Zhu Zaigui looked at Zhu Zaizhen in surprise, "How is it difficult? Who are these so-called local celebrities and gentlemen?"
Zhu Zaigui took a sip of tea and waited for Zhu Zaizhen's reply.
Zhu Zaizhen replied: "It's those people that I have offended because of my third brother's new policies over the years."
Zhu Zaigui put down the teacup in his hand and hummed in confusion?
Zhu Zaigui believed that he had been very cautious in implementing the new policy, and he also tried his best to take care of the original vested interests so that they could gain new opportunities under the new policy.
Zhu Zaigui even believed that these people who had benefited from the new policy should be its die-hard supporters. Why did Zhu Zaigui feel something was wrong after hearing Zhu Zaizhen's words?
Zhu Zaigui said: "Tell me more about it. What exactly happened?"
Zhu Zaizhen said: "Third brother's new policies are certainly good for the Ming Dynasty and the people, but no matter how good a new policy is, there will be areas that it cannot take care of. For example, when Third brother established the Beijing Special District earlier, he had already offended some of the gentry and wise men around the capital who were stubborn and conservative and refused to accept the reality of the new district."
"Although they have been forced to swallow their anger and not vent their anger over the years, with the emergence of the Ming Federal Reserve and the series of northern reconstruction policies that Third Brother implemented after the Huazhou earthquake, they have offended a larger group of northern gentry who are unwilling to accept new policies and new things."
"They are now secretly united and have just thrown out this insignificant stone, Li Ran, to test the waters on the auspicious day of the emperor's move to the new palace, to see how the world will react."
"Fortunately, Third Brother was cautious. After arresting Li Ran, he never asked about it again, nor did he pursue Li Ran's accomplices in a big way."
"Otherwise, if this series of reactions is aroused, there will definitely be a lot of uncontrollable and dangerous public opinion. This will affect the implementation of the new policies of the third brother."
After listening to Zhu Zaizhen's words, Zhu Zaigui couldn't help but laugh. It seems that sometimes when you do some things, you really have some luck that turns out to be the right thing.
Zhu Zaigui smiled and said, "If that's the case, then let's just keep doing business as usual and not worry about these undercurrents that haven't come to the surface yet. The Jinyiwei should do more local intelligence gathering, especially those powerful families that have been entrenched in the local area for more than a hundred years. No matter if they have family members serving as officials in the court, they cannot be easily ignored."
"There are also those merchants whose business scale was not small but whose business has been declining year by year after the new policy. We should also pay special attention to them."
"These people are like ants on a thousand-mile river bank. Sometimes they seem insignificant, but if they are allowed to unite as one, they can coerce and influence the scholars and common people, and they will become an overwhelming force."
"So, we need to find ways to monitor these people, and at the same time, we need to take some divisive actions. For example, if some influential people and families are affected by the new policy and their family businesses are in decline, we will think of ways to secretly open a loophole for them so that they can continue to benefit from the new policy that they didn't get before."
"At the same time, we must also pay special attention to this type of people. If they truly change their minds and support the new policy, then we can gradually promote them to become opinion leaders in the local area."
"If they get benefits but still disobey the rules, thinking that they deserve them and still ignore the new policies as before, then we should take some measures, such as checking the source of their property and land to see if they were forced to buy or sell, and checking whether the younger generations of their clansmen are bullying men and women by relying on their family power."
"If they have such problems, they will be severely punished with harsh laws, and the land they have accumulated over decades or even generations will be distributed to the local poor people, so as to form a new public opinion and nail their family to the pillar of shame forever for oppressing the people and killing their own people."
"I want to see if a noble family with such a bad reputation and such detailed crimes is willing to lend a helping hand and save their comrades."
Zhu Zaigui's words also made Zhu Zaizhen feel a chill in his heart.
But this chill was not because Zhu Zaizhen was afraid, but because he felt chill for those who offended his third brother.
Zhu Zaizhen replied, "I've made a note of it. I'll make arrangements after I get back. I also want to see what kind of dirty things are hidden inside these sanctimonious people."
Zhu Zaigui laughed and said, "Just make sure you don't think Third Brother is plotting something weird."
Zhu Zaizhen smiled awkwardly after hearing what Zhu Zaigui said.
If it were many years ago, he might have thought that what Zhu Zaigui had just said was a conspiracy that could not pass the psychological threshold.
But after spending so many years in the Jinyiwei, Zhu Zaizhen saw a lot of other sides of the Ming Dynasty. Those people whom he once thought were moral gentlemen and righteous people who cared about the country and the people, actually did things behind the scenes that were outrageous.
For example, Xu Jie, the Lord Minister who is admired and respected by today's literary scholars, seems to be as respected and far-sighted as before, and he works tirelessly for the Ming Dynasty.
But his family became a bully in Songjiang Prefecture!
The family actually owned more than 200,000 acres of land, which was fifteen times the amount of land owned by the overthrown Yan family!
However, the Yan family will be infamous forever because of Yan Shifan.
Although Yan Song was not affected at the moment, Zhu Zaigui still arranged for him to live out his later years in a manor called Qincheng in Changping County of the capital.
This can be regarded as Zhu Zaigui's last bit of face towards Yan Song, the old minister who had served as the prime minister for more than ten years.
Otherwise, it would definitely not be easy for him to return to his hometown bearing the guilt of his son.
Now that he has been placed in Qincheng, Changping, it can be regarded as the last bit of decency the court shows towards its old ministers.
Otherwise, if Yan Song was killed just like Xia Yan was killed, it would not only fail to make the current political atmosphere of the Ming Dynasty better, but would even cause a greater crisis of party strife.
Therefore, when dealing with Yan Song, Zhu Zaigui was also very cautious and did not take any malicious revenge.
After all, the worst thing Yan Song had done in these years was to try to figure out the mind of Emperor Jiajing and do a lot of stupid things like selling official positions and amassing wealth for himself.
But to take a step back, even if Yan Song didn't do it, there would be many people willing to help Emperor Jiajing do it.
Moreover, because of Zhu Zaigui's sudden emergence, the evil deeds done by Yan Song were far less than those in history. His current situation is at most the image of an old father who was badly betrayed by his son.
Zhu Zaigui didn't need to call for the killing of such a poor person.
What's more, Zhu Zaigui's current subordinates have also incorporated many of the original "Yan Party" core members, such as Yan Song's godson Zhao Wenhua, and Yan Shifan's lackey Yan Maoqing.
Zhu Zaigui was also very adept at using these two tricks.
If Zhu Zaigui, based on his foolish political vision of black and white, completely defeated Yan Song, then wouldn't those officials who had connections with Yan Song and Yan Shifan be in panic?
If the scope of involvement of these officials is very wide and large, the final consequences will not be what Zhu Zaigui would like to see.
After all, Zhu Zaigui didn't like political fighting, and he wanted someone who could help him run the government affairs of the Ming Dynasty smoothly.
However, due to the political struggles, these people have lost interest in state affairs and are desperate to seek help from all sources for self-preservation. On the other hand, the officials who think they have won are also not doing their jobs and are waving the banner of justice every day to beat up those who have fallen.
How can the world be governed at this critical moment of transformation?
Wouldn't Zhu Zaigui be like Xianglin Sao, the old maid, calling the officials of all ranks in the court to his side again and again, begging them with earnest words to deal with state affairs pragmatically?
This is obviously impossible.
If this is the case, wouldn't Zhu Zaigui be even worse than Chongzhen?
You have to know that in order to save face, although Chongzhen was stubborn and self-willed towards his ministers, he also shed tears when asking for their understanding.
But is this useful?
As a person in a higher position, as an emperor, how could his emotions be so polarized?
Even if we want to create a polar contrast, we must do so to the extent that thunder, lightning, rain and dew are all grace from the emperor.
If you just rely on power to kill people and rely on your face to beg people, what can you accomplish?
Therefore, Zhu Zaigui was very disdainful of emperors like Chongzhen.
Zhu Zaizhen bowed to Zhu Zaigui again and said, "I dare not even think of such a thing."
Zhu Zaigui smiled again and said, "It's okay, even if you think so, it's okay. This is an upright thing. Those conspiracies and tricks are not all wrong. If some conspiracies and tricks are used well, they can also be a beautiful story that will be passed down through the ages."
"So, I, Third Brother, don't care about these things. I only care about whether the Ming Dynasty is peaceful and whether the prosperous Jiajing era that Your Majesty expects can be passed down through the ages."
"As for those petty and despicable things, I, Third Brother, disdain them. For example, this Li Ran, although when I saw his memorial, I hated him to the extreme, and I was furious."
"But for the sake of the overall situation and the hard-earned good momentum of the Ming Dynasty, I can still tolerate him. I will not rashly launch a large-scale prison and punish relatives and friends just because of a momentary emotion, causing people to panic."
"After all, this is not in my interest, nor in the interest of your majesty, nor in the interest of the people of Ming who hope to live a better life."
"So, just keep Li Ran's matter to yourself and handle it quietly in secret to eliminate the impact of this matter. This is the result that Third Brother wants to see!"
After listening to Zhu Zaigui's words, Zhu Zaizhen was also deeply moved.
He said to Zhu Zaigui: "Third brother has a broad mind. It is a blessing for the Ming Dynasty that my father can have the help of third brother! It is also a blessing for me to have the protection of third brother."
Zhu Zaigui smiled and said, "Okay, okay, there's no need to say these flattering words. When you go back after dinner, remember to discuss it with Princess Jing and ask her to agree to send Yi Zhong over to study with Yi Jun and the others."
"To be honest, Third Brother has extremely high expectations for you and Yi Zhong. Third Brother hopes that you can become the King of Darkness of Ming Dynasty and even the entire world. Third Brother also hopes that if Ming Dynasty can really break through the barriers and restrictions of the sea in the future, and then discover and occupy more strategically significant overseas territories, Yi Zhong can also become an unparalleled vassal who can rule the world and govern the vast vassal state.
"Even if these overseas territories split from the Ming mainland hundreds of years later, they will still be rotten meat in our brothers' pot!"
Zhu Zaizhen couldn't help but feel excited by Zhu Zaigui's words.
If that's the case.
Hundreds of years later, his Jingfan Kingdom might honor him as an ancestor who would last forever.
So, when he thought of this, Zhu Zaizhen was actually a little excited.
Zhu Zaigui looked at Zhu Zaizhen, whose lips could not help but curl up slightly with excitement, and smiled silently.
It's not that he is ambitious about Zhu Zaizhen, he is just afraid that Zhu Zaizhen is too useless!
You must know that the future world will be a time of great contention!
Although Zhu Zaigui was a very powerful person, if he could have some interests tied to him and be a strong man who always agreed with him, then the future trend might be able to undergo a gorgeous transformation earlier according to Zhu Zaigui's wishes.
You have to know that the current Ming Dynasty has too many shackles and restrictions.
Those messy ancestral systems and rules are stumbling blocks that hinder the further development and transformation of the Ming Dynasty.
If Zhu Zaigui was the only one who insisted on changing the status quo.
Then after him, another emperor came to power who was easily fooled, had no opinions of his own and no vision.
Zhu Zaigui worked hard for decades, but wasn't he just making things easier for others?
So, in order to be more stable in the future.
In order to prevent the Ming Dynasty from changing its policies every day and going back and forth.
Zhu Zaigui had to tie up more and more vested interest groups on his side.
Zhu Zaigui would not hesitate even if this interest group hindered the future development of the Ming Dynasty.
After all, the future has infinite possibilities.
If he doesn't dare to do anything at all, he doesn't dare to take the first step.
If he starts to worry about the problems that may arise in the future, then he will be bored to death.
So, in order not to do so.
For this first step, Zhu Zaigui must take it hard and big!
Otherwise, he might as well just lie down and be a happy emperor. Why bother working so hard?
------
Today is Women's Day.
Although it is not a major festival, it is still a relatively serious and nice festival.
I wish all the emperors and empresses are not alone on this night.
There is always someone you love around you who is willing to work hard and be with you.
I wish you all a happy holiday and take care of yourself!
------------------
It’s the same old story, asking for monthly tickets, asking for support, as long as it can be given, we really want everything!
So, don't hesitate, give me all your votes and support!!! (End of this chapter)
Zhu Zaigui took a sip of tea and waited for Zhu Zaizhen's reply.
Zhu Zaizhen replied: "It's those people that I have offended because of my third brother's new policies over the years."
Zhu Zaigui put down the teacup in his hand and hummed in confusion?
Zhu Zaigui believed that he had been very cautious in implementing the new policy, and he also tried his best to take care of the original vested interests so that they could gain new opportunities under the new policy.
Zhu Zaigui even believed that these people who had benefited from the new policy should be its die-hard supporters. Why did Zhu Zaigui feel something was wrong after hearing Zhu Zaizhen's words?
Zhu Zaigui said: "Tell me more about it. What exactly happened?"
Zhu Zaizhen said: "Third brother's new policies are certainly good for the Ming Dynasty and the people, but no matter how good a new policy is, there will be areas that it cannot take care of. For example, when Third brother established the Beijing Special District earlier, he had already offended some of the gentry and wise men around the capital who were stubborn and conservative and refused to accept the reality of the new district."
"Although they have been forced to swallow their anger and not vent their anger over the years, with the emergence of the Ming Federal Reserve and the series of northern reconstruction policies that Third Brother implemented after the Huazhou earthquake, they have offended a larger group of northern gentry who are unwilling to accept new policies and new things."
"They are now secretly united and have just thrown out this insignificant stone, Li Ran, to test the waters on the auspicious day of the emperor's move to the new palace, to see how the world will react."
"Fortunately, Third Brother was cautious. After arresting Li Ran, he never asked about it again, nor did he pursue Li Ran's accomplices in a big way."
"Otherwise, if this series of reactions is aroused, there will definitely be a lot of uncontrollable and dangerous public opinion. This will affect the implementation of the new policies of the third brother."
After listening to Zhu Zaizhen's words, Zhu Zaigui couldn't help but laugh. It seems that sometimes when you do some things, you really have some luck that turns out to be the right thing.
Zhu Zaigui smiled and said, "If that's the case, then let's just keep doing business as usual and not worry about these undercurrents that haven't come to the surface yet. The Jinyiwei should do more local intelligence gathering, especially those powerful families that have been entrenched in the local area for more than a hundred years. No matter if they have family members serving as officials in the court, they cannot be easily ignored."
"There are also those merchants whose business scale was not small but whose business has been declining year by year after the new policy. We should also pay special attention to them."
"These people are like ants on a thousand-mile river bank. Sometimes they seem insignificant, but if they are allowed to unite as one, they can coerce and influence the scholars and common people, and they will become an overwhelming force."
"So, we need to find ways to monitor these people, and at the same time, we need to take some divisive actions. For example, if some influential people and families are affected by the new policy and their family businesses are in decline, we will think of ways to secretly open a loophole for them so that they can continue to benefit from the new policy that they didn't get before."
"At the same time, we must also pay special attention to this type of people. If they truly change their minds and support the new policy, then we can gradually promote them to become opinion leaders in the local area."
"If they get benefits but still disobey the rules, thinking that they deserve them and still ignore the new policies as before, then we should take some measures, such as checking the source of their property and land to see if they were forced to buy or sell, and checking whether the younger generations of their clansmen are bullying men and women by relying on their family power."
"If they have such problems, they will be severely punished with harsh laws, and the land they have accumulated over decades or even generations will be distributed to the local poor people, so as to form a new public opinion and nail their family to the pillar of shame forever for oppressing the people and killing their own people."
"I want to see if a noble family with such a bad reputation and such detailed crimes is willing to lend a helping hand and save their comrades."
Zhu Zaigui's words also made Zhu Zaizhen feel a chill in his heart.
But this chill was not because Zhu Zaizhen was afraid, but because he felt chill for those who offended his third brother.
Zhu Zaizhen replied, "I've made a note of it. I'll make arrangements after I get back. I also want to see what kind of dirty things are hidden inside these sanctimonious people."
Zhu Zaigui laughed and said, "Just make sure you don't think Third Brother is plotting something weird."
Zhu Zaizhen smiled awkwardly after hearing what Zhu Zaigui said.
If it were many years ago, he might have thought that what Zhu Zaigui had just said was a conspiracy that could not pass the psychological threshold.
But after spending so many years in the Jinyiwei, Zhu Zaizhen saw a lot of other sides of the Ming Dynasty. Those people whom he once thought were moral gentlemen and righteous people who cared about the country and the people, actually did things behind the scenes that were outrageous.
For example, Xu Jie, the Lord Minister who is admired and respected by today's literary scholars, seems to be as respected and far-sighted as before, and he works tirelessly for the Ming Dynasty.
But his family became a bully in Songjiang Prefecture!
The family actually owned more than 200,000 acres of land, which was fifteen times the amount of land owned by the overthrown Yan family!
However, the Yan family will be infamous forever because of Yan Shifan.
Although Yan Song was not affected at the moment, Zhu Zaigui still arranged for him to live out his later years in a manor called Qincheng in Changping County of the capital.
This can be regarded as Zhu Zaigui's last bit of face towards Yan Song, the old minister who had served as the prime minister for more than ten years.
Otherwise, it would definitely not be easy for him to return to his hometown bearing the guilt of his son.
Now that he has been placed in Qincheng, Changping, it can be regarded as the last bit of decency the court shows towards its old ministers.
Otherwise, if Yan Song was killed just like Xia Yan was killed, it would not only fail to make the current political atmosphere of the Ming Dynasty better, but would even cause a greater crisis of party strife.
Therefore, when dealing with Yan Song, Zhu Zaigui was also very cautious and did not take any malicious revenge.
After all, the worst thing Yan Song had done in these years was to try to figure out the mind of Emperor Jiajing and do a lot of stupid things like selling official positions and amassing wealth for himself.
But to take a step back, even if Yan Song didn't do it, there would be many people willing to help Emperor Jiajing do it.
Moreover, because of Zhu Zaigui's sudden emergence, the evil deeds done by Yan Song were far less than those in history. His current situation is at most the image of an old father who was badly betrayed by his son.
Zhu Zaigui didn't need to call for the killing of such a poor person.
What's more, Zhu Zaigui's current subordinates have also incorporated many of the original "Yan Party" core members, such as Yan Song's godson Zhao Wenhua, and Yan Shifan's lackey Yan Maoqing.
Zhu Zaigui was also very adept at using these two tricks.
If Zhu Zaigui, based on his foolish political vision of black and white, completely defeated Yan Song, then wouldn't those officials who had connections with Yan Song and Yan Shifan be in panic?
If the scope of involvement of these officials is very wide and large, the final consequences will not be what Zhu Zaigui would like to see.
After all, Zhu Zaigui didn't like political fighting, and he wanted someone who could help him run the government affairs of the Ming Dynasty smoothly.
However, due to the political struggles, these people have lost interest in state affairs and are desperate to seek help from all sources for self-preservation. On the other hand, the officials who think they have won are also not doing their jobs and are waving the banner of justice every day to beat up those who have fallen.
How can the world be governed at this critical moment of transformation?
Wouldn't Zhu Zaigui be like Xianglin Sao, the old maid, calling the officials of all ranks in the court to his side again and again, begging them with earnest words to deal with state affairs pragmatically?
This is obviously impossible.
If this is the case, wouldn't Zhu Zaigui be even worse than Chongzhen?
You have to know that in order to save face, although Chongzhen was stubborn and self-willed towards his ministers, he also shed tears when asking for their understanding.
But is this useful?
As a person in a higher position, as an emperor, how could his emotions be so polarized?
Even if we want to create a polar contrast, we must do so to the extent that thunder, lightning, rain and dew are all grace from the emperor.
If you just rely on power to kill people and rely on your face to beg people, what can you accomplish?
Therefore, Zhu Zaigui was very disdainful of emperors like Chongzhen.
Zhu Zaizhen bowed to Zhu Zaigui again and said, "I dare not even think of such a thing."
Zhu Zaigui smiled again and said, "It's okay, even if you think so, it's okay. This is an upright thing. Those conspiracies and tricks are not all wrong. If some conspiracies and tricks are used well, they can also be a beautiful story that will be passed down through the ages."
"So, I, Third Brother, don't care about these things. I only care about whether the Ming Dynasty is peaceful and whether the prosperous Jiajing era that Your Majesty expects can be passed down through the ages."
"As for those petty and despicable things, I, Third Brother, disdain them. For example, this Li Ran, although when I saw his memorial, I hated him to the extreme, and I was furious."
"But for the sake of the overall situation and the hard-earned good momentum of the Ming Dynasty, I can still tolerate him. I will not rashly launch a large-scale prison and punish relatives and friends just because of a momentary emotion, causing people to panic."
"After all, this is not in my interest, nor in the interest of your majesty, nor in the interest of the people of Ming who hope to live a better life."
"So, just keep Li Ran's matter to yourself and handle it quietly in secret to eliminate the impact of this matter. This is the result that Third Brother wants to see!"
After listening to Zhu Zaigui's words, Zhu Zaizhen was also deeply moved.
He said to Zhu Zaigui: "Third brother has a broad mind. It is a blessing for the Ming Dynasty that my father can have the help of third brother! It is also a blessing for me to have the protection of third brother."
Zhu Zaigui smiled and said, "Okay, okay, there's no need to say these flattering words. When you go back after dinner, remember to discuss it with Princess Jing and ask her to agree to send Yi Zhong over to study with Yi Jun and the others."
"To be honest, Third Brother has extremely high expectations for you and Yi Zhong. Third Brother hopes that you can become the King of Darkness of Ming Dynasty and even the entire world. Third Brother also hopes that if Ming Dynasty can really break through the barriers and restrictions of the sea in the future, and then discover and occupy more strategically significant overseas territories, Yi Zhong can also become an unparalleled vassal who can rule the world and govern the vast vassal state.
"Even if these overseas territories split from the Ming mainland hundreds of years later, they will still be rotten meat in our brothers' pot!"
Zhu Zaizhen couldn't help but feel excited by Zhu Zaigui's words.
If that's the case.
Hundreds of years later, his Jingfan Kingdom might honor him as an ancestor who would last forever.
So, when he thought of this, Zhu Zaizhen was actually a little excited.
Zhu Zaigui looked at Zhu Zaizhen, whose lips could not help but curl up slightly with excitement, and smiled silently.
It's not that he is ambitious about Zhu Zaizhen, he is just afraid that Zhu Zaizhen is too useless!
You must know that the future world will be a time of great contention!
Although Zhu Zaigui was a very powerful person, if he could have some interests tied to him and be a strong man who always agreed with him, then the future trend might be able to undergo a gorgeous transformation earlier according to Zhu Zaigui's wishes.
You have to know that the current Ming Dynasty has too many shackles and restrictions.
Those messy ancestral systems and rules are stumbling blocks that hinder the further development and transformation of the Ming Dynasty.
If Zhu Zaigui was the only one who insisted on changing the status quo.
Then after him, another emperor came to power who was easily fooled, had no opinions of his own and no vision.
Zhu Zaigui worked hard for decades, but wasn't he just making things easier for others?
So, in order to be more stable in the future.
In order to prevent the Ming Dynasty from changing its policies every day and going back and forth.
Zhu Zaigui had to tie up more and more vested interest groups on his side.
Zhu Zaigui would not hesitate even if this interest group hindered the future development of the Ming Dynasty.
After all, the future has infinite possibilities.
If he doesn't dare to do anything at all, he doesn't dare to take the first step.
If he starts to worry about the problems that may arise in the future, then he will be bored to death.
So, in order not to do so.
For this first step, Zhu Zaigui must take it hard and big!
Otherwise, he might as well just lie down and be a happy emperor. Why bother working so hard?
------
Today is Women's Day.
Although it is not a major festival, it is still a relatively serious and nice festival.
I wish all the emperors and empresses are not alone on this night.
There is always someone you love around you who is willing to work hard and be with you.
I wish you all a happy holiday and take care of yourself!
------------------
It’s the same old story, asking for monthly tickets, asking for support, as long as it can be given, we really want everything!
So, don't hesitate, give me all your votes and support!!! (End of this chapter)
