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Ever since Lin Yunpu met Zhao Junchen, his attitude had been very respectful and humble. At this time, when he asked, his expression was still humble and submissive, making it impossible to find any fault.
However, Zhao Junchen clearly felt a questioning tone from his words.
Obviously, Lin Yunpu's true character was not as low-key as he had shown before. When Zhao Junchen rejected his kindness, Lin Yunpu finally showed a little bit of his edge.
However, Lin Yunpu is different from Bai Mingyu. He understands when to show his edge and when to hide it.
At this time, Lin Yunpu's implicit questioning was not only to express his attitude, but also to once again confirm Zhao Junchen's true intentions. If Zhao Junchen was indeed hostile to the Hui-Zhejiang merchant gang, then Lin Yunpu would probably have to take some necessary measures. Take action!
After all, Zhao Junchen is not only the Minister of Household Affairs of the imperial court, in charge of the world's money, food, taxes, but also has a certain influence on the formulation of imperial policies. If Zhao Junchen is hostile to the Huizhou-Zhejiang Merchant Gang, this will not be the best for the Hui-Zhejiang Merchant Gang. , is undoubtedly a huge hidden danger and needs to be eliminated as soon as possible!
Zhao Junchen also understood Lin Yunpu's thoughts, and Zhao Junchen did not intend to force the Huizhou-Zhejiang Merchant Gang again and again. After all, the power and influence of the Hui-Zhejiang Merchant Gang should not be underestimated.
Therefore, under the gazes of Lin Yunpu, Bai Mingyu and Dai Fengfu, Zhao Junchen smiled softly, relaxed the atmosphere slightly, and then said: "Boss Lin misunderstood, I have no ill intentions towards the Hui-Zhejiang Merchant Gang. In fact, I I also admire the Huizhou-Zhejiang Merchant Gang’s shrewdness and pragmatism. If it were to go in another direction, I would be very willing to cooperate with you, but this is definitely not possible with the Sichuan Salt Affairs matter.”
After a pause, Zhao Junchen did not continue to show off. He further explained: "First of all, credibility is crucial for both officials and businessmen. As for the Sichuan salt matter, I have already discussed it with the Shanxi merchants and made many promises and guarantees. Although you are very Sincerity, but I cannot arbitrarily overturn my previous promises, otherwise, not to mention offending the Shanxi merchant group, my future credibility will inevitably be lost; secondly, Sichuan salt rectification and attracting Shanxi merchants into Sichuan. Although this policy is I was the first to propose it, but it was not promoted by me alone. There were many knowledgeable people in the court who were dissatisfied with the current situation of our salt tax and were very supportive of this policy. In addition, the Shanxi merchant collective also bribed many important officials of the court to support them. , now this policy has become a foregone conclusion, and if I want to reverse the change, it is definitely not something I can do by myself."
Having said this, Zhao Junchen glanced at Lin Yunpu and others and saw that they did not argue fiercely. Instead, he showed a thoughtful expression and continued: "Third, and most importantly, as a minister, I must consider His Majesty's attitude. As far as I know. Your Majesty also supports this policy, so why should I bother? Just some property. And deliberately going against His Majesty?"
Very frankly, Zhao Junchen stated his reasons. There was no concealment at all. These reasons were so sufficient that Lin Yunpu and others could not refute them.
Especially after hearing Zhao Junchen's third reason, the expressions of Lin Yunpu, Bai Mingyu, and Dai Fengfu changed slightly. Among them, Dai Fengfu's eyes even flashed a hint of panic.
Obviously, Zhao Junchen was hinting at Emperor Deqing's suppressive and distrustful attitude towards the Huizhou and Zhejiang merchant gangs.
In fact, it is not surprising that Emperor Deqing would have this attitude.
*
The historical trend of this world is very different from the world where Zhao Junchen originally lived.
In another historical time and space, the Ming Dynasty should have perished during the reign of Emperor Chongzhen, and one of the reasons for the demise of the Ming Dynasty was the existence and strength of the "Donglin Party"! Although the Donglin Party members of the Ming Dynasty regarded themselves as clean-blooded and made good use of moral weapons, to a large extent they only represented the interests of Jiangnan landlords and Jiangnan merchants. Subjectively, they had lost their will to contribute to the court, and Putting class interests above national interests was a political group used by the landlords and merchants in Jiangnan to fight against the imperial power, or even to evade the imperial power!
In the end, due to the resistance of the Donglin Party, the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty fell into a vicious cycle of party unity and opposition. All tax reforms and economic policies came to nothing. The landlords and businessmen in Jiangnan also had the support of the Donglin Party. The refusal to pay commercial and mining taxes put the Ming Dynasty in a state of extreme financial embarrassment. Coupled with successive years of drought in the north, the people had no harvest, and the court had no money or food to provide relief. This caused Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and others to riot and revolt. , and eventually the Ming Dynasty naturally perished.
What is particularly ironic is that after Li Zicheng captured the capital, Emperor Chongzhen ordered people to ring the bell and planned to summon the ministers for the last court meeting. However, the "loyal" Donglin Party members were either in a hurry to escape or were busy surrendering. But no one showed up, and the only one who accompanied Emperor Chongzhen was Wang Chengen, a "remnant of the eunuch party". This shows the character of the Donglin party members.
What's even more ridiculous is that after Li Zicheng captured the capital, although most of the Donglin Party members simply defected to Li Zicheng, Li Zicheng's attitude towards them was not as friendly as that of the Ming Dynasty emperor. Those who should have their homes confiscated and those who should be beheaded The beheading made the Donglin Party members mourn! Then, by chance, Wu Sangui surrendered to the Qing Dynasty and led Qing troops into the pass. The remaining Donglin Party members simply defected to the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Unfortunately, the Qing Dynasty's attitude towards them was much worse than that of Li Zicheng. Tragedies such as the Three Massacres in Jiading, the Ten Days in Yangzhou, and the Literary Prison continued to occur. Not only did the people suffer, but the Donglin Party completely lost its foundation because of this. When the Donglin Party members finally discovered the benefits of the Ming Dynasty and shouted the slogan "Reverse the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty", they could no longer make any waves.
However, in the historical time and space where Zhao Junchen is now, the situation is different. Emperor Chongzhen in this time and space is not a blind boy who believes blindly. Not only was he not confused by the moral articles of the Donglin Party, but he took many actions. These measures were taken to suppress the Donglin Party. Because the factory guards were not abolished, the imperial power was still strong. Through differentiation, checks and balances, bribery and other means, the power of the Donglin Party was gradually weakened, and finally the power of the Donglin Party was completely driven out of the imperial center. As a result, the landlords and merchants in Jiangnan lost their influence on court policies. Although tax evasion was still common, the financial situation of the Ming Dynasty was finally eased a lot. In this way, the victims in the north received relief, and the uprisings of Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and others were put out as soon as they emerged. In the end, the Ming Dynasty not only did not perish, but continued to this day; Wu Sangui not only did not surrender to the Qing Dynasty, but the Wu family became A family of famous generals guarding the border; the originally arrogant Manchu Qing Dynasty was unable to enter the border and could only linger among the white mountains and black waters...
Although there is inertia in the development of history, the influence of personal factors should not be ignored. Zhao Junchen always feels this way every time he reads about this different historical development. It is just because Emperor Chongzhen's talents have improved. The history of the Chinese nation has actually gone in a completely different direction...
It is a pity that although Emperor Chongzhen of this time and space could barely be regarded as the leader of the Ming Dynasty's resurgence, he was limited by the perspective of the times and did not make effective corrections to the various shortcomings of the Ming Dynasty. After Emperor Deqing succeeded to the throne, he only learned Emperor Chongzhen's centralization methods and imperial scheming made the Ming Dynasty's various ills worse and worse. Although God was good, there were no major natural disasters in various parts of the Ming Dynasty over the years. In addition, Zhou Shangjing, the chief minister, repaired and repaired the Ming Dynasty. It seems that the ruling and opposition parties are stable, but in fact they are in deep trouble and terminally ill.
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Naturally, Lin Yunpu, Bai Mingyu, and Dai Fengfu would not know about that completely different historical process, but they knew very well how Emperor Chongzhen dealt with the Huizhou and Zhejiang merchant gangs in this historical time and space, even though it had been decades. time, but they still have fresh memories and fears of that period of history.
Therefore, after hearing Zhao Junchen's hint, Lin Yunpu, Bai Mingyu, and Dai Fengfu did not have too many doubts, and soon believed it, thinking that Emperor Deqing had seen the Donglin Party interfere in politics back then, and now he saw Hui The Zhejiang Merchant Gang gradually recovered its strength. In order to prevent it from happening, it inherited Emperor Chongzhen's policy and once again suppressed the Huizhou-Zhejiang Merchant Gang.
Introducing merchants from Shanxi to Sichuan and developing Sichuan salt, which indirectly weakened the economic strength of the Huizhou and Zhejiang merchant gangs, was one of Emperor Deqing's specific methods.
In fact, this is the biggest reason why Zhao Junchen is unwilling to become the spokesperson of the Hui-Zhejiang merchant gang in the DPRK.
Thinking of this, Lin Yunpu and others were naturally frightened and at a loss. At the same time, they also lost the idea of continuing to bribe Zhao Junchen.
Firstly, they just wanted to go back to discuss countermeasures. Secondly, they also understood that Zhao Junchen, as a favorite of Emperor Deqing, would never forcefully oppose Emperor Deqing's established policy unless absolutely necessary. .
So, after a moment of silence, Lin Yunpu spoke again: "So it turns out that I was the one who was rude and made it difficult for you, sir. I'm really sorry. Now that the matter has come to this, we don't dare to force it anymore, so we said goodbye and left. , however, thank you for telling me the reason, which has benefited us a lot. I only hope that through today's incident, your relationship with the Huizhou-Zhejiang Merchant Gang and others can be closer. Zhejiang merchants will never treat you badly."
After finishing speaking, Lin Yunpu led Bai Mingyu and Dai Fengfu to bow to Zhao Junchen, and then planned to turn around and leave.
"Wait a minute." Just as Lin Yunpu and others were about to leave, Zhao Junchen suddenly said: "I just said before that there is no possibility of cooperation between me and you regarding the Sichuan Salt matter, but if it is about other matters, I think we can The cooperation between them may still be great.”
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…(To be continued)
