Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Biao expectantly, hoping that Zhu Biao could give him a satisfactory answer.
"Li Jin, I think that if Li Jin can enter the Zhongshu Province, Li Shanchang and Hu Weiyong may be more restrained."
Zhu Biao said confidently:
"Li Jin is a man who is very imaginative in what he does. He has a stubborn personality and is determined to retaliate. Coupled with his skill, he is extraordinary."
"My son feels that Li Jin can definitely meet my father's requirements."
Without even thinking about it, Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and refused, saying:
"No, Li Jin is from Fengyang and also belongs to the Huaixi Group."
"If Li Jin is also allowed to enter Zhongshu Province, I am afraid that the power of the Huaixi Group will further expand."
"Father, although Li Jin is from Huaixi, he comes from a poor family."
But Zhu Biao tried hard to persuade him:
"He has no interaction with these people from the Huaixi Group."
"Last time, Hu Weiyong wanted to impeach Li Jin and wanted to kill him."
"Father, think about it, if Li Jin knew about this, would he still collude with Hu Weiyong?"
Zhu Yuanzhang fell silent. What Zhu Biao said was very reasonable.
Li Jin's background had been checked several times by Zhu Yuanzhang, and it was very clear.
Although Li Jin is from Huaixi, his family was poor since he was a child, and he relied on his own ability to reach this position step by step.
He has never received any support from Huaixi people, so Li Jin actually does not have such a great sense of belonging to the Huaixi people.
And just a few months ago, Hu Weiyong even wanted to dismiss Li Jin from office just to get Shanghu County.
Zhu Biao had also told Li Jin about this matter before, and Li Jin would probably never get back together with Hu Weiyong.
In this way, it is indeed not impossible to let Li Jin enter the Zhongshu Province.
But when Zhu Yuanzhang thought of what Li Jin had done, he felt uneasy in his heart.
Corruption and bribery, Li Jin is simply a rat excrement in the officialdom.
"Let us think about it again. If it doesn't work, let's consider Li Jin again."
Although Zhu Yuanzhang did not like Li Jin's style very much, if the layout of the court really changed, it would be time to rearrange it.
Zhu Yuanzhang would still use Li Jin. For Zhu Yuanzhang, civil and military officials were nothing more than flags.
Their only purpose is to achieve their goal of consolidating the country.
Hu Weiyong is like this, and Li Jin is like this.
....
After Hu Weiyong left the study room, he did not dare to stay for a moment, so he went straight back to Zhongshu Province to pay homage to Li Shanchang.
After telling Li Shanchang everything that happened in the study room, Hu Weiyong looked at Li Shanchang nervously and asked:
"Teacher, did Weiyong do anything wrong?"
At this moment, Li Shanchang was no longer as calm as before, with a look of astonishment on his face. After hearing Hu Weiyong's words, he asked in disbelief:
"Is everything you just said true?"
"It's absolutely true. One moment the emperor was praising me for having a solution and a good idea, but the next moment he changed his face and asked me to come back and wait for news."
Hu Weiyong did not dare to hide anything and described the scene in detail again.
When Li Shanchang heard this, he immediately fell silent without saying a word.
When Hu Weiyong saw this, he felt even more anxious and continued to ask anxiously:
"Teacher, why don't you speak? Did Weiyong do something wrong and anger the emperor?"
"This is what makes the emperor so angry."
Li Shan let out a long sigh, and then said:
"Wei Yong, next, the two of us must show our disagreement."
"You must object to anything I agree to."
"Similarly, I will definitely object to anything you agree to."
Hu Weiyong became anxious. Li Shanchang wanted to distance himself from him.
What does it mean? Is it because he is afraid that he will be dragged down?
"Teacher, do you want to abandon Weiyong?"
Hu Weiyong looked sad, feeling that his official career might have come to an end again.
"Wei Yong, you are a fan of the authorities!"
When Li Shanchang saw Hu Weiyong like this, he stood up, patted Hu Weiyong's shoulder gently, and comforted:
"The reason why the superiors do this is because they want us to turn against each other."
"At least not on the same front."
"Our emperor has too strong a desire to control power."
"Zhongshu Sheng, nominally the prime minister helps the emperor handle government affairs, but if the emperor hadn't been out of town, I wouldn't even be able to see the memorial."
"Where will it be my turn to help the emperor handle government affairs?"
"However, although the Zhongshu Province is just a showpiece, it does have the power to take away the emperor's administrative power."
"So naturally, the higher-ups cannot see a unified Zhongshu Province."
"I'm afraid your superiors had this in mind when they transferred you to Zhongshu Province."
"It's just that I didn't expect that after so long, you are still working together with me, which makes the superiors feel threatened."
"What he wants is for the Zhongshu Province to be torn apart, not for harmony."
"In your letter this time, you mentioned me again and gave me all the credit."
"The superior is naturally unhappy. This is why the superior suddenly changed his face."
"From now on, we can no longer do this. Even drinking tea face to face like this is best avoided."
After hearing these words, Hu Weiyong suddenly realized.
He was not a mediocre person. After hearing Li Shan's in-depth analysis, he immediately understood what the problem was.
As Li Shanchang said, the problem lies in the unity of the superiors and the emperor, and what the emperor wants is to fight against each other.
Before, it was because he was concerned that he would be confused. Now that he understood the whole story, Hu Weiyong immediately stood up and bowed down:
"Thank you very much for your mentor's guidance. Even if Wei Yong cannot come to have tea with his mentor in the future, his mentor will always be his guiding light in Wei Yong's mind."
Li Shanchang stroked his beard happily, nodded and said:
"I naturally understand Weiyong's thoughts."
"Remember what I said, in the future we can no longer be harmonious in the court."
"Wei Yong remembers it."
Hu Weiyong handed over again.
"In that case, then go back first and think carefully about what you will say in the court tomorrow to restore your image among the higher-ups."
Li Shanchang picked up the tea cup and was ready to see off the guests.
"In the future, the Central Publishing House will have to rely on you sooner or later. I'm... getting old!"
Hu Weiyong said goodbye to Li Shanchang and turned to leave.
Just when Hu Weiyong was about to leave the room, Li Shanchang suddenly shouted loudly:
"Hu Weiyong, you dare to offend me. You'd better not come to me again in the future, otherwise I will insist on making you look good!"
Hu Weiyong was stunned for a moment, then snorted coldly, without turning his head, he just replied:
"Li Shanchang, you are already old! Let's wait and see!"
After that, he left the room without looking back.
Other officials from Zhongshu Province looked confused when they heard the conversation between these two people.
These two people had always had a close relationship between master and disciple before, and the good ones could wear a pair of pants. Why did they suddenly turn against each other now?
What is going on here? Is it the distortion of human nature or the loss of morality?
Everyone looked at each other in disbelief.
"What are you looking at? Why don't you go back and do your duty properly? If something goes wrong, be careful of the black gauze hat on your head!"
As the boss of Zhongshu Province, Li Shanchang naturally no one dared to resist his orders. He quickly put away his little ears for gossip and continued to devote himself to the intense work.
.....
The next day, there was a court meeting at Fengtian Palace.
"Your Majesty, I am impeaching Hu Weiyong for not knowing how to respect his teacher and for offending me. Please punish Hu Weiyong for being disrespectful."
From the beginning, Li Shanchang pointed the finger at Hu Weiyong.
As soon as these words came out, all the civil and military officials were a little confused. What's going on?
The first and second leaders of Zhongshu Province, Hu Weiyong and Li Shanchang, known as the best master-disciple duo in the Ming Dynasty, are going to turn against each other?
Didn't we still talk and laugh together yesterday? Why did Li Shanchang want to send Hu Weiyong to prison in a direct confrontation between father and son today?
Everyone turned their heads and looked at Li Shanchang, wondering what kind of trick Li Shanchang was playing?
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Hu Weiyong with a smile on his face and asked:
"Wei Yong, is this possible?"
"Your Majesty, there is no such thing."
Hu Weiyong looked indifferent and said:
"Yesterday, I took the memorial I wrote and went to see Prime Minister Li about the method of building the expressway."
"As a result, Prime Minister Li criticized the memorials of the generals and made many outrageous suggestions. I felt that Prime Minister Li was old and his thinking was a bit backward."
"He thought I was insulting him, but in fact I didn't mean that."
"You're talking nonsense, that memorial of yours..."
Li Shanchang was about to refute when he heard this, but was interrupted directly by Zhu Yuanzhang:
"This is not a big deal!"
"Shan Chang, Wei Yong is your subordinate. You should take more care of him and don't be so harsh."
"Wei Yong, Mr. Li is doing this for your own good. You can apologize to Mr. Li and let this matter be over."
Li Shanchang looked ugly when he saw this, but Hu Weiyong cupped his hands towards Li Shanchang and said:
"Li Xiang, I'm sorry."
Seemingly without sincerity, Zhu Yuanzhang laughed loudly and said:
"Okay, this matter has been revealed."
"Both of you are our humerus ministers. You should work together to take care of the Ministry of Education."
"I hope you two will cooperate well in the future and work with us to govern the entire Ming Dynasty and make the Ming Dynasty prosperous."
"yes."
Zhu Yuanzhang was in a good mood. Just last night, he received a secret report from the Jin Yiwei.
Hu Weiyong and Li Shanchang turned against each other, which made Zhu Yuanzhang laugh.
Unexpectedly, just a memorial could bring the two of them into tit-for-tat. It seems that Hu Weiyong is indeed very ambitious, otherwise he would never dare to challenge Li Shanchang's authority.
But ambition is a good thing. If Hu Weiyong had no ambition, he would not be worthy of sitting in this position.
Initially, Zhu Yuanzhang thought that the two of them might be acting for him, but now it seems that the two of them openly fell out in front of the court.
This means that regardless of whether they are pretending or not, the Huaixi Group may be divided into two factions in the future.
This is what Zhu Yuanzhang wants to see. After all, the united Huaixi Group poses a very big threat to Zhu Yuanzhang.
As the fight between the two came to an end, today's morning meeting officially began.
"Wei Yong, how are you preparing for the highway incident that you explained yesterday?"
"I am about to report to the emperor and ask him to issue an imperial edict to inform the whole country that our Yingtian Mansion will build the first toll highway."
Hu Weiyong slowly came out of the queue, bowed to Zhu Yuanzhang and said:
"And tell the people all over the world that the money to build this highway needs to be raised from the gentry all over the world, and accordingly, the income from the highway can be passed on to future generations."
As soon as Hu Weiyong said these words, the surrounding civil servants immediately exploded.
Originally, these civil servants had already informed their families about this matter, and which family behind them was not a noble gentry?
These gentry have long regarded this highway project as fat in their own bowl. How can they allow others to interfere?
They even wanted to allow the children of their respective families who were officials in the court to make suggestions to the emperor and yield greater benefits.
After all, the imperial court has never been able to compete with the people for profits, so they can usurp more benefits.
In addition, there are many gentry who are already quietly preparing gifts and want to visit Hu Weiyong and ask Hu Weiyong to open a back door to their home.
Use this to get on the bus as early as possible, or to crowd out other competitors.
They tried every means to cover up the matter, in order to reduce the chances of letting other gentry know about it, so as to obtain greater benefits.
After all, if you are the only one willing to invest in the company, then the initiative will be completely in your own hands.
For them, the fewer people who know, the better.
But now Hu Weiyong actually wants to make this matter clear and inform the whole country.
Then the impact of this incident is not what these gentry want to see.
The Ming Dynasty was so vast that if all the gentry from all over the world were to come to participate in this gluttonous feast, the benefits they would share would be very small.
"Your Majesty, I object."
The head of the household department waited for Hu Weiyong to finish speaking, then stood up and said:
"I think this matter only requires the gentry around Yingtian Mansion to complete the construction of the highway."
"If we were to issue an edict, it would alarm the gentry in the world and possibly cause turmoil in the world."
"So, I feel that the suggestion put forward by Mr. Hu is not a good suggestion."
The left minister of the Ministry of Punishment also stood up at this moment and said to Zhu Yuanzhang:
"I second the proposal."
"I believe that the Ming Dynasty needs to recuperate and recuperate, especially since the northern region has just been pacified. It is the time when it needs to be stabilized and consolidated."
"If an order is issued at this time to allow them to enter Beijing, unpredictable accidents may occur."
"I second the proposal!"
Most of the officials stood up and did not want Zhu Yuanzhang to agree to Hu Weiyong's suggestion.
After all, their interests are aligned now.
The more people come in to share the food, the less profit they will make.
They may even be forced by the imperial court to squeeze their profits as much as possible.
But this was not what Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to see. He directly shouted loudly:
"Nonsense."
"We see that all of you have evil intentions."
"The construction of highways is a matter for the whole world. It is not only related to the gentry of Yingtian Prefecture, but also has a great relationship with the gentry of other prefectures and counties."
"We see that you just want to control the number of gentry to blackmail the court and monopolize the benefits brought by the highway."
"Such a desire for profit is a crime worthy of death!"
