Zhao Zhenji, who received Zhang Juzheng's letter, was discussing with his staff how to deal with it.
The staff were talking a lot, and the Shaoxing master named Sun said:
"Dong Weng, reforms have always offended a group of people, let alone a whipping method that involves financial capital. Those who initiated reforms since ancient times have often ended badly."
Zhao Zhenji nodded and said, "That's true. Everyone else left, but Master Sun stayed."
The other masters looked at Master Sun enviously, then said goodbye to Zhao Zhenji and left.
After all the other masters had left, Zhao Zhenji said, "Sir, what do you think I am going to do now?"
Master Sun paused for a while and said, "Leave Nanzhili."
Zhao Zhenji immediately smiled and said: "Master Sun and I really thought about it together."
Master Sun immediately said: "If you are in charge of Southern Zhili, no matter what you do, you will only achieve nothing and make mistakes. Dong Weng's ambition is to join the cabinet and become the prime minister. If you continue to stay in Southern Zhili, your path to the cabinet will be cut off."
Zhao Zhenji asked: "Sir, the national situation is in turmoil now. The court trusts me to take charge of Nanzhili. How can I leave Nanzhili?"
Master Sun looked at Zhao Zhenji and said, "Dong Weng, you already know the answer, why do you need to ask me?"
Zhao Zhenji stroked his delicate beard and said, "Please ask Sun Muyou to explain clearly."
Master Sun was still hesitant, so Zhao Zhenji said: "Well, let me write a word and you write a word too, and see if we think the same thing?"
The two of them each took out a piece of scrap paper and wrote a word.
I only saw the word "Xu" written by Zhao Zhenji, and Master Sun wrote two words, "anti-Xu". Zhao Zhenji smiled at Master Sun and said:
"Sun Muyou is a great talent. We should get closer and closer in the future."
Then Zhao Zhenji asked: "What should I do with Zhang Butang's whip technique?"
Master Sun immediately said: "Procrastinate, this year's autumn grain collection is coming soon, we cannot change the financial law at this time, Dong Weng can delay for a while."
"When Dong Weng is transferred away from Nanzhili, Zhang Butang will not look for you again."
Zhao Zhenji said: "Sure enough, it's a great idea, just follow Sun Muyou's method!"
In October, Zhao Zhenji, the Minister of Hubu of Nanzhili, secretly revealed to the emperor the illegal activities of impeaching the Xu Jie family in Songjiang Mansion.
Zhao Zhenji did not impeach the Xu Jie family for colluding with the rebels, but revealed the case of the Xu Jie family's occupation and annexation of land a few years ago.
Zhao Zhenji knew very well what the emperor on the dragon throne was thinking.
For every chief minister of the cabinet, there will be a covetous second minister of the cabinet watching. This is Emperor Jiajing's method of stirring up dissent.
This is the case from Yang Tinghe to Xia Yan, from Xia Yan to Yan Song, and from Yan Song to Xu Jie.
In this way, there will be no powerful ministers in the cabinet who can dominate the whole world. This is why the court can still operate normally after Jiajing is able to deal with the chief minister every time.
But this time Qingliu formed a cabinet, there was no such figure in the cabinet.
Xu Jie is a great Confucian scholar, and those who remain in his cabinet now, such as Li Chunfang and others, are ministers of younger generation and do not dare to confront Xu Jie.
What made the emperor even more uneasy was that Qingliu also supported King Yu.
The prince and cabinet ministers, this has frightened and disturbed Emperor Jiajing, who was proficient in power.
Zhao Zhenji naturally knew that his secret revelation would never be able to bring down Xu Jie.
But this is his attitude. His clear-cut attitude against Xu Jie may become a stepping stone for him to enter the cabinet.
At the same time, Jiubian.
The concept of Jiubian is very large, covering almost the entire northern region of the Ming Empire.
From east to west they are: Liaodong, Jizhen, Xuanfu, Datong, Shanxi, Yansui, Ningxia, Guyuan and Gansu.
Because of the impression of the late Ming Dynasty, many people believe that the nine sides were set up in the Ming Dynasty to defend against the Jurchens.
In fact, during the Jiajing period, the Ming Empire's biggest enemy was the Mongols, and the nine-sided defense system was used to defend the Mongols.
At this time, the Jurchen tribe had not yet risen, and they were even the younger brothers of the Ming Dynasty, often helping the Ming Dynasty's border troops to fight the Mongols.
Datong Town is the "big" of "Xuan Da". It is stationed in Datong Mansion, and the general of the army wears the seal of the general who conquered the west.
The responsible area of Datong Town is Shanxi Xingdu Division, and its basis is also the three 14th Guards of Youyun Yuyang and Tianzhen under the jurisdiction of Shanxi Xingdu Division.
In the early Ming Dynasty, Datong was a border town of the vassal king. However, since Emperor Yongle succeeded in pacifying the enemy, he no longer dared to hand over the border troops to his brothers and nephews. The general military officer of Datong was changed to the commander of the noble military attache.
After the Tumu Fort Incident, Xun Gui stretched his hips even more, and the chief military officer of Jiubian was no longer Xun Gui's exclusive position.
For example, the current chief military officer of Datong, Jiang Yingxiong, is a former military general.
The chief soldier of Jiubian is also considered a top position among military generals, but this chief soldier Jiang is very trembling.
The reason is also very simple. The commander-in-chief of the frontier army in the Ming Dynasty was a hot-butt position, especially the commander-in-chief of Datong in the Jiajing Dynasty. It was as if someone had cast a spell on him. Almost everyone in this position was No good ending.
The most famous general of Datong was named Qiu Luan. This king was once so famous that he could even compete with the powerful ministers in the court.
He also dominated the Datong horse market, which can be said to be a great success.
Qiu Luan's fate was to be slaughtered in a museum, his bones crushed and ashes scattered, and his family were all sent to the frontier.
Several chief military officers after Qiu Luan, the best result was to be dismissed from their posts, and countless were exiled, arrested and imprisoned. In the past ten years, Datong has had ten chief military officers.
Jiang Yingxiong only accepted the position of chief military officer after watching his predecessor be sent to Liaodong. Naturally, he was not happy at all.
"General! The royal guards are here!"
Jiang Yingxiong was almost scared to death when he heard the news that Jin Yiwei was coming. The thought flashed in his mind whether he should surrender to the Mongols now.
Fortunately, the next sentence dispelled his thoughts.
"Jin Yiwei is here to arrest Yu Dayou."
Yu Dayou?
Jiang Yingxiong then remembered that he was the general who was assigned to guard the border last year, right?
Yu Dayou was assigned to guard the border in Datong. Because the "Shuo Yue Quan Zhuan" incident caused a big fuss, and Yu Dayou was compared to Yue Fei, so when he arrived in Datong, Jiang Yingxiong went to greet him.
"Since it is Yu Dayou who is arrested, let them arrest him and tell me what he is doing!"
Jiang Yingxiong was a little angry. He was startled by the roar of the soldiers. He thought they were here to arrest him!
The guard looked troubled and said, "Yu Dayou is guarding the river in the fort, and he is deeply supported by the soldiers. If the Jin Yiwei goes directly, I'm afraid he won't be able to gain favor."
Jiang Yingxiong still didn't want to get into trouble. He slapped the table and said, "This Yu Dayou is just a pawn. The Imperial Guards are ordered to arrest him. Does anyone dare to stop him? Just take the Imperial Guards to Hezhong Fort." "
The two soldiers looked at it and reluctantly left the general tent and led ten Jinyi guards to Hezhong Fort.
The leading Jinyiwei Qianhu was named Chen Danian, and he was the adopted son of the great eunuch Chen Hong.
After Chen Hong replaced Lu Bing and became the leader of Dongchang Jinyiwei, the original relaxed style of Lu Bing's period immediately changed, and Jinyiwei's methods became increasingly cruel.
It was under such circumstances that Chen Danian climbed to a high position, doing things cruelly and without leaving any room, and intimidating others through terror.
Regarding Jiang Yingxiong's indifference, Chen Danian held a grudge in his heart and waited for the opportunity to deal with him again in the future.
The most important thing now is to capture Yu Dayou.
After Chen Hong took charge of Jinyiwei, he treated his subordinates more harshly.
The Jinyi guards who went to Nanzhili to arrest Tan Lun last time have all been dismissed from their posts, and it is said that they will be imprisoned for questioning.
Chen Danian was also afraid that the news would leak out, so he immediately asked Jiang Yingxiong's soldiers to take him to Hezhong Fort.
"Qianhu, this fort in the river is the farthest garrison in Datong Town."
Hearing this, Chen Danian nodded. It seemed that Yu Dayou was not given preferential treatment in Datong.
The soldier added: "When we get to Hezhong Fort, please Qianhu wait for a moment while we lure Yu Dayou out before arresting him."
Chen Danian was used to being domineering in the capital. The last time he raided the house of a strict party minister, he kicked open the main door. When he heard that the commander-in-chief was so cowardly, he couldn't help but ask: "Why is this?" ?”
The general soldier said: "Qianhu, you don't know something. This fort in the river is tough and has caused many troubles in the past. Even if the chief soldier comes, we must be careful to comfort him, otherwise there will be chaos!"
"This is just a garrison, isn't it?"
"As for that, there are three general officers at the fort in the river."
"At first, in the early years of this dynasty, when the emperor just succeeded to the throne, there was chaos in order to build the river fort."
"The then commander-in-chief Zhang Wenjin built a fort in the river and sent soldiers to garrison far away. Because of Zhang Wenjin's cruelty, the soldiers killed Zhang Wenjin and captured Datong. It took the court a year to put down the rebels."
"There were several rebellions in Hezhong Fort. The most serious one was to surrender to Mongolia. Later, Bian Town spent a lot of money to buy it back from the Mongols."
Chen Danian was shocked. He didn't expect Bian Zhen to be so arrogant.
The Fort in the River is actually not a desolate desert castle. On the contrary, it is a small castle on the edge of a grassland river.
It's autumn and winter now, and the grass is as yellow as dirty waves. If you come here in spring or summer, it should be a sea of green.
The area controlled by the Datong garrison was actually the Hetao area that previous dynasties attached great importance to.
The Yellow River turns in the Hetao area, forming a pocket-shaped plain area. Since the Han and Tang Dynasties, the Central Plains Dynasty has been operating the Hetao as an important line of defense against the invasion of grassland peoples.
The founding of the Song Dynasty was unstable and failed to regain the Hetao area, so it was always beaten by the nomads in the north.
When the Ming Dynasty was founded, it regained the Hetao area. However, as the national power shrank in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the Hetao area was basically abandoned.
Hezhong Fort is already the deepest fortress extending from Datong Town to the Hetao area.
In the Hezhong Fort, Yu Dayou was practicing with the soldiers.
After being assigned, Yu Dayou's mentality was very good.
Hezhong Fort is the farthest away from Datong, so officers don't like to go there on weekdays. There are more than 100 garrison soldiers in Hezhong Fort, but only one general flag is permanently stationed.
Yu Dayou, who was good at training soldiers and dealing with soldiers, immediately became the leader of this group of soldiers.
At this time, Yu Dayou was leading this group of soldiers to drill, and suddenly the soldier in charge of the guard whistled.
"Enemy attack?"
The garrison soldiers of Hezhong Fort acted very quickly. They immediately rushed into the treasury to pick up their equipment. At this moment, two horses appeared at the gate of Hezhong Fort.
"Is General Yu here?"
There was only a middle-aged man riding on the two horses. He was dusty and he was shouting to the river fort.
The archers climbed up the wall of Hezhong Fort, and Yu Dayou shouted: "Yu is not a general, but a soldier of the Hezhong Fort. Who are you!?"
"An old friend of Mr. Su!"
After saying that, the middle-aged man shouted: "General Yu, come with me quickly, the Jinyi Guards are here to arrest you!"
The soldiers were in an uproar, and Yu Dayou walked over and saw that this middle-aged man seemed familiar.
The person who came was Lu Er, the former Jin Yiwei. He found out the news that the imperial court wanted to arrest Yu Dayou in the capital, and immediately left the capital and came to Datong.
However, the Datong garrison was very large. It was not easy for Lu Er to find out that Yu Dayou was in Hezhong Fort. He immediately bought two good horses and went all the way to Hezhong Fort to report the news.
"Why do you want to arrest General Yu!"
"The imperial court has already wronged General Yu, why don't you let him go now?"
The soldiers were filled with righteous indignation. During this period, Yu Dayou led them to fight the Mongols and led them to patrol and guard the border. Only then did Hezhong Fort gain peace.
The days of hiding in the river fort, shivering and being bullied by the Mongols, are over.
But the good days have not passed long, and now the court wants to arrest Yu Dayou.
"Are you close to Mr. Su?"
Lu Er nodded.
Lu Er continued: "The Jinyi Guards are coming! If General Yu wants to capture him without mercy, can the brothers Pao Ze agree?"
"cannot!"
The soldiers shouted.
Lu Er said: "General! If the Paoze brothers rebel for you, they will definitely be suppressed by the court? For the sake of the brothers, please let me go!"
Yu Dayou thought for a while, and finally nodded helplessly.
Lu Er was right. With his prestige in Hezhong Fort, even if he was captured obediently, I am afraid that the garrison of Hezhong Fort would not let the Jinyi guards take him away.
At that time, more than a hundred people in Hezhong Fort rebelled, and they would definitely be suppressed by Datong.
Yu Dayou raised his hands to the garrison of Hezhong Fort and said:
"Brothers, Yu is still going."
Although everyone was reluctant to leave, they could not watch Yu Dayou being captured by the Jin Yiwei. The soldiers opened the gate of Hezhong Fort and said goodbye to Yu Dayou in unison.
As soon as Lu Er and Yu Dayou left, Chen Danian's royal guards arrived.
Chen Danian's men shouted at the Hezhong Fort: "Where is the criminal Yu Dayou!"
There was no response in the Hezhong Fort. General Jiang's personal guards came forward to shout again, and then some soldiers stood on the wall and said:
"General Yu has left!"
Chen Danian's head buzzed, and Yu Dayou ran away again?
"We are the imperial guards, we want to go in and search!"
After half a day, the city gate of Hezhong Fort opened. Chen Danian and a group of guards in uniform went in to search, and sure enough they did not see Yu Dayou.
Chen Danian was furious and wanted to arrest these garrison soldiers for interrogation, but was stopped by General Jiang's soldiers.
Seeing the weapons in the hands of these garrison soldiers, Chen Danian quickly became discouraged.
Chen Danian could only leave in anger, and when he returned to Datong, he asked General Jiang to send troops to search for him, but to no avail.
On the grassland, side by side with Lu Er, Yu Dayou asked: "Where does Mr. Su want me to go?"
This is a transitional chapter. It brings out the situation of the nine sides, so I won’t ask for votes.
(End of chapter)
