At this time in Yan's mansion, Yan Song was also praising his son's wisdom, but he didn't know his son's true thoughts.
To be fair, Yan Song never thought about what he wanted to do to Jiajing, let alone what he wanted to do to Daming. He still had this bottom line.
Yan Song could condone his son's murder, perversion, and greed for money, and even allowed his son to flirt with the Tatars in order to help his son get rid of Xiao Feng.
But Yan Song never wanted his son to get involved with Japanese pirates, let alone make friends with the White Lotus Sect. Therefore, Yan Shifan would never tell Yan Song about these two matters.
Therefore, Yan Shifan naturally would not tell Yan Song that the real purpose of raising Xiao Feng to the position of governor of Jiangnan this time was to let Princess Chang'an follow him out of the palace and go south.
Yan Shifan seriously deceived Yan Song: "Father, today you spoke so eloquently in the court that Wansui directly appointed Xiao Feng as the governor of Jiangnan. I think Xiao Feng still doesn't understand why at this time."
Yan Song nodded with satisfaction: "Donglou, this is all your clever plan. The resistance to converting rice into mulberry in Jiangnan is so great. The people are strongly opposed to it, and some small landowners are also worried that they will be annexed by big landowners and start trouble."
If you want to implement it, you must have an iron fist and an iron heart, and there will definitely be a bloody storm. At this time, lifting Xiao Feng to the position of governor of Jiangnan can be said to kill two birds with one stone.
If things go well, it will naturally be my credit, because I was the one who suggested changing the rice to mulberry! If things don't go well, the responsibility will naturally lie with Governor Jiangnan's incompetence!
The best thing is that with Xiao Feng's character, he will definitely not agree with this idea. But the plan was approved by the Cabinet the day before yesterday and ordered to be fully implemented! If he dares to obstruct it, he will be directly opposing Long Live!
No one knows Banzai’s character better than me. No matter how much he likes someone, as long as it touches the back of his dignity and confidence, he will never let it go!
By then, it will be a matter of time before Xiao Feng falls out of favor. The higher I praise him now, the more miserable he will be when he falls down in the future! "
Xiao Feng, who was in Xiyuan at this time, also thought of this question after hearing that Princess Chang An wanted to go south with him: Has Yan Song completely stood on the same front as Yan Shifan?
Probably not. According to Xiao Feng's speculation, the community of interests between Yan Song and Jiajing is still very stable. At least for now, he should not have the motive to cooperate with the White Lotus Sect.
Therefore, Yan Shifan should not tell his father the real purpose of this move. So, what reason did Yan Shifan use to convince Yan Song to appoint him as the governor of Jiangnan?
The so-called quelling the Japanese pirates and revitalizing the Ming Dynasty are all nonsense. Yan Song will never really let himself get such a big benefit for this reason. With Yan Song's old duck's style of dealing with things, he must have dug a hole for himself.
"Brother, when I go to the south, apart from annihilating the Japanese pirates along the coast and eradicating the White Lotus Sect, are there any other major things I need to do?"
Jiajing couldn't help but burst into laughter: "You are so loud. You also annihilated the Japanese pirates and eradicated the White Lotus Sect. How can a single governor accomplish this?"
What's more, I don't intend to let you serve the full term. Zhang Jing retires, but he has a group of supporters in the court. At this time, if the cabinet recommends Yan Song's disciples and former officials, it will inevitably arouse fierce opposition from those people.
And if Zhang Jing's supporters are appointed, it will make people say that the court wrongly punished Zhang Jing. Therefore, Yan Song's recommendation of you at this time happens to be something that neither group of people would strongly object to.
If you help the court make a smooth transition for a period of time, I will naturally let you return to Beijing to take up a post. Is there any reason for you and Chang An to stay in Jiangnan? "
Xiao Feng secretly sighed in his heart. Sure enough, no one should underestimate Jiajing. His senior brother seemed to be focusing on cultivating Taoism, but in fact he was extremely sensitive to matters in the court.
Yan Song thought he had persuaded Jiajing with a seamless set of principles and guided Jiajing to take a step according to his own design. In fact, Jiajing also followed the trend and used Yan Song's suggestion to avoid a possible fierce party dispute and maintain the balance of power in the court.
"But since you asked, I do have to tell you something. The imperial court has gradually implemented the policy of converting rice into mulberry in the Jiangnan provinces. This is a good thing to earn gold and silver from overseas barbarians and nomads.
The Ming Dynasty implemented a sea ban to prevent sea
The wild ambitions of the barbarians. But the Ming Dynasty's silk porcelain was sold overseas by merchants in various vassal countries, but the Ming Dynasty would not interfere.
Even the nomads outside the Great Wall, there are also rich and nobles among them, are very envious of these good things. Since you have already presided over the mutual market, you naturally agree to increase the production of these items. "
Xiao Feng listened quietly to Jiajing's words, and raised a smile at the corner of his mouth: "What the senior brother said is absolutely true. But I still have some concerns, please refer to the details, senior brother."
Jiajing nodded. Huang Jin gave Jiajing more tea and picked up Xiao Feng's tea cup: "Master Xiao's tea is cold, so let's change it to something hot. It's not good to drink cold tea."
Xiao Feng smiled at Huang Jin: "Thank you. Senior brother, Jiangnan has always been the granary of the Ming Dynasty. Changing rice to mulberry is a good thing, but you need to make some preparations in advance, otherwise good things may go wrong."
Just like trading with the Tatars, the Ming Dynasty also tried it before, but the Tatars were not disciplined, so the mutual trading was difficult to sustain.
This time, thanks to the blessing of my senior brother, I defeated the Tatars. With this foundation, the mutual trade will be much smoother. "
Jiajing smiled and nodded. Xiao Feng did have some opinions on changing rice to mulberry, but he was very sensible and did not express any objection. He even flattered himself fiercely, which was very embarrassing!
"So, I suggest that the court build more granaries to increase grain storage. The Ming Dynasty wants to train more cavalry, and sorghum and other feedstuffs already need to be stored in large quantities.
And these feeds will be life-saving food if there is a famine. Now that the imperial court has grain, it can calmly implement the conversion of rice into mulberry.
If people can earn money to buy grain, they will not be so fiercely opposed to converting rice into mulberry. "
Jiajing nodded: "It's just that the matter of building warehouses to collect grain will be difficult to complete for a while. The Ming Dynasty's grain production surplus is not much, how can we increase grain production quickly?"
Xiao Feng smiled: "Beyond the Great Wall and east of Shanhaiguan, there are fertile fields everywhere, but no one is cultivating them."
Jiajing was stunned for a moment, then shook his head with a wry smile. He rarely showed weakness in front of his ministers, but he was sincere in front of Xiao Feng.
"Junior brother, although the Jurchen tribes outside the Guan Kingdom appear to surrender to the Ming Dynasty, they are actually weaker than the Mongols and do not dare to do anything to the Ming Dynasty.
But Ming Dynasty currently has no energy to station troops to protect farming. "
Xiao Feng stood up and saluted Jiajing: "Brother, the Tatars are still eyeing the Ming Dynasty and are waiting for opportunities.
The Japanese pirates along the coast are still under control, and the undercurrent of the White Lotus Sect is surging. Outside the Guan Jurchen, all parts of the world are harmonious and separated from each other.
No matter how much silk the Ming Dynasty weaved at this time, it would be difficult to exchange it for real gold and silver because it was surrounded by enemies and the trade routes were not smooth.
If senior brother can trust me, give me one year to at least create a business path for senior brother from these four sides.
At that time, the junior brother will personally preside over the strategy of converting rice into mulberry for the senior brother. I hope the senior brother will approve it. "
Jiajing's smile faded a little, and he drank tea in silence. He waited until the cup of tea was finished before speaking.
"You do have this intention, but you are actually not sure, so it is just a delaying tactic. I have not wronged you, right?"
Huang Jin lowered his head and sighed secretly. Xiao Feng, you have clearly seen through Yan Song's trap, why do you still have to jump into the trap?
Some things cannot be changed by you alone.
Xiao Feng was not frightened by Jiajing's coldness and heart-wrenching words. Instead, he picked up the teacup lightly and took a sip of tea.
"Be loyal to the king, and be sincere to relatives. From the perspective of monarch and minister, Long Live is the king, and the minister must not be disloyal; from the perspective of Taoism, you are the senior brother, and I must not be disloyal.
After all, I am young and may not have enough knowledge, but I shouldn’t hide anything I think of. As for whether it is right or wrong, I have to decide and correct it.
This is the great Ming Dynasty, I dare not be good at it. I only know one sentence: If you live and die for the benefit of the country, how can you avoid it because of misfortunes and blessings? "
Jiajing was stunned, and silently recited the last sentence in his heart: If you live and die for the benefit of the country, how can you avoid it because of misfortunes and blessings?
Jiajing was moved by these words, but what really made Jiajing a little uneasy was not this famous and shocking sentence, but the penultimate sentence.
Yes, it’s this ordinary sentence: This
Long live the Ming Dynasty, I dare not be good at it.
I just said I am, and you became a minister. Then tell me, this is your Daming, and it has a close relationship with me. You can do whatever you want with it.
It's you who want to cultivate Taoism by relying on the luck of the Ming Dynasty, not me. I have a household registration there.
I wholeheartedly help you get ashore, but you don’t know how to love yourself. Are you worthy of me?
Jiajing took a sip of tea helplessly, and then found that the tea cup was empty. Huang Jin was also thinking about Xiao Feng's words, and even forgot to refill Jiajing's tea.
Jiajing immediately found a place to vent his anger and placed the tea cup heavily on the table.
Only then did Huang Jin wake up and quickly refill Jiajing's tea. Jiajing stopped drinking in anger and stared at the luck of the cup of tea.
"Brother, I recently remembered a book I read in the fairy world. It said that there is a fairy vine overseas that takes root on the ground and produces endless fruits under the roots. It tastes sweet and can fill your stomach.
I have calculated that this thing should have already appeared in the West, but the sea route is far away, and the countries that obtained it regard it as a treasure and are not willing to spread it.
I have asked Zhang Tianci to spend a lot of money to buy it from the coastal areas. Under heavy rewards, there must be brave men.
On those smuggling ships that secretly trade, there will definitely be people who take desperate risks and bring fairy vines with them in order to get a high price.
When I promote this fairy vine in the Ming Dynasty, the people of the Ming Dynasty will no longer have to worry about food shortages, and senior brother's policies can be implemented calmly. "
Jiajing felt hot. Although his junior brother was angry with me, he had been silently helping me find a solution. I actually suspected that he was setting me up! Read the book
Jiajing actually felt a little embarrassed. He picked up the tea cup and took a sip to hide his expression.
"That's very good. I'll do as you say. I'll give you a year to prepare food and open trade routes."
Xiao Feng smiled faintly: "Senior brother, what if the cabinet impeaches me for violating the law and refusing to implement national policies?"
Xiao Feng knew that no matter how good Jiajing was to him, he would never do it to slap himself in the face by asking him to announce that what he had decided was immediately void.
Jiajing glanced at him and said angrily: "You are the governor of Jiangnan. You hold great power. The cabinet only has the role of supervision. Without my order, do you really think the cabinet can touch Zhang Jing?"
Come on, Jiajing is trying to be a rogue to teach his disciples. Huang Jin lowered his head and smiled secretly: "Long live, it's getting late, it's time to go to bed."
Jiajing frowned: "Is it very late? Xiao Feng will be gone for a long time, I still want to hear more from him."
Huang Jin didn't say anything and accidentally knocked off the two plaques placed on the silver plate. One was for Concubine Lu Jing, and the other was turned over and could not be seen.
Jiajing immediately stretched out and said, "Junior brother, that's all I think about. Just go ahead and do it. Don't worry, I'll take care of everything."
Xiao Feng stood up and left, Huang Jin lowered his head to pick up the sign. There was no eye contact between the two, but Xiao Feng knew that Huang Jin was helping him.
This is the best time to end the conversation. Sometimes there is still more to say than to end it when there is nothing left to say. Especially when you're going to be separated from someone for a long time.
He will miss you very much.
