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After preliminary testing, Zhao Junchen was certain that Emperor Deqing wanted Zuo Lanshan to enter the cabinet.
But with just this little information, Zhao Junchen still couldn't guess Emperor Deqing's specific plan and true intentions.
After all, in this morning's court meeting, many "Imperial Party" officials expressed their support for the entry of Trilateral Governor Liang Fuchen into the cabinet. This was obviously a signal from Emperor Deqing, but this situation obviously conflicted with Zuo Lanshan's entry into the cabinet, but it was And why?
You must know that Liang Fuchen's achievements are rare and his popularity is unparalleled. Once he joins the competition for the vacant cabinet seat, Zuo Lanshan's hope of joining the cabinet will be greatly reduced.
According to Zhao Junchen's conjecture, Emperor Deqing suddenly pushed Liang Fuchen out. There are two possibilities. Perhaps Liang Fuchen was just a cover thrown by Emperor Deqing to divert the attention of various factions in the court; or perhaps Emperor Deqing He planned to accomplish all his achievements in one battle and wanted Zuo Lanshan and Liang Fuchen to join the cabinet together!
Of these two possibilities, the latter is more likely.
After all, after the collapse of Huang Yourong, it seemed that there was just a vacancy in the cabinet, but in fact, the Ming Dynasty never explicitly stipulated the specific number of cabinet ministers. Since the emergence of the cabinet, the Ming Dynasty had the smallest number of cabinets in hundreds of years. Sometimes there is only one person, and sometimes there are up to seven people.
In other words, one to seven people is the default range of cabinet numbers agreed by the emperor and officials.
As for the current cabinet, if we ignore Huang Yourong, who is about to return to his hometown, there are only three assistant ministers: Shen Changmao, Huang Yourong, and Cheng Yuandao. Even if two more people are added at the same time, they are only five people, not more than the monarch and his ministers. the scope of their acquiescence.
If Zuo Lanshan and Liang Fuchen entered the cabinet at the same time, Emperor Deqing would obviously reap a lot of benefits.
First of all, after Zuo Lanshan entered the cabinet, the status of the number two figure in the "Zhao Party" has surpassed that of Zhao Junchen, the number one figure in the "Zhao Party", which can greatly increase the possibility of internal divisions in the "Zhao Party" and This will limit Zhao Junchen's increase in power.
Secondly, after Liang Fuchen entered the cabinet, Emperor Deqing could also rely on Liang Fuchen to intervene in cabinet affairs and divide the power of the cabinet.
Thirdly, taking the opportunity to transfer Liang Fuchen, an important official of the "Imperial Party", back to the capital and entrusting him with important tasks can also greatly enhance the influence of the "Imperial Party" in the center of the capital.
Finally, the larger the number of people in the cabinet, the more difficult it will be to unite, the more serious the internal strife will be, and the power and influence of the cabinet will be limited. This is equivalent to a disguised enhancement of imperial power.
All of these were greatly conducive to Emperor Deqing's goal of enhancing imperial power. Judging from Emperor Deqing's always-loving character, he would never give up these benefits easily.
Therefore, according to Zhao Junchen's conjecture, the latter possibility is obviously more likely.
However, conjectures are just conjectures after all. The subsequent changes in the situation are directly related to the success or failure of Zhao Junchen's final plan. Zhao Junchen is naturally extremely cautious and will never judge Emperor Deqing's thoughts based on momentary conjectures. Otherwise, if there is a slight suspicion Deviation, Zhao Junchen will usher in the end of failure.
Therefore, Zhao Junchen still needs further testing.
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While thinking deeply, Zhao Junchen planned to further test Emperor Deqing.
However, in order to prevent Emperor Deqing from seeing the flaw, Zhao Junchen did not test it immediately. Instead, he first chatted with Emperor Deqing about some court affairs.
For example, the future prospects of Tongda Shipping Company, the current situation of the Ministry of Revenue, and the reception of internal funds and the West Factory... Zhao Junchen even calmly exchanged his views on the vacancies in the cabinet with Emperor Deqing.
Then, "accidentally", Zhao Junchen and Emperor Deqing talked about the expenses of the Ministry of Revenue's treasury next year.
Zhao Junchen looked full of pride and reported to Emperor Deqing: "Your Majesty, in recent years, the revenue and expenditure situation of the Ministry of Household Affairs has gradually improved. Especially this year, the national bank balance of the Ministry of Household Affairs has reached nearly ten A new high since the beginning of the year. Putting aside the necessary expenses, the balance of the household department reached 530,000 taels of silver in the first half of the year alone... According to Chen's estimate, as Tongda Shipping is on track in the second half of the year, the balance figure will It can at least quadruple, and perhaps reach as much as two million taels!"
To be honest, the Ministry of Revenue is in charge of taxes, money, and food all over the world. It can have a balance of two million taels of silver in a year, which is actually not much.
However, as Zhao Junchen said, this is the best situation of the Household Department in more than ten years. Before Zhao Junchen took control of the Household Department, the Household Department often failed to make ends meet, let alone a balance every year. .
All this was done by Zhao Junchen's means, so it's no wonder that Zhao Junchen looked proud.
Therefore, after hearing Zhao Junchen's report and seeing the pride in Zhao Junchen's expression, Emperor Deqing also smiled cooperatively and said: "Yes, I am very relieved to see the current situation of the household department. All of this is It’s Zhao Aiqing’s business success!”
Zhao Junchen quickly said humbly: "I dare not take credit. Everything depends on your Majesty's wise judgment."
Although he spoke modestly, the proud expression on Zhao Junchen's face could not be concealed at any cost.
Seeing Zhao Junchen's expression, Emperor Deqing frowned slightly.
In the eyes of Emperor Deqing, taking credit and being arrogant is definitely not a good quality.
But at the same time, seeing that Zhao Junchen was as shallow as ever, Emperor Deqing became less and less guarded against Zhao Junchen.
Speaking of which, the reason why Zhao Junchen was able to repeatedly plot against Emperor Deqing was not because Emperor Deqing was low on guard, had a shallow city, or lacked strategy. It was because in the eyes of Emperor Deqing, Zhao Junchen was just a clever trickster. As a minister, this image was so strong that Emperor Deqing never really paid attention to Zhao Junchen. Even though Emperor Deqing was now gradually afraid of Zhao Junchen, he was only afraid of Zhao Junchen's increase in power, not Zhao Junchen. Junchen's city scheming.
Zhao Junchen knew very well that this was his biggest advantage over Emperor Deqing, so Zhao Junchen would always seize every opportunity to solidify his image as a jester in front of Emperor Deqing, even if he was dressing up as a clown.
This is true today.
Seeing that Emperor Deqing's vigilance was further lowered, Zhao Junchen finally asked: "Your Majesty, seeing that the autumn harvest is approaching, at this time every year, the Jurchens and Mongolian tribes in Jianzhou in the north will go south to plunder. When all the towns in Xinjiang allocate subsidies, the Ministry of Household Affairs has a larger balance this year, and it is not as embarrassed as in previous years when it comes to allocating subsidies. I would also like to ask your Majesty to indicate whether this year the Ministry of Revenue will still allocate subsidies according to the rules of previous years. Pay? After receiving His Majesty's instructions, I can also ask the Ministry of Household Affairs to make preparations in advance to avoid being in a hurry."
After hearing Zhao Junchen's inquiry, Emperor Deqing didn't think much about it. He just pondered for a moment and said, "It's not urgent yet. Let's wait until I discuss this matter with several cabinet ministers before making arrangements."
"I know."
When he agreed, Zhao Junchen's eyes flashed with a strange color.
The distribution of food and wages in the Ming Dynasty also involved the interests of all aspects.
Among them, the food and salary of Liaobian Army Town and Sanbian Army Town are the top priority!
Since the rise of the Jurchens in Jianzhou, the annual Liao salary has been an astronomical figure. Although the Liao salary does not actually require so much money, many ministers in the court have benefited from the Liao salary, so naturally they have spoken for the Liao border military towns. , from this aspect, the interest groups involved in Liao's rates are not even inferior to the commercial taxes of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal!
Compared with the Liao border, the three border military towns govern the military affairs of Shaanxi, Gansu, Yansui, Ningxia and other places. They also face the threat of foreign plunder from the south every year. Their importance is no less than that of the Liao border. However, the annual subsidies they receive are less than that of the Liao border. It is far inferior to Liao's salary.
But in the past ten years, because Liang Fuchen, the governor of the three sides, was a die-hard "imperialist" minister, Emperor Deqing wanted Liang Fuchen to make some achievements as the governor of the three sides, but he tried every means to increase the amount of military pay for the three sides! Today, the amount of military pay for the three sides has gradually become considerable.
Zhao Junchen's inquiry at this time seemed to be about the payment of the border troops, but in fact it was to test Emperor Deqing's attitude towards the Trilateral Military Town. If Emperor Deqing continued to strive for a larger number of military towns for the Trilateral The military pay of the Trilateral Military Town means that Liang Fuchen, the governor of the Trilateral Army, will not be transferred in a short time. However, if Emperor Deqing does not pay so much attention to the military pay of the Trilateral Military Town, it means that Liang Fuchen is about to return to Beijing after completing his term, so Deqing The emperor was also unwilling to quarrel with the officials in the DPRK and the Central Government over the matter of the three-sided military town.
Now, after hearing Zhao Junchen's inquiry, Emperor Deqing did not make any special statement, which means...
"It seems that it is finally confirmed. Liang Fuchen is indeed going back to the capital. It seems that Emperor Deqing really wants to push Liang Fuchen into the cabinet... This Liang Fuchen, regardless of his scheming, means, and government, is among the 'imperial party' They are all second to none. If he returns to the capital, he will be a powerful addition to Emperor Deqing. But I have to make preparations in advance... In addition, I have to secretly contact Zhou Shangjing, Shen Changmao and others. I am afraid they are also unwilling to see it. When Liang Fuchen returns to Beijing, let's see if they can secretly prevent this... In addition, the Trilateral Army Town is quite corrupt now, and it really cannot do without Liang Fuchen's support, otherwise there may be big chaos..."
Zhao Junchen thought secretly.
In fact, Emperor Deqing had vaguely revealed his idea of recalling Liang Fuchen before, and Zhao Junchen had long been prepared to secretly stop the matter. It was only today that Zhao Junchen finally confirmed Emperor Deqing's idea.
*
Next, Zhao Junchen and Emperor Deqing discussed some court affairs before saying goodbye and leaving.
After leaving the Imperial Study Room, Zhao Junchen was quite silent on the way back to his mansion, just thinking about his next plan secretly.
But Zhao Junchen didn't know that just when he was testing Emperor Deqing, two of the major factions in the court were discussing joining forces.
The reason why these two factions joined forces is precisely because they have a common enemy - that is Zhao Junchen!
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…(To be continued.)
