The Rise of Ming Dynasty 1646

Chapter 580 Undercurrent
"Master," the two were talking, when a servant from Zhu's residence entered the room and bowed to Zhu Jizuo, "Lord Jin Bin Jin please see me."

Although this Jin Bin is only a member of the Zhongshu Keshe of the seventh rank, he is a member of the cabinet and a confidant of Zhu Jizuo.Zhu Gebu immediately ordered: "Let him in."

"Minister of the Pavilion," Jin Bin saluted hurriedly, then glanced at Yan Qiheng in the room, knowing that he was not an outsider, so he hurriedly said, "You let your subordinates keep an eye on the movement of Yuanzhou Mansion. Just now Jiangxi Chief Envoy There is news that His Royal Highness Fuzheng Wang sent someone to reward Cheng Fude because of the rapid implementation of the Yuanzhou Huangzhuang contract, and then recruited him to return to Beijing to report on his work. It is said that Cheng's family is going to be promoted to Jiangxi Chief Commissioner to participate in politics."

The chief envoy participated in politics from a third-rank official, which was equivalent to moving Cheng Fude from the "city level" to the "provincial level".

Yan Qiheng looked at Zhu Jizuo in surprise when he heard the words, "Cabinet, what is the assistant king going to sing? Also, when did the order to promote Cheng Fude come to the cabinet? Why haven't you mentioned it?"

Zhu Jizuo frowned and shook his head, "The cabinet has never received a document from the Ministry of Officials, so it should be a private decree issued by the assistant king. Otherwise, how could the news come back from Jiangxi? I ​​guess no one in the court knows about it."

Jin Bin hurriedly said: "It's not an official order to report to the Ministry of Pavilion. The eunuch only rewarded Cheng Fude with 500 taels of silver with great fanfare, and ordered him to return to Tianfu to report on his work."

"Then this matter of promotion..."

"It's the news that the rewarding eunuch spread out." Jin Bin said, "However, the Jiangxi region has already known about this matter, and everyone thinks that Cheng's promotion has been decided by the imperial court. Now the officials of various states have followed Yuanzhou's example, wanting to To claim credit for the Huangzhuang contract is to not take the initiative to push the matter, but also unwilling to obstruct it."

Zhu Jizuo suddenly understood, "Our auxiliary king is really unconstrained in his actions.

"It is well known in the local area that Cheng Fude is an example of fighting against Huangzhuang. Now that he is being commended for his effective promotion of Huangzhuang, the local officials will definitely think that he has changed to the assistant king. And the Huangzhuang in Yuanzhou is in full swing. It also confirmed everyone's speculation."

Yan Qiheng also frowned and continued: "Besides, the news of Cheng Fude's promotion from all over the world must be believed to have compromised on the matter of Huangzhuang. Who knows that this is just the wind released by the assistant king, and the Ministry of Households and the cabinet know nothing about it. Seriously Good method..."

"It's just," he said in confusion, "Why didn't Cheng Fude stand up and state his position?"

Jin Bin whispered: "Master Yan, I'm afraid that the Cheng family will really fall for the auxiliary king when they see that the momentum is not right..."

In fact, how did they know that Cheng Fude was "escorted" by more than a dozen Jinyi guards and rushed to Nanjing before he returned to his mansion after receiving the reward from the assistant king, without giving him a chance to defend himself.

"We can't wait any longer! Otherwise, the affairs of Huangzhuang in the whole country will become a common practice, and it will be very difficult to turn it over again." Zhu Jizuo said in a deep voice, "Qiheng, Yuandu Yushi has to heat up. You Look for opportunities to hint at him, as long as he stands up, there will be a lot of people in the court to respond."

"Yes, the students will do it now."

……

On a cloud car heading for Nanjing, Zhu Linmi looked at the map of the Huaihe River on the table, without raising her head, and said, "Yuan Pengnian gathered a crowd to make trouble?"

"Yes," Zheng Guangying said, cupping his hands, "every day he leads nearly two hundred courtiers to kneel outside the Meridian Gate, falsely claiming that the Eastern captives should not mess with the court's taxes and taxes. "

"I just left Nanjing for a few days, and they couldn't hold back anymore." Zhu Linmi smiled slightly, "But it's better to jump out earlier, otherwise there is really no reason to deal with him."

Zheng Guangying said again: "Your Highness, according to the information obtained by my subordinates, Yuan Pengnian seems to be supported by a cabinet member. This person is most likely Master Zhu, Minister of the Ministry of Rites."

"No wonder there was such a big fight." Zhu Linmi shook her head and said, "Zhu Jizuo can be regarded as loyal. When the first emperor, he strongly reprimanded Zheng Zhilong and did some practical things. It's just that once his own interests are involved, he can't sit still. It's a pity to live."

"Your Highness, look at this..."

"It's okay, if you love to kneel, let them kneel. You hurry back to Nanjing first, and check some important things for me."

After Zhu Linming gave her orders, she asked Zheng Guangying, "That's it, how long will it take to find out?"

Dudu Zheng of Jin Yiwei thought for a while, cupped his hands and said: "Returning to Your Highness, in fact, the courtiers who have served in the court for more than half a year have already found out the bottom line, and the rest can be checked in about half a month."

"What if you only want the fifth grade or above?"

"Within six days, the subordinate will be able to report to His Highness."

"I'll help you get rid of some more people. In four days, I'll check them all out."

"Subordinates obey orders!"

After Zheng Guangying left, Zhu Linmi asked someone to bring a pen and paper, wrote a secret letter to Xu Erlu and Hong Si each, and sent a horse back to Nanjing.

After finishing these, he raised his hand and knocked on the carriage, "Shi Lin, let the coachman go slower, and give Mr. Yuan more time to perform."

But Xu Erlu and Hong Si received Zhu Linming's secret letter that night, and they immediately acted separately.The former contacted Yao Qisheng and other courtiers promoted from Gezhi Xue, and wrote letters to impeach Chang Caiwen of Fenyi County, Lin Min of Wanzai County, and other local officials who obstructed the contracting of Huangzhuang.The latter convened the main officials of the Propaganda Department overnight and agreed on a massive propaganda plan.

……

Four days later, the assistant king who left Beijing to inspect the defense finally returned to the court, just in time for the great court meeting.

The air in the court hall seemed to be so tense that it was about to burst. As soon as the ministers had finished the ceremony, Yuan Pengnian jumped out impatiently and said loudly: "His Royal Highness Qi Fuzheng, recently the eunuch Feng In the name of Huangzhuang, Kang wantonly encloses land in various places, embezzles and extorts bribes from it, and the people's resentment boils!"

The reason why he is so excited is not entirely because the contract of Huangzhuang has caused a sharp drop in the rent of 94 good farmland under his name, but more because most of the officials in the DPRK and China have opinions on this matter.He calculated that if he could take the lead to make the assistant king change his original intention, then he would be regarded as a civil and military benefactor of the court, and his prestige would grow day by day in the future.

In addition, not long ago, the Zhu Ge department had spoken up and would support this matter, so he had no scruples.

Judging from the history of courtiers' struggles with the emperor in the Ming Dynasty, since the Yongle Dynasty, as long as more than [-]% of the officials in the court agree, the emperor will basically give in.

So this time may be the same result.

He took a breath, and raised his voice a little more, "Your Highness, please stop the actions of Huangzhuang immediately, punish Feng Kang severely, and calm the anger of the public!"

As soon as he finished speaking, forty or fifty courtiers stood up from all around, and said impassionedly: "Master Yuan's words are very true."

"Eunuchs harm the country, don't let them go!"

"My minister agrees."

"The minister agrees..."

"To appease the public's anger?" Zhu Linmei signaled the officials to be quiet, and then smiled, "The contracting of Huangzhuang has won the support of people from all over the country, and there is an endless stream of people who have signed the contract. Recently, tens of thousands of people from the north of the Yangtze River have heard the news and come to plant the land of Huangzhuang. , where is the public outrage?"

He smiled as he spoke, "It seems to me that you are the only ones who are angry."

(End of this chapter)