Volume 1: Birth! Seven time travelers Chapter 128 Donglin Falls into Decline (Part 3)
"Slurp..." A long and thin line of wine fell evenly from the wine pot and accurately fell into the Mubang Jade Wine Glass which had just been launched on the market.
"Huh~~" After drinking it all, Li Sancai exhaled, and then said to his most trusted butler Li Xiang: "Go to Wuxi tomorrow and tell Gu Xiancheng that the crown prince and Li Ruzhang are keeping a close eye on us recently, and it will take some time to collect the money."
"Yes, I will obey your command."
"Don't be shy, sit down and have a drink with me. Although we are master and servant, you have been by my side since I was twelve years old. When it is inconvenient for me to do anything, I always let you do it. It can be said that you are the one I trust the most."
"Haha." Hearing this, Li Xiang did not hesitate and sat down directly in front of Li Sancai: "Master, I heard that the Xu family has cut off Donglin's money. If we cut off our money, then Donglin's newspapers will..."
"Ah, I can't do anything about this bunch of Donglin idiots! From Zou Yuanbiao and Zhao Nanxing to the current Gu Xiancheng, Gao Panlong and others, apart from filing a report on this and that, is there anyone who has the ability to do practical work? In the past, this group of guys who can only talk big but not do practical things were suitable to run a college in Wuxi and publish some empty talk. But they are so dizzy that they actually go to work as newspapers? Alas, if you don't do anything, you won't make mistakes. Once you do something, you may make mistakes. This time, this group of Donglin idiots have been fooled by the crown prince!"
"Hehe." Li Xiang also picked up the wine pot and poured himself a glass. He said, "Once the group of gentlemen in Donglin do something practical, they may be attacked by the grandson. I know this very well. But the grandson publishes a newspaper to grasp public opinion. How can the gentry in Jiangnan tolerate this situation? They have to bite the bullet to go to Donglin Academy even if they don't want to... But master, Ye Xianggao is the only one in the cabinet now. If we cut off Donglin's money, Donglin will not be there to cheer for you when you enter the cabinet..."
"I used to think so, so when Gu Xiancheng asked me for money, I gave it to him. But now it seems that this is not the case."
"Please enlighten me, sir."
"Slurp." After finishing another glass of wine, Li Sancai said with a smile: "Although Shen Yikuan has retired, the Zhejiang Party still has a certain amount of power in the court. They definitely don't want me to enter the cabinet, so there have been many impeachments against me during this period. I used to think that I could rely on the censors of Donglin to fight against the Zhejiang Party, so that I could enter the cabinet smoothly. That's why I moved closer to Donglin. But now the emperor has kept all the impeachments against me and allowed the people of Donglin to defend me. What is this? This is to lure the snake out of its hole to see how much power Donglin has in the court!"
"Well, there are too many people in the court who defend the master, so the emperor is afraid."
"That's right! The master has so many followers even before he enters the cabinet. What will happen if he enters the cabinet? Therefore, the more trouble these Donglin guys, who are always causing trouble but not doing anything good, make, the smaller the chance of the master entering the cabinet will be!"
"But sir, you are not a true Donglin Party member!"
"Humph! Who wants to follow that bunch of useless people who can only talk big and have no ability to do practical things? But what can we do?" Li Sancai spread his hands helplessly: "My ancestral home is in Shaanxi. Not only does that place produce very few Jinshi every year, but most of them are top three Jinshi. These guys can't form any help in the court. Zhejiang Party, Qi Party, Chu Party... Have you ever heard of Qin Party? As for the fact that the master later moved to Northern Zhili, the scholars in Northern Zhili didn't regard the master as their own. Speaking of which, if I hadn't been the governor of the grain transport and had the help of the Huaiyang business group, our life might not have been better."
"So the master can only pretend to be friendly with Donglin, who seems to be indifferent to region and hometown sentiment."
"That's right. But now it seems that Donglin is unreliable. Not only is it unreliable, but it may also get us into trouble."
"Hiss~~Is the Crown Prince really that powerful? Master, we are not the same as that useless Xu family."
"Hey, you've been with me for so many years, and you know all the powerful people who come and go in the court. Have you ever seen someone as unruly as the Crown Prince?"
"That... is not true. But if the Crown Prince is messing around like this, won't it sooner or later lead to a civil uprising, and then he will have to roll back to Beijing in disgrace?"
"Hahaha, you are still thinking in the same old way." After pointing his finger at Li Xiang, Li Sancai sighed and said, "But let's not talk about you. Even I, the master underestimated the grandson in the past. I only figured out many problems recently."
"Please tell me more about it, sir."
"Well, let's put it this way." Li Sancai thought for a while and said, "Let's not talk about the strange phenomenon when the crown prince was born. Let's just say that the crown prince caused cowpox and promoted potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn. This made the impeachment of ordinary censors, which was always successful in the past, ineffective. Therefore, when the crown prince came to Jiangnan, he was not afraid of impeachment even if he did something slightly out of the ordinary. Since the crown prince is not afraid of impeachment, then the only way to drive the crown prince back to Beijing or even bring him down is to trigger a civil uprising in Jiangnan.
However, after the crown prince arrived in Nanjing, he went to the Yellow Book Library first, but he did not reorganize the Yellow Book, nor did he allow the various departments in Nanjing to make any additional assignments. In this way, the gentry in Jiangnan did not have the possibility of using this as an opportunity to cause a civil uprising.
Moreover, why is it so easy for these bastards in Jiangnan to cause a civil uprising? Because they themselves or their family members have been Jinshi and officials. The people in various places naturally believe in their interpretation of the court's various decrees. As long as the court's decrees do not meet their wishes, they can twist the meaning and inspire the people in various places to attack the government."
"I now understand a little bit. After the Crown Prince came to Nanjing, he immediately launched the Jinling Daily. As the newspaper's circulation became more and more widespread, it became difficult for local gentry to control the people."
"That's exactly why Donglin wanted to publish a newspaper to compete with the Crown Prince for public opinion."
"But those idiots in Donglin have no ability to do anything..."
"Yes." Li Sancai pulled his beard tightly. "You and I have been together as master and servant for decades. You have followed me to work in various places. You should know that it is not easy to do a thing well. These idiots in Donglin have never done anything specific before. They are dealing with such a new thing right away. How can they not fail?"
"Well, Donglin didn't do anything before. They criticized this and that every day, and no one could do anything about them. Now that they have done something, they have failed miserably. Donglin's reputation is ruined."
"That's right!" Li Sancai clapped his hands and said, "What did Donglin rely on before? Wasn't it the good reputation it earned by working against the emperor in the dispute over the national foundation and the collection of mining taxes? Now that the dispute over the national foundation is over, the emperor has the support of the crown prince's money, and the collection of mining taxes is not as desperate as before. What's the use of this good reputation? Not to mention that it is about to be remembered as being incapable of doing anything and unworthy of being used. Master, I understand now that the court has been arguing about the selection of cabinet ministers since Shen Yikuan and Shen Li retired at the same time the year before last. It has been two years now, and it still hasn't been decided. This bunch of trash really can't do anything practical!"
At this point, Li Sancai's meaning is very clear: Since you Donglin guys can't help me get the position of the elder, why should I support you? Not to mention that now because of you, the emperor and the grandson have already started to target me! Am I alone? No! The Huaiyang business gang behind me is just as powerful! If I am still allied with you Donglin Party, causing the grandson to turn his attention away from the Jiangnan gentry and turn to the Huaiyang business gang, I am afraid that my whole family will die suddenly, right?
"Thank you for clearing up my confusion, Master. I now understand everything. I will leave for Wuxi tomorrow... Um... Um... Master!"
"Hehehe... Li Xiang, you've followed me for so many years, don't you know what kind of person I am? Don't you know that this wine pot has a kind of yin and yang grid? Come to think of it, you used this wine pot to help me kill people before."
"You...you are so cruel! I have been running around for you for so many years...sigh..."
"Do you understand? It's because you've been running around for me for so many years and know so much about me. So, when I'm ready to change my allegiance, I have to take you down! After all, although Donglin Academy will suffer this time, as long as the Jiangnan gentry are still there, the Donglin Party will not perish. After I change my allegiance, Donglin's revenge will surely come, and you are the best breakthrough point... In short, the only people in this world who can keep secrets best are the dead! You can go with peace of mind, I will take good care of your wife and children. Hahahaha~~~"
On July 30, 1608, Li Sancai personally sneaked from Fengyang to Nanjing to meet Zhu Youdong and expressed his complete surrender!
