novelonline Chapter 937 Critical Point
Chapter 937 Critical Point
Chapter 937 Critical Point
Gu Zu's official position was obtained with the help of Mei Kejia, Marquis of Pinghai. Because of his high status, his rank was continuously promoted and finally reached the second rank, which was equivalent to a minister in the capital.
But from the perspective of money, he is much more powerful than a minister.
The Nanyang Company had hundreds of cargo ships, and shipped more than five million pieces of silk every year. Most of Jiangxi's porcelain was shipped out to sea through this company.
The profits and taxes paid to the court were one million taels, but the actual amount of silver transferred into the accounts was in the tens of millions of taels.
But Zhu Houzhao never thought of splitting up such a huge thing.
Because the risk of doing business in the Age of Exploration was very high, if 50 ships went out a year, there would always be one ship capsizing and people dying. Even if the sea was calm and the people on board were fine, they would be drifting on the sea for a long time. Once they got sick, their chances of survival would be slim if there was a lack of medical care and medicine.
One of the reasons why the Dutch East India Company started a joint-stock company was that it considered the risks too great, and if the shareholders were dispersed, the risks would also be dispersed.
To put it bluntly, even if a ship full of people and goods were blown away by a strong wind, the company would not go bankrupt.
As the helmsman of such a behemoth, Gu Zu received constant visits, which meant that Zhu Houzhao could just give him an order at any time.
Someone else?
Ah,
just wait.
The capital city was particularly busy in the early spring, and although the large number of people made it seem chaotic, if one counted carefully one would find that there were only a few main targets for all the people rushing about.
The place where Gu Zuo temporarily stayed in Beijing was an eight-story restaurant run by the Nanyang Company.
He had just come out of the palace and hadn't even had a few sips of hot tea when his subordinates handed him the visiting card.
"Tonight, the host is Wang Shangshu from the Ministry of Personnel. Tomorrow, it will be Zhang Zongxian, the Left Censor-in-Chief. The day after tomorrow, it will be Zhang Shilang from the Ministry of War... There are also the Minister of the Imperial Household and the Ministry of Industry... Sir, can we make it here?"
"Bring it to me and take a look."
Nowadays, the emperor does not prohibit officials from having private communications.
But there are also rules for gatherings.
The first is not to waste money. If the banquet is too extravagant, it will be a big deal if the emperor knows about it.
The officials in Beijing were all old foxes, and they did not want to offend the emperor over such a small matter and make themselves unhappy. If there were really those who did not know what was good for them, the emperor would really punish them if they submitted a memorial.
Second, be clear and honest. Don't let people spread rumors of conspiracy.
The third thing is to pay attention to the impact. We cannot turn a normal gathering into a disco and invite some famous prostitutes to cheer. What do the people think of the behavior of court officials?
Not only the official atmosphere, but also the public atmosphere will be corrupted.
These are hard frames that cannot be broken, and the inspections will be stricter during periods like this.
Judging from the results, senior officials are relatively smart. Even if they are just pretending to be smart, they don't want others to notice it.
Therefore, most of the invitations to Gu Zuo's house were for the purpose of reminiscing about the past or discussing current affairs.
When we got there, we sat down and drank either light or strong tea. If we had anything to say, we just spoke calmly. Isn't that enough?
"None of the three cabinet ministers moved."
These are the words spoken by his son, Gu Bangtong, who was standing next to him.
Gu Zuo raised his lips and said, "Zhang Bingyong is in the spotlight right now, so he is naturally hiding away. Gu and Wang saw that Zhang Ge Lao did not move, so they are reluctant to take the lead, so they will just wait."
"So, are these going to go?"
"Go ahead. You can't just be an outsider when you are in this field."
……
……
Wang Shouren was also at the top of the list of people Zhu Houzhao wanted to summon.
In recent years, this has been the case whenever a grand court meeting was held.
Every time I saw him in the past, I felt relaxed, just like when I saw Gu Zu.
But this time, this guy brought him a big problem.
Zhu Houzhao held the memorial in his hand, with his back to him, smacking his lips in confusion.
"You indulged him too much in this matter."
"The Emperor blames you."
"I'm not blaming you. I know you were trying to smooth things over because you wanted to save my face because of his status as the eldest son of the emperor. I didn't expect that he wouldn't listen to you in the end."
In fact, he had emphasized in his memorial to Wang Shouren in October last year that the eldest prince Zai Hao was young and impulsive, and that he should dare to disobey and keep the overall situation in mind at critical moments.
But the idea of ruler-ruler relationship and subject-subject relationship was like a steel stamp on his mind.
Prince, how many of you would not give face when you see him?
Now Zhu Houzhao could not make too many specious remarks, as if he was trying to put the blame on Wang Shouren.
"It's meaningless to talk about this now. In your opinion, how should this matter be resolved?"
Wang Shouren pressed his palms to the ground, "Since Your Majesty has asked, I dare not fail to answer."
Zhu Houzhao frowned slightly, as if he had anticipated something. He did not stop her and raised his eyebrows, saying, "Go ahead."
"Yes. I have heard that the heaven and earth have their own laws, and their benevolence never ceases. This time, more than 20 scholars in Nanjing have suffered an unexpected disaster, been wrongly imprisoned, and died unexpectedly. This is indeed an extremely sad thing.
Some of them were well-read, some were talented and virtuous, and they were all pillars of the country and good talents for the society. However, they lost their lives innocently in a day or two, which is a pity.
I think that such tragedies not only take lives, but also make people all over the world panic and make poor scholars lose face. Therefore, I implore Your Majesty to have mercy on this case and investigate it in detail to show justice, restore the innocence of the deceased, and comfort his wronged soul in the netherworld; and also to show that our dynasty has strict laws and will not tolerate any injustice, so that the people of the world will know that justice is in the world, and people's hearts will be at peace, and the country will be peaceful and the people will be safe.
Therefore, I risk my life to speak up, hoping that Your Majesty will see through the details and redress this injustice, so as to preserve the reputation of our dynasty's benevolence and promote the prestige of our emperor's insight!"
Zhu Houzhao then asked, "This was done by Zai Yao. Do you mean to kill him to pay for the lives of these people?"
"I dare not. But this matter is of great importance. If the emperor does not punish severely, how will he discipline me in the future?"
This matter actually involves currency reform.
Zai Yao did so much to promote monetary reform. Although it was foolish of him to make mistakes and not repent in time, thus making the same mistakes again and again, in the final analysis, his purpose was to ensure monetary reform.
also,
What happens in the court cannot be viewed in isolation.
Of course, there are some unjust cases hidden under the currency reform. Now we have pulled out the radish and brought out the mud. If we deal with one, the rest will inevitably be dealt with as well.
"I will deal with Zai's mistakes. He must give me an explanation, and also give an explanation to those who were unjustly killed. But you know me. I will not make any concessions on the issue of currency reform."
"I understand." Wang Shouren was touched. It was not easy to get the emperor's consent, but because it was him, it finally came true. "Your Majesty, this matter was ultimately handled improperly by me. Your Highness is in his early twenties, and it is not a big deal if he makes mistakes occasionally, but I...I feel ashamed of Your Majesty! I should also bear the responsibility for this case."
"I'm not dwelling on this. I want to tell you that you can decide for yourself whether to bring this up, but once it starts, you can no longer control when and how it ends. You can't just resign when the time comes, or I'll be furious."
Wang Shouren suddenly felt the pressure on his shoulders.
In fact, he could also retreat and keep the matter to himself. This way, everyone would be safe, but there would be more wronged souls.
But the reason why he is called Wang Shouren is because he cannot make this decision.
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for the reminder!"
Zhu Houzhao stared at him for a few breaths without saying anything, which was also to give him a final chance to regret. When the time was up, he immediately turned around and said, "Okay, you can leave now."
After the people left, he took another look at Wang Shouren's memorial, then suddenly threw it to the ground in anger, "Call Zai Yao to me!"
Wang Shouren has always been sensible, but this time he was forced to say such words in front of the emperor.
This means that Jiangnan must have handled many cases that he shouldn’t have handled, and killed many people that he shouldn’t have killed.
The imperial court was successful in promoting currency reform.
But at the same time, it has also lost the support of the people, and this should not be empty talk.
Otherwise Wang Shouren would not be like this.
In other words, the tipping point is approaching.
Of course, continuing to suppress the public dissatisfaction that is being suppressed with an iron fist is one way to deal with it, but a smarter way is to make timely adjustments.
Looking at the entire ancient history, the emperor's governance of the country was nothing more than tightening up at one time and loosening up at another.
Because we can speak.
The previous period was tense. Your harsh and cruel criticism caused panic among the people. Then the newcomer said, "I am different from the previous guy. We don't have to be like that. From now on, we should be lenient to others and show benevolence." Then everyone was happy and the successor's power was consolidated.
This period is loose, and you have been overly indulgent, which has led to rampant corruption. Then the successors will say that I am different from the previous guys, and we all have to understand the overall situation. From now on, we must fight corruption with an iron fist and strictly enforce assessments. In this way, we will win the hearts of the people and consolidate the power of the successors.
What else can we do besides these?
Now Zhu Houzhao has sensed the turning point, and he will not be foolish enough to continue suppressing the situation.
No need,
When the time comes, just remove Zhang Cong from his position.
In the 12th year of Zhengde, because of the land measurement issue, he felt that the power of the upright gentry was too great, so he struck a strong blow against these officials and began to use officials with somewhat evil natures such as Zhang Cong and Wang Qiong.
Ten years later,
What about the world now?
He is too evil and will do anything to achieve his goals.
Just like the Zai Yao incident, they asked someone to do it for them, but is it that easy to find someone? Isn't it because of the current official atmosphere that everything is aimed at currying favor with the superiors?
If Zhang Cong is removed, the next person to follow is Gu Renyi, who is a member of the upright and orthodox faction and has been famous for decades.
Let him restore order once and people’s hearts will be at peace.
Is this better than forcing it down?
Moreover, during this operation, the emperor remained aloof. Why should Zhang Cong's mistake be blamed on him?
Of course, his favor towards Zhang Cong was not false.
So he thought this was a good opportunity.
Because by using Zai'e's incident as a starting point, he can get some of the glory of a prince.
After all, the emperor would not kill the prince unless he rebelled. Otherwise, if he really wanted to kill him, the ministers would disagree. So one cannot be severely punished, and the other cannot be too harsh, otherwise it would be too obvious to protect the shortcoming. What kind of words are these?
In this way, although Zhang Cong would lose his position, his ending would not be too tragic.
And these are all what Zhu Houzhao considered when he had just talked with Wang Shouren.
(End of this chapter)