Zhang Juzheng sat down and said, "What important thing are you looking for me at this time?"
You Qi said: "Master, someone found me today and asked me to send a message to the master!"
Zhang Juzheng's eyes couldn't help but become sharp when he heard this! Now that he is in the phase, someone actually sends him news through You Qi. Doing such a secret thing is probably not a trivial matter! Thinking of this, he said: "Who is it? What message is it conveying?"
You Qi knew that this matter was serious, so he didn't dare to be verbose, so he said in the simplest and most straightforward words: "This man's name is Li Sancai, and he is a new scholar this year! Someone asked him to find me, saying that he can help the master master it as soon as possible. Court, carry out the reform! The condition is that I ask you not to collect industrial, commercial and mining taxes after the reform is over!"
Zhang Juzheng couldn't help but sneer after hearing this! There are actually people who dare to send him news, make deals, and exaggerate to help him control the court! It is extremely difficult for him to do this kind of thing as the first assistant, let alone others! It’s hard to say that this person is just impatient with life!
He was about to speak when he heard You Qi say: "Master, don't be impatient, listen to me first! Then Li San is the one who is here to deliver the message on behalf of the people from the Lord's Association!"
Zhang Juzheng was stunned when he heard this and said: "You mean those people from the Plum Blossom Club? Aren't they always working secretly? Why did they suddenly jump out this time? What happened to scare them out?"
You Qi smiled bitterly and said: "Sir, the people in this court all have exquisite minds. You can't hide your thoughts on reform from them! These people are probably afraid of losing their official title and money, so they do this Jump out!”
Zhang Juzheng was silent after hearing this. He had heard of the Plum Blossom Club, the name of the Master Club, before, but he thought that what these people did avoided the right path and lost their upright demeanor, so they must have no future. In addition, no one contacted him about joining the Master Club, so he didn't care much.
But when he entered the center of the court, his teacher Xu Jie once told him that in the Ming Dynasty there was a semi-secret organization called the Plum Blossom Society, also known as the Master Society, which had great influence within the Ming Dynasty! At that time, he also paid attention to some things about the Lord's Association, but they had never been against the imperial court, so he didn't care!
But now that the Lord Council has jumped out to interfere in government affairs, he must pay attention! Thinking of this, Zhang Juzheng said: "Go to Liu Shouyou's place and ask him to send all the news he knows about the Lord's Association!"
The Liu Shouyou mentioned by Zhang Juzheng is the commander of Jin Yiwei! This person is also from a noble family, after a famous minister! However, this person had already been tamed by Zhang Juzheng, completely forgetting that the duty of the Jinyiwei was to serve the emperor, and had already served Zhang Juzheng wholeheartedly.
Not to mention anything else, the news compiled by Jin Yiwei every day must be sent to Zhang Juzheng for review before being sent to the inner court. Therefore, if Zhang Juzheng asks him for information about the Master Meeting, he will definitely send the most accurate information!
Because Liu Shouyou was obedient, when Zhang Juzheng was covering the sky in the early Wanli period, Liu Shouyou naturally went smoothly, rising to the rank of Governor of the Left and Crown Prince! After Zhang Juzheng's death, Wanli liquidated him. Liu Shouyou lost his backer and was impeached. He was eventually dismissed from office.
And Liu Shou's own abilities are not very high! When he served as the commander of Jinyiwei, Jinyiwei was completely suppressed by Dongchang and could only act according to the wishes of Dongchang's middle officials. Dongchang has always been criticized by later generations, so Liu Shouyou's reputation was not very good.
However, Liu Shouyou himself left an unsolved case for eternity, which is his involvement in the national treasure "Along the River During the Qingming Festival"! The thing is that Wang Shizhen, a famous official in the same dynasty as him, alluded to Liu Shouyou in his article, saying that when he was copying Feng Bao's house, he embezzled "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" collected by Feng Bao!
You know, Feng Bao is a highly educated eunuch who likes collecting! Legend has it that "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" was once in the hands of Zhang Juzheng, and Zhang Juzheng gave this picture to Feng Bao in exchange for his support, so this sacred picture eventually fell into the hands of Liu Shouyou, who also liked to collect it.
Of course, this is Wang Shizhen's statement, which has not been confirmed in the end, and Zhang Zeduan's real final version is still controversial and there is no trace at all.
After sending You Qi away, Zhang Juzheng went to have dinner calmly and walked in the back garden for a while before returning to the study to rest. As the chief minister of a country, he has the confidence to face any person and organization, whether hostile or friendly!
Not long after Zhang Juzheng sat down in the study, there was a knock on the study door. Zhang Juzheng put down the book in his hand and said calmly: "Come in!"
The door to the study room was pushed open, and You Qi came in holding a stack of books and said, "Master, all the news from Jin Yiwei is here!"
Zhang Juzheng glanced at the book in You Qi's hand and said, "I think you should have read these things on the way here, and I think you can get a lot of information from Li Sancai, so just tell me directly."
After hearing Zhang Juzheng's order, You Qi put the book on the desk, stood up straight and said: "Master, I have sorted out the information I collected and found out a lot of things I didn't know before! At first I thought the master The association should be a secret organization, but in fact it is not. They are more like a loose alliance formed by many large and small groups formed by classmates, fellow villagers, the same year, teachers and students, etc.!"
Zhang Juzheng said strangely: "If you say so, they shouldn't have such a big influence! This kind of loose structure is not suitable for exerting force at all!"
You Qi shook his head and said: "Master, things are not as simple as we thought! Although the entire structure of the Dominion Association is very loose, its upper level is very secretive and very united!"
After hearing this, Zhang Juzheng nodded and said: "If this makes sense! They probably have one or several strong leaders, right? Then you can talk about it from top to bottom!"
You Qi nodded and said: "Okay, sir. According to Mr. Liu, the earliest traces of the Master Association were discovered after the Yingzong Dynasty. It is speculated that it should be formally established after the death of Yu Qian and Yu Shaobao! It should be the officials at that time In order to limit the imperial power and prevent Yu Shaobao from being killed again."
Zhang Juzheng nodded and said: "I see, my ambition is very good, but I'm afraid it will change in the future, right?"
You Qi continued noncommittally: "According to legend, the real name of the Master Club is called Plum Blossom Society. Because there are only five people in them who really have the final say, which happens to be the same number of petals as the plum blossom, so it is called Plum Blossom Society!"
