Under the setting sun, the departing carriage looked a little desolate and lonely. An old minister who officially entered the court in the eighth year of Wanli ended his political career.
Yan Chenhao stood in the wind, silent.
Li Ruhua's last words echoed in his mind.
Why doesn't he want to protect himself? But there are some things he must do.
He could feel that the emperor was brewing something.
The reason why Zhu Changxun seized the note was for three reasons.
He didn't want the northern Xinjiang water conservancy project to be completed, which would further increase his reputation.
The second reason is that they sincerely believe that they can manipulate these people at will without considering their livelihood. (Yan Chenhao sneered. It seemed that he had completely rejected what he had been taught before and planned to act according to his own wishes.)
What I don’t understand now is the third point...
Most likely, it's not a good thing.
For the sake of selfishness...are you actually putting the people under your control?
He sighed softly.
He felt strange to this current disciple.
Was it really a mistake to help him rise to power back then?
However, he was not like this at all back then...
…
In the Ming Dynasty, the existence of Changle Bookstore was well known to everyone.
Even if you are not a scholar, but an ordinary citizen in the market, you still know that there is such a place where current opinions are published and books are often published. Its branches are spread all over the country.
In fact, Changle Bookstore was equivalent to the newspaper industry in later generations. At that time, the newspaper was a newspaper. It was published every day and spread all kinds of information about the Ming Dynasty. It was already extremely influential. Even if it was renamed "Ming Dynasty" Daily” is no exaggeration.
The daily income is also an astronomical figure.
Many people have thought about it, and there was even a prince who wanted to take it by force.
But in the end, he retreated in dismay and did not dare to take action against him again. Careful people even noticed that shortly after that, many of the Duke's properties had their names changed inexplicably.
At that time, everyone knew that the water in this bookstore was very deep.
The more capable ones couldn't help but feel frightened when they found out the name of the owner of Changle Bookstore.
At this time, in the southeast, Ningbo Fuzhong, the headquarters of Changle Bookstore.
In the lobby, a middle-aged man was sitting, and in front of him was a man with a pale face and no beard, who was pointing and spitting.
The middle-aged man is the leader of Changle Bookstore, Yan Zican.
As the head of the largest "newspaper industry" in the world, although he hides behind the scenes, he actually plays a decisive role in the Ming Dynasty.
However, his life is not easy now. To be precise, he has been tightly constrained since the emperor broke up with his chief minister a few months ago.
As the biggest beneficiary of public opinion, the emperor naturally knew the power of public opinion. After all, when he ascended the throne, the support of public opinion was indispensable.
So since he had some disagreements with Yan Chenhao, he sent his confidant eunuch from Beijing as a supervisor to "review" the contents of Changle Bookstore.
Some time ago, the current commentary on the Northern Expedition had the shadow of this eunuch. It insisted on reporting and exaggerating the victory, while hiding the advice of other courtiers, and the contributions of many knowledgeable people among the people. They were all rejected by him.
But he still had to listen. He had an official background. Although Yan Zican also had a background, the Duke of Yue would not argue with the emperor over such a trivial matter.
These days are really difficult, and the eunuch has to interfere with every issue of the commentary.
And now, he's here again.
"Li Ruhua, an old man, dares to go against His Majesty."
The eunuch obviously had his own channels and learned about some things that happened in the palace, and he was venting his anger at this time:
"Master Yan, it just so happens that we don't want to report on the salary issue in this issue? Why don't we just blame it all on Li Ruhua and give him a taste of his power!"
The eunuch was full of malice and wanted to take this opportunity to please the emperor:
"Let's just say...the money was embezzled by Li Ruhua, and that's why things like this happened."
"Father-in-law, you and I both know what's going on. It's inappropriate to be so afraid."
Yan Zican frowned and rejected his proposal.
The eunuch suffocated slightly, but then said:
"Why, do you want to imitate that old man and go against His Majesty? Are you tired of living? He dares to disobey the Holy Order. Even if the matter is passed to him, what's wrong?"
These days, the eunuchs often used the emperor's banner to label him, so Yan Zican got used to it, shook his head without changing his expression, and said:
"I don't dare. It's just that it can't be so outrageous. I'm afraid no one will believe this... Changle Bookstore's reputation will be completely lost by then. What's the point of my father-in-law coming here?"
"Even if you receive divine grace for a while, in the end... I'm afraid it won't be too good."
The eunuch was stunned when he heard this.
Yes, even though I am far away in Zhejiang now, the emperor's favor has not diminished, and there are rewards from time to time. He is not far behind even those eunuchs who are compared with the ceremonial supervisor. It is not because of his love for Changle Bookstore. Monitoring of current affairs?
If the reputation of Changle Bookstore drops and no one believes it anymore...then what use is it? Even if you can please Long Yan for a while, if you lose your foundation in the end, won't you still lose favor?
After thinking about this, the eunuch's tone suddenly softened:
"What does the boss mean?"
Yan Zican did not answer, but tapped his knuckles on the table and began to think deeply.
Direct reporting would definitely not work. Although the eunuch would not smear Li Ruhua once he said it, he would not be allowed to "talk nonsense", otherwise his visit would be in vain.
"Let's just say, 'Officials at all levels have acted proactively, grain, grass, materials, etc. have arrived on time, and the project is progressing smoothly.' I mainly praise the performance of all parties in this project, and only mention at the end that the salary has not yet arrived. What do you think, father-in-law? "
Don't seek to be explosive, just seek to achieve nothing.
After all, the eunuch was not an expert in this way. Yan Zican, who had received relevant education from Yan Ling since childhood, couldn't think of a better way for a while, so he agreed.
Soon he said his goodbyes and left.
When the eunuch walked away, the cronies around him immediately came over and said with some dissatisfaction:
"Master, when will this eunuch leave? I treat him with good food and drink every day, and I also give him gold and silver bribes. That's all. He points at us every day. It's really frustrating!"
This period of time is also very difficult for them. There is another person above their heads who doesn't understand anything and still insists on taking care of things.
Moreover, in order to avoid exposing their powerful intelligence capabilities, the intelligence in Changle Bookstore has been whittled down again and again these days before being handed over. Many explosive materials cannot be revealed, and they are itching!
When Yan Zican heard this, he could only shake his head.
He doesn’t know either!
At least now... it is definitely not the time to disobey the emperor's orders.
(End of chapter)
