…
…
After finishing speaking, Zhao Junchen suddenly remembered something, and immediately showed regret and apology.
Just now, Zhao Junchen seemed to be concerned about Xu Qingyan's physical condition, but in fact he was still focused on thinking about the situation in Xingzhou, so he ignored the current situation of Xu Qingyan's damaged vocal cords in his neck.
Not only does Xu Qingyan's voice sound hoarse and his speech is unclear, but he still suffers from various discomfort symptoms when his neck muscles are affected when he speaks. Therefore, forcing Xu Qingyan to speak at length about all kinds of intelligence in Xingzhou is not only unreasonable but also difficult for others to do. It's also cold and heartless.
Xu Qingyan also saw the change in Zhao Junchen's expression, but before Zhao Junchen could express his position, he took the initiative to emphasize again: "I'm fine, don't worry!"
Xu Qingyan then continued before Zhao Junchen could speak: "The civil unrest in Xingzhou was caused on the one hand because Lu Wensheng colluded with the 'Zhou Party' to hide behind the scenes and fueled the flames, and on the other hand it was because Zhang Sugang, the commander-in-chief of Jizhen, At first, he sat back and ignored it, but the most critical reason was because of the efforts of the major gentry families in the territory!
There are three Jin gentry families with the greatest influence in Xingzhou, namely the Liu family in the north, the Song family in the south, and the Li family in the east! Taken together, these three gentry families apparently own more than 80,000 acres of fertile land, and nearly 20,000 households of farm laborers and long-term workers...but the actual number must be higher! Because of the Xingzhou civil uprising, the core members of these three gentry families have all stayed in Xingzhou Fucheng recently, and they all showed up to greet them today. "
Having said this, Xu Qingyan took a cup of tea and drank lightly to moisten his throat, and then told in detail the specific situation of the three major Jin gentry in Xingzhou.
"Among them, the Liu family has the greatest influence among the Xingzhou garrison. Many of their children serve as military attachés in Jizhen. The head of the Liu family is named Liu Jiahe. He has a domineering and arrogant personality. His younger brother Liu Jiajin is a member of the Qianhu family in Jizhen. , it is said that Zhang Su just sat back and watched the civil uprising continue to escalate because of Liu Jiajin’s suggestion! At the same time, the mule and horse caravans, garrison supplies, and inn operations in Xingzhou were all monopolized by the Liu family;
The Song family in the south has the widest connections in the capital and the deepest penetration into the Xingzhou government. The head of the family, Song Songgong, is a smiling tiger and a hypocrite. It is said that he is a distant relative of Song Qiwen, the official minister, but Song Qiwen has never admitted that Xingzhou has two colleagues. , in addition to Liu Zimin, there is another person named Song Jicheng, who is the cousin of Song Songgong. Lu Wensheng's chief aide He Renggong is also the son-in-law of the Song family. The most prosperous Nanxiang Street in Xingzhou Fucheng is basically the property of the Song family;
The Li family in the east was considered a scholarly family in the past and had declined for a time. However, it has grown rapidly in recent years and has the most unscrupulous style of doing things. However, no one dared to provoke them because the head of the Li family, Li Ci, gave away his biological daughter to Sun Wei, the eunuch of Huangzhuang in Xingzhou, became Sun Wei's rival. Sun Wei was once the eunuch accompanying the imperial concubine Wan, and the godson of Cheng Sheng, the eunuch who held the pen in the imperial study. He had a profound background, and the Li family Li Ci has been involved in many industries in Xingzhou, especially the price of grain in Xingzhou, and Li Ci has almost the final say!
All in all, if you want to completely control the situation in Xingzhou, you must not avoid these three major families. The weaker Jin Gentry families all follow these three major families. Lu Wensheng also relies heavily on these three major families, otherwise he will not be able to sit still. In order to stabilize their position, the three of them took the lead in this democratic revolution. In order to win the support of these three gentry families, the 'Zhou Party' reportedly paid a high price..."
As Xu Qingyan spoke in detail, the expressions of Zhao Junchen and others became more and more serious.
The intertwined and deep-rooted power of the local gentry was fully revealed in this speech.
They can collude with the central government at the top, and they have access to the capital officials, the imperial army, and the eunuchs; they can control the people at the bottom, and they have the final say on food prices, commodity prices, and rents; they can also infiltrate local officials and local garrison in the middle, and control the people within the territory. Only by winning their cooperation can civil and military officials stabilize their position, otherwise they will not be able to communicate their decrees...
This is the terrifying thing about the power of the ancient Jin gentry!
*
Although Xu Qingyan has grown rapidly recently, this growth is mainly due to the maturity of his mind, but his knowledge and talents are still lacking.
Xu Qingyan also knew his shortcomings. After he finished speaking, he immediately fell silent. He just sat back, sipped tea to moisten his throat, and quietly waited for Zhao Junchen, Li Chuanwen, and Niu Fude, the two core staff members of the Zhao family, to express their opinions.
After Zhao Junchen thought for a moment, he finally made a decision in his heart.
But he did not express his opinion directly, but took the lead in looking at Li Chuanwen and Niu Fude.
Li Chuanwen had the most relevant experience, so he expressed his position first, shook his head and sighed: "Alas! The situation between the government and the opposition in the Ming Dynasty differed depending on the region; the entire northern territory could not avoid the nine military towns no matter what. In any case, the northwest territory cannot avoid the influence of Shanxi merchants, the southeastern territory cannot avoid the influence of Huizhou merchants and Zhejiang merchants, and the central territory cannot avoid the influence of vassal kings...
But no matter where you are, you can't avoid the influence of the Jin gentry forces; especially in places like Xingzhou, which are not far or near the capital, it has become a merchant force, a feudal king's force, a military town force, or a capital official force. In this buffer space, no one can dominate the world. Instead, it allows the power of the Jin gentry to expand rapidly without being suppressed! This is also what makes Xingzhou special..."
After a pause, Li Chuanwen's expression became more solemn and he continued: "Since ancient times, if you want to be an enemy of the Jin gentry, there are two most difficult things: one is that the Jin gentry's power has infiltrated the local government and controlled the people within the territory; The officials in the government were more loyal to the gentry than the imperial court. The people were completely dependent on the gentry and were naturally resistant to outsiders. Therefore, it was difficult to use the local government and the people within the country to achieve their own goals. However, if the assistance of local officials and people was completely ignored, , that means being unfamiliar with the place in life, being superficial and rootless, and also getting twice the result with half the effort...
Secondly, they need to worry about the consequences for the whole body. The Jin gentry class are extremely arrogant. In their eyes, they are the local emperors of every village in the county, and the emperor is just the biggest Jin gentry in the world. The country of all dynasties is theirs. They and the emperor jointly govern. The emperor has the final say above the county level, and they have the final say below the county level! Therefore, the Jin gentry are extremely sensitive to matters involving the imperial power in the counties. Once the cabinet ministers make a big fuss when dealing with the Jin gentry, it will quickly trigger a collective rebound of the Jin gentry forces all over the world! The Jin gentry have always actively supported their clansmen to study and become officials. Most of the scholars in the world are from the Jin gentry class. Once the Jin gentry violently backlashes, it will definitely cause local instability, change the people's mentality, and incur criticism from the scholarly public opinion. No one can afford such consequences! "
Finally, Li Chuanwen expressed his suggestion: "So, if Zhao Cabinet wants to deal with the Xingzhou Jin gentry, he must do it quickly, and he must listen to the thunder in the silent place, whether it is delaying for too long, or making a noise. If it’s too big, it will cause endless trouble!”
Later, Niu Fude also put forward his own suggestion, saying: "That's right! But the student also wants to remind the cabinet minister of another thing, and that is His Majesty's attitude! According to the cabinet minister's opinion, Your Majesty must support the new agricultural reform policy Yes, but since the civil unrest broke out in Xingzhou, His Majesty has been dragging this matter out without making a final statement. It seems that he intends to protect the new agricultural reform policy, but also seems to be perfunctory and ambiguous...
According to the students' opinion, His Majesty's actions were mainly due to two considerations. First, His Majesty was well aware of the difficulty of this matter and was unwilling to personally get involved in this turmoil and cause tension among the world's gentry; Yes... Your Majesty has calculated that your cabinet minister will soon rush to Xingzhou to resolve the matter in person, and you will inevitably have conflicts with the Xingzhou Jin gentry. After the cabinet minister punishes the Xingzhou Jin gentry, your majesty can take the opportunity to provoke The entire gentry class is hostile to the ministers! You know... because of the agricultural reform, the gentry are already dissatisfied with you!
Senior Li also said just now that most of the Confucian scholars in the world are from the gentry class. If a cabinet minister attracts the hostility of the entire gentry class, your reputation in the government and the public, which you have finally managed to turn around, will be quickly destroyed! Since ancient times, even the founding emperors, virtuous ministers and famous generals, no matter what great achievements they have achieved, as long as they offended the Jin gentry forces, the historical evaluation will be poor!
Change source app]
Therefore, we must not only make a quick decision, but also not only listen to the thunder in the silent place, but also try our best to avoid causing any disputes and misunderstandings, and we must not arouse the hostility of the entire gentry class! "
Zhao Junchen nodded slowly, fully acknowledging the opinions of Li Chuanwen and Niu Fude, and then asked: "What the two gentlemen said is reasonable! But I don't know... is there a solution? Is there a plan?"
After Li Chuanwen and Niu Fude looked at each other, they said in unison: "The plan now is to kill the chicken to scare the monkey!"
Li Chuanwen added: "Among the three major Jin gentry families in Xingzhou, it is necessary to choose one to kill them all, while sparing the other two, or even to unite with the other two Jin gentry families to share the various benefits left by the former. It can release goodwill and resolve hostility to the greatest extent! At the same time, targeting only one of them can also reduce resistance, save time, not make too much noise, and minimize disputes!"
This kind of countermeasure is also consistent with Zhao Junchen's idea.
So Zhao Junchen asked again: "Which chicken do you think the two gentlemen should choose to kill to scare the monkeys?"
Niu Fude smiled and said: "Minister, you have already buried a large number of chess pieces in eastern Xingzhou, so why do you ask questions knowingly? The refugees we brought back from Shanhaiguan were all from eastern Xingzhou. You have convinced them We are enemies of the local Jin gentry, and the largest Jin gentry in the east of Xingzhou is the Li family, so we can easily find opportunities to make a move!
In fact, even without those refugees as pawns, the Li family in eastern Xingzhou is the best choice! This family has been the most reckless in recent years, causing the greatest public dissatisfaction. The head of the family, Li Ci, even gave his biological daughter to the eunuch of the inner court. Once this kind of thing is made public, it will definitely be scorned by all parties, and the Li family's backstage is just He's just a eunuch in the inner court. It's not just once or twice that you, the cabinet minister, have beaten the inner court and made the top officials of the inner court bow their heads, so there is no need to worry about causing too much backlash! "
After hearing this, Zhao Junchen nodded with a smile and said: "In that case... let's kill the fat chicken of the Li family first, and let's test the monkeys' reaction!"
*
At the same time, there is a restaurant called Qingshan Pavilion on Nanxiang Street in Xingzhou Fucheng. It is the most expensive and famous restaurant in Xingzhou.
Lu Wensheng, the magistrate of Xingzhou, originally arranged a cleansing banquet in Qingshan Pavilion. However, due to Zhao Junchen's insensitive response and Zhang Su's immediate departure, the banquet became a gathering of Xingzhou officials and the gentry within the territory. .
Taking advantage of this gathering, Lu Wensheng wanted to discuss in detail the follow-up countermeasures with all parties in Xingzhou.
I saw Lu Wensheng stood up first, raised his glass, and said with a sad face: "Alas! I led everyone to welcome Zhao Gechen today, but my kindness was not rewarded. I was scolded by Zhao Gechen on the spot, which can be said to be a show of authority! Everyone! They are all well-known sages in Xingzhou, and they must rescue me. This Zhao cabinet minister is not easy to mess with!"
After hearing Lu Wensheng's plea, the heads of the three major Jin gentry families looked at each other. They were obviously well prepared and quickly gave accurate answers.
Li Ci also raised his wine glass and said slowly: "That Zhao Gechen has a show of force, and we are also ready to make a show of force! Compared with Zhao Gechen's show of force, which is just nonsense, our show of force is absolutely reasonable and can make him suffer. Word!"
"Oh? What's the plan?" Lu Wensheng's eyes lit up and he asked quickly.
"Starting from tomorrow, the price of food in Xingzhou will increase three times!" Li Ci replied slowly with a sneer on his face.
…
…
