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At the morning meeting the next day, Zhao Junchen proposed to Emperor Deqing his idea of extending the commercial tax rectification plan to the northwest provinces.
Emperor Deqing and the various factions in the court had no objections to Zhao Junchen's proposal. After all, Zhao Junchen's business tax rectification plan had indeed achieved extremely dazzling results in several southeastern provinces, and the improvement of the court's financial situation was beneficial to everyone. benefit.
In fact, if it were not for several consecutive battles between Shaanxi-Gansu and Hetao this year, the imperial court might have had a prosperous year.
Then, Zhao Junchen proposed that Zuo Lanshan should be transferred to Shanxi and serve as governor, and this matter was quickly passed.
With Zhao Junchen's return to the court, the "Zhao Party" has a backbone and leader. Everyone knows that it is impossible for them to bring down Zuo Lanshan through impeachment. In comparison, letting Zuo Lanshan leave the cabinet Putting it outside can be considered a kind of gain.
What's more, Zuo Lanshan is appointed as the governor of Shanxi this time and is also responsible for presiding over the commercial tax rectification of the northwest provinces, so the powerful ministers will not deliberately obstruct him.
After all the events during this period, Emperor Deqing and the powerful ministers have formed a tacit understanding and consensus - until the financial situation of the imperial court is completely improved, the relevant matters will be completely handed over to Zhao Junchen from now on, and he will be left to his own devices. Zhao Junchen doesn't care, as long as it doesn't hinder the interests of all parties.
It is precisely because of this consideration that Emperor Deqing and other powerful ministers also did not pursue Zhao Junchen's massive rectification and elimination of dissidents in the Hubu Yamen yesterday. Instead, they recognized Zhao Junchen's opinion and believed that Hong Zhengshuo and Ma Sen had already It is not suitable to serve in the Hubu Yamen, so we have begun to discuss the new candidates for the two Hubu Ministers.
Finally, after long discussions and debates, the transfer of officials was finally settled.
Ma Sen was sent to Nanzhili and served as the Zuodu censor of the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate.
Hong Zhengshuo was also released and became the inspector of Shaanxi. The next day, he was going to Shaanxi to take up his post to replace the current inspector of Shaanxi, Zhou Bo.
Obviously, because of the "Three Strategies for Raising Food", these two unlucky guys had offended all the officials in the capital. It was natural for them to leave the center of the capital and go to the local government this time.
Then, under the operation of Zhao Junchen, Liu Changan, the former right minister of the Ministry of Personnel, successfully resumed his official position, but instead of staying in the Ministry of Personnel, he was transferred to the Ministry of Hubu and replaced Hong Zhengshuo as the left minister of the Ministry of Personnel.
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This series of official transfers illustrates many things.
First of all, just as Zhao Junchen expected, the expansion of the power of the "Zhao Party" is indeed entering a bottleneck period.
While Emperor Deqing and other powerful ministers completely handed over the financial power of the imperial court to Zhao Junchen, they would also do their best to suppress Zhao Junchen's expansion of power in other areas. That's why they transferred Liu Changan of the "Zhao Party" from the official department and went to Serving in the Ministry of Household Affairs, on the one hand, strengthened Zhao Junchen's control over the Ministry of Household Affairs, and on the other hand, it also weakened Zhao Junchen's influence in the Ministry of Personnel.
However, this is also something Zhao Junchen is happy to see. The Ministry of Civil Affairs has always been Zhou Shangjing's stronghold. Liu Changan has made no achievements during his tenure as the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. The new Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Li Chengru, cannot be fully trusted for the time being, so he transferred Liu Changan to the Ministry of Revenue. The position of Zuo Shilang can also prevent Li Chengru from losing control in the future.
It can be expected that the new candidate for the right minister of household affairs will eventually be appointed by one of Zhao Junchen's cronies in Shaanxi and Gansu. This is also to weaken Zhao Junchen's influence in Shaanxi and Gansu.
Secondly, Emperor Deqing was eager to rectify the officialdom of Shaanxi and Gansu. Before the Hetao War ended, he appointed Hong Zhengshuo as the inspector of Shaanxi. This was the next step Emperor Deqing wanted to rectify the officialdom of Shaanxi and Gansu. A foreshadowing.
What makes Zhao Junchen even more wary is that when Hong Zhengshuo went to Shaanxi to serve as the inspector, he would also bring the latest imperial edict from Emperor Deqing to several major heroes in Shaanxi and Gansu - including Shaanxi governor Zhang Shengde and Xi'an prefect Wu Qifan. , the inspector general Zhou Bo, the academic administrator Zheng Jiadong and others - rushed to the center of the capital as soon as possible after the Hetao war ended, waiting for the next step of commendations and rewards from the imperial court.
This was obviously Emperor Deqing's desire to eliminate Zhao Junchen's influence and connections in Shaanxi and Gansu in one fell swoop.
Zhao Junchen had no suitable reason to object to Emperor Deqing's methods, and the sensitivity of the matter did not suit him to object, so he had no choice but to let it go.
However, Zhao Junchen was not particularly worried about Emperor Deqing's methods, because his prestige and connections had been deeply implanted in all walks of life in Shaanxi and Gansu, including the government, the army, merchants, scholars, common people, etc. There are arrangements for every class, and it cannot be removed by Emperor Deqing replacing some upper-level officials.
Although Emperor Deqing was proficient in imperial thinking, his ideas were still old-fashioned and he did not know how to penetrate the grassroots masses. He always believed that he could control the situation by changing a few officials, which destined him to achieve twice the result with half the effort.
Finally, and the most alarming thing for Zhao Junchen, is that Emperor Deqing and the "Zhou Party", "Shen Party", and Qingliu have reached a consensus on their attitude towards Zhao Junchen, and their actions and attitudes are very consistent. This means that If Zhao Junchen wants to break this deadlock in the future, he will encounter much more resistance than he imagined!
"It seems that if you want to fish in troubled waters, you must further confuse the situation in the temple!"
After the court meeting ended, Zhao Junchen thought to himself.
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After the morning dynasty ended, the officials left the Hall of Supreme Harmony one after another.
Zhao Junchen habitually wanted to go to the Meridian Gate and take a sedan to go to the Hubu Yamen for work, but after walking a few steps, he realized that he was no longer the Minister of Hubu, but a cabinet minister. His office was It is no longer the Hubu Yamen not far outside the Meridian Gate, but has become the Wenhua Palace in the Forbidden City.
Thinking of this, Zhao Junchen changed his direction and walked towards the Wenhua Palace.
"The cabinet! It is the place that assists the emperor in formulating court policies. When I was the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, my power was only limited to the financial sector, but I was also able to rule the world and stick to my word. Now that I am the assistant minister of the cabinet, my power has expanded to Various aspects can also influence the policy direction of the imperial court, but when doing things, we must discuss it with those powerful ministers... but I don’t know what the situation will be."
While thinking deeply, Zhao Junchen couldn't help but speed up his steps.
Although Zhao Junchen's current physical condition was not good, he was still a young man after all. After walking a few steps, he saw several veterans not far ahead, slowly walking towards the Wenhua Hall.
These elders are Shen Changmao, the current chief minister of the cabinet, Zhou Shangjing, the powerful cabinet elder, Cheng Yuandao, the leader of Qingliu, and Li He, another cabinet elder from the "Zhou Party".
If we leave aside Liang Fuchen, the cabinet elder who is presiding over military affairs in Shaanxi and Gansu, and Zhao Junchen himself, who has recently become the cabinet minister, then all the cabinet elders in the temple will be gathered together.
After meeting several pavilion elders, Zhao Junchen pondered for a moment, then quickened his pace, walked behind the elders, raised his hands and saluted: "Junior Zhao Junchen, I have met several seniors!"
Hearing Zhao Junchen's greetings, several pavilion elders stopped and turned to look at Zhao Junchen.
Zhao Junchen continued with a humble attitude: "From now on, the junior will assist in government affairs together with several seniors in the Wenhua Hall. The junior's prestige is insufficient and his knowledge is shallow. If there is any deficiencies in the future, please ask a few more A senior would like to give you more advice."
Hearing Zhao Junchen's self-effacement, seeing Zhao Junchen's young face, and then seeing the other elders looking as old as themselves, Zhou Shangjing, Shen Changmao and others couldn't help but sigh.
When they entered the cabinet, the youngest was forty or fifty years old. He was not like Zhao Junchen, but he had already reached the peak of being a minister at the age of twenty-five or six.
Especially Shen Changmao, he couldn't help but feel jealous and resentful in his heart. He felt that Zhao Junchen joined the cabinet with him at a young age to assist the government, and his power and achievements had faintly surpassed that of himself, the nominal chief minister of the cabinet. This was like Ridiculing myself for living all my years like a dog.
Those who are jealous of talents are those like Shen Changmao.
Objectively speaking, Zhao Junchen's return to the temple obviously helped to stabilize Shen Changmao's position as chief assistant. If not for the fact that Zhao Junchen solved the logistical and food problems of the Hetao War and took over the problem of poor water transportation, these developments would have been In the end, Shen Changmao will take the blame, and Shen Changmao will inevitably collapse.
Shen Changmao naturally understands this, but this still cannot stop Shen Changmao from hating Zhao Junchen from the bottom of his heart!
At this time, seeing Zhao Junchen's active greeting, Shen Changmao still had a cold face, nodded gently and said: "As the chief minister of the cabinet, I have the power to lead the cabinet, so I will naturally give you good advice. Now that you have just entered There are no achievements in the cabinet yet, so you should learn from me and others in the future. The cabinet is the core of the temple, and you must not mess around like you did in the Hubu Yamen."
A trace of contempt flashed deep in Zhao Junchen's eyes, but his smile remained unchanged, and he nodded respectfully: "This is natural! The seniors are all the pillars of the court who have matured to seek the country, and the achievements of the juniors in the past are not counted. What’s up, naturally I want to take the opportunity to learn more.”
Shen Changmao couldn't help but snort when he touched a soft nail.
On the other side, Cheng Yuandao was ridiculed by Zhao Junchen a few days ago, and he also felt disgusted with Zhao Junchen. He said coldly: "I just hope you will do what you say. The cabinet operation has always been stable. You'd better not Adding to the chaos..."
As the leader of Qingliu, Cheng Yuandao naturally had a lot of truths hidden in his mind. At this time, he wanted to take the opportunity to educate Zhao Junchen in a long speech, and also take the opportunity to retaliate against Zhao Junchen's previous ridicule.
But at this moment, Zhou Shangjing spoke.
"Why don't you all take the first step? I have something to discuss with Zhao Gechen in private!"
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The follow-up plot couldn't be finished before early morning, so there is only half a chapter today, but there will be a big chapter tomorrow.
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