After Huang Mengyu left, Gao Mo appeared in front of Gao Pingshi, holding a stack of manuscripts in his hand.
"Although Mr. Huang and Mr. Chen took charge of the East Factory successively, they obviously did not pay enough attention to Liu Shouyou, or it was too late... Sir, here are some important travel records of Liu Shouyou in the past two years. Please take a look."
Gao pragmatic glanced at it, shook his head slightly, and said: "I'm tired, you pick the important thing to talk about. Well, first tell me why Liu Shouyou is staring at me. I shouldn't have offended him."
Gao Mo said calmly: "It is true that I have never offended Liu Shouyou, but the Xinzheng Gao family has offended the Songjiang Xu family. Or it should be said that the feud between the Gao and Xu families has never been that simple."
"Xu Huating?" Gao Pingshi frowned and said, "That was still an old thing during the Jia and Long years, and... even if it is not said that the third uncle finally let the Xu family go, even if he didn't, the grievances between my Gao family and the Xu family are still related. What's wrong with Liu Shou?"
Gao Mo said: "Is Xu Changchun from the Xu family known to me?"
"I know you." Gao Pingshi closed his eyes, leaned back on his chair, and said: "Xu Yuanchun, named Zhengfu, named Yinyang, is the eldest grandson of Xu Huating. In the second year of Wanli, he ranked second and twenty-sixth on the Jiaxu Kejin Ranking. He was appointed as the head of the Ministry of Punishment, and later changed to the Ministry of Rites. At the beginning of this year, he was promoted to Taichang Qing."
Gao Mo smiled and said: "I remember it hard, but there are more details here."
Gao Jingshi opened his eyes slightly, looked at him, closed them again, and said, "It seems that there is something I have overlooked, so let's talk about it."
Gao Mo opened a manuscript and read: "Xu Yuanchun, courtesy name Zhengfu, alias Yin Yang, is the eldest son of Xu Fan and the eldest grandson of Xu Jie. At the age of 16, he joined his father's official post in the capital and sent him a royal title, which was later changed to Shuntianfu student, he took the provincial examination in the first year of Wanli and ranked 26th in the second class of Jinshi in the second year of Wanli.
He was first appointed as the head of the Ministry of Punishment, then changed to the Ministry of Rites, moved to Wailang, and was promoted to Guanglu Shangbaoqing, Taipu Shaoqing, Zhengqing, and at the beginning of this year he was promoted to Taichangqing. "
Gao Mo only explained these situations in slightly more detail than Gao Jingshi, but Gao Jingshi knew that it was definitely not the point, so he continued to listen without saying a word.
Sure enough, Gao Mo continued: "In the early years of Wanli, the Xu family opened a seaport in Songjiang, covering an area of about seventy acres, and was quite prosperous. At that time, Xu Yuanchun had a daughter named Xu, who was married to Liu Shouyou's son Liu Chengxi, and the two families After getting married, the Liu family also invested in the seaport. Later, Jinghua acquired Ningbo and other ports from the Ministry of Industry, which affected Xu's seaport, and the volume of cargo entering and exiting the port dropped by more than 30%. However, at this time, neither Xu nor Liu had any Unusual behavior.
At the beginning of the ninth year of Wanli, the master got Zhang Shanghai's support and began to buy land in Shanghai County and plan to build a port. About one to two months later, Liu Shouyou began to send people south to Guangxi and Annan to conduct overt and covert inspections, hoping to find the master himself or Jinghua’s adverse evidence. "
After listening to Gao Mo's words, Gao pragmatic laughed unconsciously, opened his eyes, shook his head slightly and said: "It seems that old sorrows and new hatreds broke out together. It's just that in the early years of Wanli, my third uncle was still in the position of chief assistant. Neither the Xu family nor the Liu family dared to move lightly. In the ninth year of Wanli, the third uncle passed away, and I happened to reach into the backyard of the Xu family in Shanghai. It also happened to be building a port. It really started from Xu. , the Liu family takes food from their mouths...no wonder, no wonder."
Gao Mo saw Gao Pragmatic's sarcastic face, but he didn't seem to care much. He couldn't help but remind him: "Master, the old feud between Gao and Xu involved Xu Yuanchun's father. Xu Fan was sentenced to exile until Guo Yuanfu became an official. He was pardoned just before and ordered to return to his hometown to take care of his father, Xu Huating..."
Gao Pingshi was moved in his heart and asked, "What a coincidence, it's the ninth year of Wanli again?"
"Yes, it is also the ninth year of Wanli."
Gao Pangshi couldn't help but laugh and sighed: "A person like Xu Fan won't suffer much even if he is exiled. He just wants to save face, but he can't help but encourage the younger generation to cause trouble, regardless of whether Xu Huating is It’s not that I already don’t want to be an enemy of my Gao family… I really don’t deserve to be a son of a man.”
Gao Mo was surprised and said: "How do you know that Xu Huating doesn't want to be the enemy of the Gao family?"
"Although Xu Huating is old, he is not confused. He does not know how to advance or retreat like his children and grandchildren." Gao Pingshi stood up with a sneer and said: "In the past, it was he who came to make peace with my third uncle through Zhang Jiangling. The Xu family Most of the hundreds of thousands of acres of fertile land were preserved. If it is not what I expected, Xu Huating either no longer cares about family affairs, or the descendants of the Xu family are fooling around without telling him, otherwise this situation would not have happened. "
Gao Mo did not dare to question Gao Pragmatic's judgment, so he could only ask: "What should we do now...?"
Gao pragmatic thought for a moment and snorted softly: "Originally, with the way the Xu and Liu families acted, it would not be an exaggeration for me to deal with them categorically. But...seeing that in the past, the third uncle had promised Xu Huating not to care about the two families anymore. For the sake of old things, I will be polite before fighting this time, giving them one last chance to see if the Xu family can rein in the situation."
Gao Pingshi paused for a moment and said in a deep voice: "Send a letter to Senior Brother Han, Governor of Yingtian, for me, saying that I would like to ask him to pay a visit to Duke Xu Huating on my behalf."
Gao Mo thought for a moment and asked, "Master, do you want to write a personal letter to Duke Hua Ting?"
Gao pragmatic pondered for a moment, shook his head and said: "This matter is not suitable for discussion. Please ask Senior Brother Han to convey a message to me."
Gao Mo lowered his head slightly and asked, "What are you talking about?"
"Ask Mr. Xu Huating, if the Xu family's port is willing to be sold to me."
Gao Mo was slightly startled and said hesitantly: "Do you really want to buy it, or..."
"What if I buy it real, or if I buy it fake?"
Gao Mo frowned and said with a wry smile: "I don't know what I know. The Xu family's port is no longer a business of the Xu and Liu families. I heard that many famous families from the south of the Yangtze River are involved."
"Oh?" Gao Pingshi became interested and asked, "What famous families are there?"
Gao Mo said: "Not to mention anything else, Wang Taicang and Wang Jing Shigong's mansion took part in it. It is said that they invested at least 40,000 to 50,000 taels of silver in it."
Gao pragmatic was stunned: "Wang Xijue?" Then before Gao Mo could speak, he suddenly understood and nodded: "Yes, although Wang Xijue is from the Wang family in Taiyuan, his family entered Taicang as early as the Hongzhi period. His grandfather, Wang Yong, was particularly good at business and was already a wealthy man in Taicang at that time. It was natural for his family to invest in the Xu family's port. Not to mention that the Wang family, like the Xu family, were both fans of Xinxue, so it was reasonable for the two families to join forces. .”
Gao Mo didn't answer, but his expression was still troubled.
Gao pragmatic frowned slightly: "Why, besides Wang Xijue, are there other powerful people?"
Gao Mo smiled bitterly and said: "I know things like a god, and there are indeed more. Not only are they powerful, but there are many."
"Tell me."
Gao Mo said: "Shen Cifu, Mr. Yuge."
At this time, even Gao Pragmatic had to change his expression.
Gao Mo sighed and said: "Shen Cifu is from Changzhou, Suzhou, and Duke Hua Ting is his master. It is not surprising that the Shen family has a share in such a big deal at the Xu family port."
Gao Jingshi had a cold face and said nothing. After a while, he asked: "What about Mr. Yu Ge? He is not from Su or Song."
"Mr. Yu Ge is naturally not from Susong, but he is from Ningbo." Gao Mo smiled bitterly and said: "Mr. Yu Ge was born in Yin County, Zhejiang Province, which is the prefecture of Ningbo. Sir, after Ningbo Guangang was monopolized by our Gao family, Ningbo Merchants can either cooperate with our Jinghua Ningbo Port, or compete with us to build their own ports, or else, they can only choose to go far away and trade at Xujia Port in Songjiang."
Even Gao Pingshi had a headache now. He subconsciously touched his chin and said, "I really haven't paid attention to Mr. Yu Ge's background. It turns out that his family is also engaged in sea trade?"
Gao Mo replied: "The wealthy families along the coast of the south of the Yangtze River are either big industrialists or big businessmen. It is rare that the Xu family is keen on buying a large amount of land... After the Xu family suffered a big loss, they turned to business. , maybe it’s also because the Xu family was influenced by the local celebrity families after returning to their hometown.”
Gao pragmatic nodded and thought to himself: Maybe it was because he was stimulated by Jinghua's making a lot of money in sea trade.
But in this case, this matter is not as complicated as usual, and even my previous inferences have become less reliable.
Gao pragmatic suddenly thought of what he had talked about when he met Wu Dui and Wu Xun and his son that day.
Wu Xun said that Zhejiang's maritime merchants were divided into two groups. One group advocated the establishment of a separate alliance of Zhejiang maritime merchants to fight against Beijing's "erosion" in Zhejiang; All-out war.
The word "Nanjing" here is actually just a reference. What it actually means is to concentrate the power of the entire Jiangnan - no matter he is a distinguished person, a celebrity, an aristocratic family, or a rich man, as long as he is an upper class member of the Jiangnan who participates in maritime trade. People from all walks of life can join in and form a joint force to compete with Jinghua.
At that time, Wu Xun said that the Zhejiang faction still had the upper hand. Although Gao Pragmatic laughed at these people for being short-sighted, he actually knew in his heart that if the whole of Jiangnan really joined forces to compete with Jinghua, Jinghua might not be sure to win.
However, Gao Pragmatic judged at that time that as long as Wei Guogong Xu Bangrui and Linhuai Marquis Li Yangong did not participate, this "Jiangnan Alliance" would not be able to accomplish anything for a while.
However, today he discovered that this might not be the case!
Although Xu Bangrui and Li Yangong have prominent positions among the nobles and have relatively strong influence, the most they can influence is the circle of nobles, but they cannot influence the local civil servant families!
But now it seems that the Xu family who owns an independent seaport may be at the forefront of the civil servant family, and Liu Shouyou can be regarded as the person standing next to the Xu family.
But the backstory of the Xu family is even more complicated. For example, future generations will know that the Jiajing 41st Golden List was very powerful. Its "Three Cauldrons" Shen Shixing, Wang Xijue, and Yu Youding were all standing behind the Xu family!
Who is more powerful than Xun Gui?
Civil service group!
Gao Pragmatic's face turned livid, and he cursed in his heart: Damn your grandma's legs, Liu Shouyou is like a leopard with a bear's heart and a leopard's guts. A governor in gilded clothes dares to play these tricks with me. You are just a puppet on strings. Those who stand behind are the real messengers.
What's going on, in this dispute between practical learning and spiritual learning, seeing that our practical school is slowly gaining the upper hand, you are starting to play the trick of exchanging concepts, trying to turn the political and academic dispute into a regional dispute between the north and the south?
Is it going to be like the Wanli Dynasty in the original history, and come up with something like the Qi Chu Zhe Party? Then what kind of Donglin Party and Eunuch Party will be created?
Have your mother’s spring and autumn dream!
As long as I am pragmatic and down-to-earth, I will defeat every one who comes out of the regional party!
The dispute between schools of thought is still about governance concepts, and as long as regional parties appear, they will sooner or later turn into rural party groups.
What is the situation when the township party unites? Whatever you agree with I will definitely oppose, and whatever you oppose I will definitely agree with.
From then on, there was no distinction between right and wrong in the Ming Dynasty's government, only the distinction between ourselves and the enemy.
What is a sign of national subjugation? This is a sign of national destruction!
"The matter of inviting Senior Brother Han to visit Xu Huating has been put aside for the time being." Gao pragmatically said decisively: "This is such a big matter that I cannot make an easy decision alone."
Gao Mo nodded in agreement, and then asked with some worry: "It's good for me to be more cautious, but the concerns of Mr. Huang and Mr. Chen are not unreasonable. Zhang Jing and Liu Shou have joined forces internally and externally, and the inner court may have to do something about it." There are so many things going on, but the master is still on duty, so I’m worried that this thousand-day guard against thieves... there will always be something wrong.”
This worry is actually shared by Gao Pragmatism. And he was thinking a little deeper now.
Originally, one of his own advantages was the "cooperation between inside and outside". This was an area where the Xinxue school had always been inferior to the Reality school in the past ten years. But this time, I don't know if it was a coincidence or intentional on the part of the Xin School, but they discovered that Liu Shou had such a person who could connect the inside and outside to act as a puppet on the stage.
If Gao Pragmatic was able to directly contact Huang Mengyu and Chen Ju in person, it was because the fact that he accompanied the prince to study at that time was well known to the world. Even outsiders would find it difficult to say that Gao Pragmatic was willing to degenerate and was willing to associate with eunuchs, so he was The impact of its reputation is not great.
So now the Xin School has also found a good way not to affect the reputation of several important ministers, that is, to use Liu Shouyou's line to get the latest news from the inner court sent by Zhang Jing.
In other words, the huge political advantage of "insight into the holy will" may no longer be possessed by Gao Pragmatic alone.
Gao pragmatic narrowed his eyes slightly and said slowly: "I originally thought that to cure the disease and cure the root cause, it would be better to start with the Xu family directly, but now it seems that the root cause is a bit difficult to do for the time being, so I may have to settle for the second best and come first. The root cause has been cured.”
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