Empress Dowager Li is a woman in the harem, and it is difficult to see foreign ministers except on extremely important occasions like Mu Zongbintian. I was hinted by Zhang Hong today, and I felt a little uneasy because I couldn't figure out Zhang Juzheng's real purpose.
Before, it was Feng Bao who explained Zhang Juzheng's ideas to her. She was deceived by Feng Bao and Zhang Juzheng because of Minister Wang's case. After she expelled Feng Bao in anger, she almost made random guesses for a while.
At this time, after hearing the emperor say that he wanted to talk to Zhang Juzheng, he seemed to be back to the past in a trance. Feng Bao always said: "Wait for me to ask Mr. Zhang, and then I will report back to the Queen Mother."
Zhu Yijun understood what Zhang Juzheng meant, but he didn't want to explain it to the Queen Mother in detail. During the previous meeting, Zhu Yijun and Zhang Juzheng had an in-depth discussion on state affairs.
With no preparation for public opinion outside, no financial support internally, and no talents except eunuchs, Zhu Yijun basically accepted Zhang Juzheng's reform ideas of slowing down the changes and promised to entrust him with the big deal. After returning to the palace, he and Queen Mother Li also unified their thoughts, and Queen Mother Li deeply believed in it.
With no power, money, or people, and only a semi-master of political affairs, Zhu Yijun could only find a way to reform the inner court at this time - at least, gather the money first.
In today's scene at the Duke's Mansion, Zhu Yijun wanted to show his kindness to his ministers and make preparations for taking over the military power in the capital. Zhang Juzheng should be well aware of this. Although Zhu Yijun expected Zhang Juzheng to react, he did not expect that he would hit him head-on with a slap in the face.
In fact, this completely reflects the difference in political thinking between the director and the prime minister. Political struggle is completely different from business war. Although there are tactics, most of them use force to suppress others. Business war is like a card fight. Both sides hold trump cards, but use all kinds of tricks to confuse people, hoping that the other side will take all their belongings.
Only in a life-and-death political struggle would one dare to use this method. For example, in the Spring and Autumn Period, Duke Zhuang of Zheng and Duan were in a life-and-death struggle, so he played tricks, but was ridiculed by Confucius for two thousand years.
Otherwise, most political fights are about showing strength first, hoping that the other party will understand what one wants as soon as possible, so as not to lose both sides. In political fights, trump cards are always hidden. Before the opponent is confused, one's own pig teammates run away first, and the power rises and falls in just a blink of an eye.
Of course, nothing is absolute, and you have to choose the right time to reveal your trump card. Sometimes those in power want to look into people's hearts and tell the difference between closeness and distance, and sometimes they hide it. In political battles between evenly matched opponents, they often cast stones first to ask for directions, and they don't care whether the pebbles live or die. There are many changes during this period, but the same principle remains true: when it comes to major matters, if you want both the opponent and your teammates to not misunderstand, it is better to reveal your trump card early.
Today, Zhang Juzheng showed his cards at the Duke's Mansion: Anything that violates the ancestral system will be dealt with by me, Zhang! Emperor, I can only agree - everyone's eyes are bright, who is the "number one order" of the imperial court!
Zhu Yijun faced Zhang Juzheng at this time. Except for the righteousness that accounted for half of the pro-government, his other strength was not at the same level. If he expelled Zhang Juzheng like he expelled Feng Bao, he estimated that Empress Dowager Li would dethrone him first.
Therefore, what should we do if we summon Zhang Juzheng in the afternoon? How to talk? Zhu Yijun kept thinking, analyzing, and inferring in his heart. Until he sat down in Wuying Hall, he was still speculating on the possibilities of the answer Zhang Juzheng gave him.
After Zhang Juzheng came to the audience, he lay down normally, was given a seat, and placed tea. Zhu Yijun had been tired all afternoon. At this moment, his thoughts suddenly started to fly, and he actually had the feeling of "taking tea and talking about numbers" in a Hong Kong movie.
Zhu Yijun first asked: "Old sir, what do you mean by your statement at the Duke's house today?"
Zhang Juzheng had already expected that Zhu Yijun would ask this question, so he replied: "I dare not deceive the emperor. Zhu Shitai bribed the minister with one hundred thousand taels of silver. He did not intend to inherit the king's title. As long as he was famous and wanted to have face at the funeral, why not give it to him?" "
In fact, Duke Yuan Shikong Cheng was seriously ill, and his family did bribe Feng Bao with a large amount of money to pursue the title of king. Zhang Juzheng resisted all opinions and really granted the title. He also wrote an article to present the reasons to the ministers, but Zhu Yijun did not I no longer know.
At this moment, he opened his mouth wide, never expecting such an answer. I can't help but want to shout: "Who can guess this? What do you want?!"
When Zhang Juzheng saw that the emperor was silent, he still lowered his head and said: "It happens that I want to control the river, so these one hundred thousand taels are enough to make preparations."
After hearing this, Zhu Yijun interjected: "How can a famous national weapon be traded? How can the imperial court use bribes to control the river?"
After hearing this, Zhang Juzheng still had no expression on his face and continued calmly: "I will answer the emperor's second question first. The imperial court does not have the money to manage the river now, but the river management cannot wait, so I can only It’s okay to think of other ways and take some notoriety.”
He continued: "Your Majesty's first question - I think that if every honorable person wants to have a face during the funeral, the court can do this business. After all, they only take money from the honorable family, and the title is given to the deceased, and the court and the people have nothing to do with it." No harm done."
Zhu Yijun smiled bitterly when he heard this and said: "Old sir, don't be ridiculous, I understand what you mean, but do you want to stop the opening of the Imperial Store?"
Zhang Juzheng then raised his head and said: "There is no wiser person than the Emperor. Even if the imperial store opens and only sells luxury goods and only earns the money of a wealthy official, there will still be five major disadvantages. I will speak for the Emperor."
"One is to change customs and promote luxury among the people. Luxurious things are not enough for warmth and food. There is no restraint in one's desires, and the public is unbridled. When extravagant desires flourish, the people suffer."
"Secondly, there are many families of nobles and officials that are glamorous on the surface but cannot make ends meet. Like Zhu Shitai, the Duke's mansion is only glamorous on the surface, but how many people still want to show off their appearance? They spend a lot of luxury things. Where does the money come from? It can only increase exploitation and harm the people."
"The three imperial stores are set up to compete with the people for profit. If one store uses soap, the common people who use soap will sell less. This disadvantage has been reported to the emperor when I summoned him."
"The four principles are good, but they will be worse below. When the emperor does business, all the kings and nobles in the world will be more bold and unbridled. Can he restrain the officials like the emperor and not harm the business people? Or he may suffer short-term gains. Over time, the world will be affected. Is this what the emperor likes to see if all business is accumulated in the hands of powerful people?"
"Fifth, it is unavoidable that the rich and poor are hungry for wine and meat. The resentment between the rich and the poor is getting deeper and deeper. The slightest provocation will lead to turmoil!"
After Zhang Juzheng raised the five disadvantages, he lowered his head and waited for the emperor's answer.
Zhu Yijun pondered for a moment, Zhang Juzheng was about to close the imperial store, which would be equivalent to cutting off Zhu Yijun's financial resources. It was impossible to do so. But at this moment, if he is not convinced, Zhu Yijun predicts that the next step will be Kedao's stormy memorial baptism, which will shake the Empress Dowager Li, and the big thing will be over!
After thinking about the words in his mind, Zhu Yijun said: "The old gentleman exaggerated. I told you one by one, and I also said five."
"For one thing, the imperial store does not sell all luxury goods. Most of the items it sells are daily necessities for the common people, but they are more exquisite and more expensive. These things are also used by wealthy families. , I disagree with the first point the old gentleman said."
"Secondly, the old gentleman said that nobles and corrupt officials would intensify their exploitation in order to buy things from the imperial shop. I just want to ask, if they didn't have these, would they be a little less?"
"The third is about competing for interests with the people, which we will talk about later. The fourth is about the business affairs of the kings and nobles. I ask sir, which of the wealthy merchants in the Ming Dynasty does not have the support of the Zhongming Dingshi Family?"
"Finally, I have my own way to solve the ridicule of the rich family's feasting and feasting. I want to build schools, hospitals, and do charity!"
