not sincere."

As expected, there are more people who understand. Zhang Juzheng knew at a glance that the man was exaggerating.

If the issue of splitting up Southern Zhili was really brought to the table, it would inevitably cause an uproar - even Li Chunfang might have been issuing a warning.

Southern Zhili is not without its positive aspects.

The six ministries in Nanjing had a considerable amount of power.

All assessments, appointments, dismissals, and promotions of low-level officials in the southern provinces were directly handled by the Nanzhili Ministry of Personnel.

This has greatly improved administrative efficiency.

The Nanzhili Military Department has directly sent troops to quell rebellions many times in history, and the Ministry of Revenue can even directly intercept taxes in Jiangnan and use them to cooperate with the Ministry of War.

When the North uses military force, the South has always been a solid military backing.

It is also hard to say that these people disregard the country for nothing other than their own selfish motives.

Today’s official documents are still filled with words like “Nanjing National Capital”, which is another indisputable center.

These are the sources of the legitimacy of Nanzhili - the orthodox center, with positive administrative and military significance, backed by most of the world's taxes, and so on.

Not to mention the landlords, local celebrities and literati families who secretly support each other and have deep roots.

It is not difficult to kill officials and rebel, and then write "The Epitaph of Five Men" to put the final conclusion on it.

The fact that the Japanese pirates are now ready to make a move outside Songjiang Prefecture is clear proof of this.

Positively or negatively, overtly or covertly, Nanzhili has an imagined community that cannot be underestimated, and it is not so easy to split it up.

The later Jiannu killed so many people in Jiangnan that it took a long time for them to split up Southern Zhili.

This kind of thing is not something Li Chunfang can do just by talking.

Zhang Juzheng looked at the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, I think that we should at least start shipping by sea before we can appoint governors to Fengyang and other seven prefectures."

The Lianghuai people are in a chokehold and their words are never firm enough.

Now that spring has arrived, the Ministry of Industry and Wang Zongmu began their second attempt at near-shore shipping.

As long as the central government has the energy, success is only a matter of time. There is no need to rush into a fight with Nanzhili to seize the tax revenues of the seven prefectures.

Zhu Yijun nodded, agreeing with Zhang Juzheng's words.

Then, he changed the subject: "However, Li Chunfang's proposal is not without merit."

Zhang Juzheng's heart moved, and hesitantly said: "Your Majesty means..."

Zhu Yijun suddenly stood up, took out paper and pen, and began to draw a map of Southern Zhili.

He also instructed Zhang Hong who was standing beside him: "Draw a map of the territory and hang it in the main hall in the future."

After giving the instructions, he continued to draw by hand with his head down.

He quickly drew out the fourteen prefectures of Nanzhili and extended his hand to invite Zhang Juzheng to come forward and have a look.

"The appointment of the governor as the Minister of Revenue is a bit too obvious and the action is too hasty."

"But what Yuanfu just said about the grain transport has really enlightened me."

"Take the Imperial Censor Caojiang and the Admiral Caojiang back to the Central Government!"

Zhang Juzheng turned sideways and watched the emperor drawing strokes on the hastily drawn map with a look of sudden realization.

The so-called admiral of Jiang Cao means leading the river defense and training soldiers.

One in literature and one in martial arts.

Today, Wu Zhengyou is in charge of the Nanjing Right Army Governor's Office, and Xu Qiaosong, Marquis of Yongkang, is the admiral of Nanjing Jiang Cao and is in charge of the Jiang Patrol Office.

The text was written by Zhang Lu, the right assistant censor of the Nanjing Censorate, who was the commander-in-chief of the Yangtze River and was also in charge of patrolling the Yangtze River.

Now the emperor wants to start with river defense.

Zhang Juzheng followed the emperor's thoughts and asked, "Appoint him governor?"

The two looked at each other.

Zhu Yijun pointed at the seven prefectures of Fengyang and said: "He will be the governor of Jiang, and concurrently the governor of Feng, An, Hui, Ning, Chi, Tai, and Guang, and will be stationed in Anqing!"

This was an old wisdom that had already proven effective, so he just put it to use.

Compared with adding the Minister of Revenue, it would be much milder to bring the Governor-General Caojiang back to the central government.

First, the former is a direct seizure of tax sources, while the latter is a seizure of military power.

It is only natural for the central government to reform military power.

Secondly, the abrupt addition of a Minister of Revenue to the former would make everyone think deeply, but the latter is already a mature system.

Changing the location and adding powers is not too sensitive.

Third, the governor of Caojiang was already in the hands of the nobles.

Unlike the civil officials who were fully integrated into the society, the nobles were relatively spineless and obedient - otherwise, Marquis Huaining and Duke Wei would not be the only ones sitting there waiting to die.

Furthermore, it is hard to say whether Xu Qiaosong, Marquis of Yongkang, would be unhappy if the Caojiang system, which was dependent on Nanzhili, was put back under the control of the central government.

All in all, this is a more subtle and effective way than Li Chunfang's direct seizure of tax sources.

Zhang Juzheng thought for a moment and pointed at the map: "Then the money and grain must be intercepted directly from the grain transport office."

At this point, the military power of the inland waterways was directly brought back to the central government.

The Governor of the Grand Canal held down the Grand Canal.

Admiral Caojiang guards the Yangtze River.

Zhu Yijun hummed and said, "That's it. Tell Li Chunfang that if this can be accomplished, the matter of Nanzhili will be settled!"

As for the future... we have to wait until Admiral Cao Jiang's affairs are stabilized.

Zhang Juzheng nodded, took a few steps back and bowed.

This means that the cabinet also acknowledges this matter.

Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly remembered something and stopped silently.

Zhang Juzheng looked up at the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, how much silver can the Imperial Censor Hai bring back this time?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yijun said excitedly: "I heard it's as much as 100,000 taels!"

Zhang Juzheng was stunned, then realized that the emperor was joking.

He sighed, walked back, and just looked at the emperor quietly.

Zhu Yijun smiled and said, "Call Shangshu Wang from the Ministry of Revenue to share the money and discuss it."

(End of this chapter)