Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 439 Ancestral Painted Cake
"Tap...tap...tap..."

In the underground corridor, torches provided dim light, which was not enough to illuminate or make it difficult to see clearly.

Footsteps sounded, and a military attache, led by two military attaches, came step by step to the end of the corridor.

Although it is dark here, it is not damp, and the masonry on the floor and walls is new and dry.

When they reached the end, what appeared in front of the three people was a 40-year-old Confucian scholar who was imprisoned behind an iron fence.

He had not been tortured, but his hair was disheveled and he was in a daze.

The cell he was in was no more than five feet high and no more than six feet long and wide. The only light source, apart from the firelight in the prison, was the fist-sized vent behind him.

Only when the weather is clear can light shine through there, other times there is only the whistling of the wind.

Two military attaches brought chairs, and the leading military attache sat on the chair with a slight sneer on his face: "Jie Jin, why don't you do it?"

Jie Jin went crazy when he was called. He grabbed the iron fence, with a ferocious face under his messy hair.

Ji Gang's words made the two military attachés look at each other with astonishment on their faces.

Ji Gang laughed and teased Xie Jin, but Xie Jin ignored his dignity as Jiang Zuo and scolded Ji Gang crazily.

The torch was blown out and the passage was dark, but Xie Jin was very conscious. Such an environment was undoubtedly a torture to his own spirit.

This name is easy to say, but in the future his reputation will be ruined, and his family members will also be implicated.

He was very crazy now, but when Ji Gang saw this, his smile became even stronger.

"Ji Gang, your mother's maid!"

The military attachés on both sides couldn't stand it anymore and bowed and said, "Commander, do you want to slap me?"

"Come on, just do as I say."

"That vent has people pouring some porridge down every day, so I, the great bachelor of the Ming Dynasty, can't starve."

"Find someone to block the vents, and put out the torches in the next few days. No one can come here without my order."

He fell into despair. No matter how much he thought about it, he could not imagine that a few months ago he was traveling in the south, and a few months later he would become a prisoner.

"It's too clean, otherwise he would suffer a lot."

Xie Jin was severely tortured. With his height of five feet and six inches, he could not stand up straight in this cell, and even sleeping was uncomfortable.

Although he was in Beijing, most of his party members were in the south. Therefore, as long as someone impeached him, within a few days, a lot of negative information would be revealed about that person, and he would eventually be impeached and imprisoned by Chen Ying's censors.

With Zhu Di's comfort, Ji Gang paid less attention to the Jiangnan literary world.

Ji Gang thought so, and finally left the imperial prison with Chen Ying and went to the Forbidden City to find Zhu Di.

The depression caused by the cell, coupled with the daily blowing of torches here, made him live in darkness for a long time, and he suddenly began to feel mentally trance-like.

"Difficult to deal with?" Ji Gang said disdainfully: "When Jie Jin confesses, I will let them know what it means to be difficult to deal with."

Chen Ying did not enter the dungeon, so she could only ask Ji Gang about the situation inside.

This is the imperial prison of Fusi, North Town, Beijing, and only Ji Gang can enter and exit at will.

Jie Jin yelled at Ji Gang crazily, but Ji Gang enjoyed it very much: "I know, you want to vent your anger by scolding me, it's okay, you scold me slowly, I won't leave, the harder you scold, the happier I will be, hahahaha..."

Doing this is really a bit...

Not everyone dares to risk the disdain of the world and offend the entire Jiangnan literary world.

"Ji Gang, the dog thief, when I go out one day, I will fight you to the death!"

After the meeting, Zhu Di comforted him with a few words and asked him to work well in Beijing and prepare for various tasks of the Jinyiwei after the capital was moved.

"By the way, Jiang Zuo is also a human being. He needs to drink water and eat."

"Ji Gang!!!"

After walking out of the dungeon, Ji Gang saw Chen Ying, the censor of Zuodu, who was escorting Xie Jin northward with him.

He yelled at the top of his lungs, but Ji Gang had already walked away, and there was no sound in the dark environment except his breathing.

Seeing Jie Jin going into a rage, Ji Gang stood up and left, leaving only Jie Jin who kept talking obscenities.

Pouring rice porridge into the vents was more humiliating than feeding animals because there was almost no protrusion extending into the cell, so the rice porridge would run down the walls.

Ji Gang said, regretting: "It's a pity that the north is dry, otherwise moss should grow in such a place, and fleas and mice should be born."

He knew what Ji Gang wanted, which was to ask him to name some Jiangzuo officials.

"how?"

Ji Gang never doubted that the emperor would give up on him. After all, most of his actions were directed by his majesty. It was easy to give up on oneself, but difficult to cultivate another one.

"I just like to see you like this. Aren't you a bachelor who has won three yuan in a row? Why are you locked up in this dog cage like a dog?"

Thinking of this, Xie Jin was so angry that he fainted and fell down in the cell...

"Ji Gou! I'll cut off your mother's head!"

Before Ji Gang had enough fun, Chen Ying frowned and said, "It's better not to go too far. It will make Jiang Zuo angry and difficult to deal with."

"These methods were learned by Xichang and I. Now it seems that they are really effective. At least they are much easier to use than torture."

"No, how can we torture Jiang Zuo Caigao?" Ji Gang seemed to have good intentions, but his next words made Xie Jin go crazy.

More importantly, Ji Gang not only impeached Jiangnan officials, but also some New Deal officials, as long as Ji Gang caught them, they would be impeached by him and Chen Ying.

For a time, the atmosphere in the entire temple was very wrong. Many people felt that Ji Gang had received Zhu Di's instructions before he dared to take the initiative to target the New Dealers.

At the same time, they all hope that Zhu Gaoxu will stand up to rectify this trend and kill Ji Gang's momentum.

"In less than two months, twelve people of rank 5 and above have been imprisoned, and more than 700 people of rank 5 and below have been imprisoned. In addition, the number of officials under Beijing inspection is no less than 5,000... "

In the Chunhe Hall, Zhu Gaoxu stood behind his desk, holding a writing brush in his hand. He was listening to Sun Cheng's report and copying copybooks.

When Sun Cheng saw Zhu Gaoxu standing, he did not dare to sit down and honestly reported the information he had.

Zhu Gaoxu did not speak after hearing this, but waited until the copybook was finished before he put down his brush, wiped his hands and said:

"Do these people have problems themselves, or are they framed?"

"This..." Sun Cheng did not expect that His Highness would ask this. He hesitated before speaking: "Some of them were framed."

"Since it is a false accusation, then just go through the process of the Beijing Procuratorate's joint review and the three departments' joint review. There is no need to report."

Zhu Gaoxu didn't care about these officials, but Sun Cheng spent time with them day and night, so he couldn't help but bow to them:

"Your Highness, after all, they are the backbone of the New Deal, and the court still needs..."

"Sun Cheng, how many years have you been with me?"

Zhu Gaojiu interrupted Sun Cheng. After Sun Cheng heard this, he went through it in his mind, but before he could say it, Zhu Gaojiu said: "I have been with you for eighteen years, from twenty-two to now forty years old. How can I be a little bit different?" No progress at all?”

"Chen...chen..."

Sun Cheng obviously didn't expect that His Highness would say such things to him, and for a moment he didn't know how to deal with it.

Indeed, Zhu Gaoxu was very polite to many elderly people from Bohai and rarely said harsh words, but it did not mean that he would not say it.

"Your Highness, Sun Cheng is just reluctant to let go. Please don't..."

After all, Sun Cheng was brought out by Yi Shiha, so when he saw Zhu Gaoxu was angry, he quickly bowed and saluted to excuse Sun Cheng.

Zhu Gaoxu was unmoved when he saw this. While wiping his hands with a towel, he walked out from behind the table and came to Sun Cheng.

He is tall and tall, and Sun Cheng is like a toddler in front of him.

Facing Zhu Gaoxu's downward gaze, Sun Cheng could only lower his head, like a child who made mistakes.

"You should know better than me how much filth there is in the hands of these people. Don't say anything high-sounding. Do you dare to say that these people have not invaded the land and taken it by force?"

Zhu Gaoxu looked directly at Sun Cheng and asked Sun Cheng with a cold face. Sun Cheng also hesitated and didn't know what to say.

Officialdom is a big dye vat, especially after you become an official with rank and real power, this big dye vat will only expand in scope, never shrink.

For Zhu Gaoxu, whether it is his past life experience or this life, he knows how many temptations an official needs to face.

It can be said that as long as they speak, or they don't need to speak, as long as they pay too much attention to one thing, whether it is a woman or money, even if they don't speak, someone will find ways to deliver these things to their bed or house.

Even the small clerks in Qingshui Yamen like Zhu Gaoxu in his previous life were not short of people who asked them to do things, let alone these high-ranking officials.

What people want is nothing more than money, power, beauty, that so-called illusory sense of recognition, and someone to talk to.

From the pre-Qin Dynasty to the present, the human society has developed in various ways. Even the things played by later generations have just changed their names and used a layer of skin, and they are still played in the same old way.

Looking down at Sun Cheng, Zhu Gaoxu crossed him, walked to the side, took the kettle from the eunuch on duty, and poured water for Sun Cheng's teapot with his own hands.

When Sun Cheng saw this, he knelt down quickly, while Zhu Gaoxu slowly said while waiting for the tea to brew:

"It's not just them. You, Fu Rang, Li Shi and others are all involved in corruption. I also know that some of them receive gifts in private, but I don't care."

"The reason why I don't care is because the value you created for the Ming Dynasty is greater than the value of your corruption."

"Be obedient and do good things, and everything will be fine."

"But if someone is disobedient, then you have to think carefully."

Zhu Gaoxu picked up the teapot with scattered tea leaves, poured the tea into the teacup, picked it up and walked to Sun Cheng, handing it to him casually with one hand, and Sun Cheng quickly caught it with both hands.

"You can take what I give you, and you can't steal what I don't give you..."

"I obey the teachings!" Sun Cheng tremblingly took the tea cup and drank it in one gulp regardless of the boiling water.

Seeing what he did, Zhu Gaoxu was satisfied and turned around and walked back to his seat and looked at him with squinted eyes:
"If there are talented people in this group, keep those who can be used. If you have no talent or virtue, send them away with Ji Gang's help to make room for talented people to sit."

"I understand." Sun Cheng no longer wanted to protect everyone. He understood what Zhu Gaoxu meant. Corruption is okay, but things must be done and done well.

If you are greedy for a hundred dollars but only do ninety-nine things, then you deserve to die.

"There is no shortage of capable officials in the Ming Dynasty. I hope you understand this."

Sitting in his seat, Zhu Gaoxu said this to Sun Cheng and then touched his mustache:

"Okay, get up, you've worked hard these past few years..."

Zhu Gaoxu turned his head and looked at Yi Shiha, and said to him: "Give Sun Cheng a small copper mountain in Luzon."

"Your servant accepts your order..." Yi Shiha agreed, and Sun Cheng also quickly bowed to express his gratitude: "I thank God for his kindness."

"Continue to maintain your integrity and don't let that group of people stigmatize you. This is a way for you to save your life."

Zhu Gaoxu raised his chin and said the last sentence, then lowered his head and started processing the memorial.

When Yi Shiha saw this, he immediately stepped forward and signaled Sun Cheng to retreat.

"I have been taught to resign..."

"Yeah" Zhu Gaoxu responded casually, and Sun Cheng followed Yi Shiha out of the Chunhe Hall and walked out.

On the palace road leading from the Chunhe Hall to the east gate, Yi Shiha did not speak to Sun Cheng until he reached the corridor. He stopped and said in this shady place:
"It's useless for you to be incorruptible personally. Integrity on your own can only protect yourself. That's what His Highness wants when the people below you are also incorruptible."

"Of course..." Yisheha paused and said, "People's hearts are hard to control, and everyone has their own desires. It's impossible to make everyone incorruptible, and His Highness also knows that."

"His Highness has said before that there are no people of ours in this temple, and those who are virtuous will be used, and those who are unworthy will be deposed."

"I told you before that you were reluctant to depose them at the time, but now that Ji Gang has been found guilty, they can't even keep their official positions."

Yi Shiha shook his head, obviously a little disappointed, and Sun Cheng also sighed: "I didn't think carefully. I originally thought that His Highness could manipulate Ji Gang at will..."

"Your Highness, you can, but it's not necessary." Yi Shiha couldn't help but feel a little headache when he looked at Sun Cheng, who only knew how to govern the place, but didn't understand the intrigues in the temple.

"You have to understand that it is impossible for one family to dominate the temple. Even if His Highness hates Jiangnan, he will not drive out all the officials supported by Jiangnan."

"In that position, the biggest worry is not that the people below will cause chaos, but that no one dares to tell the truth."

"Tell me, how many temples are currently occupied by officials from the New Deal faction in the DPRK and China?"

Yi Shiha asked Sun Cheng, but Sun Cheng said clearly: "About 40%, so what you mean is..."

"About 40% of the remaining 60% are those who resist the implementation of the New Deal." Yishu Hafei asked:
"When Jiangnan implements the New Deal this time, they must be dealt with first, and then the New Deal can be implemented."

"But after you deal with them, you can't touch the positions they left. Those positions are occupied."

"I understand." Sun Cheng is not stupid, but he is not good at intrigues.

"Tell me about it." Yi Shiha asked like he was taking an exam, and Sun Cheng also said:

"If the temple is monolithic and they are all New Deal officials, then even if it is the truth, it will be a lie."

"You're not stupid enough to die." Yi Shiha breathed a sigh of relief, and Sun Cheng quickly bowed in return.

When he bowed in return, Yi Shiha also walked out as he said:

"Jiangnan has half of the world's population. Although it has moved several times, it still accounts for 45%."

"Therefore, Jiangnan will inevitably get rid of officials who stand on Jiangnan's side. The difference is that what needs to be removed now is the group of officials who are disobedient and opposed to the court's policies."

"When they leave, the ones who come up are Jiangnan officials who have accepted the New Deal ideas and can help the court, but they are fighting for power with you."

Zhu Gaoxu and Yi Shiha said that Jiangzuo officials could not kill them all because they could not kill them all in the first place.

Jiangxi's population is close to 10 million on paper, but the actual population is even more.

Unless there are no living people in Jiangxi, there will always be officials who stand for their hometown. This is a mark of the times and one of the reasons why the township party was formed in the late Ming Dynasty.

Even in later generations, recommendations were mostly based on relatives, friends and fellow villagers. A word of hometown accent can bring many closer relationships between the two parties.

This stigma will still exist until later generations, not to mention this era of serious rural sentiment.

Promoting Mandarin and promoting urbanization are actually one of the means to eliminate rural sentiment.

Rural sentiment is a double-edged sword. For a country, it is very useful when fighting foreign enemies, but once the world is at peace, it will become an obstacle.

After receiving Yishouha's enlightenment, Sun Cheng also understood everything.

Since the imperial court needed Jiangnan officials, it naturally also needed New Deal officials.

Jiangnan officials represented the developed areas south of the Yangtze River, while New Deal officials represented the poor areas in the north and southwest.

The one on top of the golden platform needs to hear the voice of Jiangnan, and also needs to hear the voice of other poor areas.

This is the meaning of their existence. As for integrating a new party, it would be very unfriendly to the one on the golden stage.

"Yidaban, what are you talking about?"

Suddenly, a childish voice sounded. Yishiha and Sun Cheng looked up and saw Zhu Zhanhe, who was carrying a backpack, looking at them curiously.

Although the twelve-year-old Zhu Zhanhe could not perfectly inherit Zhu Gaoxu's bravery, he was much taller and stronger than his peers.

At a height of five feet three inches (169cm), at his age, he is definitely a standout among middle school students.

He looks more like Zhu Gaoxu, more resolute, with a broad face, thick eyebrows, a high nose and long eyes, and is brave and resolute.

"Your Highness, we are discussing government affairs. Is today Tu Yao Day?"

Yi Shiha did not expect that Zhu Zhanhe would appear here. After all, Jiangning Middle School implemented a dormitory system. The school gate would only be opened on the afternoon of Thursday, allowing students to go home and rest for two days. Finally, they would return to school for bedtime check before midnight on Sunday.

Metal, wood, water, fire, earth, the sun and the moon are the seven days, that is, five days of school and two days of vacation, which is the same as the week system in later generations.

"Today is Sunday. I will come back and rest for two days. I will return to school after noon the day after tomorrow."

After Zhu Zhanhe finished speaking, he glanced at the two of them strangely: "Since nothing happens, I will go find my father. Is my father in the Chunhe Hall?"

"Your Highness is in the Chunhe Hall." Yi Shiha and Sun Cheng bowed in return. When he looked up again, he saw that Zhu Zhanhe had run away.

The two no longer discussed the previous topic, but each bowed and separated, and Yi Shiha also returned to Chunhe Hall.

He watched Zhu Zhanhe run into Chunhe Hall, and Zhu Gaoxu in the hall also saw Zhu Zhanhe running towards him.

It's the fifth day of March, Zhu Zhanhe's first week in middle school, and his first time home after living in school.

Zhu Gaoxu was still looking forward to his return, so he put down his pen and asked, "Have you paid your regards to your mother?"

"Not yet. Mom is free at any time. Dad, you can't be here, so come here first."

Zhu Zhanhe said, with a smile on his face, which surprised Zhu Gaoxu.

Because of his busy government affairs, the time he spent with any of his heirs was relatively short. Except for Zhu Zhanqi, he was somewhat resentful, and Zhu Zhanhe was no exception.

Now that he has only been to school for a week, he actually looks at him with admiration and something inexplicable.

"Why, are you looking at me like this?"

Zhu Gaoxu leaned on his chair and asked Zhu Zhanhe with interest.

Zhu Zhanhe seemed to have been waiting for a long time. When he saw him asking, he immediately stood up and walked behind him, stretched out his hand to squeeze his shoulders, and at the same time talked about what he had seen and heard in middle school.

There are twenty-five students in a class in the middle school. Because the campus is vast and there are not many students, it is very quiet.

Those noble children who were able to pass into middle school also had some brains, so naturally they would not expose Zhu Zhanhe's identity at will.

Because of this, Zhu Zhanhe finally experienced the joy of studying in school.

“Dad, you don’t know, there are everyone in our class, including the children of chieftain serfs from Xifan and Yunnan, the children of immigrants from the Bohai Sea, and the children of Mongolian, Semu and other military attachés. We all come from all over the world and have different experiences. "

"Students from Jiaozhi say there is no winter all year round and the sea water is blue."

"Yunnan says it's like spring all year round there, and the clouds are very white and big."

"The people in Xifan said they have snow-capped mountains all year round, and the people in Bohai..."

Zhu Zhanhe talked with great interest about many things he had heard from his classmates, which the teachers at the East Palace could not tell him because they had only read about them in books and had not seen them with their own eyes, so they could not tell him. Perception is all based on conjecture.

"Dad, my classmates all admire you and grandpa, saying that without you, they would..."

Zhu Zhanhe conveyed the gratitude of his school classmates. Of course, he did not reveal his identity, but heard those words of gratitude from their mouths as a bystander.

These words were conveyed by Zhu Zhanhe, and even Zhu Gaoxu was happy, because he finally felt that there were changes in the Ming Dynasty.

At the same time, he also felt his yearning for distant places and curiosity about various places from Zhu Zhanhe's mouth.

In this regard, Zhu Gaoxu naturally did not miss this opportunity and slowly said to Zhu Zhanhe:
"Tai Xue is researching steam engines. As long as the steam engine is researched, it can be mounted on a carriage and laid on a track, and it can travel two to three hundred miles a day."

"At that time, if you want to go to the south to see the blue sea, it will only take 20 to 30 days, and if you want to go to the north to see the vast desert, it will only take 20 to 30 days."

"If it can move faster, it may only take half a month or even ten days to take you to those places."

Zhu Gaoxu was talking eloquently, and Zhu Zhanhe's eyes were shining: "I heard from my instructor about a steam engine, but I didn't expect it to be able to drive a car. So what does it eat and drink?"

Facing Zhu Zhanhe's curiosity, Zhu Gaoxu also took the opportunity to explain to him trains, steamships, and many other technologies that may be realized in the future, or that can be touched in Zhu Zhanhe's era.

Gradually, Zhu Zhanhe began to indulge in it, and Zhu Gaoxu continued to paint a picture of the future technological pie of the Ming Dynasty for him...

(End of this chapter)