Linxia

Chapter 238, Storm

Huai'an.

In the evening, dark clouds hung low and a strong wind howled across the garden. The trees in the yard swayed wildly and the grass leaves tumbled.

Guaiguai's hair stood up in the wind. He jumped nimbly into the pavilion and sat down next to Qiuqiu and her two siblings who were playing chess in the pavilion.

At this time, Fang Tai also returned from the factory.

He has been learning how to do business recently, and when it came to the practical stage, Fang Lin began to hand over the factory to him and gradually delegated power. Mistakes would be made in this process, but business is all about feeding in this way. Fang Tai grew very fast and made obvious progress.

Fang Tai straightened his square scarf that was messed up by the wind and walked to the front of the corridor. Fang Tai said, "Dad, it looks like it's going to rain heavily. Will there be another flood this year?"

"We have organized the people to dredge and dig drainage ditches outside the city. Even if there are heavy rains for several days, it will not be as serious as the dam burst six years ago. As for ordinary disasters, we will provide disaster relief and relocate the people overseas."

In recent years, due to the disaster that occurred in the area along the river outside the city, there have been many floods. Only by dredging every year can the flood water be discharged to reduce the danger.

However, this kind of dredging only treats the symptoms and not the root cause. When floods occur, the drainage ditches will be blocked by siltation. They basically have to be dredged every year, which costs a lot of money.

But if it is not dredged, once a flood occurs, it will be very terrible.

——I can only say that many things in the world are like this. If you miss the most appropriate window and make the wrong choice, the follow-up will be very troublesome. Even if you spend ten or a hundred times the money to make up for it, the effect will be far worse than before.

"What Dad said is true. We have done everything we can and tried our best, and leave the rest to God. This is what Dad said, '30% is determined by fate, and 70% depends on hard work.'" Fang Tai said.

Fang Lin glanced at his eldest son and knew what he saw. He was trying to comfort him indirectly: "Compared to your second brother, you are a wise but foolish person. You know how to hide your shortcomings. Dad is confident in you."

He did not say more about this, and changed the subject: "As for the truth you said, Dad understands it. However, there are some things in this world that cannot be resolved just by trying your best. Just like what Dad has been worried about these days, your uncle Dong in the capital..."

Fang Tai understood what his father meant. His father and Uncle Dong knew each other since childhood and had a friendship of nearly twenty years. He couldn't feel at ease with just a sentence like 'I'll do my best to save you and leave the rest to fate'. This was too much concern.

At this time, Butler Deng came hurriedly and said, "Master, you have instructed that if there is a letter from the capital, the first thing you should do is..."

"Oh? Give it to me quickly!"

Fang Lin took the letter and asked his eldest son to pack it. He hurried to the study, opened the letter, and saw that it was indeed from Zhang Ruian, saying that Dong Zugao had been rescued. He then breathed a sigh of relief, feeling as if a stone had been hanging in his heart for many days.

"Brother Dong has survived this disaster, not only has he saved his life, but he will also be transferred to other places to serve as the prefect of Huai'an?" He was delighted.

Although he didn't really care who the prefect of Huai'an was, if the other party was really disobedient, he would just be a figurehead. But if it was someone like Dong Zugao with whom he had a tacit understanding, it would naturally be better. They could work together and complement each other, and the efficiency of many things could be greatly improved.

Fang Lin continued to read. In the letter, Zhang Ruian mentioned Wei Zhongxian's attitude. The other party was grateful for the kindness of the late emperor and he felt that he was benefiting from him. Even in this matter, his contribution was limited and Wei Zhongxian was doing it more for his face.

This made him recall the time when he went to the capital to meet Emperor Hongtai, and the middle-aged, white-faced, beardless man next to him with a complicated expression.

"Let's not talk about Wei Zhongxian's merits and demerits. It's true that he was cruel and ruthless, but he was also a man who valued friendship and loyalty. He had a personal charm, so it's no wonder that he was able to build such a large force."

Later in the letter, Zhang Ruian briefly mentioned his own mother's death and that he was about to leave Beijing and return to his hometown to attend the coffin.

"This matter...Alas!"

Fang Lin couldn't help sighing. In this world, there are truly extraordinary women like Hua Mulan and Liang Hongyu, who are heroic heroines, and there are indeed chaste mothers like Xu Shu's mother and Yue Fei's mother.

However, Fang Lin admired Zhang's mother, but he criticized Zhang Ruian's mother for defecting to Wei Zhongxian, and he did not agree with her comparing Zhang Ruian with Qin Hui and others.

People like Qin Hui surrendered and sold out his country; but Wei Zhongxian was always tough and iron-fisted towards the Liaodong Tartars, and achieved remarkable results. How could they be the same?
Of course, Wei Zhongxian was guilty of corruption and murder of innocent scholars, which cannot be excused, but how good were those civil servants?
Fang Lin can say responsibly that civil servants like Han Yuanjing and Pu Yuanhao are a minority. Ninety-nine percent of the civil servants in Daxia are as corrupt as Wei Zhongxian!

No, they are not only greedy, but also incompetent!
The only thing that is stronger than Wei Zhongxian is that these people control the mouthpiece of public opinion, are good at framing and whitewashing themselves, giving people the appearance that they are very dignified.

“Reputation kills!”

Fang Lin absorbed the experience and lessons of this incident, and gained a deeper understanding of the truth that 'only reputation and status cannot be borrowed from others'.

As he sighed, he suddenly felt something was wrong and found that there was something fishy about this matter: "It's not my conspiracy theory, but the result of Zhang's mother bringing this matter here is that Wei Zhongxian lost a think tank and strategist, and his own power was reduced... Thinking more carefully, how could Zhang's mother hear rumors in the countryside? Why did she come here at this time? It's hard to say that someone is not targeting Zhang Ruian, or targeting Wei Zhongxian behind Zhang Ruian!"

This kind of thing is too easy for someone with ulterior motives to do something. Given Zhang's mother's personality, they could spread rumors, add fuel to the fire, and slightly guide public opinion. It would be completely impossible to trace them even if they wanted to.

"Is this another counterattack by the civil servants?"

Fang Lin murmured. For matters like this, he never hesitated to speculate on people's minds with the greatest malice. As for the lack of evidence, he could just use his own conscience.

"Zhang Ruian was smart enough to think of this, but he refused Wei Zhongxian's offer of love. I think he did it out of filial piety to his mother, but also because he was affected by this incident... Zhang Ruian must be extremely regretful about his previous choice."

'Back to the court, Wei Zhongxian lost Zhang Ruian, a wise man. At the same time, the civil officials will be more cautious because of the failure of the petition... There is no reason to be a thief for a thousand days. It is easy to dodge an open spear, but it is difficult to guard against an arrow from the dark.'

Thinking of this, he frowned, "But at this moment, Wei Zhongxian cannot fall. If he falls, the world may collapse..."

Wei Zhongxian suppressed the civil officials, suppressed the voices of "We cannot only exploit the Jianghuai area, we must treat everyone equally and increase taxes on other areas", suppressed local officials who embezzled disaster relief funds, and at the same time made money to provide military pay for Liaodong and promote capable military generals.

If Wei Zhongxian fell, and there was no one with a clear mind and strong skills to take over, these measures would be overturned, and the consequences would be unimaginable. Apart from other things, after Wei Zhongxian fell, new political forces came to power and had to face the problem of an empty treasury. Taxes would inevitably be levied, but the Single Whip Law already included all taxes. If the tax system was changed again, it would cause great chaos. What's worse is that the official system of Daxia is now corrupt. If there is no more deterrence from Wei Zhongxian's killing of so many people, once the court increases taxes by one cent, the officials below will dare to collect five or ten cents in the name of the court. This will make the situation worse. It is an unbearable burden for Daxia, which is already suffering from severe disasters and is about to collapse. The consequence is that the people in various places will inevitably rise up!

What is even more terrible is the military system. Wei Zhongxian promoted a group of capable generals. If Wei Zhongxian fell, would these people be regarded as eunuchs and be liquidated? Wei Zhongxian was also cracking down on those who were not paying the soldiers, and finally made the army have a real quota. If Wei Zhongxian fell, given the nature of those civil servants, they would only pay 30% or 40% of the 100% of the soldiers' salary. In this case, can the army tolerate it?
Let me put it this way, in terms of military pay, the army used to falsely report the number of people, and there were many people who drew empty salaries. The court did not pay the full amount, and they could barely get by relying on those empty salary quotas. Now that the actual quota has been implemented, if they continue to only pay 30% to 40% of the salaries as before, the soldiers will really not be able to get by. Do you really think they will not riot or rebel?
Therefore, the downfall of Wei Zhongxian was most likely due to: chaos among the people and the army, the covetous Jurchens of Liaodong took advantage of the situation and invaded, and Daxia was on the verge of national destruction!
"The stability and balance of Daxia is extremely fragile now, and Wei Zhongxian is the key point in this fragile balance. If this point collapses, it is likely to trigger a chain reaction of terror."

It has to be admitted that Emperor Hongtai had a good vision: Wei Zhongxian was skillful and capable, but he was a eunuch and had no balls, so he could not threaten the imperial power. He was really an excellent candidate.

Fang Lin could imagine that if Wei Zhongxian was allowed to control the government for another 20 to 30 years and get through the worst period of the Little Ice Age, and as the country's strength grew, industrial and commercial taxes in the Jianghuai region would increase day by day, and problems could be solved during development, maybe Daxia could really be revived.

But would God give Daxia such a long time? Or would the civil service group allow Wei Zhongxian to control the government for 20 to 30 years? What would the civil service officials do after failing to write a letter to Emperor Tianshun and being forced into a desperate situation?

"If the incident involving Zhang's mother was really the work of a civil servant, this targeting is only to weaken Wei Zhongxian's wings. The real killer move must be elsewhere... We must discard redundant information and see the essence through the phenomenon!"

Fang Lin seemed to have thought of something and narrowed his eyes. "A large part of Wei Zhongxian's power comes from the emperor's support. If you want to move Wei Zhongxian, you can't get around the emperor, Wei Zhongxian's backer. There are two ways I can think of. One way is to persuade the emperor, Wei Zhongxian's backer, to give up Wei Zhongxian. This method has been tried by the civil service group this time and failed miserably. In addition, there is another way, which is..."

At this moment——

Rumble!
Outside the window, thunder exploded and lightning streaked across the sky. The entire sky was shattered, like porcelain covered with spider webs. A moment later, another muffled thunder exploded, filling the gap between the broken lightning in the sky, and the entire sky fell into endless darkness.

Then, loud bang, the sky suddenly darkened even though it was evening, as if night had suddenly arrived and you couldn't see your hand in front of you. In the darkness, there was only a violent storm that seemed to destroy everything.

……

Capital.

Fifty-three civil officials wrote a letter to the emperor to express their dissatisfaction, and the conspiracy was exposed. Wei Zhongxian then launched a bloody counterattack and killed many people.

For a time, in the capital, the reputation of this "Nine Thousand Year Old" was unparalleled. The civil servants who had been stirring up trouble among the people and demonizing Wei Zhongxian all stopped for a moment, apparently because they were afraid of Wei Zhongxian's butcher knife.

However, the hatred brought about by fighting violence with violence will not disappear, but will only be hidden deeper and more covertly.

……

That night, there was a heavy storm. In a small courtyard in the capital, the two had a secret meeting.

"Your father was a Grand Secretary of Wuying Palace, but he was persecuted by the eunuch party and his body was thrown into the market. The cruelty of the Wei dogs is simply outrageous."

The man paused for a moment and continued, "Behind this matter, your Majesty is also unable to distinguish between loyalty and treachery, and right and wrong. It is really chilling!"

"What exactly do you want to say?" The person opposite had a calm expression, but there was a hint of resentment in his tone, and it was unclear who he was addressing.

"Master Tao, don't be anxious, don't be anxious. Let me ask you, do you want revenge? The world has suffered from Wei Zhongxian for a long time, but there is nothing we can do. The power of eunuch comes from your majesty... If you want to overthrow this eunuch, you must..."

"You want to..." Mr. Tao on the opposite side seemed to have thought of something when he heard this. He took a deep breath and pointed at the other party in shock.

"Mr. Tao, just understand. There is no need to speak it out."

The man said slowly, "You must know that the emperor is also a human being. Throughout history, there are many emperors who died in strange ways. For example, in this dynasty, there were emperors who died in a fire in the palace; there were emperors who died of heart disease at a young age just over a month after ascending the throne; or there were emperors who swallowed elixirs and died on a woman's belly..."

"But... the emperor has no son. If... the world will be in chaos!"

"The emperor's younger brother, Prince Xin, has the potential to be a saintly emperor."

Emperor Tianshun's younger brother, Prince Xin, had not received any training as a crown prince and lacked political wisdom, so this person was said to have the "qualities to become a holy emperor."

What is the Holy Son of Heaven?
The holy emperor rules the country by doing nothing, or to put it bluntly, he is easily fooled. The country must rely on civil servants like them to govern.

The person opposite was silent and did not speak, seeming to be thinking.

He was not thinking about the consequences of overthrowing Wei Zhongxian - people like them were mysteriously confident and firmly believed that everything would be better if Wei Zhongxian was overthrown. It can only be said that these "elites" of Daxia were not stupid, but... they were bad at heart.

What this person was thinking about was the consequences of doing such a big thing.

"Zhang Ruian, that eunuch party lackey has been tricked out. Now is a great opportunity... Your father was once a university scholar, so he must know something about the people in the palace..."

"Such a major event, if it happens... it will be a disaster that will wipe out the entire clan!"

"We don't want you to do anything, just provide some information... Besides, we won't do that blatantly... We're just creating some accidents... You know, it's easy to protect someone, but it's easy to harm someone. There are thieves who can steal for a thousand days, but there's no such thing as a thief who can guard against thieves for a thousand days. Is this the truth?"

The man showed a sly smile on his face. "Also, Mr. Tao, don't think too much about this matter. Such an important matter sometimes only requires one or two key people... In addition, after this incident, we have learned a lesson and will not act rashly. We will be very patient. In a year or two, we will always wait for an opportunity... Then, let nature take its course, and accidents will happen naturally..."

The heavy rain poured down, hitting the ground with a loud noise, drowning out the faint, intermittent and unreal sounds like those of mosquitoes and flies, washing away all traces silently.

……

(End of this chapter)