Chapter 357. Concerns (II).
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Up to now, Zhao Junchen is very sure that the purpose of Emperor Deqing's southern tour is only to visit Jiangnan on the surface, but in fact it is to deal with Shoufu Zhou Shangjing!
As mentioned above, in the middle of last year, there was a small group of Japanese robbers near Suzhou, and this matter is not serious, nor is it light, but Suzhou's parents must take responsibility! It's just that Zhou Suhai, the current governor of Suzhou, is the eldest grandson of Zhou Shangjing, and this matter was finally suppressed by Zhou Shangjing and did not stab the court.
It's a pity that Emperor Deqing still got some news more or less, so Emperor Deqing's southern tour is to come to Suzhou in person and expose this matter with his own hands, and the next result is naturally Zhou Suhai's career is ruined, and Zhou Shangjing will also lose the position of the first assistant of the cabinet, and Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing have been fighting openly and secretly for decades, so far the curtain will come to an end, ending with the complete victory of Emperor Deqing!
Of course, Zhou Shangjing is also very insightful of Emperor Deqing's thoughts, and has made a lot of targeted arrangements, and even plans to temporarily form an alliance with Zhao Junchen to block Emperor Deqing's plan - now, under Zhou Shangjing's trading conditions, Zhao Junchen does have the intention of helping Zhou Shangjing.
In fact, Zhao Junchen has received some news - although Emperor Deqing has not yet arrived in Xuzhou, but in recent times, Xuzhou has been turbulent, quite a lot of excitement, obviously Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing's forces have been secretly fighting in Xuzhou, and now Nanzhili is under the surface of calm and calm, but the actual situation is turbulent. Dramatic changes can happen at any time.
Regarding the open and secret struggle between Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing, Zhao Junchen has a deeper understanding. The more I admired the forbearance of the two of them, the more they saw the means, but at the same time. I couldn't help but have some doubts in my heart - why would Emperor Deqing be so reluctant and aggressive against Zhou Shangjing?
After all, although Zhou Shangjing is second only to Zhang Juzheng in the history of the Ming Dynasty, he has always known how to measure and forbear, as long as Emperor Deqing does not excessively infringe on the bottom line of Zhou Shangjing's interests, Zhou Shangjing will not rebel against Emperor Deqing's wishes, but will try his best to cooperate with Emperor Deqing and solve problems for Emperor Deqing.
Not to mention. Zhou Shangjing is now in his prime, fifteen years older than Emperor Deqing, and his physical condition has not been very good in recent years, so Zhou Shangjing can't survive Emperor Deqing at all -- it can be said that as long as Emperor Deqing waits patiently, it doesn't take a few years, and there is no need to use drastic means at all, as long as Zhou Shangjing dies of old age, Emperor Deqing can not only easily receive Zhou Shangjing's political legacy, further expand imperial power, but also ensure that the situation between the government and the opposition is as stable as possible.
So. On the surface, Emperor Deqing did not have much contradiction with Zhou Shangjing, and there was no need to deal with Zhou Shangjing urgently, even if he wanted to expand his imperial power. You don't have to make a big deal about it, you just need to be patient.
These circumstances, Zhao Junchen believes in the eyes of Emperor Deqing. It's impossible not to understand.
However, Emperor Deqing's performance today is the opposite. is not only impatient to make a move, but also to deal with Zhou Shangjing at the expense of making a big move. This is inevitably inconsistent with Emperor Deqing's character of attaching importance to maintaining stability.
In order to understand the specific thoughts of Emperor Deqing, Zhao Junchen once thought hard for a long time.
In the end, Zhao Junchen finally figured out Emperor Deqing's mind and found out three reasons.
First, Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing fought secretly for most of their lives, although at the time of the fight, both sides in order to take into account the overall situation, both sides retained some means and hole cards, but it is fair to say that in the end it is the Deqing Emperor chess loss, slightly inferior, after all, Zhou Shangjing has always been only defending and not attacking, but in the end it is an undefeated situation, under the suppression of Emperor Deqing, Zhou Shangjing's foundation is becoming more and more strong, and the relationship between victory and defeat can be said to be clear at a glance.
And Emperor Deqing has always boasted of his superb imperial skills, such a situation is simply a shame in the eyes of Emperor Deqing, so it is not difficult to imagine that overthrowing Zhou Shangjing has now become a long-cherished wish of Emperor Deqing, and the method of boiling Zhou Shangjing to death is certainly very safe, but it also means that Emperor Deqing admits defeat, and with the pride of Emperor Deqing, he is naturally unwilling to do so, and now he has just discovered a flaw in Zhou Shangjing, how can Emperor Deqing let it go?
Second, Zhou Shangjing's power is monstrous, and he has stood in the court for decades, and now he has become a representative figure of "vassal power", and even has become the goal of all ambitious officials, if Emperor Deqing survives Zhou Shangjing, after accepting Zhou Shangjing's political legacy, it can certainly enhance the imperial power, but Zhou Shangjing's good death is not conducive to the establishment of royal prestige.
On the other hand, if Emperor Deqing can overthrow Zhou Shangjing, in addition to enhancing the imperial power, it will also increase the prestige of the emperor, so that those careerists who aim for Zhou Shangjing understand that even if the power is as heavy as Zhou Shangjing, he will not be the emperor's opponent in the end, so that not only will the subject power be hit, but also weaken the morale and courage of the subjects in the world to resist the imperial power.
Third, Zhou Shangjing is different from Huang Yourong, Shen Changmao, Zhao Junchen and others, his prestige is too high, and his protégés and former officials are all over the world, in addition to the old ministers of the same era, there are also many young Zhuang officials such as Song Qiwen, the secretary of the Ministry of Justice, and Zhang Bochong, the new secretary of the Criminal Department, and they are all hardcore followers of Zhou Shangjing, so Zhou Shangjing's power has a great continuity.
In addition, Zhou Shangjing's family is prosperous, and his children and grandchildren are all outstanding people, for example, Zhou Shangjing's second son Zhou Mingtai is now the official political envoy of Henan, and there is the possibility of continuing to be promoted, the eldest grandson Zhou Suhai is now only thirty-three years old, but he is already the prefect of Suzhou, as for Zhou Shangjing's youngest grandson Zhou Suwen, he is the origin of Sanyuan and the first, and his future achievements are limitless!
This also means that Zhou Shangjing's power can be passed on to his descendants, even after Zhou Shangjing's death, with the strong support of Song Qiwen, the secretary of the Ministry of Officials, Zhang Bochong, the secretary of the Criminal Department, and other officials of the "Zhou Party" young Zhuang faction, Zhou Shangjing's political legacy can still be inherited to his children and grandchildren.
However, in the eyes of Emperor Deqing, such a long-lasting family of powerful ministers is absolutely not allowed to appear, otherwise the status of the royal family will be impacted, so Emperor Deqing must overthrow Zhou Shangjing, so that Zhou Shangjing's power cannot be inherited.
Of these three reasons, the last one is undoubtedly the most important.
Therefore, if Zhou Shangjing has any obvious weakness, it is that he is too fond of power, not only his own power is high, but he also wants to pass on his power to the descendants of his family, which has aroused the hostility of Emperor Deqing.
After thinking about these problems, Zhao Junchen did not plan to develop the power of the Zhao family under the nose of Emperor Deqing - at least now is not the time - although Zhao Junchen is still young and does not have to consider the inheritance of his power at all, and the Zhao family is currently just a piece of mud that cannot support the wall, and it will not have much impact at all, but with the experience of Zhou Shangjing, Zhao Junchen is not willing to stir the sensitive nerves of Emperor Deqing in this regard.
If Zhao Junchen really develops the power of the Zhao family in the capital, although Emperor Deqing will not interfere for the time being, he will definitely pay close attention to it, and want to analyze Zhao Junchen's future plan through Zhao Junchen's arrangement of the Zhao family, and at that time, many of Zhao Junchen's ideas will not be realized.
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Of course, Zhao Junchen will not explain this idea to Xiao Wenxuan in detail, after all, there are many secrets involved, and it is not convenient for Xiao Wenxuan to know, not to mention that Zhao Junchen's previous explanations are enough to convince Xiao Wenxuan.
Therefore, after Zhao Junchen saw Xiao Wenxuan's promise, he didn't say anything more, just nodded with a chuckle, with a trusting expression, and said, "Since that's the case, everything is up to Wenxuan." ”
Next, Zhao Junchen and Xiao Wenxuan confirmed some details, and just as the two were discussing, Su Xiqing suddenly pushed the door in, and then reported to Zhao Junchen: "My lord, I have already arranged it, those unmarried women of the Zhao family are now gathered together, you can go and inspect at any time." ”
According to Zhao Junchen's plan, within today, in addition to replacing the head of the Zhao family and determining the list of the children of the Zhao family to enter the Guozijian, Zhao Junchen will also personally select the women of the Zhao family who will enter and leave the palace.
After all, Zhao Junchen still has a lot of things to do, and he can't delay too long in the Zhao family, although there are a lot of things in the Zhao family, but Zhao Junchen plans to deal with them all within two days.
Therefore, after overthrowing Zhao Deqing, Zhao Junchen just left Xiao Wenxuan by his side and took the opportunity to discuss things with Xiao Wenxuan, while Su Xiqing went to arrange for those unmarried women of the Zhao family to prepare for Zhao Junchen's selection.
After hearing Su Xiqing's explanation, Zhao Junchen nodded, and then said to Xiao Wenxuan: "According to our plan, among these unmarried women of the Zhao family, except for the two candidates who entered the palace, the rest of the people will be arranged by you in the future, so you can also accompany me to inspect and select." ”
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…… (To be continued......)