After all, Li Yancai is still a high-ranking official in Huguang and Xinjiang. Although he is a high-ranking official, he is nothing in the capital. But why is Zhang Cheng so praised?
It is because this Li Yan is Wu Kuan's in-law.
The Zuo Shunmen Incident caused many people involved to lose their official status and fame, and even their family members were implicated.
But this Wu Kuan was exempted from the imperial court after his death.
Being exempted means that the emperor still has feelings for him. At this time, he wants to be promoted to Li Yancai's official position. The emperor has no reason to refuse. Wu Kuan died less than two months ago.
Moreover, the prince himself could not say anything against Wu Kuan.
After all, he just died, why are you like this? Doesn't it look like you are narrow-minded?
Moreover, it is reasonable for the right chief envoy to be promoted to chief envoy. Of course, the prince can also ask Li Yancai to take other posts, but so many ministers in the court are smart people.
If Wu Kuan is at odds with you, then you will not allow his in-laws to go to Zhejiang.
Doesn't it just mean that you have something to do in Zhejiang?
It was all these subtle relationships that made Zhang Cheng shout out the word "Miao".
Liu Daxia was not so excited. He came here thinking about the style of His Highness the Crown Prince.
So what is the style of the East Palace?
They like to occupy great righteousness and feel that they have sufficient plans, so they are somewhat confident.
Based on these two points, the prince should not refuse Li Yancai's appointment.
Emperor Hongzhi especially liked to see Dong Gong's attitude on such tangled matters. As long as Dong Gong didn't shake his head, the matter would basically be settled.
"Then so be it."
Liu Daxia considered it and decided accordingly.
The third day of September in the seventeenth year of Hongzhi.
Wang Hua boarded the ship at the Capital Pier and prepared to sail directly to Hangzhou. The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal was a channel for water transportation at this time, and passenger ships were also accessible.
When he arrived in Zhejiang, he learned that the imperial court had also sent Li Yancai, Hubei's chief envoy to the left, to serve as chief envoy to Zhejiang.
This person is well appointed. Even he has to admit that all the princes in the court are really smart people.
And as soon as he reaches the shore,
All the people from various yamen who came to follow up went back to report.
Even Mei Kejia was quite satisfied with this.
September in Hangzhou is autumn again, and this season adds a bit of a chilly atmosphere to the city of Hangzhou.
Wei Bin ran quickly to get to the door of Mei Mansion.
This made Mei Kejia smile inaudibly,
I still remember that he was eager to get Wei Bin's door at first, but now, everything has changed again.
Life is really like a play.
"Hey, you are really pretending. A memorial from Xu Ruoqin, the prefect of Huzhou, has arrived in the Forbidden City. Why are you still having tea here?!"
As soon as Wei Bin arrived at Mei Mansion, he saw that Mei Kejia was not in a hurry. The small rocking chair was rocking while drinking tea and listening to the famous prostitute from Hangzhou playing music for him. It was very comfortable.
He couldn't do it, his heart was so anxious that it was in his throat.
"Eunuch Wei? Why are you here?" This Mei Kejia is not a well-known good man. He has encountered countless difficulties and obstacles along the way. He has seen too many sinister people. If he can survive, he is fierce and cunning. It was inevitable, so I deliberately pretended not to see Wei Bin.
Now that he saw it, he acted surprised again. ….
Wei Bin may know, but there is nothing he can do if he knows.
"What happened, Eunuch Wei?"
Wei Bin was so anxious that he was sweating in the cold weather. "The imperial court has issued a decree and sent Wang Hua to patrol Zhejiang. You, Shopkeeper Mei, should know about this, right?"
"I know."
"Then you are still drinking tea here?! Then Wang Hua is from Zhan Shifu!"
Mei Kejia tilted his head and smiled, "I don't understand this. Your Eunuch Wei is a person of the prince, and the new governor of Zhejiang is also a person of the prince. They are all people of the prince. He is here to help you, and he dares to give If you can't succeed, why are you anxious?"
"Oh, I said you really don't understand, or do you
Pretending not to understand. Our family has been in Hangzhou for so many years. Why did His Highness not send people earlier, not later, but at this time? This must be the memorial that made His Highness feel that our family's errands were not done properly! "
The fact that the normally aloof guard eunuch could talk to this extent meant that he was indeed panicked.
But his panic did not win Mei Kejia's sympathy.
Everyone has their own interests to consider when doing things. Advance or retreat, based on your own interests.
Mekojia too.
So what are his interests?
The purpose is to continue the maritime trade, get the prince's money, and then give himself the opportunity to return to the capital and reunite with his family.
What use does Wei Bin have to him?
Useless.
The combination of government and business, the combination of government and business, Wei Bin is the official who combines with him.
In fact, in essence, it is not Wei Bin, but the prince.
Whoever the prince puts in Zhejiang, he will marry with officials and businessmen.
In a sense, Wei Bin now has lost value to him.
But we can't just push him out.
After all, Wei Bin knows many things about him, and he is also a close servant of the prince. As long as he does not die, do you know if he cries in front of the prince, will the prince spare him?
After all, these are the people who grew up with the prince.
So in fact, Mei Kejia has already thought it through.
If Wei Bin still has value at this time, then the greatest value is to shut up.
And he, Mei Kejia, does not have the power to shut up Wei Bin. The only one who has this power is the prince.
"...So Eunuch Wei thinks that His Highness believed the memorial written by Xu Ruoqin, the prefect of Huzhou?"
Ask this question,
Wei Bin himself shook his head,
Capital and Hangzhou are thousands of miles apart, how could he know?
"Boss Mei, what do you think?"
Mei Kejia: "..."
Pig teammates.
"Let's put it this way, Eunuch Wei." Mei Kejia was very calm and still had time to pour tea for Wei Bin. "Although I am a businessman, I have also read some books secretly, so I know that there is a saying that tells the enemy to follow. Kuan, I am not very good at reading, so the metaphor is not very appropriate, because there are no enemies of ours in the capital, but the meaning is the same, that is, we must start from the worst possibility. So let us assume, if His Highness believes it Woolen cloth?"
Mei Kejia raised his head slightly and took a sip of tea, while glancing at Wei Bin from the corner of his eyes.
Wei Bin held the tea in his hand and stared at the tea leaves swirling into the bottom of the cup in a daze.
"If...if His Highness believes it...then our family can only tie our own hands and go to apologize in front of His Highness!"...
"Don't rush to apologize. The key is whether you can survive after apologizing."
These words gave Wei Bin a glimmer of hope, "Boss Mei feels that even in the worst case scenario, our family can survive."
"Of course you can survive." Mei Kejia tried his best to comfort him, "His Royal Highness is your majesty's only heir and the future emperor of the Ming Dynasty. All the wealth in the world is in his hands, and everyone in the world is his son. Min, if you have more in your hands, wouldn't it be different to the emperor than if he has more in his hands?"
"Besides, the relationship between Eunuch Wei and His Highness is unusual. He has made a mistake, that is, he is greedy for money. No matter what, he is still loyal to His Highness. As long as he is loyal and sincerely admits his mistakes, why would Your Highness kill you? Kill you, Your Highness. Aren’t you missing a loyal slave?”
This discussion progressed step by step, but Wei Bin took it in, "Yes! As long as you are a slave, as long as you are loyal, even if you make a mistake, you will be punished. Your Highness will definitely not kill me. .”
Having said this, Mei Kejia began to move to the next rhythm.
He sighed, "Eunuch Wei, we are like you and me... Although we all belong to His Highness and we all work for His Highness, we are different from those civil servants. Civil servants can look at the heights of other mountains from one mountain to another. The emperor is a courtier, but we are like the water in a mountain stream. Compared with the literati, it is easy to rise, but it is also easy to retreat. Once it flows,
Once you enter the river, you can never return to the mountains. "
"In your opinion, how can we prevent it from flowing into the river?" Wei Bin asked immediately.
"I definitely don't have Eunuch Wei when I spend time with His Highness, so I'm going to say what I'm talking about, and I'm going to listen to what I'm saying. I think the answer to your father-in-law's question is just one sentence." At this point, Mei Kejia came closer and said, "Don't be bad. It’s your Highness’s business.”
"That's natural, of course our family doesn't dare to do this!"
Mei Kejia wanted to laugh when he said this.
I don’t dare yet. What happened today is partly because of you.
"Then, may I ask," Mei Kejia slapped her mouth, "does father-in-law know what the major events of His Highness's stay in Zhejiang are?"
"It's silver..." Wei Bin originally wanted to blurt it out, because he knew,
But he stopped talking midway through, why?
Because the answer is silver.
But he, Wei Bin, took the silver.
Mei Kejia lowered his eyebrows, as long as you know what that means.
"It's over! It's over! So, our family still has no way to survive!"
Wei Bin, who is in his fifties, had tears and runny noses streaming down his face as he spoke.
"Father, that's not what I meant." Mei Kejia raised her voice a little, "Even if you are guilty, you can atone for your sins!"
Wei Bin stopped crying and sniffed, "Okay, tell me, is there any chance to atone for your sins and find more money for His Highness?"
"No." Mei Kejia said his final intention, "At this time, my father-in-law will help His Highness shoulder the burden. This is more useful than silver."
"Take the blame?"
"Yes. People in Zhejiang know that I, Mei Kejia, am saving money for His Highness, but no one has evidence. Since there is no evidence, no one dares to talk nonsense about the prince. They just infer that my money was given to You, your money will naturally be given to His Highness. Everyone from Zhejiang to the capital wants to give His Highness the reputation of "competing with the people for profit." In this case, you will have to withdraw. If you withdraw, I will have to withdraw. As soon as I withdraw, all the merchants in Zhejiang and Fujian will celebrate.”….
"Only by helping His Highness can His Highness remember your kindness. It is useful to admit your mistakes at this time. Otherwise, just admit your mistakes... Will my father-in-law forgive people like this? This is the first, and the second is that my father-in-law still wants to protect me."
Wei Bin's eyes were full of big question marks, "Why is this?"
"Because I am." Mei Kejia bowed and cupped his hands, "It is also part of His Highness's big event. What Your Highness cares most about is the silver in Zhejiang. If I am here, the silver is there; if I am not here, the silver is not there. If the money is not there, it is broken. My father-in-law won’t be able to survive this important matter for His Highness.”
"We understand." Wei Bin thought about it again and again, but didn't think there was anything wrong with it. The logic was very smooth.
In fact, most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference, because whether it was about ruining His Highness or telling Mei Kejia out, the prince would not go around him.
So I basically believed it.
But after Wei Bin left Mei Mansion, Mei Kejia narrowed his eyes and shook his head disdainfully.
In the corner, Fu Zheng came out and asked, "So, Wei Bin still has a way to survive?"
"There is no way for him to survive. If he had a way to survive, Wang Hua, the governor of Zhejiang, would not come." Mei Kejia adjusted his sleeves and said slowly: "Our prince is a master who can settle accounts clearly. You are good to him." , he treats you better, if you treat him badly, he treats you even worse. In the years since Wei Bin was in the East Palace, it was not that he couldn’t figure out His Highness’s character, but that once he gained power, he couldn’t bear it and took His Highness’s money. Anyway, It was only a small amount. But...his reaching out actually saved me."
"Why is this?"
Mei Kejia explained: "Master, I am doing business in Zhejiang. If I make so much money, I must have many enemies. As the number of people increases, you will inquire, and they will inquire. No matter how secretive I am, after a few years, I will eventually become the enemy." Asking people to find out is to do something for the palace. So the unstable situation in Zhejiang like today will definitely happen. Since it will definitely happen and it can't be solved, we can only find someone to take the blame. Otherwise, wouldn't His Highness blame me? Didn’t work well?"
In short, he is not bad at all.
If something goes wrong with His Majesty’s business, then it must appear to be someone else’s fault. What does it have to do with me?
Therefore, when he bribed Wei Bin, he did it on purpose.
When someone makes a mistake and the situation goes bad, it is naturally the fault of the person who made the mistake.
This is the kind of brain you need to live.
=====.
royal hired cat
