Chapter 263 Impeccable

"Those who do not plan for eternity are not qualified to plan for the moment; those who do not plan for the overall situation are not qualified to plan for a region!"

In the study room of Ziwei Palace, the young Emperor Zhaode had a long talk with the white-haired chief minister Wang Jiangling: "Last year, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Huguang and other places had good weather and good harvests. The famine in the road can only cause temporary waves, but not a big mess..."

Emperor Zhaode's eyes condensed, and he asked in a deep voice: "What do you think... do they have other tricks?"

Wang Jiangling stroked his beard and nodded, and replied slowly: "If this old minister is not wrong, their tricks should be in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Huguang!"

Emperor Zhaode could not sit still, He stood up with a gloomy face and said, "I will send the Embroidered Uniform Guards south immediately..."

"Your Majesty, please don't be impatient."

Wang Jiangling stood up and made a "please" gesture to the armchair, indicating that he should listen to what he said first: "As the saying goes: Those who strike first will be controlled by others, and those who strike later will be controlled by others. Since they have already started, they must have made all the plans. Your Majesty is sending the Embroidered Uniform Guards south now. Even if they can achieve success, they will still be controlled by others and exhausted."

Emperor Zhaode asked in confusion: "Then am I just going to sit here and watch them harm the people of my Great Wei?"

Wang Jiangling bowed: "Old That's not what I meant. What I meant was... Your Majesty has to break the impasse!"

"Break the impasse?"

Emperor Zhaode asked, "How do we break the impasse?"

Wang Jiangling said in a gentle and persuasive way, "Your Majesty, where do you think the chaos is?"

Emperor Zhaode thought for a moment and replied, "Is it in the court?"

Wang Jiangling nodded, "Then your Majesty, do you think that the chaos in the court can only solve the problem of famine? If there is no famine, there can be floods. If there is no flood, there can be war. It is extremely difficult to do one thing well, but it is much easier to do one thing badly... Besides, the court is also We can't just keep fighting each other and abandon the country and the well-being of the people. "

The inexplicably familiar words made Emperor Zhaode seem to understand, and he narrowed his eyes and said: "So, we still have to deal with these traitors first?"

Wang Jiangling couldn't help but stroke his beard and chuckled, and said along with his words: "Your Majesty is wise. I think if we want to solve the problem, we have to deal with these traitors first."

Without waiting for Emperor Zhaode to join in, he continued: "But... killing must be the last resort, and it is also a last resort. It can only treat the symptoms, not the root cause."

Emperor Zhaode smiled without comment.

Wang Jiangling obviously saw what he was laughing at, and he felt a little helpless... This is the evil consequence of breaking the bottom line of court struggles!

He could only put it another way: "Your Majesty, do you still remember that Lu Ting Gong supervised the execution of corrupt officials in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, which shocked the court and the public. The civil and military officials of the court stopped the court and went on strike, kneeling outside the palace gate, and asked for Lu Ting Gong to be executed?" Emperor Zhaode nodded without hesitation: "Of course I remember. At that time, I had not yet conferred the title of Crown Prince, but didn't the ministers ask the three judicial departments to investigate thoroughly to prove their innocence... Well, that's it!" Before he finished speaking, he suddenly realized in his heart... What kind of character are the civil and military officials in the court? He didn't understand it before, but can he not understand it now? With their character, they still prove their innocence? Speaking of the past, Wang Jiangling couldn't help but sigh softly. That forced abdication can be said to be the beginning of the suspicion between the emperor and his ministers in the Xiping Dynasty. It was because of that forced abdication that the civil and military officials in the court saw the nature of Emperor Xiping, who was soft on the outside but strong on the inside. It was also because of that forced abdication that Emperor Xiping saw through the truth that the civil and military officials in the court were hypocritical. Then he, Wang Jiangling, entered the cabinet. Then there was the Xiping New Deal.

It eventually came to the point where the monarch and his ministers broke off relations and fought to the death...

Wang Jiangling shook his head, collected his thoughts and said slowly: "Your Majesty, do you know how the late emperor responded when the civil and military officials of the court stopped the court and went on strike?"

Emperor Zhaode smiled awkwardly and nodded: "I know a little, I know a little..."

As the eldest prince in the past, he did know some "inside stories".

But now he knows that the "inside stories" he knew at the time were all the "inside stories" that the civil and military officials of the court wanted him to know, which was completely different from the truth.

Wang Jiangling did not rush to elaborate on how Emperor Xiping responded at the time, but first asked: "If Your Majesty were the late emperor in this matter, how would Your Majesty respond?"

'Of course, release all the people from the East Factory, the West Factory, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, pick out a few who led the trouble and investigate thoroughly, and kill the chicken to scare the monkey...'

This idea subconsciously popped up in Emperor Zhaode's mind, but he immediately crossed it out.

Even a radical like him thought that such an idea was too radical!

He drank tea and pondered for a long time before he said, "I will arrest some, beat some, and kill some..."

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Wang Jiangling bowed his hands: "The late emperor also responded in the same way!"

He put down his hands and said in a gentle and persuasive way: "The most violent ones back then were the Zhejiang Party. Oh, by the way, the former Minister of Revenue Geng Jingzhong was the leader of the Zhejiang Party. The rest of the officials followed the Zhejiang Party to make trouble, out of the heart of "the lips and teeth are cold, the rabbit dies and the fox mourns..."

He said it frankly, because he was not among the civil and military ministers who knelt at the palace gate that year, and because he was not a member of the Zhejiang Party.

He is a staunch supporter of the imperial party, or the leader of a new political party.

"The late emperor first dismissed Geng Jingzhong from his post as Minister of Revenue, and then started with the Qi Party. In the past, the Qi Party and the Zhejiang Party had different political views and were at loggerheads. The late emperor only agreed to allow the Qi Party leader Meng Ziqian to join the cabinet, and then persuaded the Qi Party to withdraw. He then persuaded the Chu Party to withdraw by transferring Chu Party officials to Jiangsu and Zhejiang to serve as officials... He resolved the crisis without bloodshed and with ease."

Wang Jiangling clasped his hands again: "Your Majesty, this moment is exactly like that moment!"

Emperor Zhaode did not speak, but said with a low heart: 'A weapon can be fought without bloodshed, and a heavy weight can be lifted with ease? If the late emperor had really resolved that storm, why would he have died in the prime of life...'

But he also knew that what Wang Jiangling said was indeed mature and prudent advice for the country.

Privately, he really wanted to take advantage of the food shortage crisis and let the Xiuyi Guards investigate to the end, arrest the important officials in the court, and punish them according to the canon, and kill the chickens to scare the monkeys.

But as he was in power for a long time and his understanding of the court became deeper and deeper, he felt more and more powerless like a bird falling from a cobweb...

The Wei Dynasty has been a civil and military force for many years, and the parties in the court are closely connected. The important officials in the court are all tigers and wolves with deep roots and disciples all over the world. The borders must be guarded by the generals recommended by them, and the local areas must be governed by the people they use. The treasury You have to rely on the people they use to get money... Before you are completely sure, touching them is tantamount to destroying the Great Wall.

As for Wang Jiangling, the chief minister of the cabinet who could have served as a firewall between the emperor and the courtiers, due to the implementation of the New Deal and the short time he had been in the cabinet, his power and connections in the court were far inferior to those of the previous chief ministers of the cabinet. , we can only rely on it to make suggestions, but not rely on it to fight with the Manchu civil and military forces.

Of course, as long as he is willing to abandon the New Deal, he may immediately gain the support of many powerful ministers.

But if the people die and the government disappears, how can the late emperor rest in peace under the Nine Springs? How should future generations treat him, Zhao Hong?

Even the man from Yuelai Inn might come to Beijing to beat him up, right?

‘Come on, let’s figure it out slowly! ’

Emperor Zhaode sighed in his heart, nodded and said: "Listening to the Qing family is worth ten years of reading. Just do what the Qing family says!"

Wang Jiangling breathed a sigh of relief, clasped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, you are wise!"

…

"Old Fang..."

In Hangzhou, Wu Eryong squatted on the street, chewing on a pot helmet, looking at the pedestrians walking on the street, and said to Fang Ke beside him: "Could the second master have made a mistake this time? Is there nothing unusual here?"

Fang Ke lowered his head and looked at the account book in his hand attentively, and replied without raising his head: "In this matter, the second master's judgment has never been wrong. He concluded that those corrupt officials have a way out, those corrupt officials There must be a backup plan, but we haven’t found it yet!”

He has arrived in Hangzhou for three days. During these three days, with the help of the local snake Lianlianwu, he checked all the big grain accounts in Hangzhou. The result was that the grain was in the grain warehouse, and all the grain merchants were waiting for the canal to thaw. It’s a hot topic. As soon as the canal thaws, they will immediately transport grain northward to make a lot of money...

Of course, he couldn't just believe the words of these grain dealers. He personally went into the grain warehouses of those grain companies to investigate, and the results he obtained were consistent with what those grain dealers said.

After Fang Ke looked through several ledgers, he still had no clue.

He closed the account book in his hand, and after pondering intensely for a moment, he suddenly replied: "Old Wu, haven't any dragons crossed the river recently collapsed on your Jianghuai waterway?"

Wu Eryong looked at him sideways: "Do you think our Lianlianwu is so easy to bully? Is it just a dog that dares to come and cause trouble?"

Fang Ke was so angry that he grabbed his neck and shook him back and forth: "It's endless, isn't it? Is it endless?"

Wu Eryong picked up a pot helmet and stuffed it into his mouth: "You can't speak clearly, do you blame me?"

Fang Ke let go of him, took off the pot helmet from his mouth and chewed it: "There is no problem with the food, then there can only be a problem with the food channel. The Jianghuai waterway is under the control of your chain dock. If I don't ask you, why should I ask Navy Master Wang ?”

Wu Eryong waved his hand and said: "There is no problem with the Jianghuai waterway, it is no problem; even if it is a problem, even if the second master opens his mouth, it will be no problem! Whoever dares to jump out and make trouble at this juncture is not just with us, Lianlianwu If you can't get through it, you still can't get along with the second master. No matter how big the world is, there is no place for him to stand up!"

Fang Ke held the pot helmet in his mouth, clapped his hands, and said vaguely: "Then the problem comes. There is no problem with the food, and there is no problem with the food channels. What is the problem?"

Wu Eryong thought for a while and asked: "The land of plenty in the world is not only Jiangsu and Zhejiang, but also the two lakes? Could the problem be over there?"

"Not too possible."

Fang Ke shook his head: "Food from the two lakes can only be brought to Beijing by land. The time and loss are far less than the waterway in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Furthermore, even if there may be problems on the two lakes, as long as the food in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is passable, it can still alleviate the problems in the north. The food shortage is not a year of great disaster. As long as we can take a breath, there will be no big trouble! "

Wu Eryong picked up another pot helmet and tried to use his brain to think while chewing it. After a while, he said: "Is there a possibility that this food shortage is just a coincidence? In fact, no one made a fuss about it at all. ?”

Fang Ke glanced at him, and suddenly grabbed his neck with both hands again: "You're kicking your nose, right? Are you pushing your nose to your face? With your pig brain, how dare you say that the second master is wrong?"

Wu Eryong was so pinched that he rolled his eyes: "Water, water, water..."

Fang Ke took off the water bag from his waist and threw it into his arms. He was helpless and picked up the account book in his arms again and continued to read: "What is the problem?"

…

"What's the problem?"

Deep in the eerie Xiu Yiwei Prison, Shen Fa put down the torture instrument with a frown on his face and picked up a clean sweat towel to wipe his bloody hands.

In the past few days, he secretly arrested several officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs and traced the whereabouts of the batch of grain that the Ministry of Household Affairs had deliberately hidden.

But the result was that this batch of grain was not intercepted by the assistant ministers and ministers of the Ministry of Revenue.

On the contrary, the minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Chen Huaizheng, had previously "ordered" the middle and lower-level officials of the Ministry of Revenue not to intercept the grain allocated by Hanjia Granary. If he found anyone selling the grain of Hanjia Granary in the capital again, they would be severely punished...

Obviously, the middle and lower-level officials of the Ministry of Revenue understood this serious and severe order, and Shen Fa also understood it.

It was very watertight!

What was even more watertight was that the grain distributed by these corrupt officials of the Ministry of Revenue could not even be found by the Embroidered Uniform Guard!

The people who bought those grains, except for the silver notes, were all fake... The names of the people were fake, the names of the grains were fake, and even the destinations were fake!

These corrupt officials and scumbags in the Ministry of Revenue "mistakenly thought" that these grain buyers were actually sent by their superiors to "share the profits", so they pretended to be deaf and dumb and sold the grain to them half-heartedly.

It was simply impeccable!

The cleaner these officials cut off, the more Shen Fa was sure that their next move... must be extraordinary!

Because the ranks of the assistant ministers and ministers in the Ministry of Revenue were so high that ordinary "little mistakes" could not shake them at all, so they rarely wiped it so clean... After all, only the emperor dared to investigate them, leaving some small handles for the emperor to investigate, which was both a step for the emperor and a way out for themselves.

'Is the problem really in Jiangsu and Zhejiang? '

Shen Fa thought about it and quickly abandoned this idea.

Yang Ge's strength in Jiangsu and Zhejiang was too strong, and both the white and black roads had to give him face. As long as those officials had no problems in their brains, they would never set up a battle with the emperor in Jiangsu and Zhejiang!

'Not in the south... could it be in the north? ’

A thought suddenly flashed through Shen Fa’s mind, and his eyes narrowed into a line.

This year, the heavy snowstorm caused disasters, and all the northern provinces were severely affected.

The disaster in the grassland must be more serious than that in the northern provinces.

And sometimes, the weakest and the strongest can be equated.

With this thought, Shen Fa immediately grabbed the torture instrument that had just been thrown on the table and turned to the figure hanging on the wall.

“Tell me, who instructed you to collude with the Tartars and sell out your country for glory!”

“I didn’t, I didn’t collude with the Tartars, please spare my life, sir…”