There were very few holidays in the Ming Dynasty, so on the day after the Double Ninth Festival, those who were on duty and on duty returned to normal working conditions. Of course, some people are still immersed in the joy of Double Ninth Festival.
For example, Pan Sheng was quite happy when he came to the cabinet on duty today. On the Double Ninth Festival, of course he, an old man with a respected status, received the best treatment from his family. His filial sons and great grandchildren all welcomed him and made him smile. His good mood has not dissipated to this day.
On the entire Double Ninth Festival, he received good news.
First, I received a letter from Pan Yi from his hometown in Zhejiang, telling him that several private port berths in Zhejiang had been obtained, and 16 ships sent to their family from Suzhou and Songjiang had also arrived, and the business in Zhejiang had been completed. It can be started.
The remaining eleven sea-going ships stayed in Songjiang Prefecture because the Xu family's private port share contract transferred from Liu Shouyou's home to the Pan family had been obtained. Now these ships can dock at the Xu family's private port, and In the future, we will also use this as an anchorage to start doing business at sea.
If there is any shortcoming in this message, it is probably that there are not enough ships. However, Pan Yi is optimistic about this. According to him, Zhejiang maritime merchants plan to unite big businessmen with shipyards in their names to set up a Zhejiang merchant shipyard to compete with Jinghua Shipyard. When the time comes, they will be happy to provide the Pan family with A great boat purchase price.
Regarding this news, Pan Sheng was cautious. The reason is that in the shopping mall, he is a little afraid of Gao Pragmatic.
Who is Gao Pragmatic? He was the one who founded Jinghua Group at the age of eight and built the Jinghua Group, the Ming Dynasty’s commercial overlord, in just over ten years!
Compete with him in business? This statement simply makes people tremble and want to leave first!
When Pan Sheng read the letter and saw this, his long eyebrows trembled, with an angry look on his face, and he cursed out loud: "Pan Yi, you idiot, I have emphasized this to him repeatedly when I wrote back last time. Now, don’t anger Gao Qiuzhen!”
The whole family was startled by Pan Sheng, and just as they were about to step forward to ask why, Pan Sheng continued to curse: "If I hadn't been forced to do so, how could I have gone to the tiger's mouth to pull out a tooth and make the party concerned? I was afraid that a hundred years later, You juniors were killed by the Zhejiang Merchants Alliance!"
A group of people immediately came forward to ask why. Pan Sheng threw the letter in his hand angrily and said, "Take a look for yourself...Zheshang Shipyard? Why do they compare with Jinghua in building sea-going ships? Even if I don't understand shipbuilding, I still want to ask them a question. : Who controls the best, most abundant and cheapest shipbuilding timber in the Ming Dynasty now?"
In fact, the Pan family doesn't know much about the shipbuilding industry, but this time because the Zhejiang Merchants Alliance forced their old man to take sides in the school of thought, they also learned about various maritime trades, and they had just learned about the shipbuilding industry. Get to know a little bit.
Seriously speaking, the Ming Dynasty is not very short of wood. In fact, no one has a monopoly on ordinary shipbuilding wood, not even Jinghua.
But what Pan Sheng asked just now is not unreasonable. The reason is that although ordinary wood is available to everyone, shipbuilding is not just one kind of wood used for the whole ship. It requires many kinds of wood to be used in different parts. The quality of the wood used in some parts is very different. The "best" wood such as teak, beech, oak, etc. is really controlled by Jinghua.
This kind of control is not a single control of output, but a control of the entire industry chain including transportation, storage (to be dried in the shade), etc. This has resulted in other shipyards having greatly reduced options for some key wood materials - you can either buy Jinghua has high quality, high quantity, and stable and reasonable prices; or you can go to those small timber merchants, but they usually have a single source of goods, insufficient supply capacity, and the quality is sometimes good or bad, and the prices fluctuate greatly with market fluctuations.
Although the Zhejiang Merchant Alliance is quite powerful, the internal distribution of interests in an "alliance" is definitely a hundred times more troublesome than Jinghua. Even if they can create a united Zhejiang Merchant Shipyard, they cannot compete with Jinghua for the entire industrial chain. .
Since this cannot be done, it is impossible to have an advantage in manufacturing costs.
This is just the manufacturing part. If it comes to going to sea, it will be more complicated. Because Jinghua is the overlord of the Ming Dynasty's maritime trade routes. If you sail on the open sea, if you don't have Jinghua's flag or simply follow Jinghua's fleet, you may be robbed by pirates one day.
Of course, the Zhejiang Merchant Alliance is very powerful and can equip itself with its own force, which is no problem. The problem is that you can't get around Jinghua even if you equip yourself with force - swords, guns, swords and halberds are fine, but where else can you get guns?
Now even a three-year-old child knows that the best guns in the Ming Dynasty came from the Jinghua Gun Factory and the Jinghua Artillery Factory. Although the price is a bit expensive, the quality of the products of the two factories in Jinghua is definitely second to none in the world. Overall, buying Jinghua's guns is definitely more cost-effective than buying guns from other companies.
While you are building a shipyard and an armed merchant fleet to compete with Jinghua, you are also looking to Jinghua to buy guns? The only owner of Jinghua is Gao Pragmatic. He would only sell it to you if he is crazy!
After Pan Sheng got angry, everyone gradually recovered from the previous ecstasy.
Yes, although I made a fortune this time as a blessing in disguise, I took the money as I took it, but my family still couldn't sink too deep. The Pan family is not originally a maritime business family, so they can just use this money to make a fortune. It would be unwise to be tied to the same rope as the Zheshang Group and become a grasshopper.
After all, their opponent is Jinghua, who is highly pragmatic.
So Pan Sheng dictated, and his son wrote, and he quickly wrote a reply and sent it to his hometown in Zhejiang, strictly ordering Pan Yi not to participate in any affairs of the Zhejiang Shipyard, and to keep a low profile in his usual behavior, especially not to have any form of quarrel with Jinghua Ningbo Private Port. conflict.
Next, Pan Sheng's mood gradually improved - as long as he didn't anger Jinghua and Gao Pragmatic, the Pan family would have made hundreds of thousands of taels in vain this time! Can you be in a bad mood?
As for whether Gao Pragmatic would be angered at the court level, Pan Sheng felt that it would not happen, because he had been more cautious and tactful this time, and with Gao Pragmatic's ability, he would definitely be able to find out that he had no choice but to do so. .
In this case, even if Gao Pragmatic is dissatisfied, he probably won't point the finger directly at himself - my old man only has two or three years to work, so there is no need for you to target me.
As for Wang Xijue's departure from Ding You at the beginning of next year... Haha, I will already have retired from office by then. Gao Pragmatic, a guy who values his reputation, can't kill me, a veteran official who has retired from office, right?
It took you more than ten years of hard work to accumulate a good reputation, just because I, an old man who has handed over power and resigned, suddenly don't want it?
I have to say that Pan Sheng's wishful thinking was really good. If there was no high-ranking leader in the Double Ninth Festival yesterday, Xu Guo really didn't plan to do anything to Pan Sheng, and then Pan Ge Lao's wishes were completely fulfilled.
But what Pan Sheng didn't expect was that as soon as he arrived at the cabinet today, the "Guanzheng Jinshi" who was on his duty as a "trainee" hurriedly came to report that Mr. Pan Ge had been impeached!
Pan Sheng's smile froze on his face, he was stunned for a moment, and he quickly asked: "Who impeached me? For what reason?"
"Zhejiang Taoist Supervisory Censor Xiao Liangyu and Li Ke gave an edict to Wang Ting about the matter. They both discussed impeaching you at the same time today. As for what happened..." The Guanzheng Jinshi hesitated.
Pan Sheng knew at a glance that there was nothing good to say - of course, there was nothing good to say about impeachment. So he took a deep breath, nodded, and said in a deep voice: "I know, do you have a copy of the bullet? Can you send it to me?"
"Yes, it has been placed on Mr. Ge's case."
"Okay, go ahead and do your work, I can just go and see by myself."
When Pan Sheng arrived at his check-in room, he sat down and picked up two copies of bullets and took a look at them. He knew something was wrong.
"I, Xiao Liangyu, the censor of Zhejiang Province, impeached the great scholar Pan Sheng: Today there is a great scholar Pan Sheng, who has been tarnished by Tsinghua University for a long time and has no respect for integrity. He can donate everything with integrity and shame, but he has sweet words and charming words. He was originally the minister of the Ministry of Rites. , the filth was obvious, and the late emperor often denounced it. When it reappeared, the public opinion was unanimous, and the emperor denounced it again. Peter went too far by pretending to be a palace protector and wandering in the forest as a despicable man. Now I would like to take a look at it and discuss it. The position will be given to him in one day. I am afraid that those who are greedy for glory and competition will be able to spy on the emperor's actions. Please stop sending people and select senior ones to lead a peaceful and bright rule..."
Pan Sheng picked up Wang Tingyu's bullet and looked at it again. What he said was similar. He didn't talk about other things. He just criticized Wang Tingyu's "morality" fiercely. At most, he mentioned a few old things that Mu Zong had criticized him before.
To be honest, the reason why the late emperor criticized him has nothing to do with the current situation. At that time, when Xu Jie was in power, he only criticized Gao Gong a few words according to Xu Jie's wishes, and his words were not serious and had some ambiguous meaning. As for Emperor Longqing's so-called "denial", he only thought that Gao Gong was trying to defend himself, and by the way, he warned Pan Sheng not to listen to the wind. If he insists on saying that it is "denial", it is actually a bit exaggerated.
However, since these are two bullets, it is normal to overstate what Long Qing said at that time. Pan Sheng has been an official for decades and has enough experience to not pay too much attention to such words.
To be honest, he didn't really care what these two bullets impeached him about.
He cares about these two people.
Xiao Liangyu and Wang Tingyu are certainly not important figures in Pan Sheng's eyes. In theory, Pan Sheng is still the chief examiner of their subject (not the examiner. The examiner's main task is to mark papers, and Pan Sheng is the chief examiner of that subject. In charge of invigilation), it is not an exaggeration to say that he is half of their teacher. The status disparity between the two sides is extremely great.
What Pan Sheng cares about is the person behind the two of them.
Xiao Liangyu's elder brother is Xiao Liangyou, and Wang Tingyu's elder brother is Wang Tingzhuan. The official backgrounds of Xiao Liangyou and Wang Tingzhuan, the two Hanlin Academy editors, are well known to all officials in the capital - they were among the top three in the same year. It is also the first thing to be pragmatic.
The action taken by Xiao Liangyu and Wang Tingyu is basically equivalent to the action taken by Xiao Liangyou and Wang Tingzhan, and the action taken by them is basically equivalent to the action taken by Gao pragmatically.
Gao Pragmatic actually took action!
It was September, the third autumn, but the weather had not yet turned cold. At this moment, Pan Sheng suddenly felt a chill behind him, as if there was a cold air rising from his feet, passing through his back and reaching the top of his head.
The dignified Mr. Pan Ge was so shocked by the word "high pragmatism" that popped up in his heart that he shivered on the spot, and his mind went blank for a moment.
After a while, Pan Sheng suddenly slumped down and slumped down on the Taishi chair. He closed his eyes and sat motionless like a dead person.
He couldn't understand why Gao Pragmatic suddenly took action? This incident shouldn't have a big impact on him.
He even had some conspiracy theories that even if Wang Xijue was successfully recalled and really replaced his position in the cabinet, this would not necessarily be a bad thing for Gao Pragmatic.
Why? Because once the situation in the cabinet becomes like that, Xu Guo's pressure will increase.
Xu Guo was under great pressure in the cabinet and had to rely more on the political resources left to him by the three chief ministers accepted by Gao Pragmatic.
Theoretically speaking, during the period when Gao Jingshi himself was not qualified to join the cabinet, the more Xu Guo relied on him, the more solid Gao Jingshi's position within the Shi School would be.
Isn’t this a good thing for high pragmatism?
Pan Sheng closed his eyes and thought hard: What's wrong? What went wrong? Could it be that he had a high opinion of pragmatism and he didn't understand the key to it?
But, this shouldn't be the case. Judging from Gao Pragmatic's previous performances, it is impossible for him not to see through the truth. Pan Sheng is certain of this.
So why did Gao Pragmatic take action on this?
After thinking like this for a long time, Pan Sheng suddenly opened his eyes and exclaimed in a low voice: "Oops! This kid Gao Pragmatic didn't take Xu Guo seriously at all. I'm afraid he didn't even take Shen Shixing seriously! This kid... From the beginning to the end, he regards himself as the leader of the Practical Party. All he cares about is continuing the reforms of Gao Suqing and Guo Dongye! This move of mine was miscalculated!"
Pan Ge Lao's face suddenly became extremely ugly. The so-called "face as pale as earth" was probably his true portrayal at this moment.
But now, it's too late to say anything.
He is very clear about Gao Pragmatic. Although he is usually willing to discuss many things, if he chooses not to discuss and directly takes action, there will be no chance of reconciliation.
Precisely because he is cautious, once he takes action, it must be a decision made after careful consideration. It must be because he believes that the contradiction is irreconcilable and there is no chance of change.
A lonely, bitter smile finally appeared on Mr. Pan's face, and then he sighed and murmured to himself: "No matter how hard it is, in his eyes, I, a dignified old man, am nothing more than a monkey..." …well."
After Pan Sheng sighed, he shook his head slightly, no longer frowning, but calmed down. He didn't ask anyone to come in. Instead, he spread out a blank memorandum, put it away, and then began to study ink.
After a while, Pan Sheng raised his head on the memorial and wrote the following words: "Your Majesty Pan Sheng is here to defend myself and to resign due to illness and beg for my bones to be sparse."
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Thanks to the book friend "Single Rider Zhao Bixin" for the reward and support, thank you!
Thanks to book friends "Zonglang" and "Zhou Yanyy" for their monthly support, thank you!
