"Party fight?"
Lu Fubao was thoughtful.
Fan Li nodded.
"In the Ming Dynasty, Taizu first abolished the prime minister, and then Emperor Cheng established a cabinet. Once he abolished and established the prime minister, the independent prime ministers of the Ming Dynasty were changed to group prime ministers."
"The power of the prime minister is decentralized, and everyone in the cabinet is fighting for it."
"Especially between the first assistant and the second assistant. The first assistant is afraid that the second assistant will compete for his position, and the second assistant always wants to give up his position in his dreams. The two are naturally enemies."
“Such a struggle for power is a natural fertile ground for party strife.”
"The longer the first assistant and the second assistant are in office, the more powerful both sides become, and the more intense the party struggle becomes."
Lu Fubao was frightened when he heard this.
She had heard that both Yan Song and Xu Jie were evergreen trees in the Ming Dynasty, and they had reigned for a very long time.
From this point of view, wasn’t the party struggle during the Jiajing period extremely fierce?
Fan Li was also quite interested in talking about the court situation.
He continued:
"People often use simple concepts such as good and evil, loyalty and evil, and black and white to distinguish everything."
"In the officialdom, honest officials are the clean stream, while corrupt officials and traitorous officials are the turbid stream."
"Therefore, the party struggle in the Ming Dynasty was also called the Qingzhuo dispute."
Lu Fubao asked doubtfully: "Is there anything wrong with this?"
Fan Li laughed.
"Your great ancestor, the first Marquis Wenxin, do you think he is loyal or traitorous?"
Lu Fubao was speechless.
The loyalty and treachery of her ancestors is really not something that future generations like her can evaluate.
In particular, the first Marquis Wenxin was indeed a figure with mixed reputations. Later historians wrote thousands of words about it, but it is difficult to make a fair and objective evaluation of the first Marquis Wenxin.
"Then what do you think is better, clear flow or turbid flow?" Lu Fubao was a little unconvinced and glared at Fan Li angrily.
"Hey, madam, calm down."
It was rare for Fan Li to call Lu Fubao like this, which immediately made her smile.
"Actually, since ancient times, the court has been filled with clear and turbid water. How can there be absolute clarity or absolute turbidity?"
"A superior person should distinguish between pure and turbid, and then make good use of it."
Lu Fubao said angrily: "Sophistry, how can we make good use of the turbid water? Are you willing to drink the turbid water?"
Fan Li smiled and shook his head.
It’s no wonder that Lu Fubao prefers formations in practice. She really doesn’t have much inheritance from the Lu family.
"Let me ask you, can clear water irrigate farmland?" Fan Li asked.
"Of course." Lu Fubao replied.
"Can that turbid water irrigate farmland?" Fan Li asked again.
"this……"
Lu Fubao was stuck.
If she realized something, the little Diao Chan in her arms woke up crying "Wow".
"oops!"
"Why did she pee?"
The boy's urine soaked through several layers of cloth, making Lu Fubao's clothes wet.
Fan Li laughed: "If you use this urine to irrigate the fields, the harvest will be better than that irrigated with clean water. This is called organic fertilizer."
"I'm going to change clothes!"
Lu Fubao had no time to listen to his nonsense. He hugged the crying little Diao Chan and fled into the back room in a panic.
After she left, Fan Li also stopped smiling.
"It is impossible for Emperor Jiajing to not understand the simple truth of clear water and turbid water."
…
…………
"It is not used because the water is clear, nor is it used because the water is turbid."
"The water in the Yangtze River is clear, and the water in the Yellow River is turbid. The Yangtze River is flowing, and the Yellow River is also flowing."
“The water of the Yangtze River irrigates the fields in several provinces on both sides of the river, and the water of the Yellow River also irrigates the fields on both sides of the provinces.”
"You don't understand such a simple truth?"
On the throne, Emperor Jiajing was wearing a Taoist robe, with a long beard and beating his chest, looking like an immortal with an air of immortality and Taoism.
Standing under the imperial steps were two ministers, both with white beards and hair.
One is Xu Jie, the second assistant, and the other is Zhang Juzheng who worked hard outside Yunmeng Mountain.
"But..." Xu Jie still wanted to argue.
"snort?"
Emperor Jiajing's eyes turned cold and his tone was serious.
"Mr. Xu Ge, my words are of no use anymore? Are you ready to support your master to ascend to the throne? Do you need me to remind you? Your master is seriously injured and comatose. It's hard to say whether he can wake up!"
"Your Majesty! How dare I be disloyal and unfilial?"
Xu Jie made a 'pop' sound and fell to his knees heavily on the ground.
Zhang Juzheng had no choice but to kneel down.
Xu Jie kowtowed and said: "I have only one master, and that is you, Your Majesty. There are hundreds of millions of creatures in the world who have only one master, and that is you, Your Majesty!"
"How dare you."
Emperor Jiajing sneered.
"How dare I belittle myself?"
"In addition to the Ming Dynasty, there are also Wei, Han, Wu and Chu in this world, and by the way, there is also Daci."
"There are hundreds of millions of creatures in the world who have more than one master."
"Even in the Ming Dynasty, there may not be only one master."
"Mr. Xu Ge, when you went to the Prince's Mansion last night and cried bitterly to the unconscious man, weren't you showing your loyalty?"
Xu Jie turned pale with shock!
He looked at Emperor Jiajing in disbelief, obviously not expecting that the emperor would actually have an informant in his prince's house!
Xu Jie surrendered again, trembling all over.
"minister……"
"Wei Chen..."
"The sinner..."
Xu Jie's voice trembled and he seemed to be confused.
In fact, he knew he was wrong, but he didn't panic to such an extent.
It's just a matter of making amends. If you want to be forgiven by Emperor Jiajing, you must act as weak, ownerless, and pitiful as possible in front of this arrogant emperor.
Only then could he arouse a little sympathy and compassion for the old minister.
Xu Jie's response finally worked.
After Emperor Jiajing vented his anger, his anger calmed down a bit.
Looking at Xu Jie's pitiful appearance, he finally let out a long sigh.
"Cunzhai."
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty is here!"
Just now I called him Mr. Xu Ge, and now I call him Cunzhai.
Emperor Jiajing only addressed his close and favorite ministers by their first names, such as Yan Song.
Xu Jie rarely gets this kind of treatment every year.
"I kept Hu Zongxian, not without questioning his guilt."
"It's just that people can't escape in the prison. I'm not in a hurry, so why are you in a hurry?"
In a few simple words, Emperor Jiajing did not say clearly whether Hu Zongxian's crime should be cured or not, but he kept a reasonable discretion.
There is more than enough room for advancement and retreat.
Xu Jie knew that it was impossible to test Hu Zongxian's death sentence today.
"I understand."
When Emperor Jiajing saw that Cifu had given in, he was too embarrassed to let him come in vain.
Zhang Juzheng is now also a cabinet minister and a student of Xu Jie.
Emperor Jiajing asked Zhang Juzheng, "What's new in the capital these days?"
"It's my turn to speak."
Zhang Juzheng complained in his heart, and ostensibly kowtowed to Emperor Jiajing first.
"Your Majesty, there are two things happening in the capital recently, which are relatively new."
"First, Fan Yingcai, the representative of Fan's Trading Company in the Ming Dynasty, is begging for retirement in old age. He has arranged for his nephew to take over and continue to take care of all commercial affairs of Fan's Trading Company in our country."
"Oh?" Emperor Jiajing raised his eyebrows. "Have you checked?"
"I have ordered someone to investigate. Fan Yingcai has no children. He does have a nephew named Fan Zhe. He is twenty-two years old and has a wife and a daughter."
"Fan Zhe has brought his wife and daughter to Fan Mansion in Beiting Lane."
Emperor Jiajing nodded with satisfaction.
Ming Dynasty and Chu Dynasty were enemy countries, and official business was not easy to do.
But the goods of Fan's Trading Company are very fragrant, and the Ming Dynasty Commercial Tax is even more fragrant!
The new head of Fan's Trading Company brought his family to Daming. This was a safe message.
"Another new thing."
"Xue Susu, a famous Qinhuai poet, defeated Chen Deyan, the new champion scholar, in this year's Lanting Poetry Festival. His fame spread far and wide, and the world called him 'Master Xue'."
"I suspect that Xue Susu is from the Pure Land."
