Daming Yuanfu

After talking about the third bedroom, it’s time to talk about the fifth bedroom - it’s not that the fourth bedroom is missing, it’s because the uncle of this bedroom, Gao Cao, passed away too early. Not only did he leave no heirs, he was never even married, so there were no children or nephews to adopt him. This room.

Gao Pragmatic's fifth uncle was named Gao Cai, whose courtesy name was Deqing and whose name was Mei'an.When he was 25 years old, he passed the imperial examination, but he did not think he had the ability to pass the high school examination, so he gave up on a civil service career and took the initiative to fill a vacancy in the governor's mansion, and he has been working in the governor's mansion ever since.

The fifth uncle's official career was average. He only had experience in the governor's office and was awarded the title of government official.His official experience is not very good, but he resigned and returned to his hometown relatively early.However, after he returned to Xinzheng, he did a great thing that benefited his hometown.

Xinzheng is known as the Six Provinces Conduit, but the surrounding relay stations are far away, making it very inconvenient for locals in Xinzheng to travel.So Gao Cai came forward and brought a large group of officials with ties to the Gao family to go to the palace together, and finally persuaded the emperor to reopen Guodian Station.

This inn has existed for a long time, but later when the imperial court became poor, it was abolished.Now it has finally recovered because of the talented people taking the lead. Not only the locals in Xinzheng, but also the people in Linxian and Linfu are very grateful to him.

This shows how powerful the connections of the "House of Officials" are.He, a talented person, is not doing very well in the officialdom. If it all depends on his own face, how can there be so many officials working together to create momentum and not make any splash at all?However, although his talent was average, his title of "Xinzheng Gao Family" was completely sufficient.

Regarding his ancestors and fathers, his ancestor Gao Kui was a doctor in the Ministry of Industry, which was the starting point of the Gao family in Xinzheng. Although this starting point was not very high, he was already a serious official in the capital, which gave his descendants " The status of "civilian queen"...this is not the origin of ordinary people.

By the time of his father Gao Shangxian's generation, the Gao family had officially taken off.In the 12th year of Zhengde's reign, Gao Shangxian won the title of Henan Jieyuan. In the 14th year of Zhengde's reign, he ranked No. [-] in the second class of the Imperial Examination. He was elected to the Hanlin Academy as a Shujishi.After Shu Jishi left the academy, he was first appointed as the head of the Ministry of Works, and then changed to the head of the Ceremony Department of the Ministry of Etiquette and a member of the Fine Food Department, Wai Lang.

During the Jiajing period, he successively held the posts of Shandong Ancha Si Qianshi, Shaanxi Ancha Si Qianshi, Guanglu Temple Shaoqing and other officials, whether as a local official or a capital official.This is where the Gao family's wide network of connections stems from.

Of course, in addition to his ancestors and father Yu Yin, Gao Caineng called on so many people to restore a post that had been abolished. The more important thing is that Gao Gong was already King Yu's teacher at that time, and King Yu had a chance to become the emperor. Even if the officials were not Considering Gao Cai's and even his grandfather's and father's face, he had to at least give Gao Gong some face, and this naturally happened.

In the officialdom, everyone is most happy to do the icing on the cake, and even the more ambitious people are happy to do the things that help them when they need it - maybe one day the other party's fortune will turn around, and your cold stove is on the right track, isn't it?
What does it mean for officials to protect each other? Why do officials protect each other?Because reality requires it!Although civil servants in the Ming Dynasty usually had a hard time losing their lives, it was not surprising for them to be raped. However, it was common for them to be raped and then resurrected one day.Therefore, everyone must develop some methods according to this official environment. As long as there is no deep hatred, just support others if you can. Maybe it will be his or his descendants' turn to support you in a few years. Woolen cloth!
Having said that, Wufang's uncle himself did not have much achievements in the officialdom, and his son was a single-generation official - he was only a high-ranking official, and his official level was only at the level of Jinyiwei Zhenfusi.But Gao Wuben was an honest man, and he conscientiously helped Gao Wuben guard the Imperial Guard for many years. Later, Gao Wuben asked Gao Wuben to resign because of the emperor's hint, and Gao Wuben immediately complied.In this way, Gao Wuben felt that he owed a lot to his cousin, so he took great care of Gao Wuben's sons.

Here’s the key point: Gao Cai only had one son, Gao Wuben, but Gao Wuben actually gave birth to ten!But it is a pity that only two survived to grow up: the second son Gao Qi and the tenth son Gao Zhang.This resulted in Gao Jingshi's early efforts to train several of their nephews in their room to be in vain - such as the slightly older third child Gao Piao, fifth child Gao Chun, etc.

Gao Qi, the two brothers who survived to adulthood, needs no introduction. Their nickname is Yu Fu, who is the current intelligence secretary of the Secretariat. Recently, with Gao Mo's old age and frailty, Gao Qi Shi has been cultivating him and preparing to let him He is an important confidant who took over the Ministry of Internal Affairs within one year.

As the tenth son, Gao Zhang is seven years younger than his second brother.His courtesy name was Ban Feng, and he was born as a member of the Communist Party of China. However, he did not like reading. Instead, he liked business matters. He gave up his ambition for fame and came to southern Xinjiang.After Gao pragmatically got to know Gao Qi, he appointed him as the director of Longya Port (Malacca Port), responsible for the daily management of this most important commercial port in Southeast Asia, as a staged training.

From the looks of it, the power of Wufang should not be great. After all, Gao Qi, who had the best career, was a smart man. He knew that his position as intelligence secretary was very special, and he was unlikely to foolishly meddle in military and political affairs.But if you just think this way, you would be ignoring the father and son Gao Wuben and Gao Zhang.

Gao Wuben was indeed an honest man. After Jin Yiwei resigned, he even refused to take a job in Beijing, and thus became an idle man living in the suburbs of Beijing for his retirement.But for a person who has been pragmatically "seeing things" in Jinyiwei Gang for many years, if he is really that simple, it would be too abnormal.

So, what kind of person is he?After he resigned, why did he not return to Xinzheng but instead "retire" in the capital - he was only in his forties, how could he be so old?
First, let’s take a look at the place where he “retired”: Sanshen Garden.

That's right, it's the Sanshen Garden where Gao Pragmatic's first foundation was located.After the founding of Jinghua, a soap factory was established around Sanshenyuan. The Jinghua Soap Factory, which later monopolized the soap trade in the north, was located near Sanshenyuan, and the management was always in charge of Sanshenyuan.

However, after Gao Wuben resigned, Gao Jingshi gave Sanshenyuan to his cousin, and the headquarters of the Soap Factory also moved to the factory area.Secondly, we need to look at why Gao Wuben stayed in the capital.He has worked in Jinyiwei for more than twenty years. Due to the changes in the Jinyiwei personnel mentioned in detail before - referring to the large number of favored nobles, civil servants, and military generals who entered the Jinyiwei - Jinyiwei has become a department mixed with forces from various factions.Therefore, Gao Wuben’s network itself is also very strong.

Unlike Gao Pragmatic, whose network of contacts is mostly in the upper echelons of the imperial court, Gao Wuben's network of contacts is more hidden, which means that some people whom Gao Pragmatic himself cannot contact directly can be contacted by Gao Wuben on his behalf. .In other words, although Gao Wuben is no longer in Jinyiwei, his sources of information are still "extensive" and can even be said to be indispensable to Gao Pragmatic.

Such special functionality means that Gao Wuben will definitely have "many business dealings" with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Beijing. Therefore, do you think it is particularly reasonable for Gao Wuben's son Gao Qi to serve as intelligence secretary?

In addition, as mentioned just now, there are also many noble children among the Jinyi Guards, which means that Gao Wuben has extensive connections with various noble families of the Jingnan family.So, Sanfang Gaowuguan joined the Beiyang Fleet to maintain influence in the maritime trade of Northeast Asia. Couldn't Gaoweng Ben, the Sanfang, intervene in the land business?Of course we can. Although our nobles are engaged in sea trade, they have not given up land trade.

Recall that Jinghua's land trade in the north, except for horses, ironware, cotton cloth, tussah silk, soap, etc., did not monopolize the rest of the business. These were specially reserved for nobles and civil servant families of the Practical School. Business.

Gao Pragmatic's status is getting higher and higher now, and he doesn't have time to talk about many things in detail with people one by one, so he definitely needs important and trusted representatives in the middle.This kind of representation is divided into two levels, one is overt and the other is covert.The representative on the surface is naturally the business secretary, but there is no need to mention the representative secretly. Who else is he instead of high-ranking officials?

Therefore, Wufang's influence in Jinghua was not small, but the majority of its power was not in southern Xinjiang, but in the north of the Ming Dynasty, within Jinghua's initial base.

However, Wufang still has a little influence in southern Xinjiang, but its layout is relatively late, that is Gao Zhang.There is nothing we can do about it. Who said Gao Zhang was Gao Wuben's tenth son?Age is here, it can't be done earlier even if you want to.

Gao Zhang is currently the director of Longya Port.This position is not given casually by Gao Pragmatic, it has a strong sense of cultivation.As the largest commercial port in South Asia, Longya Port is located in the most prominent position controlling the two oceans (Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean). It is naturally a good place for maritime business, and it has naturally become a place where all parties gather.

Being responsible for the management of such a place, Gao Zhang is bound to be well-informed and develop a rare ability to deal with people. At the same time, he can establish "friendships" with many forces.

Gao’s pragmatic purpose can also be seen from this arrangement: Wufang does not need to have much “hard power” in southern Xinjiang, but it can have strong “soft power.”

Why is it arranged this way?Because there are enough factions with "hard power" in southern Xinjiang, and some factions with "soft power" are needed to check and balance.And because Wufang's influence entered southern Xinjiang too late, the already famous generals could not be won over, and not many were originally sent.As a result, the only people Wufang can try to win over are those who have worked step by step from the grassroots level and have been promoted through meritorious service along the way.Among them, the one with the highest status currently is Takagi San.

What is Gao Pragmatic’s purpose in creating so many factions in southern Xinjiang?There are two more layers to consider here.

On the first level, Southern Xinjiang was the test paper he gave to Gao Yuan. The more complex the factions in Southern Xinjiang were, the more difficult the test questions would be.If Gao Yuan can unravel the cocoons and surrender the factions in southern Xinjiang one by one, Gao Pragmatic will be more assured of his ability to control the future.

On the second level, the more factions there are in southern Xinjiang, the less likely it is that one faction will dominate. In this way, Gao Pragmatic does not have to worry about Gao Yuan getting out of control, which is equivalent to giving this exam paper a guarantee.Even if Gao Yuan fails to solve the problem, it will be easy for Gao Pragmatic to save the situation without causing serious internal strife and affecting the stability of Southern Xinjiang.

After analyzing each faction, now looking back at Gao Yuan's words, you will find that although he has not completely clarified the situation, that sentence is actually forcing the other faction and the six factions to disagree.

Disagreements may not seem like a good thing, but as a superior, if the people under you are monolithic... then it will be a bigger trouble.
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PS: 3K today, let’s see if we can slowly increase the amount of updates and return to normal levels in the first half of the year.