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After Song Huancheng heard the secret about water transportation from He Wei, he was distracted and worried all day long. From time to time he would show anger and gnashed his teeth, but it would soon turn into deep helplessness and powerlessness.
When he returned home from the Hubu Yamen, he didn't care about his own image and slumped down on the chair, constantly thinking about He Wei's words in his mind.
"Master Song, listen to my advice. There are some things that we little people should not worry about at all. There are too many things in this world that we are not capable of and cannot control at all..."
Then, He Wei murmured to himself: "Yeah... No matter how much I resent the corruption and waste of the Caoyun Yamen, what can I do? The backstage of the Caoyun Yamen is the chief minister of the cabinet, and he colludes with the Household Department Yamen, and there are Many powerful people are working as a puppet and taking advantage of the opportunity to make profits...
and I? I have always been unpopular in the official circles. There is no way that the Hubu Yamen will support me. My official rank is too low. Even if I submit a memorial to His Majesty, I will definitely be stuck in the General Affairs Department. I can't change anything at all. I can only Watching helplessly as the poor management of water transportation wastes tens of millions of grains every year, the people have to endure hunger and cold..."
While mumbling to himself, Song Huancheng slowly closed his eyes, his expression full of pain and weakness.
At this moment, a cheerful male voice suddenly sounded in the small courtyard outside the room.
"Brother, I'm back!"
Song Huancheng has always been honest, so his life is extremely embarrassing. He, his wife, one son, one daughter, and five brothers live in a small courtyard less than three feet wide and three dilapidated houses. The firewood and clothes hanging out are no different from the courtyards of ordinary lower-class people's homes.
So, after hearing this voice, Song Huancheng opened his eyes and took a panoramic view of the situation in the courtyard. He saw that his brother Song Lingcheng had returned home, carrying a big fish in his hand.
In just two or three steps, Song Lingcheng had already walked in front of Song Huancheng and said with a smile: "Brother, I bought a big fish. Today, our family will have a change of taste and make fish soup! My nieces and nephews are growing taller now. , you must eat something good.”
Seeing Song Lingcheng's performance, Song Huancheng's eyes flashed with relief.
In Song Huancheng's view, he was indeed a blessing in disguise after he fainted from hunger in public at the Rites Yamen. However, his blessing in disguise was not his rising reputation, nor the summons from Emperor Deqing, nor his transfer to the Hubu Yamen as an errand, but his Song Lingcheng, the ignorant younger brother who had always been idle and idle, suddenly matured a lot.
During this period of time, Song Lingcheng changed from his previous lazy style and actually took the initiative to find a job in a certain commercial bank in the capital. Although the salary was not high, it was enough to take care of himself, and he often used a little money to subsidize his family. Or take the initiative to buy ingredients for home like now.
Because of this situation, the relationship between the brothers Song Huancheng and Song Lingcheng has greatly improved. Song Huancheng has long forgotten that his brother made him faint from hunger in public.
So, after Song Huancheng saw Song Lingcheng, he no longer kept a cold face, forced out a smile, and said: "You, how many times have I told you, although you are making money now, you are still You can’t spend money indiscriminately. You should try to save some and save some wife money for yourself. Your sister-in-law and I will also collect some when the time comes. The main thing is to marry you a good wife as soon as possible! After you start a family and start a career, I will also be considerate to my parents. Let me explain! You are already a grown-up, so it is not a good thing to be a bachelor all the time..."
Seeing Song Huancheng persuading him again, a trace of impatience flashed across Song Lingcheng's expression, but he soon thought of "business" and took the opportunity to change the topic. He looked at Song Huancheng carefully and suddenly asked : "Brother, I see that you look depressed, but what difficulties have you encountered?"
Song Huancheng hesitated for a moment, but out of the desire to talk about his distress, he finally told Song Lingcheng in detail about the poor water transportation policy and his own troubles.
After listening to Song Huancheng's explanation, Song Lingcheng immediately smiled and said: "Brother, actually you have the means and ability to solve this matter!"
"I have the ability and the solution? Why don't I know it?" Song Huancheng was slightly stunned and asked.
Song Lingcheng continued to smile and said: "Brother, you are a gentleman. You have never thought of using your official position and reputation for personal gain, so you only realize some things later! You know, since you first appeared in public After you fainted from hunger in the yamen of the Ministry of Rites, you have become an example of an upright official in the eyes of the government and the public, and your reputation is getting higher and higher day by day!
In the past few days, how many people from the DPRK and the Qing Dynasty have been rushing to establish relations and friendship with you? Don’t you want to take advantage of your reputation? Even Cheng Yuandao, the old man at the court, once sent you a gift, but you returned it!
So, it’s not that you have no influence, you just never thought of using your influence! Take the bad government of water transportation as an example. As long as you tell the Qingliu people who flatter you about this matter, they will definitely jump out one after another, impeach the water transportation yamen in the temple, and expose the bad government of water transportation... At that time, change the river to the sea. Regarding Cao, isn’t there a chance? "
Song Huancheng hesitated: "This... seems to be a little wrong..."
Song Lingcheng waved his hand nonchalantly and said: "Hey, what's wrong? You are all public-spirited. You are just for the welfare of the people and not for your own gain. At this time, you should do your best!"
It was also a "coincidence" that as soon as Song Lingcheng finished speaking, he heard another voice coming from outside the courtyard gate.
"Excuse me, Song Huancheng. Is Mr. Song at home? I am Jin Fuwen, the right minister of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. I am visiting today together with several colleagues from the Metropolitan Procuratorate. I hope that Mr. Song can meet me and discuss our interests together!"
Hearing this voice, Song Lingcheng chuckled and whispered to Song Huancheng: "Brother, look, let me just say that the Qingliu are vying to make friends with you, right? Although these Qingliu don't have much real power, their power in the temple is But the status and appeal are not low... If you really want to do something, you can't miss this opportunity."
Song Huancheng glanced at Song Lingcheng in surprise, feeling that Song Lingcheng had gained a lot of knowledge during this time.
But Song Huancheng didn't think much about it for a while. After a moment of silence, he finally made up his mind, got up and walked out of the room quickly, heading towards the courtyard door, with Song Lingcheng following behind.
After opening the courtyard door, Song Huancheng ignored the compliments of several Qingliu from the Metropolitan Procuratorate and just silently ushered them into the room.
The room is very small. Just squeeze a few people into it and it becomes extremely cramped. There are not even enough seats.
The Qingliu people were very uncomfortable with such an environment. They looked at each other and planned to suggest that everyone go to a nearby restaurant to talk.
However, at this time, Song Huancheng bowed deeply to all the Qingliu people and said in a deep voice: "My lords, it is a great honor to come here. I have no other hospitality here, but I have something important to tell you. I hope you can All adults must pay attention to this.”
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In the evening of this day, a large number of Qingliu gathered in the house of Ge Lao Cheng Yuandao.
At this time, the seventh prince Zhu Hejian had left the capital and went to Nanjing to worship his ancestors. The elder Cheng Yuandao also became the leader of the Qingliu.
In the Cheng Mansion lobby, all the Qingliu people were excited and talking.
"Good fellow, the 'Zhou Party' and the 'Zhao Party' seem to have many conflicts during this period, but when it comes to corruption and perversion of the law, they are still a den of snakes and rats, with friends competing against each other!"
"Yes, the Ministry of Revenue obviously has the specific figures of this year's water transportation grain consumption, but it suppresses it. It is obviously a secret collusion! According to Song Huancheng, the Ministry of Revenue has indeed received a lot of benefits, so shameless!"
"It would be fine if we didn't know about this matter. Now that we know it, we can't remain indifferent no matter what. We must impeach the Cao Yun Yamen and bring up the Hai Cao issue again!"
While all the Qingliu were discussing, Cheng Yuandao looked around and was deeply satisfied with the performance of all the Qingliu.
Then, Cheng Yuandao raised his hand and pressed lightly to signal everyone to be quiet, and then slowly said: "As the adults said, we cannot sit idly by and ignore this matter no matter what!
Our Qingliu has always been responsible for controlling public opinion and regulating discipline, but in recent years we have not had many achievements. Several actions have been ineffective. On the contrary, the Qingliu traitors have all made a name for themselves, and Li Chengru has brought them down. Former chief ministers Shen Changmao and Gu Quan brought down former Shandong governor Lu Yuanan... If this situation continues, we Qingliu will be forgotten by the world, and now is a great opportunity to prove our role!
However, we must also learn from the lessons of previous failures. We cannot make trouble on our own and must be fully prepared! Here, I would like to mention three points!
First of all, before taking action, we must have tangible evidence, that is, the specific statistics of the Department of Revenue. Song Huancheng happens to be working in the Department of Revenue, so he is responsible for obtaining the statistics of the Department of Revenue! With these statistics, not only can we enhance our persuasiveness, but we can also force the Yamen of the Ministry of Revenue and Zhao Junchen to stand up and take a stand. At least they will not deliberately hinder us! "
As he spoke, Cheng Yuandao turned his eyes to Jin Fuwen, the right-hand censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.
After noticing Cheng Yuandao's gaze, Jin Fuwen immediately nodded and said: "I have already explained this matter to Song Huancheng. According to Song Huancheng, these statistics are not particularly confidential within the Ministry of Household Affairs. He only needs to wait until noon tomorrow at the latest to get the details of the statistics."
After Cheng Yuandao nodded lightly, he added: "Secondly, we must try to win as many supporters as possible! Many officials in the imperial court were born in the south of the Yangtze River or along the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal. The astonishing consumption of food by water transportation It has also harmed their interests, so there must be many people who are dissatisfied. Within these two days, we must explain to them in detail the seriousness of the water transport malpractice and win their approval! In this way, when we take action On this occasion, they will also speak out together!”
After everyone in the Qingliu nodded in agreement, Cheng Yuandao continued: "As for the last and most important point, before we actually start the action, we must try to keep it as secret as possible, and we must not let people from the Caoyun Yamen and the 'Zhou Party' If you receive the news in advance, you must catch them off guard!”
Lu Chunxiao, the right deputy censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, hesitated for a moment and asked: "Mr. Cheng Ge, regarding this matter... do we need to ask His Highness the Seventh Prince for his opinion before taking action?
There are also Young Master Zhang Cheng, Minister of Rites Lin Wei and others. They are also loyal to His Highness the Seventh Prince. Do we also need to win their support and act together when the time comes? "
Cheng Yuandao hesitated for a moment, but finally shook his head decisively and said: "His Royal Highness the Seventh Prince has left Beijing for two days. If this matter requires his consent, it will definitely take too much time, and something may happen during this period. Changes have occurred, so we only need to send someone to inform the Seventh Prince, but there is no need to ask for his opinion! His Highness the Seventh Prince has always been open-minded and good-hearted. Even if he is still in the capital, he will definitely agree with our plan. !”
During this period of time, due to Zhou Shangjing's secret campaign, the image of the seventh prince Zhu Hejian as "obedient to advice" has gradually become deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, especially the Qingliu people who believe it deeply.
Therefore, while the Qingliu people supported Zhu Hejian more and more, they also became more and more dissatisfied with Zhu Hejian's own opinions.
After a pause, Cheng Yuandao continued: "As for Zhang Cheng, Lin Wei and others, they are all remnants of the original 'Shen Party'. They took refuge with His Highness the Seventh Prince only because they had no way to go after Shen Changmao's collapse. With us, After all, Qingliu is not a stranger. If they were notified in advance, they might secretly hold back!
Therefore, there is no need to notify them in advance. After we take action, when they are forced to express their stance, they can only choose to support us! "
After hearing Cheng Yuandao's words, all the Qingliu hesitated, but in the end they nodded in agreement.
In fact, in recent times, because Zhou Shangjing has repeatedly made enemies of the seventh prince Zhu Hejian, Zhu Hejian's temple supporters have already begun to prepare for a counterattack. However, Zhu Hejian has never understood Zhou Shangjing's true thoughts and does not want to completely tear them apart. Shameless, that's why he didn't take action to fight back.
After the Qingliu people discovered the handle of the Water Transport Yamen this time, they all took active action, largely because of the long-standing grudge between them and the "Zhou Party".
In this way, as long as Cheng Yuandao and other Qingliu take the lead in taking action, Zhang Cheng, Lin Wei and others, as temple supporters of the Seventh Prince Zhu Hejian, will have no choice but to advance and retreat with Qingliu and others.
After arranging all this, Cheng Yuandao looked around at everyone again and concluded with an emphasis: "In short, this operation must make a big splash, and take the opportunity to let the people of the world once again see the great role of our Qingliu!
Moreover, you have to act quickly! I have decided that the specific time of action will be the court meeting in two days! I also hope that all colleagues will take advantage of these two days to make all preparations! "
When Cheng Yuandao expressed his stance, he seemed to be impassioned and confident, but there was a hint of helplessness in his eyes.
In fact, whether it is the impeachment of the Cao Yun Yamen or the revisiting of the Hai Cao matter, they are all of great importance and must be fully prepared. It should never be as hasty as now, with only two days of preparation before launching the action.
Take the impeachment of the Water Transport Yamen as an example. Just getting detailed statistics from the Ministry of Revenue is still not convincing enough. It is best to collect a large amount of evidence from the Water Transport Yamen, along the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, and from various places in the south of the Yangtze River to be considered foolproof.
What's more, compared with the change of Hecao to Haicao, impeaching the Cao Yun Yamen is not a difficult task. The dispute between Hecao and Haicao has been going on for a hundred years in the Ming Dynasty. Cheng Yuandao naturally knew this well. The difficulty of the matter requires a lot of time and energy to be spent in advance, even if it is just to increase the chance of winning.
However, as the leader of Qingliu, Cheng Yuandao has never had confidence in the Qingliu team's ability to keep secrets. If he wanted to be fully prepared, it would inevitably waste a lot of time. The Qingliu team's detailed plan for the water transport yamen would also inevitably make the "Zhou Party "Know in advance, and once the "Zhou Party" and the Caoyun Yamen are prepared in advance, Qingliu's chances of success will only become slimmer!
Therefore, Cheng Yuandao could only give up more thorough preparations at this time and act quickly before the "Zhou Party" could react.
On the other side, most of the Qingliu people could not guess Cheng Yuandao's true thoughts. They only felt that they were fully prepared. As Cheng Yuandao's words fell, all the Qingliu people stood up and agreed, with excited expressions on their faces. Ready to move, it can be said that morale is high.
After all, the Qingliu people have been silent for too long.
The ability of the Qingliu people to unite depends largely on their morale and morale. If the silence continues, the Qingliu people will inevitably lose morale and become depressed, and then their hearts will become disorganized.
This is also the real reason why Cheng Yuandao must lead Qingliu to take advantage of this opportunity to make a big splash.
*
Next, the Qingliu people's actions were quite smooth. Not only did Song Huancheng successfully "steal" the detailed statistics of water transportation grain consumption from the Ministry of Household Yamen, but the Qingliu people's private agitation was also very fruitful. Many officials were following the Qingliu people's instigation. He expressed his dissatisfaction with Caoyin's bad government.
However, the Qingliu people's ability to keep secrets is still beyond expectation.
Therefore, before Qingliu and the others took action, Zhou Shangjing still received the news in advance.
On the night of this day, the night before Qingliu's official action, Zhou Shangjing suddenly sent an invitation to Zhao Junchen, inviting Zhao Junchen to Tianhai Pavilion for a gathering and conversation.
Zhao Junchen had been waiting for Zhou Shangjing's invitation for a long time, and he was naturally happy to attend the banquet at this time!
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