Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 187: Rippling the Waters (Part 2)
Wei Zhongxian left Beijing on the morning of March 25. On the morning of March 26, when he was still driving on the official road from Beijing to Shanhaiguan, the Ministry of Public Administration in Beijing was already overwhelmed by mountains of memorials.
At this moment, the nominal leader of the censors was Xu Honggang, who had just been transferred from the Nanjing Ministry of War. As a minister who had been with Zhu Youdong for more than five years, he was very clear about the power of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. The Left Censor-in-Chief thought it was stupid that a considerable number of his censors had written to the emperor, asking him to pay attention to the education of the Crown Prince and let His Royal Highness stay in Beijing to study hard.
What books does the prince need to read? The poem "Ode to the Frog" written a few years ago was a bit childish, but now a masterpiece like "沁园春·雪" has been published, what else is there to read? You guys who think the prince is uneducated, do you have the ability to write a poem like this?
"Sun Xiantai, are the censors of our Beijing Metropolitan Procuratorate all blind? The Crown Prince's masterpiece has just been introduced to Beijing. It is such a masterpiece that even the most picky people cannot find any flaws. How dare these guys write a letter at this point in time, saying that the Crown Prince has neglected his studies?"
"Hey, Mr. Governor, if you look at the origins or backgrounds of those officials who wrote to you, you can roughly guess who is behind it."
"Hmm... So it's the Donglin Party! Hey, these guys didn't feel the pain after being beaten up by the Crown Prince?"
Listening to Xu Honggang's words, Right Censor Sun Wei just smiled awkwardly: How could these Donglin Party members not feel pain? It is because of the pain that they want to seize every opportunity to turn the tables.
When the crown prince went to Nanjing, everyone thought he was going to rectify the household registration system. Who knew that he would go after a false move to seize public opinion? The Donglin Academy was caught off guard and rushed into the battle. Not only did it suffer a great defeat, but it was also labeled as only good at talking but not doing practical things.
Not only that, but later Li Sancai turned against him and accused him of "harming the common people and scholars".
As a result, Donglin's reputation was ruined and its right to public opinion was lost.
Afterwards, the crown prince united with several of the largest merchants in Jiangnan, relying on the Admiral Caojiang and the Chongmingsha Fleet, and established the Ming Dynasty Maritime Trade. From then on, the smugglers along the Yangtze River had no way to survive. Moreover, after Sun Chengzong went to Fujian and Funing Town came under the control of the crown prince, the smuggling channels in Fujian were also ruined. This really hurt the ordinary gentry in Jiangnan!
But what can we do if it hurts? In terms of commercial logistics, they control the Nanzhili and Fujian routes, so what is the use of Zhejiang? Ships leaving Zhejiang must pass through the defense zones of Chongming Shasuo and Funing Town! In this way, the gentry in Jiangnan can no longer do sea trade business directly with foreign merchants.
Now if the gentry in Jiangnan want to do business, they can either bow their heads and become a low-level supplier under the Ming Dynasty's maritime trade and endure all kinds of oppression. Or they can focus on domestic sales. However, anyone with a discerning eye knows very well that Fangshan Laboratory has a lot of new things coming out, and the prices are getting lower and lower. Domestic sales will eventually fail!
Then, because of the loss of public opinion, it is basically impossible for the gentry in Jiangnan to arouse a popular trend to oppose the crown prince. Not to mention the Liaodong battle, the strength of Henghaiwei is obvious to all. If you piss off the crown prince, he will directly criticize your body with weapons, believe it or not?
So, there is really no other way. Commerce is over, and the only way to grow is through land. But what if the crown prince wants to reorganize the Huangce Library? In short, if the crown prince cannot be overthrown, everyone will have a hard time.
We also know that when the Crown Prince created such a masterpiece as "沁园春·雪", it was unreasonable for the Emperor to say that the Crown Prince should study hard. But what can we do? We can't say that the Crown Prince has a rebellious heart, right? We can only take advantage of the opportunity that the Crown Prince has given his approval and the Emperor may have a flaw in his heart to see if we can overthrow the Crown Prince. No, no, no, we don't want to overthrow the Crown Prince, we just want his property in Jiangnan.
Again, all problems in this world are economic and profit issues. When people stand at a certain height, they can naturally see the essence through the phenomenon.
As a native of Weinan, Shaanxi, Sun Wei was grateful and admired the grandson who solved the tea problem in Shaanxi and greatly improved the people's livelihood in Shaanxi by promoting high-yield crops such as potatoes. Therefore, on this matter, he and Xu Honggang agreed: What the hell are you guys doing! Do you really think that the two of us bigwigs of the Metropolitan Procuratorate are made of clay? We have a group of little brothers under us!
"General, I feel that some of the censors in our Censorate are becoming more and more outrageous. I think we should rectify this after this matter is resolved."
"Sun Xiantai is right. I do have this intention. However, before that, as the Imperial Censor, I have also submitted a memorial."
"That's exactly what I mean."
Soon, the Tongzhengsi received a large number of petitions asking the emperor to pay attention to the education of the grandson the day before, and the next day it received almost the same number of impeachments against the group of people who wrote the petition yesterday. The content of the impeachment was very consistent: full of nonsense.
Looking at the mountain of memorials brought in by the eunuchs from the Imperial Household Department, Emperor Wanli's choice was: don't read any of them!
He went to Concubine Zheng first.
"Your Majesty, why did you come to my place today?"
"Eh? Can't you come to my beloved concubine if you have nothing to do?"
"Your Majesty, even if you have nothing to do, you should come to my place at night. Why would you come so early in the morning?"
"Then, my beloved, guess why I came to see you?"
“Hehehe~~” Concubine Zheng was 47 years old this year, but because she took good care of herself and had a plump figure, she smiled with her hands covering her mouth, and even had a little girl’s demeanor: “Your Majesty, what else could it be? It’s spread all over the palace now that you are jealous of your grandson’s talent and want to abolish his position as crown prince.”
"Nonsense! Which servants are gossiping again ? Hey, I have always ruled the world with leniency, but I didn't expect that the servants in the palace would be so unscrupulous."
"Of course I know this is a rumor. Your Majesty is a man of great dignity and has a broad mind. How can a poem make you jealous? But who told you to keep those memorials that wanted to abolish the crown prince's position?"
"Nonsense~~ Zheng Xiu'er, I think you are the best at spreading rumors in the palace." When Wanli heard Concubine Zheng say this, his head, which was a little angry just now, completely relaxed: "Tell me, who did Dong'er send to contact you? What benefits did he promise you? How dare you speak for him?"
"Hahaha, there is no one more wise than the Emperor. It's not even clear whether , so who can be sent? It was the Junior Sima of the Ministry of War who contacted Guotai himself."
"Hmm? Wen Tiren? What did he promise you?"
"What can he, a minister, promise? Shao Sima said that we, the Zheng family, should think clearly about two issues. First, after the emperor dies, if the crown prince takes the throne, given the crown prince's character, he will definitely not retaliate against our Zheng family because of the dispute over the foundation of the country. But if many ministers rush in, given the crown prince's character, he will not protect our Zheng family. As long as the crown prince is here, he will definitely be able to protect our Zheng family with his responsibility. Second, according to the ancestral system of our Ming Dynasty, foreign relatives are not allowed to interfere in politics. If our Zheng family wants to be noble in the future, it will be impossible for us to have power and authority except for a title. But to be rich, even for several or even dozens of generations, in this Ming Dynasty, only the crown prince can do it."
"Hmm..." After listening to Concubine Zheng's words, Wanli supported his big belly, hesitated for a few steps and said, "This Wen Tiren is quite capable. My beloved concubine, I'm telling you the truth. If it weren't for the medicine secretly sent by the Crown Prince, my body would have been in a very bad condition these years. I don't know when I will go to see my ancestors... What I'm worried about is you and Chang Xun. Just as Wen Tiren said, the Crown Prince is a weak child. I'm afraid he can't stand the instigation of those Donglin Party guys!"
"Your Majesty! I, your concubine..."
"My beloved!"
After a while of tenderness between the old couple, Wanli gently pushed Concubine Zheng away from his arms: "I still have to discuss this matter with the Queen Mother. This may be an opportunity."
