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Zhou Dang! Zhao Dang!
Zhou Shangjing! Zhao Junchen!
At the current stage of the development of the imperial court structure, any major or small matter in the temple cannot avoid the interference and influence of these two factions; officials in the temple, big and small, must also consider the attitudes and positions of these two powerful ministers when doing things. .
Therefore, for the careerists of this era, these two factions and these two powerful officials are simply two big mountains standing in front of them.
Zhu Heyu and Wang Baoren are undoubtedly the best among contemporary careerists, and they both regard themselves as challengers to these two mountains.
Therefore, when talking about this, Zhu Heyu and Wang Baoren both raised their eyes to observe the changes in each other's expressions at the same time.
Then, they all saw a deliberate flash of fear and hostility in each other's expressions.
Therefore, both of them were satisfied and thought that they had one more common ground.
After observing each other for a moment, Zhu Hejian sighed softly again, and said slowly: "Yes, the power of the ruling and opposition parties of Zhou and Zhao is too huge, and the two powerful ministers Zhou Shoufu and Zhao Gechen also have a keen sense of smell and superb skills. , naturally you can’t avoid them at this time!
Nowadays, due to the estrangement between the high-level officials and the middle- and lower-level officials in Nanjing's officialdom, as well as the conflicts between Nanjing officials and Nanjing people, both the 'Zhou Party' and the 'Zhao Party' have found opportunities to win over each other. A group of middle- and lower-level officials in Nanjing and local powerful families in South Zhili formed two other forces in Nanjing's officialdom!
Among them, the leader of the 'Zhou Party' in Nanjing is Shi Masen, the right deputy censor of the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate, while the 'Zhao Party' is headed by Cao Wenbin, the Minister of Civil Affairs of Nanjing!
In the past six months, the two men have been secretly active. Not only have they attracted many dissatisfied middle- and lower-level officials and local wealthy families in Nanjing, but they also have some strong support for each other!
Ma Sen, the 'Zhou Party', received strong support from Liu Mu, the political envoy to the left of South Zhili, and Lu Yang, the inspector general of South Zhili. Cao Wenbin, the 'Zhao Party', had strong support from Huang Yourong, the governor of South Zhili and former cabinet minister. And the increasingly influential 'United Boat Line'!
Although these two forces have always been hiding behind the scenes, keeping a low profile and rarely taking public actions, their strength cannot be underestimated and they have many fans! Now, seeing that big changes are coming, they will definitely take action next, and their plans must be very big!
The younger generation believes that compared to Wu Xingren and Wang Zheng, who have obvious character flaws and fail to succeed, the two factions of Zhou and Zhao, headed by Ma Sen and Cao Wenbin, are the ones behind the follow-up plan. The real variables are the real opponents we must focus on! "
Having said this, Zhu Hejian's expression became extremely solemn.
Wang Baoren also sighed and nodded, and added: "Actually, part of the intelligence information that His Highness the Seventh Prince has seen in the past few days is out of date. I also have a crucial new piece of information here...
Just around noon yesterday, Ma Sen and Cao Wenbin received a secret letter from the capital center. The specific contents of the two secret letters are not yet known, but after Ma Sen and Cao Wenbin received the secret letter, Secret contact was soon made!
According to my speculation, Zhou Shoufu and Zhao Gechen, who should be the center of the capital, have reached a partial consensus in private. Therefore, the forces of Zhou and Zhao in Nanjing are likely to form an alliance and join hands in the future. action! "
After hearing Wang Baoren's addition, Zhu Hejian's expression suddenly became more serious, and he pondered for a long time without saying a word.
If the two parties of Zhou and Zhao join forces to plot against Zhu Hejian, Zhu Hejian does not have much confidence to stop him.
Seeing the change in Zhu Hejian's expression, Wang Baoren's eyes were equally solemn, but a trace of satisfaction flashed through him.
A common strong enemy that makes allies feel threatened is always a key prerequisite for promoting unity and controlling allies.
Nowadays, because of the joint cooperation between Zhou and Zhao, Zhu Hejian must rely more and more on Wang Baoren, and Wang Baoren's influence and importance on Zhu Hejian will also become stronger and stronger!
As long as Zhu Hejian, the future prince, is firmly bound to himself, Wang Baoren's future status in the temple will be as stable as Mount Tai.
Therefore, after seeing that Zhu Hejian was deeply aware of the huge threat, Wang Baoren expressed comfort at the right time, pretending to be confident, and said slowly: "The cooperation between Zhou and Zhao must be treated with caution. But His Highness the Seventh Prince does not need to worry too much. Just like what I said last time, Zhou Shangjing and Zhao Junchen are generally taking the overall situation into consideration. Their follow-up actions will at most be fishing in troubled waters and taking advantage of them. They will never Destroy the imperial court center's plan to take back power. As long as the imperial court center's plan to take over power is successfully realized, you and I will have both merit and demerit this time!
What's more, even if Zhou and Zhao really want to do something bad secretly, they are far away in the center of the capital and cannot take action personally. Only two little people, Ma Sen and Cao Wenbin, are responsible for the specific operations. I may not be able to deal with Zhou and Zhao. Although the teamwork of people is still more than enough to deal with Ma Sen and Cao Wenbin.
Therefore, His Highness the Seventh Prince only needs to go ahead and do the next thing. If anything goes wrong, I will always be able to help. "
Hearing Wang Baoren's confident promise, Zhu Hejian felt a little relieved and complimented repeatedly: "This is natural. As long as Wang Taishi is sitting in Nanjing, presiding over the overall situation, and willing to fully support the juniors, then it must be foolproof, and the juniors have nothing to worry about. !”
When complimenting, Zhu Hejian's attitude was extremely sincere and respectful, and he seemed to regard Wang Baoren as his greatest support.
However, Wang Baoren was deeply satisfied when he heard Zhu Hejian's complimentary remarks, but he still did not promise anything more to Zhu Hejian and just smiled and nodded.
Seeing Wang Baoren's performance, Zhu Hejian couldn't help but cursed the old fox in his heart.
*
In fact, when Zhu Hejian just summarized the various forces in Nanjing's officialdom, there was another force that he deliberately failed to mention, and the leader of this force was none other than the Crown Prince and Grand Master Wang Baoren!
Wang Baoren has been operating in the officialdom of Nanjing for many years. Although he was severely damaged due to the rectification and purge of the central court some time ago, his heritage still exists and should not be underestimated. Three of the twelve ministers of the Six Ministries of Nanjing are Wang Baoren's former disciples; the Nanjing Metropolitan Inspector Among the imperial censors, many had close contacts with Wang Baoren; taking advantage of the chaotic situation in Nanjing's officialdom during this period, Wang Baoren also attracted a group of middle- and lower-level officials in Nanjing's officialdom and local wealthy families to strengthen his own power.
At the same time, Wang Baoren also has an extremely efficient intelligence network in Nanjing. Any disturbance near Nanjing cannot be hidden from Wang Baoren's eyes and ears.
Not to mention, Wang Zheng, Shen Xinwen, and Song Dacheng in the Nanjing officialdom also have great trust in Wang Baoren and can be used at any time.
It can be said that although the situation in Nanjing's officialdom at this stage is complex and there are many factions, Wang Baoren's power is undoubtedly the strongest and the most hidden!
Therefore, as long as Wang Baoren is willing to fully support Zhu Hejian without reservation, Zhu Hejian naturally does not need to worry too much!
But unfortunately, Wang Baoren was unwilling to promise too many things to Zhu Hejian, and he did not explain his detailed plan to Zhu Hejian for a long time. He only positioned himself as a decisive figure who would take action to clean up the situation at critical moments, leaving Zhu Hejian to stand in front alone. Take most of the stress.
Zhu Hejian has always been good at calculations and well versed in political strategies, so he naturally saw Wang Baoren's sinister intentions.
Obviously, Wang Baoren just wanted to force Zhu Hejian to become more dependent on him, and take the opportunity to increase his influence on Zhu Hejian!
In Zhu Hejian's view, the main reason for the difficult situation he is facing now is naturally Zhou Shangjing's secret calculation, using the means of building momentum to force him to turn from darkness to light, and was forced to personally deal with the complicated situation in Nanjing's officialdom.
However, Wang Baoren's indifference and indifference to others is also one of the important reasons that cannot be ignored!
After Wang Baoren became aware of Zhou Shangjing's scheme, there was no way to stop it at first, but in the end he chose to let nature take its course and sit on the sidelines.
After all, if according to Emperor Deqing's original idea, when the central government implemented the plan to take back power, it was Wang Baoren who stood in the light and presided over the overall situation, while Zhu Hejian assisted in secret, so Wang Baoren had to bear all the pressure and responsibility alone;
But now, because of Zhou Shangjing's secret obstruction, the situation has become that Zhu Hejian must stand in the light and preside over the overall situation, while Wang Baoren hides in the dark to help suppress the battle, which means that Zhu Hejian and Wang Baoren must bear all the pressure together. and responsibility.
Comparing the two situations, the latter is naturally more beneficial to Wang Baoren. It can not only force Zhu Hejian to do his best, but also force Zhu Hejian to rely more on himself.
Even if the situation in Nanjing gets out of control in the future and the imperial court central government's plan to take over power is messed up, Emperor Deqing can be forced to personally clean up the mess.
Therefore, not only did Wang Baoren not take action to stop Zhou Shangjing's plan, but he was happy to see it succeed, and maybe he even secretly contributed to it.
In this way, after Zhu Hejian was forced to stand in the open, the greater the pressure he faced, the more he needed to rely on Wang Baoren's support.
It is precisely because of this consideration that since meeting Zhu Hejian, Wang Baoren seems to have expressed his sincerity to Zhu Hejian, but in fact, he has always reserved the support he provided to Zhu Hejian, just to make Zhu Hejian feel deeply pressured.
Although Zhu Hejian himself also hid many trump cards from Wang Baoren, it did not prevent Zhu Hejian from hating Wang Baoren for the same approach.
*
Although he hates Wang Baoren's methods in his heart, Zhu Hejian is indeed inseparable from Wang Baoren's support now.
Therefore, while Zhu Hejian was cursing secretly in his heart, he became more respectful on the surface and asked for advice: "Master Wang, you just said that the Zhou and Zhao parties will not sabotage the central government's plan to take over power. Their follow-up actions will at best be It's just fishing in troubled waters and taking advantage of it... So according to Wang Taishi's opinion, what benefits are the Zhou and Zhao parties coveting?"
Wang Baoren still wanted to test Zhu Hejian's ability, but instead of answering, he asked: "His Royal Highness the Seventh Prince has always been smart, so he has already made some assumptions in his mind, right?"
After Zhu Hejian pondered for a moment, he replied: "Their goals are nothing more than two. One is to use the means of building momentum to force the juniors to personally deal with the complicated situation in Nanjing officialdom, and take the opportunity to throw a lot of problems to the juniors. Once the juniors fail to properly By solving these problems, they can legitimately postpone the dethroning of the crown prince again;
Secondly, there are the powerful yamen that covet the officialdom in Nanjing, such as the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate, Nanjing Dali Temple, Nanjing Imperial College, etc.!
After all, the central government's goal of taking power this time is only aimed at the six departments in Nanjing, but the relevant powers of the other real-power yamen will continue for a while, and once Zhou Shoufu and Zhao Gechen control these real-power yamen, they can greatly improve them. Regarding the influence of the southern officialdom, these powerful yamen have naturally become the fat they must win! "
Wang Baoren nodded in appreciation and said: "His Royal Highness the Seventh Prince is indeed very discerning. I can't add anything more!"
Zhu Hejian probed: "From this point of view, the Zhou and Zhao parties are indeed very ambitious... But Nanjing officialdom is Wang Taishi's territory after all. Do you have to watch the Zhou and Zhao parties get involved in it?"
Wang Baoren's eyes once again flashed a trace of solemnity, but on the surface he smiled confidently and said: "I have been operating in Nanjing's officialdom for many years. If Zhou Shangjing and Zhao Junchen really let Zhou Shangjing and Zhao Junchen take it from each other, then there is no need for me to do it again in the future. Now that he has returned to the center of the capital to assist in government affairs, it is better to stay in Nanjing for his retirement!
In fact, although I was forced to personally clean up the Nanjing officialdom, I also received His Majesty's permission to secretly retain most of my close disciples, and these close disciples are now arranged by me to serve in the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate and Nanjing Dali Temple. , Nanjing Imperial College and other yamen!
Therefore, I still have some confidence in the control of these yamen. It would be fine if Zhou Shangjing and Zhao Junchen did not covet these yamen. If they really want to take the opportunity to intervene and seize power, I will definitely let them steal the chicken. Don't lose the rice! "
Although Wang Baoren's statement was full of confidence, he still did not disclose his detailed plan to Zhu Hejian.
After a pause, Wang Baoren continued: "So, His Highness the Seventh Prince does not need to think too much, just focus on thinking about his own affairs... As the central government's plan to take over power develops to the next step, His Highness the Seventh Prince must stand firm. When you come out to preside over the situation, you must also take over the problems that Zhou Shangjing has prepared for you... But I don’t know, after these two days of deduction and preparation, whether His Highness the Seventh Prince has found a proper solution to the problems that Zhou Shangjing has prepared. Policy?"
Hearing Wang Baoren's inquiry, Zhu Hejian was not as confident as Wang Baoren. At least on the surface, he looked unsure. He sighed again: "With the help of Mr. Lu De and Fu Pingsheng, the junior also found We have come up with some countermeasures, but the junior is still not sure whether these countermeasures can successfully solve those problems... After all, the problems that Zhou Shoufu has prepared for the juniors are too difficult, and it is really a dilemma."
At this point, Zhu Hejian told Wang Baoren in detail the various countermeasures he had thought about over the past two days. He hoped that Wang Baoren could provide some guidance and opinions and improve his own ideas and ideas.
However, after listening to Zhu Hejian's detailed account, Wang Baoren's attitude was only ambiguous. Although he did not question it, he did not praise it. He continued to repeat the same old tune and said with a smile: "Since His Highness the Seventh Prince has thought carefully, then just Just let it go and do it. If something goes wrong, I will naturally help you at any time!"
Seeing Wang Baoren's attitude, Zhu Hejian couldn't help but secretly cursed the old fox again!
This ambiguous attitude undoubtedly made Zhu Hejian feel more and more pressured. It was naturally Wang Baoren's deliberate move.
Zhu Hejian also knew that although he and Wang Baoren were willing to cooperate, they were both ambitious and had their own plans. When they cooperated, they both wanted to preserve their strength and take the initiative. No one was willing to take the initiative to show their trump card. , it will take a long time for the two of them to abandon their selfishness and open their hearts to each other.
Therefore, Wang Baoren can only help when the critical moment comes, and takes the opportunity to sell Zhu Hejian a lot of favors, forcing Zhu Hejian to continue to rely on him. But now is not the critical moment, so Wang Baoren will not only not provide more help to Zhu Hejian, but will also Put constant pressure on Zhu Hejian.
Regarding Wang Baoren's methods, Zhu Hejian was helpless in a short period of time. He could only get back to business again and talked about the central government's plan to regain power.
Compared with the difficulties that Zhu Hejian must face alone next, the imperial court center's plan to take over power is something that Zhu Hejian and Wang Baoren must work together now. There will be more practical content during the discussion between the two. Wang Baoren Baoren will not always avoid the important and take the easy.
"Since it is inevitable, I naturally want to give it a try! But I believe that the top priority now is still the central government's plan to regain power!
Just as Taishi Wang said, as long as the two of us properly complete the central government's plan to regain power, it will be a merit but no fault, and the other things will be just details!
What's more, although the current forces in Nanjing have their own plans, all of their calculations are centered around the imperial court center's plan to take back power. Only the imperial court center's plan to take back power has advanced to the next stage. Many things will appear one by one, and we can have a clearer insight into the changes in the situation and then take action to deal with them!
Master Wang, you have said before that because the younger generation came to Nanjing to worship their ancestors, the accumulation of conflicts among all parties in Nanjing will inevitably break out in advance. It only takes three to five days for a large-scale riot to occur. This riot may even occur It will affect the entire South Zhili. This matter can be big or small, and must be dealt with carefully... But I don't know, Grand Master Wang, have you prepared a response plan in your mind? "
After a pause, Zhu Hejian was worried that Wang Baoren was going to perfunctory him again, so he added again: "Although because of Zhou Shangjing's plan, the junior must stand in the light and personally handle the situation in Nanjing, on the contrary, Wang Taishi can still continue to hide in the dark and calmly Layout, slowly map it out...
But after all, this junior does not have any foundation in Nanjing, and he is not as well-prepared as you, Grand Master Wang, so this matter must still be handled and presided over by you, Grand Master Wang! "
Seeing Zhu Hejian's statement, Wang Baoren pondered for a moment, but still did not answer the question: "Yes, the contradictions among all walks of life in Nanjing are extremely deep and can no longer be resolved. In addition, all parties' forces are intentionally or unintentionally adding fuel to the flames. A riot is imminent and inevitable...
So, in the view of His Highness the Seventh Prince, how should this riot be triggered? Should I just let it happen naturally? Or... was it caused by our own hands? "
Although he still didn't answer the question, Zhu Hejian already understood Wang Baoren's true thoughts.
But Zhu Hejian did not answer directly this time, but said with an increasingly respectful attitude: "For such a big matter, the juniors have little knowledge and experience, and dare not express opinions easily. Everything must be based on the high opinion of Grand Master Wang!"
As a prospective prince, Zhu Hejian must ensure that his image is flawless, and many things cannot be said in person.
Seeing Zhu Hejian's excuse, Wang Baoren shook his head slightly, and finally gave up the tactic of not answering rhetorical questions, and said straight to the point: "Since a riot is inevitable, this riot was naturally caused by our own hands. For the best! Only in this way can we further control the time, specific scale, and future direction of this riot! Of course, when a riot is triggered, we must be as concealed as possible and not let anyone notice our methods.
In my opinion, the scale of this riot cannot be too small, otherwise it will not be able to shake the foundation of the Six Ministries of Nanjing, but it cannot be too big, otherwise it will be difficult to control the situation, and this riot must be accurately targeted at the Six Ministries of Nanjing... As for the specific time of this riot, it is best to set it three days later, which is the ninth day of March! "
Hearing what Wang Baoren said, Zhu Hejian couldn't help but be shocked.
This is because the ninth day of March is the "Grain Rain" among the twenty-four solar terms. It is suitable for priests and prayers. It is also the day when Zhu Hejian went to the imperial mausoleum to worship his ancestors!
But in an instant, Zhu Hejian figured out the benefits of Wang Baoren choosing this time to trigger a riot!
Precisely because the ninth day of March is the day when Zhu Hejian goes to the imperial mausoleum to worship his ancestors, when the riot occurs, Zhu Hejian must stay in the imperial mausoleum and cannot leave easily. No one can easily see Zhu Hejian, so it can Let Zhu Hejian distance himself as much as possible in the early stages of the riot without getting involved in it in advance.
At the same time, because all the officials of the Six Ministries of Nanjing would follow Zhu Hejian to Xiaoling to worship their ancestors, they were unable to respond immediately and quell the riot. They could only allow the scale of the riot against the Six Ministries of Nanjing to get bigger and bigger. If it gets bigger, the situation will eventually become unmanageable and the prestige and foundation of the Nanjing Sixth Department will be completely destroyed.
After thinking about this, Zhu Hejian nodded slightly and asked: "So, how does Master Wang think we should trigger this riot?"
However, Wang Baoren once again spoke out and asked: "In the view of His Highness the Seventh Prince, what are the prerequisites for a civil riot that is not big or small and can control the situation at any time?"
After Zhu Hejian thought for a moment, he quickly came up with the answer, but on the surface he shook his head and asked for advice: "Junior, if you don't understand, please ask Taishi Wang for advice!"
Wang Baoren nodded, but then shook his head and said: "Since ancient times, the prerequisite for any large-scale civil riots is that the people have been desperate and cannot survive, and for all smaller-scale civil riots, the prerequisites are two !
The first is that although the people can still live, a lot of resentment and dissatisfaction have accumulated in their hearts. The second is that there must be a landmark event that makes most people feel the same, angry and sympathetic, but in the end It's just that they feel the same. The people themselves are not the actual victims, so when they participate in the riots, they are only temporarily hot-headed and will soon regain their composure!
Nowadays, the situation in Nanjing has met the first premise. Because of the misdeeds of the Six Ministries of Nanjing during this period, the people of the entire South Zhili are resentful. However, South Zhili is a wealthy place after all, and the people are still alive. It has to go on. Under such circumstances, if you want to trigger a moderate-sized riot, a landmark event must occur to ignite the dissatisfaction of the people, but this landmark event cannot let the people Become an actual victim. "
Zhu Hejian seemed to have just thought of this. He nodded with admiration and said, "That's true, but how exactly do you want to do it, Grand Master Wang?"
Wang Baoren replied with an indifferent expression: "In three days, there will be a poor and desperate scholar with an excellent reputation who will commit suicide outside the Nanjing Rites Yamen because of all the unfair treatment he has encountered!"
In this era, the vast majority of people live in poverty, but scholars are respected and yearned for by the vast majority of people.
Therefore, the tragic situation of a poor scholar undoubtedly arouses the most sympathy in the hearts of the people.
If the common people see a virtuous scholar who comes from the same poor background as them, and in desperation, chooses to commit suicide in public outside the Rites Yamen, and before this poor scholar chooses to commit suicide, he may speak out and expose injustice. Coupled with the secret guidance and instigation of certain forces, it is natural for a small-scale riot to occur under such circumstances.
After understanding this, Zhu Hejian admired Wang Baoren's entry point very much, but he did not make any comments, nor did he ask why Wang Baoren could accurately calculate the time and method of suicide of this poor scholar, nor did he think about it. He wanted to help this poor scholar solve the unfair treatment, but he just sighed softly: "This scholar... it is really a pity!"
"Yes, it is indeed a pity, but he will definitely die a worthy death!"
When Wang Baoren nodded in agreement, he also expressed regret, but the indifference in his eyes remained unchanged.
After all, chess pieces are meant to be discarded, and Wang Baoren still has many chess pieces in his hands.
*
In the next two days, Zhu Hejian became increasingly busy. Not only was he still sorting out intelligence information and thinking about follow-up countermeasures with Lu De and Fu Pingsheng, he also took time to meet with people from all walks of life and representatives of forces in Nanjing officialdom, such as Wu Xing. Zhu Hejian, Wang Zheng, Ma Sen, Cao Wenbin and others all met each other and promised many things, true or false, which made all forces in Nanjing think that Zhu Hejian was on their side, so they criticized each other even more intensely. As a result, Nanjing's officialdom fell into further chaos.
In this world, everything has pros and cons. Under Zhou Shangjing's calculations, Zhu Hejian had a very high reputation in Nanjing official circles, which meant that once a riot broke out in Nanjing, Zhu Hejian had to be "popularly expected" Standing up to take charge of the situation, there is no way to stay out of the situation, but this situation also means that Zhu Hejian can easily win people's hearts and expand his power.
Therefore, while meeting with various parties in Nanjing, Zhu Hejian also recruited a group of strong and capable supporters based on the intelligence he compiled, and initially established his own power and connections in Nanjing officialdom.
Zhu Hejian actually really wanted to form an alliance and cooperate with Wang Baoren, but Zhu Hejian believed that when the two parties formed an alliance and cooperated, they must put himself first and Wang Baoren the second, rather than the other way around.
Therefore, he spent this period of time organizing information and expanding his connections so that he could put aside Wang Baoren's assistance and solve the next problems on his own, so that he would not have to repeatedly ask Wang Baoren for help. There is no need to owe Wang Baoren a lot of favors. Instead, Wang Baoren relied on Zhu Hejian to successfully handle all matters in Nanjing's officialdom. In this way, Wang Baoren would naturally be shorter when getting along with Zhu Hejian in the future.
And while Zhu Hejian was constantly preparing and busy, time soon came to the ninth day of March!
On the ninth day of March, Grain Rain, it is suitable for priests and prayers, but not for weddings and relocations.
On this day, Zhu Hejian showed up in costume and led hundreds of Nanjing officials to the Xiaoling Tomb of the Ming Dynasty.
At the same time, all kinds of conflicts in Nanjing also broke out completely on this day!
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