Manchu traitor, how can you let me be the emperor of the ages

Chapter 171 Cai Jing's Secret Hand

Who is the final beneficiary of the rumors in the capital?
Just a little analysis to know.

Before those little cursive scripts appeared, the rumors circulating in the capital were all about His Majesty the Emperor. Most of them said that he sent two "three-foot blue sky" to the disaster area, and then shipped boats to the capital to transport gold and silver treasures.

The "three feet blue sky" here is not a boast, but that the official scraped off the land by three feet and made the sky three feet higher.

Heshen Yansong's reputation was not very good, but now that His Majesty the Emperor got involved with them, it suddenly became more and more stinky.

But when those little cursive scripts appeared, people's attention was immediately shifted to those things.

The result of the matter is that people no longer pay attention to how the emperor is doing, but shift their attention to the civil and military of the Manchu Dynasty.

His Majesty the Emperor managed to get out of the mud, and instead poured shit on all civil and military officials.

I have to say, Gao Ming.

Zheng Chen also said with emotion: "With this incident, His Majesty will not only be able to get rid of those stigmas temporarily, but also make all the momentum created by those people in the capital disappear."

"They can't make a big deal in Xingyang and Bianzhou, and their efforts in the capital are still resolved by His Majesty. In this way, we have the advantage at both ends."

He smiled and said: "It seems that the matter of the embankment is stable."

He Shen also nodded. With his hands behind his back, he looked at the prototype of the embankment in the distance, and said with emotion: "Old Zheng, you can't relax too much."

"This man will do anything for his own money and land."

Zheng Chen was startled, and seemed a little puzzled: "What else do they have?"

He assured He Shen: "Master He, you are not bragging about Haikou. No matter what they do, there will definitely not be any disturbances on this three-acre land in Xingyang."

Under the support of the Zheng family and many squires in Xingyang, under the supervision of the county magistrate Yan Gaoqing, under the protection of His Majesty the Emperor and His Excellency... There is no reason why this matter cannot be done!
He Shen looked at the embankment, frowned and shook his head.

"Old Zheng, how difficult do you think it is to build this embankment?"

Zheng Chen didn't expect him to ask such a question, and after thinking for a moment, he replied, "Of course it's extremely difficult."

"It's not that my Zheng family has never thought of building such a stone embankment, but it's too difficult."

He looked at the peasants working in the distance and the prototype of the embankment, and there was some emotion on his face: "Some elders mentioned it several times, but it was ignored several times."

"Now that the construction has started, we can see many problems that were not expected before."

"It will take several years to repair the stone dikes along the banks of the river for tens of miles and hundreds of miles."

He Shen nodded to express his approval, but then his voice changed again: "But how long will it take to destroy such a levee?"

Zheng Chen was stunned, as if he hadn't thought of the possibility He Shen mentioned.

"This... this... just three or four people, one watching the wind, and the other two armed with hammers and chisels, digging the dam when the water is huge..."

Or you can blow it up with gunpowder alone.

Thinking about this, Zheng Chen became a little incoherent: "Shouldn't it? Their land is also behind the embankment. If the embankment disappears, wouldn't those people's land also be flooded?"

Although there are many people clamoring and clamoring to buy land, if the embankment is broken, they probably won't be willing.

Because those people's fields are also behind the levee, they also enjoy the benefits of damming the land.

If the embankment is destroyed, not only will the fields in his hands be ruined, but those good fields will also be flooded.

He Shen kept frowning: "Old Zheng, don't underestimate others. Some people are stupid, but they don't understand what they do."

"Besides, since those people have gone to court to find people and make decisions for them, what will happen after that is probably not what these idiots can predict."

Zheng Chen suddenly understood, and slowly spit out four words: "It's hard to get off a tiger?"

"good."

He Shen nodded. The original purpose of those big gentry families was probably to find someone who could talk to the government and ask them to help them to get rid of the notice that they were not allowed to buy land.

It's just that when many officials in the capital also learned of so many fertile fields, they immediately gathered together like sharks smelling fishy.

It’s easy to ask God to send God away, and now the big households are not only moving forward by themselves, but there are people behind them who are constantly pushing them, thus forming a powerful force.

Sometimes the officials of the imperial court are responsible for the charge, but sometimes this situation can be reversed.

Zheng Chen was silent for a moment, then nodded slowly.

He Shen continued to walk forward with a smile. Zheng Chen was born in the Zheng family in Xingyang, and he said that his family is rich is to underestimate him.

When this kind of person is an official, he doesn't need to make money at all. Even with a few exceptions, after a while, he will suddenly find that after working hard for so long, he still hasn't earned enough for the monthly silver sent by his family.

What are you working so hard for?It's better to lie down obediently.

Such as Zheng Chen, who was born in a wealthy family, usually has no experience in making money, so naturally he can't think of the bitterness of the officials in Beijing. When encountering such things, it is normal to not understand.

"Then and my lord, what should we do?"

Zheng Chen quickly caught up with He Shen, frowned and asked, "Should we just let those people play tricks behind our backs?"

He Shen sighed: "I am in the open, and the enemy is in the dark. It is impossible to guard against, and there will be a hundred secrets."

"We can only do our best and obey the destiny."

Zheng Chen also nodded heavily.

This matter is really difficult to prevent, and generally those who come to do this are characters like dead soldiers, even if they are caught, it may not be possible to interrogate the mastermind behind it.

Even if the mastermind behind the scenes can be found out, it is probably only one family.

And what they have to face are many disgruntled gentry families on the south bank of the Yellow River.

"My lord, let the people below choose a few embankment patrol teams, and they will patrol the construction site day and night in rotation." Zheng Chen said solemnly.

In any case, avoid this kind of thing if you can.

"Okay." He Shen nodded in approval.

The two of them were getting closer and closer to the dam. After a while, people saw them from afar, and there were waves of discussions in the distance.

"Oh? Look, that person looks familiar? It's a bit like that... that's called..."

"Shen He! Isn't this Shen He?"

Since the noon theater troupe had just been withdrawn from the construction site, how could the common people forget about them so quickly.

The little fat man in the distance is exactly the same as the little fat man playing Shen He in the troupe.

Seeing that there are government servants around, many working people dare not join them, so they can only discuss from a distance.

But the sound of discussion was still accompanied by the breeze, and was sent to He-sama's ears.

"The drama said that Shen He was a handsome young man. I think the owner of the troupe was blind and chose such a fat guy to perform."

"That's right, don't you think it's an eyesore? It makes people uncomfortable..."

The smile on He Shen's face froze, and his footsteps paused for a moment.

Just as Zheng Chen behind him didn't know how to comfort him, the voices of discussion from the common people continued.

"But no matter what happens with the casting, this little brother Shen He is a good official."

"Yes, yes, what do you care about other people's parents? If they dare to compete with corrupt officials like Yan Gaoshan, no matter how good-looking you are, do you dare?"

"What's this called? This is called strength of character, and this is called the bearing of an upright official!"

"That's right, what do you call it... What's upright?"

"Damn it, I just learned two words from Li Xiucai, so I came to drag her..."

He Shen touched the two mustaches on his mouth, turned to look at Zheng Chen: "Old Zheng, is this official very upright?"

Zheng Chen hurriedly smiled and said: "I have never seen an official who is more honest than Mr. He, and has a strong character."

He Shen turned his head with a strange expression, and continued walking towards the embankment.

This was the first time someone called him an upright official.

~~
There are many smart people, especially those who are officials.

What He Shen and the others can think of, many officials in the court can also think of.

Even when cursive script was popular back then, they were so devastated that they couldn't figure it out for a while.But now that it's after the fact, don't you still understand?
The ministers who came back realized that even if His Majesty did not do this matter, it must have something to do with him.

It's just that as long as there is no evidence for this kind of thing, it can't be brought to the surface.

Capital, Cai Mansion.

It's still the same study room with the strange rocks with the pattern of a tiger swimming in the mountains, and it's still the gang of Cai Jing's henchmen.

"Your Majesty's method is too low-handed!"

Song Qiaonian paced back and forth angrily, his face flushed red with anger.

This event left him with a lifelong memory and an indelible impact.

If there is no accident, the title of "caterpillar" will accompany him throughout his life.

Once this nickname is mentioned, Mr. Song will inevitably think of this time, and the dead memories will start to attack him...

And the culprit of all this is His Majesty the Emperor who lives in the palace.

"Don't talk nonsense."

Cai Jing picked up the gold wire cup on the table, and took a sip of tea lightly.

Also among the "Three Heroes of Cursive Script", he is much calmer than Song Qiaonian.

"How do you know that His Majesty did this?"

Cai Jing glanced at Song Qiaonian, and said, "Don't talk about groundless slander outside."

Now not only Song Qiaonian, but everyone else in the study also responded in unison.

"My lord, is this matter over?"

Although Song Qiaonian agreed, he was still furious and couldn't help but said, "Your Majesty...the people behind the scenes fabricate such rumors, it's too shameful!"

"If you don't avenge this revenge, it will be hard to get rid of the hatred in your heart!"

Cai Jing remained silent.

In terms of anger, he was even more angry than Song Qiaonian.

But you can't do it impulsively.

Rumors are hard to stop. Even if cursive script is banned now, as long as someone wants to spread it, there is still nothing they can do.

Without small cursive script, you can still write on the wall, on the table, put up big-character posters, and even spread it by word of mouth...

So in the final analysis, this stuff depends on the quality of the content and its appeal to the common people.

And the previous incidents also proved that the rumors they came up with and the rumors from His Majesty the Emperor were not at the same quality level at all, and they were completely beaten by the other party.

So if you want to continue wrestling with others on this, I'm afraid it's just asking for humiliation.

For now, we still need to change our thinking.

After a moment of silence, Cai Jing slowly opened his mouth and said, "The newly established yamen, Guangwen Department, how is it now?"

Everyone was stunned, only Deng Xunwu said: "I have visited that place in the past few days, and there are not many people there."

Cai Jing nodded slowly: "Nobody...Nobody..."

He frowned and said: "How can there be no one in the yamen set up by His Majesty?"

Song Qiaonian frowned: "My lord, it's just an eight-rank small yamen, it seems that there is no need to care too much, right?"

"Even if something goes wrong, it won't affect much..."

Cai Jing seemed to have thought of something, and kept nodding his head: "Whether the influence is big or not depends on what is going on, what yamen, who..."

He got up and took a few steps back and forth, and said, "No matter what, this is His Majesty's own yamen. If something happens to the Guangwen Department, he will pay attention to it, and all officials will also pay attention."

Song Qiaonian was taken aback for a moment, and then a look of joy appeared on his face: "My lord, are you saying that you can use this to make him ashamed?"

"What disheartened face?"

Cai Jing turned his head and glared at him angrily: "How can I, as a minister, harbor dissatisfaction with His Majesty?"

"It's just that the people have the truth in their hearts, and they have to pass the report!"

"Lord Cai, I understand, I understand." Song Qiaonian hurriedly nodded with a smile.

Then the voice in the study lowered a bit, Cai Jing seemed to be planning some scheme with the gangsters...

Another small Cai's house is separated from Cai's house by a wall.

Cai Bian was sitting in front of the desk, writing a draft meticulously, occasionally making corrections.

Cai You sat obediently beside him, helping him organize the paperwork on the table.

"Second Uncle, are you still reading this Buddhist scripture?" When Cai You was sorting out, he accidentally found a hand-copied "Surangama Sutra". Looking at the ink and paper, it was obviously newly written in the past few days.

"I thought you didn't watch it after you left Jingzhao Mansion."

Cai Bian finally finished writing the draft, lifted the papers to dry for a while, shook his head and replied, "There is great wisdom in the Shurangama Sutra, but with my knowledge, I cannot understand it."

Cai You looked at him with great interest: "Second Uncle, what did you realize? Can you pass it on to my nephew?"

It's just that Cai Bian had already put the draft on the table, and then took out a few sheets of clean plain bamboo paper, and copied it meticulously.

It wasn't until he finished copying the contents of the drafts, dried the ink on them, and put them in the envelope, that he seemed relieved, and turned to look at Cai You.

"You haven't studied the scriptures, and you don't have your own understanding. What I have learned can only mislead you."

Cai You said with a playful smile, "Second uncle, you are joking. My nephew has long known that you are a person with great ability and great wisdom. What you have realized must be extraordinary."

"Perhaps he is better than Wang Lingyin who has read Buddhist scriptures all his life!"

Cai Bian sighed quietly: "Wang Lingyin is stronger than me, but since you want to hear it, I just encountered a confusing thing recently, which has something to do with your father."

Cai You was startled: "What's the matter? Second Uncle?"

　In the past two days, I have been working on the outline, and the update is a little less, and I will make it up later
　　
　
(End of this chapter)