At this time, Jia Yucun remembered that the person in front of him was the character who caused one storm after another when he was the Prime Minister of Shuntian. Starting from the Jingcang case, many people were involved and could never escape. The imperial court also raised a considerable amount of money to solve the refugee crisis caused by the severe drought in the north.
Perhaps this is why the imperial court arranged for him to come to Nanjing and let Sun Chengzong stay in Yangzhou?
Otherwise, given that Sun Chengzong is the left minister of the Ministry of War, and Feng Ziying is the right minister of the Ministry of War, why should Sun Chengzong be in Nanjing and Feng Ziying go to Yangzhou? Why is it the opposite now?
It is impossible for the imperial court to make such a low-level mistake.
Naturally, Feng Ziying didn't know that Jia Yucun would come up with so many ideas in just a few breaths. She came to Nanjing originally because she was more familiar with the Denglai Navy, so she considered it this way, and Sun Chengzong would also come to Nanjing later. Now, However, Jia Yucun misunderstood that he was specially sent by the imperial court to wield a butcher's knife against the Jiangnan gentry.
Seeing Jia Yucun's expression uncertain, Feng Ziying also guessed something: "Brother Yucun, you should understand that this is the imperial court's established strategy. It is not directed at a specific person, but it is not directed at the entire Jiangnan gentry. Prime Minister Ye, Fang Xiang and even Mr. Gu Ge They are all representatives of the Jiangnan gentry, and so are Tang Mu. How can we catch all the Jiangnan gentry? At least the emperor has ascended the throne. The cabinet will not say let bygones be bygones, but it will also take care of face. However, no one can avoid the difficult problems before the court, so This is not a decision made by any one person, but a collective decision."
Jia Yucun's face changed slightly, "Ziying, do you know how many people are involved in these new four families? Not to mention others, in addition to the Wang Shui family in Beijing, the in-laws of the Zhen family also include the Tang family of Songjiang Prefecture and the Ding family of Huizhou. Zhen Yingyu's in-laws The son married the legitimate daughter of the head of the Tang family, and Zhen Yingjia’s daughter married the legitimate son of the head of the Ding family in Huizhou. The Tang family is one of the three largest merchants in Songjiang, and also operates the cotton spinning industry. The Ding family is not only one of the major wealthy families in Huizhou, And its branch is also a famous salt merchant in Yangzhou,..."
"The Tang family in Songjiang Prefecture?" Feng Ziying sneered, "I heard from the Ningbo Shipping Department that the Songjiang Tang family colluded with the Jinshan Guards for long-term smuggling for ten years. This so-called wealthy family, Doesn’t anyone understand whether it is a disaster or a blessing for the court and the government? As for the Ding family, the three most wealthy and unkind female merchants in Yangzhou, the Ding family, are ranked second. I think the Ding family in Huizhou will not be much better, right? "
With just a few words, the fate of the two families was almost announced. Jia Yucun, who turned pale, didn't know if he should persuade him. If he continued to talk, more people would be implicated. Woolen cloth?
But then I thought about it, this person came under the imperial decree, and he clearly had an idea. How could he interfere with his local authority? Saying it or not, people have already made plans in their hearts, and it won't affect anything at all, so I feel a little relieved.
"Brother Yucun, I also know that you have been in Jinling Mansion for so many years, and it is inevitable that you have to deal with the local snakes of these wealthy merchants and powerful families in the Jiangnan area. As for those human relationships, it doesn't matter, whether it is the Ministry of Punishment or the Longjing Lieutenant , the Metropolitan Procuratorate, it’s not like they have to hold on to some trivial details, so you don’t need to worry too much about this.”
Feng Ziying also figured out some of Jia Yucun's worries. During this period of time, many things depend on the strong support of this guy who is already very familiar with the situation in the southern Zhili territory, so he has to relieve this guy of his psychological burden, so as not to If this guy gets together with those people and colludes, it will be difficult for the next step of the work.
Jia Yucun didn't expect that the other party understood his mentality so well. He pondered for a moment before saying, "Ziying, I won't hide from you that my relationship with the Zhen family is average. We have some contacts with the Ding family, but they are all relatively simple human relationships. What about the Tang family? No need to deal with it, don’t worry about that.”
Feng Ziying nodded and said nothing. Jia Yucun must have something to say.
Sure enough, Jia Yucun said again: "I have some friendship with the Hu family. In addition to taking over all the official robes of the Jinling Mansion, the Hu family is an in-law of the Xie family. Xie Wentong is an official in the Jinling Mansion. He is considered a foolish brother in Jinling. An important helper in the government..."
Feng Ziying rubbed her chin and remained silent for a while.
Lu Song, Liu Yibao and Qiao Yingjia had all discussed the new four before they came. In fact, they were
It represents the cabinet’s opinion, which is to go under the knife.
Now that the imperial court is in dire financial straits, it is in urgent need of additional funds. It is estimated that the Jiangnan land tax will have to wait until the end of the year to replenish the treasury. In these few months, a large amount of expenditure will be required, such as demobilizing and appeasing the officers and soldiers of the "Three Jiangnan Towns" to prevent them from turning into rioters. Mutiny.
So there is only one place of origin, and that is Jiangnan.
However, the interests of Jiangnan were too broad. Whether it was the new emperor Wan Tong or the Jiangnan gentry represented by Tang Miu, Zhu Gu and others, they would all cause violent reactions. Therefore, the choice could only be made among these four new people.
These four families have replaced the old four families, but in fact their foundation and heritage are not enough. Except for one Zhen family, the other three families have only emerged in the past ten or twenty years. In comparison, they are relatively less involved. Of course, these It's just relative. To be able to climb to the position of the so-called New Four, you must have a lot of resources and connections.
As for the Zhen family, it was so popular that even Emperor Wan Tong, Tang Mi and others were a little dissatisfied, so based on this balance, it seemed that only these four families could make sacrifices.
The Hu family is one of the relatively weak characters. Feng Ziying is also considering that if the Hu family is to be touched, some families related to the Hu family will definitely be involved. So now that Jia Yucun has mentioned this, how to cut it.
"I remember that the Hu family also has a brother-in-law, the Jiang family?" Feng Ziying asked thoughtfully, "Is it the Jiang family in Changzhou?"
Jia Yucun felt a chill in his heart. It seemed that others knew as much as he did. He smiled bitterly and said, "The Jiang family's reputation is indeed not very good..." "Isn't it just not very good?" Feng Ziying chuckled, " Jiang Xuanhui of the Jiang family is the magistrate of Changxing County in Huzhou, right? Nicknamed Jiang Peipi, he scratches the ground in Changxing. On the surface, he is clean and honest in Changxing, but in the end he is manipulating judicial proceedings. If he wants to send gifts, he has to go to Wuxi, which is across the Taihu Lake. I alone You know, last year he accepted 3,000 taels of silver from someone in a life-threatening lawsuit. The year before last, a deprived inheritance lawsuit gave the Jiang family 800 acres of land in Wuxi. A censor from the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate originally They wanted to investigate him, but he died of a sudden illness in the hotel during the investigation. The Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate also ignored him, and Jiang Xuanming. Haha, Long Jinwei just didn't have time to investigate the fishy things here. Now the general situation After all, many things need to be revealed and sorted out."
Jia Yucun sighed, "Ziying, it seems that the imperial court is really going to start a war? The four families are really not simple. Brother Yu said sincerely, with your contribution this time, there is actually no need to disturb this situation again. Wading into troubled waters means nothing except adding countless enemies out of thin air."
It should be said that Jia Yucun's words were very pertinent. Of course Feng Ziying understood it, but he also knew that at least in the early stage, he could not push it away. Sun Chengzong was not familiar with the situation in Jiangnan. Before leaving, everyone reminded him that even if it was handed over later To the people from the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Ministry of Punishment, and the Ministry of Household Affairs who went south, but the preliminary preparations must be done by yourself first.
As for offending others, why not offend others?
Only by offending some people can you win some people. Don't offend anyone, which means you are of no use to anyone.
"Brother Yucun, I know your good intentions, but do you think I have a choice when the imperial court sends me here?" Feng Ziying smiled calmly, "The imperial court uses me only for my vigor and courage. Otherwise, I will be the right minister of the Ministry of War." There are so many people who can sit, why are you asking me to sit? What did Yuan Keli miss? Is Xiong Tingbi inferior to me? Isn't Yang He qualified enough? They are not bad, in terms of skill and city government, they are even better than me, but in terms of Their energy and courage are not as good as mine, and now Jiangnan is like a pot of raw rice, sandwiched between the emperor and the cabinet, making it unfamiliar, so I have to play a role that doesn't follow common sense. Let’s make a fierce fire and burn it for a while.”
Jia Yucun nodded silently. He understood the meaning. He had no choice but to cooperate with Feng Ziying to do the court affairs well. The four families are hopeless. This is the principle set by the imperial court. Since there is no hope of salvation, it is better to take advantage of this opportunity.
The four families are involved too much, and there are at least a dozen of them, all of them are famous and powerful families in Jiangnan. From Feng Ziying's words, he can also tell that not everyone here has no room for maneuver, and they can even use help. Feng Ziying relied on herself to make a good operation.
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Ziying, does the imperial court have a specific standard or goal this time? Jia Yucun put aside the entanglement and simply asked.
"Which boss would tell me about this kind of thing?" Feng Ziying laughed dumbly. This is the Jia Yucun in her impression. If you see great benefits, you can forget about "small" righteousness. "We can only realize it ourselves." , you have to make up your own mind, of course there will be other people coming to the court in the later stage, maybe they have something in mind, but that should be in the later stage."
"Then Ziying, when do you plan to take action?" Jia Yucun had completely gotten rid of all the previous emotions and started to get into the state. He is the prefect of Jinling, and the Six Ministries of Nanjing are neither reliable nor short of manpower. The only one they can rely on is himself. Although the other families involved in these four families are not necessarily in Jinling, the roots of the four families are all in Jinling, and they are closely related to each other. The families they are related to basically have businesses or shops or fields in Jinling, and they all have to be involved, so if you want to do something, you have to do it beautifully and satisfy the court as much as possible, so that your chances will be greater.
