…
…
These three conditions put forward by Song Chengren are extremely fatal to Zhu Hejian.
If Jiang Dawei is severely punished, it means that Zhu Hejian is unable to protect his supporters in the inner court, which also means that the eunuchs in the inner court will have doubts about Zhu Hejian's ability and will no longer support Zhu Hejian unreservedly as before;
As for the matter of digging up the dam and submerging the imperial village, it is natural to continue the investigation. Zhu Hejian is very confident about Jiang Xiao's ability to do things and is confident that he will not be traced to him, but the key point is how to investigate the matter.
Judging from Song Chengren's attitude, the Jiangnan Jinshen Group obviously wanted to intervene in the investigation. However, the flood was originally used by Zhu Hejian to suppress the Jinshen forces. If the Jiangnan Jinshen Group was allowed to intervene in the investigation, then they would definitely Interfering with the results of the investigation, and in turn using this matter to suppress Zhu Hejian, Zhu Hejian not only worked in vain, but also made a wedding dress for the Jiangnan Jinshen Group, and even tied himself up.
There is also the matter of abolition and reduction of the number of imperial palaces in South Zhili, which is even more fatal. Once Zhu Hejian agrees to this condition, it means the disunity of the Chief of Ceremonies, and the disappointment, dissatisfaction, and dissatisfaction of Emperor Deqing. Furious.
All in all, although Zhu Hejian was caught off guard by Song Chengren's tough stance and was at a disadvantage for a while, Zhu Hejian still would not agree to any of the three conditions proposed by Song Chengren.
Of course, on the surface, Zhu Hejian would not refuse directly. When he held the Hongmen Banquet, he had already prepared a backup plan if his plan was frustrated.
Although Zhu Hejian has a vicious personality and leaves no room for action, he is also a cautious person and never fights an unprepared battle.
For example, the appearance of Xu Jingxian, the head of the Xu family, at the banquet was one of the backup plans prepared by Zhu Hejian.
The Xu family is a descendant branch of Zhongshan King Xu Da. It has always had a detached status among the Jiangnan Jin gentry and will not easily get involved in any battles. It has also always remained neutral in the conflict between the Jin gentry wealthy family and the Huangzhuang eunuchs, but Zhu Hejian tonight During the banquet, he still sent Xu Jingxian several famous invitations in succession, almost forcibly inviting Xu Jingxian to the banquet, just so that Xu Jingxian could stand up and help him smooth things over at the critical moment.
Zhu Hejian also prepared several similar backup plans.
At this time, after hearing the three conditions proposed by Song Chengren, Zhu Hejian immediately nodded and said: "Senior Song's words are reasonable. Regarding Jiang Dawei's rude words, this junior is also very angry, and he will definitely give it to Senior Song." A satisfactory explanation!”
Having said this, Zhu Hejian turned his head and glared at Jiang Dawei, and then told the eunuch Xi Cheng of Nanjing: "Shou Xi, although I am only a prince and have no right to interfere with the affairs of the inner court, you are the chief eunuch of Nanjing. The ceremonial supervisor Bingbi is naturally qualified to punish Jiang Dawei for his crimes! This cheap slave has repeatedly humiliated the Song Dynasty predecessors and wantonly framed Zhou Shoufu, which is an unforgivable crime! Therefore, I hope that you can come forward on behalf of the inner court to severely punish Jiang Dawei. Make him deserve what he deserves! If you protect him and spare him lightly, then I will definitely impeach you to my father!"
After hearing Zhu Hejian's explanation, Xi Cheng's face was full of embarrassment, but he still stood up and accepted the order: "Please rest assured, Your Highness, our family will definitely punish Jiang Dawei severely, let him learn a lesson, and satisfy the Song family leader...
However, our family has been sitting in Nanjing for these years. Although the Chief of Ceremonies is responsible for writing, it is just a false title, just like when a foreign court official takes the post of a feudal official, he is often given the title of Shangshu or Dushi. Although he has an official position, he is actually not qualified to intervene in the affairs of the Sixth Ministry and the Inspectorate! Therefore, when our family is severely punishing Jiang Dawei, we still need to communicate with the Inner Court Ceremony Supervisor, otherwise it will be suspected of overstepping our authority. We hope that His Highness and the Song Family Master will give us a few days of grace. "
Zhu Hejian showed dissatisfaction and asked: "How is this approach different from delaying and passing the buck?"
Xi Cheng shook his head repeatedly and said: "Your Highness Ming Jian, our family definitely does not want to delay and shirk the blame. After the banquet tonight, our family will immediately imprison Jiang Dawei, take away all his power and freedom of movement, and cooperate with the Inner Court Secretary During the communication, the Supervisor of Ceremonies will also elaborate on Jiang Dawei's crimes. He strongly recommends that the Supervisor of Ceremonies remove Jiang Dawei from all positions and titles in the inner court, and at the same time, he will be given a hundred rods, a shackles for one month, and be assigned to serve as an errand in the periphery. The Supervisor of Ceremonies will definitely agree to our proposal, it just needs to be delayed for a few days."
"Removed from power, punished with a hundred rods, shackles for a month, and sent to the outside as an errand..." Zhu Hejian nodded lightly and said: "If this is the case, it can be considered a severe punishment. At least Jiang Dawei will lose half his life!"
Then, Zhu Hejian turned to look at Song Chengren, still respectful, and asked: "Senior Song, are you still dissatisfied with the way Governor Xi punished Jiang Dawei?"
Jiang Dawei was handed over to the inner court for punishment, and Jiang Dawei might also be escorted to the capital for punishment. On the surface, it was said that Jiang Dawei was removed from his power, given a hundred rods, shackles for a month, and assigned to serve as an errand in the periphery. But in fact, Jiang Dawei was The punishments Wei received with the rod and shackles were probably just for show, and could not hurt Jiang Dawei's bones at all. As for being dismissed from his power and assigned to a peripheral errand, Jiang Dawei could also be reinstated to his original position after the limelight has passed... …
Therefore, this method of punishment is actually equivalent to letting Jiang Dawei go completely.
But on the surface, there is really nothing wrong with this method of punishment, because Jiang Dawei was originally a member of the inner court, and should be punished by the inner court. It would be an offense beyond his authority for outsiders to interfere in this matter.
This is also the real reason why the Jiangnan Jin gentry, although they are deeply entrenched and powerful, are always unable to suppress the eunuchs of Huangzhuang. Because their power is completely unable to affect the affairs of the inner court, the eunuchs of Guanzhuang are not afraid of breaking up with them.
Under such circumstances, seeing the cooperative acting between Zhu Hejian and Xicheng, Song Chengren just snorted coldly, neither expressing his approval nor objecting.
Zhu Hejian smiled and said: "Since Senior Song has no objection, then Jiang Dawei's punishment has been decided! As for the matter of digging up the dam and submerging the imperial village, we must continue to investigate, otherwise, wouldn't we have to let the real culprit behind the scenes go? ? But after a flood, all the evidence was destroyed, so it must be extremely difficult to find the mastermind behind the scenes. In this case, everyone will naturally need to work together. If the head of the Song family and other wise men are willing to help , I think the Nanjing government and the imperial guards will definitely not refuse!"
Zhu Hejian knew very well that once the Jiangnan Jinshen Group was allowed to intervene in the investigation, the Jiangnan Jinshen Group would definitely use the matter to bite him back. However, Zhu Hejian was also well prepared for this situation, so he only gave the Jiangnan Jinshen Group " "Assist" in the investigation, but the specific investigation is still led by Jin Yiwei.
In this way, if Jiangnan Jinshen Group secretly tampered with the investigation results while assisting in the investigation, Zhu Hejian could quickly discover the anomaly, and even set up a trap to make Jiangnan Jinshen Group fall into a trap.
After tonight's lesson, the next time Zhu Hejian sets up a trap, he will never allow Song Chengren to easily unite all the Jin gentry to put pressure on him.
On the other side, Song Chengren nodded slightly, accepting Zhu Hejian's concession.
Next, Zhu Hejian said: "There is also the matter of abolition and reduction of the number of imperial villages in South Zhili. I have thought about it carefully these days, and then...I remembered Zhao Junchen and Zhao Gechen's high remarks!"
Seeing Zhu Hejian suddenly mentioning Zhao Junchen, Song Chengren couldn't help but be stunned. He couldn't figure out what the incident in Huangzhuang had to do with Zhao Junchen. He asked, "Oh? Zhao Gechen's high opinions? Zhao Gechen has often made various high opinions in recent years. , it can be said that the words are not surprising, but I don’t know what the seventh prince is referring to Zhao Gechen’s lofty views?"
Zhu Hejian shook his head and laughed, and said: "Zhao Gechen really has the habit of being a teacher and never saying anything shocking. In recent years, he has made many shocking remarks. The younger generation does not agree with all his outrageous remarks. If you say a lie repeated a thousand times, it is the truth. , The butt determines the head..."
At this point, Zhu Hejian's expression was full of disapproval, and he seemed to completely disagree with Zhao Junchen's remarks.
Afterwards, Zhu Hejian's expression became much more serious and he added: "But Cabinet Minister Zhao has some other high-level opinions, which make perfect sense if you think about it carefully, such as 'No investigation, no right to speak', and 'Collect data first, and then make decisions. Conclusion'... When Zhao Gechen argued with officials in the temple, he always won more than he lost, because he could always come up with a detailed investigation conclusion and list various statistics, and But all the officials can do is use words like 'the sage said', 'I think', and 'maybe', which naturally does not hold water."
Song Chengren's eyes flashed, and he probably guessed Zhu Hejian's thoughts, but he still asked: "What does His Highness the Seventh Prince mean..."
Zhu Hejian waved his hand and said: "Nowadays, the conflicts between the Jin gentry and the eunuchs in Guanzhuang can be said to have their own reasons. The Jin gentry said that Huangzhuang occupied fertile land, the Guanzhuang eunuch said that the Jin gentry oppressed the tenants, and the Jin gentry said that Huangzhuang protected traitors. , the eunuch Guanzhuang also said that the Jin gentry despised the imperial power and coveted the imperial land...
But just like those officials who argued with Zhao Gechen, everyone expressed their attitude based on their own impressions and prejudices. So far, no one has provided detailed data and conclusive evidence to prove that their views are correct...
What I mean is that after five days, we can invite all the wise men from all walks of life in Nanjing to gather in Nanjing Gongyuan, and then let the Jin gentry and the eunuchs of Huangzhuang have a public debate in the presence of wise men from all walks of life!
Whether it is the gentry or the eunuchs who are in charge of the village, they will all bring out detailed data and conclusive evidence to support their own views. Who is the right person in the conflict between the two parties? The world must have made its own judgment after listening to this debate!
And whether I should ask my father to order the abolition and reduction of the number of imperial villages in southern Zhili will also depend on the outcome of this public debate! Otherwise, just because the wealthy Jin gentry in Southern Zhili dislike the imperial estates, I beg my father to abolish and reduce the imperial estates within the territory. It feels like the center of the imperial court has succumbed to the pressure of the Jiangnan gentry. My father will never do that. Agreed! "
After hearing Zhu Hejian's statement, everyone present was stunned.
On the one hand, it was because Zhu Hejian’s proposal was so novel that everyone was deeply surprised;
On the other hand, it is because Zhu Hejian's proposal is extremely unfavorable to the eunuchs of Huangzhuang. Considering Zhu Hejian's stance, such a proposal is simply self-defeating!
Given the profound power of the Jiangnan Jinshen Group, it is easy to collect evidence that is beneficial to them or to fabricate evidence that is beneficial to them!
Therefore, in this public debate, the Jiangnan Jinshen Group can produce a large amount of evidence to prove the great harm caused by the existence of Huangzhuang and the innocence of Jiangnan Jinshen.
At the same time, the vast majority of the Jiangnan Jin gentry were scholars with great reputations, and there were also several contemporary great scholars in charge. If we only talked about the struggle for power, it was naturally difficult for the Jiangnan Jin gentry to suppress the Huangzhuang eunuchs, but if we were talking about being eloquent, The Jiangnan gentry can definitely throw the eunuchs of Huangzhuang ten blocks away!
In the eyes of Jiangnan Jinshen, although those eunuchs of Huangzhuang had received education from the inner library, they were at most semi-illiterates who knew a few words!
Under such circumstances, allowing the eunuchs of Huangzhuang and the gentry to debate openly would definitely be to use one's own shortcomings to attack the other's strengths. What else is it but "asking for one's own humiliation"?
Thinking of this, Song Chengren was in disbelief. He also carefully looked at the changes in Zhu Hejian's expression. He always felt that Zhu Hejian seemed to have other plans and hidden some conspiracy, so he was so confident.
Because he was unclear about Zhu Hejian's real plan, Song Chengren did not dare to easily agree to this proposal, which seemed to be a huge advantage for his own side and a win-win situation.
Zhu Hejian did not give him time to think carefully, and asked again: "What does Senior Song think of this proposal of the younger generation? If the Jiangnan Jin gentry is convinced that they are right, they must not be afraid of this debate. On the contrary, we can take the opportunity to build momentum and allow the younger generation to find sufficient reasons to ask the father to reduce the number of imperial villages. It can be said to have hundreds of benefits and no harm, right?"
Seeing Zhu Hejian's attitude, Song Chengren became more and more certain that Zhu Hejian must be hiding a conspiracy. However, with Zhu Hejian's pressing step by step, Song Chengren really had no reason to reject the proposal.
Finally, Song Chengren nodded with a cold face and said: "In that case, I agree to your highness's proposal! The conflict between the Jin gentry and the eunuchs of Huangzhuang will be resolved by a public debate in Nanjing Gongyuan in five days. The winner is right or wrong!”
Zhu Hejian stroked his hands and said: "That's it. Who is right and who is wrong? Whether Huangzhuang should be abolished or not will be decided by the debate in Nanjing Gongyuan five days later. Everyone will decide the outcome openly and fairly, and no one will suffer. !”
Then, Zhu Hejian turned his attention to Huo Zhengyuan, who had been watching the show, and asked: "At the same time, since all disputes can be concluded in five days, while the two sides are preparing for this debate, the situation in Nanjing should be Try to be as smooth as possible, there shouldn't be any chaos, what do you think, Academician Huo?"
Such a statement is obviously in response to Huo Zhengyuan's follow-up plan to instruct the "United Shipping Company" to take the lead in causing trouble.
Under Zhu Hejian's gaze, Huo Zhengyuan's eyes flashed, and he nodded in agreement: "As it should be!"
While nodding in agreement, Huo Zhengyuan was also observing Zhu Hejian carefully, just like Song Chengren. Seeing Zhu Hejian's performance of winning and controlling the situation, Huo Zhengyuan always felt that Zhu Hejian had another plan, but for a while he couldn't figure out what Zhu Hejian's real plan was. What.
In this way, as smart people like Song Chengren and Huo Zhengyuan fell into deep thought, the main hall of Zhanyuan fell into a brief silence.
In fact, in order to deal with Zhou Shangjing's calculations and suppression, Zhu Hejian prepared a total of three plans to counterattack.
The first is Zhu Hejian's own plan, which is to destroy the dikes, flood the imperial village, confuse the situation, make the eunuchs of the imperial village become victims, and take the opportunity to criticize and suppress the Jin gentry forces. However, this plan is not progressing smoothly at present.
As for the second plan, it was proposed by Lu De, and the key to this plan lies in this public debate!
In addition, Zhu Hejian also kept a plan proposed by Prince Taishi Wang Baoren ready for use at any time.
Seeing the hesitant reactions of Song Chengren, Huo Zhengyuan and others, Zhu Hejian looked satisfied, smiled and nodded.
But just when Zhu Hejian wanted to continue saying something, something changed suddenly.
Because of this sudden change, the dinner party in Zhanyuan also ended in a hurry, which can be said to be an anticlimax.
…
…
