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Chapter 1422. On the way to the banquet.

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    Since being appointed as the Southeast Patrol Envoy, Huo Zhengyuan has been very aware of the sensitivity and importance of his position.  He could mobilize an astronomical number of various resources at will, and he could also communicate and contact without authorization with overseas forces such as the Dutch East India Company, the Taiwanese Zheng family, and various Southeast Asian countries. He could also gradually monopolize the Ming Dynasty's ocean trade, and cooperate with the capital center  Thousands of miles apart Under such circumstances, as long as Huo Zhengyuan is slightly more ambitious, has better luck, and has stronger means, let alone setting up his own business without Zhao Junchen, he may even have a chance to break away from the control of the Ming Dynasty and follow the example of Zheng Zheng in Taiwan.  The family is divided into one party.  Precisely because Huo Zhengyuan knew this very well, the first thing he did after he was appointed as the Southeast Patrol Envoy was to dismiss all his staff. Then he borrowed Ouyang Bo and Qian from Zhao Junchen on the pretext that he was alone and unable to support himself.  Bo Dao and Guo Min, three aides of the Zhao family, assisted him, and they also left their children in the capital to be taken care of by Zhao Junchen.  After Huo Zhengyuan set up the general framework of the Southeast Patrol Office, he shared the decision-making power with Ouyang Bo, the financial power with Qian Bodao, and the diplomatic power with Guo Min.  All these measures are to make Zhao Junchen feel at ease.  But precisely because of this, after Jiang Zheng was seriously injured and before the three Zhao family aides arrived in Nanjing to join him, Huo Zhengyuan really lacked help. Although he formulated a series of plans, he could not implement them on his own.  these plans.  Therefore, when the three Zhao family aides arrived in Nanjing, although Huo Zhengyuan knew that they were exhausted after traveling all night and wading through water, he still immediately assigned various tasks to them to keep them busy.  got up.  Huo Zhengyuan had a hunch that among the various forces in Nanjing, Zhou Shangjing's various plans were completely ready, and Zhu Hejian had also launched actions and counterattacks in full swing.  Comparatively speaking, because of Huo Zhengyuan's previous hesitation, "Zhao Party" has been several steps slower in its actions and must speed up the pace.  * After more than half an hour, seeing that the time was approaching evening, Huo Zhengyuan finally stopped his busy work, temporarily bid farewell to the three aides of the Zhao family, left his temporary residence in Nanjing City, and left the only people around him  Huo Changle, one of the two remaining confidants, hired two sedan bearers, and then took the sedan to Zhanyuan for the banquet.  After sitting in the sedan, Huo Zhengyuan was in a closed space where no one was paying attention. He finally took off his steadfast disguise, and hesitation and fear gradually appeared on his face.  A country is easy to change, but a person's nature is hard to change.  Seeing the deaths of his confidants one after another, Huo Zhengyuan felt that he was in the midst of a dangerous situation, and the fear deep in his heart became more and more intense. The firmness and toughness he showed in front of Qian Lai and the three aides of the Zhao family  , to a large extent, it¡¯s just support.  ¡°If he can keep holding on, and the determination and toughness he shows can eventually reap good rewards, then Huo Zhengyuan may be able to truly change his character.  But now, Huo Zhengyuan still has not completely eradicated the cowardly instinct deep in his heart, and it cannot be eradicated easily. He is just constantly forcing himself to move forward.  Especially when he thought that after arriving at Zhanyuan, he would have to confront powerful figures such as the seventh prince Zhu Hejian, the prince's grand master Wang Baoren, the leader of the Jiangnan Jin gentry Song Chengren, the Nanjing garrison eunuch Xi Cheng, and even the chief minister of the cabinet Zhou Shangjing, etc., Huo Zhengyuan felt  Heart trembling, body stiff.  Just like that, clearly feeling the cowardice emerging deep in his heart, Huo Zhengyuan couldn't help but laugh at himself and shook his head, then slowly closed his eyes and began to sort out his inner thoughts, hoping to get rid of the fear in his heart before arriving at Zhanyuan.  Suppress it.  However, as soon as Huo Zhengyuan closed his eyes, he felt that his sedan had stopped halfway and landed on the spot after a slight vibration.  Later, before Huo Zhengyuan could ask about the situation, a sedan bearer opened the sedan curtain without permission and reported: "Master Huo, the carriage of the Song family is just ahead. He invites you to ride with him."  At this time, the bearer's attitude seemed to be respectful, but in fact it was an unquestionable notice.  Huo Zhengyuan immediately frowned, raised his head and gave the bearer a cold look.  ¡°Obviously, the two bearers hired by Huo Zhengyuan were actually members of the Song family, so they sent him directly to Song Chengren¡¯s carriage and stopped the sedan without asking.  In a way, this is also a warning from Song Chengren, who wants Huo Zhengyuan to understand that there are Song family spies all over Nanjing, so Huo Zhengyuan cannot secretly make small moves without telling Zhou Shangjing, and he has absolutely no ability to cooperate withJiangnan Jinshen Group, represented by Shangjing, competes with it.  After understanding this, Huo Zhengyuan did not waste time quarreling with the sedan bearer. Instead, he stood up and left the sedan with a cold face, and walked towards the Song family carriage not far ahead.  At the same time, the head of the Song family, Song Chengren, had already raised his hand to lift the curtain of the carriage. He waved with a friendly smile and said, "Zi Gu, come in quickly! I have been waiting for you for a long time. We are traveling in the same carriage, and we can chat along the way."  Reminiscing about old times." After seeing Song Chengren, Huo Zhengyuan also suppressed the coldness on his face, bowed his hands and said, "Senior Song, I haven't seen you for a long time. Are you still in good health?" "Haha! I eat well and sleep well. I am in good health.  I feel like I can live another ten years." Just like that, between greetings and chatting, Huo Zhengyuan had already boarded the carriage and leaned into the carriage.  Then, as the carriage shook, it was already heading towards Zhanyuan again.  Song Chengren still had a cordial attitude, looked at Huo Zhengyuan with a smile, and said reproachfully: "Zi Gu, we have known each other for a long time. How come it has been nearly three months since you arrived in Nanjing, but you have never thought of visiting Dongyuan?  "I have to take the initiative to stop you?" Huo Zhengyuan quickly apologized: "I have always respected you, and I have always wanted to go to the East Garden to see you, but the more I respect you, the less I dare.  You can visit at will, but if there is a dispute due to different positions between the two parties, the junior will not know how to deal with it. "Song Chengren sneered and said, "Don't say such things in front of me.  Yes! Although you, Zhou Shoufu, Wang Baoren, and Zhao Gechen have different personalities and styles, they are essentially the same type of people. They are used to deciding victory or defeat through secret room planning.  You are convinced of the truth, so you always tend to hide your thoughts, emotions, plans, and even your whereabouts. You must keep everything secret and be unpredictable at all times, right? " Seeing Song Chengren directly pointed out his own truth?  Huo Zhengyuan was a little embarrassed at the thought and didn't know how to respond for a while.  Song Chengren slowly shook his head disapprovingly: "I am a young man, and I am always not used to this kind of thing. That's why I retired bravely and took the initiative to return to my hometown. It's a pity I have some promising members from the Song family.  The younger generations all have the same temperament. They regard Zhou Shoufu as a role model in life and deliberately imitate every move they make. Instead, they think that I, the head of the old family, are not promising enough" Having said this, Song Chengren's expression was full of resentment, as if  He was extremely dissatisfied with Zhou Shangjing.  Huo Zhengyuan smiled apologetically as he listened to Song Chengren's complaints, but he also disagreed in his heart.  The reason why Song Chengren resigned bravely and took the initiative to return home was not because he could not adapt to the intrigues in the temple, but because the "Zhou Party" was caught by Emperor Deqing at that time, so he took the initiative to take the blame.  ¡° If Song Chengren really didn¡¯t approve of Zhou Shangjing¡¯s style, he would never entrust all the qualified juniors of the Song family to Zhou Shangjing¡¯s guidance.  On the other side, after Song Chengren complained for a few words, he changed the subject and said again: "However, although this kind of unpredictable behavior is not a good thing, it is even worse if it is too much and too much.  It¡¯s best to reduce big things to trivial matters in this world. We should listen to thunder in silent places and see blooming flowers in colorless places. If we make things bigger, we will lose control of the situation.  , breeds all kinds of unpredictable variables, and even those who add fuel to the flames will also be affected. If you are not careful, you will hurt others and yourself, and your wisdom will be misled by your wisdom Similar things have been taught countless lessons since ancient times!  " Having said this, Song Chengren stared at Huo Zhengyuan closely and asked: "I heard that the 'United Shipping Company' now wants to make the matter bigger, claiming that the conflict between the wealthy Jin gentry and the eunuchs of Huangzhuang has seriously affected  In order to ensure the normal order of all parties, we are ready to lead merchants to go on strike, organize river workers to strike, and call on students to go on strike to urge His Highness the Seventh Prince and Zhou Shoufu to resolve the matter as soon as possible. Isn¡¯t that right? " It is obvious that Zai Qianlai agreed to Huo Zhengyuan's plan?  , began to mobilize the power of the "United Shipping Line" to carry out operations, Song Chengren received the news almost immediately, so he met with Huo Zhengyuan secretly, just to persuade Huo Zhengyuan to stop immediately.  Huo Zhengyuan was not surprised at all that Song Chengren received the news so quickly.  "United Shipping Company" has quickly transformed into a behemoth in just one year. The key lies in being open to all rivers and being inclusive, whether it is Dai Fengfu with a "Zhou Party" background, Bai Mingyu with a background in the inner court, or someone like Qian  This kind of background is slightly weaker, with the Nanjing garrison eunuch as his backer.High-level businessmen joined it one after another in pursuit of huge profits.  These wealthy businessmen have different backgrounds and backgrounds, but they are all united by the huge profits of the "United Shipping Company". Naturally, they quickly burst out with amazing potential.  However, these wealthy businessmen are only united in pursuing profits, but their backgrounds and origins are different after all. At the same time, they are also spies and insiders deployed by various forces. It is impossible for them to do anything other than making money.  United.  Therefore, when Huo Zhengyuan drives the "United Shipping Company" to do things, it is impossible to keep the secret, and it is easy for big figures like Song Chengren to know the news.  Huo Zhengyuan had expected and prepared for it. After hearing Song Chengren's question, he smiled and nodded: "I also heard the news, but I don't think it's a bad thing! In this world, not everything should be trivialized.  The so-called trivialization of big things into trivial matters is essentially covering up the matter and not really solving the problem. Only by making the matter completely bigger and unable to end can all parties make up their minds and truly start to solve the problem.  Question! In the territory of Southern Zhili, the conflict between the wealthy Jin gentry and the eunuchs of Huangzhuang has been going on for a long time, and it has become increasingly intensified. In recent years, I have always heard rumors that they are fighting over water sources, tenant farmers, and farmland, and they still happen from time to time.  The small-scale fighting and casualties may cause a bigger mess at some point. In my opinion while the Chief Assistant and His Highness the Seventh Prince are both in Nanjing now, it would be better to take the opportunity to completely resolve this matter.  "Seeing that Huo Zhengyuan ignored his warning and still wanted to use the "United Shipping Company" to make things worse, Song Chengren couldn't help but his face darkened, and he warned again: "Scholar Huo, those who play with fire will burn themselves!  , you should have deeply felt the crisis of the situation in Nanjing. The trampling the night before yesterday, the flood outside the city last night No one knows what kind of trouble will happen next. You are a smart person, so why bother?  Let yourself be involved in this turmoil and get deeper and deeper?" Huo Zhengyuan shook his head and said: "It is because this junior is not stupid, so he has realized that he wants to actively participate in this turmoil and try to guide the direction of the situation!  Only the younger generation will arouse the fear of all forces and have the opportunity to bargain with all forces. On the contrary, it will have a better chance to protect themselves and those around them Otherwise, the junior will be just an insignificant role in the eyes of all forces.  Random beatings and threats are used to scare the monkeys. Even if they stay away from the incident, innocent people will continue to be affected by various accidents." After saying that, Huo Zhengyuan finally stopped hiding his edge, looked at Song Chengren, and said leisurely: "  Take Senior Song as an example. You just blamed the junior for not visiting the East Garden. However, with your influence in Nanjing City, you should have known the whereabouts of the junior during this time, and you also did not summon the junior to meet  But the junior just made a move today, and you took the initiative to show up to meet me, hoping to reach an agreement with the junior and resolve the misunderstanding. Doesn¡¯t it show that the junior¡¯s idea is correct?¡± Song Chengren took a deep look at Huo Zhengyuan and nodded.  : "It seems that Zhou Shoufu's assessment is correct. Zigu, you have really changed your temperament! You just said that you made such a noise just because you wanted to attract the attention of all parties and bargain with all parties But you don't know.  What kind of things are you going to bargain on?" Huo Zhengyuan stopped covering up and directly stated the conditions, saying: "The land of Jiangnan has always been prosperous in culture and talented people. We, Zhao Gechen, have always been eager to contribute to Jiangnan Shilin.  It is a pity that whether it is the Nanjing Imperial College or the Nanjing Inspectorate, the two core yamen of Jiangnan Shilin, they always kept away from Zhao Gechen. Even if Zhao Gechen wanted to help, he could not find him.  Get a grip!  So Zhao Gechen hopes that Zhou Shoufu can give up the two positions of Nanjing Imperial College and Supervisor to Zhao Gechen. As for the Nanjing Inspectorate, Zhao Gechen also hopes to occupy a place, at least to have the position of deputy capital censor!  " Song Chengren couldn't help but frown after hearing this. He completely stopped his kindness and kindness and said coldly: "What a big appetite!  Are you, Minister Zhao, afraid of indigestion?  Many things in this world cannot be obtained by having power or money, but by those who are virtuous. I don't think Zhao Gechen has this qualification!  ¡± * Although the central government wants to take back power from the Six Ministries of Nanjing, the power of the Nanjing Imperial College and the Nanjing Supervisory Office will still continue. In fact, the Nanjing Imperial College and the Nanjing Supervisory Office have their own special features. The imperial court  The central government cannot take back the power of these two yamen. If it takes back the power of these two yamen, it will seem to further strengthen the centralization of power, but in fact it will cause greater troubles. Among them, the parallel establishment of Nanjing Imperial College and Beijing Imperial College is the most serious.  It's because ofThe consideration of balancing the north and south regions can effectively resolve the regional conflicts between students from the south and the students from the north. The Nanjing Procuratorate is a place where the court officials can go to retire and regroup, which can significantly reduce the number of people in the court.  The intensity of partisanship.  The power of these two yamen is not small. Nanjing Imperial College controls Yingtian Academy, the first of the four major academies in the Ming Dynasty, Nanjing Gongyuan, the largest in the Ming Dynasty, and Jiangnan Book Company, which has the strongest technical strength and influence.  The powers and responsibilities of the Nanjing Inspectorate are exactly the same as those of the Beijing Inspectorate, with the power of supervision and impeachment.  Once Zhao Junchen is allowed to take the opportunity to infiltrate these two yamen, Zhao Junchen will have the opportunity to guide the public opinion of the entire Jiangnan region.  During the Ming Dynasty, nearly half of the court officials and private Confucian scholars were born in Jiangnan. Therefore, once Zhao Junchen had the ability to guide the public opinion of the government and the public in the Jiangnan region, it was equivalent to having the ability to control the public opinion of the world.  Naturally, the "Zhou Party" will not cede this kind of power to Zhao Junchen, not even in the slightest.  What's more, Zhao Junchen's appetite is so big that he actually wants to seize the three positions of the Nanjing Imperial College and the Supervisor at the same time, as well as the Deputy Capital Censor of the Nanjing Inspectorate!  The Imperial College Dianbu is in charge of official documents and memorials, the Imperial College Jiancheng is in charge of academic regulations and supervisory affairs, and the Deputy Capital Censor is the second-ranking figure in the Supervisory Council.  With such a huge appetite, Zhao Junchen not only wants to infiltrate the Nanjing Imperial College and the Nanjing Inspectorate?  He is so ambitious that he wants to completely control these two yamen!  * Seeing that Song Chengren rejected his offer almost without hesitation and was not even willing to bargain with him, Huo Zhengyuan asked: "Senior Song, don't you need to ask Zhou Shoufu for his opinion before expressing your stance?" Song Chengren looked coldly.  , said: "No need to ask! There is no way that Zhou Shoufu will agree to such a thing!" Huo Zhengyuan sighed: "In this case, we can only rely on our own abilities! However, the cooperation between the 'Zhou Party' and the 'Zhao Party'  It will still be maintained, hindering His Royal Highness the Seventh Prince's smooth access to the throne, and he cannot be allowed to secure the throne. This matter is the joint will of Zhao Gechen and Zhou Shoufu, so this junior will not hold back Zhou Shoufu in this matter!  Please rest assured, Senior Song!" Song Chengren's face softened slightly and he nodded lightly.  But before Song Chengren could answer, Huo Zhengyuan said again: "Actually, this junior also knows that the conflict between the wealthy gentry and the eunuchs of Huangzhuang in Southern Zhili is essentially a trap set by Zhou Shoufu for His Highness the Seventh Prince, forcing him to  His Highness the Seventh Prince chooses to support one party, and then completely offends the other party! If His Highness the Seventh Prince chooses to support the eunuchs of Huangzhuang, he will lose the popularity of the Jiangnan Jin Gentry. If the Seventh Prince chooses to support the Jin Gentry wealthy family, he will have to fight with the Inner Court Master.  The prison is separated from the heart and morality Based on the current situation, His Royal Highness the Seventh Prince will most likely support the eunuchs of Huangzhuang. Therefore, Zhou Shoufu's follow-up plan is probably to fully support the wealthy Jin gentry family and completely win this conflict with the eunuchs of Huangzhuang. On the one hand,  It can once again consolidate his appeal among the gentry and wealthy families. On the other hand, it can also severely damage the prestige of the seventh prince in the inner court, making the inner court forces doubt that the seventh prince cannot protect them, and weakening the inner court forces' support for the seventh prince  ¡­ By that time, His Royal Highness the Seventh Prince not only aroused the collective hostility of the Jiangnan Jin gentry, but also could no longer convince the inner court forces. Even if he succeeded to the throne, he would not be able to secure his position Zhou Shoufu¡¯s calculation was extremely clever.  The junior is deeply admired, so the junior is also willing to contribute to Zhou Shoufu's plan!" As he spoke, Huo Zhengyuan took out a booklet from his arms and handed it to Song Chengren with a smile: "Since this time, the junior has also been  He has never been idle and carefully collected some of the crimes committed by the eunuchs of Huangzhuang. As long as these crimes are made public to the world, I believe that those eunuchs of Huangzhuang will soon become street rats that everyone wants to beat. Even His Highness the Seventh Prince cannot  Protecting them can be regarded as a little help for Zhou Shoufu's follow-up plan." Song Chengren looked at Huo Zhengyuan's half-smiling look and felt that the matter was not simple. After taking the booklet, he immediately lowered his head to read it.  A moment later, Song Chengren¡¯s expression changed drastically!  In Song Chengren¡¯s opinion, what benefit is there in the booklet Huo Zhengyuan handed him?  It is clearly an extremely sharp knife that can hurt others and yourself!  Just like Huo Zhengyuan said, as long as the crimes in this book are made public, the eunuchs of Huangzhuang will immediately become street rats that everyone calls for beating. By then, not to mention the seventh prince Zhu Hejian, even the Emperor Deqing  There is no way to protect them.  However, Huo Zhengyuan said that all the crimes in this booklet were collected by him over this period of time, but this is absolutely a lie!  In fact, the crimes described in this booklet were never crimes.Secrets never need to be collected carefully, they are secrets that everyone knows.  But if some secrets are already known to everyone, but no one has ever been willing to stand up and publicly disclose them, it means that these "secrets" are too involved. Once they are publicly disclosed, it will inevitably trigger a war.  Huge waves!  In short, some things won¡¯t weigh more than four ounces if they don¡¯t go on the scale, and they won¡¯t weigh more than a thousand kilograms if they go on the scale!  For example, this is what happened when the eunuchs of Huangzhuang fabricated imperial edicts! ?¡­ ?¡­ ?¡­
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