Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 2344: Lucky Nanjing (XI) Gao Qi's Dream

Gao Qi did not delay and immediately returned to Chunhe Palace. However, Gao Fusi was still working in Wenyuan Pavilion at the moment, so he would not be able to see him for a while. He was not surprised by this, so he just told his uncle and took a nap in the guest seat in the study room of the side hall of Chunhe Palace.

Actually, he really hadn't had much rest since Gao Youshi ordered him to go out of the palace to do some work, and now his eyes were dark. But Gao Qi was very open-minded about it. He had been staying with Gao Youshi all these years, and he imitated his uncle's words and deeds, and even his work style. Now he has achieved some success, so much so that people who have dealt with him say that he is "gentle and smiling, and unfathomable."

Gao Qi was quite proud of this situation, but he never showed it. He really learned a lot from Gao Youshi, and therefore knew what he could and could not do.

He knew that he was only his uncle's nephew, not even one of his "fathers", but now he was highly valued and was about to take control of the "East Factory" in Beijing. In this situation, he should be more cautious in his words and deeds, and must not make any mistakes, let alone show any self-conceit in front of others, otherwise he would definitely attract the attention of his uncle.

[Note: The scope of the concept of "follower son" has changed in history, with the Tang and Song dynasties as the dividing line. Before the Tang and Song dynasties, in the sense of patriarchal clan law, the son of the paternal brother (divided into paternal brother and paternal younger brother) was called a follower son (different from the paternal brother/disciple), that is, the grandson of the father's brother (uncle/uncle). For example, if Yi is the grandson of the biological brother of A's father, then Yi is A's follower son.

During the Tang and Song dynasties, China's etiquette system began to be further refined and improved. People at that time began to refer to the sons of brothers as "cousins", which was equivalent to the "nephew" in "uncle and nephew". The sons of cousins ​​were called "cousin nephews", which could actually only be considered clan nephews, and could also be called "second cousins".

  But let me add one more thing here. For important officials of the Ming Dynasty, if there is no son to be appointed, then the nephew can be appointed. If there is no nephew, that is, "father's son", or if he has already been appointed, and the court has granted him another appointment, then the cousin or the father's son can be appointed. This is quite humane.]

There is no doubt that Gao Qi cares a lot about Gao Youshi's opinion. Who in the entire Xinzheng Gao family doesn't know who this big family relies on?

  Gao Qi had been working as an intelligence secretary for so many years that he had developed the habit of carefully analyzing the situation. He would naturally not let go of the situation in the clan. In his eyes, the situation of the Xinzheng Gao clan was roughly like this:

Under the shadow of Uncle Six, although I am not the direct descendant of the Sixth House, I am still loved by Uncle Six and have an important position in the family. Each branch of the family is like the branches of a big tree, each stretching out and taking on different missions.

  I won't mention my eldest uncle Wuzi. My sixth uncle was extremely disappointed with him and left him in Xinzheng to guard the ancestral temple. My second uncle Mengnan, although not of the Gao family, was trusted by my sixth uncle for his calmness and ability. He was entrusted with the important task of Prime Minister of Siam. In fact, he was the top civil official in Southern Xinjiang. His reputation in Dingnan's political arena was as solid as Mount Tai. It was a pity that my second uncle had no heir... But maybe it was precisely because he had no heir that my sixth uncle trusted him so much, right?

But then again, although my uncle has no future to speak of, my sixth uncle has high hopes for his son Ruichu, and has made him the first inspector of Longya, guarding the important traffic route of Longya Strait. This is obviously a test of his ability and a cultivation of his potential. My cousin, I am afraid he will have great luck in the future.

He also has a younger brother, Ruilong, who is also training in southern Xinjiang and serving as the governor of Northern Brunei. He is also highly valued. However, he has his uncle's younger brother Gao Wuqin above him. With this Brunei inspector, the governor of Northern Brunei has limited room to play. I don't know if the uncle made such an arrangement just for the sake of seniority or to suppress Ruilong intentionally, so as to prevent the two brothers from losing their order and becoming more powerful.

The second branch of the family was not prosperous. In the previous generation, there was only the third uncle Guo Yan, who had only two sons. The eldest son died young, so he only raised the youngest son Gao Ming. He had just come of age and was still playful. The third uncle doted on him very much, so he did not let him enter the capital immediately, and naturally he did not form any power.

However, Third Uncle has been in charge of Jinghua Bank for many years, and his prestige in the financial world is unmatched except for Sixth Uncle, so all factions dare not underestimate him. I just don't know if Gao Ming can take over his father's power in the future... Let's wait and see in a few years.

Although Wu Guan, the seventh uncle of the third house, had no real power in the capital, he was originally from the sixth house and was the younger brother of the sixth uncle, but was adopted into the third house to inherit the throne. He had the tablet of Wen Zhenggong, so naturally everyone in the family respected him.

The uncle in the fourth room died young and had no offspring, so I won’t mention him.

My father, Wu Ben, was once a member of the Imperial Guards. Later, due to the arrangement of my sixth uncle, he resigned from his post and focused on training my three brothers. Although I cannot say that I have made outstanding contributions in my position as an intelligence secretary, I have also been diligent and responsible, and strived to live up to my sixth uncle's trust. Now that I am about to be in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, I don't know how many eyes are watching me. I must remember to act cautiously and not to show off.

My second brother Gao Chun and third brother Gao Pu are now following my eighth uncle to gain experience in Nanyang. Gao Chun is good at administration, while Gao Pu is known for his decisiveness. They have gradually made a name for themselves in Nanyang. I just don't know if it will affect their future if I take charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs...

The sixth uncle has many brothers and descendants, and the sixth branch is the backbone of the family. The seventh uncle Wu Guan was adopted by the third branch and inherited the third grandfather Wen Zhenggong; the eighth uncle Wu Qin was the inspector general of Brunei, and was known for his steadiness, but recently he was secretly ordered by the secretary-general to wipe out the local natives. I wonder how he feels; the ninth uncle Wu Jian was the inspector general of Luzon, and with his decisive and tough measures, he intimidated the so-called Kingdom of Luzon; the tenth uncle Wu Zhong was eccentric, but he was filial and insisted on staying in his hometown in Xinzheng to take care of his parents. I wonder when he will be willing to go to Nanyang to get a share of the pie.

Then there are the eleventh uncle Wu Zheng and the twelfth uncle Wu Ruo. These two uncles were born out of wedlock in the sixth room. Originally, their talents were average. In recent years, they were kept by the sixth uncle to learn and serve as non-full-time confidential secretaries. They have made some progress.

Last time, Uncle Twelve was appointed to return to Henan to be responsible for the safety of the two elders of the Sixth House. He has not returned to Beijing yet. I don’t know whether Uncle Sixth intends to separate the security team from the Jinghua Trading Company in the future. If they are separated, I am afraid Uncle Twelve will have a chance to take charge.

On the contrary, Uncle Eleven performed poorly. Last time, he took two concubines in succession and was not punctual when on duty at the secretariat, so he was reprimanded by Uncle Six. I don’t know if he will have the opportunity to be entrusted with important tasks in the future.

The above are Gao Qi’s general views on the internal situation of the family. Among them, his uncles and uncles seem to be missing the "Fourth Uncle" and the "Fifth Uncle". In fact, that is because these two cousins ​​of Gao Youshi passed away early. Although their names were included in the family tree and ranked, they are no longer around.

The reason why he did not have too many opinions about his peers in the Sixth House was mainly because these peers were still young - the eldest brother in the Sixth House was Gao Yuan, who was only fourteen years old this year. If it were not for the Western Expedition in Southern Xinjiang last year, which really made it necessary for him to brush up his qualifications, he should still be studying at home now.

However, although the cousins ​​of the sixth room are young, their future is definitely the best. Not to mention Gao Yuan, the eldest son, doesn't the sixth uncle's family business belong to him in the end?

He has eight younger brothers and three younger sisters. Among these eight brothers, there are two nominally legitimate brothers - Gao Ji and Gao Luo. Gao Luo is only the nominal third legitimate son of his wife Huang Zhiting. Gao Yuan's real legitimate brother is actually Gao Ji. Huang Zhiting also has a daughter, Gao Hui, who is the eldest of the three sisters and the only legitimate daughter.

Among the three wives of the sixth uncle, Liu Xin had only one son and one daughter. The son was Gao Chun, the fifth among the brothers, and the daughter was Gao Zhen, the youngest among the sisters.

Menggu Zhezhe had three sons and no daughters. The three sons were Gao Mu, the third oldest, Gao Wei, the seventh oldest, and Gao Zhan, the youngest and ninth oldest.

Narita Kai had two sons and one daughter. They were the second son Gao Yan, the second daughter Gao Yi, and the eighth son Gao Hao. Among them, Gao Yan had the most promising future, and he would probably become the Shogun of Japan in the future.

In Gao Qi's opinion, the position of the eldest son Gao Yuan is unshakable, as he is the stable prince of Jingguo. The second son Gao Yan, as mentioned earlier, will be the shogun of the Japanese shogunate. Then there is the fourth son Gao Ji. As the second son, he will most likely be well trained in the future to help his eldest brother Gao Yuan. As for the third son Gao Mu, the fifth son Gao Chun, the seventh son Gao Wei, the eighth son Gao Hao, and the ninth son Gao Zhan, they are only a few years old now, and it is impossible to tell how the sixth uncle will arrange them in the future.

As for the fourth son, Gao Luo, due to his special status, it is said that the great nobles in the palace intend to let him be the prince's companion in a few years, so his future should be very promising - but his optimism has little to do with the Gao family. After all, the Gao family does not attach much importance to the court now, but regards Southern Xinjiang as their family business. So in this way, Gao Luo is the one who least competes with his brothers.

It is understandable that the Gao family values ​​Southern Xinjiang over the imperial court. After all, the imperial court has strict rules. Even if Gao Yuan can directly become an official (civilian title) with the title of Duke of Jingguo, others do not have this condition. To be an official in the imperial court, one must take the imperial examination.

Isn't this a joke? The Gao family actually had a consensus long ago that it was difficult to integrate Southern Xinjiang because Gao Youshi himself was not there. Otherwise, once integrated, it would be a small court even compared to the Ming Dynasty.

  According to this comparison, all of my uncle's sons are princes, and even if I am Gao Qi, I can probably be a prince. Even if it is not the same as the "great court" of the Ming Dynasty, it is better to be smaller than it. Then my uncle's sons are princes, and I, Gao Qi, am also a duke. Isn't it more comfortable than going to the court to take the imperial examination?

In the end, we don't know what Uncle Six thinks about this matter. Anyway, the clan has reached a consensus: we must do our best to fulfill the promise made by the emperor, and let Uncle Six return to Southern Xinjiang to serve as the Grand Protector after he retires. By then, even if the Gao family members in Southern Xinjiang don't have the name of royal relatives, they will have the reality of royal relatives!

Gao Qi was half asleep, thinking about the future, and he didn't know how long it had been before he woke up with sleepy eyes. It didn't matter that he woke up. When he opened his eyes, he found that the lights in the study were on. When he looked out the window, it was already night.

Gao Qi was shocked, thinking to himself, "Oh no, how could I have overslept?" He quickly sat up and found that he was covered with a thin quilt. He quickly looked around and saw his sixth uncle sitting at the desk, the brush in his hand moving slowly on the rice paper, the tip of the brush flowing.

Gao Qi was startled, stood up, and called out awkwardly: "Sixth Uncle..."

"Awake?" Gao Youshi stopped writing, turned his head to look at him, and smiled: "It seems that you are exhausted. How are you now? Are you hungry? The palace just sent me some midnight snacks. I never eat at night. You can take them to fill your stomach." He pointed to the food box on the table.

"That's not urgent." Gao Qi quickly put the quilt aside, walked to Gao Fusi and asked, blaming himself: "Uncle, why didn't you wake up your nephew? What if this delays the work?"

"It won't be a problem." Gao Youshi shook his head calmly and said, "What you sent before is enough."

Gao Qi hesitated for a moment, and finally asked, "Uncle, are you going to completely defeat the Xinxue School this time and let the Practical School officials take over Nanjing?"

Gao Youshi did not answer immediately. He put down his pen, raised his head, and looked through the window of the study, as if he was looking at Zhongshan Mountain in the distance. After a while, he slowly said: "The situation in Nanjing has not changed overnight. The Xinxue School is deeply rooted here, and the nobles are also closely related to them. If we don't take this opportunity to rectify it, the court's major policies will be compromised once they reach here, which will be a great harm to the country."

"So, uncle, do you really intend to eliminate the chronic disease of Nanjing School of Mind?" Gao Qi asked.

Gao Youshi turned around, picked up a written memorial from the desk, and handed it to Gao Qi: "This is the memorial I am going to present to the emperor, take a look first."

This practice is not against the rules. After all, officials do not necessarily write their own memorials. Otherwise, why would they keep so many advisors? Gao Qi was originally a confidential secretary. He was like an advisor outside. It was normal for him to read the memorials. In the final analysis, this was one of the unspoken rules of the Ming officialdom.

Gao Qi took the memorial and read it carefully. The memorial detailed the corruption problems found during the renovation of the Nanjing Imperial Palace, as well as the names of officials and nobles involved. However, unlike Gao Guoshi's usual memorials, Gao Guoshi did not make clear suggestions for handling the case in this memorial. He simply put the problem in front of the emperor, obviously letting the emperor make the decision himself.

"Uncle, what's going on..." Gao Qi was a little confused.

Gao Youshi smiled slightly: "Your Majesty is wise and can naturally see the magnitude of the hidden danger. If I directly put forward suggestions for handling, it would appear that I have ulterior motives. It is better to let the Majesty make the decision himself, which will better show that the Majesty is wise."

This is interesting. He is not saying that the emperor can see the seriousness of corruption, but that the emperor can see the hidden dangers. In other words, he believes that in the eyes of the emperor, although corruption is serious, it is not the biggest problem. The hidden dangers behind this matter are more important.

Gao Qi thought for a while before he suddenly realized: So that's how it is. Those nobles should have stood on the side of the emperor, but now they have formed a local force in Nanjing with the Xinxue School. Isn't this a hundred times more serious than the corruption of a few hundred thousand taels of silver? Moreover, a few hundred thousand taels is the total price, and the actual embezzlement cannot be that much... After all, the Nanjing Palace has indeed been renovated!

"Next, there are some things you need to do." Gao Youshi's voice sounded again, interrupting Gao Qi's thoughts.

"Uncle, please give me your instructions." Gao Qi responded immediately.

"First of all, you must closely monitor the developments in Nanjing officialdom, especially the contacts between officials and nobles from the School of Mind in the past few days." Gao Youshi continued to instruct.

"Don't worry, uncle. I have already arranged people to do this." Gao Qi replied.

"Okay, well done. Now, I want you to contact the appropriate officials and ask them to submit a petition at the appropriate time. The first step is to question the funding for repairing the imperial palace. The second step is to wait until the topic becomes public, and then ask them to join more people in requesting a strict investigation into the renovation of the Nanjing Imperial Palace." Gao Youshi's voice was extremely steady, as if he was talking about something that had nothing to do with him.

Gao Qi was not unfamiliar with this. This was the usual routine for power games in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, especially among important officials. This was the most common practice.

  "Don't worry, uncle. I will definitely do it." Gao Qi replied solemnly. He was an intelligence secretary, and he was not only responsible for internal affairs in Beijing, but also for news from the court. Of course, he knew which officials to contact in Nanjing.
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(End of this chapter)