Since the fall of Yan Song, Mr. Xu Ge's mood has been ups and downs.
Yan Song was ordered to serve, and Yan Shifan was executed. The dark clouds that had hung over the Ming Dynasty for twenty years finally dissipated, and the Ming Dynasty finally ushered in the great moment of "all the people are upright."
Xu Jie took office as the chief minister of the cabinet. He could finally display his ambitions for many years. The court finally ushered in a new era!
But what happened next started to dampen Xu Jie's good mood.
Zou Yinglong, Yan Song's censor, received a memorial and became famous all over the world. He was promoted from censor to counselor of the General Affairs Department.
The Counselor of the Department of General Affairs is a court official of the fifth rank, and also belongs to the rank of Qingliu official. Zou Yinglong was promoted three levels from the seventh rank to the fifth rank. It can be said that he reached the sky in one step, crossing the fifth rank barrier that is difficult for most officials to cross.
The public speaking officials were greatly encouraged, and Lu Fengyi participated in the performance of Hu Zongxian.
Xu Jie actually had a good impression of Hu Zongxian, otherwise he would not have agreed with his favorite disciple Zhang Juzheng to persuade Hu Zongxian to abandon Yan Song.
In fact, Xu Jie is a great spiritual scholar of the generation. Whether you call him an old turtle, call him Sima Yi, or call him a hypocrite, Xu Jie's character as an official is still acceptable.
At that time, many famous officials, including Hai Rui, were promoted by Xu Jie.
Xu Jie originally didn't want to touch Hu Zongxian, but the officials and censors below who were waiting for promotion were completely out of control.
While the enemy Yan Song was still there, Xu Jie's prestige was still able to restrain his men.
But Yan Song fell and he could no longer restrain his men.
The reason is very simple. In the past, when Yan Song was here, we had to work together to fight against the party, and forget about the hardships.
Now that Yan Song has fallen, will he continue to be a subordinate and live a life with his tail between his legs?
I sacrificed my life for Qingliu, but now I still can’t enjoy it? Get promoted and make a fortune?
A strict party like Hu Zongxian should have been defeated. Besides, he still occupies a position under his butt?
Hu Zongxian was impeached, which was just a chain reaction of the downfall of Party Yan.
The cruelty of the political struggle in the Ming Dynasty is that if the backstage fails, it will be completely liquidated. This has nothing to do with one's official character or contribution to the court, but only has to do with one's backers.
Even Xu Jie himself cannot control such a counterattack, because if Xu Jie blocks the promotion of those below him, he will be labeled as Xu Party.
At this time, Xu Jie finally realized how difficult it was for his old superior, Yan Song.
The position of chief minister of the cabinet is simply equivalent to sitting on a volcano. If you are not careful, you will be shattered to pieces.
Hu Zongxian couldn't save it, and then an order came from the palace, asking Xu Jie's eldest son Xu Fan to be appointed by the emperor as the Minister of Industry to take charge of the project to repair the three main halls.
The previous job was handled by Yan Shifan, Yan Song's son.
Mr. Xu Ge finally understood the meaning of asking Chen Hong to hand over the letter to him before Yan Song left the capital.
When Yan Song left the capital, he left a letter each to the emperor and Xu Jie.
When Chen Hong handed it to Xu Jie, Xu Jie opened it in front of the Dongchang admiral and saw only one word on the letter - "子".
Although Yan Song was a treacherous minister, his calligraphy skills were outstanding, and Yan Song's calligraphy was also in Xu Jie's family.
But this "zi" puzzled Xu Jie, and he didn't understand why Yan Song wrote this character to himself.
Only when the imperial edict was delivered to Xu Jie's residence did Xu Jie understand what Yan Song meant.
How similar!
Yan Shifan also failed in the imperial examination and entered the official position as a Yin official. With the emperor's continuous promotion, he reached a high position that even Hanlin officials could not achieve.
Xu Jie was a genius in the imperial examinations and was the best in answering questions, but none of his three sons had any talent in the imperial examinations and could not even pass the examination.
The eldest son Xu Fan entered the official position as a Yin official, but did not make any achievements as a local official. Later, he was taken by Xu Jie.
Yan Shifan's last position was as Minister of Industry, and his errand was to supervise the restoration project of the three main halls.
Now he is the chief minister of the cabinet, and his son is the minister of the Ministry of Industry. His errand is to repair the three main halls.
What a powerful trick the emperor has!
Xu Jie saw his son's excited expression. The emperor in the palace really understood power very well.
Even if Xu Jiegui is the chief minister of the cabinet, can he still block his son's progress?
Let Xu Fan be in charge of the palace restoration project. If Xu Fan wants to ask for money from the Ministry of Household Affairs in the future, can Xu Jie still refuse to give it?
Xu Jie's mood of falling was not over yet, and then he received military information urgently sent from three hundred miles away from Nanjing.
Su Ze raised troops in Fujian, detained the patrol censor Yan Maoqing, and rebelled!
When Xu Jie got the news, he didn't believe it at first.
Xu Jie once worked as a promotion official in Yanping Mansion. He also had old officials in Yanping Mansion and had heard about Su Ze.
Fujian Jieyuan rebellion? Why don't you say that Jinke's number one scholar is treason?
But the news that came next forced Xu Jie to believe that Su Ze had really turned against him.
Su Ze not only rebelled, he also joined forces with Hu Zongxian, the governor of Zhejiang Province, to rebel!
Xu Jie's mood continued to decline. When he finally received a letter from student Zhang Juzheng and Su Ze's message published in the "Warning Newspaper", Xu Jie almost fainted.
Zhang Juzheng's analysis was correct. If Su Ze occupied Fujian, Zhejiang, and the Second Prefecture of Southern Jiangsu, and if water transportation was cut off, the court would really be in catastrophe!
Xu Jie hurriedly entered the palace with the military intelligence report. As soon as he stepped into Yuxi Palace, he heard the crazy roar of Emperor Wanshou:
"Su Rulin! Qian Xunniang!"
Xu Jie served as an official in Fujian, and he still had fresh memories of such a curse word with local characteristics in southern Fujian.
Xu Jie couldn't help but sigh, the emperor is really talented, even so talented in language, this sentence in southern Fujian is so vivid.
Wait, when is this!
Xu Jie quickly came to his senses. After the eunuch Huang Jin informed him, Xu Jie quickly entered the Yuxi Palace.
The emperor returned to his original divine appearance. He sat upright on the futon, and the curtain blocked his face, making it impossible for Xu Jie to judge the emperor's expression.
But from what he said just now, Xu Jie knew that the emperor was extremely angry, and he carefully introduced the military situation in the southeast.
Seeing that the emperor behind the curtain still made no statement, Xu Jie said again:
"I'm afraid we will have to wait until next year to mobilize the nine sides to go south to quell the rebellion."
A copper bell sounded, and Xu Jie knew that the emperor was not satisfied with the answer, but he still had to bite the bullet and said:
"This year's summer and autumn grain harvests have not yet been collected. The imperial court simply does not have enough grain to supply the elites from the nine sides to go south to quell the rebellion."
"Even if the grain collection for summer and autumn is completed, we will not be able to march when the cold winter comes in the north. We can only mobilize the border troops until spring next year."
The emperor did not continue to beat the copper, and Xu Jie said: "For the present plan, stabilize the water transportation of the Grand Canal. As long as Yangzhou is not lost, Huguang's grain can be transferred to Beijing. Then next year when the border troops go south, the Su thieves can be defeated in an instant! "
The emperor finally put down the coin and asked, "What about Jiangnan?"
Xu Jie said bravely: "Your Majesty, the Songjiang and Suzhou prefectures occupied by the Soviet thieves have long stopped growing grain and have switched to mulberry and cotton. The Soviet thieves seem to have occupied a wealthy land, but without food, there will be no soldiers." , he also needs to mobilize food from other places to feed the second government, but the gain outweighs the loss."
"Huguang is well versed in the world. As long as the canal water transportation is not cut off, the imperial court can suppress the rebellion."
The emperor asked again: "What about the north?"
Xu Jie bit the bullet and said: "The purpose of Mongolia's response to the invaders is actually to seek mutual trade. Why not open a mutual trade in Datong, and the border troubles can be solved. In addition, Ming Dynasty can also exchange horses from the border market to prepare for the southern expedition."
In fact, the issue of mutual trading in the north has been raised for a long time, but Emperor Jiajing never let go. He waited until Longqing succeeded to the throne before agreeing to open a border market.
Now that Xu Jie proposed it, the emperor thought for a while and knocked on the copper plate, finally agreeing.
But how to protect the water transportation of the Grand Canal, the emperor and his ministers were speechless.
After a long time, the emperor said:
"The traitor Su Ze, does he have any allies in the capital?"
Finally asked this question, Xu Jie said bravely:
"I am guilty."
"What's the crime of the chief assistant?"
Xu Jie said: "Su Ze's mentor Hai Rui is now the chief of the Yunnan Qing Li Department of the Ministry of Household Affairs. He was promoted by me."
The emperor said: "Hai Rui has heard that when rice was changed to mulberry, this Hai Rui, named Bo, was involved in Zhejiang and actually taught such a traitor. This person must have a disobedient heart!"
"Fang Wanghai, the former Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing, is Su Ze's father-in-law."
"I know that Fang Wanghai left Nanjing without authorization and had long planned to join Su Ze in rebellion. He will also be cut into pieces along with Su Ze in the future."
Xu Jie said bravely again: "Xu Shixing, the number one scholar in the Jin Dynasty, Wang Xijue, the second best scholar, and Xu Guo, the most popular scholar, all once befriended Su Ze in Nanzhili."
"anything else?"
Xu Jie knew that the emperor had Dongchang Jinyiwei as his eyes and ears, and had already found out clearly. This was a deliberate question to himself.
Xu Jie said quickly: "The current chief envoy to Guangxi and the former academic administrator of Fujian Wang Daokun is Su Ze's room master. It was he who appointed Su Ze as Jieyuan when he learned about the tribute examination."
"Former Zhejiang commander-in-chief Yu Dayou and Su Ze went to the capital to rescue him. Yu Dayou's son rebelled with Qi Jiguang."
"Any more?"
Xu Jie slowly knelt down and said, "My son Xu Kun was in the cotton cloth business with Su Ze and once rented a Shanghai dock."
The emperor's tone became sharp and asked:
"According to Aiqing, what should be done with these thieves?"
Xu Jie's sweat dropped, but he still said what he said directly:
"I am guilty of restraining my children and not speaking up, so that I associate with traitors. I have written a letter home and ordered them to come to Beijing immediately to deal with the crime."
"However, I still suggest that your Majesty, stabilize these traitors first!"
"Now that there is insufficient military rations, the imperial court cannot start a war with the Soviet thieves. What I am talking about is the ministers who have colluded with Su Ze. There are many officials from Fujian and Zhejiang in the imperial court. Now that their hometowns are in Su Ze's hands, it is inevitable to liquidate the imperial court. In the great turmoil, wouldn’t that actually help Su Thief?”
The emperor did not speak, Xu Jie continued:
"I thought that the relatives and friends of the Su thieves in the capital were all minor ministers and were nothing to worry about. Instead, they dealt with the top three in this department, and the top two picks were all thieves. Where is the face of the court?"
"Hai Rui is just a small official in the Ministry of Household Affairs. He can be subdued by one or two imperial guards. Moreover, the Mengshi is only for the Mengmeng. This Su thief wouldn't be planning to rebel when he was the Mengmeng, right? It's better to keep him and show His Majesty's tolerance. Measurement can also stabilize the hearts of Zhejiang and Fujian officials in the court."
The emperor struck the copper and agreed with Xu Jie's opinion.
"Only Wang Daokun, the chief envoy of Guangxi, is deeply involved with Su Ze, and the Soviet thieves may also go south to annex Guangdong and Guangxi. If Wang Daokun becomes a thieves, Lingnan will be corrupted."
The emperor immediately said: "Immediately send the Jinyi Guards south, and quickly send Wang Daokun's weapons to the capital. If he resists, he will be killed directly."
"In addition, Yu Dayou spared him once, but I didn't expect that his son would rebel and send Jin Yiwei to Datong Guard to bring Yu Dayou's head back!"
Xu Jie wanted to open his mouth and ask the emperor to stop the construction of the three main halls.
But he thought of his newly appointed son and his current situation, and finally kept his mouth shut.
When Xu Jie came out of Yuxi Palace, he saw many eunuchs and maids in the palace being escorted to Yeting.
Xu Jie immediately understood the reason. Eunuch Tao of the Shipping Department and Su Ze rebelled together, and Eunuch Tao was widely involved in the palace. These were probably eunuchs related to Eunuch Tao.
Eunuchs and maids were the emperor's domestic slaves. The emperor was already very suspicious, and he would not spare any attention to those who served him closely.
Xu Jie sighed, it's true that accompanying you is like accompanying a tiger.
On July 11, Zhang Juzheng mobilized all the ships on the Yangtze River, including the cannons docked in Yangzhou, and pulled them all to Zhenjiang and scuttled them, completely blocking the Yangtze River waterway.
The ship driven by Lin Mojun was not suitable for traveling in the river, but now it was completely blocked in Zhenjiang.
Lin Mojun ordered the fleet to bombard Jinshan Mountain in Zhenjiang for half a day, flattening the Jinshan Temple on the mountain.
Relying on Mazu's blessing, Lin Mojun was not afraid of Zen Master Fahai coming to trouble her, and left with the fleet.
News of the Yangtze River War reached Fuzhou by clipper ship. This result was also within the deduction results of the student organization led by Su Ze.
Su Ze's uprising was actually a bit hasty. Now that he has occupied two provinces and two prefectures, he has not yet been able to solidify his foundation.
Not only was the Ming court not ready, Su Ze was not ready either.
In fact, Su Ze doesn't even want Nanjing now. Attacking Yangzhou is just a chance. If he can cut off the Ming Dynasty's water transportation, he will win the jackpot.
Although Zhang Juzheng used water transport ships to block the fleet, the loss of these water transport ships would consume more manpower and material resources of the Ming Dynasty, which was equivalent to buying more time for Su Ze, which was considered to be no gain or loss.
Su Ze, who returned to Fuzhou, held his first military meeting since the uprising.
Basically all the officers from the Naval Academy were present, and Su Ze upgraded all the students from the New Military Academy of the Kawaishishima Naval Academy.
Lin Liangjun was originally the commander of the second battalion and was promoted to the commander of the second brigade.
Company commanders such as Feng Shuo and Sun Wang were promoted to battalion commanders, but the number of troops under their command has not yet increased.
Su Ze is still reorganizing regiment training, rural warriors and guardsmen from various places. Anyway, he already has the skeleton of officers. Once the reorganization is completed, he can quickly pull out an army.
Except for Lin Mojun of the first brigade who stayed in Shanghai and Yu Zigao of the third brigade who invaded Zhangzhou and were unable to attend the meeting, Xu Wei, Lin Xianyang and other close associates of Su Ze's governor's office also attended.
Su Ze asked someone to bring in the sand table, and everyone immediately became quiet.
"The content of today's military discussion is related to the future offensive direction of the Fujian-Zhejiang coalition forces. Today, regardless of seniority level, everyone can speak freely."
"But when the military meeting is over, we must unify our thoughts and strictly implement the orders of the Governor's Office!"
"Lin Liangjun, you come first."
Just like yesterday, I will try my best to write it before 12 o'clock tonight. This paragraph is really difficult to write, so Fat Bird has also deleted it until now.
(End of chapter)