Chapter 724 823 Idle Chess

"You were not in the cabinet this morning, so I told Zhengfu about this matter."

Wei Guangde knew that this was the highlight, and it should be Chen Yiqin's response after discussing with Teng Xiang last night.

"When Gao Suqing returns to the court, Your Majesty should still trust him in every possible way. In the near future, we must try our best to follow his wishes and not conflict with him.

But the most worrying thing is that someone in the cabinet will turn to him and join forces to deal with us."

Chen Yiqin's words made Wei Guangde frown. He had already guessed who this "he" was referring to.

Naturally, it is Zhang Juzheng. There are only two people who can sway in the cabinet, and the remaining one is the chief assistant Li Chunfang.

However, precisely because he is the chief minister of the cabinet, he cannot condescend to cooperate with Gao Gong, even if Gao Gong wins the Sacred Heart.

"Then just think of some way to prevent Zhang Shuda from joining forces with Gao Suqing."

Wei Guangde said without thinking, "Since the chief assistant is not worried, we don't have to worry about it anymore."

"Do you have any idea?"

When Chen Yiqin heard Wei Guangde's words, his heart moved, and he immediately asked.

"Huh? No, I was thinking about this problem last night, but I never thought of a good solution."

Wei Guangde replied very bachelorly that he only had this idea, but he really didn't think of a good way.

It is not so easy to prevent Zhang Juzheng and Gao Gong from cooperating.

The two people had been friends for a long time, but they drifted apart because of their political disagreements. After that, too many things happened, so they stopped talking to each other at all.

But if you don't talk, you won't talk. I haven't heard of the two of them breaking up. They just maintain a superficial relationship.

"Both of them are not stupid. If you are too deliberate, it will be easy for them to see it."

Yin Shizhen shook his head and said.

Wei Guangde's idea is correct, but operability is difficult.

"Zhang Shuda broke up with Gao Suqing because he disagreed with him on his tough measures to rectify the administration of officials, right?"

Chen Yiqin did not echo Yin Shizhen's words, but recalled.

Wei Guangde nodded. He paid attention to both Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng, so he naturally had a deep understanding of their political stances.

"Gao Suqing believes that only by using tough measures to rectify the officialdom, just as he did during Emperor Taizu's time, can the court be reborn and great governance restored."

Wei Guangde replied.

"I take it for granted. Emperor Taizu was wise and powerful. No one can say anything bad about his old man. Perhaps only the descendants of those families would stop talking about it."

Yin Shizhen is still the same as before, saying whatever comes to his mind, but he also knows that some words are taboo and cannot be said casually.

"Corrupt officials can't be killed, but I understand what Zhang Shuda said, using the law of examination to restrain officials from doing things, instead of just living in debauchery, knowing nothing about government affairs, and using power for personal gain.

As long as he can get things done and does not impose excessive taxes on the local government, he is considered a good official. "

Chen Yiqin continued.

"Although it is insufficient, it has merits."

Yin Shizhen agreed with Chen Yiqin's views this time and also recognized Zhang Juzheng's strategy of governing the country.

"Haha, corrupt officials and honest officials are actually not easy to do."

Wei Guangde smiled and said, "Being a corrupt official requires great courage. It is not easy to do things without conscience, but it is even harder to be an upright official."

"Yes, it's hard to be a corrupt official, but it's even harder to be an upright official. Are we considered turbid?"

Chen Yiqin also felt this and asked.

"Haha, that's all I can say."

Yin Shizhen didn't say much this time, but just echoed, "But as for upright officials, I remember there was one. Isn't the one from the Department of General Affairs an upright official? I heard that he was the county magistrate in that county. He was excellent in the civil service examination and was transferred to the capital. When I was at the Ministry of Household Affairs, all the people sent me gifts, and I even gave them umbrellas."

"Haha, I've heard of another version."

Just when Yin Shizhen was talking like this, Chen Yiqin suddenly interrupted.

"What version?"

Yin Shizhen asked curiously.

"There are many opinions about Hai Rui's character. Some say that he is honest and upright, and some say that he is just trying to gain fame. However, one thing is that he thinks the same as most officials in the Ministry of Household Affairs."

What Chen Yiqin said here successfully attracted the attention of Wei Guangde and Yin Shizhen. At this moment, the two people involuntarily leaned over to listen to Chen Yiqin's words.

Seeing that both of them were interested, Chen Yiqin didn't hold back and said directly: "I know what county Hai Rui served as an edict before he came to Beijing and was later promoted to the county magistrate.

The first thing he did when he took office as the county magistrate was to cancel various so-called "routine" collections and unify the taxes of a county. After that, he cleared the land, made decisions for the farmers, and asked powerful families to return the occupied land and force them to do so. The children of farmers who had been forcibly bought as slaves were released, and the refugees were resettled to encourage land reclamation. It was stipulated that no taxes would be levied on newly reclaimed land for three years.

The things he did made the local gentry anxious, but Hai Rui didn't get into any trouble. He just acted according to the rules, unlike some people who were greedy and took advantage of others.

The local gentry had no choice but to spend money to help him manage it."

"hehe."

"Ha ha."

After hearing this, Wei Guangde and Yin Shizhen naturally knew what this management meant. However, the funny thing is that others' management is to promote their own people, while the management mentioned by Chen Yiqin is to help the enemy's promotion. The purpose is self-evident, which is to bring down the enemy. Take Hai Rui away.

"This happened more than once. Later, he was sent to a certain county in Zhejiang to be the magistrate. The local gentry became confused when they knew Hai Rui's name.

I had no choice but to follow the example of the previous county gentry.

However, Zhejiang was rich after all. They didn't bother to take Hai Rui to other places to harm others. They just paid the money and sent Hai Rui to the Ministry of Revenue. You know, Hai Rui was only a juren, not a jinshi."

When Chen Yiqin said this, Yin Shizhen and Wei Guangde were already laughing.

"Haha, I've never heard of this. The documents record that he had made great achievements in Chun'an and some counties, and governed well, so he was recognized by the Ministry of Revenue and promoted. I don't know if he was supported by the gentry."

Wei Guangde said.

"It's true that Hai Rui was a juren. Generally, it's good for a juren to be a county magistrate. It can't be true that he can enter the Ministry of Revenue?"

Yin Shizhen suddenly asked back.

"I heard it from Wang Ting. I didn't ask where he knew it. I just want to make you laugh, haha."

Chen Yiqin said.

"The news from the Censorate may be true. It's just a figment of your imagination. "

Wei Guangde heard Chen Yiqin say that these words were said by Wang Ting, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate. Although he thought it was very funny, he always felt that it seemed to be very logical.

If you can't catch him and can't get him down, you can only find a way to get him up.

After entering the capital, he won't cause trouble to the local area, because the officials in the capital have been separated from the local area, and he can't intervene.

"But Hai Rui is really outstanding in the local area. He surveyed the land, built water conservancy projects, and redressed unjust, false and wrong cases. He is very popular with the people. It is also true that the people gave the umbrella and plaque to the people. The Censorate has sent people to investigate secretly. "

Chen Yiqin put away his previous smile and said seriously, but the light in his eyes always felt very playful.

"Survey the land? Build water conservancy projects?"

Yin Shizhan heard Chen Yiqin's words and suddenly became thoughtful.

"What did Zhengfu think of? "

Seeing Yin Shizeng's expression, Chen Yiqin asked.

"Yesterday I saw the memorial sent from Nanjing, saying that many river sections such as Wusong River and Baimao River had collapsed embankments, which were already very dangerous and urgently needed the court to send people to repair them."

Yin Shizeng said casually.

"Nanjing, Yingtian, hiss"

Wei Guangde just said it casually, but he thought of someone in an instant, but it was only a moment, Wei Guangde shook his head first.

"Shandai, what's wrong?"

Yin Shizeng looked at Wei Guangde's movements and asked curiously.

"Nothing, I suddenly thought of an idea, but it seems..."

Wei Guangde hesitated when he said this, not knowing whether he should say it out, because he felt that this matter was not very reliable, but in his impression, he seemed to have seen similar records, but it was already very vague.

"Just say whatever you think of, it's just a chat. "

Chen Yiqin smiled.

Wei Guangde glanced at Chen Yiqin, then at Yin Shizhan, and then said, "Brother Zhengfu, did you think of Hai Rui when you heard about the construction of water conservancy just now?"

"Well, didn't Yifu say that? Hai Rui knew about the construction of water conservancy when he was the county magistrate, so I immediately thought of the official document reported by Yingtian Prefecture."

Yin Shizhan replied, "But now Hai Rui is the left Tongzheng of the Tongzhengsi. If he is sent out, he must at least be the governor of Yingtian."

"Hai Rui is honest and upright?"

Wei Guangde looked at Chen Yiqin again and said.

"Prince Zheng told me so. As for what others say about seeking fame, let's talk about actions rather than intentions."

Chen Yiqin replied. The Prince Zheng he mentioned was the Left Censor-in-Chief Wang Ting.

However, at this point, Chen Yiqin seemed to understand Wei Guangde's thoughts, and continued hesitantly, "You mean, don't you want to transfer Hai Rui to Nanjing to be the governor of Yingtian to control the flood in Jiangnan?

This is feasible. We can ask him to come to the cabinet and ask him what he thinks about river management.

If it is feasible, we can consider it. ”

Yin Shizhan said suspiciously: "But does this have anything to do with integrity?"

After speaking, Yin Shizhan looked at Wei Guangde.

"I remember that in the first year of Longqing, Xu Zhi, the younger brother of Xu Ge Lao, who was the right assistant minister of the Nanjing Ministry of Justice at the time, once impeached his brother. Among them, there were ways to annex land by offering tribute. I remember that Xu Ge Lao's family had tens of thousands of hectares of land."

Wei Guangde said lightly.

"There was such a thing. At that time, the censor Qi Kang, Gao Suqing's disciples also impeached Xu Ge Lao for this. "

Yin Shizhen nodded. This matter was a hot topic at the time, especially in the inverted arch incident.

"Measure the land and make an offering"

Chen Yiqin had already understood the meaning of Wei Guangde's words, but he suddenly thought of Wei Guangde's shaking head before, so he asked in confusion: "Why did you shake your head before? If you were not asked, I'm afraid you wouldn't talk about this matter."

"I'm not sure what kind of person Hai Rui is. I only heard that he is honest and upright, and he is known as 'Hai Qingtian' among the people."

Wei Guangde said.

Yin Shizhen also nodded and said: "It is said that he is not afraid of the powerful and has the nickname 'Hai Bijia'. ”

At this time, the most praised pen name "Hai Gangfeng" in later generations had not yet appeared.

Hai Rui's pen name was Ruxian, and his pen name was Gangfeng. Hai Rui had not yet taken this pen name, so naturally there was no name "Hai Gangfeng".

I think Hai Rui called himself "Gangfeng" because he chose to stick to his heart despite pressure from many parties, just to remind himself all the time.

The ancients had a relatively free way to choose a pen name, generally according to their own interests, ideals, ambitions or living environment.

The pen name can be one's own alias, studio name, room name, etc., or it can be a nickname or honorific name given by others.

For example, Li Bai called himself "Qinglian Jushi", Du Fu called himself "Shaoling Ye Lao", and Su Shi called himself "Dongpo Jushi" when he was farming in Dongpo.

Of course, the names of ancient people can also be given by others, which are usually some honorific titles or elegant titles.

Zhuge Liang was honored as "Wolong", Pang Tong was given the elegant title of "Fengchu", and "Poet Immortal", "Poet Saint", "Poet Ghost", "Poet Demon", "Poet Buddha" were definitely not given by themselves, but were given to them by others.

Wei Guangde just glanced at Yin Shizhe and continued: "When Hai Rui was imprisoned, there were rumors that he was going to be beheaded, but he was still protected by everyone. Hai Rui owed a favor to Xu Ge Lao."

In Wei Guangde's impression, it seems that Hai Rui and Xu Jie had a fierce fight, but after coming to the Ming Dynasty, based on what Wei Guangde knows about the relationship between the two, it should not happen.

When Hai Rui was imprisoned for submitting a memorial to Emperor Jiajing, Xu Jie had always tried his best to protect him. Although it could not be considered a life-saving favor, Hai Rui had to remember this favor.

As long as there was a favor, Wei Guangde did not think that Hai Rui would deliberately target Xu Jie, just because of Xu Jie's wealth.

However, it must be said that Xu Jie's land was tens of thousands of hectares, which was indeed a bit too much.

You know, the land registered under his name was not taxed. Songjiang Prefecture had no idea how much tax would be levied on the common people every year for this item alone.

If it was someone else, Hai Rui might be prosecuted, but since the other party was Xu Jie, he felt a little bit difficult to say.

And Chen Yiqin also completely understood Wei Guangde's considerations, and also knew why he felt that this matter might not be successful.

"We can send Hai Rui to Yingtian under the pretext of letting him deal with the flood. As for whether he should take action against Xu Jie..."

Chen Yiqin just shut up here, he completely understood Wei Guangde's thinking.

It would be difficult to let Zhang Juzheng and Gao Gong fight in the court, so the war would be led to Jiangnan, and Xu Jie would be burned.

As long as Hai Rui still insisted on his original intention, he would definitely take action against those gentry in Nanzhili, and Xu Jie would be the first target.

If they fight, Zhang Juzheng will definitely stand on his teacher's platform, and with Gao Gong's character, he will definitely not miss this golden opportunity to retaliate against Xu Jie who has resigned.

According to what Xu Zhi said at the beginning, the son of the Xu family has committed crimes and harmed the local area, and Hai Rui will definitely kill him.

"Will this be a bit unfair to Xu Jie?"

Yin Shizhen also understood Wei Guangde's meaning at this time. Although he also felt that Hai Rui was less likely to fight Xu Jie, compared with the kindness between the two, there was indeed such a possibility.

However, when Xu Jie was in the court, he was always polite to them and there was no dispute.

Yin Shizhen felt a little embarrassed to plot against him at this time.

"Just treat it as a casual move. Hai Rui doesn't deliberately target Lord Xu, so naturally it won't be unfair to him.

But if Hai Rui also thinks Lord Xu has gone too far, he can just let Zhang Shuda and Gao Suqing fight in the cabinet."

Chen Yiqin spoke up and made the final decision.